Night Demon

Biodata

Background

The KV Virus devastated New York three years before Robert Neville met Si Ming. Night Demons occupied dark spaces across the city, including basements, an underground mall, a bank vault and the subway system 23 25 26 28.

Si Ming found more than 250 Night Demons in one underground mall, including a Higher Night Demon that could command the others 23. The New York population mounted a coordinated defense of its subway lair, using barricades, pits and rockfall traps 28 29. After Si Ming killed the Night Demon King, the previously orderly Night Demons became disorganized; the narration describes their collective subconscious as dead or grievously damaged 30.

Neville and Si Ming later developed a treatment that returned Night Demon subjects to human form. The recovered subjects had lost both their human and Night Demon memories and required guidance to live as humans again 31.

Appearance

A newly transformed Night Demon retained recognizable features of the person it had been, despite extensive physical changes 24.

• Smooth, hairless skin and a sleek build 23 24.
• A Higher Night Demon's skin had a pitch-black luster 23.
• Treated subjects regained human-looking skin and eyes, with signs of hair regrowth 31.

Abilities & Weaknesses

Physical traits

• Ordinary Night Demons have skin roughly as tough as animal leather and muscle strength somewhat below a cheetah's. Their burst speed approaches ten meters per second 23.
• They can react to muzzle flashes at ten meters and make small evasive movements 23.
• A Higher Night Demon has roughly 50% greater speed and strength than an ordinary one, with skin Si Ming compares to an insert-equipped bulletproof vest 23.
• Injuries outside the brain and heart may leave a Night Demon able to move. Rifle fire can kill an ordinary Night Demon by striking either vital organ 23.

Senses and behavior

• Night Demons have keen smell, intact vision, and a strong attraction to fresh flesh. Human blood can rouse them even during the day; disinfectant can mask activity in a shelter 22 23.
• They hunt in packs, use ambushes and terrain traps, and can obey a leader's command even when prey is nearby 23 28 29.
• Intense light disrupts them, while ultraviolet rays severely burn them. They shelter underground and in other dark places during daylight 22 23 25.
• Si Ming suspects a collective subconscious or hive-mind-like connection. The collapse in their coordination after the King's death supports the existence of a shared link, though its mechanism is not explained 28 30.

Notable Variants