The Demon King Who Lost His Job is a fantasy romance manhwa and web novel series written by Ye Wu and illustrated by Tang Li Shui. It takes place in a medieval Earth that is inhabited by fantasy creatures and magic, where the Church of the Goddess of Light is in constant struggle against the demons who ravage it.
Merlin Lucifer III, the fearsome Demon King of the 1st Palace and Ruler of Pride, who leads his demonic forces against the Church's army, is utterly victorious in the final battle between him and the forces led by the Bishop and Alice Claudia, the 223rd Hero of the church, raised and chosen to defeat him. Unfortunately, his victory is short-lived as he is soon fired by the council. Ending up on an island with Alice with little money to spare, he decides to help her find safe land, though she is having none of it. The two promptly go their separate ways and try to find some steady work now that they don't have their old occupations, only to find themselves utterly unable to find good work.
Eventually meeting up with Alice in a nearby village and saving the villagers from invading goblins, Merlin asks the Hero to help him become an adventurer like her, hoping it will make for good work, to which Alice (reluctantly) decides to lend her aid. Thus begins the journey of the jobless demon king and hero as they travel through the world, helping people and fighting monsters to earn a little coin. And perhaps, against their own judgement, grow a lot closer than a demon king and hero should...
Compare to The Devil is a Part-Timer! for a Japanese series with a similar premise, but mostly taking place in the modern era rather than the fantasy world.
Examples:
- Big Damn Heroes: One early showing of Merlin's good heart underneath his demon king status is when he jumps in to save Alice when the Goblin Emperor has her by the ropes, killing the Emperor easily.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Henri, the son of a local innkeeper, gets on Merlin's bad side when he asks Merlin to be taught some cool secret swordfighting techniques only to become disappointed when all Merlin has to offer is the basic quick draw. When Merlin gets employed at that same inn as a gigolo, it causes more than a little friction between them as Henri is determined to needlessly antagonize Merlin merely for that display.
- Dine and Dash: Merlin, in the first arc, becomes wanted for doing this, as he has no coin to spare after being fired from his job as a demon king.
- Mugging the Monster: In Chapter 7, a pair of bandits who turn out to be disguised goblins decide to go after Merlin Lucifer, who to them is merely a diner-and-dasher. He is actually the former demon king who quickly decapitates the senior and sends his lackey running.
- Shout-Out: In Chapter 26, Merlin is shown reduced to selling matches on the streets like The Little Match Girl.
- Starter Villain: The Goblin Emperor and his advisor Gargamel are the villains of the first major arc, wherein they assault a peaceful town and kidnap the women to make them Sex Slaves, including Henri's mother, thus driving Merlin and Alice to separately go and save them.
