In the world of Dragon Age, demons are some of the biggest threats you'll face. They're also a huge part of the worldbuilding, responsible for the widespread discrimination against mages. Put simply, demons are spirits of the Fade that have had their purpose twisted. Spirits generally represent a virtue such as courage or justice, while demons align with negative human emotions.
The goal of most demons is to feed off of the negative feelings of humans. Many try to possess people, specifically mages, in order to enact their will in the physical world. They can be fearsome opponents, but some moreso than others. Here are all the types of demon ranked from worst to best.
Updated on August 19, 2021, by Juliet Childers: There are a finite number of demon types in the Dragon Age universe (thankfully). Though demons can possess corpses, humans, and more, the main enemies remain fixed. This list has been updated to include all types of demons found across all Dragon Age games and rank them in terms of demonic power.
13 Gibbering Horrors
These little nuggets of awful are incredibly weak and only really appear in The Fade or areas with low Veil presence. They are similar to the little skittering reptiles you'd find in dark caves.
As far as demons go, these have to be some of the least frightening by themselves. When in swarms, however, they could become incredibly frightening and dangerous.
12 Wraiths (Multiple Types)
These are some of the weakest kind of demons in existence, but they may not be strictly "demons" at all. Instead, wraiths seem to be what remains after a powerful spirit or demon has been destroyed. They lack the ability to possess the living or dead and seem unable to cross into the physical world without help. They're only capable of using magic to attack when in the presence of a more powerful demon that can "charge" them.
However, there have been a couple of types that have appeared throughout the games:
- Regular Wraiths: these are the regular spirit-type wraiths found across the series. Inquisition has them in green, orange, and purple shades.
- DA2's Rock Wraith: this creature known as a Profane can be found in the Deep Roads. They form when dwarven spirits, having been rejected from The Stone, possess stones as a spirit would a body.
- Ash Wraith: confusingly, an Ash Wraith is actually more closely related to a Shade vs. a Wraith. So far, it has only appeared in Dragon Age: Origins and Heroes of Dragon Age.
11 Shades (Basic Demon Enemies)
Shades are strange among the ranks of demons. While most seek to possess humans, living or dead, a shade is the result of a demon who wasn't able to or even choose not to. Instead, after crossing over into the physical world, they drift around like an invisible cloud of bad vibes. They feed off the psyche of any living being it encounters. Eventually, when a shade has absorbed enough energy, they can physically manifest as blobby, vaguely humanoid creatures.
It's thought that the act of crossing over from the Fade to the physical world can leave a demon so confused that it can't possess anything. Shades may, in fact, still think they're in the Fade and feeding off the energy of other spirits. They're a common enemy throughout the series and you'll get good at putting them down.
10 Hunger Demons
Like the Sloth demon, a Hunger demon only really makes an appearance in a small quest in Dragon Age: Origins and an even smaller quest in DA2. They also look almost identical to Shades and even feed off spirit energy -- including that of other demons.
The quest "A Maiden in Distress" ultimately reveals itself after pretending to be the "Lonely Soul in the Fade". The DA2 Hunger demon is actually one of the demons possessing a Rock Wraith, so there seems to be some connection to Wraiths here just like the Ash Wraith.
9 Rage Demons
The most common and lowest-ranked of the proper demons, these embody the simple emotion of anger. The complexity of the emotion they're bound to generally dictates a demon's power, so Rage demons are less formidable than those of Envy or Desire.
They're also less intelligent; Rage demons don't plot, they strike. The true form of these demons in the Fade are creatures of fire, resembling lava, and they can attack with flame. Since these guys are everywhere, it might be time to invest in some fireproof pants and frost magic.
8 Terror Demons
Terror demons are also low-ranked spirits and are generally subservient to more powerful fear-based demons. They seek to inspire only the most basic kind of fear in their enemies: the kind that has you run away screaming. They're rarer than rage demons and look much cooler, but they probably won't give you any significant trouble on their own.
Their one unique ability gives them the power to phase in and out of the Fade, popping out of thin air to surprise enemies. They're basically just the demonic embodiment of a jump scare.
7 Sloth Demons
You encounter demons of Sloth very rarely in the Dragon Age games and hardly ever in straight-up combat. This is because Sloth demons have no desire to fight or kill. They're known as masters of disguise, able to take on many forms and even change the appearance of their environment in order to deceive their victims.
You usually find them as masterminds behind larger plots rather than simple enemies to be cut down. For example, a Sloth demon (so powerful that its name is just "Sloth") is responsible for the infiltration of the Circle Tower in Dragon Age: Origins and the grueling Fade quest for the Harrowing takes place in its domain.
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5 Envy Demons
Envy demons are one of the rarest kind and are definitely the most unsettling to look at. They have one of the most interesting endgames, too, as most spirits want to possess people to give themselves a foothold in the physical world. Their pure spirit forms are too weak to do more than leech off the living. But Envy demons want to actually become mortal.
They observe their target, usually someone of status, memorizing all their mannerisms. When they're able to perfectly imitate the person, they take on their form and dispose of the original. Of course, an Envy demon is never satisfied and is always looking for someone more powerful to take.
4 Despair Demons
Previously thought to be a variation of Sloth demons, Despair demons are actually something much more sinister. They are what's left when a spirit of Hope is perverted and twisted out of recognition. Untarnished spirits of Hope are some of the most powerful benevolent spirits that exist, though they're rarely seen in the physical world. The most dangerous Despair demons can rival that power and use it for evil.
Some weaker demons simply infest places where despair is prevalent, like slums and prisons. But the more intelligent of them understand what causes despair and actively work to cause it among populations. They wear away at a person's sense of purpose, spreading their icy influence until that person is so wracked by misery that they hurt themselves or others just to be free.
3 Fear Demons
These are the more powerful demons that rule over the lesser demons of Terror. They resemble a kind of witch mixed with a giant spider, with a set of clawed insect legs emerging from its back. Generally speaking, Fear demons aren't the most powerful or complex, but their power depends on others and some are very good at manipulation.
Fear is, after all, a very base and primal emotion which makes it powerful in volume. Some just mimic the forms they see in mortal nightmares, hoping to inspire a sharp shock of fear. However, humans feed them without even meaning to as our more refined fears — fear of the future, fear of failure — make Fear demons more powerful.
2 Desire Demons
Some of the most deadly (and certainly the most fanservice-y) of demons are those of desire. But that doesn't just mean physical desire, despite what they might look like. It covers all the yearnings of their victims -- including the desire for wealth or power. They're wickedly intelligent and know how to manipulate humans into getting what it wants, and some are even powerful enough to resort to outright mind control.
They're the most skilled at tempting mages into possession and tempting good people into corruption. They'll try to bargain their way out of danger but beware: their deals are more likely to work out for the demon than you. One such offer comes to the Inquisitor from Imshael -- an ancient Desire demon who is one of the "Forbidden Ones" (pictured right).
1 Pride Demons
By far the most dangerous and most intelligent of all the demons are the pride demons. They are corrupted Wisdom spirits or even powerful Faith spirits. These huge monstrosities are immune to many of the abilities that usually harm demons, and can be extremely dangerous for your party.
Scholars in the Dragon Age world believe they're most dangerous because they are the most like humans: cunning, clever, and possessing a penchant for cruelty. Unlike Desire demons who simply bribe mortals, a Pride demon's corruption is more subtle. According to the in-game Codex, their influence can make "clever men outwit themselves, strong men crush themselves, and humble men forget themselves." They turn a mortal's best nature against them.