And while we're at it (ancient planar history), who/what were the Ancient Baatorians (sp?) who apparently pre-dated the devils?
From what I recall, the baatezu/devils were (originally) fallen celestials before the first mortal souls (lemures) started appearing in Baator/Hell. The original baatezu began using the mortal souls as minions and a source of replacements/new types. There isn't much information about the Ancient Baatorians, but there are hints that those that weren't wiped out or driven into hiding may have been coopted (i.e., barbed devils, bone devils, and ice devils, possibly including bearded devils and horned devils). Erinyes, kytons, the Lords of the Nine, as well as pit fiends (corrupted into "stronger" forms) were probably remanants of the fallen celestial host. Hell cats may be advanced/augmented beasts (i.e., similar to hell hounds but further along in the process).
Yugoloth origins are more obscure/conflicting. The most cohesive origins point to the baernaloth proto-fiends, who supposedly had extensive flesh-shaping abilities/techniques. According to some tales, the baernaloths created all the original fiendish races, who then later "rebelled" and "stole" the flesh-shaping techniques to create newer types (whether this is true or propaganda is not made clear).
The various celestials seem to have a mix of origins, depending on type and home plane. Angels and lillends seem likely to be "original" celestials, while archons, eladrin, and guardinals seem likely to be adapted/created celestials.
Titans, deities, and other beings may also play a role in various outsider origins.
I wonder if we can lure Todd Stewart into making some comments. IIRC, he is/was the resident (outer) planar/fiend expert on the WotC boards in his guise as Shemeska (sp?).
There isn't much information about the Ancient Baatorians, but there are hints that those that weren't wiped out or driven into hiding may have been coopted (i.e., barbed devils, bone devils, and ice devils, possibly including bearded devils and horned devils). Erinyes, kytons, the Lords of the Nine, as well as pit fiends (corrupted into "stronger" forms) were probably remanants of the fallen celestial host. Hell cats may be advanced/augmented beasts (i.e., similar to hell hounds but further along in the process).
Actually, according to the 3.5 MM, kytons are non-baatezu. Along with imps and hell cats, they are the only entries in the devil section without the baatezu subtype. I can't comment beyond that, except that the Fiendish Codex II also supports the theory of fallen celestials: Asmodeus was originally the Lawful gods' champion against the Abyss, but after ages fighting demons he became cruel and black-hearted, and so was cast into the Lower Planes. When he hit Baator, the impact broke the plane into a pit of descending, increasingly small fragments. Asmodeus now has an agenda against the gods who cast him down, of course, but also never abandoned his hatred of the Abyss and its residents, and continues to wage genocide against it; hence, the Blood War.
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I know that Asmodeus and his court were once celestials, but when the Hells became theirs, who was that first lowly lemure elevated into a new baatezu by their design?
We know that the obyrith lord the Queen of Chaos shaped Demogorgon into the first tanar'ri, and presumably one of the baernaloths created the first yugoloth from themselves or a larvae... I was just wondering if there are any other iconic "firsts" akin to Demogorgon, fiends and celestials that were their god's or master's first attempt to shape a petitioner into something to better serve its plane.
Thread necromancy! Took a while to find this. Normally you have to say my name three times to invoke me, or something like that.
One thing, Asmo started as a champion of Law. No good involved in that. At the time they may have been ignorant of some of the other entities out there. It was a strictly LN association unless you try to read a bit much into some of it. Also the legend is told from the bias of a LN speaker, as it doesn't talk about the good or evil side of things (outside of the Abyss). For instance a 'loth centric view of planar history doesn't even mention the events of the Asmodeus origin mythology of the Pact Primeval.
As I recall, it may have been Pale Night that created the first Tanar'ri, would need to check up on if that was alluded to or actually confirmed.