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Imps as Mass Produced Host Bodies for Demons

I've been thinking about whether to use Imps in my story setting and it occurred to me that Imps could actually be a type of Fiend (an Demon/animal hybrid) that are created by Maleficar (essentially witches, warlocks, sorcerers, etc.) to serve as vessels for Demons to inhabit in order to physically interact with the world in service to the Maleficar. My idea, at least for now, is that Imps themselves are created from a combination of different creatures, so they can take on various forms to suit different purposes, but primates are always used as the primary basis in order to get a roughly humanoid frame and hands with opposable thumbs. When an Imp is not possessed by a Demon, it is a highly intelligent and therefore trainable creature but is not fully sapient. They can follow complex commands but can get stumped by certain obstacles, just as a trained animal can. For example, you can train a dog to fetch a ball, but if you throw two balls at once, the dog will get confused and struggle to decide which ball to fetch first. When an Imp is possessed, however, they are under the control of a fully sapient entity (a Demon) and therefore are not stumped the way an animal would be.

What makes Imps qualify as Fiends is that they have Demon blood in them. Usually, this is from a Demoness who assumed physical form, consumed the tissues of various creatures to get their DNA, then spliced it all together with her own Essence in order to synthesize the DNA of the Imps she wants to create. I'm thinking that a Demoness will lay eggs with Imp embryos inside them, since Demons hate any act of creation, so gestating the Imp inside her and then birthing it would be anathema to her. The sooner she can get the act of creation over with the sooner she can get back to corrupting souls and destroying things, which is what the Imps are expected to help her do.

Finally, I'm thinking that, to reduce how many eggs the Demoness has to lay, Imps are capable of reproducing on their own, but only for a few generations before they are too far removed from their Demon ancestor. Essentially, the demonic essence has decreased with each generation so that viable gametes are no longer produced. However, a single female Imp can lay hundreds of eggs, so this isn't really a big problem in most cases. The point is that a Demoness only has to produce about a dozen female Imps in order to get the process started. Then, there are many, many bodies for Lesser Demons to posses. (More powerful Demons need more powerful breeds of Imps to inhabit, but I'm still trying to think of how those are created.) That's about all I've worked out so far, but I'm interested to know if people think this is a good idea to use for my story setting.
 
Sure, go for it.

Just reading your summary, I started imagining a story involve two imps who "break free" of exterior controls and head out to start a life for themselves. Of course, they'd actually be two demons, inhabiting the imp bodies, who seek the freedom to live their lives. I'm just loving the potential for existential angst and concern: Are they really these bodies? What does it mean to possess these bodies? Are they never able to be truly free, given their origins? And so forth. This would make a cool story.
 
That doesn't quite work for my story setting for a few reasons. Angels and Demons in my story setting are both spirits with the terms Angel and Demon denoting their moral alignment. Angels are always good/neutral while Demons are always evil/chaotic. Thus, Demons inhabiting Imp bodies would not experience existential angst, nor would they see the Imp bodies as anything more than a literal meat suit for them to wear. However, while they wouldn't experience existential angst in that regard, they could still experience it in relation to which Archdemons, Devils, and Dark Deities they served. In other words, I can see a couple of Demons inside of Imp bodies deciding that they're not took keen on their current employers and deciding that they want to either find someone else to serve or attempt to go rogue. Of course, being Lesser Demons, that'd be extremely difficult and even if they went rogue, their powers would be quite limited, but Lesser Demons aren't necessarily the brightest, so this could be a result of impulsivity and delusions of grandeur on their part. (All Demons are prone to megalomania to some degree.) Mind you, if their Imp bodies were destroyed before they been able to get into the employ of a different Archdemon, Devil, or Dark Deity, their spiritual forms would be sent back to the part of the Abyss where they originated, at which point their employer would be giving them a harsh lecture. And by harsh lecture, I mean torturing them in order to make an example of them to any other Lesser Demons who'd consider attempting anything like what they did. (Not that the warning will stick for very long, at least from an eternal perspective. Like I said, Lesser Demons aren't known for their intellects.)
 

Almyrigan Hero

Minstrel
Does having partially-demonic blood/'essence' have any malicious (or just weird) effects on the imp's behavior before the actual possession occurs, or do they just act like fairly normal animals in their "natural" state?
 
It depends on the Demoness who created them combined with the genetic samples of the creatures used to synthesized the Imp DNA and how those samples are combined. There's also what the Maleficar in question desires. Some might want Imps that, when not possessed, are highly obedient and only vicious on command, another might want unpossessed Imps that are practically rabid attack animals. However, as primates are often the primary genetic sample, I think it would be logical for Imps to act a lot like primates if they are not possessed and have not been trained in any particular manner. So, it would depend on which primate was used. Additionally, the more generations removed from the Demoness who started the breed of Imps, the less aggressive and more docile the Imps may become, with the sterile generation being rather useless as attack animals but much more useful as a source of labor. I'm thinking sterile Imps are the only ones who can actually be safely kept as pets, but, as they're sterile, you can't breed more of them, plus, they're more susceptible to possession than other types of animals (as they are still technically Fiends) so it's usually not prudent to do that unless you have some way of protecting them from possession. If you can, then you've basically got an unusual primate on your hands, so the usual issues with primates apply.
 

Jenn

Acolyte
I think it's a good idea to use- from what you've said, I'm assuming that it's still in development, but it seems like a solid base. I'm interested to see where this takes you in terms of story(as well as how more complex Demons compare to the more simplistic ones).
 
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