A play written by Clive Barker, detailing the trial of Lucifer. The audience attends as would-be jurors and are transported back in time via vignettes of testimony that illustrate the Devil’s actions throughout history. Notable appearances in the court and during flashbacks include Dante, Jesus Christ and Lilith. The prosecution argues that the Devil’s presence on Earth has had a disastrous effect on mankind, whereas the defense counters that the Devil is – and always has been – man’s greatest scapegoat. The Devil demands that he be found innocent and be released to return to Heaven.
This work provides examples of:
- Badass Normal: Daniel Mendoza. Even Lucifer is impressed.
- Batman Gambit: Pulled off by Catherine in her final statement.
- The Corrupter: Guess who.
- Dead Person Conversation: How each of the "witnesses" testify. They did live centuries apart.
- Devil, but No God
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even the devil is not an Omnicidal Maniac.
- Fallen Angel: One of the flashbacks covers the fall.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Lucifer with pretty much anyone he befriends.
- Faux Affably Evil: Lucifer
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The Heaven-bound messengers, upon discovering that Heaven is empty.
- Hero Antagonist: Catherine, the prosecuter
- Jesus Was Way Cool: Averted, in one of the least flattering depictions in literature.
- Literal Ass-Kissing: Lucifer asks several characters to do this for him, but politely.
- The Lost Lenore: Lucifer's witch lover.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Lucifer wins the trial and goes back to heaven, on the caveat that he can never return to Earth. It turns out that Heaven has been abandoned.
- Questionable Consent: Lucifer and Pia
- Villainy Discretion Shot: Well, you can't fit in everything the devil has done into a single play.
- You Are Worth Hell: Or Heaven, as the case may be.