Habit Demons
Every bad habit spawns a demon - a hostile figure that represents the behavior you're trying to cut. Demons aren't enemies you fight in battle. They're a daily reminder, and a running score of how the real-life struggle is going.
How Demons Are Born
Create a bad habit and a demon appears. Its class - Knight, Mage, Healer, or Bard - comes from the sin category you chose: Wrath makes a Knight demon, Sloth makes a Mage demon, Gluttony makes a Healer demon, and so on.
The class is mostly thematic here. Because demons don't participate in combat, their class influences flavor and artwork rather than fight mechanics.
Why Demons Don't Fight
This is the biggest difference between soldiers and demons. Good habits produce fighting companions because the mechanic matches the psychology - "do the thing, get stronger." Bad habits don't fit that shape. If demons fought for you, the reward loop would be upside down: you'd be glad to see them strong.
Instead, the demon exists as a reminder sprite on your habit list and a tracker of real-life progress. The goal is to watch it wither.
HP That Works in Reverse
A demon's HP grows when you give in and shrinks when you avoid the behavior:
- Log a completion (you gave in) - the demon's HP rises.
- Avoid the habit on a past show day - the demon's HP drops a little.
You don't fight demons down; you starve them. See Demon HP Mechanics for the full rules, or Streaks & Habit HP for how demon HP fits into the broader HP system.
The Seven Deadly Sins Framing
Each bad habit is filed under one of the seven classic sins - Wrath, Pride, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed - plus "Other" for nervous tics like nail-biting. See The Seven Deadly Sins for each sin's full description, and Habit Categories for how to pick one.
Why sins, not just "bad habit categories"?
The sins are one of the oldest vocabulary sets humanity has for "things that pull us in the wrong direction." Naming the impulse behind a behavior - "I'm chasing stimulation" (Lust), "I'm avoiding effort" (Sloth) - is more actionable than just "I'm scrolling Instagram." The sin language is meant to give you a handle on the pull, not to add shame.
Vanquishing a Demon
When a demon's HP drops to zero, it's vanquished. The behavior has been consistently avoided, and the demon's role ends. You'll earn an achievement, and the art on the habit's card changes to mark the win.
Vanquishing isn't the end of the habit itself - the habit stays on your list so you can keep the streak going. But the in-game enemy is gone, and that's worth celebrating.