| 1 | %% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1646529896024665300 |
| 2 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:166:[[Webcomic/{{Sinfest}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sinfestloserdevil_1374.png]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:166:Keep telling yourself that.]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | %% Caption kept on page per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread: |
| 8 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | ->'''[[ComicBook/GhostRider Mephisto]]:''' If you so desired, I could return your mother to you, alive and well. I could even mend your relationship with your brother-- make your family whole again. All I would require is-- ''[finds Ebony pressed against his neck]'' Gyark!\ |
| 11 | '''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]]:''' I'm not really interested in mending fences with my brother, so here's my counteroffer: You give me a job that can pay my electric bill for the year, and I'll leave you here with your head attached to your body.\ |
| 12 | '''Mephisto:''' ...Actually, there's a fiend called Blackheart who has caused me trouble to no end.\ |
| 13 | '''Dante:''' Done. But I'm charging you triple because you're such a tool. |
| 14 | -->-- ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Some stories portray [[{{Satan}} the devil]] as a weak and ineffectual (if unrelentingly evil) guy. He may be more worried about getting his Wood Elf character to level 70 or catching the latest episode of ''JustForFun/AvatarAndTheAirbendingFellowshipOfVampireSlayers'' than punishing the damned or tempting mortals, or perhaps he's unattractive and [[BasementDweller lives in God's basement]]. Perhaps he gets outsmarted every time he tries to [[DealWithTheDevil make a deal with a mortal]]. Maybe he's plagued by ParentalIssues (being the original rebel and all). |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Naturally, he's no match at all for the forces of heaven. [[KungFuJesus Jesus doesn't need to know kung fu to humiliate him]] and is in any case [[JesusWasWayCool much cooler than him.]] His former fellows among the angels can give him wedgies at will. A GoodShepherd can [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talk him into submission]]. Heck, even a mortal guy [[HolyBurnsEvil with a cross could drive him back]]. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Some works will use EvilIsPetty to show this. It's pretty hard to think the devil is cool when he spends most of his time writing rude words in the public toilet and prank-calling the church. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | It's most common in medieval and more traditional UsefulNotes/{{Christian|ity}} portrayals to show him as a thug, dangerous but also easy to fool and really only waiting for someone stupid enough to sin. If he's intelligent, it's only something he puts on when it's convenient and discards at the first possibility, since his hatred for {{God}} extends to hatred for the wisdom He provides. The InvertedTrope to this, where Satan is a stylish, seductive badass, is a modern invention largely derived from ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus''. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | If the Devil's job sucks enough, then he may decide to leave it to someone else altogether; see ToHellWithThisInfernalJob. If the Devil sucks at his job enough, then someone else might take it from him; see HellHasNewManagement. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | For other non-threatening spirits that personify death, see DontFearTheReaper and DeathIsALoser. Contrast LoserDeity for the heavenly counterpart. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Examples: |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 33 | * In [[https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Halo-Top-Ice-Cream-Commercial-43695801 this commercial]] for Halo Top Ice Cream, the Devil is upset because the product is delicious but can be eaten guilt-free, complaining to the guy at the Pearly Gates that ice cream is ''supposed'' to make you feel ashamed. Of course, he [[HypocriticalHumor loves it too much not to eat it himself]].) The storyline continues in later commercials, where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnoxJuVx11k he tries to sue the angel]] with a team of [[AmoralAttorney damned lawyers]], failing again because ''they'' can't stop eating it either, and later [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkY_Fjr4T6o&index=2&list=RD3fm3BGLQRCg a third]] where he offers to [[TakeThat stop making Segways]] if the angel stops making the ice cream. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 37 | * In ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'', the Demon King and TheDragon flee the hero Emilia Justina by jumping through a portal to Earth. Upon arrival, the lack of ambient magic makes them lose their powers. Guess who ends up working at [[BurgerFool MgRonalds]]? |
| 38 | ** Downplayed by the fact that he enjoys his job, takes his fall from power remarkably well, and is a charismatic NiceGuy. He's also not the biblical devil; Satan is a very common name among demons. |
| 39 | ** There's also the fact that he [[spoiler:was in a similar situation back in his world when we has younger. At the very bottom of the pecking order, Satan had his life saved by Emi's mother, an angel, and while recuperating, was tutored by her in various subjects. He proceeded to use his newfound knowledge to slowly rise through the ranks and eventually become the King of the Demons. Who's to say he can't the same on Earth? The guy is patient]]. |
| 40 | * In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'', [[spoiler:Homura]] becomes a self-admitted demon who hates the world and ([[MoralityChain almost]]) everyone in it. But, for all her power, she isn't ''happy''. [[spoiler:Fundamentally, she is still the same alienated, self-hating pessimist we met in the first episode.]] Even her servants pelt her with tomatoes. |
| 41 | * ''Manga/GabrielDropout'' has Satanichia who is a [[EvilIsPetty petty]] HarmlessVillain who fails spectacularly at being evil. Her ideas of heinous acts include recycling a bottle with the cap still on, not refilling the toilet paper dispenser, and deliberately not doing her homework. |
| 42 | * [[GodOfEvil Apep]] from ''Anime/OhSuddenlyEgyptianGod'' is portrayed as this, interrupting Ra's travels multiple times and failing to be so much as being acknowledged ''once''. |
| 43 | [[/folder]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 46 | * Neron, ''Franchise/TheDCU'''s version of the Devil, fits often: |
| 47 | ** In ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'', Neron loses because Captain Marvel's soul is too pure. He then loses his throne in the ''Reign in Hell'' comics. |
| 48 | ** Neron struck out in a way similar to the way Mephisto succeeded in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' below. After many of Franchise/TheFlash's old villains CameBackWrong (Neron himself was responsible) Wally and his wife Linda made separate deals with Neron to set them right (since they were mindless killing machines far more evil and dangerous than they used to be). Except instead of their souls, Neron asked each to give up their love for the other. Both agreed, and they split. (Un)fortunately, holding their love 'polluted' Neron, and he ''became nice'', something which was Hell ''to him''. He asked them to take back the bargain, and both refused until Neron begged them to, at which point they forced him to not only release his hold on the villains and return their souls, but to also undo all the damage and return all the people they killed (which was into the millions at that point). Neron had no choice but to agree and swore to never mess with the Flash ever again. |
| 49 | ** In another story, Neron offered Oracle her legs back; he didn't want her soul in return, he just wanted her to be his historian and write down his actions. Oracle actually considered it for a while, but eventually refused, saying it was selling her soul either way. He dropped the issue and just left. |
| 50 | ** Satanus joins Neron as a loser by losing his throne to Blaze. |
| 51 | * Lucifer in the eponymous comic ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' has an AlternateCharacterInterpretation as a complete tool who really has no point other than to be spiteful to his old man. For all his accomplishments, cunning, and power he is a slave to his pride which allows him to be manipulated by God, trapped in Hell for eons because he could not admit to himself God tricked him into voluntarily taking ownership, and finally exiles himself from everyone and everything including the few who care about him (and vice-versa) because he cannot stand to be dependent on anyone and resents God for creating him in the first place because he is dependent on God for even existing. |
| 52 | ** Even worse is that by the middle of the series he is fully aware that God designed him that way, he was always meant to be the rebellious one in order to keep the rest of the angels on their toes. Even then he is one of the only two archangels powerful enough to take God's throne when he vacates it (the other, Michael, doesn't take it largely because he doesn't feel worthy himself) but turns it down as he sees it as another form of trap to keep him from having true freedom. |
| 53 | * Mephisto has his ups and downs. |
| 54 | ** He was enslaved to Thanos during ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet saga. He was once humiliated by the ComicBook/BlackPanther by being cut off from his power and the crap beat out of him. He was OutGambitted by Doctor Doom. Then in ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' he gets completely played and humiliated by the Leader ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} of all people. The Leader even taunts him when Mephisto threatens him, claiming that while Mephisto ''might'' be more evil than him, he's definitely smarter. |
| 55 | ** In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' he dissolved the marriage of Spider-Man and Mary Jane. He once faked defeat against the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] to get him to become overconfident and destroy his own life later. He generally tends to fare better against other villains where he is allowed to win by outsmarting and humiliating them such as Black Heart, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Hela, and Loki.]] |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': The First of The Fallen will NEVER succeed against John Constantine. It gets so bad that Constantine claims at one point if he is sent to Hell he can easily take over and the First is reduced to taunting Constantine from a distance with other demons being far more effective than him in hurting Constantine. |
| 57 | * The fallen angel Lucifer finally showed up in ComicBook/GhostRider after decades. Unlike other hell-lords like Mephisto and Satannish, he cannot leave Hell under his own power and had to trick Blaze into taking him with him. Despite claiming to be a master manipulator he is vulgar, crass and worse of all constantly tricked by Johnny Blaze, who both Blaze and Lucifer agree is something of an idiot, until finally being tricked into fighting Ghost Rider at half power, losing, and being sent back to Hell. |
| 58 | * ComicBook/{{Loki}}, brother of ComicBook/TheMightyThor, isn't technically ''the'' devil, but he's often treated as if he is, with Loki being depicted as the God of Evil for some time. In which case, Loki became a villain why he was incredibly petty, jealous and comparatively weak, so he decided to start pulling pranks with his magic that eventually escalates to lethal plots. A big part of Loki's CharacterDevelopment during the 2010s was him coming to realise that so long as he tries to be this, he'll be a predictable loser who always gets defeated, so he masterminded a complex gambit that eventually leads to several reincarnations that transformed him into a new entity that's neither good nor evil. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 62 | * Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light from ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. He even has a giant spoon in place of the usual pitchfork, and claims to be from ''Heck''. He's in charge of punishing small sins, like leaving the toilet seat up. He's a half-brother to the Pointy Haired Boss (and the Pointy Haired Boss was always their mom's favorite). |
| 63 | * From ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': |
| 64 | --> '''The Devil''': (staring out his home window) Tell me, Margaret... Am I a butthead? |
| 65 | * In the Swedish comic ''Himmlens Änglar'' there is Fan, the Devil who is supposed to be the worlds greatest evil and yet his acts of villainy are hilariously petty and inept, with his most common trick being to try and make people slip on banana peels. He is also suffering from a serious case of ChronicHeroSyndrome, unable to stop himself from helping old ladies over the street, giving money to the poor and overall being a NiceGuy. He is aware of this and desperately tries to do something about his kindness, with zero success. It's to the point that even God is concerned about him. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 69 | * "Literature/IvanTurbinca": The Devil is easily defeated by Ivan and his magic pouch. When Ivan goes to hell, his constant partying exasperates the demons of hell. |
| 70 | * One folk tale has the Devil promise a great harvest, but in exchange he wants everything that grows aboveground. The farmers agree and plant carrots and turnips. The furious Devil makes them the same deal, but this time he wants everything that grows underground. The farmers agree, and plant wheat. The enraged Devil demands the entirety of the harvest next year. The farmers agree to let him taste the soup they'll make, and make a GargleBlaster of a soup so horrible the Devil takes one sip, runs away and is never seen again. |
| 71 | * "Literature/TheGraveMound:" Two brave and clever humans manage to prevent the none-too-bright Devil from collecting a soul and con him out of his gold in the process. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 75 | * This is the premise of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' {{Mary Sue Hunter}}s story ''Fanfic/TheGameOfTheGods''. In it, [[GodOfEvil Morgoth]] attempts to derail the books by placing various self-inserts in it, but ends up getting them killed through a loose grasp of the lore, the cleverness of his opponents, and sheer lack of common sense. By the end of the story, [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain he's become rather pitiable]]. |
| 76 | * ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' Tirek is, aside from [[RealityWarper Discord]], the most terrifying and dangerous villain in the setting. His power at its height was equal to [[PhysicalGod Celestia]], and the mere thought of him potentially escaping his prison panics Luna enough that she decides it's a better option to ''obliterate'' the island he'd escape onto, even though the Element Bearers are on it, rather than risk him getting out. [[spoiler:And he's been so utterly broken by what Luna did to him a thousand years ago, he's a broken shell of his former self, utterly afraid of leaving Tartarus. Not that he's got a problem with it.]] |
| 77 | -->'''Grogar:''' You have become nothing more than a wretched, pathetic coward.\ |
| 78 | '''Tirek:''' '''The cowards survive.''' |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 82 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHauntedWorldOfElSuperbeasto'': Dr. Satan is not Satan himself but some nerdy guy styled after him. In other words, "the guy pretending to be the devil is a loser". |
| 83 | * Being the resident SatanicArchetype and god of the Greek underworld, EveryoneHatesHades in the Disney animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''. He's got a job that's the cosmic equivalent of janitorial duty and is [[HatedByAll looked down]] by his fellow gods. It's done to show how estranged and out-of-touch he is with them, and it's implied he's despised for the cruel way he treats mortals as pawns for his sick amusement. Even his lame pun is met with [[ToughRoom cold stares and silent scowls of contempt]]. But when Zeus makes a joke about his workaholic nature, the entire pantheon [[HypocriticalHumor bursts into laughter]], while Hades walks out in anger. The deep resentment for the unpleasant job he's currently in while his fellow gods get to lounge in Mount Olympus is what drives him to overthrow Zeus and condemn his fellow gods to Tartarus. Being the SoreLoser that he is, Hades also throws petty temper tantrums whenever his EvilPlan gets thwarted or when his minions fail to do his tasks. In the animated series, it's revealed there is a Deity Approval List among gods with Hades consistently holding the lowest rank. Ironically, the fan base really ''likes him'' because of his HairTriggerTemper and [[LargeHam hammy personality]]. |
| 84 | [[/folder]] |
| 85 | |
| 86 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 87 | * ''Film/GoodSatan'' begins with Satan binging on junk food and reluctantly doing business on his couch. In Heaven, he is shunned by everyone and ignored. When Satan finds out that the SecondComing means redemption and admittance into Heaven, God deflates these hopes and tells him that that won't happen. |
| 88 | * ''Film/Bedazzled1967'' contains possibly the most literal example ever, in which Satan [[spoiler: loses a wager with God and is sent to a VillainousBreakdown]]. |
| 89 | * In the ''Film/Bedazzled2000'' remake the Devil [[HotAsHell (a beautiful woman)]] grants wishes to a man in exchange for his soul, but each wish [[JackassGenie results in a humiliating failure]]. It turns out that the Devil is actually harmless, since [[spoiler: God owns all people's souls; they can't be sold!]] She's just a practical joker. |
| 90 | * Zigzagged in ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny''. Old Scratch wins the rock off here against the two protagonists (and his performance here is ''[[EvilIsCool wicked awesome]]'', hammed up by Music/{{Nirvana}} drummer Dave Grohl, who portrays him) but he’s OutGambitted in the end and banished back to Hell by the duo anyway. |
| 91 | * In the Brazilian movie ''Film/OAutoDaCompadecida'', the Devil appears as an AmoralAttorney trying to damn the main characters after their deaths. While he is depicted as a very sinister figure whom everyone else is scared shitless of, TheHero [[FearlessFool makes fun of him all the time]] because he [[EvilSmellsBad stinks of sulphur]]. The Devil also avoids looking at Jesus (who serves as the trial's judge) because his power is too holy for him to withstand and attempts to take his form in a pathetic attempt to emulate him. This trait is more pronounced in the original play, where he dresses himself in all white to pass himself as God. |
| 92 | [[/folder]] |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 95 | * ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': Satan is a towering, three-headed imbecile, trapped chest-deep in ice and forever crying and beating his wings in a vain attempt to escape, which only [[SelfInflictedHell cools and hardens the tears into ice, trapping him]]. |
| 96 | * ''Literature/InfernoLarryNivenAndJerryPournelle'': By the time he reaches the center of Cocytus, having passed through every horror in the pit of Hell, Allen has little regard for the trapped form of Lucifer outside of briefly reflecting on how he cuts a much more pathetic figure than popular culture depicts. |
| 97 | * A short story by Neil Gaiman is quite clear that the disgusting monstrosity hounding his family is not Lucifer, the fallen angel. It's just the Devil. And, while it's certainly able to make them miserable, it is also being beaten regularly by the family's heroic cat. |
| 98 | %%* Creator/EoinColfer novel ''Literature/TheWishList''. |
| 99 | * ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'': The devil takes the form of an emaciated, impoverished down-on-his-luck country gentleman. He also seems pretty resigned to be being blamed for all of mankind's ills. Not suave or sophisticated at all, but still capable of causing the occasional HeroicBSOD. He ''claims'' to take this form to mess with Ivan's sense of self-importance, but we all know that this just to help his ''own'' self-importance. |
| 100 | * Lucifer is a loser in Wendy Alec's Brothers Series. After he corrupts Adam and Eve, he gains control of the race of men and its solar system, only to lose every battle or encounter he engages in after that. No matter what he does, God punishes him by reducing his power and authority, like a kid who was caught when his hand in a cookie jar. |
| 101 | * Creator/CSLewis liked this trope. |
| 102 | ** A rare instance where this is ''not'' played for laughs is in ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'', where the Devil is perfectly capable of feats of supreme intelligence, strength, and many other virtues -- which is precisely the trouble; he doesn't really like to use them, ''because'' they're good things. He's a [[EvilIsPetty petty]], spiteful bastard who'll just as soon kill frogs or rip up chunks of turf for the pleasure of killing ''something'' as corrupt an entire world. |
| 103 | ** Lewis also creates a loser devil in ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''. Screwtape is a grumpy old demon with NoSenseOfHumor, whose list of things he can't stand about Heaven includes God's disgusting, hedonistic ''love'' for His physical creations, not to mention His habit of playing music at all hours of the night. Screwtape can't actually hear the music, he just hates the fact it is being played. Silence is no improvement, as Screwtape prefers some good, loud, decently ugly ''noise''. Meanwhile, he works a desk job as an undersecretary in Hell's middle management, on one occasion signing his name with a pretentious string of honorific letters. (Hell, of course, is a VastBureaucracy.) His nephew and apprentice Wormwood is even more of a loser, sent on a mission to tempt a mortal, but making mistake after mistake, getting his uncle in trouble, and eventually failing miserably. |
| 104 | * This is half the point of ''The Devil's Storybook'' and ''The Devil's Other Storybook'', both by Natalie Babbitt. The other half is how he still wins as often as he loses. |
| 105 | * Andrew Wyvern in James Morrow's ''Only Begotten Daughter'' is a fairly disgusting creature, who only seems to succeed because [[DevilButNoGod God's an absentee landlord]]. Morrow stated in interviews he was trying to [[DracoInLeatherPants avoid]] [[DesignatedVillain the various]] [[MisaimedFandom tropes]] so the Devil wouldn't be the most interesting character. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/LeftBehind'' has the devil so incompetent that he becomes sympathetic solely because of how badly he gets beaten. He tries to turn things around, but [[YouCantFightFate he was destined to lose at God's hand anyway.]] |
| 107 | * Lucifer in ''The Book of Joby'' is fairly petty, and gets crapped on by birds. |
| 108 | * In ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', despite Satan's fancy rhetoric and impressive figure, he's just posturing as an epic hero and making self-defeating arguments and that he's simply too proud to ask for forgiveness and admit his mistakes in front of all his loyal followers. Even in the battle scene he gets clobbered unconscious the moment he takes the field. Its sequel, ''Literature/ParadiseRegained,'' continues this, in part to fit into the idea of damnation as continually degrading him into weaker and less godly forms, and also because he was up trying to tempt ''[[JesusWasWayCool Jesus]]'' and was obviously doomed to failure, unlike with Adam and Eve. |
| 109 | * Chichikov from ''Literature/DeadSouls'' definitely invokes this with the whole "buying people's 'souls'" thing and he's a lot like the "devil as small time bureaucrat / loser" portrayal in other works. In fact, both Chichikov and Scratch store their souls in a box - the only difference is that Chichikov's are metaphorical. |
| 110 | * Torak of ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and Azash of ''Literature/TheElenium''. Both are incredibly powerful in physical/magical terms, but they're also crippled, handicapped by an inability to change, stupid, and totally unable to understand human emotions, which ultimately results in both their downfalls. |
| 111 | * Although the Devil wins in the short story ''Literature/EnochSoames'', the narrator characterizes him as a humorless, self-important prig, describing him variously as a DastardlyWhiplash type- attempting to seem cool and sinister but really looking like a melodrama villain as well as a "swell mobsman"- slang for a type of pickpocket/petty criminal that dressed in fashionable clothing to blend in. |
| 112 | * The devil appears in "Literature/TheStonesAreHatching" as a [[EldritchAbomination blot of pure darkness]] who comes to take the soul of Alexia's teacher in a flashback. However, he quickly turns out to be just as stupid as his folkloric counterpart when he is easily convinced by the teacher into going after his students instead, and then cannot even tell the difference between Alexia and her shadow, taking that instead. |
| 113 | * [[Creator/TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''{{Literature/Eric}}'' has Hell ruled by king Astfgl, an ineffectual middle manager whose underlings are mutinous because he has made hell ''boring'', and as miserable for demonkind as it is for the damned. He's rather easily tricked into being KickedUpstairs with a job that's even higher ranking on paper, but gives him no actual authority. While the other demons are less incompetent, even they don't actually serve much purpose as it doesn't take mortals very long to realize that the tortures they undergo aren't actually painful to disembodied souls without nerve endings, and any actual torment they experience is purely out of habit. |
| 114 | * ''Literature/JohannesCabal'': Satan is described as a "bored sadist" with the FauxAffablyEvil nature of bad middle-management. Johannes successfully [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu scams him]] in [[Literature/JohannesCabalTheNecromancer the first book]], and, by [[Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfCabal the fifth]], he's gotten fed up and [[HaveYouSeenMyGod quit the job]] entirely. |
| 115 | * Played with in the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' short novel ''Dark Destiny'', which reveals that Karzahni, the ruler of the franchise's version of Hell developed [[TheDreaded his reputation]] ''because'' he was an incompetent fool. His job was to heal bad workers but he was so inept that he turned them into monstrous freaks and never sent them back to their homes because of the shame he felt. Over time, people stopped sending him workers to heal and Karzahni became isolated from the world, thus his legend was twisted into him being an archetypal devil who would punish bad workers. When [[{{Mordor}} Karzahni's land]] is rediscovered, he's revealed as a vile, maddened BigBadWannabe, dangerous but woefully ignorant, and the heroes stun him using his own powers. A while after the book's events, the true BigBad makes short work of Karzahni in the ''Dreams of Destruction'' web serial when he foolishly tries to take him on. |
| 116 | [[/folder]] |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 119 | * In ''Series/{{Brimstone}}'' Satan is shown to be not only an incompetent jailer (letting over a hundred damned souls escape Hell), but he's also incredibly petty and juvenile, unable to pass up an opportunity to tie someone's shoelaces together or loosen the cap on a salt shaker. |
| 120 | * In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Caleb, right-hand man to the First Evil, refers to Satan as a "little man" (at least, compared to his boss). |
| 121 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit "The Satan Pit"]], when the Doctor confronts the Beast in his prison, he finds a [[BigRedDevil towering red-horned monstrosity]] that roars at him and shoots fire. Then he realizes [[spoiler:that the Beast is just that, a simple beast, with its spirit and sentience gone elsewhere.]] The physical body of the Beast suddenly becomes a lot less scary. |
| 122 | * On ''Series/GoodEats'' this happens sometimes. Sometimes a BigRedDevil will appear and get his ass kicked by Alton (who at the time was a Christian in RealLife[[note]]A few years after the end of the series, Alton reevaluated his religious beliefs; although not giving up on Christianity entirely, he no longer identifies as a Christian.[[/note]]). Or, as in the Devil's Food Cake episode, he simply will not get to taste the cake. |
| 123 | * ''Series/Millennium1996'' has the four demons at the coffee shop in "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me", revealing that for all their fearsome rep in the show, demons are... kind of pathetic. Even Frank ends up [[SympathyForTheDevil feeling sorry for one of them]]. |
| 124 | * In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E21SantaClaus Santa Claus]]" Crow sings "The Devil is a Wiener" to the tune of the soundtrack. |
| 125 | * In an episode of ''Series/NorthernExposure'', the town is visited by Satan, who is a dumpy and unimpressive man more interested in small acts of betrayal than diabolical evil. He ultimately fails to corrupt the citizens of Cicely even slightly. |
| 126 | * In the Quebec surreal comedy sketch show ''Phylactere Cola'', one skit shows Satan living in a basement apartment, having to deal repeatedly with annoyingly persistent Jehovah's witnesses. [[spoiler:They manage to convert him in the end!!]] |
| 127 | * ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': |
| 128 | ** One sketch features a musician making a DealWithTheDevil only to discover that Satan is a phenomenally crappy songwriter. |
| 129 | ** Another one features Patrick Stewart as an initially [[LargeHam impressive]] Satan who then chokes on a grape and finds that he can't command any respect from his lackeys anymore. |
| 130 | ** In another episode the Devil (played by Jon Lovitz) goes on ''The People's Court'' suing for a woman's soul. He loses. |
| 131 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Lucifer is a suave, sophisticated, and exceptionally dangerous being. He created the demons personally, can destroy the planet when at full power, and is one of five creatures that the Colt can't kill. But ultimately, none of that changes the fact that he's just a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because his daddy wasn't paying enough attention to him. It doesn't help his case that he suffers from so much VillainDecay that he goes from being touted as the literal end of all things in season 4 before he is even introduced, to being just another villain of the series who it becomes nearly trivial to trap and/or kill. His power never really wanes, and even increases significantly at one point, but he's never again seen as an impossible force to overcome after his first defeat. Eventually, the common reaction of the Winchesters to Lucifer's resurgence can be paraphrased as: "Oh, that asshole's back again? Fine, how do we get rid of him this time?" |
| 132 | * There's a ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow'' routine in which the Devil [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed is depicted as an effeminate Southern guy]] who spends [[OverlyLongGag two minutes of screentime]] going on what Wikipedia calls "unprecedented rants against people who make assumptions of what the Devil is". |
| 133 | -->''"Would you please stop that?"'' |
| 134 | * On an episode of ''Series/XPlay'' about the time a ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' expansion came out, Morgan made a deal with the devil to have him level up her character. Unfortunately, the Devil sucks at ''[=WoW=]''. |
| 135 | [[/folder]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 138 | * The song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Music/TheCharlieDanielsBand portrays Satan as "way behind" on his quota for souls. In desperation, he makes a bet with Johnny, a local Georgia fiddle player, to a fiddling contest. Though Satan is portrayed as a pretty badass dude, he's no match for a good ole Georgia boy and gets beaten handily. Johnny freely gloats and insults the devil throughout the song and ultimately snags his shiny golden fiddle. It's speculated that the Devil's true goal was making Johnny fall to the sin of pride, and indeed Johnny acknowledges that he knows what he's doing is a sin, so whether he was truly prideful or just confident in his abilities is up for debate. |
| 139 | --> "The boy said, 'My name's Johnny and it might be a sin,\ |
| 140 | But I'm gonna take your bet! You're gonna regret, 'cause I'm the best that's ever been!'" |
| 141 | ** A sequel balled: "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia" also made by the Charlie Daniels band [[HereWeGoAgain tells of how ten years after the Fiddle Duel, the Devil challenges Fiddle Player Johnny, now a family man and father, to a rematch.]] Seething from his defeat years before, the Devil tells Johnny that his pride will be his downfall and takes the Golden Fiddle away as Johnny is tuning it, though the Fiddle player still has his old fiddle in his woodshed. After getting warmed up on his old fiddle due to having not been playing since the birth of his son, Johnny and the Devil duel once again. It's not clear at the end, but from the sound of things, Johnny kicked the Devil's ass... again. |
| 142 | ** The Boston-area roots-rock band Adam Ezra Group did an AffectionateParody of the original, "The Devil Came Up to Boston", which plays this trope up to eleven (not to mention practically every urban HollywoodNewEngland trope). Instead of offering the local fiddle player a golden fiddle, the Devil offers to trade the fiddler's soul for a lottery card and a pack of cigarettes. The Devil ends up every bit as humiliated as in the original, "chuggin' vodka to soften up the loss". |
| 143 | * Then there is the TropeNamer itself, which is Music/{{Lordi}}'s song "The Devil Is a Loser". The song ridicules someone for making a DealWithTheDevil... because they were stupid enough to make a deal with someone that pathetic. |
| 144 | ** The lyrics are also boastful in nature that Mr. Lordi (the singer's persona) is the more powerful being that the people in the music video should be fearful of. |
| 145 | * The song "War Is My Destiny" by rapper Ill Bill describes the fallen angels who served Satan during the rebellion as promptly dethroning him after they were cast from Heaven for his failure to deliver on his promises. A new Devil is crowned in his place. Satan later manages to somewhat redeem himself in their eyes after the Biblical Flood by coming up with a plan to corrupt mankind by manipulating them through the word of God. |
| 146 | * Stryper's (Christian glam metal band) "To Hell With the Devil" dismisses the Devil from a Christian perspective. |
| 147 | ** Similarly, many of Carman's songs fit this particular trope as well. |
| 148 | * "The Number of the Beast" by Music/IronMaiden was perceived by some to out the band as Satan worshipers... the song itself plays out like a horror movie (it was inspired by ''Film/DamienOmenII''). However, the "Run to the Hills" single artwork has Eddie, Maiden's zombie mascot, in a fight with the devil. ''The Number of the Beast'' album shows the aftermath, Eddie holding the Devil's decapitated head. Maiden rightfully pointed out that they were not encouraging worshiping the Devil as he was the LOSER in the battle. |
| 149 | * "Bigger Than the Devil" (especially the cover art) by SOD clearly implies this. |
| 150 | * The Creator/PsychopathicRecords supergroup "Soopa Villainz" has Mr. Diamond ([[Music/InsaneClownPosse Violent J]]) reference this trope in their BoastfulRap "Conquer"... |
| 151 | --> '''Mr. Diamond:''' "I don't work for the Devil!\ |
| 152 | Shit, we kicked him outta Hell!\ |
| 153 | We overthrew him, stabbed him with a cross, and cut off his tail!" |
| 154 | ** From the Music/InsaneClownPosse's "We Like It Like That": |
| 155 | -->"We so deep underground, the devil came around\ |
| 156 | But got his tail chopped off by Shaggy the clown" |
| 157 | ** Both members of ICP are religious, so it's no surprise Satan (or "the Witch" as he's often called) is portrayed this way. At no point in any of the Joker's Cards is the Witch shown having any powers greater than lies and deception. |
| 158 | * The song "Beelz" by comedian Stephen Lynch depicts Satan as AffablyEvil and AmbiguouslyGay. |
| 159 | * The Trevor Moore song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h8-SBO-RKo High in Church]] is about Trevor and his friends indulging in several hallucinogenic substances before getting roped into attending church by his mother. The majority of the song is about Trevor (who is growing increasingly-more paranoid as the drugs gradually kick in) expressing worry that somebody will know he's high, coupled with a bit of commentary on the more "fire and brimstone" aspects of Christianity while still acknowledging the nice parts of the religion. Finally, the shrooms he ate kick in and Satan ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or just a hallucination of him]]) appears to taunt Trevor with a promise of eternal damnation. Trevor, suddenly not afraid anymore, rips Lucifer's taunts apart with a very logical and epic KirkSummation and sends the devil screaming back to Hell. |
| 160 | -->'''Satan:''' For all eternity, you will never escape my clutch!\ |
| 161 | '''Trevor:''' [[ShutUpHannibal Okay, uh, first of all, I think that seems like a little much.]] A joint and a couple caps and stems, is that all that a soul is worth? And God made everything I've done tonight, all of it's from the Earth! The mushrooms and the pot, yo, He made it ALL! The nitrous! And the adderall! My soul relaxers, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick maybe a little coke]], but if that damns me for eternity then if you ask me the system's broke! |
| 162 | * "The Devil & Me" by Music/{{Clutch}} describes a down and out devil from alternating perspectives. Opening with: |
| 163 | -->The devil and me had a falling out.\ |
| 164 | Violation of contract beyond a shadow of a doubt.\ |
| 165 | Wherever he go, whomever he meet.\ |
| 166 | He got to cross my house on the other side of the street. |
| 167 | * In Music/HisStoryTheMusical Satan is portrayed as more of an annoying little brother making a bet than the lord of all darkness tempting the savior to sin, with the only thing causing Jesus to raise his voice a little after all his pestering being an accusation of [[WellDoneSonGuy being a daddy's boy.]] |
| 168 | * In the Caulfields' "Devil's Diary", the narrating Prince of Darkness is a lovelorn slacker who hates heavy metal (even though their groupies are the only ones interested in him), and wishes he could confide in God ... but He's just so judgmental. |
| 169 | * In the German folk song "Es wollt ein Schneider wandern" the devil meets a tailor, and since hell wants clothing, he takes him into the underworld. The tailor is not amused and dishes out a world of hurt under the disguise of this being a part of his work. After a lot of AmusingInjuries the devil throws him out and swears to never claim a tailor - ''er stehle wie er [[PainfulRhyme wöll]]'' [[note]] may he steal as he likes[[/note]] |
| 170 | * ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVLvcpVwcM The Devil in Poitiers]]'' is a French Canadian song where the devil goes to the eponymous city. He first goes to a miller, who stuffs him in a bag and ties him to the grindstone for a night, then to a tailor, who jabs 5,000 needles in his ass, then a barman, who delivers a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. |
| 171 | * While "[[Music/BeggarsBanquet Sympathy for the Devil]]" is mostly about how HumansAreTheRealMonsters, the fact that the title character is outright pleading for sympathy from humanity despite having no redeeming features of his own and trying to portray himself as [[ManOfWealthAndTaste 'a man of wealth and taste']] doesn't exactly make him look good either. |
| 172 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmrmAQ34j4w Satan Has Been Paralyzed]]" by David Ingles is a Christian song about how Satan is rendered a cripple after taking a beating from Jesus. Ingles' son, who features in the song, sings this verse: |
| 173 | -->The devil is a blabbermouth.\ |
| 174 | Distorting every fact.\ |
| 175 | But the truth is he's a loser,\ |
| 176 | since Jesus broke his back. |
| 177 | * Oddly, the alleged Satanic backwards messages in [[Music/LedZeppelinIV "Stairway to Heaven"]] really don't put Satan in all that great of a light, making him sound like an EmoTeen who just bullies people--"I live for Satan, the one whose little path would make me sad...there was [[PokeThePoodle a little toolshed where he made us suffer]], sad Satan." Perhaps realizing that Satan planting sinister messages about how sad he is doesn't make sense, some versions of the rumor change "the one whose little path would make me sad" to "I wanna live it backwards like [[Music/LedZeppelin the Zep]]." |
| 178 | [[/folder]] |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 181 | * Generally, if you read Medieval folklore about the Devil, he will usually be presented as a diminutive, ugly and stupid, easily tricked by ordinary peasants on a daily basis. The more powerful, imposing Devil only started emerging during the Reformation period when religion went from a fairly laid back routine back to SeriousBusiness. |
| 182 | ** Have some especially JustForFun/{{egregious}} example, where the devil in question is so stupid that he even flunked the course "Where do little devils come from?". So, he tried to make some deals with the local farmer, getting smeared each time, and swears the next bargain is dealt in fisticuffs. The farmer agrees and tells the devil he should go to his wife and wait for him (some urgent farm work). The wife, well instructed, tells the devil her man went to the blacksmith to sharped his nails for the impending fight "and look how he mutilated me!" And she shows him her...eh...[[UnusualEuphemism wound.]] The devil screams "Oh God!" and is never seen again. |
| 183 | ** A famous example (also mentioned below) is the Irish myth of Stingy Jack. In short, Satan accosted Jack, attempting to claim his soul after a life of sin. Jack requested to have one last trip to the pub before he was damned. Satan, amused, granted the request; Jack drank all night, but had no funds to pay his tab. So he asked Satan to transform into a silver coin. Satan again complied with the request, only for Jack to double-cross him at the last moment; he stuck Satan's new form into his pocket right alongside a crucifix he had also been carrying. A mere wooden trinket [[WeaksauceWeakness entirely negated Satan's powers]] and left him stuck as a coin until Jack would release him. Satan was then coerced into letting Jack keep his soul, and promising Jack that he would never see Hell despite all the lying, cheating, etc. he got up to in life. Yes, the local drunk of some pissant village was able to defeat the Devil and then bully him into an unfavorable deal. It only backfires on Jack because [[LoopholeAbuse Saint Peter tells him that not going to Hell doesn't mean that he can get to Heaven]] after being such a JerkAss; therefore, he's left to wander the Earth as a spirit when he dies naturally. |
| 184 | * In an Eastern Orthodox parable, a man couldn't stop himself from sinning despite being Christian. Every time he would sin, he would go before Jesus and tearfully beg for forgiveness, and he was barely out the door before he went right back to indulging his vices. This carried on for a decade, and culminated in the devil appearing and impotently screaming at Jesus, demanding to know why Jesus continues to offer this man forgiveness when time and time again he has failed him. Jesus declares that the blood he shed on the cross is more powerful than the Devil's machinations, and that as long as the man continues to agonize over not being able to live a godly life, Jesus would erase his sins as many times as needed. |
| 185 | * In UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, [[TheAntiGod Ahriman]] is usually portrayed as a self-destructive moron, who frequently suffers indignities like being anally raped (Vendidad). This is because evil in Zoroastrianism is held [[StupidEvil to be inherently self-defeating]], so while in theory he is as powerful as [[GodIsGood Ahura Mazda]], he won't truly accomplish anything in practise. Interestingly, Ahriman is the predecessor of the modern idea of Satan, as Zoroastrianism indirectly influenced Second Temple Judaism, but the idea of Satan as a loser evolved independently. |
| 186 | * In UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}ic culture (as opposed to the religion of Islam, which doesn't have much to say about the Devil other than "he's a jinn and a tempter") the devil (called Iblis, who was never an angel) is not only stupid but ugly as well which makes a [[{{Fanon}} folk theory]][=/=]AlternativeCharacterInterpretation that ''he and God were once lovers'' kind of odd. Then again, LoveMakesYouCrazy, [[LoveMakesYouDumb Dumb]], and [[LoveMakesYouEvil Evil]]. The idea doesn't appear in religious text and is in fact regarded as heretical. [[BellisariosMaxim It's folklore, don't think too hard about it.]]\ |
| 187 | \ |
| 188 | It's been said (eg. by Karen Armstrong) that when Ayatollah Khomeini called America the "Great Satan", it was in an Islamic context that referred more to this trope than the idea of a supreme evil, with the Islamic "Satan" being a materialistic dumbass with no spiritual values. |
| 189 | * In UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}}, the Devil is the loser of the war in heaven. Basically, it boils down into different versions of the Plan of Eternal Salvation. Lucifer's plan involved everyone not having free will, guaranteed entry into heaven, and the glory for all of that belonging to himself since it was his plan. Jesus wanted everyone to have free will even though it meant that yes, there will be sinners and evil people, as well all the people going into heaven [[EarnYourHappyEnding deserving it for trying act ethically over the course of their lifetime]] and all the glory going to God because God enabled it and [[TheChessmaster probably had it all in mind anyways]]. Lucifer eventually becomes Satan, stewing in Outer Darkness (Hell) and trying to upset the Plan of Eternal Salvation at every chance he can get. Which, of course, [[TooDumbToLive helps to enable the entire thing]]. He's still treated as a very dangerous character. Yeah, he's lost, but his goal shifted from elevating himself above God by forcing humanity into salvation, [[OmnicidalManiac to taking as many souls down with him as he can.]] In other words, a temper tantrum because he can't have things his own way. |
| 190 | * Irish folklore tends to portray the Devil as a total sucker who will buy just about anything. This is in contrast with other traditions where a DealWithTheDevil will end up with the person who made it being the fool, thinking they could trick the devil. In most stories, the protagonists will get away with swindling the devil without consequences and souls intact, and in the few where they do suffer some consequences, they tend to result either from character flaws on the part of the protagonists or the devil being a sore loser. For instance, the tale of [[StingyJack Jack O'Lantern]], where he ensured that he could not be taken to hell but neglected to make sure that he could get into heaven, and for this oversight will eternally wander the earth, carrying a lantern to keep evil spirits away. It's not surprising for a culture that evolved wordplay to an art form and considered that if someone was swindled it was the victim's fault for being an idiot. St. Patrick may have changed that (driving the snakes/liars from Ireland), but early Irish Christians, reading the Bible, seem to have been very unimpressed with the devil's intelligence by comparison. Swindling the devil is still acceptable, with the ordinary human protagonists playing KarmicTrickster. |
| 191 | ** Note that US culture is heavily influenced by the Irish one, particularly in the Northeast (with the large Irish Catholic immigration in the 19th century), and in the South (where Ulster Scots and Irish Protestants settled in the 17th and 18th centuries), so it isn't surprising that American culture is also riddled with tales of the Devil getting tricked by humans: see e.g. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" in Music above, or the Northern equivalent, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and variants (which combines it with the American and especially Northern focus on legalism and quibbles). |
| 192 | * Finnish folklore has one prominent story about the Devil. The bargain he makes is that the story's protagonist will work at his farm for three years, and the first of them to lose their temper will be partially skinned, enough to make a pair of boots. The Devil is depicted as a land-owning farmer, and over the course of the story loses his dog, his oxen, two wives, and his house to TheProtagonist. He is on the verge of running from his own home during the night when the second wife is killed, making him finally lose his temper, so the protagonist wins the arrangement and gets exactly what he bargained for: a pair of very nice shoes made with the Devil's skin. The Devil, on the other hand, vows to never again bargain with a Finn, because they are too stubborn. |
| 193 | * There's a folk tale about The Devil and the Farmer's Wife, where the farmer lets the devil take his wife, but [[PityTheKidnapper soon wants to give her back.]] Sometimes, the farmer can live with her even though the Devil can't (either he's just more patient or [[DefiantCaptive the wife deliberately made more of a nuisance of herself in hell]]) and he leaves the family alone; in other versions, the farmer doesn't want her back either and they split up, while the Devil ''still'' leaves the family alone. Either way, the devil is not particularly impressive. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 197 | * Satan in ''Radio/OldHarrysGame'' is a rather whiny fellow who uses torture and corruption mainly as mechanisms to cope with his own self-hatred. |
| 198 | [[/folder]] |
| 199 | |
| 200 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 201 | * The Ebon Dragon from ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is basically the [[{{Satan}} Devil-figure]] of the setting; the master of betrayal, lies, and deceit, and the only one of the [[EldritchAbomination Yozis]] who operates on [[CardCarryingVillain standard human morality]]...but see WordOfGod's explanation for exactly why ''his'' villainy is represented not by [[AboveGoodAndEvil alternative]] [[{{Ubermensch}} interpretations]] of the Virtue system, but merely by having bad Virtue scores: |
| 202 | -->"The Dragon's evil is supposed to be pathetic. It's supposed to be contemptible. That doesn't make him weak, but he's not heroic in either a classical or contemporary sense. He's a force of evil without scruples or principles. He stands for nothing save making things worse for everyone. He will stab you in the back at every turn and he cannot be reformed. ... When you face the Dragon, having Virtues greater than him, you can look down on him. You can see that he's not simply different or alien, but a loser. And yet, losers can win. He's a smart loser, a cunning loser. He's a loser unfettered by any moral restraint holding him back from hurting you any way he can get away with. He cheats. He cheats very well. He might just win. But it won't be a heroic victory. To make it so would miss the point. He's giving the finger to all the humanists and transhumanists and alien weirdos. He says you all suck. But the truth is that he just sucks compared with all of you and on some level, he knows it. I said there were two bad things that alternative Virtue did as a model for the Dragon's wickedness. The second is that you give him an excuse. Oh, he runs from fighting? Actually, he's just smart enough to duck out when he's losing. It's all very reasonable, you see. No. Wrong. He's a coward who bolts in terror from the heroes and lies to himself and others about why he did it. Even if he can make himself stay as an act of antagonistic defiance, he can't make himself stop being terrified. He can't escape into the Other. He's stuck playing in the same moral sandbox as everyone else and he absolutely fails at it." |
| 203 | * ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': |
| 204 | ** The Infernoids are something of a meta-example, an archetype of Fiends that look like mechanical devils, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast named after Biblical demons.]] While powerful, all of them are NOMIS, who must be summoned by first banishing other Infernoids from your Graveyard, making this a weak archetype (or at least a very hard one to master) when they are used alone. Enforcing the Trope even more, while the most powerful one is ''Level 11'', the one named after Satan is Level 1, with zero ATK and DEF, unable to be used offensively and not much use by itself. |
| 205 | ** The Burning Abyss Fiends are a group that can cut it by themselves; so long as they have help from the two members of their group who are ''not'' Fiends, which are based on [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dante,_Traveler_of_the_Burning_Abyss Dante]] and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Virgil,_Rock_Star_of_the_Burning_Abyss Virgil.]] Without them, the Graveyard activation requirements of their effects is difficult at best. |
| 206 | * Played with in ''TabletopGame/KillPuppiesForSatan''; the devil himself is legitimately evil and possibly dangerous, but his human minions are all pathetic, incompetent losers who think [[PokeThePoodle kicking puppies around]] is the evilest thing they can do. He also has to put up with demons [[CelestialBureaucracy unionizing]] on him and scoring an exclusive work contract, much to his chagrin. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 210 | * In Antonin Dvorak's opera ''The Devil and Kate'', the sheer bitchiness of the chatterbox Kate is such that even Lucifer is afraid of her, and is willing to do anything in order to send her back to Earth. |
| 211 | * In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', Satan is portrayed as little more than a redneck factory overseer watching the punishments of Tartarus, and is quickly dispatched once the lines are stopped up. |
| 212 | * In Randy Newman's musical/opera ''Randy Newman's Faust'', Lucifer sings a song called "Bleeding All Over the Place." He's not a totally loser, but he's a heck of a lot less threatening than they usually are, possibly because he's voiced on the CD by Randy Newman. |
| 213 | * Conor [=McPherson=]'s play ''The Seafarer'' has a character named Mr. Lockhart who is clearly a stand-in for good old Mr. Mephistopheles. He wastes an entire evening playing cards with a bunch of guys, some of whom are alcoholic, just to get one soul while tormenting him about his impending fate as much as possible, which truthfully is something typical for him, but this is NOT what makes him come across like a loser. No, what proves it is the exact WHY of his predatory behaviour, which becomes clear during a slowly-building VillainousBreakdown, where he all but openly cries about how much suffering his own choices have caused him and how sharing this suffering with the men that he manages to get his hands on is the only thing left to him. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 217 | * Demise is presented as a SatanicArchetype in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', but he was defeated in his war against the god Hylia long before the game started. He manifests himself as the mindless Imprisoned three times, but always loses to [[TheHero Link]]. Upon being restored to a humanoid form, he takes on Link in a swordfight and loses once again. He curses the future incarnations of Link and Princess Zelda to be plagued by [[spoiler: Ganondorf]], for eternity, but even he has yet to achieve a permanent victory over the two. |
| 218 | * In the ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxBeyondTimeAndSpace'' episode "What's New, Beelzebub?", Satan is a rather ineffectual middle management of Hell, LLC. He has no respect from his subordinates, and is at the beck and call of the BigBad, who eventually fires him. |
| 219 | * Satan from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' and ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' is a pathetic StalkerWithACrush for protagonist Arle Nadja. His schemes are frequently ridiculous or pointless (such as increasing the power of the sun so he can get a tan and attract girls), and is always foiled by her and Carbuncle. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' has the colony of Devils living at the Well of the Wolf. The place is so horrible they're actually relatively selfless and helpful simply because they're too worn down by living there to be evil anymore. It's implied that Chorister Bees use Devils as a chrysalis and these are the ones that the bees hatched from, which may contribute to their condition. Upon witnessing this, the Repentant Devil is visibly shaken to see what the Devils have been reduced to after the Exodus. |
| 221 | * ''VideoGame/PonyIsland'': Lucifer sucks at basic coding, game design, and is obsessed with ponies. You have to do most of the programming for him. [[spoiler:All of the souls doomed in purgatory are forced to play his game, which could possibly be seen as a punishment in of itself.]] |
| 222 | * In the True Cheater ending of ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', [[spoiler: Catherine's father, the demon Nergal, appears when Vincent proposes to his daughter to try to intercede. He's completely harmless, gets [[GroinAttack kicked in the nads by his daughter]] for interrupting, seems more concerned with playing video games, and ultimately gets overthrown by Vincent when he turns into an Incubus and takes over Hell. The ending's last shot shows him being used as a couch on which Vincent and Catherine are making out.]] |
| 223 | * The Devil is presented as a large and imposing figure in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' ([[NintendoHard and he very much is]]), but at the very last portion of his boss fight, [[spoiler: he starts crying like a baby, complete with stereotypical "waaaah, waaaah" sounds. That doesn't mean you've won, however. It just means that now you have to keep shooting him while dodging his tears.]] |
| 224 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Afterparty}}'', Satan tries to present himself as a badass king who can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants. It quickly becomes obvious that he's actually just a pathetic wannabe {{Fratbro}} who's stuck in a dead-end job he hates, suffers from crippling alcoholism, and has made a complete mess of his social life. Imagine if [[Film/AnimalHouse John Blutarsky]] grew up to became King of Hell and you've got a pretty good idea of what he's like. |
| 225 | * In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', the Fell Dragon Sombron is the BigBad of the game, responsible for countless atrocities over the years, from destroying entire cities to discarding his mates and children if they failed to meet his expectation. His motive turns out to be [[spoiler:opening a portal to another world just so he can reconnect with the Emblem of Foundations, which had been his sole companion after being exiled from his homeworld]], and when this is revealed, the other characters point out that [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse this doesn't even come close to justifying his actions]]. |
| 226 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Mehrunes Dagon (who isn't ''quite'' the devil, he's more a personified natural disaster, but close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades) occasionally gets this. His general role in history is to try to invade Mundus and get beaten back by some hero or other, and in an obscure text Haskill says that he's essentially Oblivion's go-to dupe, presumably because he's not that smart and his monomania about destruction means he's very predictable. One text in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' is Eveli Sharp-Arrow's list of ideas for insulting nicknames to call Dagon. |
| 227 | -->''Ruddy-Arsed Coward'' |
| 228 | -->''Multi-Armed Meanie'' |
| 229 | -->''Daedric Prince of Being Defeated'' |
| 230 | -->''Big Cracked Acorn'' |
| 231 | -->''Dagon the Defeated'' |
| 232 | -->''Cranky Overgrown Mudcrab'' |
| 233 | -->''Sir Stomps-A-Lot'' |
| 234 | -->''Daedric Prince of Shouting'' |
| 235 | -->''[[VaporWear The Kilt Is Not Enough]] [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever From Down Here]]'' |
| 236 | -->''Huge Ugly Scamp'' |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 240 | * The Devil from ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' spends all his time talking to T-Rex about video games and internet slang, and he drinks grape juice from concentrate. |
| 241 | %%* The webcomic ''[[http://www.inhislikeness.com In His Likeness]]''. |
| 242 | * ''Webcomic/HellInc'': in Hell, Inc. B.L. Zebub is a classic red, horned demon who works in an organization based around the torture of damned souls and delights in tormenting anyone under him in the hierarchy. He is also trapped in middle management, breaks his work PC by visiting sketchy porn sites on a regular basis and is the frequent target of unflattering drawings and jokes by his employees. |
| 243 | * ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' |
| 244 | ** While the Devil IS a pretty badass dude, more than a few strips in the initial period of the comic feature him collecting mockery of God, taunts of Ezekiel and Ariel "the Wascally Angels", [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-12-19 pity of Buddha]] and made aware that he's LonelyAtTheTop. The closest thing he had to a friend was his [[spoiler: son]] LoonyFan L'il Evil, a HarmlessVillain whose faith might as well have been HoYay. Then the comic shifted from a gag strip to an AuthorTract, and the subsequent periods have made him into a much more serious villain who's ultimately behind whatever is bothering Tats at the moment. |
| 245 | ** The AntiChrist was so pathetic that he finally got a life only [[AmnesiacDissonance after accidentally mind-wiping himself]] by drinking from Lethe and so far no one (including Devil) wanted his old personality back. |
| 246 | * In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', Satan is the victim of cyber attacks by Riff, ends up doing the nasty with a cat while drunk, gets chewed out on a daytime talk show for not taking care of the resulting demonic kitten children, and is so terrified of scorpions that he runs away at the sight of them and drops and loses his god-slaying weapon. |
| 247 | * In the ''Webcomic/RoosterTeeth'' Comics, Hell is tech support for Apple, the Devil is the still the Boss, but he wears Khakis. |
| 248 | * In ''Webcomic/DeadDuck'', the devil is a teenager running Hell so he can appease his old man and running a day camp on the side under a costume to look more intimidating. His father? [[spoiler: ''God'']] |
| 249 | * Inverted in ''Webcomic/HolyBibble''. Although the ''real'' God is pretty awesome (and has a lot of personal similarities to Satan, actually), the God described in the Old Testament is actually a senile and useless minor demon created by Satan on a whim. |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 253 | * Once faced with Tennyo and Generator in the story "Sit In" in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, the demon lord (okay, brevet under-baron) Phesclangorenthal rapidly turns into this. |
| 254 | * Discussed by [[Creator/BobChipman Moviebob]], who believes that when you take away all the stories and rumors, the devil is less ComicBook/LexLuthor, and more Starscream. |
| 255 | * In ''WebAnimation/BonusStage'', Satan rambles on about nothing and [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment makes people]] watch ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'', watch ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'' or eat his mom's spaghetti. [[spoiler:He also lets Joel, Phil and Elly out of hell.]] |
| 256 | * In later episodes of [[WebVideo/VinesauceTomodachiLife Vinny's Tomodachi Life streams]], Satan ends up moving to Vineland Island. [[AffablyEvil He quickly makes lots of friends]], wears a basketball jersey among other ridiculous outfits, and lives in a brightly-colored apartment. [[LampshadeHanging Vinny freely admits that this is the least threatening version of Satan he's ever seen.]] |
| 257 | * In ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'', Satan (who shows up in Episode 8 when [[spoiler: Alucard ends up confronting God]]) is actually a soft-spoken and not particularly forceful guy who hesitantly asks God to ease up the requirements for going to Heaven and offers Him some avocado toast if He'll come by to visit sometime. Satan also asks Alucard to give him back the Hounds of Baskerville, but Alucard cuts him off by yelling that "They're mine now!" |
| 258 | [[/folder]] |
| 259 | |
| 260 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 261 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "[[Recap/AnimaniacsEpisode30 Hot, Bothered, and Bedeviled]]" has Yakko, Wakko, and Dot tormenting Satan, who comes across as a complete chump even amongst the show's villains. Eventually, Satan ''banishes them from Hell'' because he just couldn't stand them. |
| 262 | * [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Red Guy With No Pants]] from ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' and ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel''. He certainly looks the part but he's only referred to as the devil in the first show's pilot (in which his "EvilPlan" is to make Chicken smoke cigarettes). |
| 263 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'': For all his impressive theatrics and all the souls he's managing to funnel into the Underworld, the Devil is a complete IneffectualSympatheticVillain when it comes to Cuphead and Mugman. He's a [[SissyVillain complete fop]] who throws tantrums when he's outwitted and at one point is conned into painting Elder Kettle's fence for them. It comes to a head in Season 2 when he loses the rights to Cuphead's soul and has a trashy article written about him claiming his best days are behind him, which leads to him going out to spread misery to blow off some steam... which results in him ''losing his pitchfork to Cuphead''. [[spoiler:Just then he [[SubvertedTrope shows how genuinely effective and evil he can be]] by [[DraggedOffToHell dragging Mugman off to Hell in retaliation]] -- cue DownerEnding / CliffHanger for Season 2!]] |
| 264 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', the Devil plays dirty, tricking Gosalyn into signing the pact that lets him claim ''Darkwing's'' soul. The problem? Morgana and her clan manage to beat him at his own game and find a loophole in it! |
| 265 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's song "Let The Sun Shine In" (from the episode "No Biz Like Show Biz"). |
| 266 | * The Robot Devil from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. The guy is [[IdiotHero outsmarted by Fry]] and in one episode is seen in jail. [[{{Manchild}} He's also whiny]], ScreamsLikeALittleGirl [[ImprobableWeaponUser when you hit him with a fiddle]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and lives in New Jersey]]. His only positive trait is that he's a good musician. Played with in "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E18TheDevilsHandsAreIdlePlaythings The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings]]", which starts with the Robot Devil losing at his own game and being forced to give up his own hands to Fry, but then has him pull off an intricate ChainOfDeals that ends with him getting his hands back and Fry humiliated in front of a crowd. Say what you will about him, the guy is pretty competent at [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative bastardry]]. |
| 267 | * In ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob'', The Devil is shown more as an incompetent and effeminate weirdo [[WellDoneSonGuy with creator issues]] than a powerful master of temptation. His evil schemes are often self-defeating but occasionally he proves he's a NotSoHarmlessVillain. |
| 268 | * Lucifer Morningstar in ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' is the King of Hell and the embodiment of {{Pride}}, ''the'' most powerful and feared person in Hell. But he had once been a WideEyedIdealist and his banishment to Hell, where all he could see is the cruelty and wickedness his gift of free will to humanity caused, left him [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy broken, jaded, and depressed]]. He's separated from his wife Lilith, estranged from his daughter Charlie, and spends most of his time cooped up in his room making rubber duck toys. It's rather telling that Lucifer feels insecure and jealous towards the significantly powerful (yet still [[BullyingADragon far beneath him]]) demon Alastor, especially as they compete for Charlie's approval. |
| 269 | * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': Lucius is technically only the great-great-great-great grandson of the ''original devil'', who is feared by everyone including his descendants. Lucius himself is largely a SmugSnake HarmlessVillain who is incapable of running things without [[OnlySaneEmployee Heloise]]. He's also a massively LargeHam, because he is voiced by Creator/SeanCullen. |
| 270 | * Played with in ''WesternAnimation/LucyTheDaughterOfTheDevil'': Satan seems like a harmless yuppie right up until the point where he tries to murder you in your dreams with burrowing flesh-worms. |
| 271 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' makes this a SubvertedTrope. [[SissyVillain Him]] may mince around [[CreepyCrossdresser in drag]] between launching invariably doomed {{Evil Plan}}s, but he is ''far'' from harmless. An [[CompleteImmortality immortal]] RealityWarper, Him only loses because his schemes hinge on exploiting some character flaw, a MonsterOfTheWeek, or poorly-chosen combat conditions. He comes far closer to success than other villains, and [[BadFuture one particular episode]] [[HellOnEarth demonstrated exactly what would happen]] [[EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce should the girls fail]]... |
| 272 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' Halloween episode, the devil offers Brain the world in exchange for his soul. Brain refuses because he's angry about being called a failure, but later finds out that the gullible Pinky has been persuaded to sign in his place, in exchange for a "radish rose watchamahoozit." However, the devil is forced to release Pinky when it turns out that he doesn't even know what that is. |
| 273 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS1E9SomethingRickedThisWayComes Something Ricked This Way Comes]]" (actually a parody of ''Literature/NeedfulThings''), Summer gets a part-time job at the Needful Things thrift store, which seems to be a lot like it was in the book, until Rick [[GenreSavvy immediately figures out]] that Mr. Needful is actually the Devil, and that the golden microscope he sells is cursed. Rick is able to use his mad science to figure out how to detect, analyze, and counteract curses, and he opens up his own store across the street where he removes curses, leaving the items with just their beneficial magic. For instance, an aftershave that makes a man irresistible to women, but also leaves him impotent? Rick pairs it with a cure for impotence. Rick makes a ton of money, and Mr. Needful is so humiliated that Summer has to talk him out of suicide. Even after he tricks Summer into helping him back on top, which was more opportunistic than calculated, he still gets humiliated in the end when a bulked up Rick and Summer beat the crap out of him on a national stage, making him cower at their feet in front of everyone. |
| 274 | -->'''Mr. Needful, the Devil:''' People like Rick are making me obsolete. I mean, seriously. I may be 'the devil', but your grandpa ''is'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards the devil]]. |
| 275 | * ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' gives us Peaches, Dark Overlord of [[GoshDangItToHeck Heck]]...who gets bossed around by Heffer's late [[NeverMessWithGranny grandma]] and [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant isn't]] ''[[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant actually]]'' [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant the ruler of Heck]]. |
| 276 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', whether he's a loser or not is a case-by-case basis: |
| 277 | ** He's certainly a loser in the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV Treehouse of Horror IV]]" segment "The Devil and Homer Simpson", where his own JuryOfTheDamned rules against him after he's outwitted by Marge. |
| 278 | ** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E8MargeVsSSCCATAG Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays]]", in which Springfield's single people try to change the law to make the town less family-friendly, Marge decides to lead a campaign to stop them. A tobacco company representative offers her a cheque. Once she takes it, the representative takes off his hat, revealing a pair of horns, assumes a more devil-like appearance in general and claims that she belongs to them. She quickly points out that she hasn't endorsed the cheque and the representative quickly resumes his human look, claiming that the horns are a "football injury". |
| 279 | * On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Satan may look scary, but he's not. |
| 280 | ** He used to be scary, but then got into an abusive, codependent relationship with Saddam Hussein and [[VillainDecay hasn't recovered since]]. At times, his demeanor borders on self-sabotaging, making him more of a ''[[TheWoobie woobie]]''. [[spoiler:Then he had enough and killed Saddam. But Saddam came back because he's already dead.]] |
| 281 | ** Amusingly, [[GodKartingWithBeelzebub God Himself called him out on this]]: |
| 282 | --->'''God:''' Jesus, what the hell happened to you?\ |
| 283 | '''Satan:''' Huh?!\ |
| 284 | '''God:''' You got kicked out of here for being a headstrong rebel. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech And now you're a whiny little bitch]]. |
| 285 | * [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in ''WesternAnimation/SmilingFriends''. Satan is a colossal, intimidating, BigRedDevil but he acts like a PsychopathicManchild. He said ToHellWithThisInfernalJob and spent all his time in his bedroom playing video games, eating junk food, and smoking weed, causing Hell to [[CueTheFlyingPigs literally freeze over]] from his lack of management. [[spoiler: When Charlie meets him he's AffablyEvil in an apathetic way but when he suggests that his [[AWeightyAesop unhealthy]] [[AntiEscapismAesop lifestyle]] is making him unhappy in the long run, he does a full 180 and roars at him before having him tortured. He then returns to work after remembering how much he enjoys human suffering and tries to keep Charlie in Hell, requiring literal DivineIntervention to save him.]] |
| 286 | * In ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'', the demon Twayne Boneraper makes a deal with a politician that he'll become mayor in exchange for his soul. Unfortunately said politician is utterly unelectable and boasts openly about having made a deal with the devil. He ends up dying accidentally, putting Twayne up before the demonic court for being a failure as a demon, as the only soul he's managed to ensnare recently is that of a large, ill-tempered cat. |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / TheDevilIsALoser
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
