Imps

Imps are a subspecies of Hellborn Demons that hold the lowest ranking in Hell's hierarchy alongside Hellhounds.

Description
Imps are in essence the "working-class" of Hell's society. They hold the lowest ranking in Hell's hierarchy and therefore are among the least respected and most likely to be hired for heavy labor work, or as servants for higher ranking demons.

There is a hotspot in Hell for Imps called Imp City, which appears extremely shabby and rundown, even by Hell's standards.

Natural

 * Blitzo's family
 * Blitzo
 * Barbie Wire
 * Tilla
 * Cash Buckzo
 * Moxxie's family
 * Moxxie
 * Crimson
 * Moxxie's unnamed mother
 * Millie's family
 * Millie
 * Lin
 * Joe
 * Sallie May
 * Millie's three unnamed brothers
 * Wally Wackford
 * Goetia Family butlers
 * Mister Butler
 * Unnamed family butler

Mixed

 * Striker (hybrid)
 * Fizzarolli (cyborg)
 * Butch (hybrid; deceased)

Appearance
Imps are designed to look like how the devil is typically portrayed in media, with red skin, horns and an arrow-tipped tail. All Imps have skin in a shade of red and striped horns. Imps have yellow sclera that glow in the dark with black slitted pupils, and sometimes visible red irises that tend to grow wide when an Imp is angered; some imps have white markings on their skin as well and they have black eyeliners.

One of the most distinctive traits that tell imps apart is the shape of their horns, which can vary greatly from individual to individual. Imps themselves also come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with the majority of them being smaller in stature than humans, but imp height ranges vary between comparable to an average human, to small enough to fit into a bag.

Furthermore the average muscle density of imps is notably thin, although there are some exceptions.

Imps exhibit sexual dimorphism of their hair and horns: female imps generally have dark hair and black horns with thin grey grooves on them, while male imps tend to have white hair with striped black-and-white horns. Although these are predominant traits, there are apparent exceptions, such as a male imp with dark hair that can be seen in the background of the episode "Loo Loo Land". In the case of Cash Buckzo, his kids, and Fizzarolli, they would be considered bald.

Imp heads are relatively large compared to their bodies, and have some vaguely reptilian traits, such as a lack of ears, lack of a defined nose, and their heads often have a slight conical pointedness towards the upper lip. Imp head shape varies notably, such as Blitzo and Barbie Wire having elongated rear craniums. Although imps usually appear to lack any nostrils at all, they are revealed to actually have nostrils when actively smelling something. Their teeth are usually shown as sharp and conical, and their tongues are forked like those of snakes.

Imp arms and legs have some amount of variation, they may have either plantigrade or digitigrade feet, often with hooves or claws, which are usually black. Some imps may have natural high heels on their feet, as evidenced by Blitzo. Both Blitzo and Barbie Wire have wrists and ankles which are relatively thick and undefined.

As first shown in "Murder Family", imp blood is black. Some imps appear to produce animalistic sounds that are unique to individual imps. Examples include Blitzo generating cat-like purring, Striker's tendency to hiss and rattle his tail, and Millie making chittering shrieks when angered.

Abilities

 * Ocular illumination - Imps have the ability to project light from their eyes when they are in dimly lit areas.
 * Pyrokinesis - At least some imps are capable of producing flames, such as the imp carnie in "Loo Loo Land", who lights a cigarette made from a bill with a flick of his finger.
 * Earthly fire resistance - As shown in "Murder Family", imps are completely resistant to the fire of Earth, and being fully engulfed in it does no harm to them. It is unknown if this is an ability unique to imps, or if it is a trait all demons possess.
 * Prehensile tail - Imps are able to use their tail to grasp things, such as when shown in "The Harvest Moon Festival" that Blitzo uses his tail to grab Striker and throw him with it.
 * Flight - Some, but not all, Imps are born with wings behind their backs, which grants them the ability to fly.

Mortality
Unlike demon royalty and sinners, it appears in the episode "Loo Loo Land" that Imps can be killed by non-Angelic Weapons. For unknown reasons, either due to being members of the lowest class of demons or some other cause, it is implied that Imps can suffer fatal wounds from regular weapons (such as knives and guns) or can even die from being petrified into stone from Stolas's gaze. A headshot from a gun has also been shown to be significant enough to kill an Imp completely.

In the episode "The Harvest Moon Festival", it is confirmed by Millie's parents that Imps can indeed be killed, such as during a natural disaster or during a violent festival event.

Although imps possess a certain resistance to fire, this seems to depend on the type of fire: Blitzo and Millie were observed being consumed by fire and emerging unharmed in "Murder Family", while in "Oops", Blitzo and Fizzarolli sustained injury to a fire that broke out in Hell. This suggests that their resistance is restricted to Earthly fire. It can also be assumed that smoke inhalation is still fatal to imps, as suggested by a group of firefighting imps wearing gas masks in the course of their work.

Trivia

 * In European mythology, an is a minor type of fairy or demon that is typically more mischievous than threatening, and as such is deemed a lesser being, even servile, to supernatural entities-- this may be part of the inspiration for imps in the series.
 * In the episode "Murder Family", Blitzo is injured by a bullet while in the human world and later implies that a shot to the head would send them back to Hell. This statement may be true based on Millie's reaction but has never been outright confirmed or denied.
 * It is possible that young imps are called "Implings", as Robo Fizz addresses them as such in his show.
 * According to Striker, imps don't typically start businesses on their own due to how low they are in Hell's hierarchy or from just the low income they receive.
 * As hinted in Stolas' greeting before he starts the ritual for the Harvest Moon Festival, the majority of imp-kind appear to be native to the Wrath Ring, and much less present elsewhere.
 * This is further implied in the episode "Western Energy" where a demon assumes Blitzo is from Wrath because he is an imp.
 * In the episode "Western Energy" it is revealed that imps are called "fire toads" by higher ranking demons. In a hospital waiting room a child calls Blitzo a "fire toad" which results in Blitzo becoming visibly offended and confronting the child, the child's mother responds by saying, "it's not polite to call them that to their faces, wait until we get in the car", which may imply it is some type of racial slur.
 * As shown in "Oops", scarring contributes to the development of an imp's white skin markings. This was previously implied by the cut and bruise patterns seen among imps in the show. However, given there are imps with markings that resemble non-scarred tissue such as freckles, it is unknown if white markings may be caused by other factors.