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Satanic Archetype

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Asmodeus, archduke of Nessus and Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, in all his infernal glory.

Javier: Why don't they fight their own fucking fights!
Vendel: Would you be eager to fight the devil?... [f]or that is what Gunmar is to trolls — the devil, who can strip the will and mind from your closest, oldest, friend or mate, and send them against you.

An evil character who appears to be a satanic figure for the setting, although they clearly aren't the Devil himself.

A Satanic Archetype character can be any combination of the following:

Chances are, if a work is using Everybody Hates Hades, then Hades or another being or creature associated with death will be depicted as a Satanic Archetype. If the character lampshades their own satanic qualities, then it falls under Devil Complex.

Super-Trope of Davy Jones. See also The Trickster, Hijacked by Jesus, God of Evil, The Anti-God, Maou the Demon King, Classic Villain, Southern Gothic Satan (a Deep South version of Satan), Louis Cypher (a trope which frequently overlaps with this one) and Demiurge Archetype (who impersonates God rather than going head-to-head against Him) Contrast with Crystal Dragon Jesus, Madonna Archetype, Messianic Archetype, Moses Archetype, Big Red Devil (who looks Satanic but doesn't necessarily act the part).


Examples:

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    Comic Books 
  • For the entirety of The DCU, Darkseid is the Big Bad. He's a God of Evil and the Evil Overlord of Apokolips. He's the arch-enemy of the Highfather of New Genesis, and plans to take over the universe just to make everything in it suffer. Not to mention he's a powerful deceiver. In Final Crisis, he's upgraded to the status of a Made of Evil Humanoid Abomination Omnicidal Maniac.
  • The Joker can be described as one, given that he has many nicknames, comes off as a trickster who loves to sow discord and chaos just For the Evulz, and embodies most of the Seven Deadly Sins. He also dresses in light colors compared to Batman's Dark Is Not Evil vibe. In the comics and in many adaptations, and being a foil to the Dark Knight, the Clown Prince of Crime's two main goals are to make Batman laugh (i.e. mentally break Batman) and prove that the world is just as ugly as he is. Joker also frequently lies and twists his backstory to distort reality and finagle the truth, which is how he was able to manipulate Harley Quinn to become his moll.
  • Sinestro in Green Lantern, to the point where the parody episode "Green Loontern" in Duck Dodgers actually lampshades it at least once. He was the best and brightest of a heavenly host that used a form of light, only to be thrown out into exile. At first Sinestro goes renegade, obtaining his own power ring, and eventually corrupts his successor Hal Jordan, turning him into the hosts for the monstrous Parallax. Seeking to overthrow the heavenly host in question, the Green Lantern Corps, he creates his own Sinestro Corps through making deals with various aliens and monsters across the universe. They take over Qward, the antimatter universe, and reshape it to the point where it resembles your typical Fire and Brimstone Hell. In the short term, he promises them whatever they desire, but what they don't know is that every single ring he gives them has a killswitch only he can activate. Mongul, for example, found this out the hard way, and the entire Sinestro Corps is betrayed and sent into stasis by their former leader when he no longer has a use for them. When he becomes the latest incarnation of Parallax, he takes on a twisted form resembling a devil.
  • In the Marvel Universe, the Hell Lords are a group of demons composed of Asmodeus, Hela, Mephisto, Pluto, Satannish The Supreme, and Satana. Former members of the group included Beelzeboul, Dormammu, Hellstrom, Lucifer/Satan, Marduk Kurios, Olivier, Thog the Nether-Spawn, and Umar the Unrelenting. (Yes, Satan himself used to be a member of a group of demons who represent all the aspects of Satan. Somehow.) Many have admitted to either being inspired by, playing off the name of, or claiming to be the REAL Satan. Thanks to inconsistent continuity and their own history as liars, nothing they say can be believed. This was further complicated with the introduction of the real Lucifer- Who is very specifically the Satan of the Christian religion in the Marvel universe. A tie-in to the Fear Itself crossover introduced Satan's empty throne, but it was unclear if there was a real Satan and if so who it was (though when we saw God's throne in Ghost Rider: Heaven's on Fire, it was also empty). Several hell-lords claim to be Satan, but none sit in it for fear of being torn apart by the other hell-lords.
  • MonsterVerse: Besides the film examples, there's Camazotz in the graphic novel Kingdom Kong. He has horns and bat-wings, he's associated with darkness, he emerges from the Hollow Earth (i.e. the underworld) commanding a legion of smaller minions (demons) who are similar to him in image, and he does battle with the reigning benevolent god seeking to usurp said god's kingdom for his own and reshape the kingdom in his own image.
  • Lord Golgotha in Reborn is the ruler of the Dark Lands, the evil half of the afterlife where all the wicked souls are sent upon dying. He has a outright demonic appearance except he has grey skin instead of red, and he was prophesied as his people's Dark Messiah that would lead them into conquering the world of the living in their twisted, dark forms.
  • An excellent version of a character in a polytheist story being cast as the Christian Satan occurred in the comic Rogan Ghosh, Star of the East. A character called The Soma Swami, False God of a Thousand False Worlds, who tempts people to sin or leads them into ignorance so that they'll stay in the wheel of reincarnation where he can feed on their energies. People who reach enlightenment/heaven/Nirvana have escaped him (as he himself puts it, "Fuck Christ! Fuck Buddha! They're just the ones that got away!") As a way of adapting the Christian devil to a Hindu setting, it's hard to imagine Soma being bettered.
  • Wonder Woman Vol 1: The Emperor of Saturn has the appearance of a Big Red Devil, has an empire full of frequently beaten human and Saturnain slaves, his subjects are mostly terrified of him even those that revere him and when he makes deals and treaties he holds to the text while fully intended to use the loopholes therein to screw over whomever he made the deal with.

    Fan Works 
  • Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Ghidorah, like in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). Vivienne Graham always called Ghidorah the Devil or the Dragon in her notes, it's often compared by human characters' narration in the story to a devil, and if Viv and San (Monster X) are an Anti-Anti-Christ then Ghidorah is to them what Trigon is to Raven. Ghidorah even hints in Chapter 13 that the Devil might literally be humanity's mythical memory of Ghidorah after all.
  • Avengers: Infinite Wars has The Son, who is the living embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force, and shares so many similarities with Lucifer, it isn't far fatched to believe he is Satan himself. Originally member of a race of beings of Light and goodness, the Celestials, after his Mother's was emprisioned, he, his Father and sister were exiled to the world of Mortis, where the Son grew bitter and resentful of his family, secretly planning to overthrow and kill his father. Said opportunity presents itself when Messianic Archetype Anakin Skywalker shows up at Mortis. He tries to corrupt Anakin to the Dark Side by taking the form of his dead mother and tormenting him for his failure to save her, not much different from how Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, and when it fails he temporarily corrupts Ahsoka to do his bidding. To fit his demonic aesthethic, the Son's One-Winged Angel form is a gargoyle bat, and in Christian terms, bats are viewed as "the birds of the devil", an incarnation of the Prince of Darkness, as well as omens of death and misfortune. After escaping Mortis, the Son takes residence in Mustafar, a Death World that resembles Hell in every conceivable way, and he starts to work alongside members of the True Sith faction to ressurect long dead Sith Lords to bring chaos and destruction across the Galaxy.
  • The Bridge:
    • The Shadow of Red is a huge, red, fire-controlling demon who rules Zenith, a realm that resembles Fire and Brimstone Hell. He and his army of demons enslave and torture anyone who enters Zenith, and he's been compared to beings like Satan, Iblis, and Kali.
    • Bagan is described as having once been a radiant paragon of virtue and wisdom until something caused him to despise life and become an Omnicidal Maniac. He tempts certain characters with a Deal with the Devil to manipulate them into helping him achieve his goal. One of his former titles was even "The Morning Star".
  • Code Prime:
    • First we have Megatron. Once a former hero that fell to the dark side, turned his entire homeworld into a wasteland as a consequence of his quest for power, Megatron arrived on Earth by falling from the skies, much like the deciptions of Lucifer being expelled from Heaven. Upon firming resindence on Earth, Megatron became an Evil Mentor to Charles zi Britannia, corrupting the young prince with the social darwinist ideology that drives the Britannian Empire. He also controls Dark Energon, a malevolent and highly dangerous power that descends from Unicron, the Cybertronian God of Evil, capable of raising the dead as horrific abominations. Megatron also gains the power of Dark Geass, a corrupted form of Geass capable of killing anyone with a single glare. Being a Code Bearer also allows him to form contracts with others, as shown with V.V. after his capture. To put it in the bluntest way possible, C.C. calls him the Devil, and the leader of the Decepticons doesn't make an effort to convey his unhinged nature.
    • Then there is also, Unicron, whom many people acknowledge as The Devil due to how similar their backstories are. Described as being of pure evil and malice that wished for the end of all life, Unicron once battled against Primus, the God and creator of the Cybertronian kind, only to be defeated and sealed away in the depths of Earth, although its worth noticing that what actually happened is that the planet ended up forming itself across his body. As mentioned mentioned above, his blood is a corrupting substance capable of bringing the dead, or just any kind of technology as horrendous monstrosities.
  • A Diplomatic Visit: In the sequel Diplomat at Large, the Storm King, per canon. He commands an army of ferocious beasts, has conquered multiple countries and left them devastated, and has Tempest do his bidding with a promise to restore her broken horn, though he outright admits during the battle that he wasn't going to do it even before she betrayed him. In addition, he has horns, a pointed crown and goats legs reminiscent of Satan.
  • Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls: Much like his Equestrian counterpart, the Human Tirek fits the bill, being the red-skinned horned king of the Hollows/Arrancar, ruling them in their ongoing war against both the heavens (Soul Society) and the humans (the Quincy). It's pointed out In-Universe he looks a lot like the Devil. In fact, due to the All Myths Are True aspect of this crossover, it's heavily implied that Tirek himself inspired the stories of Satan and his minions, since he's old enough that he was once contemporaries with the ancient gods of various religions and mythologies. Although ironically, he wasn't responsible for betraying The Soul Queen, but rather witnessed said betrayal and chose to whip his side to war to face the real traitors.
  • The Logia Brothers: Akuma is the manifestation of the Sea Devil who created the Devil Fruits. He spreads them around for the sake of creating chaos for his amusement.
  • Dark Raiden in Mortal Kombat: Desperation fits the bill of one: openly rebels against the Elder Gods, was once The Mentor to many of the heroes but now a Broken Pedestal after his Face–Heel Turn, aspires to become the Evil Overlord of all realms, wears a dark outfit to show his wicked nature, leads an army of evildoers by manipulating them, and is a nihilistic Omnicidal Maniac.
  • My Venom Academia: Symbiote's Justice, has Knull, the God of Symbiotes. He is described as an ancient evil entity that opposed the forces of light, created a race of monsters who essentially possess and corrupt their victims, is imprisoned by his own allies who could not stomach his evil intentions any longer and makes a deal with a mortal in order to be set free. He is known by many titles, including King in Black, The Living Abyss, God of the Symbiotes and the Forger of Darkness, all describing how much of a malevolent and nightmarish deity he is.
  • The Dark Queen Olga from The Night Unfurls is a prideful Lady of Black Magic who starts a Forever War by rebelling against the Goddess Reborn, is associated with fire and dark, and is known by various titles. Later subverted as she is merely the Disc-One Final Boss, her motive for rebellion is portrayed in a sympathetic light, she gets a Heel–Face Turn, and her association with dark (dark elves) is not malicious in nature.
  • Ho-oh and Uxie both represent this trope in Poké Wars.
    • Ho-oh is a great and noble angelic being of light whose Pride made him rebel against God's chosen plan in favor of his own vision, and he makes other Legendaries/Angels join him by preying on their hidden desires. His fall to evil also causes him to lose sight of what he originally fought for, turning him into an angry, spiteful, and petty creature of darkness that gets trapped inside the Pokemon version of Hell, the Reverse World.
    • Uxie is a monster that was sealed away and is released during an apocalyptic scenario who then proceeds to manipulate events from behind the scenes to his benefit. He looks like a creature of good and light, disguising his evil intent, he believes that he can make the universe superior to God's attempt, and he plans on making mockeries/clones of his creations to act as his army.
  • MissingNo in Pokémon Reset Bloodlines pretty much introduces itself as one. It reveals to go by several demonic names, offers Faustian deals and takes pleasure in watching people suffer.
  • The Pony POV Series has two beings who share this role. One is Discord's father, Havoc, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Mass Hysteria and one of the four Elders (the Top Gods). He's the Dimension Lord of Pony Hell, where the condemned are doomed to pull his chariot across an endless desert for all eternity. The other is Morning Star, a Fallen Alicorn who was originally supposed to be the Concept of Perfection and Beauty, but, like Old Scratch, became the embodiment of Evil and Temptation when he attempted to overthrow the Elders, seeing himself as more perfect than they are. He was sealed away, but later released by Havoc to fight on his side of a war, and served as Discord's Evil Mentor. What became of him after that is presently unknown, though Word of God is that he was either killed during the war or imprisoned in Hell under Havoc's watch as part of the peace treaty between the Alicorns and Draconequi.
  • Revival: Maya Lottie is one of the avatars of the evil Nyarlathotep. Much like her literary counterpart, she makes deals with potential victims such as forcing Lincoln Loud into a game when stealing the souls of two of his sisters among others.

    Films — Animated 
  • All Dogs Go to Heaven features a terrifying canine Satan equivalent, depicted as a titanic Big Red Devil resembling a cross between a dragon and a hellhound.
  • Holli Would from Cool World. She rebels against the authority of the world both Frank and The Professor because they stand against her rebellious nature, seduces a man into committing a grave sin that has grave consequences on the world, and causes an apocalyptic event out of amusement. She is associated with a light color palette, is associated with a hellish location and her defeat echoes the Devil in being dragged back down to the hell she belongs to.
  • DC Animated Universe: Trigon in Justice League vs. Teen Titans. He is even referred as Satan by other Titans, before Raven revealed his true name.
  • Disney Animated Canon:
    • Chernabog in Fantasia is portrayed as a giant black demon with horns and bat wings. Walt Disney even described him as being Satan himself. The god was based on a lesser-known Slavic god, which may be an example of Everybody Hates Hades. Presumably, using the title "Satan" outside the film just wouldn't be marketable.
    • Maleficent, the Evil Fairy in Sleeping Beauty is referred to the Misteress of All Evil and claims to wield "all the powers of Hell". She also looks the part with her Ominous Opera Cape and Horns of Villainy.
    • Hades, the ancient Greek lord of the underworld, as depicted in Hercules. He acts a lot more like a cartoon Satan than how he's depicted in the old myths. His brother Zeus is essentially the Grandpa God, as Hades' scheme is to rebel against him and take over Mount Olympus, i.e. Heaven.
    • The Lion King: Scar turns the Pridelands into Hell after killing his brother, gorges himself at the expense of others (including his own hyena minions), and his personality embodies all of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Lion Guard pushes it further: he returns as a demonic Animalistic Abomination in stark contrast to the heavenly apparition of his brother. His dark lust for power remained even when he was the Fiercest of the Lion Guard, having killed the remaining members when they didn't support his coup against Mufasa. As a result, he permanently lost the Mighty Roar that is bestowed upon to the Fiercest of the Lion Guard, as it was never meant to be used for evil purposes. For this reason, Kion constantly makes sure to not become like Scar. The Lion Guard states that Scar's "Freudian Excuse" is flimsy. He was always a monster.
    • The Little Mermaid: Ursula was once a member of King Triton's court, but he banished her after she attempted to overthrow him.note  She made her home in a dark lair on the seafloor, where she routinely makes deals with merfolk, most of which end with her screwing her clients over, transforming them into immobile creatures, and keeping them trapped in her lair. The way she, Flotsam, and Jetsam, manipulate Ariel into signing her contract is quite reminiscent of how The Bible describes Satan tempting humans, along with the story of Satan tempting Jesus in the desert. While this is going on, she also plots to take Triton's domain. It's worth noting that Ursula looks drastically different from typical depictions of Satan, but her nemesis Triton very much looks like the typical Grandpa God.
    • Judge Claude Frollo, of all people, in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney). It isn't obvious at first, but over the course of the movie, Frollo reveals himself to be a man who believes himself to be better than everyone else. Increasingly, he begins to put his ideas of what is good before everyone else, willing to commit genocide against the Gypsies, and force a woman to feed his lustful instincts or else be burned. Among his weapons for hunting down Esmeralda: fire. Finally, he rebels against the very church he claims to defend, burning it with molten lead, and attacking the Archdeacon, The Paragon of the movie.
    • The Coachman of Pinocchio may lack the rebel aspects or the obvious pride, but he makes deals with boys to give them everything they think they want at Pleasure Island, causing them to lose their humanity and be sold into permanent servitude. His Nightmare Face also looks rather demonic.
    • The Princess and the Frog: Doctor Facilier, the Shadow Man, presents himself as a suave conman who makes deals with people but is actually planning on feeding them to his Friends on the Other Side to pay his debts to them.
    • Wish (2023): Magnifico is a deal maker who promises to grant the wishes of his subjects when they hand over their wish (a part of their soul) to him in a ceremony held when they turn 18, but instead hogs all the wishes out of paranoia that any one wish would endanger his rule. Much like how Satan is described as an angel of light, Magnifico wears bright clothes. His Villain Song even has him describing how he got his genes from outer space again reinforcing his celestial connections with Lucifer.
  • Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2. He is not only the Knight of Cerebus of the entire franchise and represents a great threat to China, but also his fall is announced from a prophecy in which a savior (Po, a Messianic Archetype) is going to defeat him. Consumed by his Social Darwinism and blinded by his narcissism, pride, and thirst for power, Shen attempted to commit genocide against the species he feared. The fact that his scenes are associated with fire and dark colors only enhances his Satanic qualities. In fact, the flashback of Po recalling the trauma of his village being decimated by Shen gives us Shen himself surrounded by fire, almost as if he were Satan.
  • Necross from Mune: Guardian of the Moon was formerly a respected Guardian of the Sun who got greedy one day and tried to keep the sun's power all for himself. He was defeated by a young Xolal, who banished Necross into the Underworld, where he fell into a pit of lava and was transformed into a giant molten beast. He now plots to get revenge on the world by destroying the sun and plunging the world into eternal darkness. He also sends out snakelike creatures to manipulate others into turning to the dark side. Subverted in that he only got greedy in the first place because he himself was corrupted by those snake creatures, and Mune manages to redeem him by using his powers to destroy the snake inhabiting Necross' body.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • The Bible, of course, has the real deal. But many individuals in the Bible still mirror the devil in some way.
    • If you read the famous Lucifer passage in Isaiah 14, you will notice it names the subject as a Babylonian king (despite other areas of the same passage describing a heavenly being). While it's common to write this off as hyperbole, some Biblical scholars (like Michael Heiser) believe it's actually comparing the king to a fallen angel. In other words, Isaiah is making an intentional analogy between the king and Lucifer.
    • Typologynote  has led to Christians seeing satanic archetypes all over the Bible. One notable example is the way the conquest of Joshua is read. Since Joshua is generally agreed by Christians to be a type of Christ, his enemies are seen as types of the devil. The Orthodox Church traditionally understood the battles in Joshua as being types of the Christian's battle with demons. William Nicholson, in 1862, understood Jericho to be a type of Satan's strongholds.
  • Egyptian Mythology: One might claim that Satan himself is actually an Apophis archetype. Apep (or Apophis in Greek) was the ancient Egyptian God of Evil/Chaos (which were pretty much the same thing to the Egyptians), and thus was never 'worshiped' in any real way. He took the form of a giant serpent/dragon who constantly tried to destroy all the gods and thus the universe itself. Every night, it was believed, he would battle the sun god Ra. Ancient Egyptians would prepare prayers for fighting against Apep as they went to the underworld.
  • Mesopotamian Mythology: Anzu/Zu/Imdugud is possibly another Ur-Example, like Apep existing well before Christianity. A giant Lion-Bird creature, Anzu defied the King of the Gods - Enlil, and stole from him the Tablets of Destiny (an artifact giving one power to rule the universe/creation). Gods feared to challenge Anzu, until Ninurta (or depending on version Ningirsu or latter Marduk) fought with, and defeated the lion-bird. Further notable is that overtime Anzu started to be depicted as a Lion-Dragon, as well as possibly evolved into (more well known in modern pop-culture) figure in Assyrian and Later Babylonian myths - Pazuzu the King of Wind Demons.
  • Gnosticism: Yaldaboath, otherwise known as the Demiurge, created the physical world and seeks to keep mankind in the dark about their spiritual nature.
  • Angra Mainyu is the God of Evil whilst also being the polar opposite of his brother Ahura Mazda. Freely admitting he could do good but opts not to, Angra Mainyu makes it his mission to pervert his brother's creations after failing to kill the primal bull. He corrupts the daevas against his brother and is responsible for many of the tragedies that befall the world.note 
  • Mara is the "King of Demons" in Buddhism, although the term may also refer to all demons, as in the maras. Mara is the son of a deva whose life purpose is to avoid people from attaining Nirvana, however Buddhists do not really bash or hate Mara as they should feel compassion for all beings, demons included, and Mara would some day die and re-incarnate in something different. Interestingly, as pointed by some scholars, Mara is a very Buddhist-exclusive concept that does not exists in Hinduism or Jainism and some scholars suspect could be an import from other neighboring culture, maybe China or Persia.

    Pinball 

    Role-Playing Games 
  • The Darkitect, as depicted in Dino Attack RPG. A Manipulative Bastard who actively plays with the emotions of his foes to tempt them into doing his bidding? Check. Ruler of the Stromlings and Mutant Dinos, often referred to as "demons" by the inhabitants of Adventurers' Island? Check. The Darkitect may not be Satan himself, but he certainly fits the archetype.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Although for obvious reasons, post-Gygax TSR and later Wizards of the Coast were extremely wary of allowing anything that could be even remotely used to put the charges of Satan-worship at their doorstep, there have been a few uses of Satan-like characters in Dungeons & Dragons:
    • Asmodeus, Beelzebub (under the alias "Baalzebul"), Pazuzu and other fixtures in Christian demonology are used as villains often in the various D&D worlds, particularly in 1st Edition and 3rd Edition (for most of 2nd, devils and demons were banned or renamed).
    • Satan himself was statted up in a fan-penned article in Dragon Magazine #28, long before the "D&D = Satanism" panic took off. As an injoke, Satan had exactly 333 hit points.
    • At this point, Asmodeus, the ruler of the Nine Hells, has become the single most direct Satan analogue in D&D, to the point of being Satan in all but name. This is especially the case in 4th Edition D&D, where his backstory is now that he was once an archangel who led a successful rebellion against the god he served.
    • The closest Abyssal equivalent to Asmodeus' Infernal one would be Graz'zt, the Dark Prince, seducer, corrupter, hedonist and schemer extraordinaire, who would look like a stereotypical if handsome Big Red Devil (cloven hooves and all) if not for his pitch-black skin, has six fingers on each hand, and was explicitly inspired by legends of the Devil appearing at witches' Sabbaths in the guise of a Dark Man whom the witches would fornicate with. Depending on the edition and/or different versions of his Multiple-Choice Past, it's possible he's either a rogue Archdevil who decided Chaos was more fun than Law, or the offspring of another being who masquerades as the Dark Man at witches' Sabbaths, the Crawling Chaos AKA Nyarlathotep.
    • Another close Abyssal equivalent, is Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, especially in Forgotten Realms. Originally a goddess named Araushnee, living in the Upper Plane of Arvandor - the favorite and lover of the ruler of elven gods, Corellon Larethian. But who after an almost successful coup, she was renamed Lolth, was banished to the Abyss and turned into demon. Indeed becoming one of the most powerful Demon Lords, even arguably the most powerful onenote . Later corrupting dark elves, ultimately resulting in them becoming drow, and staying as a corrupting influence on even non-drow elves to a degree. Bonus points for being very probably named after, and partly based on Lilith.
    • Forgotten Realms also has the god Gargauth, a former note  archdevil who had made himself into a god of betrayal, cruelty and (political) corruption. Thanks to focusing on the Realms specifically and being a god (albeit a weak one) when Asmodeus wasn't, the 'Tenth Lord of the Nine' was able to temporarily corner this niche for the setting, until Asmodeus actually became a god after the Spellplague, and Gargauth stopped being mentioned...At least untill the Second Sundering, though Gargauth returned far weakened, not even a deity anymore.
    • The Birthright campaign setting had Azrai, the most beautiful and powerful of the gods who subsequently turned to evil and became The Corrupter and was subsequently fought and defeated by the other gods in a titanic battle known as Deismaar.
    • Eberron has a lot of hostile supernatural forces, but the oldest, most powerful, and arguably most purely malevolent are the Overlords of the Age of Demons, also known as the Rakshasa Rajahs. Each corresponds to a different form of corruption or destruction, and one of them, Bel Shalor, the Shadow in the Flame, is the most clearly Satanic. A tempter and deceiver who specializes in corrupting mortal souls, who likes to whisper from within the Silver Flame (which is the Sentient Cosmic Force that holds him imprisoned) and convince people to do evil in the Flame's name. Theologically, he pretty much is the Church of the Silver Flame's Devil, both for the above reasons and because their founder Tira Miron was first given divine power in order to defeat him.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • While not outright stated to be the devil, Diabolos seems clearly inspired by the devil. If his name (devil in Greek) and the title "King of the Abyss" did not tip you off already, there's also a LIGHT version of him, indicating he did at one point fall from grace or possibly the opposite. The manga, on the other hand, has a much more straight example. See that section for more information.
    • The Evil HERO archetype has some elements of this. Lore-wise, they are Elemental HEROes who gave into darkness to obtain greater power, with the Japanese names of some of their members (as well as their attacks and effects in the anime) referencing Hell in some way. Taken to its logical conclusion with Dark Gaia, who is the most outright demonic-looking and has a background resembling a burning hellscape.

    Theatre 

    Toys 

    Visual Novels 
  • Manfred von Karma from Ace Attorney is a more subtle version, resembling Satan in the sense of his Book of Job depiction as an evil prosecutor in a court. Aside from being an evil prosecutor, he's also the manipulative Greater-Scope Villain of the original trilogy, causing pretty much everything bad that happened in those games either directly or indirectly. This is slightly less subtle in the Japanese version where his name Karuma (Kanji: ç‹© é­”) literally means "hunter demon". Oh, and he sounds like the devil too.
  • Danganronpa has Junko Enoshima. The ultimate antithesis of hope, she orchestrates events leading to The Tragedy, tossing the world into disarray and chaos. Junko is a wicked manipulator whose very presence drives people to madness and blind allegiance to her evil cause, such as her twin sister Mukuro and her Childhood Friend Matsuda. In the second game, it's shown she had an Apocalypse Cult dedicated to her in which they also voluntarily mutilated her corpse in bizarre rituals.
  • The Big Bad of Dies Irae, Reinhard, makes offers of immortality or the resurrection of the dead for those who swear themselves to his servitude. Those sworn under him are then made to enact all kinds of atrocities and mass slaughters in the name of his ritual for godhood. And while he does keep his end of the bargain, it's only in the loosest sense as the promised immortality means becoming one of his Einherjar, forever bound to his legion, while the resurrection of the dead means that those brought back will also be bound to his army. And if you happen to die while in his service, you will also become part of his legion. His title is Mephistopheles for a reason.
  • Dennis from Double Homework first offers the protagonist deals and free information that will supposedly help the two of them get "tons of sex," but he reneges on his promises, and eventually gets what he wants out of the protagonist using trickery, manipulation, and blackmail.

    Web Animation 
  • Dreamscape: The Master of the Dammed is an Evil Overlord of his own realm where souls are tortured for all eternity, commands demons, and is associated with fire.

    Webcomics 
  • The Tiger Barb from 95 Gallons is a Satan stand-in, working to corrupt the utopian fish tank by introducing currency, the concept of economics, the idea of people working for themselves rather than for the good of all, etc. He's also crafty, hiding his true evil intentions behind more blatant and short-lived acts of evil — the above are hidden behind the introduction of drugs, starting a feud between two families of gouramis over who has the nicest home, and tricking fish into worshipping an ultimately worthless game he fabricated, respectively.
  • Voltaire of El Goonish Shive fights against Immortal law because he believes he deserves to be a god. He prefers an "Angel of light" form, and shafted all three people we've seen him make deals with. While he merely manipulated Abner into working against his morals, he essentially mind-controlled Dex, and he tried to get Tara to murder someone, while giving her none of the aid he promised. Grace described him as "That weirdly white immortal who actually reminds me of Satan."
  • The Other from Girl Genius, to most of the people of Europa, is an unseen yet ultimate evil - much like the Devil himself. The more we learn about the Other's true nature over the comic, the more the parallels to Satan show up; they possess people as vessels, they make deals that have you more or less sell your soul, they are worshipped as a false deitynote , and (via time-travel) they may as well be the original evil. Oddly enough, her father's name was Lucifer and her sisters were named Demonica and Serpentina, meaning the Other (as Lucrezia Mongfish) has the least Satanic-sounding name in the family.
  • Doc Scratch from Homestuck. If the name wasn't enough of a clue. note  Doc Scratch is only a harbinger/servant to Lord English. Basically, Doc Scratch exhibits the Faux Affably Evil Man of Wealth and Taste portion of the archetype, and Lord English has the more hateful/destructive characteristics.
  • In Kill Six Billion Demons we have the literal King of Devils, referred to as Himself. Unlike all other devils, he possesses a coherent identity despite lacking a name or mask, which is implied to either be the result or cause of him possessing immense, reality-defying power. The ruling council of devils that serve under him are also responsible for keeping him eternally imprisoned within a chained iron coffin.
    • Incubus, although he's (probably) human, embodies the corruptor aspect of this archetype. His stock in trade is the Deal with the Devil, where he inflames the ambitions and skill of his 'clients' and drives them to excel no matter the cost and leading to their spirital ruination. He visits said clients in their dreams in the form of a beautiful Pretty Boy, and tempts them with power. In-universe he is known as the "Lord of the Pit" amongst many other titles, and he carries the word Flame of the seven names of God held by the Big Bad Ensemble.
      "Though the lord of the pit clads himself in finery and smiles, do not be bedeviled. He is a wretched, stinking king, and the minds of men are playthings to him."
    • Jagganoth, meanwhile, is another human claimant who embodies the straight-up demonic aspect of the archetype. A borderline Destroyer Deity, he is known as God's Monster, Lord of Rage, the God-Eater and the Red God (amongst others) and presents as a thirty-foot tall monster of a man with a demonic-looking helmet. Jagganoth's ultimate goal is to scour The Multiverse free of life, making him the ultimate adversary of both the protagonists and most of the antagonists. Fittingly, he has an alliance with Incubus where the former distracts their mutual enemies until Jagganoth can unleash his final war upon The Multiverse.
  • In Ob Mil Yandere Games, Hera is implied to be this. She was raised by a dark priest and his followers who practiced satanism and black magic. Soon she learns the magic to make herself godlike and wants nothing more but the demise of humanity..
  • The IFCC from The Order of the Stick are a group attempting to unify the demonic entities of different Evil alignments. They appear to make a Deal with the Devil with Vaarsuvius. While their ultimate goal is unclear, they seek to destroy the world.

    Web Original 
  • The SCP Foundation has the Scarlet King as its main Big Bad and Greater-Scope Villain. As shown by this short story, he was once a divine being who fell from grace when the unbearable pain he felt at his birth drove him to madness and caused him to consume his siblings, making him stronger. Cursing creation, he now seeks to destroy all of existence by annihilating the Tree of Knowledge. Described as a demonic being heavily associated with the color red, he watches over everything and therefore the definite antagonistic presence of the setting.
  • Undertale: The Narrator's Musical has the Anomaly of Genocide she is a mysterious supernatural Humanoid Abomination figure heavily associated with the color red. She is also a Greater-Scope Villain who plays the role of The Corrupter towards the other characters, influencing them towards her evil ideology, she is also an Omnicidal Maniac heavily associated with darkness and red light who lives in the Void, similar to stories in the Bible about demons living in the Outer Darkness.
  • Zalgo is the personification of evil and chaos who is often presented as this in Creepypasta.
  • Much like his main-line counterpart in Dungeons & Dragons, Asmodeus, aka The Lord Of The Hells, is presented as such in the universe of Critical Role. While all eight of the Betrayer Gods qualify, being once-good beings who fell and embraced evil, Asmodeus most fits the depiction, both physically (being a Big Red Devil) and in terms of his MO as the God of Lies who delights in leading mortals astray and damning their souls to his Pit. We get to see him up close and personal in the four-part Calamity prequel-campaign.


...Hey, would you like to make a deal? All the knowledge in the world, and all the time to peruse it.

Alternative Title(s): Satan Expy

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Aaravos - The Fallen Star

Zubeia tells her young friends of Aaravos, a once beloved Startouch Elf who sowed chaos throughout Xadia in secret by manipulating others.

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