Question Is Demon Darkness magic?

[Rizaadxn]

I ask this because it came up in a thread on Spacebattles. I just need a panel that can clarify whether it's magic or not because I don't remember it ever being stated outright unlike Ark.


Wiki Fandom is unreliable so don't use them as a citation.

 

[Nie Li]

What is it if not race-related magic?

I don't know if there's any panel that outright says it.

 

[Rizaadxn]

What is it if not race-related magic?

That's what I'm wondering.

One person made a good point, that being that we've seen Demons use Darkness while having zero magic (the 10C after revival).

Then again, we have Zeldris talking about "the Demon Lord" (God) not working against Darkness which would seem to imply that, yes, Darkness is magic.

This in of itself introduces another problem though, since God is supposed to make Zel immune to magic but if Darkness is magic, it clearly didn't work there. But if Darkness isn't magic, why would Zel talk about the power that grants him immunity to magic in that scene?? Man it's just too confusing T^T

 

[Demonspeed]

It's not AFAIR. But it can be used for some Magic attacks. I think you should find good pages in the Corand battle.

 

[Nie Li]

That's what I'm wondering.

One person made a good point, that being that we've seen Demons use Darkness while having zero magic (the 10C after revival).

Then again, we have Zeldris talking about "the Demon Lord" (God) not working against Darkness which would seem to imply that, yes, Darkness is magic.

This in of itself introduces another problem though, since God is supposed to make Zel immune to magic but if Darkness is magic, it clearly didn't work there. But if Darkness isn't magic, why would Zel talk about the power that grants him immunity to magic in that scene?? Man it's just too confusing T^T

That's indeed a good point. I don't remember every detail to delve too far into this. God not working against darkness would undoubtedly imply it's not magic. But then, what is it?

 

[Rizaadxn]

Then again, we have Zeldris talking about "the Demon Lord" (God) not working against Darkness which would seem to imply that, yes, Darkness is magic.

Wait, I messed up my point here.

During that scene, Zel says "It can't be! I possess the magic of the Demon lord and yet I can't even move my body an inch!"

The implication here is obvious, Zeldris has a magical power from the DK that supposedly makes him immune to magical attacks. This would seem to imply that Darkness isn't magic but then again if it isn't magic, it seems kind of redundant for Zeldris to talk about a power granted to him which makes him immune to magical attacks.

 

[Nie Li]

Wait, I messed up my point here.

During that scene, Zel says "It can't be! I possess the magic of the Demon lord and yet I can't even move my body an inch!"

The implication here is obvious, Zeldris has a magical power from the DK that supposedly makes him immune to magical attacks. This would seem to imply that Darkness isn't magic but then again if it isn't magic, it seems kind of redundant for Zeldris to talk about a power granted to him which makes him immune to magical attacks.

The choice of words does seem to imply darkness is magic that should have been stopped by God, but wasn't simply because Meliodas overpowered the power itself.

But... Meliodas shouldn't have had enough power to do that so effortlessly back then.

 

[Rizaadxn]

The choice of words does seem to imply darkness is magic that should have been stopped by God, but wasn't simply because Meliodas overpowered the power itself.

But that point also seems weird. Just ignoring that Meliodas wasn't at DK level yet, other characters seem pretty damn sure that God does indeed make Zeldris immune to magic attacks. Like here for example, Mael seemed certain that God makes him immune to magic attacks and is very suprised that the DK's own magical attack worked on Zeldris (which implies that if the DK didn't take God back, Zel wouldn't have been damaged).

 

[Mighty Escanor]

Meliodas bypassed Ban's immortality when he was way weaker compared to when he fought against Zel and Esta. Bypassing Zel's god magic in Assault Mode does not mean darkness is not magic. It means Meliodas does not obey the rules of manga and nothing more.

My idea, don't try to explain Meliodas in terms of logics. All he needs to do to destroy your argument is a smile and a nishishishi:

 

[Gallon]

From my POV, the dark substance that appears when demons heal or use as an extension of their body (Melascula, Assault Mode Meliodas, and so on) is not magic, but an inherent "tissue" of demons, so to speak.
The ability to cast a spell that involves darkness is magic, however - Hellblaze being an example. I believe Meliodas used something similar against Zeldris and Estarossa, as he uses the coat of darkness to protect Elizabeth and then casts a separate spell in order to pin them down.

Hendrickson and Merlin have been shown using spells that involve darkness, but unless they were to inject genetic material into themselves (like Hendrickson did), they'd never show the physical features of darkness that demons do.

 

[Rizaadxn]

From my POV, the dark substance that appears when demons heal or use as an extension of their body (Melascula, Assault Mode Meliodas, and so on) is not magic, but an inherent "tissue" of demons, so to speak.
The ability to cast a spell that involves darkness is magic, however - Hellblaze being an example. I believe Meliodas used something similar against Zeldris and Estarossa, as he uses the coat of darkness to protect Elizabeth and then casts a separate spell in order to pin them down.

Hendrickson and Merlin have been shown using spells that involve darkness, but unless they were to inject genetic material into themselves (like Hendrickson did), they'd never show the physical features of darkness that demons do.

This seems like the most reasonable answer I suppose. Still the wording Zeldris used makes it unclear.

Also just something interesting, I looked at the pages again and the darkness he used to pin them down is the same darkness he uses for his coat thing in Assault mode. Part of it covers Elizabeth and the other part is used to pin them down.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 2, 2021, Original Post Date: Mar 2, 2021 ---

Actually, after reading the next chapter again, maybe Zeldris isn't talking about God but just the fact that he has power bestowed to him from the Demon Lord which raises his PL. Even with said power, he isn't strong enough to fight against Meliodas' Darkness. This means Darkness isn't magic and @Gallon's explanation of it just being an extension of their body is most likely correct.

 

[Gallon]

Also just something interesting, I looked at the pages again and the darkness he used to pin them down is the same darkness he uses for his coat thing in Assault mode. Part of it covers Elizabeth and the other part is used to pin them down.

I always assumed it was his magic, but you're right - as he lifts the attack, it starts spiralling around Meliodas and forms a coat. Weird.

 

[Tsotso2]

Considering that Monspeet has a 34k magic stat, is stated by Derieri to be one of the most skilled users of Hellblaze and relies mostly on it in combat, the power of darkness is certainly magic. Unless Hellblaze and darkness are not exactly the same, with Hellblaze referring to offensive dark magic while Power of Darkness being a more general term which could also refer to the ability to create constructs like wings, which may not improve someone's strength.
Either way, the power of darkness demons use in combat is definitely magic as it counts towards someone's magic stat due to the Monspeet example.

 

[Nie Li]

Considering that Monspeet has a 34k magic stat, is stated by Derieri to be one of the most skilled users of Hellblaze and relies mostly on it in combat, the power of darkness is certainly magic. Unless Hellblaze and darkness are not exactly the same, with Hellblaze referring to offensive dark magic while Power of Darkness being a more general term which could also refer to the ability to create constructs like wings, which may not improve someone's strength.
Either way, the power of darkness demons use in combat is definitely magic as it counts towards someone's magic stat due to the Monspeet example.

I think they're separate things. One's fire and the other is malleable darkness. And I think Hendrickson used Hellblaze before he started mutating but I don't remember him using darkness offensively like Meliodas can.

 

[Tsotso2]

I think they're separate things. One's fire and the other is malleable darkness. And I think Hendrickson used Hellblaze before he started mutating but I don't remember him using darkness offensively like Meliodas can.

That makes sense. Hellblaze and darkness are visually different so they can be called different things.
I still think darkness is magic just like hellblaze because Meliodas was able to repel Mael's Sunshine magic with it during their flashback fight.

 

[Rizaadxn]

Sigh... Idk what to think anymore.

 

[OtakuFreak]

I think it's both biological and magic by nature. We see demons use it to heal, fly and do stuff that isn't involved for combat. But for battle, I think its magic but can become physical when applied to a body part, for example, like how Derieri's arm got full-countered by Estarossa.

I think this fits well into how ark, the light equivalent, is magic but also becomes physical by nature when attached to the arm as a sword.

 

[HereNThere]

It's plot dependent so there really isn't a single panel to prove it, but it mostly leans towards it being an extension of a demon's body most of the time as stated already.

Heck, there have been implications that it is sentient given the initial Indura explanation.

Zeldris' personal magic literally uses his own darkness to create the nonsense vacuum.