First of all, "daemon" is an old-fashioned (1e, pre Planescape) term for Yugoloths (and maybe some similar creatures). "Demon" used to be the equivalent for tanar'ri, but now 3e uses it to group together tanar'ri and other Abyssal fiendish creatures (though it's important to note that only the tanar'ri are true planeborn, the others like bebeliths and retrievers are just planar denizens). Baatezu, kytons, hellcats, and others are now grouped as "devils."
Moving on, we'll go through what each type of fiend eats, as provided by Faces of Evil (oh the wonders of this book).
Tanar'ri eat meat. Lots of it. They consume the physical bodies of their dead enemies. At the same time, they absorb fear and pain, which is why they much prefer their victims to be terrified before they are eaten. Some tanar'ri may absorb the spirits of their enemies as well. It is not known for sure whether tanar'ri need to eat at all, or if they just do it for appearances or intimidation.
Baatezu also eat meat, but they much prefer it to be from an intelligent creature. They love to eat their enemies like larvae, tanar'ri, and yugoloths. Above all, they savor eating those of good alignment, especially celestials. What they consume is life itself. By destroying the life energies of their prey, they strengthen themselves, and of course the baatezu's perverted mind finds this immensly satisfying. They don't actually need to eat or drink anything, as creatures formed of belief, that is what they ultimately subsist on.
Yugoloths delight in taking life from anything. They are, of course, carnivores, but when they eat you, it's more than just for food. It demonstrates their position in the multiverse, and they love showing every berk in existence just who's on the top. It truly is the thinking of a 'loth to want to be on the top of the food chain and for everyone to know it. Consequently, they love to absorb the fear and despair from a poor sod who they're eating.
Gehreleths may just eat because they want to destroy that which they hate: everything. Or it could be because it provides a goal for their lives. Like the other fiends, however, they're immortal, so the need for physical sustenance is a minor one at most.
Powers, what an unpleasant subject.
*grins fiendishly, and you'd swear for just an instant those sparkling teeth are just a tad bloody...*
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
Yugoloths also eat apples and drink wine. I must have forgotten that part. Or maybe, they just do it to prove their superiority to fruit and wine. Or maybe I got mixed up. Are they are absorbing the terror that the apples experience? Or is it Shemmy Snacks? *see other thread somewhere*
... Yes... somewhere there's a treant screaming is horror, "OH GOD NO!! NOT MY APPLES!!! AHHH!!!!!!!"
*munches on an apple and somewhere in Arborea a treant shudders with horrific memories*
But yeah, if anyone else has the old 1e monster's manual II, the D section was one of the most confusing things I'd ever seen as at the time all of the planes were pretty unclear (this is waay before planescape cleaned things up) and you're just like, "devil, demon, daemon, demodand... screw this".
The Farastu doesn't look at all however like I've always imagined them, or seen them depicted, in any edition.
Still, since I loathe and despise Apomp's twisted little spawn, I guess I'm the least of all people to complain about them getting another name change. :D
I remember after a friend got ahold of an old Monster Manual 2, and I first discovered the Modrons and the infamaos princes of Hell. After that Bel appeared as a regular villain and general annoyance to the players in my campaign.
Ah, memories...
Actually, there are more types of Daemons than yugoloths methinks (but don't currently have that book so can't say) because there are some weird-@ss ones that definitely don't seem to fit in with the rest. However, Greheleth is just a different name for demos, they're exactly the same thing, not just a part of. I agree about the hordelings, and add an additional "who cares?" to the argument.