Trivia: Originally, Damien was going to be 15 instead of 12. He would also have had a girlfriend, so that when he discovered that he was the Antichrist, he would be torn between love and destiny. This idea was ultimately scrapped.
Trivia: The winter scene was shot at Eagle River, Wisc. which is in the deep woods. When the Hollywood crew showed up, they brought along fake trees. Those trees were definitely not needed.
Trivia: Elizabeth Shepherd's stunt double was aiming to land on top of the truck but ended up slamming into the front of the trailer, by accident. Though she successfully completed the stunt on her second attempt, the filmmakers decided to use the first take featuring the botched stunt instead.
Answer: Having lived as a "normal" boy, Damien is initially shocked to learn his true identity. After having time to adjust and being surrounded and groomed by satanic supporters, he eventually embraces his true persona.
raywest ★
The answer is correct, and I'm just going a into a bit more detail. During the events of the first film, Damien is normal until Mrs Baylock entered his life. She started teaching him about who he was, but he was only five or six, which would have been far too young for him to understand. He started acting more malicious after this point. After the movie ended, it skips ahead to Damien living with his uncle, aunt, and cousin. During that time, it's conceivable that the forces surrounding him decided to give him a period of peace. He was raised by his aunt (secretly a Satanist), but she might have been instructed to give him a normal upbringing so he wouldn't call attention to himself. As a result, he probably forgot about it, and started to believe he wasn't any different. Once he learned of his unholy lineage he began to remember and eventually embrace it, especially since he had several followers (Buher, Neff, and many others he may not have met yet) to help and protect him.
dewinela