The external physical manifestation of a person's inner self or soul in Lyra's world, taking the form of an animal. Every person has a daemon of the opposite sex, and the two share an unbreakable bond - separating a person from their daemon causes unbearable agony, and if one dies, the other does too. Children's daemons can change shape freely, reflecting the fluid nature of childhood identity. At puberty, a daemon settles into a fixed form that reflects the person's true nature. The settled form often reveals character: servants tend to have dog daemons, scholars have bird daemons, soldiers have wolf or dog daemons.