The Old Demon vs. the Moroaica – who would win in a fight?

(Note that this post contains SPOILERS for the entire DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS series!)

You might recall that a while back I did a post on who would win in a fight, Mazael Cravenlock from DEMONSOULED or Caina Amalas from THE GHOSTS. Some recent discussion there has suggested an additional question about the villains of the respective series.

Who would win in a fight – the Old Demon from DEMONSOULED or the Moroaica from THE GHOSTS?

The Old Demon is the father of the Demonsouled, and over three thousand years old. He possesses all the powers of the Demonsouled – superior strength and speed, rapid healing, battle fury, shapechanging, and the ability to travel instantly through the shadows. Additionally, he knows more about magic than anyone else in his world, and can use his Demonsouled nature to augment his spells tremendously. However, he does have on serious weakness. Because he is fully half-demon, (the rest of the Demonsouled are some smaller fraction) he is partially bound by the laws of the spirit world, and therefore cannot harm or kill someone unless he is first attacked. He also has a love of cruelty that a clever opponent could exploit.

The Moroaica, unlike the Old Demon, is fully human. She is somewhere over two thousand years old (no one knows for sure, since she destroyed the civilization that produced her, along with most of their records), and has mastered necromancy and sorcery to a degree unmatched by anyone living in her world. Additionally, she is almost impossible to kill, since if her body is slain, her spirit can possess another one very quickly.

Both the Moroaica and the Old Demon prefer to avoid confrontation whenever possible, and usually work through emissaries, whether willing or unwitting. Any conflict between them would likely start that way, with both sending students and disciples after the other.

If it came to a direct fight, the Moroaica would likely start it. She would know that the Old Demon cannot attack her until she attacks him, so she would wait until she could strike with overwhelming advantage and kill him. The Old Demon is half-demon, but he is also half-human, which means he can be killed. Not easily, but he can be killed. Additionally, unlike the Moroaica, if he is killed he cannot claim a new body.

However, the Old Demon is completely aware of his weaknesses, and used to working around them. If he knew about the Moroaica’s plan to kill him, he would have a countermeasure prepared. And once the Moroaica attacked him, he would be free to strike back. Though he cannot permanently kill the Moroaica, he can trap her spirit within a particular body, as Ranarius tried to do in GHOST IN THE STONE, and proceed with his plans.

However, if the Moroaica was able to anticipate his countermeasures, she would find a way around them.

So I think the most likely outcome of a fight between the two would be long-term stalemate, fought through proxies and servants. But if they did come down to a direct confrontation, it would be a 50/50 chance either way.

-JM