Cacodemon
An evil spirit or demon, depicted in Greek mythology as a horned youth with oversized genitalia.
A cacodemon (also spelled cacodaemon, cacodaimon, kakodemon, kakodaemon, or kakodaimon) is an evil spirit or (in the modern sense of the word) a demon. The opposite of a cacodemon is an agathodaemon or eudaemon, a good spirit or angel. The word cacodemon comes through Latin from the Ancient Greek, meaning an 'evil spirit', whereas daimon would be a neutral spirit in Greek. It is believed to be capable of shapeshifting. A cacodemon is also said to be a malevolent person. A cacodemon is depicted as a horned (or winged browed) youth with oversized genitalia trailing between his legs in Greek mythology.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Enemy; Mid-tier demon
- First appears
- Quake (1996)
- Developer
- id Software
- Affiliation
- Servants of the Dark Lord
- Primary attack
- Hurls fireballs
- Movement
- Hovers; floats in place
Lore & Background
In psychology, cacodemonia (or cacodemonomania) is a form of insanity in which the patient believes that they are possessed by an evil spirit. The first known occurrence of the word cacodemon dates to 1593. In astrology, the 12th house was once called the Cacodemon for its association with evil. Defined as 'a noise-making devil', Jane Davidson has noted an illustrated example of a cacodemon in editions of Ulisse Aldrovandi's Monstrum Historia (Story of Monsters) as late as 1696.
Reader's Guide
A cacodemon enemy appears in the Doom video game series, starting with the first game in 1993.
Did You Know?
- There is a painting by Paul Klee called Cacodaemonic (1916).
- In William Shakespeare's Richard III Act 1 Scene 3, Queen Margaret calls Richard a 'cacodemon' for his foul deeds and manipulations.
- In John Fletcher's The Knight of Malta, Norandine calls Mountferrat, the play's villain, a 'cacodemon' in the final scene.
- In the Rick Riordan novels The Sun and the Star and The Court of the Dead, a dozen cacodemons are created by the primordial goddess Nyx out of Nico di Angelo's emotions.
More in Enemies & The Dark Lord
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