Why does the demon that possesses Regan react to the “fake” holy water?
In The Exorcist, why does the demon that possesses Regan react to the “fake” holy water sprinkled by Father Karras?
It’s hard to believe that the demon mistakes the tap water for water blessed by a priest. It certainly makes the entity that much less frightening.
Best Answer
It may be the case that the demon is cunning and wanted to make a doubt in the mind of Karras, already having a lack of faith in demons and ghosts. As we have seen that demon plays with Karras' emotions related to his mother too.
The demon reads on mind and emotions so it's not possible that he got fooled by tap water at all.
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Why did the demon in The Exorcist react to tap water?
According to Damien Karras, the demon's reaction to the tap water could mean that the possession is not genuine. This would therefore weaken his case for an exorcism. So, it could be that the demon was deliberately reacting to the tap water so Karras would not get permission to perform the exorcism.What is the name of the demon that possessed Regan?
In The Exorcist, Pazuzu appears as a demon who possesses Regan MacNeil.What did Regan do The Exorcist?
As the story progresses, Regan is revealed to have psychic healing powers (the reason why the demon attacked her previously). For The Exorcist III, Carolco Pictures had the idea of a grown up Regan who gives birth to possessed twins but it was abandoned and the story was switched to Blatty's novel Legion instead.Who desecrated the church in The Exorcist?
In the novel, however, Lt. Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) scratched off some of the paint from one of Regan's sculptures and compared it with the same paint used in the church desecrations. It matched, implying that, in Regan's possessed state, she was the one vandalizing the church.Pazuzu, The Demon Behind The Exorcist
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Answer 2
Father Merrin answers this question for us when he arrives at Regan's house and speaks to Father Karras prior to starting the exorcism. He says to Father Karras, "He's a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us, but he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us."
So whoever it was that pointed out the fact the demon was probably faking it when he comes in contact with the fake holy water in order to confuse Father Karras and cause doubt to avoid exorcism was also correct.
Answer 3
According to Damien Karras, the demon's reaction to the tap water could mean that the possession is not genuine. This would therefore weaken his case for an exorcism. So, it could be that the demon was deliberately reacting to the tap water so Karras would not get permission to perform the exorcism.
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Images: Olga Lioncat, Oleksandr Pidvalnyi, Nav Photography, Artem Beliaikin