Can druids be demons?

[Lynea]

I have this story idea that features demon-based races like succubi and incubi, but I've already run into some problems with the world building because, there isn't an inherent demon race already fastened into the world. So, naturally, I'm trying to 'force' a demon-type race to fit into my world while still having a decent amount of continuity with lore and setting. Perhaps it's not the hugest problem to have, but I like to explain magical races to myself as best I can before putting them into a story. If I don't understand, then the reader does not understand. I'd appreciate some help figuring this out.

The closest thing I have in my world to demons are an ancient race of druids. Druids, in this particular setting, are immortal, telepathic, and can shapeshift into one animal by random assignment. They are not what people of Ishtara consider to be elves, but the druids and elves share many similarities, like ancestral power, pointed ears, and an affinity for blood magic. However, the differences between the two races are that druids are truly immortal, while elves have a life expectancy of 500 years. Druids are the first magical race to have come about, and though the elves pretty much evolved from them, the druids are not 'tainted' by mortal blood.

So with all this in mind, I figure there could be groups of druids that have sprung up in various regions of Ishtara, like within the desert lands where this story of mine takes place. I would like some opinions. Is it plausible for ancient druids of the desert to be considered a demon race, even though they have woodland counterparts? Would this make sense to a reader, or should I come up with something else?

 

[Finchbearer]

Druids for me, are Celtic priests, so this image does not align. But since you have them in this different context, they could absolutely be demons. The Christians probably considered them to be as much.

 

[Devor]

So just being desert druids might not really hit those demon qualities as much as you're looking for. The usual explanation would be that something corrupted this batch of druids to make them into demons. Some evil thing under the dessert when they first appeared there, or some betrayal by a powerful leader long ago, or a pact they made to stave off extinction. That corruption also adds a layer of tragedy onto the race.

That corruption just makes them a different race, in my mind though. If it were me, and I wanted to use demons, I would probably want to go a little darker. I'm thinking of little demon imps taking over the druid hosts, and young children being brought to their imp parasite when their bodies are old enough to survive it. But that kind of darkness is why I don't often use demons.

Of course anything goes, it's fantasy. And they can just be desert druids if you can sell us on it.

 

[pmmg]

No accounting for what individuals might do. Plenty of things have been called demons. Christians in the know would likely think them witches or pagans, or just men with strange thoughts. They might think them possessed, which is as close to demon as they might get.

This does not match my idea of a demon, but ive seen demons used in many contexts. I suppose i would ask why are they druids. They would not seem to me to need beliefs and rituals to have demonic powers.

I personally would have trouble seeing them as such if the work was to be a serious work.

 

[pmmg]

Is it plausible for ancient druids of the desert to be considered a demon race, even though they have woodland counterparts? Would this make sense to a reader, or should I come up with something else?

I think for this to happen you would have to have an alternate definition of demon. They may have an appearance of hooved feet and horns, but if they are mortal enough, they might not cross over into people thinking them actual demons. They might still get called that. And if they were unknown and mysterious enough, they might be thought that as well. But if they are just another species on the planet, they would likely fall short of being believed actual demons.

So plausible they would be thought such, yes. Having that stand up to scrutiny, no.

 

[Queshire]

I wouldn't call the demons druids at least. Maybe have it where the druids and demon faction are different cultures of the same race?

 

[pmmg]

Maybe the Druids had summoned some demons, and so....from the outside, there is confusion as to what is there.

 

[Queshire]

Sounds like Lynea's problem is that their setting doesn't have demons to begin with and Druids are just what's closest, so I don't think that'd work.

 

[pmmg]

Well...it does seem that way. But anything people dont know and look monstrous could be a demon. Maybe they just have some other type of creature living among them, and that makes outsiders confuse it as a place for demons.

Such that, in the world, when you travel and say, I am from the south desert, people go, hey, isn't that were the demons are? You must be a demon-man.

 

[ThinkerX]

Sounds like Shub-Niggurath and her offspring might have a place in your world...

Shub-Niggurath (Lovecraft)

Shub-Niggurath is an Outer Goddess created by the late H.P. Lovecraft. She is a perverse fertility deity and the spouse of Yog-Sothoth, who is commonly called The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, since she is known to have spawned several of the Great Old Ones. Shub-Niggurath is...

villains.fandom.com

 

[Lynea]

Hmm. Based on what I've read so far, it seems like I have two options. One: make a sub-race of druids that are often labeled as demons but aren't really, or... two: have the druids be so corrupted that they become very demon-like. I personally like both of those options, but I think option two is probably gonna fit with my story best because it has two MCs that are opposites of dark and light. AKA, one is demon, one is druid. I could make it so that these 'desert druids' are actually hybrids, with both dark magic and pure magic, which technically can exist in my world but is saved for very powerful beings.

Hmm