History ComicBook / Mephisto

* ActuallyADoombot: He's sometimes been impersonated by lesser demons who imitate his form. Such demons are defeated far more easily than the virtually invincible Mephisto.

* ChessWithDeath: He's willing to play games and engage in competitions for souls, with one of the more mundane instances of this being when he wagered a golden fiddle to an alien if the fellow could beat him in a musical duel (in a ShoutOut to Charlie Daniels). [[spoiler:Mephisto lost. ''[[https://abload.de/img/6w4lpn.jpg Badly]]''.]]

* CardboardPrison: ''Damnation'' ended with Mephisto losing dominion over his portion of Hell to Johnny Blaze before being magically sealed in his own Las Vegas tower. He's since reappeared, free and fully-powered, in titles like ''Ben Reilly: The ComicBook/ScarletSpider'', ''ComicBook/BestDefense'', ''[[ComicBook/Champions2016 Champions]]'' and ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}'' with no explanation whatsoever, though ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' (2019) mitigates this by having Mephisto state that, in his absence, some minor demons have been impersonating him to make deals because of the clout his name and reputation bring, suggesting that the occasions where he appeared to be free weren’t actually him.

* {{Adorkable}}: When he went on a date with Magma in Abnett's ''New Mutants'' run.

* VillainousCrush: On Magma of the ComicBook/NewMutants. Seeing Mephisto turn into an overcompensating [[{{Adorkable}} dork]] around her is... something.

* TheStarscream: During his short period as adviser to Thanos, he subtly takes advantage of his confusion and turmoil upon finding himself a Supreme Being (and still being rejected by his beloved) to manipulate him into a position where he might lose the Infinity Gauntlet. When he later on allied with Dormammu, he only did so so he could screw him over later, which he totally did.

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* CardboardPrison: ''Damnation'' ended with Mephisto losing dominion over his portion of Hell to Johnny Blaze before being magically sealed in his own Las Vegas tower. He's since reappeared, free and fully-powered, in titles like ''Ben Reilly: The ComicBook/ScarletSpider'', ''ComicBook/BestDefense'', ''[[ComicBook/Champions2016 Champions]]'' and ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}'' with no explanation whatsoever.
** ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' (2019) at least attempts to mitigate this by having Mephisto state that, in his absence, some more minor demons have been impersonating him to make deals because of the clout his name and reputation bring, suggesting that the occasions where he appeared to be free weren’t actually him.

* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: At the end of the ''"Damnation"'' series Doctor Strange manages to lock him away in a cell at the Hotel Inferno from which even he can't escape. The only setback seems to be the loss of his direct influence in Hell, as his Faustian activities aren't slowed down ''in the slightest''. He isn't kept from people visiting his cell directly as they negotiate deals, and he still has access to all his assets. He also somehow manages to sneak in and out, as he approaches Miles Morales and the Superior Spider-Man to bargain with them without Doctor Strange or Johnny Blaze being aware of it.

* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: At the end of the ''"Damnation"'' series Doctor Strange manages to lock him away in a cell at the Hotel Inferno from which even he can't escape. The only setback seems to be the loss of his direct influence in Hell, as his Faustian activities aren't slowed down ''in the slightest''. He isn't kept from people visiting his cell directly as they negotiate deals, and he still has access to all his assets. He also eventually manages to escape, as he approaches Miles Morales and the Superior Spider-Man to bargain with them.

--> ''"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste... No? Not even a smile? A chortle? Ooh, tough crowd."''

* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: At the end of the ''"Damnation"'' series Doctor Strange manages to lock him away in a cell at the Hotel Inferno from which even he can't escape. The only setback seems to be the loss of his direct influence in Hell, as his Faustian activities aren't slowed down ''in the slightest''. He isn't kept from people visiting his cell directly as they negotiate deals, and he still has access to all his assets.

Mephisto is responsible for a number of evil acts, including capturing and holding the soul of Cynthia Von Doom – the mother of ComicBook/DoctorDoom — until Doctor Strange and Doom free her to ascend to heaven. He was jealous of the worship of the fire demon Zarathos, so, posing as Satan, Mephisto creates the Ghost Rider by bonding Zarathos to Johnny Blaze -- though this has been subjected to numerous revisions and retcons. In one story where he battled Thor, he was shown to have various historical villains in his realm, such as Adolf Hitler, Blackbeard, and Attila the Hun. He has also created his 'son' Blackheart, a demonic entity that plagues many of Earth's heroes. And naturally, it's almost impossible to forget his actions in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Not as outright as some examples, but his plans often include screwing over his partner in some way. Just ask Loki. He is called the Lord of Lies for a reason, after all.

** Had the tables turned and this used against him by Thanos. He offered to help in one of the Mad Titan's quests in exchange for a Cosmic Cube. Once it was over, Thanos gave him a Cube and Mephisto immediately tried to use it to obliterate Thanos. Turns out that Cube's power had already been drained and it was useless. Thanos pointed out he never specified a functional Cosmic Cube and that even devils should be careful when making deals with the Mad Titan. Needless to say, Mephisto was not pleased.

* MultipleChoicePast: Writers can't seem to agree on exactly what he is or where he came from; since he's the Prince of Lies, this has been explained as Mephisto either not knowing himself and/or making stuff up to better confuse people. On one occasion Dormammu ''thought'' he was playing Mephisto like a fiddle, only for the exact opposite to be true, with Mephisto even calling Dormammu out on having the nerve to try and deceive him when he was the one who invented deception and manipulation.

* WorthyAdversary: In ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'' he seems to view Loki/Kid Loki as this, and it seems relatively mutual. Both are ''fully'' aware that their apparent cooperation and pseudo-friendship is entirely a façade... but a façade both make use of and appreciate the artistry in maintaining it.

* EvilVersusEvil: An ''X-Factor'' storyline has him and the other Hell Lords fighting one another over who gets to rule Hell. [[spoiler:None of them win in the end.]]

** Case in point, he once tricked the supposedly far greater Dormammu in fighting Galactus, resulting in the former getting eaten for his troubles. By comparison, the one time Galactus in Mephisto fought (again,in Mephisto's own realm), he stalemated Galactus instead.
* TheStarscream: During his short period as adviser to Thanos, he subtly takes advantage of his confusion and turmoil upon finding himself a Supreme Being (and still being rejected by his beloved) to manipulate him into a position where he might lose the Infinity Gauntlet.

* MultipleChoicePast: Writers can't seem to agree on exactly what he is or where he came from; since he's the Prince of Lies, this has been explained as Mephisto either not knowing himself and/or making stuff up to better confuse people.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He's one of the most evil, powerful demons in Marvel's cosmology. A good example of just how powerful the One Below All is? In "Defenders: The Best Defense", a future version of Doctor Strange asked Mephisto to take its "spiritual infection" out of [[ComicBook/ImmortalHulk the Hulk]], and he cuts the sorcerer off immediately after he asks to do so "if possible":

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He's one of the most evil, powerful demons in Marvel's cosmology. A good example of just how powerful the One Below All is? A future version of Doctor Strange asked Mephisto to take its taint out of the Hulk, and Mephisto immediately said "can't".

* CardboardPrison: ''Damnation'' ended with Mephisto losing dominion over his portion of Hell to Johnny Blaze before being magically sealed in his own Las Vegas tower. He's since reappeared, free and fully-powered, in titles like ''Ben Reilly: The ComicBook/ScarletSpider'', ComicBook/BestDefense'' and ''[[ComicBook/Champions2016 Champions]]'' with no explanation whatsoever.

* CardboardPrison: ''Damnation'' ended with Mephisto losing dominion over his portion of Hell to Johnny Blaze before being magically sealed in his own Las Vegas tower. He's since reappeared, free and fully-powered, in titles like ''Ben Reilly: The ComicBook/ScarletSpider, ComicBook/BestDefense'' and ''[[ComicBook/Champions2016 Champions]]'' with no explanation whatsoever.