A Guide To The Paranormal Activity Demon

What We Know

A deal was made with the demon for the family’s first born son

Although we don’t know for sure who made the deal, somewhere in the not too distant past, one of the family members was willing to gain wealth and power in exchange for the soul of their first born son. Julie’s mom Lois is fully aware of this deal, and tries to encourage Julie to have kids until she has a son. The fact Lois knows about the deal would lead to beliefs that either she, or her mother was the one to make the deal, but there are also no signs of great wealth or power in Lois’ possession.

Hunter is the first male born into the family since the 1930s, which makes him the male heir that the demon will receive his payment from. In PA2 the demon possesses Kristi in order to take Hunter. Martine informs Dan that it is impossible to exorcise the demon completely, but it can be passed to another family member. Dan then does the ritual to pass the demon to Katie, but that doesn’t stop Hunter from being taken.

This deal was for the first-born son’s life or soul, one of the two. The demon didn’t need to make a deal to possess the body, as it has no trouble possessing anyone throughout the films, but for some reason it needed the deal to actually take the soul or life.

The circle inside a triangle is related to the demon

This mysterious symbol is extremely prevalent in PA3 . We get it in Lois’ house, on the lite-brite in the tiny closet. The symbol comes back again in the fourth film on Wyatt’s back.

Many believe this symbol dates all the way back to King Solomon and is referred to as the Magical Triangle. Legend holds that the great king was also a prophet and a wizard who didn’t just deal with good spirits.

The symbol was originally supposed to be made on the ground, and that’s the only place in which Solomon was able to properly control the evil that he conjured. Many would believe it to be a place of protection, as circles have frequently been used throughout demonic lore as a safe haven, but this circle provided Solomon with power and control, not safety.

It’s no great stretch to assume the demon was originally summoned through some sort of ritual involving the Magical Triangle, but the films do fail to explain why it continually pops up in random locations.

The demon’s name is Toby

In PA3 Kristi refers to the spirit as Toby, and again in PA4 the spirit is referred to as Toby. So it’s clear that Toby isn’t just a name that Kristi made up, and whatever this spirit is tells the kids his name is Toby.

The name Toby has no direct connection to common demonic lore or to any demons referenced in the Bible, so likely it’s just a name that the writers picked. It does seem to bit an odd name for a demon, so there is the possibility that Kristi did make up that name, and the demon liked it enough to keep it.

It doesn’t like to be taunted or mocked

Many times in the films we find Toby reacting to the tauntings of one of the characters. The most notable of this behavior is in PA3 when Katie mocks Kristi and the demon before entering the crawl space. One she’s inside, the door slams shut and Toby attacks her.

Toby also goes after the babysitter when she dons a sheet in imitation of a ghost. The same sheet hovers behind her, with some form of spirit beneath, and then when she attempts to put the sheet back, Toby blows on her and pushes her away.

It frequently communicates with children

It’s long been accepted in paranormal films that children are the ones who have the closest connection to the spiritual world. This is shown especially strongly in the 3rd and 4th films, as we have kids talking to the spirit in each.

When dealing with only the children the demon seems friendly, not at all the terrifying entity that it is when the adults come into play. Kristi has an extremely close bond with the demon, speaking to Toby nearly every night, and playing with him during the day.

It leaves bird-like tracks

The most telling information we get in the first film is a very tiny detail about the demon: the appearance of its tracks.

Micah comes up with the idea of laying powder on the ground to trace the movement of the demon. The plan works, as the demon leaves behind tracks, but these tracks aren’t anything that a human would leave. They’re birdlike three-toed tracks, yet are much larger than the average bird.

The demon has now received its payment

Although it isn’t actually shown, at the end of PA4, we can assume that the demon receives Hunter as his payment,when Hunter is taken to Katie’s house and the coven of witches convenes on Alex to complete the sacrifice.

The fact that the demon now has Hunter should complete the original deal that was made, if the deal was simply the first born-male for the wealth and power.

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