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.
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,James M. Ward; "The Games Wizards: Angry Mothers From Heck (And what we do about them)" in Dragon #154 substituting instead, baatezu and tanar'ri . This persisted until the rollout of the 3rd Edition when the original terms were reinstated. Since the change, the term "baatezu" has been retained as a specific subset of powerful devils.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988) Devils first appeared in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), which included the barbed devil (lesser devil), the bone devil (lesser devil), the erinyes (lesser devil), the horned devil (malebranche) (greater devil), the ice devil (greater devil), the lemure, the pit fiend (greater devil), and the arch-devils Asmodeus, Baalzebul, Dispater, and Geryon, inspired by the figures from Hebrew and Christian mythology and their literary counterparts. The imp, a frequent servant of devils, also first appeared in the original Monster Manual.Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977) 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);Von Thorn, Alexander. "The Politics of Hell." Dragon # 28 (TSR, 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).Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio (TSR, 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 – named after the figure appearing "in the Bible, as well as in [...] Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene – Mephistopheles, and Moloch.Gygax, Gary. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: New Denizens of Devildom." Dragon #75 (TSR, 1983) 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,Greenwood, Ed. "The Nine Hells Part I." Dragon #75 (TSR, 1983) 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).Greenwood, Ed. "The Nine Hells Part II." Dragon #76 (TSR, 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.Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983) 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.Greenwood, Ed. "The Nine Hells Revisited." Dragon #91 (TSR, 1984)
Baalphegor appeared as the ultimate villain of "Caermor" in Dungeon #2 (November 1986)Findley, Nigel D. "Caermor." Dungeon #2 (TSR, 1986) (which was later reprinted in the Dungeons of Despair anthology (1999).Perkins, Christopher, ed. Dungeons of Despair (TSR, 1999)).
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).LaFountain, J. Paul. Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix. (TSR, 1991) The black abishai, green abishai, and red abishai, lesser baatezu, and the pit fiend greater baatezu next appear in the Monstrous Manual (1993).Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 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).Varney, Allen, ed. Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (TSR, 1994) The kocrachon lesser baatezu and the kyton appear in the Planes of Law boxed set (1995).McComb, Colin and Wolfgang Baur. Planes of Law (TSR, 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.Pramas, Chris. Guide to Hell (TSR, 1999) Moloch appeared in and played a key role in the adventure The Apocalypse Stone (2000).Carl, Jason, and Chris Pramas. The Apocalypse Stone (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000–2002) Devils appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000),Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 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).Wyatt, James and Rob Heinsoo. Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
The spinagon (baatezu) and the narzugon (baatezu) appear in this edition's Manual of the Planes (2001).Grubb, Jeff, David Noonan, and Bruce Cordell. Manual of the Planes (Wizards of the Coast, 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).Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness (Wizards of the Coast, 2002) The advespa (baatezu), the amnizu (baatezu), and the malebranche (baatezu) appear in this edition's Monster Manual II (2002).Bonny, Ed, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter. Monster Manual II (Wizards of the Coast, 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).Cagle, Eric, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matt Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt. Fiend Folio (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
Savage Species (2003) presented the hamatula (devil), the imp (devil), and the kyton (devil) both as races and as playable classes.Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. Savage Species (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
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).Mearls, Mike. "By Evil Bound." Dragon #306 (Paizo Publishing, April 2003)
The stony devil appears in Underdark (2003).Cordell, Bruce R, Gwendolyn FM Kestrel, and Jeff Quick. Underdark (Wizards of the Coast, 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).Cordell, Bruce, and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel. Planar Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
The desert devil (araton) appears in Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand (2005).Cordell, Bruce, Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, and J.D. Wiker. Sandstorm (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)
The unique devil Malkizid, the Branded King, appears in Champions of Ruin (2005) for the Forgotten Realms setting.Boyd, Eric L, Jeff Crook, and Wil Upchurch. Champions of Ruin (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)
The logokron devil appeared in the Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic (2006).Sernett, Matthew, Dave Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb. (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)