Editing Demonlist Top 1 Levels (section)

====Retrospective entrants denied by circumstances====
The following levels had the potential to be ranked as the hardest level at the time; however, they were legitimately verified too late despite consensus of their difficulty, or they were star-rated but disputed (not ranked or ranked lower), and only in retrospect would be recognised as being owed the hardest ranking at the time of being uploaded.

Certain notable levels that achieved Top 1 at some point but could have remained there significantly longer are also included below.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
 !Image
 !Name
 !Uploader (verifier)
 !Upload date
 !ID
 !Retrospective Top 1 duration
 !Contemporary Top 1
 !Info
 |-
 |[[File:DefiniteIntegral.png|160px]]
 |{{Demon|i}} Definite integral
 |Rabbitical
 |29 January 2014
 |180857
 |4 weeks 
 |Heaven And Hell, The Hell origin (original), Stereo Demoness (unnerfed)
 |Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:BizarreMilestone.png|160px]]
 |{{Demon|i}} Bizarre milestone
 |pg1004 
 |27 February 2014 
 |284555
 |1 month 3 weeks
 |Stereo Demoness (unnerfed), Element 111 Rg, [[Silent Club]]
 |Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:PgClubstep.png|160px]]
 |{{Demon|i}} [[pg clubstep]]
 |pg1004
 |8 April 2014
 |513137
 |2 weeks
 |Element 111 Rg, Silent Club
 |Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:XYZStepInfinity.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} XYZ Step Infinity (old)
 |OrcaSN
 |22 April 2014
 |608361
 |1 month 1 week
 |Silent Club
 |Remake of XYZ Step by Coke. Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:PrimaryMaze.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} [[Primary Maze]]
 |Centuple
 |1 June 2014
 |928589
 |3 months 3 weeks
 |Silent Club
 |First (retrospective) Top 1 level to surpass 2 minutes in length, at 2 minutes 19 seconds; would remain the longest (retrospective) Top 1 level until Yatagarasu over two years later. Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:DeadlyClubStep.png|160px]]
 |{{Demon|i}} Deadly ClubStep
 |[[Neptune]] (LunarSimg)
 |20 September 2014<ref group="Notes">Originally hack-verified and uploaded by Neptune on 9 July 2014; it was completed on 20 September 2014 by LunarSimg, still being the hardest completion at the time.</ref>
 |1299298
 |4 months 1 week
 |Silent Club, [[ICE Carbon Diablo X]]
 |Originally hack-verified before being legitimately completed by LunarSimg. Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:StereoDemoness.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} [[Stereo Demoness]] (nerfed)
 |MaJackO (KeiAs)
 |8 January 2015
 |260693
 |3 weeks 3 days
 |ICE Carbon Diablo X
 |
 |-
 |[[File:IceCream.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} [[Ice cream]]
 |[[Cyclic]] ([[Zobros]])
 |1 February 2015
 |69936244 (reupload)
 |2 weeks 5 days
 |ICE Carbon Diablo X
 |Originally hack-verified before being legitimately completed by Zobros. Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels.
 |-
 |[[File:Acropolis.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} [[Acropolis]]
 |Zobros
 |19 February 2015
 |5155022
 |3 weeks 2 days
 |ICE Carbon Diablo X
 |Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels. It is notably the last full-solo (retrospective) Top 1 level (created and verified by the same player).
 |-
 |[[File:Necropolis.png|160px]]
 |{{InsaneDemon|i}} [[Necropolis]]
 |[[Neptune]] (GMDElite)
 |14 March 2015<ref group="Notes">Originally uploaded and hack-verified by Neptune on 29 September 2014; would be legitimately completed by GMDElite on 14 March 2015, still being the hardest completion at the time.</ref>
 |2241592
 |2 months
 |ICE Carbon Diablo X, Cataclysm (old)
 |Originally hack-verified before being legitimately completed by GMDElite on 14 March 2015. Rated during the era of hacked Top 1 levels. It is also the easiest retrospective Top 1 listed on the Demonlist.
 |-
 |[[File:CataclysmOld.png|160px]]
 |{{Unrated|i}} ({{InsaneDemon|i}})<sup>7</sup> [[Cataclysm]] (old)
 |[[Ggb0y]] (Giron)
 |14 May 2015<ref group="Notes">Originally uploaded and hack-verified by Ggb0y on 3 January 2015; would be legitimately completed by Giron on 14 May 2015.</ref>
 |3979721
 |2 months 2 weeks
 |Supreme Lab Factory (buffed), Future demoness, Sonic Wave (old)
 |While this level was properly Top 1 for a few months, the timeframe it was Top 1 for changes if basing Top 1 length on legitimate verifications instead.
 |-
 |[[File:TheUltimatePhase.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[The Ultimate Phase]] (old)
 |[[Andromeda (Player)|Andromeda]] (GMDElite)
 |29 July 2015<ref group="Notes">Originally uploaded and hack-verified by Andromeda on 9 May 2015; would be legitimately completed by GMDElite on 29 July 2015.</ref>
 |7174110
 |2 weeks
 |Sonic Wave (old), [[Fexty]]
 |Nowadays considered the first legitimately verified Extreme Demon, as the old version of Cataclysm and ICE Carbon Diablo X are no longer considered Extreme Demon difficulty.
 |-
 |[[File:Phobos.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Phobos]] (current)
 |[[KrmaL]]
 |12 May 2016
 |19759411
 |5 months 3 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until BlassCFB verified WcropoliX, this length is decreased to 2 months 3 weeks.</ref>
 |[[Bloodbath]], [[Sakupen Hell]]
 |This is the nerfed version of Phobos, legitimately verified and uploaded by KrmaL; the unnerfed version, hack-verified by Tygrysek, that was unrated was a proper Top 1 level. It was initially placed below the then-Top 1 Bloodbath before both were moved several times after Artificial Ascent was rated, with Phobos ending up above both Bloodbath and Sakupen Hell.
 |-
 |[[File:BetrayalOfFate.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} Betrayal of Fate
 |[[weoweoteo]]
 |31 May 2016
 |20329544
 |2 months 2 weeks
 |Bloodbath
 |Was initially placed below the then-Top 1 Bloodbath before later being moved above.<ref group="Notes">Betrayal of Fate is not currently considered harder than Phobos, a level verified and rated earlier.</ref>
 |-
 |[[File:WcropoliX.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} WcropoliX
 |[[BlassCFB]]
 |31 July 2016<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ2PsY1BymE</ref>
 |22183448
 |3 months 2 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until Stormfly verified the Hell Zone, this length is decreased to 2 days.</ref>
 |Bloodbath, Sakupen Hell
 |Infamously remained unrated for nearly nine years and was one of the very first levels to be unanimously considered harder than Bloodbath by the community. Despite supposedly being unrated due to its criticised gameplay, it was unexpectedly rated on 17 June 2025, likely owing to its historical significance.<ref group="Notes">WcropoliX is not currently considered harder than Phobos, a level verified and rated earlier.</ref>
 |-
|[[File:TheHellZone.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[The Hell Zone]] (old)
 |[[Stormfly]]
 |2 August 2016
 |22259203
 |4 months
 |Bloodbath, Sakupen Hell, [[Athanatos]] (old)
 |This is the currently rated remake hosted and hack-verified by Cyclic and later legitimately verified by Stormfly. Considered harder than Bloodbath, Sakupen Hell, and Athanatos, which were all Top 1 between when this level was verified and when it was rated. By the time this level was rated, Artificial Ascent, Sonic Wave, and Yatagarasu had already been rated and placed above it; this level was also heavily underrated on the Demonlist initially, initially placing even below Bloodbath.
 |-
 |[[File:SonicWave.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Sonic Wave]] (current)
 |[[Sunix]]
 |25 November 2016
 |26681070
 |11 months<ref group="Notes">If counting until Plasma Pulse Finale was moved above Sonic Wave, this length is increased to 1 year 2 months.</ref>
 |[[Artificial Ascent]], [[Yatagarasu]], [[Erebus]], [[Stalemate Redux]], [[Digital Descent]] (unbuffed)
 |While this level was properly Top 1 for a few months, several levels temporarily usurped it, and its difficulty would not be truly surpassed until Plasma Pulse Finale was moved above it in January 2018.
 |-
 |[[File:DeathCorridorZ.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Death Corridor Z]]
 |Sunix
 |20 October 2017<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9799msdH394</ref>
 |38403655
 |4 months
 |Sonic Wave, [[Plasma Pulse Finale]]
 |An alternate version of Eternaswip's Death Corridor remake. Likely remained unrated at the time because it was not verified by the intended verifier, KugelBlitZ; however, it was unexpectedly rated on 18 January 2026 alongside multiple other long-standing unrated levels.
 |-
 |[[File:CrimsonPlanet.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Crimson Planet]]
 |TrueOmega ([[Wooshi]])
 |19 May 2018
 |45866767
 |10 months 3 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until Technical legitimately beat Zodiac on 9 April 2019. If only counting until Zodiac was rated, this length is shortened to 8 months 3 weeks.</ref>
 |[[Bloodlust]], [[Zodiac]]
 |While this level was properly Top 1 during Zodiac's short stay in the Legacy List, it would have been Top 1 for much longer had it been rated soon after its verification.
 |-
 |[[File:LucidNightmares.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Lucid Nightmares]]
 |CairoX (Wooshi)
 |26 January 2019
 |52310333
 |2 months 2 weeks
 |[[Bloodlust]], [[Zodiac]]
 |Although considered easier than Crimson Planet, that level had not yet been rated at the time of this level's verification, leading it to potentially being Top 1 had it been rated before Crimson Planet and Zodiac.
 |-
 |[[File:ThinkingSpace.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Thinking Space]]
 |Atomic
 |9 April 2019
 |54953085
 |1 day
 |Crimson Planet
 |Would have replaced Crimson Planet as the Top 1 level during Zodiac's short stay in the Legacy List had it been rated within two months of its verification.
 |-
 |[[File:Kenos.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Kenos]]
 |[[npesta]]
 |14 December 2019
 |58673581
 |3 weeks
 |Zodiac
 |Was moved above its contemporary Top 1 Zodiac on 7 March 2025, over five years after it was initially placed.
 |-
 |[[File:Tartarus.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Tartarus]]
 |Dolphy
 |6 January 2020
 |59075347
 |1 year 10 months<ref group="Notes">If counting until Xanii verified Sonic Wave Infinity on 30 May 2021, this length is reduced to 1 year 5 months.</ref>
 |[[The Golden]]
 |While this level was properly Top 1 for over a year, it was temporarily usurped by [[The Golden]] for a few months in mid-2020.
 |-
 |[[File:SonicWaveInfinity.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Sonic Wave Infinity]]
 |APTeam (Xanii)
 |30 May 2021
 |69685815
 |5 months<ref group="Notes">If counting until dice88 verified Oblivion on 5 July 2021, this length is reduced to 1 month 6 days.</ref>
 |Tartarus
 |Was initially placed below then-Top 1 Tartarus before Tartarus was moved below this level on 10 May 2023. Part of the New RGB trilogy, along with Tartarus and The Golden. It is nowadays considered the hardest of the three, despite never having been Top 1 at the time.
 |-
 |[[File:Oblivion.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Oblivion]]
 |dice88
 |5 July 2021
 |71025973
 |3 months 3 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until ultrakawaHD verified arcturus on 8 August 2021, this length is reduced to 1 month 3 days.</ref>
 |Tartarus
 |Was rated over a year after its verification and was initially placed above the Top 1 level at the time of its verification, Tartarus; would later be moved below Tartarus, but it was due to [[Update 2.2|Update 2.2's]] physics changes significantly nerfing the level, making it still considered as a retrospective Top 1 level.
 |-
 |[[File:Trueffet.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Trueffet]]
 |SyQual (Baeru)
 |16 July 2021
 |71434979
 |None (3 months 2 weeks at peak placement)
 |Tartarus
 |Was initially placed below then-Top 1 Tartarus before being moved above Tartarus after Firework and Slaughterhouse were rated; it would later be moved back below Tartarus, making this level no longer a retrospective Top 1 level.<ref group="Notes">Trueffet was never considered harder than Oblivion, a level verified and released earlier but rated later.</ref>
 |-
 |[[File:Arcturus.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[arcturus]]
 |maxfs (ultrakawaHD)
 |8 August 2021
 |69685815
 |2 months 3 weeks
 |Tartarus
 |Took nearly three months to be rated; it would be rated at the same time as and placed later than Firework and Slaughterhouse, two levels considered harder. It would initially be placed below Tartarus, the Top 1 level at the time of this level's verification, before being moved above.
 |-
 |[[File:HardMachine.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Hard Machine]]
 |Komp (Varium)
 |19 August 2021
 |72744364
 |2 months 2 weeks
 |Tartarus
 |Was initially placed below then-Top 1 Tartarus before being moved above Tartarus after Firework and Slaughterhouse were rated; it would later be moved back below Tartarus, but it was due to Update 2.2's physics changes significantly nerfing the level, making it still considered a retrospective Top 1 level.<ref group="Notes">Hard Machine was never considered harder than Oblivion or arcturus, two levels verified and released earlier but rated later.</ref>
 |-
 |[[File:DiabolicClubStep.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} Diabolic ClubStep
 |Sevant
 |1 September 2021
 |73214186
 |1 month 28 days
 |Tartarus
 |Was verified while Tartarus was Top 1, but was not rated until 2026.<ref group="Notes">Diabolic ClubStep is not considered harder than arcturus, which was already verified by this point. However, arcturus was still unrated at the time Diabolic ClubStep was verified.</ref>
 |-
 |[[File:Firework.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Firework]]
 |[[Trick]]
 |29 October 2021
 |75206202
 |1 month 3 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until Doggie legitimately beat Slaughterhouse on 19 December 2021.</ref>
 |[[Slaughterhouse]]
 |While this level was placed at the #1 spot for 18 seconds, Slaughterhouse, which was placed immediately afterwards, had no legitimate completion at the time; thus, Firework was retrospectively at the #1 spot for significantly longer.
 |-
 |[[File:AbyssOfDarkness.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Abyss of Darkness]]
 |[[Exen]] ([[Cursed]])
 |3 April 2022
 |49896559
 |4 months 3 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until paqoe verified Silent clubstep on 17 July 2022, this length is reduced to 3 months 2 weeks.</ref>
 |Slaughterhouse
 |While this level was initially placed at the #1 spot, it was moved down below Slaughterhouse after six weeks, despite this level being harder based on modern difficulty standards.
 |-
 |[[File:SilentClubstep.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Silent clubstep]]
 |Sailent (paqoe)
 |17 July 2022
 |4125776
 |1 month 2 weeks
 |Slaughterhouse
 |Was initially placed below the then-Top 1, Slaughterhouse, as well as the actual hardest rated level at the time, Abyss of Darkness, before being moved above both on 23 Apriln2023.

On 25 July 2025, it would again be raised, this time above Acheron and Avernus, though it was due to Update 2.2's physics changes, making the latter two levels comparatively easier.
 |-
 |[[File:Avernus.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Avernus]]
 |PockeWindfish ([[Zoink]])
 |21 March 2023
 |89496627
 |10 months 4 weeks<ref group="Notes">If counting until Zoink verified Tidal Wave on 9 September 2023, this length is reduced to 5 months and 19 days.</ref>
 |[[Acheron]]
 |While this level was properly Top 1 for over 4 months, it was initially placed below the then-Top 1 at the time, Acheron, before being moved above it on 16 October 2023.

On 15 June 2024, it was moved below Acheron again, but it was later moved above it again on 23 December 2024.
 |-
 |[[File:TidalWave.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Tidal Wave]] (original)
 |OniLink (Zoink)
 |9 September 2023
 |86407629
 |1 year 8 months
 |Acheron, Avernus
 |While this level was properly at the #1 spot for over a year, it was not rated until over 5 months after its verification, making it the longest time for a level to get rated after its verification and initially get placed at the #1 spot. Longest time (in retrospect) as Top 1 (624 days), beating Tartarus's previous record (510 days).
 |-
 |[[File:ThinkingSpaceII.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Thinking Space II]]
 |CairoX (Zoink)
 |25 May 2025
 |119544028
 |1 year 4 weeks
 |Tidal Wave, Amethyst
 |Verified on the same day as Amethyst. Remained unrated for nearly four months.
 |-
 |[[File:Artemis13.png|160px]]
 |{{ExtremeDemon|i}} [[Artemis 13]]
 |mvngo (Zoink)
 |9 September 2026
 |148598469
 |3 weeks 4 days
 |Society
 |Although generally agreed to be harder than Society, the level did not receive a placement on the Demonlist prior to GRIEF's verification and placement.
|}