Why Are All Angels Female and All Demons Male in this Game?
General forum
Posted on June 29, 2016, 9:14 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Angels and demons are my two favorite creature types in this game, but I have noticed that angels in this game are always female and demons are always male (with rare exceptions such as Lady Orca or Malach of the Dawn), and I wonder why that is.
As a heterosexual male, I certainly have no problem with angels, powerful beings of light and holiness, having the forms of attractive women, but the implications that such forms, as well as the forms of demons, make are very unfortunate, indeed. A casual viewer could infer that WotC is implying that women are more saintly and virtuous, while men are vile and sinful. I am not saying that I believe that, or that WotC is deliberately sending such a message, but, as a male, I feel that WotC should be more careful to about what they portray in their stories.
Also, as a result of all demons being male, there are no succubi in this game, which is unfortunate, as succubi are frequently seen in fantasy stories; not only that, there are no incubi, the male counterparts of succubi, in this game, either. While demons in this game certainly do tempt mortals, the temptation is rarely portrayed as seductive, which, again, is an otherwise common element in fantasy settings.
What does everyone else say about this? Why are all angles female and all demons male in this game?
Also, as a side note, if angels and demons are not capable of normal sexual reproduction, why do they have sexual characteristics? Should not they all be androgynous, since they would not need to have such traits?
grumbledore says... #3
My theory: the Angels and Demons mate, creating Kithkins.
June 29, 2016 9:23 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
GoldGhost012: what other fantasy games have exclusively female angels and exclusively male demons? Dungeons & Dragons has both sexes among both types of beings, and the Diablo games have female demons, although I do not recall having seen any female angels in them.
June 29, 2016 9:33 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #5
I dunno about games, but when I picture an angel, they're generally female.
But to answer your question with a somewhat hard answer, they just are. That's how they were originally designed and how (to our knowledge) they will continue to be. Maybe Richard Garfield decided on a female angel for Serra Angel and R&D has rolled with it ever since. Maybe it's because angels are meant to represent purity, grace, goodness, etc. and women are traditionally depicted with those traits more than men. Demons being male may just be an inversion of the angels being female tradition.
June 29, 2016 9:53 p.m. Edited.
lazarusdraigon says... #6
Auriel is the angel of hope in the Diablo universe. Also female.
June 29, 2016 9:53 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #8
I think it's very interesting that Magic's standard design for angels is almost exclusively female. In the prevailing Western - i.e. Abrahamic - tradition, angels are most often described as either resembling human males or being exceedingly strange and otherworldly (and thus not having an assignable gender). I think at first Dominaria's angels were all female because they were creations of the planeswalker Serra, who chose to make them that way, but eventually it just became part of the game's standard look and feel.
As for male demons and devils, I think that mainly has to do with following Western occult tradition instead of bucking it, as well as their association in Magic with violence, rage, and brutality. If that bothers you, then I'm sorry. That's the history and culture we were given to work with.
When it comes to the lack of succubi, incubi, or similar beings, that's all about the sexual associations. The way I understand it, Magic tries to be a "soft R" at its absolute worst, and that's a topic they'd much rather just keep their distance from rather than trying to toe the line.
@Raging_Squiggle: You uh... you didn't finish reading the first sentence of the original post, did you?
June 29, 2016 10:24 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle says... #9
It was a wall of text, I read through it quickly.
June 29, 2016 10:35 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #10
I would just like to take this time to encourage everyone to read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy.
In Magic related news, I never really thought of this. But, I'm curious, DemonDragonJ what brought this line of thinking up?
June 29, 2016 10:36 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #11
lazarusdraigon, I have not played Diablo III, only the first two games, so I am not familiar with Auriel.
Raging_Squiggle, Akroan Skyguard is not an angel.
CanadianShinobi, I asked that question simply because I have noticed this trend, and wonder why it exists.
June 30, 2016 9:49 a.m.
lazarusdraigon says... #12
she gets captured in act IV one of the first quests in the act you get is to save her.
June 30, 2016 1:18 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #13
lazarusdraigon, are you referring to Diablo III, I presume?
June 30, 2016 1:45 p.m.
Dredge4life says... #14
As a male, I think that most demons in mtg are awesome. I wouldn't want Griselbrand and Ormendahl to be female (not sexist, I just hate change). In terms of why, I'd say because Magic's stance on females is that they should all be powerful and not objectified (the correct stance). If you take a demon and make it a suductress, that's giving everyone an impression that a woman is using her body, not her power, to get what she wants. That's something that I don't think Magic wants to do.
July 1, 2016 2:33 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #15
Dredge4life, what about Liliana? She most certainly is a seductress, at least from what I have seen of her, and vampires of both sexes are often portrayed as seductive in this game, as is traditional in most portrayals of vampires in fiction.
July 1, 2016 4:50 p.m.
Dredge4life says... #16
@DemonDragonJ I can't really explain that, other than Liliana and vampires such as Olivia Voldaren are powerful in their own right, without direct usage of their bodies. As others have said, it could also be what the audience wants. Females are often thought of as being Angels or creatures of light, while demons are thought of as male in pop culture. It's more of what the majority wants, or think that they want. Pop culture traditionally references demons as male. As for angels, the stereotypical woman likes Angels over demons, while the minority have characters like Liliana to relate to. I could be getting this completely wrong, but this is a sensitive subject to discuss, so please bear with me.
GoldGhost012 says... #2
General fantasy traits in a fantasy game, I would imagine.
June 29, 2016 9:19 p.m.