From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   https://screenrant.com/buffy-vampire-slayer-demons-explained/   
      
      
   'Monster of the week' storylines were a staple of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,   
   but what is the story behind some of the show's demons?   
      
      
   BY RAE GELLEL   
   APR 03, 2020   
      
   It’s a familiar Buffy the Vampire Slayer scene: Buffy and the “Scooby   
   Gang”   
   in Sunnydale High Library or The Magic Box, scouring Giles' dusty tomes and   
   occult texts for clues about their latest foe – be it a demon, ghost, witch,   
   or a god from a hell dimension.   
      
   These ‘monster of the week’ storylines are typical of this era of   
   television, but as the series wore on, the plethora of demons and   
   supernatural beings began to pose a greater threat than the vampires   
   mentioned in the show's title.   
      
   Getting to know the characteristics and history of each new creature proved   
   endlessly entertaining for fans and is a testament to the rich and layered   
   mythology of the Buffyverse. Here’s a look at just ten.   
      
      
   10   
   Loose-Skinned Demons   
      
   Just one Loose-Skinned Demon features in the later seasons of Buffy the   
   Vampire Slayer – the recurring character of Clement, or Clem. Unlike the   
   majority of demon species encountered throughout the series, he seems to be   
   relatively benign, so much so that Buffy enlists him as a babysitter for   
   Dawn on one occasion.   
      
   A friend of Spike’s, Clem professes a dislike of violence and is often a   
   source of light-comic relief and even emotional insight for other characters   
   in the show. Little is known about his species, only that they suffer   
   prejudice in the demon community for their unsightly skin folds, and that   
   they feed on emotions. Clem even mentions that embarrassment is the   
   “tastiest.” It’s unclear whether all Loose-Skinned Demons share his   
   gentle   
   nature, or whether Clem is simply a nice guy. His one vice seems to be   
   eating kittens, but he later gives up this habit for “health and moral   
   reasons.”   
                [Feeding on emotions -- I never knew that; don't remember it   
   ever being mentioned]   
      
   9   
   Vengeance Demon   
      
   Vengeance Demons are the sinister genies of the Buffyverse. They’re a   
   predominantly female order who seeks out the wronged and mistreated, coaxing   
   them into wishing for vengeance, usually the bloody kind. They have the   
   power to make just about anything a reality, to even alter history and the   
   fabric of time itself, but a human must wish it so. The most notable   
   Vengeance Demon is, of course, Anyanka, and after she joins the cast in   
   season 3, audiences are given extensive insight into her former race.   
      
   Like many of the creatures on this list, Vengeance Demons begin their lives   
   as humans but are given the chance to transform by pure-blooded demon   
   D'Hoffryn after showing a talent for exacting revenge. He endows them with   
   powers through a talisman, giving them the aforementioned wish-granting   
   abilities, immortality, super-human strength, teleportation skills, and the   
   ability to sense the anguish of the downtrodden. Unlike vampires, Vengeance   
   Demons retain their soul, perhaps to allow them to empathize with their   
   subjects.   
      
      
   8   
   Old Ones   
      
   The mythology of the Old Ones is explored thoroughly in the Buffyverse   
   graphic novels, but they do feature intermittently throughout both the Buffy   
   and Angel TV series.  They are the original, pure-blooded demons that   
   inhabited the earth during the Primordium age. Before the Old Ones were   
   banished and eradicated, some mixed their blood with humans, creating the   
   demon-human hybrids who inhabit the Buffyverse as we know it.   
      
   In Angel, the spirit of an Old One, Illyria, possesses the body of the   
   character Winifred. The primary villain in Buffy season 3, Mayor Wilkins,   
   also returns to the pure-demon form of an Old One through a ritual called   
   the "ascension," becoming a gargantuan snake-like creature.   
      
      
   7   
   Chaos Demon   
      
   The introduction to this particular demon is brief but humorous. After Spike   
   fails to defeat Buffy and the gang in season 2, his century-old relationship   
   with the vampire who sired him, Druscilla, becomes strained.   
      
   This culminates in Dru cheating on Spike; he catches her making out with a   
   Chaos Demon. His outrage is intensified by this species’ less than desirable   
   appearance, as they have large antlers that perpetually drip slime.   
      
      
   6   
   Gnarl   
      
   Gnarl is a cave-dwelling demon of unknown origin who feeds on human skin; he   
   was once an acquaintance of Anya in her Vengeance Demon days. He has a   
   Gollum-like appearance, with mottled skin, a hooked nose, sharp, overcrowded   
   teeth, and talon-like fingernails. These secrete a paralyzing substance and   
   are used by Gnarl to strip the skin from his immobile victims.   
      
   He likes to refer to these unfortunates as “presents” for him to   
   “unwrap,”   
   and talks in creepy, childlike rhymes. It’s unclear whether he is the only   
   one of his kind, or whether he represents an entire demon species.   
      
   The only way to remove Gnarl’s paralyzing effect is to kill him, though this   
   is made difficult by his immunity to magic, something that almost proves   
   fatal for Willow.   
      
      
   5   
   Hans & Gretta Straus   
      
   In Buffy season 2, Joyce Summers discovers the bodies of two children who   
   have been seemingly murdered in an occult ritual. This leads to a climate of   
   fear and paranoia in Sunnydale about the supernatural, led by Joyce herself,   
   who is tormented by the children in dreams and visions.   
      
   They are Hans and Gretta Straus, who have their origins in the classic Grimm   
   fairytale. Though they appear to be the two innocent, blue-eyed siblings on   
   which the tale is based, in reality, this is merely the form taken by a   
   demon who manifests every fifty years in order to spread strife and terror   
   in communities, leading to mass-hysteria events like the Salem Witch Trials.   
   Buffy is able to thwart his influence moments before she, Willow, and Amy   
   are publicly burned at the stake.   
      
      
   4   
   Gentlemen   
      
   The Gentlemen are among the most celebrated demonic creations in the entire   
   Buffyverse, their appearance in the season 4 episode "Hush" is regarded as a   
   moment of classic '90s TV horror. Clad in pristine suits and carrying   
   doctor’s   
   satchels, they float a few inches above the ground and move with a   
   disturbing, unearthly gracefulness. They never speak, but garish smiles are   
   permanently fixed to their faces, and they interact with one another with   
   exaggerated politeness. They’re accompanied by demons bound in   
   straight-jackets who act as their foot soldiers.   
      
   The Gentlemen travel from town to town, collecting seven human hearts from   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)