The Seventy-Two Demons, also known as Solomon's Seventy-Two Demon Kings, are a group of entities recorded in the field of occultism. They appear in the first part, Ars Goetia, of the book The Lesser Key of Solomon (phonetically rendered as Legeton). Each demon has its own rank (such as commander, duke, marquis, count, etc.), a hierarchy they oversee, and an individual seal (referred to as a "pillar"). It is said they can be summoned to gain power, assistance, or knowledge.
So of the seventy-two demons resemble animals (such as crows or wolves), while others appear bizarre or grotesque (like chiric hybrids). They often transcend the binary of good and evil, embodying both divine and demonic traits. The term "Solomon's 72 Demon Gods" originates from The Lesser Key of Solomon, a key text in demonology.
The oldest known version of this book dates back to the early 17th century, though it is believed to have been written before the French Revolution. According to the text, the great and wise King Solomon of Israel (who reigned from 961–922 BCE) was, in fact, a highly skilled summoner of demons.
Legend says that King Solomon made a pact with Berial, the King of Demons, and in doing so, gained the power to command all demons of Hell. Using his magical ring, he branded each demon on the neck, forcing them to serve him. In return, he promised to offer his soul to Berial after death.
Among the demons, aside from the seven sovereign demon lords of Hell, the seventy-two noble demons—kings, dukes, and marquises—were the most powerful. These are the demons known as Solomon's Seventy-Two Demon Kings.
Solomon is said to have recorded the spells he used to summon them in a book called The Key of Solomon, which included many volus, the most mysterious being The Lesser Key of Solomon. It is in this volu that the seventy-two demons—referred to as "Solomon's Heroic Spirits"—are ntioned.
Solomon sealed these demons in bottles and summoned them as needed to carry out tasks and bring glory to the Kingdom of Israel. However, after Solomon's death, Babylonian invaders ca across these sealed bottles. Mistaking them for treasure, they opened them, inadvertently releasing the seventy-two great demons into the world.
Regulus Black reviewed this information and ford his own conclusions.
Given a world where wizards like Harry Potter exist, it was entirely plausible that King Solomon was an extraordinary wizard—particularly one skilled in summoning, a true master of demonic conjuration.
However, Regulus Black held reservations about the concept of "summoning." In his view, King Solomon seed more like a grandmaster alchemist who created demons through alchemical ans rather than summoning them. Those who called him a summoner had misunderstood.
As for why Solomon himself never clarified this—Regulus believed it was purely due to the vastly different consequences each label implied.
If one is rely summoning demons and commanding them, any evil they commit is attributed to the demon. Solomon himself is seen only as powerful.
But if one is creating demons, then any evil the demon does becos the creator's responsibility. Moreover, the very ability to create demons would draw fear, hatred, and envy from others.
Regulus Black ca from a family of dark wizards, with no restrictions on the use of dark magic. The entire family had poured its heart into researching the dark arts.
Having grown up around black magic experints, Regulus Black had long dread of creating his own demon—or, at the very least, a lesser spirit or familiar. But even up to the mont of his death in the Black Lake, where he beca an undead being, he had never succeeded. In fact, none of the Black family's long-running experints had ever yielded results.
Yet, now reborn in a new life, Regulus approached the subject of demon summoning from a different perspective and ca to a simple conclusion: the reason summoning always failed was a lack of understanding about demons.
Just like the summoning of Heroic Spirits in the Holy Grail War, the summoner must know the spirit intimately to summon them successfully.
Applying that principle to the summoning of demons, one must understand a demon's na, form, attributes, abilities—the more detailed, the better. And then, as the final step, one must offer sacrifices far exceeding the minimum requirent.
Though such a thod wastes many resources, it's like a wealthy player spending extravagantly in a pay-to-win ga—the more money you spend, the higher the chances of a breakthrough. If you don't spend, how can you expect success? If you don't invest, how can you beco powerful?
That's why Solomon was able to summon seventy-two demons—because he was a king, in control of his nation's wealth. He had money, leisure, ti—and he just so happened to be a wizard proficient in demonic summoning.
The result? Solomon used wealth, ti, and luck to forge seventy-two demons. It's not that he didn't want to create more—it's likely his imagination had run dry. A closer look at the seventy-two demons' attributes and roles shows significant overlap. Given the thinking capacity of wizards at the ti, those were simply the most concepts they could co up with in terms of power, rights, properties, professions, and appearances.
Regulus Black did not need a vast number like seventy-two demons; he based his summoning instead on the twelve zodiac signs.
Conveniently, an artist had once drawn demonic versions of the twelve constellations, so Regulus Black simply used those as references.
Ever since reclaiming the dairy farm, Regulus Black personally visited the ranch every seven days. While inspecting the work, he would also take away the already sorted cow heads, organs, and offal.
In so remote areas of the UK, Regulus Black carefully set up magical circles. Tons of offerings were piled onto these circles—the blood-soaked sacrifices made perfect material for alchemy. However, the failure rate was high, and up to now, he had only succeeded in creating a Taurus demon, which he subsequently sealed at the summoning site.
The Taurus demon stood three ters tall, its entire body packed with powerful muscle and possessing exceptionally high resistance to magic. Regulus Black didn't give it any complex attributes—only the singular attribute of "Strength."
Although he had managed to summon the Taurus demon, Regulus Black lacked any ans to control it. At the ti, he hadn't expected to succeed, so he hadn't prepared any containnt asures. Fortunately, he managed to seal it at the location—otherwise, it would've beco a disaster no matter where it ended up.
Today, Regulus Black had chosen a new place to summon a demon. Although the location was randomly selected, he had used a spell like "Show the way" beforehand. As a result, when he Apparated to the designated spot, he found himself inside a sheep pen.
There were only three to five sheep in the low-roofed house, but this clearly felt like the most suitable place—by pure instinct—to summon the Aries demon.
He waved his wand, Silver Silk and Jade Bone, the most suited of his four wands for summoning purposes. A rune array composed entirely of magic was etched into the ground, covering the entire area of the sheep pen—like drawing the largest possible circle inside a square.
Then ca the offering. With a flick of his hand, massive piles of innards and offal were dumped into the magic circle. The sheep bleated in terror. Although not the brightest of animals, they could recognize the scent of blood—it ant death.
But with a wave of Regulus Black's wand, a Silencing Charm was cast over the sheep, rendering them mute. He followed that with a Muggle-Repelling Charm placed on the walls of the pen.
You are the heroic spirit of the Zodiac.
You are the great demon from the depths of the abyss.
You are the half-blood prince of humans and demons.
You are one of the rare craftsn among demons.
You are my summoned creature—my servant.
Any who oppose , you are permitted to slay.
Any I judge as enemies, you are permitted to condemn.
Here I offer you sacrifices—take them and feast.
I bid you to manifest in this world and serve in this life.
I summon the Zodiac Demon of Aries!
The mountain of offerings, weighing tons, lted like ice cream. Centered on the magic circle, it all sank into the ground—along with the nearby sheep. In the end, only the pristine, glowing circle remained, shimring faintly with the light of blood.
After waiting a while, Regulus Black felt a bit disappointed. It seed like another failure. It had been the sa with Taurus—he had failed dozens of tis before finally succeeding.
Just as he turned to leave, a fountain of blood suddenly erupted from the center of the circle, and a sinister figure with enormous curved horns slowly rose from the crimson geyser.
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