Devils and Realist (Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist or "Hell Prince: Devils and Realist") is a comedy/fantasy Josei manga that was serialized in Monthly Comic Zero Sum magazine from 2009 to 2018. It is written by Madoka Takadono and illustrated by Utako Yukihiro and spans 15 volumes.
William Twining is a realist who lives a comfortable life with his uncle, Lord Barton, and his butler, Kevin, in Victorian Britain. Despite believing in the power of science over the power of God, William attends a prestigious and expensive school with the hope of eventually becoming a successful politician or lawyer. On returning home for the holidays, however, he is received by Kevin, who informs him that Uncle Barton's business endeavors have failed and that the Twining family is now essentially bankrupt. Desperate to find something of value to sell in order to pay off his overdue school fees, William searches the now-empty mansion and stumbles upon a Secret Underground Passage leading to a locked door. He breaks the door down, accidentally cutting his hand in the process. When blood from the wound drips onto a seal carved into the floor, the demon Dantalion, duke of the 36th army of hell, is inadvertently summoned. Dantalion declares that the demons' emperor Lucifer has taken to a long sleep and that the demon world needs a leader to rule in his place. He then reveals that William is a descendant of King Solomon... and the only one who can decide who will become the acting ruler.
William is then thrust into the world of demons and angels as candidates for the emperorship begin seeking him out, some to appeal for his vote and others to eliminate him altogether. Throughout all the otherworldly chaos, William continues to stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural and attempts to carry on his school life as normally as before despite the mounting danger rising around him. Throw in some scheming angels who want Solomon's soul for themselves and a full-scale war between heaven and hell, and William's life goes from strange to downright perilous.
An anime adaptation aired during the summer of 2013 and a visual novel was also released
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Now has a Character Page in much need of love.
Devils and Realist contains examples of:
- A Boy and His X: Solomon and the 72 demons he kept summoning and binding. They all shared a bond, be it fascination or affection strong enought to carry on even through Reincarnation.
- Agent Peacock: Gilles de Rais whom Isaac's Undercover section depicts as somewhat vain. Also possibly Raphael.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Astaroth, who was Pharaoh Hatshepsut as a human. She also has dark skin.
- Almighty Janitor: Kevin, the house steward is later revealed to be the Archangel Uriel
- Always Someone Better: Nathan Caxton (Camio) is this to William.
- Anime Catholicism: Notably, this is mostly averted with the fantasy elements of the series, which draw more from Christian demonology than Eastern misconceptions of Catholicism (not in the least because the Church the characters need to deal with is the Church of England). Still, there are many instances of...
- Artistic License – Religion: The author takes a good many liberties with respect to biblical figures and interpretations.
- Art Evolution: Compare Dantalion in early chapters◊ to later chapters◊.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The case in Hell. You can increase your own rank if you defeat and kill higher-up demons. Also revealed to be the case in Heaven, which is under Michael's rule because he is the strongest (Michael himself remarked that this is the beauty of how the world works).
- Aura Vision: Everyone reasonably powerful in Heaven and Hell are able to sense other characters' auras, though it seems like it's possible to hide or disguise auras as well.
- Ax-Crazy:
- Gilles de Rais, who is like this nearly all the time.
- Michael becomes like this when/if anything involves Lucifer.
- Badass Adorable:
- Sytry, who is absolutely beautiful.
- Lamia, who can kick ass despite coming to your waist.
- Metatron, when he turns into a human.
- Badass Bookworm:
- Solomon. He would've been perfectly content to stay inside and read for the rest of his life, but they had to go after him...
- William, after studying magic.
- Bad Boss: Michael to Uriel.
- Balance Between Good and Evil: Heaven and Hell seem to be constantly fighting against each other.
- Barrier Warrior: Uriel, in the beginning. It's later revealed, when he confesses what he truly is to William that this is far from all he can do, especially since he's the only angel ballsy enough to break into Hell and rain down destruction... twice
- Bat Out of Hell: Two of Dantalion's servants, Amon and Mamon, tend to take the form of two small bats.
- Be Careful What You Wish For because you'll likely regret it. As William found out when he went in his basement to look for anything valuable to pay his tuition with... and landed in Hell.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: At least partly why Dantalion was more or less nice to Solomon and William as a result. The rest of the Pillars as well.
- Berserk Button:
- Insulting Joan of Arc in front of Gilles de Rais has the effect of detonating TNT.
- Calling Dantalion a traitor that betrayed his tribe, and mentioning his life as a human has the same effect.
- Calling Sytry a puppet is likely to result in getting oneself ripped limb from limb.
- Mention Lucifer in front of Michael if, and only if, you wish to die a horrible death.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Everyone who's nice at first probably has something to hide. The others just don't care.
- Big Fancy House: William's, who is a high ranking noble.
- Dantalion's, who is also a high ranking Duke of Hell.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Michael, who only seems innocent and adorable. Metatron, who took the guise of a human to get close to William.
- The B Grade: William gets upset when he gets an A-, justified since he's trying to be the top student.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Isaac, who's eyebrows should be immortalised.
- Big Sleep: How demons and most likely angels usually end up dying. (As in, if they don't get any Sleep (or Rest, which happens in intervals of several centuries and lasts up to a hundred years - it is how they manage to live so long) and become weak, when they do enter their "hibernation/Sleep/Rest" phase, they risk gradually fading away.)
- Blood from the Mouth: Uriel after being beaten by Michael.
- Anyone is susceptible to this when hit in the chest during a fight.
- Possibly Solomon when Uriel was punishing him for not destroying demons.
- Blue Bishounen Ghetto: Everyone of the male persuasion (save, possibly, Isaac).
- Bluff the Imposter: William does this to Uriel after finding out that the real Kevin went his separate way after William's parents died.
- Boarding School: William attends one - and, by extension, the rest of the cast does too.
- Brainwashed: Anyone who becomes a "Pawn of Heaven" by receaving Heaven's Exhultation/Ecstasy and ascending.
- Break the Cutie: Sytry (and by Baslberith's own "apprentices", who are on Sytry's side).
- Broken Angel: Sytry and Uriel. Sytry's a Fallen Angel, who didn't Fall on his own, and Uriel has only one wing left.
- Butt-Monkey: Uriel is one to Michael.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Angelic Beauty...Demonic Beauty...William Twining...
- Catboy: Amon and Mamon's human forms.
- Celestial Paragons and Archangels: Most of the usual suspects, but those who get main roles are
- Archangel Uriel: Although he's not an archangel anymore, he's a major character. Edging closer and closer to Fallen Angel state, with only one wing remaining. He even accepted the fact that The Round Table will make him Fall, before busting into Hell to retrieve William
- Archangel Michael: Also a major character and villain, Lucifer's younger brother.
- Metatron
- Zachariel, Azrael, Raziel, Raphael and Gabriel have recently been introduced, in one way or another.
- Celibate Hero: William.
- Church Militant: The entirety of Heaven and the Angels. thousands of years ago they fought the various "pagan" Gods (which subsequently either dissapeared or went to Hell... Camio calls Zeus a dead God, but Baalberith, called Baal Zebub and once mightiest of Gods, is and example for going to Hell) and now they fight Hell
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Lamia, Dantalion's "fiancee".
- Clip His Wings: Michael to Uriel in the past.
- Demons usually target and rip off the wings of angels in battles. Dantalion and Gilgamesh have been shown doing this.
- It's hinted that Baalberith did this to Sytry.
- Condescending Compassion: A lot of the "good" angels' feelings toward sinners and demons.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Michael and Gilles, for their respective abuse recipients.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Kevin in the beginning. Isaac with learning magic.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Kevin has black hair and black eyes. Or dark purple hair and dark purple eyes depending on which colored image you're looking at.
- Isaac has red hair and red eyes.
- Sytry has bluish tinted hair and blue eyes
- Dark Horse Victory: Camio wins the cultural festival contest after William takes over Sytry's, Dantalion's, and Isaac's businesses.
- In the manga it's Sytry that wins, but (very surprisingly) William takes second place.
- Dark Is Not Evil: At least not universally. It's lapmshaded by quite a few characters.
- Demon Lords And Arch Devils: Unsurprisingly, given the story.
- Depraved Bisexual: Possibly Gilles.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Sytry. He's always cross-dressing and has proven to be quite popular at their all-boys school.
- William has dressed as a girl in order to catch Jack the Ripper.
- Elemental Powers: most higher-level angels and demons have themed powers.
- Fan Service With A Smile: The maid (Sytry) and butler (Dantalion) cafe in the cultural fair episode.
- In the manga, there are only maids (Sytry, Gilles and Camio) and William has Dantalion doing another job because he doesn't want to
- Fantastic Racism: Many high-ranking angels and "pureblood" demons (technically fallen angels, and "Fallen" Gods) hold humans in contempt, and this extends to angels/demons who used to be human.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Despite numerous instances of the inexplicable happening around him and his two demon schoolmates following him around, it takes William a very long time to admit that demons exist.He then proceedes to try to study and categories it via the Scientific method
- Foot Focus: Michael really likes stepping on and kicking Uriel.
- Gecko Ending: The (first season of the?) anime ended with Lucifer, Sytry, and Cameo remaining in Hell after Lucifer woke up, and everyone except William and possibly Kevin seemingly forgetting about them. This takes place around the time chapter 29, though, aside from Lucifer awakening, none of these happen in the manga.
- Generation Xerox: William of Solomon.
- The Ghost: Lucifer, he awakens but is never shown. His feathers are though... in the anime.
- In the manga, he's partially shown during that scene and his appearances steadily increase.
- Glory Hound: William.
- A God Am I: Michael takes "One who is like God" way too literally.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: From Victorian England, of course.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: It's difficult to tell who's in the right, Heaven or Hell. It's even been speculated in the Manga that Right and Wrong, and by extension Good and Evil, don't exist
- Guardian Angel: Uriel for William, though it's a bit complicated.
- Guile Hero: William.
- Guilt Complex: William blamed himself for his parents' deaths because he's the one who wanted to go out.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Camio had a human mother and is rumored to be the son of Satan.
- Heaven Versus Hell: The larger overall plot is the struggle between Heaven and Hell. And the power struggles in Heaven and Hell respectivelly.
- Hermetic Magic: Most of the magic used in this series, especially by humans, is hermetic magic. Count Glenstrae also teaches William and Isaac a variation of it.
- Hobbes Was Right: Michael's view of the world.
- Hollywood Atheist: William, though he's eventually forced to retract his opinion on the existence of the supernatural when he's drawn right into its midst.
- Holy Backlight: Kevin gets one when his true identity is revealed.
- Holy Hand Grenade: Done by Ureil, several times.
- Horned Humanoid: Several characters have horns, including Lamia, Beelzebub, Empusa, Leonard, the Second Astaroth, and Samael.
- Horrible Judge of Character: God, it seems. Why the hell he picked such psychopathic angels for authority is a mystery.
- Humans Are Flawed: A major theme of the series. It's not only humans tho.
- I Have No Son!: Solomon's father David refuses to acknowledge him as his son, calling his existance a sin (he was an illegitimate child) accusing him of heresy and being evil, also saying he should have not been born into the world. In retaliation, Solomon locks him up and doesn't let him go until he agrees to take back what he said, but the father doesn't.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: Baphomet's and Leonard's cooking in the competition in episode 10.
- Impoverished Patrician: William.
- Instant Fan Club: Sytry's has over 200 members.
- It's All About Me: Gilles and Michael.
- Jack the Ripper: Is actually the demon Lamashtu
- Jerkass: Michael. Baalberith.
- Karma Houdini: Gilles, considering the appalling things he did while alive.
- Keet: Isaac.
- Kid with the Leash: William with the 72 pillars (read: demons) of Solomon. He seems to be able to control and limit their powers.
- Klingon Promotion: In the demon world, you can raise your rank by killing a demon with a higher position.
- Knight Templar: The angels who believe that they're working for the greater good, in a nutshell.
- Lady of War:
- While she hasn't been shown in combat yet, with her military inspired outfits and giant warship, Astaroth certainly gives off this impression.
- Gabriel, confirmed in manga to be female, is said to be "the True General of Heaven's Armies".
- Legacy of Service: The Cecil family for the Twinings.
- The Legions of Hell: All of the high-ranking demons are introduced with their noble titles and the number of armies they order.
- Light Is Not Good: Milking every drop of it with Heaven, angels, and the Anglican Church.
- Magical Girl: Joan of Arc, bizarrely. In life she broke traditions and donned armor disguised as a man to save France. In sainthood she wears short skirts and frills and calls her attacks "Virgin Power."
- Mama Bear: Astaroth.
- Manipulative Bastard: Michael, Baalberith and Metatron.
- Master of Disguise: Pretty much every angel and demon ever. It's ridiculously easy for them to assume the corporal forms of humans and just impersonate them.
- Memento MacGuffin: Solomon's ring is a family heirloom and one of the few things William has left from his family. When he puts it on, he takes on Solomon's personality.
- Mr. Exposition: Isaac, because of his deep knowledge of everything supernatural.
- Mundane Utility: Solomon made a pact with Dantalion, an incredibly powerful demon, to serve him. He made Dantalion clean up his tower and bring him food. In general, he summoned demons mainly just to have someone to be friends with.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Uriel's general relationship with his boss, Michael, though this is more due Michael threatening to harm him and William if he doesn't comply. He was the one who tore off his other wing, after all. Crosses into My Country, Right or Wrong with regards to Heaven. It has been shown that Uriel's attitude has been changing over the years, though, as a flashback shows that he was more of a Knight Templar during Solomon's time. When he is ordered to bring William to heaven, he struggles with the decision greatly, since he cares about William and basically has to decide whether to let William get brainwashed or let him get killed.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Gilles seems to work by this in a strange and extreme way. He was extremely devastated when Joan was betrayed, captured, tortured, and killed, and afterwards avoided making any more personal relationships.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Isaac is fascinated by the occult. He's thrilled to meet the many legendary demons and angels that follow in William's wake. He is afraid of ghosts, though.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Sytry and Dantalion have this dynamic as candidates for king.
- Non-Action Guy: William, for the most part.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Michael, though he seems to abhore humans touching him. Sytry and Dantalion in regards to William. Metatron to Michael, Raguel, and Sytry.
- Not What It Looks Like: When William is put on trial for cheating. When Lamia sees Dantalion and William almost kissing, but in reality William was feeling faint and Dantailon cought him.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: It seems like Uriel puts on the gambling act and plays up his silly attitude to William to ward off suspicion and, at the same time, to relieve William's worries.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Chapter 32 has William tell Kevin that he's a kind and dependable person.
- One-Man Army: Any sufficiently high-ranking being. Some moreso than others.
- Michael is said to have power to obliterate entire armies (plural) when at full strength.
- Gilgamesh turned the tides against Heaven when Lucifer firs rebelled against them. Dantalion remarks that Hell would belong to him is he so wanted.
- Despite not Sleeping properly for a thousand years, Lucifer has enough power to make Camio (who terrifies other demons) tremble.
- Solomon can safely be categorised as a Person of Mass Destruction, when he has his Ring and unleashes his power.
- Uriel broke into Hell on his lonesome, twice, and fired off such a powerful attack that Dantalion, Sytry and Camio had to put up a shiel together to protect themselves.
- Only Sane Man: William feels this way when faced with legions of demons, angels, and everything in-between. Considering how much he rejects the reality he's presented with though, one wonders if he's really that sane either.
- Only Six Faces: The art style is really pretty, but it doesn't differentiate between faces very much.
- The manga has a broader range.
- Our Angels Are Different: And noticeably more Knight Templar-ish.
- Our Demons Are Different: The demons shown are either Fallen Angels, "Fallen Gods", Nephilim, or Half-Human Hybrids. They are also not immortal. As the elector, William is supposed to choose someone to be Lucifer's successor when he dies. Some demons have animal heads with humanoid bodies.
- Parental Substitute: William mentions Kevin acting like a mother to him after both his parents died.
- Perpetual Molt: Lucifer and the angels.
- Phenotype Stereotype: William has blond hair and green eyes, which has somehow become the go-to color scheme for British people, despite it being quite rare in reality.
- Power of Trust: One of the things that kept the demons loyal to Solomon back in the day.
- Precocious Crush: Lamia has one on Dantalion. Not the typical example since she's a lot older than she looks, though he's still a lot older than her.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Even if he's fully dressed otherwise, Michael usually goes barefoot.
- Protective Charm: Uriel's cross and seals.
- The Ring of Wisdom cannot be touched by demons.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: The higher order angels and demons who look down on humans and supernatural beings that used to be human.
- Puny Earthlings: Virtually every other sentient being in the story looks down on humanity.
- Really 700 Years Old: Every demon and angel.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Dantalion has red eyes, but the trope is more in effect in case of Michael.
- Refusal of the Call: William wants nothing to do with the supernatural. He refuses to acknowledge his role as Elector, preferring to live a normal school life.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Unfortunately for William, the demons aren't willing to leave him alone. Dantalion and Sytry enroll at William`s school as students, allowing them to keep an eye on the Elector without being too suspicious.
- Reincarnation: William is the reincarnation of his distant ancestor Solomon, which apparently means he should have inherited Solomon's memories (but he didn't... at first).
- According to Uriel, all humans are reincarnated over and over and each life story is recorded in their "books".
- Religion is Magic: Yes, yes it is.
- The Reveal: Several, mostly to do with characters' true identities as mythical beings.
- Riches to Rags: The Twining family after Lord Barton's business fails.
- Running Gag:
- Kevin's gambling problem.
- Sytry and sweets.
- Dantalion and meatheads.
- Demons and angels appearing out of nowhere.
- William's refusal to accept reality/the supernatural... in the beginning.
- Gilles de Rais appearing from between someone's legs.
- Sadist: Michael. He delights in torturing
Uriel and fighting the demons just because he can.- Uriel/Kevin has later been revealed to have Sadistic tendencies, and is refered by various people in the cast to be "the Sadistic Angel", a sadist
- Sadistic Choice: Michael is fond of offering these to Uriel and William.
- Science Hero: William tries, but alas, Wrong Genre Savvy.
- Secret Identity: Kevin is in fact Uriel, who has been impersonating the real Kevin since the death of William's parents.
- Double Consciousness and Becoming the Mask: Uriel genuinely loves William, and would rather not harm him. Metatron implies that William is more important to him than Michael, and that all he really wants is to remain William's butler.
- Sean, William's "fag", is really the archangel Metatron.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: William.
- Spell My Name With An S: "Sitri" and "Sytry" appear in different sources and translations, and the anime's website manages to spell his name as "Sitori."
- Spoiler Opening: To a great extent. The opening and ending themes pretty much spoil every reveal in the show.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Everyone, much to William's irritation.
- Stepford Smiler: Uriel when playing Kevin.
- Stoic Spectacles: Camio, when in his guise as Nathan Caxton.
- Story-Breaker Power: Solomon's ring. It's so powerful that it puts both Heaven and Hell on edge. As well as Solomon himself.
- Stripperiffic: Astaroth. Empusa.
- Dantalion, Sytry and Camio to William.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Camio and Astaroth both have them.
- Sweet Tooth: Sytry has taken to human-made sweets very fast, and he's often seen munching on biscuits or candy. Metatron also seems to have a thing for them. Becomes a plot point in episode 10 when his cook Leonard loses the cooking competition against Baphomet because Sytry voted for the desserts.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Dantalion. Kevin/Uriel
- Technicolor Eyes: A majority of the cast, even some humans who have no excuse.
- Theme Music Power-Up/Title Theme Drop: The climax of episode 12.
- Transformation Sequence: Sytry gets one in the anime complete with gratuitous sparkles and flashes of light all on a rainbow backdrop.
- Trickster Archetype: Gilles.
- Tsundere: Dantalion with Solomon.
- William becomes this more and more as the story progresses, toward most his friends but particularly toward Dantalion.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The non-humans at the school are all rather strange-looking and strange-acting, but no one ever gives them more than an appreciative glance...
- Upper-Class Twit: William, to a certain extent. He's certainly proud of his family and ancestry, but at the same time wants to be acknowledged for personal merits like intelligence even more.
- Victorian London
- Virgin Power: Joan of Arc.
- Was Once a Man: Nephilim were once humans that made a Deal with the Devil and lost their souls. Same with the Virtues who used to be human before Heaven took them in.
- We Are as Mayflies: Humans.
- Weirdness Magnet: William, naturally.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Some angels and demons, from their own points of view.
- The Wise Prince: Solomon.
- Written by the Winners: According to the demons, it was actually Michael who betrayed Lucifer and cast him down to Hell.
- Yandere: Gilles and Michael.
