[RPG] What happens when you defeat a shadow demon

dnd-5emonsters

When you defeat other demons on the material plane, they reform in the abyss. However, a shadow demon is a demon who was prevented from reforming in the abyss for some reason. So, when a shadow demon is defeated, can it return to the abyss to reform back to a shadow demon or do they just become permanently killed?

Best Answer

It reforms in the Abyss

Nothing states that a shadow demon itself cannot reform, only that it is created by the failure of another demon to reform.

When a demon's body is destroyed but the fiend is prevented from reforming in the Abyss, its essence sometimes takes on a vague physical form.

(Monster Manual 54)

However it is still a demon and when a demon dies...

...the fiend dissolves into foul ichor. It then instantly reforms in the Abyss, its mind and essence intact.

(Monster Manual 52)

A shadow demon remains both a fiend and a demon so this rule applies.

If the demon is still prevented from reforming (such as by the same effect as the original demon), the essence of the shadow demon could become a new shadow demon or not since a demon that can reform only "sometimes" assumes the form of a shadow demon.