Faust is the central character of the archetypal story of a Deal with the Devil. Though there were earlier stories of individuals bargaining with demons for magical power (such as Simon Magus, Cyprian, and Theophilus, and others going back as far as ancient Sumer), it is the legend of an early 16th century German scholar that has been the most frequent and profoundest inspiration for works of art on this theme.
The original seems to have been a John or George Sabellicus, born near the end of the 15th century, a ne'er-do-well con-man who passed himself off as a scholar and conjuror. There is some confusion as to whether Faust was his real surname or a pseudonym, and as to whether it was derived from Latin faustus ("lucky") or the German faust ("fist"); he seems originally to have been described not as a doctor, but a master of arts; there is even some doubt as to his given names (Goethe calls him neither Johannes or Georg, but Heinrich) or whether there might not have been more than one Faustus. Be all that as it may, he seems to have made a living by various snake-oil type schemes (one was for a depilatory that took off not only the client's beard, but "the skin and most of the flesh as well"), until he came to a bad end — his body is said to have been found mutilated, sometime around the year 1540. Various magical manuals ascribed to Faust circulated the first quarter of the 16th century, at least one of which contains the name of a demon, "Mephostophiles" [sic].
The legend that he had sold his soul for magical powers, and had been torn to pieces by devils upon the expiration of the contract, seems to have sprung up immediately, spread by Lutheran preachers who used him as an Awful Example. The first surviving fictional account of his adventures was a chapbook that appeared in 1587, Historia von D. Johan. Fausten dem weitbeschreyten Zauberer und Schwartzkünstler ("History of Dr. Jno. Faust, the far-famed Wizard and Sorcerer").
In this or similar form the legend spread to England, where Christopher Marlowe would embody it in The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (first published 1604, probably written c. 1590). Marlowe suggests a more complicated figure than the mere seeker after wealth and pleasure presented in earlier versions; his play establishes Faustus as a great scholar, one who longs for Knowledge as well as Power, who turns to sorcery after he has already reached the limits of human science and philosophy. His Faustus vacillates more between God and the Devil than the simple character of the chapbook (his Good and Evil Angels appearing bodily, though presumably not in miniature form a few inches above his shoulders, given the conditions of the Elizabethan stage); given several opportunities to repent, he nevertheless proves obdurate, and is duly hauled off to Hell, leaving the Chorus to point out the Aesop that there are Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the story proved popular in Germany in the form of chapbooks and puppet plays, often incorporating a great deal of humor and spectacular effects. Certain episodes became standard: Faust summoning up Mephistopheles; Faust disputing with him on the nature of God and the universe; Mephistopheles mocking Faust's scholar-servant, Wagner; Faust gaining the love of Helen of Troy; Faust appearing at the court of the Emperor; Faust or Mephistopheles in invisible form playing pranks on The Pope; Faust being given the chance to repent and refusing; and, finally and inevitably, Faust being dragged off to Hell by devils on the expiration of his contract. A subsidiary episode, in which Faust demands marriage with a virtuous peasant girl and is refused by Mephistopheles on the grounds that marriage, being a sacrament and thus pleasing to God, is against the terms of the contract, would form the basis for the story of Margaret (Margarethe, Gretchen, Marguerite) in subsequent versions of the story.
The greatest embodiment of the story is probably Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust: Eine Tragödie (begun c. 1770). Published in two parts: the first (1808) tells the story of Faust's pact with Mephistopheles and his affair with the hapless Gretchen; the second (1832) recounts his union with Helen of Troy and the birth of Euphorion, the Spirit of Poetry, from this mating of northern Romanticism and Greek classicism. Despite the work's title, Goethe would seem to have been the first to have given the Faust story itself a happy ending (though earlier Deal with the Devil stories had sometimes featured Christ, the Virgin Mary, or some saint, tricking the devil out of his prey, often in an elaborate trial scene featuring a number of quite far-fetched legalistic quibbles) — Faust is redeemed from Hell because he uses his magical power to serve his fellow men, rather than exploit them. Goethe also popularized the image of Mephistopheles as a Deadpan Snarker in red silk doublet and hose (leading to the modern "devil in tights" image); his devil is less an elemental spirit of pure Evil than a sort of universal cynic.
Most subsequent versions of the Faust story either base themselves on one of these two dramas or react against them. The character has been depicted by artists such as Rembrandt and Delacroix; and by composers such as Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Charles Gounod, Arrigo Boïto and Richard Wagner. Faust has also appeared in cinematic versions, such as Murnau's Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage (1926), Jan Švankmajer's Faust (1994), and Alexander Sokurov's note Faust (2011); while Goethe's version of the story inspired a musical adaptation in two linked albums from metal band Kamelot, Epica (2003) and The Black Halo (2005).
Not to be confused with animator Lauren Faust, a certain baldheaded ex-homicidal doctor, or the German experimental band.
Tropes associated with the Faust story in its various versions:
- All Women Are Lustful: Almost all the women lust after Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust, especially if they're witches. The attraction, however, is not mutual. In Marlowe's version, the only female presences are the spirit of Lust, Helen of Troy (who is presented as a succubus), and the pregnant Duchess.
- Alternate Continuity: Different authors have different takes on this story, including several that show Faust actually outsmarting the devil with whom he makes a pact.
- An Aesop: Be Careful What You Wish For.
- Anti-Hero: More or less, depending on how sympathetic the author is with Faust's dissatisfaction with the moral set-up of his world.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Depending on the author, can be the reason Faust makes his bargain — or the reason he regrets it.
- Corrupt Church: The church in Goethe's Faust. Faust and Mephistopheles try to seduce Gretchen together by giving her jewelry. She may like it, but her mother suspects it to be from a devil. So she calls her priest, who tells her that there is only one way to cleanse the house: donating the jewelry to the church, what is finally done.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: In many versions, Faust starts out with good intentions, which he gradually pays less and less attention to as he goes along — even, in some versions, to the point of complete dehumanization.
- Deal with the Devil: The core of the story's primary version is that Faust makes a bargain with the demon Mephistopheles where the latter will provide Faust will all the knowledge and pleasures of the cosmos but, if Faust should ever experience a moment of contentedness so profound that he'll wish to stay there forever, his soul will be forfeit and belong to Mephistopheles.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: While many, if not most, versions of the legend end with Faust's demise, the method in which he goes often differs. Originally, Faust is allowed until he finds a moment of satisfaction. Eventually, that moment comes and he dies on the spot. Others simply end with Faust being taken to Hell by the demons he trafficked with. The 1994 movie ends with Faust being struck by a car.
- Dragged Off to Hell: The standard finale until Goethe came along was that Faust experiences transcendent pleasure at some point or another and, as per the terms of the contrast, his soul becomes property of Mephistopheles and is duly taken away to eternal damnation.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Despite being the story of a man who makes a Deal with the Devil, being referred to as a tragedy, and being based on a story with a Downer Ending, Goethe's Faust is ultimately saved; the ending explicitly states that he earned his happy ending through his endless striving in his search for philosophical truth.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Faust's bargain generally involves a great deal of trouble, even if he eventually manages to wriggle out of it. In some adaptations, Faust is part of a wager between God and the Devil in which Faust's fate will determine the fate of countless others.
- Evil Sounds Deep: In musical adaptations, expect Mephistopheles to be a bass or baritone — who at some point will most likely burst into a HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!
- Faustian Rebellion: The trope namer. Faust trades his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and magic powers but later attempts to repent for his sins; in earlier versions he fails, though in Goethe's version he succeeds.
- Flaming Devil: Mephistopheles is commonly characterized as latently or overtly homosexual in stage productions. Both Marlowe's and Goethe's versions of the story support these interpretations.
- For the Evulz: In the stage play "Faust: A Love Story", the devil's true goal isn't to actually capture Faust's soul, but to make him absolutely miserable for the sheer fun of it. Fortunately, Faust turns to God for forgiveness, implying that he'll be alright in the end. The play itself is extremely trippy and may have actually been Faust's fantasy.
- A God Am I: In some versions, Faust actually aspires to divinity.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Some versions have good angels appear to debate with the demons.
- Gratuitous Latin: Various versions use Latin for Faust's spells.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Gretchen is a very nice, helpful, pious and selfless blonde girl who is first seen going to her confessional although not having any sins to confess.
- Historical Domain Character: Besides Faust himself, the Emperor, usually Charles V, and The Pope, though he is rarely specified (Alexander VI and Julius II are possibilities).
- In with the In Crowd: As a result of his bargain, Faust gets to hang with the Emperor and the Pope, not to mention Helen of Troy and Satan.
- Kid with the Leash: Devils are at Faust's beck and call... for a while.
- Loophole Abuse: In the Comic-Book Adaptation of Pinky and the Brain, Brain's version of Faust makes a Deal with the Devil to obtain the ultimate knowledge and isn't worried because there's no contract without a loophole out of it. When Mephistopheles shows up to collect, Faust couldn't find a loophole and says that means Mephistepheles failed to give him the ultimate knowledge the deal requires him to. Mephistopheles lets Faust keep his soul but rewinds time back to when the deal was made so the accomplishments made with help from the deal never happened and erases everything about the deal from Faust's memory.
- Mephistopheles: The trope's maker. The demon Mephistopheles appears to Dr. Faustus, an academic bored and frustrated with life, and offers him infinite knowledge and all the pleasures of the flesh in exchange for Faustus' soul when his life is over. In most versions of the story, Mephistopheles stays by Faustus' side all this time, acting as a confidant and chaperone, until time comes to collect.
- Mundane Utility: The all-powerful magician uses his magic to do things like draw wine from a table and play pranks on detractors.
- Offing the Offspring: Gretchen drowns the illegitimate child she had with Faust.
- Popcultural Osmosis: C'mon, how many versions of the Faustian Bargain have you seen actually featuring a guy named Faust?
- Rage Against the Heavens: In some versions, Faust is driven to his course by his sense of God's cruelty and injustice to mankind.
- Satan: He and various associate devils will often show up to support Mephistopheles.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The original version of the legend is very dark, with not only Faust being damned, but several others being corrupted or killed due to his actions. Some later adaptations end with God forgiving Faust and saving him.
- Summoning Ritual: Nearly every version will feature the scene in which Faust summons Mephistopheles — and sometimes various other summoning scenes as well.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Mephistopheles, in several versions of the story, seems much more sympathetic — and certainly more intelligent — than the relatively blind and completely self-centered Faust. Being a demon, though, it could be his image...
- Villains Never Lie: In Marlowe's version, Mephistopheles actually tries to talk Faust out of the deal, pointing out that the fact that he, Mephistopheles, a demon, really exists, suggests that God also really exists, and that Faust would, by implication, be making a horrible mistake. Faust replies that that does not logically follow, since just because one part of a story turns out to be true, it does not necessarily follow that the whole story is true. Mephistopheles concedes the point.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The essential story of Faust, in particular the Marlowe and Goethe versions, has been lifted for dozens, if not hundreds, of works over the centuries. Modern examples include Eric (which even has a crossed-out "Faust" on the cover), Spawn, Preacher, Black Butler and Puella Magi Madoka Magica (though the last isn't obvious at first). Even done in an important episode of Gravity Falls, a Disney XD cartoon of all things, and quite intentionally too. Also seen in the Blue Exorcist anime- notice the name Mephistopheles.
