Gods and Demons

Question

Does anyone have any references to instances where gods have had sex with demons, with offspring resulting? In my novel, demons are not classified according to Judeo-Christian beliefs. Instead, they're a race of their own. Just as there are good/bad gods, good/bad humans, there are good/bad demons.

Most references to demons I've found are those relating to Christian theology.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You should have a deeper look into the Norse mythology and the Elder Edda.

There is no distinct line between Gods and Demons in the Edda, but a bunch of very different human-like races:

• Aesir (often called Asgard in pop culture): Although we call them "Gods" today, they're not godlike in the traditional sense. They are born and die of old age unless they eat magical apples, they love and hate and more than one story begins with an Aesir overpowered or outsmarted by a member of another race. There are good and evil Aesir.
• Vanir: a distinct group of godlike creatures, almost like a seperate tribe. They're often depicted as bringers of love, fertility and wisdom, so you could argue they're "better" than the Aesir. Still the Aesir waged war against them, won and assimilated the remaining Vanir into their society.
• Dwarves: The creation myth of the Norse tells of a giant being slain and the sky and land forming from its corpse. The maggots in the dead flesh formed the first Dwarves, creatures digging their way through the earth and turning to stone when hit by the light of the sun. Despite their rather unflattering origin, dwarves were valued craftsmen and the most valuable possessions of the Aesir (like Odins spear and Thors hammer) were created by dwarves.
• Jötunn (sgl) / Jötnar (pl): The name translates to "ice giants", but they're not always depicted as gigantic or ugly or evil. There are stories of Jötnar welcomming Odin as guests in their house or competing with him in a contest of wisdom at eye-level.

How does this all relate to your question?
The Norse didn't draw such a strong line between God and Demon, good and evil. The god of winter (a Jötunn) was married to the goddess of summer (a Vanir, I think). Loki sired* the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, the "best of all horses" and steed of Odin, but he also sired the demonic wolf Fenrir who eventually killed Odin. There are many more stories of mixed marriages that I don't recall now, but it wasn't a very unusual occurance.

*: _{To be precise, Loki transformed into a mare to seduce the stallion of the (unnamed) builder of Valhalla. He conceived and gave birth to Sleipnir in this female body. You can read the summary at Wikipedia}

Answer 2

What is a Demon?

In your story, there are humans, gods, and demons, and they seem to form three distinct groups which can interbreed. At a sufficient level of abstraction, that is no different from having two different pantheons in addition to the baseline humans.

The Titans of Greek mythology were kind of an older generation of gods, but also a distinct group.

• Selene had children with the god Zeus.
• Eos had a child with the mortal Cephalus.

Answer 3

The best fit that I could think of is a game,DMC: Devil May Cry

You could consider Dante's Mother, Eva, the good god (but she isn't, she is basically an angel) Then Dante's Father, a demon. The couple gave birth to Dante And Virgil, which are Nephilim, beings capable of defeating the Demon King Mondus, or perhaps, a god.

The Demons and Angel too have races of their own, which is why both are at constant war with each other. The only thing that I "miss" on your question is "a god" but with my examples, its your call on how you define your god.

Answer 4

In mythology or in fiction?

In fiction Esther M. Freisner had a series where one of their deities had a demon parent. In Lois Master Bujold's "Curse of Chalion" it is one God, "The Bastard" has a demon parent.

In Norse mythology the Jutun sometimes are portrayed like demons and definitely intermarry with the Gods.

In lots of books and mythologies the line between demon and God is blurry.

Answer 5

This isn't a good answer to what you are asking, but it might be the end answer you are looking for.

Rather than look for explicit God and Demon scenarios look at common Good Vs Bad Examples. Demons are heavily incoporated into the abrahamic religions and since its one of the more popular religions in the west and one of the religions we all grew up with, many people will naturally link Demons to the ones from the bible or popular media.

If you are looking for references related to appearance or powers, thats going to be up in the air. Popular media, cartoons, anime, comics, books, movies all have their own interpretations so I doubt anything you come up with will be super unique or different. If they are different from common depictions, it might be better to rename your demons into something else, just so people aren't naturally relating them to demons.

I was recently watching Sabrina on Netflix and their take on the Devil is particularly interesting. The Devil promotes free will. Why because God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat an apple, hence limiting their free will. The Devil promoted it by convincing Eve to eat it. (I might be butchering the lines, but you get the message). There are also other interpretations, like in the movie Noah, where the fallen angels are simply angels who tried to help humans against Gods will ( And fallen angels are basically demons ). Many new media have already done the take, that Demons aren't bad. They simply disobeyed God. Any number of them might make good references if you want to twist a traditional approach a little more.

The other thing you might be looking for is interactions between the half breed and its environment, people, friends, etc etc. In that case I would suggest not looking to the mythos behind Gods and Demons, and instead turn your attention to the treatment of Halfies when segregation was still popular. Their treatment by both white and black society would give you wonderful insights on how your half demon half gods will end up being treated. If you wanted a more positive outlook, then I would suggest looking into Halfies in asian culture (white + asian) and how they are perceived and treated.

Answer 6

Ah! Megami-sama

One of the main characters, Urd, is the daughter of a god (Tyr) and Hild, the Queen of the Demons. Urd is considered a goddess, except in certain story arcs when she becomes a demon. She spends most of her life hating and hiding her demon half, and her mother. But it also shows through in her personality, she is more mischievous and willing to bend the rules than most goddesses.