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 Abyss


The Demon returns in Catacomb Abyss, with a new subspecies. The Blue Demon is encountered earlier on, and while a different-looking foe than the version encountered later, the two are actually identical statistically, featuring the same amount of Hit Points (50) and doing the exact same amount of damage. The Blue Demon first appears in The Subterranean Vault. The Red Demon appears later on, in The Inner Sanctum and The Haunt of Nemesis, being just as tough and aggressive as its original Catacomb 3D counterpart.

The biggest difference between the Catacomb Abyss Demons and their Catacomb 3D incarnation is that the ones in Catacomb Abyss are much more resistant to hitstun. While they can still be interrupted from attacking with rapid fire, they take a lot more to slow down than the ones in Catacomb 3D and will continue to advance on the player's position even under a salvo of fire. It is highly recommended to use Zappers or Xterminators to deal with larger groups of Demons, and to take advantage of Crystal Hour Glasses when possible.

The Blue Demon does not show up on the Crystal Sphere unless the player has the Blue Jewel. The Red Demon does not require any Jewels to detect.

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.