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Ascended Demon: Difference between revisions
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Though by nature the Ascended Demon will be very rare<ref>(rising from evil is much harder than [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil]], after all, see Milton's page quote on [[The Atoner]])</ref> it's not uncommon for there to be a [[Mentor]] who has done this before and is willing to sponsor them, or more tragically, ''failed'' and wants them to succeed as a redemption by proxy. If they really ''are'' the first to pull it off, an author might [[Inverted Trope]] the [[Last of His Kind]] and have the Ascended Demon [[Monsters Anonymous|redeem some or all of their peers]] and reveal they were [[Good All Along]]. This is especially poignant if the demons were once [[Fallen Angel|angels who fell.]] Expect an [[Enemy Civil War]] to follow as demon-kind is divided between "loyalists" and "redemptionists".
It's not all rainbows and lollipops though. Aside from the fear of backsliding into evil, the Ascended Demon has made enemies of his former kind<ref>(which might not be much worse for them since they're [[Always Chaotic Evil]], remember?)</ref>, and likely faces the [[Reformed but Rejected|distrust]] of the good guys at the chance they're a [[Civilian Villain]]. On the whole, Ascended Demons are a good way to avoid the [[Unfortunate Implications]] that those [[The Usual Adversaries]] and [[Always Chaotic Evil]] races are [[This Is Unforgivable!|completely irredeemable]], and usually used to provide [[An Aesop]] that ''everyone'' can earn forgiveness.
Not to be confused with ascending to demonhood in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* Chrono from ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' is a demon, but he fights on the side of good, even working for a [[Church Militant]] group.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Angel]]'' wanted to be this.
* ''[[Forever Knight]]'', sometimes.
* ''[[Reaper]]'' had a group of demons who were trying to overthrow Lucifer through being nice. One of them apparently ascended to angelhood after death, though the finale indicates that angels can be pretty ruthless too.
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== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==
* The ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' sourcebook "Book of Exalted Deeds" on good-aligned characters has one chapter on forgiveness. It features an orc chieftain sparing a girl's village because she had saved his life years earlier and a good-aligned [[Cthulhumanoid|illithid]].
** An [[Brain Food|illithid]]? Canonical [[Spelljammer]] character Estriss, obsessive [[Adventurer Archaeologist]] ([[Lawful Neutral]] with some Good tendency). [[Forgotten Realms]] got Sangalor of the Secrets, outcast from his city and priest of Ogma ([[Lawful Neutral]]).
** A ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' web article famously had a [[Horny Devils|succubus]] [[Knight in Shining Armor|paladin]]. [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fc/20050824a Here are the stats], and [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20061017a here is the adventure].
** One of the (Many) nicknames for [[Planescape]]'s Lady of Pain is "The fiend of blades", started by someone with the theory she is an ascended fiend. Given that he wasn't [[Deader Than Dead|flayed]] (like people who give... less than flattering nicknames) and lived long enough to die of natural causes, this indicates there isn't really an issue with the term.
*** In ''Pages of Pain'' she remembered being a daughter of {{spoiler|Akadi and Poseidon and Set's fiance}}. That is, Lady is a born Power, has the Pain sphere/domain, as a gift and would be a goddess if she didn't refuse to.
** In [http://www.candlekeep.com/compendium/index.htm The Candlekeep Compendium], there is a certain Erinyes {{spoiler|who is rescued by a gnome adventurer as a mission from a [[Chaotic Good]] deity.}}
*** There was a chant about the agathinon Janarr and erinyes Nalura working in mortal disguise on the Prime. They [[Duel of Seduction|sort of]] just did their jobs--she tried to seduce him, he tried to turn her attitude up to [[The Power of Love|celestial standards]]. Before they knew whom exactly they faced, ''both'' succeeded. They [[Star-Crossed Lovers|had to hide from their respective bosses]] from that point on, though.
** The Kalashtar from [[Eberron]] all have a soul-bond to an ascended [[Eldritch Abomination]], which works on the same general principle.
** K'rand Vahlix is a ''general'' of the Risen Fiends who have fled to the various Upper Planes, organizing them into the Celestial Hosts, and is so powerful and [[Good Hurts Evil|good-aligned]] that he is completely unafraid of any [[Deep-Cover Agent|Deep Cover Agents]] that might assassinate him, which is the main obstacle to most Risen Fiends associating with each other.
* In ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' the demon Okura no Oni affected the honor of the Lion Clan through Kitsu Okura, and at Oblivion's Gate slew her father, Akuma no Oni. She ascended to become the Guardian of Tengoku and she is now seen guarding the Gates of the Celestial Heavens.
* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' the fabled state of Golconda allows a vampire to transcend just about every physical and spiritual weakness of vampirism. The [[Enemy Within]] is muzzled, blood requirement drops to almost nothing, and various caps and restrictions vanish. Tellingly, the vampire is immune to Diablerie... their soul is no longer tied to their blood/body and can't be eaten.
** In ''[[Vampire: The Requiem|Vampire the Requiem]]'' the above is one of three suggested outcomes for reaching Golconda. The best one is a return to humanity. The worst one? Complete balance with the [[Enemy Within]]... which means the vampire is in perfect harmony with a remorseless gluttonous raging monster.
* Another ''World of Darkness'' gameline with this possibility is ''[[Demon: The Fallen]]''. The titular demons have the choice to either try to recover their lost grace by reaching [[Karma Meter|zero torment]] (only possible with RP, no game system allowed that) or spurning their newfound humanity and chance at redemption by [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil]]. Unlike Vampire, Demons who eschew use of their demonic powers and [[One-Winged Angel]] form are at a disadvantage compared to their morally laxer peers.
* In the Mystic China RPG from Palladium games there's a literal Ascended Demon class, where as you gain levels you lose demonic traits and gain human traits until if one survives all the pitfalls the character will be reborn as a human being with only dim memories of its former life.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' features two possible examples of this:
** The Abyssals are Exalted by [[Eldritch Abomination|the Neverborn]], who corrupted Solar shards to serve death and the Void. Thing is, underneath all that necrotic taint, there's ''still'' a glimmer of innate Solar nature. It may very well be possible for an Abyssal to seek redemption and become a Solar again... and if that happens, [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|then they don't have to deal with that pesky]] [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|Great Curse]].
** The Infernals are similarly corrupted Solars, only their shards were tinkered with by [[The Legions of Hell|the Yozis]] as part of a scheme to escape from Malfeas by making Creation just as bad. Infernals don't have innate [[Functional Magic|Charms]] as other Exalts do, but instead have a direct connection to their Yozi patrons that allows them to use their magic. There's just one problem that the Yozis didn't entirely consider -- that relationship may go ''both ways''. So, with enough time and effort, an Infernal could possibly ''convert one of the demonic masters of Creation to good''.
*** Alternatively, Infernals using the right Heretic Charms can redesign themselves into Primordials 2.0, taking and improving the designs that the Yozis used before being ripped inside out, castrated, and imprisoned. The resulting being ''literally'' [[Mental World|containing worlds]] and [[I Am Legion|having multiple souls]]. It doesn't require the character to [[Pure Is Not Good|be good]], or even [[Blue and Orange Morality|define good]], but it does involve long periods of spiritual meditation and reformatting one's own souls, and it's hard to get worse than being one fifth Ebon Dragon, the [[Evil Is Petty|Cosmic Principle of Dickishness]].
** Sidereals with access to Greater Astrology Charms actually have one, An End to Darkness, that allows them to hand this out willy-nilly. If they find a demon that wants to leave the service of Hell, they can cast this Charm and transform them into a god that will serve Heaven. The only downsides are that other demons will be out for that god's blood, and the Sidereal takes a large amount of [[Weirdness Censor|Paradox]] in the process.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Angelic Tropes]]
[[Category:Infernal Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Ascended Demon]]
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