Difference between spirits and demons?

He Who Struggles·9/25/2017, 11:49:19 PM·10 votes·3,514 views

It just occurred to me that now Eve is considered a demon along with tahm and it makes me wonder if there are differences between the kind of demons they are and the beings from the spirit realms. In Shen's lore story "True Neutral", the spirit that attacked the fishermen's boat was described as a "silvered hair demon" and the priest with acolytes were attacking imps which in stereotypical fantasy are either just wild creatures or more related, lesser demons of hell. Are Eve and Tahm different from these beings since they require a "contract"? Or is Eve also from the spirit realm since her true form is not human? Sorry if this is minor but it would help if I can have some clarification or other people's thoughts about this. Thank you!

23 Comments

Psyrix9/26/2017, 1:33:26 AM6 votes

All demons are spirits, but not all spirits are demons. The more malevolent spirits are referred to as demons.

JooshBox9/26/2017, 12:12:55 AM6 votes

Good question side note I loved the end to Shen's new lore. Shen and Bard seem to be the most true neutral of all the champs.

A Superb Villain9/26/2017, 12:05:56 AM5 votes

I assumed the distinction was spirits are naturally occurring while demons are manifestations.

GreenLore9/26/2017, 10:19:58 AM3 votes

The way I understand it,demons are essentially a subrace of spirits. So every demon is a spirit,but not every spirit is a demon. Though we don't know what a demon represents,but my guess is that they are manifestations of humanitys negative emotions(greed/gluttony for Tahm,Fear for Nocturne,Lust for Eve?)

The same goes for the undead spirits of the shadow isles.

Melledoneus9/26/2017, 12:44:03 PM3 votes

Pretty much the question has been answered here, so I'm gonna drop in and say that spirits are also more incorporeal while demons are more physically anchored to the world. You never hear of anyone but Shen killing spirits but you see a priest kill some imps. I think it's the fact that demons are attached to this world is what makes them more physically tangible.

Rebonack9/26/2017, 1:22:32 AM2 votes

Their willingness to stab people.

TheBentOn39/26/2017, 1:21:06 AM2 votes

Probably perception. Janna is a being from the spirt realm that feeds on belief. But she is benevolent so people like her, thus she is called a spirt.

TK and Eve are beings from the spirt realm that feed on Despair and Agony respectively. They are malevolent, so people call them demons.

XIII Vanitas9/26/2017, 11:21:53 AM2 votes

I guess that LoL demons are just malevolent spirits that actively hunt humans out of hatred.

Eternal7919/26/2017, 3:39:16 PM2 votes

Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one seems to have said this here. I think Reav3 (or some other Rioter) confirmed that demons are created by human/mortal emotions and/or sins. Tahm Kench was created by greed and gluttony, while Evelynn was created by lust. From what I've gathered, a lot of spirits don't seem to have been made by anything that we know of. Though Janna was likely created by human need for help (is Janna an angel since she seems to be a reverse demon?).