Do you notice something odd about that entry? Yeah, you probably guessed based on the thread title, but it really doesn't do that much explaining about what a yugoloth is.
I feel, given the Fiends video, that the current team doesn't understand what makes yugoloths interesting aside from "they're not demons or devils."
To me, yugoloths are a few things.
Dangerously Secretive. Yugoloths are creatures of conspiracy. Not many people know much about yugoloths. They're definitely planning something bad, but what it is and what shape it takes is pretty opaque. Their motives and agendas are purposefully vague...but definitely BAD. The most iconic yugoloths are plotters and schemers who dangle others on the ends of their strings. Demons are destructive. Devils are acquisitive. But yugoloths...their agenda is less clear, and it's also clear that they don't want you to know what they're up to. This plays into their mercenary role in the Blood War. They like the Blood War. They want to encourage it. So they'll play both sides.
Suffering First. When you do manage to see what a yugoloth has in store for you, it's clear that what they're interested in is hurting other people, badly. They spread death, disease, despair, and desolation. A demon will destroy the world. A devil will rule the world. A yugoloth will fill the world with hate and spite and anguish, but given the first principle, you'll never know it - there's always someone else on the throne. This is their pro-active agenda: they want to see you suffering, physically, mentally, in every way that matters. They're not the type to take control (they don't want
their head to roll in the rebellion), they're not the type to just destroy (after all, once you're dead, who is going to scream in agony?), they're the type to smile when an orphan is made, to laugh when the rebellion fails, to inspire hope, just to watch it get snuffed out, to spread a plague that affects every creature that cares for the afflicted most of all. This also plays into their role as mercenaries in the Blood War - the multiverse's most destructive conflict, aided and abetted and inflamed by the yugoloths. A yugoloth mercenary is happy to cause collateral damage.
Selfishness. When you get a lot of demons, you get a hoard: everyone screaming and ripping and tearing, maximum destruction. When you get a lot of devils, you get an army: iron boots stomping on every neck in their way. Yugoloths, though, don't work especially well together. They are able to share conspiracies and plots, but only so long as they see a clear benefit to themselves, personally. They respond to personal incentives. They don't just want to see the world burn, and they don't particularly care if they're on top or not (the top comes with some risks), but they do crave personal power. Each has their own goals, and they may even sometimes work at cross-purposes. The General of Gehenna is a ruler that doesn't have much respect (though they can command some measure of obedience). Each 'loth schemes for the best circumstances for itself, and knows its fellows are, too. As mercenaries in the Blood War, this is put to the test when, say, mezzoloths are thrown at each other, each one doing its best for itself, fighting its peers, hoping to get the most out of the fight. Mezzoloths are fairly low-ranking, and so the extent of their schemes isn't as broad as some of the other yugoloths, but they still want what's best for themselves.
There are traits there that are shared by some other fiends, but the yugoloths stand out because of their focus on some of these vibes. A given demon is selfish, but is also a creature of destructive impulse. A devil loves to crush the morale of others, but sees it as a tool to use to rise higher, rather than as an end in and of itself. Every powerful fiend is a schemer to some degree, but the yugoloths do it as a way of life, as the default way of interacting with others, and to such an extent that you're never sure of their genuine concerns in things.
In the power balance of fiends, the yugoloths are kind of "winning." They don't have to worry about great wars or endless conflicts, about cultists or crusaders. Their greatest obstacle is probably themselves - too secretive and selfish to unite for grand goals, they're mostly involved in pettier cruelties that satisfy their individual lust for suffering. Unless, of course, the rumors are true....
