Demon hunter

For other uses, see Demon hunter (disambiguation).

Zhong Kui is a Chinese deity who was considered to be a vanquisher of ghosts and other evil beings.

Demon hunter or demon slayer is a demonology-related historic occupation or folkloric character which specializes in killing demons, monsters, or undead creatures.^[1][2] A demon hunter typically is involved with a deity and angels, and they typically wield religious text, holy water, and relics.^[3]

The character type has diverse roots in myths, Abrahamic religions, African magic, Christian media, Classic Chinese Novels, and Japanese urban legend.^[4][5] Variants include other monster hunters, such as the dragonslayer and the vampire hunter.

In history

A demon hunter was a specially prepared or instructed clergy, typically a priest, nun, monk, pastor, imam, rabbi, fangxiangshi, or kannushi. This occupation continues to exist, and is referred to as an exorcist.

In fiction

Some of the most popular fictional demon hunters characters are Hellboy, Buffy Summers,^[6] Dante,^[7] Doomguy,^[7] Guts,^[8] Illidan Stormrage, Nezuko Kamado, Tanjiro Kamado,^[9] Spawn, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester.^[10] and Bayonetta.^[11]

References

1. Netton, I.R. (2011). Islam, Christianity and the Mystic Journey. Edinburgh University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7486-8813-5. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
2. MacRae, C.D. (1998). Presenting Young Adult Fantasy Fiction. Twayne's United States authors series (in German). Twayne Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8057-8220-2. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
3. Demon hunter's handbook. Bellevue, Washington. 2013. ISBN 978-1-60125-554-9. OCLC 841673121.
4. Linden, Sheri (March 6, 2014). "Review: 'Journey to the West' a rollicking tale of demon hunters". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
5. Voigt, Andrew (June 8, 2021). "Heaven's Metal: An Oral History Of The Genesis Of Christian Metal". HM Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
6. Genz, S. (2009). Postfemininities in Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-230-23441-3. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
7. Lee, Jonathan (August 28, 2020). "Doom Eternal's first expansion, The Ancient Gods: Part One, announces release date". Yahoo. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
8. Kogod, Theo (November 16, 2019). "10 Best Fight Scenes In Berserk". CBR. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
9. Kemner, Louis (October 25, 2021). "Demon Slayer: 10 Most Fearless Characters, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
10. Kripke, Eric; Thompson, Robbie; Drum, Nicole (July 14, 2022). "Jensen Ackles Reveals if He'd Consider a Supernatural Reboot". TV Shows. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
11. Cook, Caleb D. (2014). The eyes of Bayonetta 2 : Bayonetta 2 official art book. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. ISBN 978-1-77294-084-8. OCLC 1078895556.