Demonic Beast

Demonic Beasts are enemy Monster units introduced in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Profile
Demonic Beasts are monstrosities that are caused by mutations as a result of using Crests or a Heroes' Relics's true power in the hands of an incompatible user. All Demonic Beasts are, as a result, former humans either forced or willingly transformed.

The transformation appears to be painful and engulfs the original host's consciousness, becoming a mindless creature of destruction. They are incredibly tough to kill, even for seasoned warriors. Many have lost their lives to them due to their immense power and ability to cause widespread destruction with magic and otherwise powerful physical blows.

Particularly strong willed individuals can transform themselves into a Demonic Beast and maintain full control of their form, though this is an extreme rarity. Even in the case of Maurice, a hero from centuries past, had only a small level of control of his Beast form. It is unknown of their lifespan, but one such beast had lived for several hundred years. With a specific magic, they can be controlled or otherwise directed to attack.

Gameplay
Demonic Beasts have tremendous power and wide range. They generally engulf four tiles, giving allies multiple tiles to attack them. If they attack, the Demonic Beasts usually begin charging a huge Area of Effect attack that will severely damage allies who are within the Beast's area during the next enemy phase. Additionally, most Demonic Beasts may have anywhere from two to three Health bars, requiring that the player deplete multiple Health Bars to kill it.

Demonic Beast have incredibly tough hides, but are still susceptible to attacks and cannot fully endure multiple assaults. Every Demonic Beast has a yellow colored tile beneath them when the player hovers their cursor over them. This denotes that the Beast's protective armor is fully active. Attacking them will cause it to weaken, first cracking with a successful damaging attack is landed and finally completely breaking after two separate successful damaging attacks. A tile where their shield is broken causes the beast to take more damage, can no longer counter attack allies who attack that tile, and cannot move the following turn. If all shields are broken, the Demonic Beast cannot move, cannot counterattack against any attack towards them and will take more damage, will instantly stop charging any Area of Effect attack they were preparing, and will be unable to attack on their turn. Also breaking all shields will reward the player with forging materials.

Gambits are important for taking down Demonic Beasts as they not only can help to crack or break several shields of a Demonic Beast, but also a Demonic Beast who is charging their Area of Effect attack will have their attention directed towards a character who uses a gambit onto them, focusing their attack to a specific area around the unit using a Gambit rather than around the Beast itself.