The Daemon Meme

[toastysocks]

In the universe of the His Dark Materials trilogy (or the movie The Golden Compass), every person has a creature called a daemon that accompanies them all their lives, and is emotionally and metaphysically a part of them. Daemons are often described as sort of external souls (while the part of the personality in a human's body is the spirit).



Basic Daemon Facts:

- They take the shape of animals
- They can talk, no matter what their shape
- Children's daemons can change form at will; around puberty they 'settle' and become one animal permanently
- Neither the person or the daemon chooses the final settled form, but it always reflects their personality (although not necessarily in obvious or simple ways)
- They are almost always the opposite sex as their human
- If a daemon feels pain, so will their person, and vice versa
- Being physically apart from one's daemon causes horrible emotional and physical pain
- Daemons frequently talk to and touch each other, in ways that reflect or complement their persons' interactions, but daemons talking to humans other than their own is considered strange, and touching humans not their own is extremely taboo; it generally occurs only between long-time lovers. Touching someone else's daemon without permission is a terrible violation.

How it works:

Just design a daemon for your muse and put as little or as much information as you like about them (shape, name, link to a picture or species wiki if you are so inclined) in a comment, with your muse's name and series in the subject. Check out other people's daemons and let your daemons interact too.

Comments

Kylo Ren ✛ Star Wars ✛ OTA

[obumbravit]

[ ooc : His Daemon is a very friendly and talkative common Raven.]

[reyse]

[care for a rey?]

Lyra (Belacqua) Silvertongue | His Dark Materials

[convincingly]

[Pantalaimon eventually settles as a pine marten but when they were more smol he preferred being an ermine so]

Rinzler | Tron | OTA

[notglitching]

[ooc: glowy goshawk, settled while Tron was on the Game Grid in Encom. During Tron's repurposing to Rinzler, Clu came close to severing her completely. If allowed to heal, their connection would be something like the witches in HDM; as is, they're kept separate and both massively damaged in their own ways.

For a pre-Legacy encounter: Rinzler is the Grid's enforcer and can be found killing stuff for Clu as usual... but, he comes with the bonus creep factor of apparently not having a daemon. (This is a known thing that there are rumors about.) Clu keeps his daemon and handles her personally, though she could be encountered making a bid for freedom. She has clipped wings, is caged or jessed on a short leash, and stopped talking around when Rinzler did. Universally murderous disposition.

For post-Legacy: similar, except they're presumably at some stage of reconnecting. Might be a first meeting (especially if they're getting exported to the user world or someplace), or after they've had more of a chance to bond.]

post-Legacy

[yorisearching]

The horizon is dark where the Portal once was, where the Users fled, where the implosion began. Yori stands on an outcrop above the Sea, searching the sky for any hint of hope.

Linden flutters in a tight circle around her, glowing in the deep brilliant colors of a fruit dove.

She had hidden him away before, under cloaks, under pale disguises, but now he's taking the chance to stretch his wings. No Recognizers, no crowds out here on the edge of the Sea.

There also isn't much evidence left of whatever Clu had gotten up to. Yori taps her fingers on her lightjet baton, worried. She doesn't actually want to find Clu, but finding nothing is worse, because she can extrapolate so many terrible things from the absence.

She won't be the only one looking forever. Eventually, the Grid will realize no orders are coming. Yori needs a convincing argument, or at least more data.

"I don't see anything here," Linden calls, discouraged. Yori stretches a hand out by long habit, and his claws latch around her fingers, the prickle contrasting with a soft brush of feathers.

With a sigh, she offers the only answer she has: "We'll keep searching."

Ellie | The Last of Us | OTA

[fungi_notpunny]

[OOC: Ellie's Daemon is a curious looking coywolf who's hesitant, shy bordering on cowardly, and spends a lot of time thinking about every possible outcome before making a decision. His name is Antioch, and most people like him more than Ellie.

For Ellie's canon, I'll say that Daemons can't be turned on their own, but will turn if their human partners are infected. What exactly that entails I'm not sure, but we can wing it!]

Scarecrow | Batman Arkham Knight | ota

[doctor_terror]

[Jonathan's deamon is a female crow named Nightmare. She's the best little lab assistant he could ask for. She can also be as creepy as her human sometimes.]

Aku | Samurai Jack

[unspeakablyevil]

[ Bending meme rules a bit but I'd love for Aku to actually be someone's ill-tempered daemon (who, for whatever reason, has not settled or is incapable of settling.) ]

Derek Lockwood | Original | OTA

[doctricis]

[ Derek's daemon is a Fossa named Aria, whom is particularly protective of him and tries to stay close, usually sitting on his shoulders if she can. She does have a tendency to chat with whomever he's patching up and isn't afraid to comment on their injuries. ]

Michael Corvin | Underworld

[lycanhybrid]

[Micheal's daemon is a wolverine. She tended to shift a lot between a bat and wolf when he was a kid, before settling on something more unconventional.

M/M for shipping. OTA for gen.]

Arkady Raventon | Lost Souls

[raventonmagick]

[Arkady's daemon is a black snake named Shelly who tends to coil up on his shoulder. M/M for shipping, OTA for gen.]

Moira Scott/Mary, Queen of Scots | Project Rewrite

[ofscots]

[Her daemon is a Scottish terrier named Rex.]

Kevin Flynn | Tron

[creator4983]

[ Andromeda is a playful, chatty raven with a love of shiny things and smartassery. ]

sav crossover shenanigans!

[alan_1]

[To be honest, Alan hadn’t picked up many details from the reports about this world from Avagi’s other residents. Once he had heard that it resembled a late 20th-century Earth and that it seemed safe, his mind was already made up: he was going to take a look.

But for all that the world’s appeal was its familiarity, Alan couldn’t have imagined just how familiar it would be. As the Ingress’s mists clear, he finds himself standing alone on a street at night—a street he knows intimately. And if he had any doubts, the sign above the entrance to the building before him quickly puts them to rest. He’s standing in front of Flynn’s arcade.

For a moment, all Alan can do is stand there dumb-founded. And then, scarcely breathing, he steps forward. It’s obvious enough that the arcade is currently closed, but as he approaches, Alan sees that the machines still look to be in good shape. It certainly isn’t the dusty, tarp-covered interior from his own time. There’s something else too: the slightest signs of movement within. Alan’s mind races as he tries to understand where and when he is. Is he back home, just a couple of decades too soon? Is this some kind of parallel universe where Flynn never disappeared and the arcade never closed? Or is he in just another elaborate illusion?

There's only one way to find out. Slowly, as if afraid the building itself will vanish out of existence at the first touch, he reaches for the door—and knocks.]

Susan Sto Helit || Discworld

[goodoldsue]

[ Her daemon settled a rat, to her eternal disgruntlement. It seems some things you can never get far enough away from. ]

max rockatansky ☢ mad max

[dysmania]

( a sugar glider. small and quiet enough that he might be mistaken for not having a daemon. the poor thing is as addled by the circumstances as he is.

he doesn't talk to it very much. )

[a_good_joe]

( So I sort of see these two as very similar characters, so... They could--hang out in the desert? With a dove and a sugar glider? And--say--like, ten words between them? Idk, I'm sure there's some gen scenario that would work XD )

Selina Kyle | Gotham

[fille_fatale]

[Her daemon is, shocker, a cat, specifically a black and orange calico who is quick to hiss at anyone who treads too close.]

Joe/K | Blade Runner 2049

[a_good_joe]

[His daemon's a white dove. She's also mute. Replicants being created as adults, their daemons miss the fluid phase--depending on who you talk to, their muteness is either a side-effect of that or something deliberately bioengineered to make replicants and their daemons easier to write off as not human. The Wallace Corporation isn't telling, either way.]

Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane | VLD

[the_monster_wins]

[so many ways we could go with this. Maybe he lost his daemon during his first Galra imprisonment. Maybe the Black Lion is a form of daemon, which makes the rejection from it even more interesting. Maybe we keep it simple and his daemon is a black lion that has a tendency to think everyone is her cub. Including Shiro. Also open to Shiro being someone's black lion daemon or having someone as his whatever-you-want daemon. Game for just about anything. Open to canon and cross-canon]

michael burnham | star trek: discovery

[burnham]

[ michael's daemon is a talkative, friendly and outgoing ferret named ezra. he's a lot more affectionate and warm than she is and reminds everyone of their parents or grandparents with his concern. are they sleeping well? tsk, tsk. it's very important. ]

Varian | Tangled TV series | warning: fres spoilers because I'm caught up

[wouldilietoyou]

[Varian's Daemon is, naturally, a raccoon. It can be very volatile and change its size and behaviour erratically if Varian's violently angry or scared, but most of the time, it's just a spiriual raccoon. Very friendly. And a chatterbox, because in this universe, he can talk and rarely hesitates to do so. Tries to be Varian's concience. Sometimes can become irritating while doing that.

The raccoon also often steals sandwitches. What? Just because he's a concience doesn't mean he's a saint]

[onthatdayidied]

[Mitsunari's Daemon is a white she-wolf, who treats Ishida like her pup. Only, she doesn't seem very mature herself, ready to bite a limb of at the slightest insult - especially the slightest insult to what Mitsunari holds dear - so not really to Mitsunari himself. To his Lords, moreso.

Mitsunari cannot see her. Yes, he's plainly unable to see, hear, or touch her at all

She never speaks. Never even barks. She's as silent as death.

Sometimes, bouts of wanderlust take her and she leaves her 'pup' even for two months at a time. If, when she's in such a mood, Ishida was really hurt, the She-wolf Daemon wouldn't even care until her particular wanderlust period ended. At all.

If you try to feed her or touch her without spiritually 'smelling' of Mitsunari, preper for violence on her end. If asked, she'd be certain she never leaves Ishida's side. She's not very self-aware.

During the full moon she behaves strangely - she seems to be howling... completely silently.

She never changes her form or size. Never.]

Clu 2.0 | Tron | OTA; Tronfrands can specify timeline

[a_perfect_end]

[Priscilla has had a long runtime, and for most of it she was one or another winged thing--a jackdaw, a starling, an ostrich, a swarm of bees--surprising herself and her Program when she settled all-at-once instead into a fossa, mongoose's island cousin, sometime terror of the court of King Julien.

(It's said--though never where Clu nor Priscilla herself may hear--that Radia of Arjia tried to pet her hello and there's been war between them since.)

Clever, conceited, and fiercely affectionate with those she deems hers, Pri has only fallen silent once, and then not for long. Clu attempted to sever their connection himself, for the strategic advantage of freedom of movement, and it...changed...both of them.

Now she's never out of his sight, washing continuously, heard to mutter jealously about all that is perfect.]

Early on the Grid!

[yorisearching]

On her way up to the city tower where Clu makes his plans, Yori fidgets eagerly with the blueprint that's held her imagination the past few millicycles, since Flynn left.

With the Portal closed, no User calls until whenever Flynn gets around to visiting, Yori's had to find plenty of things to keep herself occupied. This one merits a report to the Administrator, though, like few hobbies ever have.

Linden's perched on her shoulder as she hurries up ramps and past guards, his colorful glow slightly muted inside a protective curl of armor she coded just for his comfort the moment anyone permitted it. "I know you want to keep up with me," he teases in her ear, "but I want you to know I'll love you even if you are sadly flightless."

Her daemon isn't the only reason Yori is so excited about the new design...just one of them. Practicalities have always limited Linden's flight distance to her ability to follow. Now she can fly them both, without an energy beam, without a clumsy ship.

Maybe.

[actuaryonline]

[Ram's daemon, Lealia, is a crow with thin blue circuits decorating her form as they do her program. She settled some time before the two were forced into the Game Grid and who knows if she'd be something different if she'd settled after.

Meet Ram in the cells and she'll be surly and frustratingly grounded due to the forcefield, but still up for conversation, often from Ram's shoulder.

Meet him out of the cells, either in ENCOM or the Grid (because this is already an AU so why limit?) and she will be enjoying the free space around her, playful and more cheery. And, as always, up for conversation.]

[yorisearching]

(So, in Encom but after the MCP's defeat, maybe with their daemons' good advice Flynn managed to do enough repair and hide Ram somewhere so he could recover? Ram deserves to see that.)

The sky, the whole Encom system gleams a little brighter, but there's a lot of work to do. Yori scrambles down a long series of broken, glittering crystals, toward the coordinates Flynn had reported.

The MCP is dead, at last. Tron is busy defending that choice, and the rescued Guardians, from anyone who still wore red, while Dumont is busy running the newly free system. This left Yori the best available option to locate the place where Flynn had hidden Tron's friend and fellow prisoner.

Her dove, Linden, flies a few steps ahead, his colors resplendent with the energy that's no longer under strict ration. He's delighted with everything. "Did you see the MCP is dead?" he calls to a passing bit.

No more delighted than Yori herself. "Shh," she chides him nevertheless. "We don't want too much attention." Not when they don't know how damaged Ram might still be.

Katniss Everdeen | The Hunger Games

[lxxiv]

[ Saff is a bobcat, who settled quite suddenly after her father's death. As if to contrast Katniss' prickliness, he's rather warm, if quiet. ]

Jemma Simmons || MCU/Agents of SHIELD

[bravejemma]

[Jemma's daemon Marcellus is a Bengal cat. Marcellus is more likely to say the things that Jemma only thinks, and so comes across as rather blunt, but he is affectionate and friendly once you have earned Jemma and his trust.]

[hardscrabble]

[Rey's daemon is a Fennec fox named Kai -- and no, that does not rhyme with Rey.]

Jyn Erso || Star Wars

[open_rebellion]

[Jyn's daemon, Nikos, is an American Kestrel.]