Demon



Far and away, the most intimidating enemy in Catacomb 3D, the Demon is encountered only in the final two levels, but is beyond anything the player has faced previously.

The largest enemy in the game, the Demon is a towering, glaring red brute with large fangs, massive claws, and a blue tongue and drool.

Variants of it appear as Red Demons in Catacomb Abyss, Catacomb Armageddon, and Catacomb Apocalypse.

In Catacomb 3D
The Demon is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the single biggest threat the player will encounter in Catacomb 3D, and that arguably includes the last boss. While it has the same movement pattern and tactics as the Troll, the Demon is an order of magnitude stronger, doing much more damage per hit and having an unbelievable 50 Hit Points. Whereas a Bolt spell will reliably clear a hallway of lesser foes in a single salvo, the Demon can directly tank an entire barrage from that spell and still have the health to nearly endure half of a second casting. This unprecedented toughness makes the Demon a formidable foe to face solo, but groups of Demons, which the player will encounter in the last two levels, are the toughest foes the player will have to face.

When faced singly, rapid-fire uncharged shots will do a solid job of gradually whittling down the Demon's health; keep the shots coming and it shouldn't be able to counter-attack. While time-consuming, this is the most efficient way to take one down without spending resources. Unfortunately, the Demon will often appear in groups of two or more, a situation that can lead to the player's death in short order. Demon encounters are the main reason you hoarded your Spell Orbs up till this point; a fight with more than one absolutely justifies spending one or two of your Bolts or Nukes. When slain, a Demon melts.

Demons appear in both Halls of Blood and Nemesis's Lair.

In the Catacomb Adventure Series
The Demon returns in Catacomb Abyss, albeit with a new name, this time as the Red Demon. Basically the same enemy it was in Catacomb 3D, the version in Catacomb Abyss is encountered only in the last two levels: The Inner Sanctum and The Haunt of Nemesis, as well as one of the secret levels, Good Map To Use. Like its counterpart in Catacomb 3D, it's one of the toughest monsters, having the same meaty pool of hit points and taking a lot of punishment to take down. Unlike its counterpart, however, it's easier to bait into a missed swing and more likely to do damage if it gets close because it can move a bit quicker while taking damage. Fortunately, spells in Catacomb Abyss are much more common, which means a player should have much less trouble with them unless one gets surrounded.

They share sprites and death animations with their Catacomb 3D version.

There are also Blue Demons, which are weaker versions of the Red Ones (but still formidable) in Catacomb Abyss, as well as a two headed version in Catacomb Armageddon and cybernetically-enhanced version in Catacomb Apocalypse.

Trivia

 * The Demon of Catacomb 3D would later inspire the famous Pink Demon and Baron of Hell enemies in Doom, where Adrian Carmack also did the spritework. The Demon from Catacomb 3D also shares similar attack animations with the Baron, a wide, swinging claw attack, while its overall appearance is rather close to the Pink Demon's.
 * Amusingly, this also means the first game Id worked that featured the player fighting Demons in Hell was actually Catacomb 3D.