Powers and AbilitiesEdit
After their spiritual decay is complete, demons develop supernatural abilities. It is unknown how demons' powers increase. However, it seems they do not gain it purely from age as Crowley is far more powerful than Meg and Ruby despite being hundreds of years younger than them.
Low-Level PowersEdit
These abilities are possessed by all demons.
Demonic Possession - Like angels (besides Cupid, or so it seems) , most demons (only known exceptions are Acheri, Daeva and Hellhounds) require a human vessel or "meatsuit" to travel on Earth. Unlike angels, they do not need a person's consent. Also unlike angels, demons can possess corpses. It is easier to take control of people who are in states of heightened emotions or fear. When possessing a human, the Demon invades their muscles, bones and brains and can also access their host's memories while possessing them (even if it is a brief possession). This ability can be thwarted by Anti-possession tattoos. Also under certain circumstances, the person being possessed can regain control if his or her will is strong enough. They can also possess humans who are already possessed by an angel (and probably by another demon), but the only problem is the angel can neutralize it, because angels are naturally stronger than demons. In many cases, the demon will ride the host hard for fun and once they vacate, the host will die.
Electromagnetic Interference - Demons, like spirits, often disrupt nearby electronics with their presence. Large numbers of demons can cause thunder storms.
Flight - Only when in their smoke forms.
Immortality - Demons have an indefinitely long lifespan and an arrested aging process.
Invulnerability - Injuries that would be fatal to humans, such as broken necks or gunshot wounds, have very little - if any - effect on demons. They can only be killed by special weapons or rituals. Unlike angels they don't always heal their vessels. If the "meatsuit" receives too much damage they simply find another human to possess, leaving their former vessel to die.
DemonThrowsSam
A demon throws Sam backwards with ease.
Super stamina - Demons never tire, and do not require food, water, oxygen, or sleep to sustain themselves. Sam states that they also do not get hot or cold and Dean states they do not need to urinate.
Super strength - Demons possess superior physical strength compared to that of humans; capable of physically overpowering humans. Demons can also overpower most monsters. Once, a demon (the Phantom Traveler demon) ripped open an airplane hatch with over 2 tons of pressure at over 1,000 feet above the ground. The higher ranking the demon, the stronger it is. The highest ranking demons can overpower low-level angels.
Supernatural Perception - Demons are able to see hidden supernatural activity and beings, such as Reapers, ghosts, and hellhounds.
Supernatural Senses - Demons have an enhanced sense of smell and taste, demonstrated as Crowley could identify Castiel was in Dean's Impala and that he and Raphael had been using dog's blood. A demon possessing a waitress claimed she could smell Sam's soul.
Telekinesis - Demons can move or suspend objects and other beings with their minds. Higher ranking demons can use this ability to pin their victims to walls or kill people by snapping their necks.
Soul Extraction - Demons have the ability to forcefully remove a person's soul from their body.
Mid-Level PowersEdit
Used by some (mostly upper and some mid-tier), but not all, black-eyed demons, as well as higher-ranking demons.
Biokinesis - Some demons can manipulate the biology of other beings. Azazel, for example, was able to torture Dean by causing him to hemorrhage. Meg was also able to cause Crowley to cough up blood in a similar manner. Astaroth stopped Elizabeth's heart with a wave of her hand and Abaddon caused people to bleed from their eyes. Crowley was even able to cause a girl to explode by snapping his fingers.
Electrokinesis - Displayed by Azazel and Crowley. They could manipulate electronic equipment to their will. Also the demon possessing Isaac's corpse was able to switch on an old radio.
Invisibility - Some demons can become invisible to humans.
JessPyro
Brady kills Jessica with pyrokinesis.
Pyrokinesis - Some demons can generate and manipulate fire. Azazel, Abaddon and (probably) Brady have demonstrated this ability. Crowley can also manipulate fire; he has lit a fire place by raising his hand, extinguished a Holy Fire circle by snapping his fingers, and also pretended to set himself on fire.
Telepathy - Dean mentions that some demons can read minds. Envy used this ability to gain intimate knowledge about Tamara's past without ever encountering her before or possessing her.
Soul Reading - Some demons, particularly Crossroad Demons, can assess the condition of one's soul.
Spell Casting - Some demons can practice witchcraft, much like witches, like altering the range/space they occupy. Other demons are adept in Enochian magic which they use to protect themselves from Angels. Alastair knew of a spell that could allow him to banish an angel back to Heaven. Meg and Casey knew of spells that they could use while inside a Devil's Trap, allowing them to break free. Astaroth was extremely skilled in magic and used it to kill witches, almost kill Dean and severely hurt Ruby.
Teleportation - Knights of Hell, white-eyed demons, red-eyed demons, and powerful black eyed demons are able to teleport from one place to another, without occupying the space in between.
Terrakinesis - Some demons can create small earthquakes. This was once used to destroy a Devil's Trap drawn by Kevin Tran. Abaddon was also able to create an earthquake with her presence that broke a Devil's Trap restraining Crowley.
Voice Mimicry - Crowley was able to mimic his original hosts voice while possessing Mrs. Tran in order to taunt the Winchesters. Though never confirmed, it is hinted at that Ruby may have been the one that sent Sam a voice text of Dean, distorting what Dean would have really said.
Thermokinesis - Certain demons such as Lilith and Crowley can emit great heat through their skin resulting in severe burns to whatever they touch. Lilith used this power to scald Sam when forcefully kissing him and later to burn through a Devil's Trap. Crowley once caused Ruby's knife to burn red hot by merely snapping his fingers, forcing Dean to drop it. (We Need To Talk About Kevin).
Healing - Used by Crowley, he is the only demon who has shown the ability to heal others out of the context of a deal, albeit a small wound. (All Dogs Go To Heaven)
Weather Manipulation - Some demons such as Meg and Father Gil are able to alter the weather to a limited extent such as creating sudden gusts of wind. More powerful demons like Azazel can create stronger winds and Abaddon could trigger thunder and lightning merely by screaming.
Regeneration - At least some demons can heal their hosts from any physical injury they sustain. Meg was able to heal several broken bones after falling from a window. Crowley, Meg and Ruby have all been shot on several occasions and show no signs of injury following the incident. Crowley has also healed his vessel after being severely burned by an angels white light and being stabbed through the shoulder by an angel blade. However, after leaving their host, any injuries the body has sustain reappear and the host dies. Oddly, while Crowley has vacated his vessel several times, many of his injuries (such as his burns) did not reappear on his host (though his host seems to have died so it is possible some of his injuries did reappear).
High-Level PowersEdit
Knights of Hell, Multicolored, White-Eyed demons, Crowley and Azazel are the only ones to use these powers. They also possess all the previous abilities at enhanced levels and are incredibly strong. Lilith and Alastair are known to be powerful enough to fight and even overpower angels who rank low on the celestial chain of command. They will still flee when confronted by Archangels.
Liliths powers
Lilith uses her White Light to obliterate the police station.
Access to/from Hell - High ranking demons such as Azazel, Alastair, and Crowley can easily teleport themselves back and forth between Earth and Hell, without the need for any complex summoning ritual or assistance. This however, varied among high-tier demons, as some were kept imprisoned due to unknown reasons and methods.
Dream Walking - Displayed by Azazel only on the special children. He could enter and control the dreams of his targets.
Mind Manipulation - Displayed by Crowley only, he was able to grant his illiterate son the ability to read simply by touching his head.
Enhanced Immunity - As a general rule, the more powerful the demon, the more resistant they are to harm and common anti-demon methods such as salt and holy water. High ranking demons like Alastair are immune to the Killing Touch of normal angels and both he and Abaddon are immune to the killing effects of the Demon-killing knife though it causes them pain. The Knights of Hell could only be killed by the First Blade and Cain, the original Knight, is completely immune to the knife to the point it doesn't even hurt him.
Memory Manipulation - Displayed by Crowley and Azazel. Crowley stated that he "scrubbed" Kevin's short term memory and Azazel was able to erase Dean's memory of his conversation with Tessa. (In My Time of Dying)
Summoning - Displayed by Samhain. He could summon and control various monsters, ghosts and zombies.
Exorcism - Displayed by Abaddon and (possibly) Lilith. She forced a demon out of its host and back to Hell by choking its vessel. Lilith also claimed that she sent Ruby to Hell and then possessed her vessel.
White Light - Used by Lilith (Jus In Bello, No Rest for the Wicked) and Samhain (It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester). High ranking demons can use this to generate massive amounts of destructive energy that can obliterate large areas. This ability is extremely rare and are otherwise present only in the more powerful angelic beings.
Memory Extraction - By inserting part of her essence into her victim, Abaddon could access their memories (even their subconscious memories) and gain information about what they had seen and heard.
Demonic Smiting - Cain, one of the first and most powerful demons, displayed the power to smite other demons similar to angels, but with a red glow rather than a white one.
Animal Communication - Crowley displayed the ability to understand Olivette when she was communicating with him in the form of a hamster.
Special PowersEdit
These powers can generally only be accessed in the context of a Faustian Deal or performed in Hell.
Healing - In the context of a deal, crossroads demons can heal themselves and others of any wound as demonstrated by Azazel and Crowley. While in Hell, demons such as Alastair can heal any wound applied to their victim, so that they can continue to torture them again and again.
Reality Warping - Crossroads demons, and a few other Demons can grant humans a wish in exchange for their souls. It is worth noting that Azazel did not need to take souls, and could grant wishes from his own power, which he did in exchange for permission to enter the homes of special children, on their 6-month birthday. Lilith also claimed she could make deals without taking a soul but this was never confirmed. While in Hell, demons can alter reality to torture people in ways that are beyond human imagination. One of the reasons Alastair despises being on Earth is because reality is "too concrete" and there are too few resources for torturing people efficiently. In Hell, Crowley was able to turn a demon to dust with just a snap of his fingers.
Resurrection - One of the wishes demons can grant is the resurrection of a loved one. Crowley claims that, since he is now the king of Hell, he is strong enough to resurrect anybody in his care without a deal. He demonstrated this by resurrecting Samuel Campbell in Season 6; the 'patriarch' he 'took off the bench' in order to capture Alpha creatures, which Crowley hoped would lead him to the door of Purgatory. Azazel also displayed resurrecting, the young John Winchester after he killed him, in the context of a deal. He couldn't however resurrect Dean (possibly because he hadn't crossed over yet)- instead, he possessed a Reaper, who he used to do it for him.
Shapeshifting - Demons can take any form they wish while in Hell. Several demons were able to take the appearance of Sam and Dean while torturing Bobby Singer in Hell.
Mind Control - The Seven Deadly Sins each possess the ability to force humans to carry out lethal actions based around the sin they represent. For example, Envy forced a woman to kill another to obtain a pair of shoes, Sloth forced a family to remain seated so they would dehydrate and starve to death and Gluttony forced Isaac to drink drain cleaner. This ability appears to be unique to the Seven Deadly Sins.
Summoning - Samhain was able to summon ghosts, zombies and other supernatural creatures. He is the only demon known to possess this ability.
WeaknessesEdit
