Fiend

Fiends (魔物) are evil spirits that differ from the general monsters roaming Zemuria.

Background
Unlike regular monsters which inhabit Zemuria, fiends are regarded as entities which shouldn't be able to exist. They are a form of particularly malicious spirit that seeks to cause harm to humans. Their existence had never been proven, having only been mentioned in the scriptures and sacraments of the Septian Church. This is similar to the Seventy-Seven Devils, which share certain characteristics and can be regarded as a type of fiend in and of themselves.

The Church teaches that it is in a fiend's nature to oppose the goddess, Aidios, and that they take shelter in the hearts of humanity. Their nature forces them to try to bring harm to innocent souls. The appearance of fiends is regarded as an omen of even worse things to come. Old fairy tales in Erebonia suggest fiend shave the ability to change the personalities of the people they affect.

A definitive answer to where fiends come from has not been provided. However, common themes include the idea of trapped souls becoming fiends after death, with the Septian Church describing this as being the fate of many trapped in Gehenna. Tormented souls are said to lose all their form, becoming shapeshifting masses known as grimoires, whereas cursed objects such as haunted mirrors/speculos and cannons/death sluggers are said to have similar origins. Some fiends can manifest as a result of the 'memories' of an area, with hostile spirits remaining to take vengeance. This was the case when a Spirit World incursion in Hamel affected the area, and the fake salt pales attributed to the Tuatha De Danann were also able to read the memories of the land and recreate fiends.

Locations of Fiends
Certain circumstances allow fiends to exist in the physical world. Disturbances in the Septium veins caused by unrest of the surface (in a 'as above, so below' type of relationship) can adversely affect the world's balance, allowing fiends to appear in areas of dense mana. This was especially the case in the Great Twilight, which also allowed incursions of the Spirit World itself. Fiends can also be active in areas where the higher elements of Space, Time and Mirage are active, and many fiends that appear in such circumstances carry weaknesses to these elements in addition to the regular four.


 * Phase Spaces in general may feature fiends, existing in separate planes from the physical world.
 * Phantasma, a plane created by the Recluse Cube that populates itself based upon the minds it reads from.
 * The Sun Fort, Moon Temple and Stargazer's Tower in Crossbell.
 * The Azure Tree.
 * The Spirit Shrines and sanctuaries in Erebonia, including the Old Schoolhouse and Sanctuary of the Dark Dragon.
 * Lohengrin Castle in Legram.
 * The Infernal Castle and catacombs beneath Heimdallr.
 * the Gral of Erebos.
 * The Eerie Woods and Saint-Gral Labyrinth near Eryn.
 * The Tuatha De Danann and fake salt pales.

Other locations in which the higher elements are active, but fiend activity unconfirmed include the Isthmia Great Forest, Lunaria Nature Park and Ancient Quarry. Spirits are known to inhabit each of these locations.

Classification of Fiends
Certain types of fiends are grouped together based on similar natures, origins or behaviours. The following groups have been mentioned, although there may be others:

Gallery of Fiends
Determining exactly which monsters in the series are fiends can be difficult due to many terms which seemingly overlap, and secondly due to the shared models are lots of monsters and fiends, differing only in colour or minor design changes. Outside of monsters explicitly identified as fiends, it is not also possible to give a definitive answer to a fiend status.

Trivia

 * The concept of fiends and the higher elements in general was only introduced in making it possible that monsters in previous games were also fiends, and just not recognised as much. there are reference to monsters being from 'outs space' or 'other dimensions' which might be an early concept of the idea of creatures from other planes.
 * also features 'angelic' enemies that appear in Castle Phantasmagoria.Similarly 'angelic creatures' appear in the same locations as fiends, such as the Thousand-strong, Angels or Tildawns. It is unknown if these are also types of fiends or another classification of spirit altogether.
 * The Grimoires and their ability to shift into different forms resembles the ability shown by 'Hollows' in the Infinity Corridor in . They seemingly cannot speak but possess all the skills and crafts of the originals, differing only in the glowing, shadowed eyes.
 * Despite being referred to with distinct terms, some fiends and cryptids are referred to interchangeably. They are both existences from another plane that spawn in areas where the higher elements are active however. This includes Zoro-Agruga and Oliphemus.