The Red-Eyed Demon is a malevolent demonic entity of extraterrestrial origin that serves as one of the main antagonists of the game. Acting in tandem with the Devourers of God, it appears to have but a single goal: to devour and destroy all life.
Appearance
Jim Johnson describes the Plague of Shadows as a dark force that consumed all in its path with living shadows as a collective entity.
Larry described it as 'a black mist with sharp red eyes that pierce right through you'.
The Red-Eyed Demon is an incorporeal entity that appears as a shadowy humanoid silhouette with distinct glowing red eyes (hence its name). On the key art for The Wretched, the demon is shown to have a defined nose and sharp teeth.
When inside the body of Todd Morrison, the demon only showed itself through red eyes and suicidal thoughts.
Personality
The Red-Eyed Demon is a cunning and manipulative individual, proving capable of tricking Luke Holmes to not only surrender his body to it but to massacre his entire family for the promise of reward.
The demon possesses no qualms about killing innocents to get its way, having consumed Jim Johnson's entire home world to further its goals and even following the alien to Earth and tormenting his family.
When possessing Evelyn, the Red-Eyed Demon is livid, shouting out profanities and voicing its impatience regarding the cult’s efforts to aid it in the infection of the populace. It declares itself as "god" while viewing humanity as nothing but "filthy pigs".
Biography
In an unknown region of space, the Red-Eyed Demon attacked the home world of Jim Johnson in the form of a plague of shadows. It succeeded in consuming everything except for Jim and his sister, Evelyn, who both escaped the calamity by flying into space via a Drifter. Unfortunately, Evelyn had already been infected before their escape.
On Earth, another contingent of the plague (nicknamed The Dark) had taken hold of the Addison family but was thwarted by the actions of Terrence Addison, the youngest of the clan. By killing all that the Dark had tainted, Terrence saved Earth from the fate that befell Jim's world. Unfortunately, the boy's sacrifice would be in vain. He too was infected by the Dark and would struggle to fight its influence in the years to come.
During the Drifter’s descent to the planet, Evelyn was taken to the Spectral Plane in a burst of flames. Her isolation made it easy for The Dark to feed, gradually possessing and consuming her. However, the entity found human qualities such as hunger and thirst to be limiting. It was especially agitated by skin, thus it shifted towards the use of ghosts as vessels. With Evelyn's death, The Dark had returned to Nockfell.
Through unknown means, a cult known as the Devourers of God became associated with the entity, putting forth an effort to summon the demon presumably to further their own agenda. The group went so far as to sacrifice one of their own cultists to serve as a temporary construct for it to inhabit.
The demon later appeared before Larry Johnson the day before his father’s disappearance. This encounter led Larry to believe the demon had placed a curse upon him, a 'curse' that would foreshadow all the misfortune that would soon befall the youngest of the Johnson family.
The Red-Eyed Demon furthered its goals by using the broken and gullible Luke Holmes as a host, manipulating the man into killing his own family, believing they would prove insignificant obstacles in their quest to realize the cult's goals. Despite this, the Red-Eyed Demon was thwarted by the efforts of Alyson Rosenberg, Stacy Holmes, Greg Montague, and (likely unintentionally) Sandy Sanderson when they apparently destroyed several objects pivotal in an important ritual. Likely as an act of retaliation, Charley Mansfield was selected as the demon’s next host to brutally murder Mrs. Sanderson moments before the arrival of Sal and Henry Fisher, the former of which it meets briefly in the kitchen of Larry's apartment.
When Sal conversed with the ghosts it quickly approached and forced them into hiding. It, however, never directly confronted the blue-haired boy until he stumbled upon the hanging ghost of Luke Holmes. The Red-Eyed Demon was quick to shed his ghostly skin and attack Sal, but was zapped away by Larry with a new invention created by Todd Morrison before it could cause any harm.
Many years later, the Red-Eyed Demon's strength grew, allowing it to aid the Devourers of God in summoning the Pillar and casting the barrier spells. In doing so, it completed Terrence Addison's transformation into the Endless One to infect the residents of the apartment complex. This forced Sal to kill all that it touched to prevent it from consuming the world.
The Cult failed to spread the entity's influence. The Red-Eyed Demon obtained a new host in the form of Todd, who spent time in a mental institution, begging for death.
Following Sal's execution, The Dark's influence spread across the globe and consumed 33% of its population thanks to the efforts of the Cult, and became strong enough to manifest individual constructs in the spectral plane.
The Dark's reign over Earth was cut short thanks to the efforts of Sal Fisher, Ashley Campbell, and the ghost of Larry Fisher. With the Void sealed, the Dark's strength began to wane and die off as the three friends cleansed the world of its influence.
Abilities
Being a 'demonic' entity of unknown cosmic origins, the Red-Eyed Demon possesses powerful supernatural abilities.
The demon’s most notable ability is 'possession' through infection, being capable of contaminating the essence of the living and maintaining its grip after death. How quickly it does so is dependent on the strength of the collective. The Plague of Shadows was at full strength, consuming Jim Johnson's home world in mere moments. The Dark (the Plague's contingent on Earth predating Jim Johnson's landing), while capable of infecting the Addison family, couldn't keep its hold on Terrence, who ended infection by killing everyone that was tainted by its touch.
Once the demon has infected the host’s body, their eyes take on the bright red hue of the demon’s, making their status as a vessel easily identifiable. While under the demon’s influence, the host has no control over their actions but is still conscious, being forced to witness whatever horrid acts the demon commits by their hand. In certain situations, the demon may instead choose to take advantage of the victim’s compromised emotional state, manipulating them into doing its bidding. This eliminates the need for it to take complete control, which may have been the case with Luke Holmes. Should the host resist its hold, as observed in Terrence, Evelyn & Todd, the demon must consume the host over time, especially if it hasn't gained enough strength. The process of consumption likely causes great pain and discomfort as all three hosts display great grief.
A person possessed by the demon for a prolonged period of time will start to exhibit suicidal tendencies. Such thoughts may either be spurred on by the victim’s own guilt for the acts they committed while under the entity’s possession, or may originate from the demon itself due to its preference of inhabiting ghosts. Depending on the circumstances, it could very well be a combination of both factors. If left unrestrained, the person will often succeed in taking their own life. The demon will continue to inhabit the victim’s ghost and consume them in death.
List of Vessels
- A female cultist - consented out of obligation to the Devourers of God
- Luke Holmes - consented out of the promise of reward and grief for losing the love of his wife
- Charley Mansfield - exact reasons unknown, possibly for the promise of the Glitter Pony
- Evelyn - Consumed while trapped in the spectral plane while infected
- Todd Morrison - Forcefully as a result of the ritual
- The Residents of Addison Apartments - Infected
- Maple - Infected
- Kenneth Phelps - Surrendered willingly
Trivia
- The Red-Eyed Demon was possibly inspired by shadow people: paranormal beings that appear as black, shadowy masses. The demon is identical to a type of shadow person known as a "Red-Eyed Shadow" which, as its name suggests, has glowing red eyes. These entities are said to feed on the terror of those who witness them, becoming more powerful the more terrified the spectator becomes.
- The Red-Eyed Demon is somewhat similar to Venom from the Marvel Universe in the sense that it requires a vessel to survive and used the term 'we' instead of 'I' when it talks through Evelyn on the videotapes.
- It is possible that the Red-Eyed Demon can not directly infect a ghost, rather, it needs to have infected it in life in order to maintain a grip after death. Which explains why Todd is mentioned to be begging for death and Luke hanging himself.
- Mr. Packerton was likely the next intended vessel for the Red-Eyed Demon as the cult kept him alive in a vegetative state.
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