Devil in popular culture

The devil appears frequently as a character in works of literature and popular culture. In Christianity, the figure of the devil, or Satan, personifies evil.[1]

Entertainment

Music

A man dressed as the devil at New York City's West Indian Day Parade.

Classical Music

The musical interval of an augmented fourth, or tritone, was called the Devil's Chord (Latin: Diabolus in musica – the Devil in music) and was banned by the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.[2] Composers avoided the interval, and although it is sometimes found in secular music of the time, it was used in religious music only in very specific circumstances until the existing system of keys came into use.

The Devil is featured as a character in many musical representations from the Middle Ages to modern times. Hildegard of Bingen's 11th-century Ordo Virtutum features him, as do several baroque oratorios by composers such as Carissimi and Alessandro Scarlatti. During the 19th century, Gounod's Faust, in which the Devil goes by the name Mephistopheles, was a staple of opera houses around the world.

Highly virtuosic violin music was sometimes associated with the Devil. Tartini's Devil's Trill sonata and Paganini's Devil's Laughter caprice are examples. The theme is taken up by Stravinsky in the "Devil's Dance" from The Soldier's Tale.

"Archangel of Light" (another name for Lucifer) is a title song of the classical music band with the same name, by the composer Carlos David López Grether

Popular music

Film and television

When Satan is depicted in movies and television, he is often represented as a red-skinned man with horns or pointed ears on his head, hooves or bird-legs, a forked tail (or one with a stinger), and a pitchfork. When trying to blend in or deceive somebody, he is often represented as an ordinary human being, and sometimes only his voice is heard.

Film

Satan as a personification of evil provides many narrative opportunities. Struggles with Satan have been used to symbolize human weaknesses and temptations, as in the films Bedazzled (1967, remade 2000) and Oh, God! You Devil (1984). In horror and suspense films, Satan provides for a virtually all-powerful foe.

Film Year Actor Character Description Ref.
The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941 Walter Huston Mr. Scratch In which poor downtrodden farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) sells his soul to "Mr. Scratch" in return for seven years of luck and prosperity. [7]
The Devil with Hitler 1942 Alan Mowbray Devil A comedy short propaganda film in which the Devil tries to save his job by making Hitler perform a good deed. [8]
Inflation 1942 Edward Arnold Devil A wartime MGM short in which the Devil makes mischief with the U.S. economy.
Angel on My Shoulder 1946 Claude Rains Devil In which the Devil uses a person's desire for revenge to his own ends. [9]
The Story of Mankind 1957 Vincent Price Mr. Scratch The Devil, though not called that in the movie, goes by the name of Mr. Scratch and opposes the Spirit of Man at a trial to determine the fate of mankind and the planet Earth in front of the High Judge (God, though not called 'God' by name) when the potential of nuclear war with the H-Bomb becomes apparently inevitable to all in Heaven. [10]
Damn Yankees 1958 Ray Walston Mr. Applegate In this movie musical, "Mr. Applegate" bargains with an aged baseball fan to give him youth and prowess in baseball in exchange for his soul. [11]
Rosemary's Baby 1968 Devil Rosemary Woodhouse is raped by the Devil and gives birth to the Antichrist. [12]
Look What Happened to Rosemary's Baby 1976 Stephen McHattie Antichrist Sequel to Rosemary's Baby [13]
The Omen (film series) 1976 Various Damien Thorn In which Satan's son Damien Thorn is the Antichrist. [14]
Crossroads 1986 Scratch The Devil is portrayed as a trickster who takes souls in exchange for unparalleled musical prowess, a la Faust. [15]
Angel Heart 1987 Robert De Niro Devil In which the character "Louis Cypher", a play on the name "Lucifer," is revealed to be the Devil at the end of the film. [16]
Needful Things 1993 Max von Sydow Leland Gaunt Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, the film depicts the character of "Leland Gaunt" as the Devil himself, who opens a new antiques store in Castle Rock, Maine by the name of "Needful Things". [17]
The Prophecy 1995 Viggo Mortensen Lucifer Lucifer attempts to prevent Gabriel from triggering an angelic civil war that will create a new Hell to 'compete' with Lucifer's own. [18]
The Devil's Advocate 1997 Al Pacino John Milton John Milton — a reference to Paradise Lost — who is ultimately revealed to be Satan in human form, manipulates his son (Keanu Reeves), a criminal attorney who is ignorant of his true parentage, to accept his demonic heritage. [19]
The Ninth Gate 1999 A trio of 17th century books feature engravings supposedly created by Lucifer; legend states that the nine correct engravings, when brought together, reveal an inscription that will summon the Devil. [20]
End of Days 1999 Gabriel Byrne Satan Satan is the main villain in which he is portrayed as a malignant, invisible force that takes possession of a businessman in order to conceive the Antichrist before the turn of the millennium, only to find himself opposed by an atheist ex-cop-turned-private-security when he attempts to capture and rape the young woman chosen by prophecy as his bride. [21]
Little Nicky 2000 Rodney Dangerfield Lucifer Lucifer is the father of Satan and preparing to retire as ruler of Hell; he is presented as a sympathetic character more interested in maintaining balance than actually taking over the world. [22]
The Crow: Wicked Prayer 2001 David Boreanaz Satan Luc "Death" Crash (a Satanic cult leader), is possessed by Lucifer (here called Satan) and wishes to jumpstart the Apocalypse by impregnating Crash's fiancee Lola Byrne (who is also a part of the cult) with the Antichrist, but is distracted by Jimmy Cuervo. The sun rises before Lola can be impregnated and Jimmy impales Crash on a spike and slits his throat. Lucifer is sent back to hell following his host's death. [23]
The Passion of the Christ 2004 Rosalinda Celentano Satan Satan is portrayed by a woman with a more androgynous appearance than the traditional image of a red-skinned, horned satyr-like monster. She is implied to be the mastermind behind the Pharisee's plot to kill Jesus and also the one who influenced Judas' betrayal. She tries to distract Jesus while he prays at Gethsemane, watches sadistically as Jesus is whipped 39 times with the cat-o-nine-tails (while holding a demonic child) and follows Jesus through the crowd as the Christ walks to his death. She also sends several of her demons to torment Judas after the 12th disciple betrays Jesus, which leads to his suicide by hanging from the rope used to lead the donkey that carried Jesus to Jerusalem. After Jesus' death and the destruction of the Temple (as Jesus had prophesied), Lucifer returns to Hell and screams in anger at her defeat. [24]
Constantine 2005 Peter Stormare Lucifer Lucifer makes an appearance after being summoned by John Constantine to prevent Mammon from entering the human world, stating that he prefers waiting for humanity to damn itself rather than Mammon's plan to condemn the world to Hell himself; he later removes the source of Constantine's lung cancer to give the redeemed Constantine another chance to prove that he belongs in Hell after Constantine sacrifices a chance to save his own life to ask Satan to release someone else from Hell. [25]
Drive Angry 2011 Satan Satan only features as a behind-the-scenes figure in this film, dispatching the mysterious Accountant to stop John Milton after he escapes from Hell to save his baby granddaughter from being sacrificed by a ruthless cult. However, when he learns about the plan to sacrifice the baby, Satan has the Accountant give Milton the chance to stop the sacrifice, stating that Satan is more the warden of a very large prison rather than the personification of evil, and is actually against the sacrifice of innocents in his name.
The Devil's Carnival 2012 Terrance Zdunich Lucifer Lucifer is the leader of a Carnival occupied by demons portrayed as Carnies, in which three sinners must go through; God is depicted as the enemy of Lucifer. [26]
Rosemary's Baby 2014 Devil Mini-series remake of Rosemary's Baby

Television

TV Show Year Actor Character Description Ref.
Highway to Heaven 1985 Michael Berryman The Devil After Mark is involved in a car-bicycle accident that seriously injures a 5-year-old boy, a despondent Mark is tricked into selling his soul. Jonathan risks his own soul by recruiting a con artist to help Mark get over his self-pity and get past what happened, but the Devil and his own earthly cohort have plans of their own to acquire Jonathan's wings.
Dallas 1991 Joel Grey Adam Joel Grey played the otherworldly being "Adam" in the series finale of Dallas on May 3, 1991, who shows J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) what the world would be like if he (J.R.) had never been born, revealing only in the show's final moments that he is The Devil come to make J.R. destroy himself through his own self-loathing.
Northern Exposure 1991 Devil Northern Exposure season 3 episode 5 "Jules et Joel" features an adult male Halloween trick-or-treater dressed as the devil who demands Joel Fleishman give him a treat, which he denies. The man sprays Joel with silly string and runs off, being chased by Joel who doesn't make it past his porch before running into a support and getting knocked out.
Star Trek: The Next Generation 1991 Satan The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Devil's Due" includes a character pretending to be Satan with both the traditional image and the Klingon version. Throughout the episode, she appears in a default form of an attractive mischievous woman. She is eventually revealed to be a con artist attempting to exploit a planet's mythology to take control of it.
Touched by an Angel 1994 Various Satan Touched by an Angel has Satan occasionally appear in the guise of a human being. Each time, he manipulates people around him in an attempt to thwart the angels Monica, Tess and Andrew in their efforts to work for God. John Schneider, Todd Rulapaugh and Mandy Patinkin each portrayed Satan in one episode, and David Ogden Stiers appeared as Satan in the two-episode series finale.
Stargate SG-1 1997 Sokar Stargate SG-1 has an alien character, Sokar, who adopts the persona of Satan, possessing a great army with which he wanted to take control of all other System Lords, and ultimately of the galaxy itself. He creates his own Hell on Ne'tu, the satellite of his homeworld, where he sends his enemies for torture and punishment.
Brimstone 1998 John Glover Lucifer John Glover portrayed the fallen angel Lucifer in the short-lived series Brimstone.
Xena: Warrior Princess 2000 Lucifer Xena: Warrior Princess season 6 episode "Heart of Darkness" shows Lucifer as a fallen archangel after Xena causes him to commit all seven deadly sins. After his transformation into Satan, she promptly shoves him into a portal to Hell, taking the place of former leader of Hell, Mephistopheles, whom Xena had killed.
Doctor Who 2006 The Beast The two-part Doctor Who story "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit" features a version of the Devil called "the Beast", who claims to have served as a subconscious basis for devil-like entities in religions throughout the universe. This depiction places more emphasis on the monstrous appearance of the Devil, depicting him as a gargantuan, red-skinned beast with horns and a skeletal face.
Fallen 2006 Lucifer Fallen, the ABC Family trilogy, shows Lucifer as a major character.
Reaper 2007 Ray Wise Satan Reaper portrays Satan (played by Ray Wise) as a smooth-talking gentleman, often with a jocular manner, making contact with Sam Oliver to inform Sam of his missions as Satan's bounty hunter due to a deal his parents made prior to his conception.
Supernatural 2007 Mark Pellegrino[27] Jared Padalecki[28] Lucifer Lucifer is stated to be the god of the demons in the season 3 episode "Sin City", later stories revealing that he created the first demon by taking a human soul and corrupting it into a demon as part of his rebellion against God. He is presented as less evil and more of a tragic villain, claiming that he was condemned to Hell because he defied God's commandment to love humanity over him and claiming that their actions since he fell have merely proven him correct in his disdain of them. The Archangel Gabriel and Death both dispute this, saying that humans replaced Lucifer as God's favorite and describe his rebellion as nothing more than a temper tantrum.
Torchwood 2007 Abaddon Torchwood episode "End of Days" features a gigantic demonic being named Abaddon, called the "Son of the Great Beast" (a reference to the aforementioned Doctor Who episodes). Abaddon kills people by casting his shadow over them to absorb their life energy, which becomes his downfall when he absorbs the immortal Captain Jack Harkness, choking him to death.
Ashes to Ashes 2008 Daniel Mays Jim Keats The third series of Ashes to Ashes introduces the character Jim Keats (played by Daniel Mays), a Discipline and Complaints officer sent to audit the Fenchurch East police station. Fenchurch East is revealed as a purgatory for police officers, Gene Hunt as an "archangel" saving souls and sending them to Heaven, and Keats as the Devil taking souls to Hell.
Being Human 2013 Phil Davis Devil The fifth season of BBC supernatural drama Being Human reveals that the Devil was trapped in a human form in 1918 as part of a plan to kill him- the Devil having apparently triggered the First World War as part of a plan to provoke a vampire/werewolf conflict so that he could feed on the resulting energy-, only for the ritual that was being used to be disrupted so that the Devil would be bound but not completely weakened or killed. Surviving into the present day, the Devil attempts to manipulate Hal Yorke (the vampire who originally participated in the ritual to bind him) and Tom McNair (a werewolf who now shares a house with Hal) into conflict with each other so that he can feed on the energy they create. Although he eventually gains enough power to manifest his full powers, he is killed in the series finale when Hal, Tom and their ghost friend Alex Millar perform the binding ritual once more, the Devil's death apparently restoring them to humanity.

Anime and cartoons

In anime and cartoons, when a character is unsure what to do, a devil version and an angel version of the character may appear, representing the two sets of motives.

Satan has been featured as an occasional character in many other series, including Cow and Chicken, Family Guy, Futurama (as the "Robot Devil" who runs Robot Hell), Powerpuff Girls, Robot Chicken, Saturday Night Live, South Park, and The Simpsons.

Cartoons featuring Satan have also been a recurring theme in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts, including:

Radio

The BBC Radio 4 comedy show Old Harry's Game features Andy Hamilton in the leading role as Satan; in the first episode of Series Six, Satan states that he's gone by many names over the centuries including Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Old Nick, Old Harry and Simon Cowell (one of his Satanic guises),

Literature

Many writers have incorporated the character of Satan into their works. Among them are, in chronological order:

Comics

In DC and Vertigo comics, the Devil is represented by Lucifer Morningstar, the fallen angel, former ruler of hell, and leader of the Unholy Trinity - although other figures, such as Neron and the First of the Fallen, sometimes portray the Devil. In Underworld Unleashed, Neron gives powers to numerous villains. Darkseid is also associated with the Devil in the forms of Lucifer, Hades, the Greek God of the underworld, and the Hindu goddess Kali.

In some Marvel Comics publications, a "Lucifer" has been mentioned as being a hell lord with the same "fallen from Heaven" backstory. In the recent Ghost Rider series, Johnny Blaze faces a demon who claims to be Lucifer. In other Marvel plotlines, several high-level demons, such as Mephisto, Azazel, Marduk Kurios, and Satanish, have claimed to be the biblical Satan. In Marvel Comics the Norse trickster-god Loki is shown as the main adversary of his adopted brother Thor and a common enemy of both Earth and Asgard. Although Loki has conjured up somewhat demonic magic, he is not a demon but a misshapen frost giant. Among the characters related to Norse mythology, the fire giant Surtur is more reminiscent of a demon. The Egyptian demon-god Seth and the Japanese demon-god Amatsu-Mikaboshi have Satan-like roles in Marvel Comics.

Satan is a main character in the manga Devilman by Go Nagai.

Jio Freed, the main character from the manga, O-Parts Hunter, contains Lucifer/Satan, the most powerful demon in the series.

In the manga series Bastard‼: Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy by Kazushi Hagiwara, Satan appears as a large monster that has destroyed the Milky Way Galaxy by flying across it. Satan also helps Dark Schneider by telling him that he is a major part of the end times prophecy, who will lead demons and mankind to war against God and his army.

In the Image Comics comic book series Spawn, Satan is depicted as the twin brother of God. Both God and Satan are depicted as havong squandered their powers as creator gods in endless fighting and were punished for it by the Mother of Creation.

The title character of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is sent to hell and has an extensive conversation with Señor Diablo (Spanish for Mr Devil). In the spinoff series Squee!, the Devil is married to a Christian woman and has a son, Pepito the Antichrist, who befriends the unwilling Squee. Squee is invited to Satan's house for dinner, where Satan and Pepito both try to get Squee to join them, but he refuses and leaves after finishing dinner.

Satan is the main character in Normal Bob Smith's satirical Satan's Salvation.

In the manga series Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato, the main character, Rin Okumura, is Satan's son and emits blue flames, a sign of Satan. His twin, Yukio, is also a son of Satan, but does not bear the flames.

Lucifer appears in the Saint Seiya anime and manga series.

Video games

Role-playing games

Devil's Dictionary

Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary gives a satirical view of Satan as "one of the Creator's lamentable mistakes". When expelled from Heaven, he asks that mankind be allowed to make its own laws, and the request is granted.

U.S. Justice

In 1971, Gerald Mayo brought a civil rights action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Satan and his servants, who allegedly placed deliberate obstacles in Mayo's path. In its written opinion, the Court did not deny Satan's existence, but asserted that it was unlikely that Satan was ever present in the Western District of Pennsylvania, stating, "We question whether plaintiff may obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendant in this judicial district."

In a jocular reference to The Devil and Daniel Webster, the court implied that Satan might live in New Hampshire, stating, "While the official reports disclose no case where this defendant has appeared as defendant there is an unofficial account of a trial in New Hampshire where this defendant filed an action of mortgage foreclosure as plaintiff." This appears to be the only published legal case in the U.S. concerning Satan, and the present U.S. official position seems to be that Satan may exist and, if so, might be found in New Hampshire.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kurtz, Lester R., 2007, Gods in the Global Village: The World's Religions in Sociological Perspective, Pine Forge Press, ISBN 1-4129-2715-3, p. 153.
  2. ↑ Brian Allen (July 2006). "The Devil's Chord". Fortean Times. Dennis Publishing Limited. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. ↑ María Agui Carter; Calvin A. Lindsay, Jr. "Culture Shock: The TV Series & Beyond—The Devil's Music: 1920s Jazz". PBS. WGBH. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Lucifer Discography".
  5. ↑ "Lewis "Cypher" Discography".
  6. ↑ "Symphony For The Devil Amazon".
  7. ↑ Dieterle, William (Director) (1941). The Devil and Daniel Webster (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Douglas, Gordon M. (Director) (1942). The Devil with Hitler (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Mayo, Archie (Director) (1946). Angel on My Shoulder (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  10. ↑ Allen, Irwin (Director) (1957). The Story of Mankind (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Abbott, George and Stanley Donen (Directors) (1958). Damn Yankees (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Polanski, Roman (Director) (1968). Rosemary's Baby (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  13. ↑ O'Steen, Sam (Director) (1976). Look What Happened to Rosemary's Baby (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Donner, Richard (Director) (1976). The Omen (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Hill, Walter (Director) (1986). Crossroads (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  16. ↑ Parker, Alan (Director) (1987). Angel Heart (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  17. ↑ Willman, Chris (27 August 1993). "Von Sydow: Maxing at the Extremes : Movies: Swedish actor is the first on record to play both God and Satan in major studio films. His latest role is the Adversary in 'Needful Things.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Widen, Gregory (Director) (1995). The Prophecy (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  19. ↑ Hackford, Taylor (Director) (1997). The Devil's Advocate (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  20. ↑ Polanski, Roman (Director) (1999). The Ninth Gate (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  21. ↑ Hyams, Peter (Director) (1999). End of Days (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  22. ↑ Brill, Steven (Director) (2000). Little Nicky (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  23. ↑ Mungia, Lance (Director) (2001). The Crow: Wicked Prayer (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  24. ↑ Gibson, Mel (Director) (2004). The Passion of the Christ (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  25. ↑ Lawrence, Francis (Director) (2005). Constantine (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  26. ↑ Bousman, Darren Lynn (Director) (2012). The Devil's Carnival (Motion picture). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  27. ↑ "IMDb".
  28. ↑ "IMDb".
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 29.8 29.9 29.10 29.11 29.12 Brian Stableford, The A to Z of Fantasy Literature, Scarecrow Press,Plymouth. 2005. ISBN 0-8108-6829-6 (109-110)
  30. ↑ Les Daniels (1975). Living in Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media. Da Capo Press, (P. 17). ISBN 0306801930 .
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 31.7 Darrell Schweitzer, "The Devil" in S. T. Joshi, ed., Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: an Encyclopedia of our Worst Nightmares (Greenwood, 2007), (p. 161-186) ISBN 0313337810
  32. ↑ Eric Leif Davin. Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-1267-0. (p. 380)
  33. ↑ E. F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent State University Press, 1983, ISBN 0-87338-228-9 (p.38).
  34. ↑ Shin Megami Tensei IV. [Nintendo 3DS game]. Irvine, CA:Atlus
  35. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=646
  36. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/mission.asp?m=441
  37. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=647
  38. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=1646
  39. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=628
  40. ↑ http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=638

Further reading

External links

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