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...Daemons? I mean, could not GW have thought up a better, more original name? When I think Daemon, I think of stereo typed trident wielding beasties with red leather body's, wings, and forked tales, not gigantic flying manta rays that shoot flames. Nor do I think of pink breast-cancer victims riding raptors with ant-eater heads. Daemon just doesn't really convey the right feeling for such a varied, colorful force. Warp-spawn? Yes, that does feel like a better name, as, really, anything could be spawned from the dimension that is chaos.

I dunno, it just doesn't feel right.

_Tim?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:When I think Daemon, I think of stereo typed trident wielding beasties with red leather body's, wings, and forked tales

When I think "daemon", I think an extremely charming guy in a tuxedo and slacks with goat hooves for feet.

(40k has one of those I think, things like this are mentioned in Dark Heresy)

Originally Daemon was used to describe any lesser spiritual being. Not necessarily good or evil, or in any particular form. I think it is a perfect word to describe the creatures that come out of the warp.

I think that daemons are supposed to signify everything that horrifies human beings, so naturally they are exactly what we picture as demons.

Jaon wrote:I think that daemons are supposed to signify everything that horrifies human beings, so naturally they are exactly what we picture as demons.

Try explaining that aspect of WH40k to an anti Harry Potter relative.

Of course, as a mildly liberal theologian, I do find the "Daemonic" side of WH40k a little troubling, mostly because of the name. I usually just call them "warplings of chaos", and be done with it. I know, it is a little bit silly, but I am just hardwired that way.

_Tim?

Daemons. Well, Demons are described as grotesque and evil in every way possible in the Bible (which is obviously the root of the idea for these things).
This just looks like man trying to perceive what these beings look like (and going a tad over the top with some stuff).
In a way, all the Chaos Gods represent one of the characteristics of Biblical demons.
Tzeentch = Trickery and Deceit
Slaanesh = Seducing
Khorne = Bloodlust and Hatred
Nurgle = Putrid and unclean.

Brad.

would you prefer "angry cookie monster from mars" instead of deamon?

Geemoney wrote:Originally Daemon was used to describe any lesser spiritual being. Not necessarily good or evil, or in any particular form. I think it is a perfect word to describe the creatures that come out of the warp.

Yup. Amoral, spiritual, and personifying a particular idea.

@Devastator: Haha.

@Bradskey: Yes, but biblical Demons (not Daemons), are fallen angels, not creatures spawned from the emotions of humanity. So there is a difference.

@Geemoney: Yes, now that I jog my memory, I do remember reading that the Greeks believed everyone had their own personal Daemon, though I cannot remember what purpose they had...

Mods, delete/lock this 'un if it gets out of hand. As for myself, I am hoping everyone can remain civil, since we are getting into dangerous territory (biblical/ religious stuff).

_Tim?

For that matter, the term Angel came from a greek term for a specific type of Daemon, a messenger IIRC.

I think of a program running in the background. Particularly on my Unix servers.

But seriously daemon, as stated before, can be any lesser spiritual being. The notion that they are evil comes largely from judao-christian (Spelling?) religions iirc. Since almost all the names of things in 40k are in gothic it would make sense to call them what the imperium does, daemons.

"Codex: Angels of Chaos" would be cool.

Not as cool as 'Codex: Daemons of Death'.

Kid in GW store: What do Daemons of Death do?
GW Salesman: They eat all the ice cream they want.
Kid: ...

A demon is a spiritual entity composed of everything that is "evil" in us. The 40k demons are creatures of the warp made of pure emotional energy, mostly negative emotions. Therefore, they dark on our greatest fears and inner evils, just like demons of religion. In fact, in the Horus Heresy novels it's hinted that religions came with demons from seeing creatures of the warp. There, I'm done .


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry, lots of mistakes, first time.

Daemon, not demon.

Why not start with wikipedia before getting confused?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:

Jaon wrote:I think that daemons are supposed to signify everything that horrifies human beings, so naturally they are exactly what we picture as demons.

Try explaining that aspect of WH40k to an anti Harry Potter relative.

Of course, as a mildly liberal theologian, I do find the "Daemonic" side of WH40k a little troubling, mostly because of the name. I usually just call them "warplings of chaos", and be done with it. I know, it is a little bit silly, but I am just hardwired that way.

_Tim?

Say they're not Demons they're Daemons (say it as Day-mons) then BS your way to victory. Say that some evil god hating scientist transformed (using what he calls "evolution" ) some forest animals into these abominations and that by combining them as a force to march to war against the evil scientist they are doing god's work.

Or just explain that Daemons ≠ Demons, using the history of the early Church to explain the overlap in terminology.

the Deamons are meant to be the ultiment symbol of all that is evil just like the deamons in the bible are evil. they weren't evil orriginally, but they became evil and twisted from what they originally were.

From Wikipedia:

"The words daemon, dæmon, and daimon are Latinized spellings of the Greek δαίμων (daimôn) used purposely today to distinguish the daemons of Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hellenistic religion and philosophy.[1] Daemons are good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods, such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes" (see Plato's Symposium), and differ from the Judeo-Christian usage of demon, a malignant spirit that can seduce, afflict, or possess humans.[2]"

n0t_u wrote:

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:

Jaon wrote:I think that daemons are supposed to signify everything that horrifies human beings, so naturally they are exactly what we picture as demons.

Try explaining that aspect of WH40k to an anti Harry Potter relative.

Of course, as a mildly liberal theologian, I do find the "Daemonic" side of WH40k a little troubling, mostly because of the name. I usually just call them "warplings of chaos", and be done with it. I know, it is a little bit silly, but I am just hardwired that way.

_Tim?

Say they're not Demons they're Daemons (say it as Day-mons) then BS your way to victory. Say that some evil god hating scientist transformed (using what he calls "evolution" ) some forest animals into these abominations and that by combining them as a force to march to war against the evil scientist they are doing god's work.

Why am I not amused? Seriously, man, I am trying to have a productive conversation here, not a flame war. I hate it when people troll.

Ach.

I didn't use Wikipedia, since I don't want to know what the definition of Daemon is, I wanted to know why GW didn't/cant think of a more original name.

_Tim?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote: I hate it when people troll.

Then why did you start a troll thread?

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote: I wanted to know why GW didn't/cant think of a more original name.

Asked and answered: it's the most appropriate name.

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:


I didn't use Wikipedia, since I don't want to know what the definition of Daemon is, I wanted to know why GW didn't/cant think of a more original name.

_Tim?

Epic No matter what you personally might believe, ignorance is NOT a bliss.

Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:...Daemons? I mean, could not GW have thought up a better, more original name?

Well, when they tried to make completely original names they came up with 'squats', so you can see why they decided to stop.

Shas'O Dorian wrote:I think of a program running in the background. Particularly on my Unix servers.

I can't tell if you're making a reference to Charles Stross here or not...

If yes, /highfive.

But yeah. It's pretty much been covered:
"Daemons" is the term mankind gave to the manifestation of Warp entities, based off of old superstitions and lore passed down from generation to generation.

It's just a buzz word, doesn't bother me.

How about fairies? Pixies? Codex: Fey Folk anyone?

I prefer Daemons.

Because they're EVIL. They want to CORRUPT. They spread disease, hedonism, foul sorcery, and general mayhem because that's just what they are.

I like to refer to them as "Uhohs".

Or sometimes "Ray, what did you do?!".

Since y'know, Daemons are only given their shape by the thoughts of mortals. Can you imagine if humans didn't think of some scaled horror wielding a giant blade when they dubbed the Daemons of Khorne "Bloodletters"?

Or that "Great Unclean Ones" didn't get associated with the bloated corpulent nature they have?

...
I think I want to make a Staypuft Marshmallow Man Nurgle army now.

So Melissia's another one that doesn't get the difference between 'daemon' and 'demon'.

Or doesn't particularly give a damn.


From Princeton, Daemon:
"devil: an evil supernatural being"

Versus Demon:
"devil: an evil supernatural being "


Heheh. If you REALLY want to be nitpicky about it, it shoiuld be daimôn.