History Main / TheDevilIsALoser

** In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' he dissolved the marriage of Spider-Man and Mary Jane. He once faked defeat against the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk 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.]]

* ''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.

* 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 KillThemAll 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.

* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Satan is a towering 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]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Satan may look scary, but he's not.
** 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.]]
** Amusingly, [[GodKartingWithBeelzebub God Himself called him out on this]]:
--->'''God:''' Jesus, what the hell happened to you?\\
'''Satan:''' Huh?!\\
'''God:''' You got kicked out of here for being a headstrong rebel. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech And now you're a whiny little bitch]].

* 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!
* 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.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "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.
-->'''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]]."
* ''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]].
%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's song "Let The Sun Shine In" (from the episode "No Biz Like Show Biz").
* ZigZagged 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.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "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.
* ''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.

** In another episode the Devil goes on ''The People's Court'' suing for a woman's soul. He loses.

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''.

For other non-threatening spirits that personify death, see DontFearTheReaper and DeathIsALoser.

Some stories portray 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 DaddyIssues (being the original rebel and all).

* 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.

* More a case of "The Devil is an idiot", but, in Matthew 4:8 there is a famous scene where he offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he will submit to him. The problem? If Jesus is God (or even the Son Of God) The ''entire universe'', of which Earth is only a minuscule part, already belongs to him. It's like if a con artist promised to give someone a penny they already owned as a bribe.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's [[TastesLikeDiabetes song "Let The Sun Shine In"]] (from the episode "No Biz Like Show Biz") is pretty much this.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'': For all his impressive theatrics and all the souls he's managing to funnel into Hell, 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.

* ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' 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]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "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, [[spoiler: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.]]

-->'''Mr. Needful, the Devil:''' "People like Rick are making me obsolete. I mean, seriously. I may be 'the devil', but your grandpa ''is'' the devil."

* ''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 Sean Cullen.

** Have some especially egregious example, where the devil in question is so stupid that he even flunked the course [[{{Incubus}} "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.

* 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.

* Satan from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' and ''Madou Monogatari'' 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.

* This is the premise of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' {{Mary Sue Hunter}}s story ''Fanfic/TheGameOfTheGods''. In it, [[GodOfEvil Morgoth]] attempts to derail the books by inserting various {{Mary Sue}}s 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]].

** The Boston-area folk-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".

** The Boston-area folk-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.

** The Boston-area folk-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 being every bit as humiliated as in the original.

* The song "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band 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.

** 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. Its' not clear at the end, but from the sounds of things, Johnny kicked the Devil's ass... again.

* "Bigger Than The Devil" (especially the cover art) by SOD clearly implies this.

* A rare instance where this is ''not'' played for laughs: in C. S. Lewis' ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'', 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.

* Creator/CSLewis 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation'': PlayedWith regarding Skeletor. InUniverse several people (The Sorceress, Tri-Klops, Mer-Man) bring up his raging ego and the sheer number of times he has failed to achieve his goals. However, the series shows to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain who is capable of cold blooded murder and surprisingly smart plans.