The Demon | |
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The Demon in a host body. | |
biological information | |
Species | Demon (Cat as host body) |
Gender | Male |
physical attributes | |
Eye Color | Gold (in host body) |
Hair Color | Raven (in host body) |
relatives | |
- "I think her soul is pretty. Truly, purely beautiful... But when you put something like that in a world of humans, it quickly loses its color."
- ―The Black Cat describing Ellen
The Demon ( 悪魔, Akuma), more commonly known as the Black Cat (黒猫, Kuro neko), is the tritagonist as well as the subsequent villain of The Witch's House and Diary of Ellen.
He appears as an unnamed talking cat to whom Viola talks in order to save the game. True to their contract, the Black Cat will reset time in case anything happens to Ellen until he can fulfill his contract with her. If the game is completed without saves, you get a Secret Ending. The ending itself does not change anything story-wise, but it gives you far more information than the other two endings, revealing and explaining more backstory. It officially reveals that the cat was actually a demon with whom Ellen had a contract, from which her powers originated. In exchange for more souls, I will tell you a spell that cures your sickness. The cat holds a contract with Ellen, and this is further explained in the novel.
Personality[]
The Black Cat seems perpetually neutral about the abnormal situation in which the player participates. His only motive is to ensure that the contract is fulfilled. Sometimes he even cracks jokes, mentioning that he's following the player "for laughs", perhaps because he knows the player will win no matter what, rather than that he finds their deaths or struggles amusing. Although he seems quite cruel, he mentions how it was mean of you to kill the white flower, though this could be a mere ironic jest. He also genuinely worries about the player sometimes, telling them it wasn't a smart idea to come into the house. As a demon, he is true to his contract and will protect it no matter what, which may make him quite reliable.
He also mentions his liking for a cat's body, which he uses as his form on earth since demons do not have true forms.
- "Cats are just so elegant. I quite like a black cat's body."
- "It'll be a pity when you're gone. Pretty cat bodies like these ain't just lyin' around."
Appearance[]
In his host body, the demon takes the appearance of a black cat with golden eyes. In that form, Ellen describe's his voice to be like a young boy.
In his true demonic form, he is a ghostly purple haze.
History[]
Born in what can be assumed as the highlands or a cold forest, he lived a quiet "warm life". However it soon turned cold, as he and his mother were killed by a roaming person. Enraged by this, he was reborn as The Demon; where his anger converted into nothing more than an appetite for human souls. Shortly after his rebirth he met The Crow, where it guided him and taught him the laws of his existence. The Demon spent an unknown amount of time analyzing and eating people before meeting his first Witch. It is classified how long he stayed with his first contractor before meeting Ellen. Before directly meeting her he studied her, claiming he "fell for Ellen at first sight".
After Ellen had brutally stabbed her parents to death, the demon ate their souls and tied a contract with Ellen, promising to cure her incurable disease in exchange for offering him, countless souls. He then offered her a house with magic, which she will use to her advantage to kill off countless "friends", offering their souls to The Demon. Noting her interest in black cats felt like outright destiny with Ellen. He had an internal confession of love to her; "it made me happy. Made me want to shout, made me feel light hearted. Is this what love is? As someone who has no clue what it is."
Knowing she was nearing her limits. The Demon figured it was time to finally give Ellen the spell. He didn't feel any particular emotion during the process. Ellen "befriends" Viola and slowly builds up a strong bond in order to obtain her body. The Cat will follow you throughout the game, though he says he's really not supposed to. He allows you to save your progress in case anything were to happen as in resurrection. Near the end, however, in two endings you can see his dead body laying before Ellen's room. When you step on it, it makes a squishy noise like blood. This is explained by him in the Secret Ending: it is because he knows the witch will die soon, and when the witch dies, so does the house and everything in it. He had left the black cat's body before he would perish with the house. He also explains how demons do not have forms, but that does not mean they're immortal. At the very ending, he absorbs Viola before giving a monologue about himself and Ellen. In the final moments, The Demon notes he knows Ellen will never live a decent life, that he can envision her returning at any moment to tell him something; crying or laughing. "But I'm sorry Ellen. When that happens, I just don't feel like I will be as interested in you as I used to be..."
Powers and abilities[]
Just as all demons differ in their preference for animal hosts, they also differ in the power they specialize in.
- Master Illusionist: The Black Cat specializes in spells that focus on deception and instilling fear into his targets, something that is clearly reflected in the traps lurking within the Witch's House. He himself claims that he prefers such spells because he finds that souls of humans who die in agony "are tastier that way". Some of these spells involve making people see illusions, peering into a person's heart, controlling a person's body, and many others. The spell for the House and the effect it has on Ellen's outer physique might arguably be included in that category of spells.
- Temporal and spatial manipulation: The Demon is able to reject and negate any kind of event that has happened to a target. This ability is seen both in the game (if the player chooses to save on the Black Cat) and novella, where he returns an injured or 'killed' Ellen to her former healthier state, no matter what has happened to her. A famous in-game example is found in the Correct Mouth Pathway, where a set of spikes is placed near the door to the fourth floor. The spikes are purposely placed out of the player's path, making them very easy to avoid. However, if the player willingly chooses to have Ellen (in Viola's body) walk over them, she will be impaled to death, triggering the 'Game Over' screen. If the player loads the game using the exact same file and come back to that same room, the set of spikes will surprisingly be smeared in blood, hinting that 'Viola' did indeed 'die' and was somehow brought back to life. Another in-game example is in Extra mode, if you read the Funny Story you will be shot, if you load the same save file and go back there you will see that there is blood on the floor where you have been shot.
- Teleportation: The Demon is capable of teleporting himself and his target to different locations.
- Immortality: The Great Demon appears to have no life span so long as he is nourished
- Possession: Has the ability to possess inherently any corpse. Using this ability, his favorite body to possess is that of a black cat.
- Super Human Strength and Influence: After revealing himself to Ellen, she stated that she felt the Earth shake and cry under his weight.
- Time Dialtion: Most notably shown when The Demon completely removed the time between Ellen and Viola's meet before the body switch.
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