The Big Picture: The Devil You Know - Part II

[Pseudonym2]

The Big D actually has appeared in Marvel Comics recently, in a Wolverine storyline in which he died and went to hell.

Spoiler

Comics being what they are, Logan met some family, a few other faces you wouldn't expect (Puck), suffered a lot, then climbed his way out of the flaming pit and got better. Meanwhile his body was possessed by demons and was giving hell to everyone he cared about. Now in another book, him and a few X-Men have gone the other direction and are fighting for heaven against Nightcrawler's deadbeat dad Azazel.

Ghost Rider originally fought Satan and various Satanists before it was retconned that he made a deal with Mephisto. (and then retconned a few more times but I stopped paying attention)

Some of the 70's Ghost rider stuff holds up pretty well.

 

[Blueruler182]

The Big D actually has appeared in Marvel Comics recently, in a Wolverine storyline in which he died and went to hell.

Comics being what they are, Logan met some family, a few other faces you wouldn't expect (Puck), suffered a lot, then climbed his way out of the flaming pit and got better. Meanwhile his body was possessed by demons and was giving hell to everyone he cared about. Now in another book, him and a few X-Men have gone the other direction and are fighting for heaven against Nightcrawler's deadbeat dad Azazel.

Ghost Rider originally fought Satan and various Satanists before it was retconned that he made a deal with Mephisto. (and then retconned a few more times but I stopped paying attention)

Some of the 70's Ghost rider stuff holds up pretty well.

To correct both of you... Recently in Journey into Mystery (A year or so ago) the devil in the above picture showed up in a meeting of the many marvel Satan's (Mephisto and such) and they explained the nature of the devils in the Marvel Universe. It's essentially a bunch of hells trying to gain enough power to take Satan's empty throne. The reason nobody does is because, unless they're powerful enough, if anyone takes Satan's seat they'd be torn apart by the other Satans pretty much immediately. But if someone is strong enough to hold that seat they'd have the allegiances of all hells, and enough power to take the earth.

The Satan above was described as "One of THOSE demons. The "I'm Satan, really I am!" types." They even named him, but I don't have the book handy.

 

[Gyron]

My favourite was Shin Megami Tensei's Satan/Lucifer where they were split and came from their Judaic origins. Lucifer embodied Chaos while YHVH (One of God's names) embodied Order and Satan was YHVH's prison warden essentially. Still ran Hell but at God's behest, not as punishment.

 

[Parasondox]

As cartoons go, didn't PowerPuff Girls have "Him" who was the depictions of the devil?

That "thing" would creep the heck out of me back then which I think did it's job well as the most memorable "devil" depiction in a cartoon. I also remember Cow & Chicken too MovieBob, when Cartoon Network was great.

 

[Guffe]

I like the Tenacious D' devil.
The HeavyMetal one \,,/
ROCK ON!!!!

 

[Darth_Payn]

Yeah, I have to say Devil Flanders is my favorite depiction as well.

Stupid sexy evil Flanders...

Bob's right. I did NOT see that coming, but I wanted to see that. I like the talk Burns and Smithers had while watching him in Homer's cubicle:
"Smithers, who is that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his jib." "The Prince of Darkness, sir. He's your 2 o'clock today."

This is the best devil IMO.
[spoiler = image]

[/spoiler]

So slimy and so much fun also.

Yup, I pretty much came in here to mention this guy. He's kind of how you'd expect the devil to be after he got used to hell and damnation in his backyard for an eternity or two.

The unexpected thing about him was he kind of helped save the world in that movie, so he was sort of a hero. Then again, he don't take to any pretenders and did it for his own reasons, so that's totally in character.

 

[marioandsonic]

That will always be one of my favorite Treehouse of Horror episodes.

Also, Dark Heart? I think you mean DAAAAAAAAAAAAARK HEAAAAAAAAAAAAART!!!

 

[coppah20HE]

I'm still amazed that there are people who actually think Satan is real.

Guess thats what happens when you grow up in a secular country.

 

[Trishbot]

I'm still amazed that there are people who actually think Satan is real.

Guess thats what happens when you grow up in a secular country.

I guess you could argue that since EVIL is most definitely "real", and Satan is the personification of "evil", that Satan is real, even just in a moral, psychological, or implicit sense. If Satan IS evil, and evil does exist, than Satan exists, or at least how the phrasing goes.

Granted, where "evil" originates from is another thing to speculate upon. No man is born hating another, and yet our society is filled with hate. "Satan" is a go-to answer for the "source" of it, a shorthand. Satan, either in actuality or mere concept, is basically akin to "Mother Nature" in terms of what he/it is and represents. Mother Nature may not be "real", but it's simple an anthropomorphism of nature, just as Satan is the anthropomorphism of the concept of evil.

... That's way too high-brow. My brain wants to go back to the child-scarring Hell scene from All Dogs Go To Heaven now.

 

[hooblabla6262]

As cartoons go, didn't PowerPuff Girls have "Him" who was the depictions of the devil?

That "thing" would creep the heck out of me back then which I think did it's job well as the most memorable "devil" depiction in a cartoon. I also remember Cow & Chicken too MovieBob, when Cartoon Network was great.

"HIM" is probably my favorite depiction of the devil. Glad you posted the pic and info so I didn't have to
He(she?) was so perfectly creepy and villainous.
They just don't make them like they used to.

 

[Gorrath]

I am with the internet on this one. Tim Curry was masterful and the makeup job made him looks so powerful and imposing. Eloquent and dangerous and just teetering on a knife's edge of rage and acquiescence, there has never been a more stunning portrayal of Satan. Of course Legend is one of my very favorite movies.

 

[Shjade]

Wait, do people not remember Cow and Chicken?

I had, thankfully, forgotten it, and plan to do so again within the hour.

 

[themilo504]

My personal favorite devil is from shin megami tensei, but the one you least expect is great too.

 

[varmintx]

I do not remember Cow and Chicken, but I remember the Animaniacs episode quite clearly (whiny protest songs from the 60s being the most horrifying thing Satan can throw at you).

 

[maximara]

The Big D actually has appeared in Marvel Comics recently, in a Wolverine storyline in which he died and went to hell.

Comics being what they are, Logan met some family, a few other faces you wouldn't expect (Puck), suffered a lot, then climbed his way out of the flaming pit and got better. Meanwhile his body was possessed by demons and was giving hell to everyone he cared about. Now in another book, him and a few X-Men have gone the other direction and are fighting for heaven against Nightcrawler's deadbeat dad Azazel.

Ghost Rider originally fought Satan and various Satanists before it was retconned that he made a deal with Mephisto. (and then retconned a few more times but I stopped paying attention)

Some of the 70's Ghost rider stuff holds up pretty well.

To correct both of you... Recently in Journey into Mystery (A year or so ago) the devil in the above picture showed up in a meeting of the many marvel Satan's (Mephisto and such) and they explained the nature of the devils in the Marvel Universe. It's essentially a bunch of hells trying to gain enough power to take Satan's empty throne. The reason nobody does is because, unless they're powerful enough, if anyone takes Satan's seat they'd be torn apart by the other Satans pretty much immediately. But if someone is strong enough to hold that seat they'd have the allegiances of all hells, and enough power to take the earth.

The Satan above was described as "One of THOSE demons. The "I'm Satan, really I am!" types." They even named him, but I don't have the book handy.

If you really want a migraine try reading the Earth-X trilogy (Earth-X, Universe-X, and Paradise-X) which tried near its end to apply its nonsense to the mainline Marvel universe. Nonsense like Mephisto being the first mutant and Belasco (ruler of one of the many places called Limbo) being a time displaced Nightcrawler. The higher ups in Marvel realized just how insane the idea was and nearly ever "revelation" in it has been ignored.

 

[Rad Party God]

I try not to remember Cow & Chicken. I watched it and it was somewhat entertaining, but I was more into Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls and Courage (and Samurai Jack in the 2000's). It was bizarre, but not Ren & Stimpy bizarre, so it was kind of "meh" for me.

As for my personal favorite devil depiction, this is my third favorite along with Constantine and Devil's Advocate:

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

This is the best devil IMO.

So slimy and so much fun also.

I'm glad someone else remembers this one. Constantine as a movie didn't do much for me overall, but their interpretation of Satan was delightfully creepy and subdued. Definitely one of my favorites.

 

[Luku]

Aww, I was hoping for a mention of Go Nagai's stuff.

 

[Muspelheim]

While we're swapping out Satanses, I'd like to offer up my favorite.

Woland, the most-likely-devil from The Master and Margarita. The "Foreign professor (and exposer) of Black magic".

What I like about him is that he isn't some sort of muscular brute who is obvious in his desire to do nasty things to mortals. Rather, he is a mysterious, scheeming man that appears different to different people. He's just there on a field trip. Moscow under Stalin must be a very interesting place for a being so tightly knit to mortal spirituality.

Certainly, he and his crew of demons (and demonette and pistol slinging cat) cause quite a few incidents and fires, but it's mainly the Soviet bureaucracy doing the legwork. He's exposing the less dignified and base tendencies of the Moscovites, and seemingly having a very pleasant time doing it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%B5_%D1%87%D1%91%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%B2_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5.JPG

(Yes, it is a rather odd picture. But great, nonetheless.)

He is a competent Lord of Shadow, in all. I think that is something writers struggle with a bit, sometimes. Sauron from the first Peter Jackson film is a good example. Rather than an a plotting spider, he's "just" a towering monster asserting his power with naked, unrefined violence. Until someone manages to chop his finger off, that is.

Being the devil ought to be an occupation where you'd value brain over brawn, in all. Of course, not that there's anything wrong with going the World of Warcraft villain route either, it's just that the more subtle portrayal has more impact in the end.

(Captcha: goody two shoe. Well, bog off, Behemot, I'm a good boy, watchu gonna do?!)