Dæmon

The Dæmons were a race of powerful humanoids who profoundly affected humankind.

Biology
Dæmons were satyr-like humanoids with reddish skin or completely red (HOMEVID: Dæmos Rising). and thick fur. They had sharp fangs, pointed ears, thick beards and long horns. Their legs were goat-like, with cloven hooves. They could use their technology to change their size, which could have been anything from "too small to see" to thirty feet tall. (TV: The Dæmons) Some of this species, like the traditional picture of a demon, possessed long, forked tails. (COMIC: Voyage to the Edge of the Universe)

Dæmons of the military were modified, giving them vast wings, spatiodynamic bodies, sweptback horns and long necks, allowing them to glide through hyperspace with minimal effort. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two)

Culture
Like a million other worlds "right across the universe", Dæmos had "the representation of the horned beast" in its myths and legends. The Beast claimed to be this "devil", along with all of the others in every religion which had such a figure. (TV: The Satan Pit)

The Third Doctor seemed to initially regard them as not evil, but coldly logical and amoral, without sentiment, which Azal's actions would bear out. (TV: The Dæmons)

However, they also seemed to organise according to the nuclear family structure and care for their mates and children. (COMIC: Voyage to the Edge of the Universe) At a later stage of his life the Seventh Doctor had made the acquaintance of a friendly Dæmon known as Bonjaxx and attended a birthday party in honour of him. (COMIC: Party Animals)

Technology
The Dæmons had technology indistinguishable from magic. They possessed matter-energy conversion technology which allowed them to shrink and grow things at will. They used this both to increase their own size (which could range from microscopically small to thirty feet tall) and to reduce the size of their ships in order to hide them. They also had the ability to set up heat force fields which could disintegrate anything that moved into it. They could animate stone statues, as with the living gargoyle known as Bok. They could also discharge bolts of electricity.

A Dæmon could be psychically summoned by a special ritual, three of which were performed by. The ceremony required negative emotions such as fear, which could be provided by frightened humans. The more people that were involved and the more impressive the ritual, the more effective it was. Though these negative emotions could power the Dæmon, it also meant positive emotions could be dangerous. A Dæmon would only appear three times in response to these rituals.

Azal offered his powers to the Third Doctor when the Master, who desired them, had proved himself unworthy. This would suggest that they could give their powers if they chose to. (TV: The Dæmons)

History
The Dæmons were an ancient race from Dæmos (TV: The Dæmons) who were powerful 150 million years BC. They were involved in the Millennium War and were one of the first species to strike back against the Mad Mind of Bophemeral stopping it from using a dark-matter cloud in the Rift of Perseus. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel)

The Dæmons studied other races, treating the universe as their laboratory. (TV: The Dæmons) Using a spacecraft, one Dæmon travelled to the edge of the physical universe, a feat achieved by few other beings. (COMIC: Voyage to the Edge of the Universe)

Much of their history was recounted by the Third Doctor. According to him, circa 100,000 years BC, the Dæmons arrived on Earth, helped the humans overcome the Neanderthals and then tried to lead their evolution and development. According to Azal, the Dæmons destroyed failed experiments, such as Atlantis. (TV: The Dæmons) According to one account, the Dæmons gave the Atlanteans the Crystal of Kronos, which later indirectly caused the destruction of Atlantis. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel, TV: The Time Monster)

The Third Doctor said the Dæmons inspired myths of gods and demons and the image of powerful beings with horns, including the Egyptian god Khnum. They had been "coming and going ever since". Miss Hawthorne identified Azal as "the Devil". According to the Doctor, the Dæmons inspired the Greek civilisation, the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. (TV: The Dæmons)

Wesley Sparks claimed to have duelled Dæmons as one of his many achievements. (COMIC: Mortal Beloved)

In the 20th century, Azal called himself the last of the Dæmons. (TV: The Dæmons)

The Dæmons were completely wiped out by some sort of massive cataclysmic event. It was believed to be a battle, as the Dæmon corpses were found in their battle form. Faction Paradox used the skeletal remains of the Dæmons as warships. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two)

A Dæmon called Mastho once manifested on Earth during three different points of time. Kate Stewart and Douglas Cavendish were responsible for its supposed destruction. (HOMEVID: Dæmos Rising)

Minor references
The Dæmons were filed in the Fourth Doctor's memory files. (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion)

Behind the scenes

 * In the Doctor Who spin-off, Dæmos Rising, and the Time Hunter book, Child of Time, a living Dæmon called Mastho was summoned by the Sodality, but like Azal, he too was destroyed. It was unsure if this was either before the cataclysmic event or after, or if there were any other surviving Dæmons.
 * The FASA The Doctor Who Role Playing Game "Sourcebook of Field Agents" states that Gallifreyan scientists have speculated that the Great Vampires are an offshoot of the Dæmons.