Dominox, the Grand Demon of Loathing, also known simply as the Dominox, was a powerful and very ancient demon once sealed in Aeor.
Description[]
Appearance[]
Dominox had massive red muscular clawed arms, impossibly large shoulders with hooks protruding from their fleshy armored plates, burning red eyes, a toothy lizard-like mouth, massive horns curling outward, and a long tail with a second reptilian head at its end.[3] The creature stood 15-16 feet tall and its long arms scraped the ground when it stood.[4] When he bled, his demonic ichor transformed into chains.[5]
When he didn't want to look threatening, Dominox took the form of a young girl, five or six years old,[6] with pale skin, strong and vibrant red hair, and a black dress that resembled armor.[7] However, even in that form, moments of anger would make the grand demon show glimpses of glowing energy and his true form.[8]
Symbol[]
His symbol is two overlapping circles of different sizes, with lines forming a strange sigil.[9]
Personality[]
As are many other demons, Dominox was wild and sadistic, and seemed to enjoy suffering and torture. His anger was so intense that it made whole rooms reverberate, and the chains connected to him responded to that feeling. His time trapped inside the Pinion of Service had left him almost insane, and obsessed with the crystal that was his prison.
History[]
At some point in the distant past, Dominox was involved in the conflict between the Nine Hells and the Abyss. Despite his prominence during this ancient war, in which he became a myth among fiends,[10] he was strangely absent during The Calamity.[11] Although his devil foes thought him gone, actually he had been captured and bound to the Nox Engine of Aeor by the use of the Pinion of Service, powering the device through the Age of Arcanum and even after the city's destruction. During that time he was forced to go through an extraction process that would kill him, but instead of returning to the Abyss, he was bound to the Pinion, harmless and unable to truly die.[12] His power was used, among other things, to subdue other Abyssal entities.[13]
In 843 PD, due to the activation of the Malleus Key during the Apogee Solstice, the seals binding Dominox were broken.[14] Ludinus Da'leth and his allies had been using the resources of the Ruby Vanguard and the Cerberus Assembly to bring Aeorian technology to Kreviris on Ruidus, but Dominox began interfering with these recovery efforts by decimating the members of the Vanguard. This caused Ludinus to return to Exandria to deal with the problem himself.[15] Ludinus had some contact with the creature although he was able to escape from it, but Dominox said he was "a strong one".[16]
When the Bells Hells delved into the ruins of Aeor, they uncovered a gruesome display in which an elf member of the Ruby Vanguard had killed their companions, killing themself after carving a sigil on their own chest.[17] When the adventurers found a similar scene deeper into the ruins, they learned thanks to the Speak with Dead spell that Dominox was responsible: he had been freed and he fed on mortal insecurity,[18] whispering into the minds of mortals, making them suffer and causing some of them to turn on each other and string up their former allies on wicked hooks before carving their own chest with a sigil and then killing themselves.[19] After Teven Klask told Bells Hells more about the creature (whom he was familiar with), Dominox caused Chetney Pock O'Pea to live through horrific visions of self-loathing, of children claiming he had murdered them, causing him to lash out violently.[20] Although he regained control, the grand demon intervened again, causing Dorian Storm to see his brother Cyrus Wyvernwind hanging from one of the hooks, talking to him and blaming him for his fate,[21] after which he told him that his soul would be trapped in the Material Plane until they found and destroyed a purple crystal. When the visions ended, Imogen tried to use Detect Thoughts to find the demon and she managed to briefly feel a presence before it left the reach of her spell. She then received her own visions in which her mother spoke to her trying to make her feel guilty, and when that failed, asked the sorcerer to destroy the Pinion of Service. Imogen asked to speak with Dominox directly but he didn't interact with them for a while. While they were helping Braius Doomseed, a paladin who had been wounded by his own friends because of the grand demon, the latter sent more visions, this time to Ashton Greymoore. It used a dying Fresh Cut Grass to tell Ashton to destroy the Pinion but this only made the barbarian angry, and they told the demon that if he wasn't going to speak with them clearly maybe they would abandon him in his prison.[22]
Fan art of Dominox as the little girl, by Elaine Tipping.[art 3]
Fan art of Dominox revealing himself, by Callum Lyall.[art 4]
Shortly afterwards they located the Nox Engine chamber. From the outside they saw a little girl who telepathically revealed herself to be Dominox, telling them that he could feel their presence although he couldn't see them outside the room. When they went in, the door closed immediately, and they spent some time negotiating; speaking to the demon as if he was actually a child, Laudna tried to convince him to help them fight Ludinus once they freed him, but only if he promised not to hurt them. Dominox, however, was impatient and frustrated, getting angry when they made him describe his role as an energy source for Aeor, and showing glimpses of his demonic power through his disguise. He tried to trick them, telling them that Ludinus wanted the Pinion, but Fearne Calloway determined he was lying. When Chetney approached a door, Dominox created a second little girl head to watch him, and when he got too close he used one of the chains in the room, dragging the gnome to the engine and making him promise that he would destroy the purple crystal there in exchange for his life, clarifying he couldn't destroy his own prison himself.[23]
Dominox transformed into his true demonic form,[24] and when he noticed that Orym and Laudna were still trying to leave the room, he got angry and attacked. The adventurers defended themselves while trying to take the Pinion, discovering that the demon wasn't able to get too close to it, but was also pulled in its direction if he got too close. At one point, the demon tried to Banish Teven back to the Nine Hells but was Counterspelled by Laudna. When Chetney put the Pinion of Service inside his bag of holding, Dominox got extremely angry, and promised to devour everything that was dear to him for not respecting their deal. The Grand Demon of Loathing was getting weaker, but he managed to badly injure Orym, and used his connection with Ashton (whom he had tormented with visions) to restore some health. Unexpectedly, Ludinus Da'leth joined the battle, casting Gate to create a portal to the Abyss; after Dorian used Otto's Irresistible Dance against Dominox, Braius pushed the demon through the portal. After some more hits, Teven used his Divine Smite to stab him in the chest and cut him in half, and Dominox died permanently, being technically back in his home plane.[25]
Character information[]
Abilities[]
- Lair actions
- Multiattack:[28]
- Claw attack (2x)
- Mind Feast: On a failed Wisdom save the target takes ~14 psychic damage and runs 30 feet away.[29]
- Tail attack[30]
- Legendary actions
- Armor Class: 20[33]
- Hit Points: approximately 220-235
- Resistant to lightning damage[34]
- Immune to poison damage[35]
Appearances and mentions[]
- Campaign Three
- "Broken Roads" (3x92), mentioned only
- "Ancient Sins" (3x97), mentioned only
- "The Nox Engine" (3x98) (first appearance)
- "The Cradle's Convocation" (3x104), mentioned only, unnamed
Trivia[]
Screenshot of Dominox from "The Nox Engine" (3x98).[art 5]
- His name could derive from the Latin dominus (master) combined with nox (night).
- Dominox was referred to as "the whispers in our heads" by a deceased member of the Ruby Vanguard, presumably because of his ability to induce visions and guilt in his victims.[36]
- Apparently Dominox tortured his victims until the point of them choosing oblivion and offering that decision to him. It is unclear if this ending connected them and the grand demon to Tharizdun, also known as the Chained Oblivion.
- Dominox is the first known case in Critical Role canon of a demon dying permanently, as he is the only one who has been defeated in the Abyss itself.
- Travis Willingham (portraying Chetney Pock O'Pea) seemed to think that the Grand Demon of Loathing was the coolest thing in existence.
- His breath had a putrid scent.
- Dominox was in a very weakened state when Bells Hells fought him in the ruins of Aeor, because he had only fed on the Ruby Vanguard members escorting Ludinus Da'leth.[37]
- If Dominox had been released, he would have been left out in Exandria to get to full power again.[38]
References[]
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:11:07.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:34:20.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:54:21.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:00:18.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:03:09.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:28:07.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:40:55.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:43:40.
- ↑ See "Shadows New and Old" (3x96) from 3:32:16 through 3:52:10.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:11:07.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:08:49.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) from 3:00:36 through 3:01:42. See also 3:08:26–3:12:18 and 3:33:42–3:36:45.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:44:05.
- ↑ See CR Cooldown | C3 E97 on Beacon at 01:15 (subscription required).
- ↑ See "Broken Roads" (3x92) at 1:17:34.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:32:14.
- ↑ See "Shadows New and Old" (3x96) from 3:32:16 through 3:52:10.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:37:21.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:29:51.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:15:33.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:38:59.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) from 0:28:03 through 1:11:19.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) from 1:17:49 through 1:55:32.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:00:09.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) from 2:24:20 through 3:32:26.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:25:54.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:03:36.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:28:48.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:04:59.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:45:31.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:35:11.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:53:53.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:00:51. 20 just hits.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:29:14.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:57:59.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:00:54.
- ↑ See "4-Sided Dive: Suddenly Samuel" (4SDx25) at 0:28:48.
- ↑ See "4-Sided Dive: Suddenly Samuel" (4SDx25) at 0:30:18.
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of Dominox, by Callum Lyall (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Dominox's sigil, by Micaerys. Work contributed to the Critical Role Wiki by the artist.
- ↑ Fan art of Dominox as the little girl, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Dominox revealing himself, by Callum Lyall (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Screenshot of Dominox from "The Nox Engine" (3x98). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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