A devil, also referred to as a baatezu, is a member of a group of fictional creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game typically presented as formidable opponents for advanced players. Devils are characterized by their Lawful Evil alignment and are depicted as originating from the Nine Hells of Baator. They follow a strict and hierarchical structure, progressing through various forms as they rise in rank. At the top of this hierarchy are the Archdevils, also known as the Lords of the Nine, who govern different regions within Baator. Devils are often portrayed as seeing the various worlds in the D&D universe as tools to be exploited for their objectives, such as participating in the Blood War—a centuries-long conflict against demons.

Publication history

Devils first appeared in the original first-edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual.<!--This list is far from complete; nor does it need to be! Just trying to get a handle on the most notable appearances of devils in D&D.-->

The release of the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons brought a name change for the devils and their counterparts, demons. The 1st Edition's Deities and Demigods sourcebook was described as "exactly like witchcraft" by a televangelist. Concerned about protests from religious groups and others who viewed the game as an entryway into Satanic worship, TSR dropped the words "devil" and "demon" from all descriptors of the monsters, substituting instead, baatezu and tanar'ri . The Monster Manual was reviewed by Don Turnbull in the British magazine White Dwarf #8 (August/September 1978). As part of his review, Turnbull comments on several new monsters introduced in the book and considered devils the most prominent among them. Turnbull notes that "they are all pretty strong and compare not unfavourably in this respect with the Demons we already know".

Astaroth, Belial, and Satan appeared in the article "The Politics of Hell," in Dragon # 28 (August 1979); note that this article does not appear to be connected to the established canon of the Nine Hells. Selm, Prince of the Possessors, and the Asperim appeared in Dragon #42 (October 1980).

The Styx devil (greater devil) first appears in the Fiend Folio (1981).

A series of articles appearing in Dragon in 1983 greatly expanded upon the devils and their home, the Nine Hells, and introduced numerous new devils and arch-devils. The article "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: New Denizens of Devildom" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #75 (July 1983) introduced the black abishai, blue abishai, green abishai, red abishai, and white abishai (lesser devils), the bearded devil (lesser devil), the spined devil (least devil), the princess of Hell Glasya, the dukes of Hell Amon, Bael, Bitru, Hutijin, and Titivilus, and the arch devils Belial, Mammon, Mephistopheles, and Moloch. Dozens of unique devils appeared in a two-part article by Ed Greenwood, including the greater devils Bist, Caim, and Nergal, the dukes of Hell Agares, Alocer, Amduscias, Arioch, Balan, Bathym, Biffant, Caarcrinolaas, Chamo, Focalor, Gaziel, Gorson, Herodias, Machalas, Malphas, Melchon, and Merodach, and the princesses of Hell Cozbi, Lilis, and Naome in "The Nine Hells Part I" in Dragon #75, and the dukes of Hell Abigor, Adonides, Barbas, Barbatos, Bele, Bifrons, Bileth, Buer, Bune, Morax, Neabaz, Rimmon, Tartach, Zagum, and Zepar, the princesses of Hell Baalphegor, Baftis, and Lilith, the chancellor of Hell Adramalech, the queen of Hell Bensozia, and the inquisitor of Hell Phongor in "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon #76 (August 1983).

The black abishai, blue abishai, green abishai, red abishai, and white abishai (lesser devils), the bearded devil (lesser devil), the nupperibo (least devil), and the spined devil (least devil), appeared in the first edition Monster Manual II (1983), along with the princess of Hell Glasya, the dukes of Hell Amon, Bael, Hutijin, and Titivilus, and the arch devils Belial, Mammon, Mephistopheles, and Moloch. Ed Greenwood's follow-up article, "The Nine Hells Revisited" in Dragon #91 (November 1984), introduced the greater devils Armaros, Azazel, Cahor, Dagon, Duskur, Kochbiel, Malarea, Nisroch, Rumjal, and the arch-devil Gargoth.

Baalphegor appeared as the ultimate villain of "Caermor" in Dungeon #2 (November 1986) (which was later reprinted in the Dungeons of Despair anthology (1999).).

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Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

As far as I know, the devils did not appear in this edition. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me!

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Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989–1999)

The black abishai, green abishai, red abishai lesser baatezu, the amnizu greater baatezu, the barbazu lesser baatezu, the cornugon greater baatezu, the erinyes lesser baatezu, the gelugon greater baatezu, the hamatula lesser baatezu, the lemure, the nupperibo least baatezu, the osyluth lesser baatezu, the pit fiend greater baatezu, and the spinagon least baatezu appear in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix (1991). The black abishai, green abishai, and red abishai, lesser baatezu, and the pit fiend greater baatezu next appear in the Monstrous Manual (1993).

The Planescape campaign setting utilized devils, known exclusively as baatezu under 2nd edition rules, extensively. The black abishai, green abishai, and red abishai lesser baatezu, the amnizu greater baatezu, the barbazu lesser baatezu, the cornugon greater baatezu, the erinyes lesser baatezu, the gelugon greater baatezu, the hamatula lesser baatezu, the lemure, the nupperibo least baatezu, the osyluth lesser baatezu, the pit fiend greater baatezu, and the spinagon least baatezu are detailed in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994). The kocrachon lesser baatezu and the kyton appear in the Planes of Law boxed set (1995). Monstrous Compendium Annual Three (1996) featured the kyton again.

Guide to Hell (1999) described the transition of the devils and archdevils throughout the millennia, and reconciled the differences between the first edition and second edition archdevils by explaining the Reckoning of Hell. The book also describes the mezzikim. Moloch appeared in and played a key role in the adventure The Apocalypse Stone (2000).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000–2002)

Devils appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000), including the barbazu (baatezu), the cornugon (baatezu), the erinyes (baatezu), the gelugon (baatezu), the hamatula (baatezu), the hellcat, the imp, the kyton, the lemure (baatezu), the osyluth (baatezu), and the pit fiend (baatezu).

The black abishai, blue abishai, green abishai, red abishai, and white abishai for the Forgotten Realms setting appear in Monsters of Faerûn (2000).

The spinagon (baatezu) and the narzugon (baatezu) appear in this edition's Manual of the Planes (2001). The kocrachon (baatezu) and the ghargatula (baatezu), as well as the archdevils Bel, Lord of the First; Dispater, Lord of the Second; Mammon, Lord of the Third; Belial/Fierna, Lord of the Fourth; Levistus, Lord of the Fifth; The Hag Countess, Lord of the Sixth (not technically a devil, but a powerful night hag); Baalzebul, Lord of the Seventh; Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth; and Asmodeus, Lord of the Ninth, appear in the Book of Vile Darkness (2002). The advespa (baatezu), the amnizu (baatezu), and the malebranche (baatezu) appear in this edition's Monster Manual II (2002). The paeliryon (baatezu) and xerfilstyx (baatezu), as well as the bloodbag imp, the euphoric imp, and the filth imp, appear in this edition's Fiend Folio (2003).

Savage Species (2003) presented the hamatula (devil), the imp (devil), and the kyton (devil) both as races and as playable classes.

The hellforged devils, including the coal devil, the glass devil, the lead devil, the obsidian devil, the sand devil, and the spiked devil, appear in Dragon #306 (April 2003).

The stony devil appears in Underdark (2003).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003–2007)

Devils appear in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003), including the barbed devil (hamatula), the bearded devil (barbazu), the bone devil (osyluth), the chain devil (kyton), the erinyes, the hellcat (bezekira), the horned devil (cornugon), the ice devil (gelugon), the imp, the lemure, and the pit fiend.

The chain devil is presented as a player character race in the Planar Handbook (2004).

The desert devil (araton) appears in Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand (2005).

The unique devil Malkizid, the Branded King, appears in Champions of Ruin (2005) for the Forgotten Realms setting.

The logokron devil appeared in the Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic (2006).

Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006) includes new content for devils and inhabitants of Baator, including the black abishai, blue abishai, green abishai, red abishai, and white abishai, the amnizu, the assassin devil (dogai), the ayperobos swarm, the harvester devil (falxugon), the hellfire engine, the kalabon, the legion devil (merregon), the malebranche, the narzugon, the nupperibo, the orthon, the paeliryon, the pain devil (excruciarch), the pleasure devil (brachina), the spined devil (spinagon), the steel devil (bueroza), and the xerfilstyx. The book also contains statistics on the aspects of the Lords of the Nine, including Bel, Lord of the First; Dispater, Lord of the Second; Mammon, Lord of the Third; Belial and Fierna, Lords of the Fourth; Levistus, Lord of the Fifth; Glasya, Lord of the Sixth; Baalzebul, Lord of the Seventh; Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth; and Asmodeus, Lord of the Ninth .

The death devil (jerul) appears in Dragon #353 (March 2007). The gulthir devil, the remmanon devil, and the stitched devil appeared in Monster Manual V (2007).

The unique devils Moloch the Outcast, Titivilus, Bael, Balan, and Bathym all reappeared in the online version of Dragon, in issue #360 (October 2007) in the "Infernal Aristocracy" feature. The unique devils Agares, Tartach, Lilith, Hutijin, and Adramalech reappeared in Dragon #361 (December 2007) in the second part of the "Infernal Aristocracy" feature.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008–2014)

Devils appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the bearded devil (barbazu), the bone devil (osyluth), the chain devil (kyton), the ice devil (gelugon), the imp, legion devils (legion devil grunt, legion devil hellguard, legion devil veteran, and legion devil legionnaire), the pit fiend, the spined devil (spinagon), the succubus, and the war devil (malebranche). All devils now have the "Evil" alignment and speak Supernal. There were no changes to the line-up of the Lords of the Nine from Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells.

Asmodeus appears as one of the gods of evil in the 4th edition Dungeon Masters Guide (2008).

The assassin devil (dogai), erinyes, gorechain devil, infernal armor animus, misfortune devil, shocktroop devil, and withering devil appeared in the fourth edition Monster Manual 2 (2009). More devils are detailed in the Manual of the Planes (2008): barbed devil (hamatula), brazen devil, pain devil (excruciarch), storm devil and Dispater, the Lord of Dis; The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea (2010): burning devil, indwelling devil, pillager devil, and warder devil; and Monster Manual 3 (2010): corruption devil (paeliryon), hell knight (narzugon), hellwasp, passion devil, rage devil, slime devil, swarm devil and vizier devil; while Monster Vault (2010) revisited several devils originally printed in the Monster Manual – all of them except for the bearded devil, spined devil, and war devil – and Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale (2011) only contained the tar devil. Various high-ranking devils, including Alloces and Geryon, have had published statistics in the Codex of Betrayal feature in Dungeon magazine; the only Lords of the Nine with published statistics as of July 2012 are Dispater and Glasya.

History

The Reckoning of Hell (often referred to as the Reckoning) was a civil war that shaped the political landscape of the Nine Hells into its current form. The Reckoning received its fullest treatment in the D&D sourcebook, A Guide to Hell.

Types

Archdevils

Zariel is the current ruler of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator. She was previously deposed by her chief warlord, a pit fiend called Bel, thousands of years in the past. However, she reclaimed her position after Bel proved inadequate in managing the Blood War.