Demon

Ability: hunting at any sanity

• It can start a hunt regardless of average sanity. It doesn’t depend on anything in particular: if it decides to use the ability, it hunts. That hunt can be prevented with the usual methods.
• It happens much less often than threshold hunts, because it depends on its ability state.
• Since it isn’t a “normal” hunt attempt, it can try to use it when it isn’t allowed to hunt (during the setup phase, under the effect of Incense, or during the hunt cooldown). In those cases it fails and enters the favorite room state.

Hunt

• Hunt sanity threshold: 70% (the standard is 50%). It’s separate from its ability; the hunt itself is the same.
• Minimum hunt cooldown: 20 s (normally 25 s).
• Incense holds it off for only 60 s (normally 90 s).
• Weakness: the Crucifix affects it at a 50% larger range:

Crucifix	Normal range	Range against the Demon
Tier I	3 m	4.5 m
Tier II	4 m	6 m
Tier III	5 m	7.5 m

Strategy

• Think of the Demon as if its threshold were 100%, even though it hunts less often above 70%.
• Since it hunts so much, plan your route to the ghost room and what to bring for the objectives. Decide ahead of time whether you’re going to hide or smudge it. Save your sprint as you approach the ghost room in case a hunt starts suddenly.
• If there’s a very early hunt, make sure nobody on the team used a cursed possession without telling the rest.
• The Crucifix’s larger range makes it easier to hold off, though it can be tough in huge rooms (like the Basketball Court at Brownstone High School).

How to identify it

• Time the hunt cooldown. If it’s under 25 s (not counting hunts from cursed possessions), it could be a Demon. If it uses up a Crucifix charge in that time, that points to it too.
• Time how long Incense holds it off. If it hunts 60 to 90 s after being smudged properly, it could be a Demon.
• Time it carefully (a stopwatch helps). If you smudge it while it’s still under the effect of the previous smudge, the timer doesn’t reset: wait for it to try to hunt before smudging it again.
• Not hunting the moment the cooldown ends doesn’t rule it out: hunts that are always more than 25 s apart don’t eliminate the Demon.
• Hunting above 70% average sanity points strongly to the Demon, but doesn’t confirm it: other ghosts can do it too, though with conditions (the Yokai needs people talking, the Onryo needs to blow out flames, etc.). The Demon is the one that does it most often.

Trivia

• On 42 Edgefield Road, a Demon in the Garage, the Master Bedroom, or the Hallway can burn the Crucifix that’s still hanging in the truck, because its larger range reaches parts of those rooms. It can happen with other ghosts (especially with high-tier Crucifixes), but it’s much more common with the Demon.
• In mythology, demons usually have horrifying forms, with horns, tails, and claws. In the game they use the same ghost models as every other ghost, unchanged.
• The word “demon” comes from the Ancient Greek daímōn, which meant “god,” “power,” or “fate.” It was used for supernatural forces, good or bad, and with Christianity it took on a negative meaning.

Change history

Version	Change
Alpha, 5 August 2020	The Demon is added.
0.29.6	Its threshold goes up from 65% to 70%.
0.3.0	Before this version, its evidence was Spirit Box, Ghost Writing, and Freezing Temperatures.
0.4.0	Drains less sanity when (Ouija Board) questions succeed, instead of when they fail.
0.5.0	Gets the Banshee’s rare ability to hunt at any sanity. Its hunt cooldown becomes 20 s. Incense (smudge sticks) holds it off for only 60 s instead of 90 s.
0.5.1.0	Its reduced sanity loss applies to all cursed possessions.
0.5.2.0	Its weakness changes: instead of draining less sanity with cursed possessions, the Crucifix has more range (this used to be the Banshee’s weakness).
0.7.0	Its hunt ability works more reliably.
0.9.0	The Crucifix has 50% more range against it, at every tier.