Why do demons and devils want souls?

[LiamEvans210]

Basically, what the title says.

In most game cosmologies it's pretty much a given that the denizens of the infernal planes are very interested in collecting the souls of mortals (whatever that means), but why?

The whole trope comes (I assume) from stereotypical christian theology/mythology, where it is largely a matter of petty spite, the Devil wanting to hurt God the only way he can, by hurting mortals. That a a little bit of misery loves company.

But in a world where demons and devils can be fought physically, there are multiple gods and they can be communicated with, and traveling to hell or the abyss or whatever to battle the forces of darkness is an option (at least for some), that reason doesn't seem like it really works.

So why? What do the extra planar powers gain by gathering souls?

I kinda get the impression that in D&D it is mainly just a means of recruitment. The souls get turned into extra planar beings and just continue to serve. That works well enough, I guess, but just seems a little.... bland? So there is no real difference between being a mortal and an angel or demon, just a different set of powers?

If I remember correctly, Wraith:The Oblivion had souls being not just the denizens of the afterlife, but also the raw materials needed to do things there, which is an idea I sort of like, very dark, but it kinda works. But not sure how well it would work in a bigger cosmology like a typical D&D-esque multiverse.

So I ask you all, what are some other options? What are some reasons why Demons and Devils (and the gods too) are interested in souls?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Some possibilities:

• As you say, recruitment of souls as new demons.
• Souls serve as a power source or raw material for infernal constructions.
• They're a point of status competition in the underworld. Souls are themselves without practical use, but acquiring them is prestigious.
• Demons are evil and simply enjoy the suffering they cause for its own sake.

[cptbutton]

In the In Nomine RPG, every soul has an income of one Essence point per day, a very valuable fuel for all sort of things. So damned souls are enslaved to harvest their daily Essence.

Damned souls might also be the cannon fodder of Armageddon in some settings.

And if the setting uses "souls believing in you gives you power", damned souls count as believing in you.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by LiamEvans210

So why? What do the extra planar powers gain by gathering souls?

They labor forever in the fields of whichever god enslaved them of course.
Why do gods need eternal field hands you ask? Beats me, but it made sense to the earliest myth writers.

Seriously what do material plane powers gain by gathering slaves, or money, or anything else? Any of those excuses could work for any particular non-material power too. Though once you start talking about infinities (eternity, omnipotence whatever) gain becomes very difficult to define, and it's even more slippery.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Some possibilities:

• Demons are evil and simply enjoy the suffering they cause for its own sake.

Lots of humans seem to have found torturing the innocent entertaining too you know, and staring at the unchanging lavascape gets pretty boring after the first few millennia....

Though sometimes they have a reason beyond simple enjoyment. Suffering is often nutritious to demons, or at least something they need to inflict regularly lest they suffer a status debuff or some other negative issue themselves.

[Irish Wolf]

They make an extremely comfortable mattress stuffing, far superior to goosedown or memory foam.

[Mark Skarr]

In my Omniverse, the differences between Heaven and Hell is marketing. Heaven got a quick in, and (ehem) demonized Hell.

Demons are foot troopers, devils are the ones who run things. It's just a terminology change, there are really no differences. Devils tend to be much more powerful, because they are in charge and they have learned how to use the power they've attained very well. Nothing stops a Demon from becoming a Devil through promotion.

The Afterlife--Hell, as Asmodeus once explained to Heaven/Shimmer, is simply a laundromat. There is as much punishment in Heaven as there is in Hell, Heaven just didn't tell anyone the truth. The ultimate goal is for the "souls" to come in, get cleansed of everything, then return to the mortal world to keep it going. "Hell is a business."

For souls that cling to tightly to some aspect of their previous existences, they become new demons/angels. Truly powerful souls may become new devils--or something else.

The "battle for Souls" is mostly an ideological battle created by Heaven. It was one sect of the afterlife that split off to do its own thing. Heaven wants souls to show that they are right. Hell doesn't care. Demons do their jobs. The more souls one part of the Afterlife has, the more clout and "power" it has.

Immortals . . . well, they follow different rules.

[Varyon]

In The Book of Vile Darkness for That Other Game, souls can be used in lieu of one's own XP to create magic items and similar, can serve as currency, etc. In the Diablo series, part of it is that demons just enjoy torturing people (Lilith and Inarius, the creators of Sanctuary and humanity, met when the former, a demon, found the latter, an angel, near-death on the battlefield and decided to take him home to torture; he started babbling about his dream to escape the Eternal Conflict - the war between angels and demons - she decided that sounded like it had potential, and everything pretty much started from there). Human souls can also serve as power sources of some flavor, as humans are theoretically more powerful than both angels and demons (as they're descended from both, although most of that power is locked away). The process of corrupting the humans seems to often be more the end goal, however, as it results in pawns in Sanctuary. Humorously, I think it was actually the angel Maltheal (in the Reaper of Souls expansion for Diablo III) who made the most use of human souls - he basically created a soul-powered machine that made himself untouchable as Death, as well as manipulated them in an attempt to wipe out all demons (which would also kill all humans, their souls being roughly 50% demonic in nature). In Chrno Crusade, demons actually exist to be a punishment for sinners (as well as a bit of a temptation, as they can grant humans power). It's largely the rogue demons that are inclined to outright steal (rather than tempt them into damnation) human souls, and once again it's as a power source (specifically, one of them decides that their horns function as a control mechanism, but they are also necessary organs to tap into the Astral Line to gain nourishment and strength; once he removes his horns, he's reliant on more-or-less stealing human souls to "eat" their energy, which is of the same type as the Astral Line but accessible without horns).

So, often, human souls are a source of power for demons.

[RogerBW]

They are delicious.

Originally Posted by malloyd

Lots of humans seem to have found torturing the innocent entertaining too you know, and staring at the unchanging lavascape gets pretty boring after the first few millennia....

Doing corruption properly…

"Look, could you help us out? Dave's off sick and Sharon's still out looking after her 666,000 nameless spawn. Nothing bad, just stand here on the edge of the brimstone lake for a couple of hours and call me if anyone tries to climb out, OK?"

[TGLS]

Well, maybe the soul is basically gravy to any deal made with a demon or devil. If the deal is, "Demon gives witch magical powers, witch consecrates newborns in demon's name," the witch has no reason to follow through once she gets the magical powers. Thus the demon gets the soul of the witch to use as leverage against her, perhaps directly (someone's soul would probably be a killer boost to cast magic on them) or indirectly ("I've got your soul, so you're going to hell when you die. This can be a happy stay or an unhappy stay.")