History Literature / TheMysteriousStranger

* TakeThat: The last chapter contains one of the most venomous and scathing criticisms of Christianity ever written. Though bear in mind that it is ''Satan'' saying this....

* OverlyLongTitle: Officially, the full title of the ''No. 44'' version is: ''No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger: Being an Ancient Tale Found in a Jug and Freely Translated from the Jug''.

Another version of the story is perhaps best-known for receiving an AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie (though the scene ironically, though perhaps not surprisingly, was cut from a lot of TV showings). While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is a children's movie.]] It still manages to be an effective AdaptationDistillation of the novella, keeping most of Satan’s philosophical arguments and key quotes while condensing it to a few minutes, although instead of appearing as a young boy he appears as an empty suit of armor and a mask.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: At least, that's what "Satan" says.

* VillainsNeverLie: PlayedWith. Everything in the story makes just as much sense if one assumes that Satan really ''is'' lying his ass off the whole time, and it is impossible to tell whether he is or not.

* OrphanedEtymology: Zig-Zagged. Forty-Four/Satan goes out of his way to perform an action or use a term August/Theodor may not understand, then, off the latter's confusion, explains that an Austrian in the Middle Ages would have no frame of reference for it.[[note]]Up to and including, performing a bit in {{Blackface}}, producing American meals, and using instruments that had not been invented yet.[[/note]] However, the author occasionally forgets that he's writing from the ''perspective'' of an Austrian in the Middle Ages, which is why it seems jarring to read August/Theodor use colloquialisms that [[WeAllLiveInAmerica are not only American]], but ''[[DeepSouth regionally]]''-specific.

* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Justified. No. 44 can make various references to trivia from future periods in time because he can travel to any point he wishes. See OrphanedEtymology below.

%%* ReligiousHorror

In [[TheMiddleAges Medieval Europe]], three boys meet a [[AffablyEvil charming teenager]] who claims to be an angel; in fact, [[ExactWords his name is]] {{Satan}}. Predictably, no good comes out of this.

Another version of the story is perhaps best-known for receiving an AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is a children's movie.]] It still manages to be an effective AdaptationDistillation of the novella, keeping most of Satan’s philosophical arguments and key quotes while condensing it to a few minutes, although instead of appearing as a young boy he appears as an empty suit of armor and a mask.

%%* DealWithTheDevil

%%* ForWantOfANail

%%* HarmfulToMinors:

%%* KarmaHoudini:

Also known as ''No. 44'', ''The Mysterious Stranger'' is one of Creator/MarkTwain's last works that he was [[AuthorExistenceFailure unable to finish before his death]]. It was written [[CreatorBreakdown just after his wife and favorite daughter died and Twain entered financial trouble]], so it was much more vicious and depressing than any of his other works, and many of the bitter and misanthropic things Satan says are as good as coming from Twain himself. There are three different versions of the work in varying degrees of completion, but all involve the titular mysterious stranger using his powers to show how much of a CrapsackWorld we live in.[[note]]Though in one of the versions he's not Satan.[[/note]]

Another version of the story is perhaps best-known for being receiving a an AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is a children's movie.]] It still manages to be an effective AdaptationDistillation of the novella, keeping most of Satan’s philosophical arguments and key quotes, although instead of appearing as a young boy he appears as an empty suit of armor and a mask.

Another version of the story is perhaps best-known for being receiving a an AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is a children's movie.]]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Satan [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation may follow this.]]

* {{Satan}}: The angel's name is Satan, but he insists that he's that other {{Satan}}'s ''nephew'' and that it's a common name for angels. Of course, there's no way to confirm this, and Satan himself (the traditional one) is a notorious UnreliableNarrator. (Though it becomes an awesome moment of FridgeBrilliance when you consider that "Satan" ''originated'' as an epithet given to many unrelated entities, as it just means "adversary" in Hebrew.)[[note]]Only sort of true. While "satan" does indeed mean adversary, the one everyone will immediately think of is called ha-satan, which mean "''the'' adversary", which marks it as special compared to the others.[[/note]]

Also known as ''No. 44'', ''The Mysterious Stranger'' is one of Creator/MarkTwain's last works that he was [[AuthorExistenceFailure unable to finish before his death]]. It was written [[CreatorBreakdown just after his wife and favorite daughter died and Twain entered financial trouble]], so it was much more vicious and depressing than any of his other works. There are three different versions of the work in varying degrees of completion, but all involve the titular mysterious stranger using his powers to show how much of a CrapsackWorld we live in.[[note]]Though in one of the versions he's not Satan.[[/note]]

The story is perhaps best-known for being receiving a loose AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is a children's movie.]]

The story is perhaps best-known for being receiving a loose AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While that movie is generally a lighthearted adventure, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthropic]], [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] philosophy to a group of impressionable kids, [[CosmicHorrorStory playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids This is a children's movie.]]

The story is perhaps best-known for being receiving a loose AnimatedAdaptation in the claymation film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', being the SignatureScene in an otherwise overlooked movie. While generally a lighthearted movie, the adaptation took a nosedive into SurpriseCreepy territory as Satan explains his misanthropic, nihilistic philosophy to a group of impressionable kids while playing God with a doomed civilization that he destroys from within and without. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids This is a children's movie.]]

* AllJustADream... "a grotesque and foolish dream."

* AnimatedAdaptation: ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'' movie. Found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBGGAjMg9vw here]].

* DevilButNoGod: Averted. Satan claims to be not the Devil, just an [[NamesTheSame angel with the same name.]] Also in the story neither God or the devil directly intervene [[spoiler: Also the end implies absolutely nothing is real at all, nor God, Heaven or Hell.]]

In [[TheMiddleAges Medieval Europe]], three boys meet a [[AffablyEvil charming teenager]] who claims to be an angel; in fact, his name is {{Satan}}. Predictably, no good comes out of this.

* ChildrenAreInnocent

* CosmicPlaything

* DealWithTheDevil

* FauxAffablyEvil: Satan's initial hospitality is quickly undermined by his disregard for human life, as shown when he kills two figures over their petty dispute, then destroys their village to stop the sound of its mourning. It takes a little longer for him to show his true colors in the last manuscript, but by the end it's clear that he's doing the whole thing for his own amusement. Or one might phrase it as...
* ForWantOfANail

* HarmfulToMinors: ''And how''.

* KarmaHoudini: ''Guess.''

* NiceIsNotGood
* NietzscheWannabe: This work ends on an incredibly nihilistic tone.

* ReligiousHorror

* {{UsefulNotes/Solipsism}}: [[spoiler:On the surface, the ending can ''definitely'' appear to be this. But whether or not that's the actual case is open to interpretation.]]

* SelfImmolation: No. 44 does this to make the Magicians otherwise empty death threats completely true.

* LightIsNotGood: Satan is described as handsome and charming in the book. However, this trope is averted hard in the AnimatedAdaptation segment in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', where he is given an ObviouslyEvil appearence.

* LightIsNotGood: Satan is described as handsome and charming in the book. However, this trope is averted hard in the AnimatedAdapation segment in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'', where he is given an ObviouslyEvil appearence.

* DevilButNoGod

* HumansAreBastards: One of the major themes of the book.

* LightIsNotGood