23 Times the Devil Stole the Show
Diana Keng
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The Devil is the detail that makes so many shows stand out from the crowd.
He is the Tempter, the Manipulator, the Prince of Darkness, with all the style, wit, and chutzpah that those titles entail.
And yeah, he commands the Army of Hell and bears a big grudge against humanity for stealing Daddy God's love away from His angels.
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So whether he is portrayed as a once-off antagonist, the wise-cracking employer, or the Big Bad Evil Guy, he's typically gonna draw focus from (and be far more interesting than) any "heroes" in the picture.
So which Beelzebub lights your Hellfire? Who has been the most iconic Lord of Hell in your opinion? Seriously, to which one would you sell your soul?
1. 666 Park Avenue -- Gavin Doran
Doran owns and operates a beautiful old apartment building in an elite zip code. For the right price, he can set you up with the home of your dreams. Unfortunately, that price usually includes your soul.
2. Adventure Time -- Hunson Abadeer
As Lord of Evil and ruler of the Nightosphere, Hunson in the embodiment of chaos and chows down on the souls of the unfortunate regularly. This doesn't, however, spare him the trials and tribulations of raising a rebellious teenager like his daughter Marceline.
3. Being Human (UK) -- Captain Hatch
The Devil in this narrative created the three major supernatural species -- vampires, werewolves, and ghosts -- in order to feed off the energy of their conflicts. Trapped in 1918 in a mortal vessel by a supernatural alliance between three such beings, he attempts to bring about the apocalypse when Hal and Tom accidentally cross paths with him again.
4. Brimstone -- Lucifer
One of our funnier Devils, Brimstone's Lucifer outsources the retrieval of 113 of the worst souls in Hell to dead cop Ezekiel Stone. A bit of a micro-manager, this Luci drops in regularly to see how Stone's doing, what with having to shoot his targets in the eyes and such.
5. Castle Rock -- The Kid
The ambiguity of Castle Rock leaves the actual identity of The Kid as a weird question mark. We know that his presence causes people around him to rise(?) to their worst potential. And we know that he hasn't aged in all the time he was imprisoned. His story about an alternate reality is pretty convincing but, remember, The Devil is also known as the Father of Lies. Whatever the truth, The Kid was crazy-creepy and caused some horrific things to happen when he was set free.
6. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina -- The Dark Lord
Originally the fallen archangel, Lucifer, the Dark Lord partners up with Lilith shortly after being cast out of Heaven and evolves into the Satan worshipped by witches. His role in Sabrina's birth ensured a sinister interest in her soul as she is key to fulfilling a prophecy that he will rule the world.
7. Fallen -- Light Bringer
Talk about Daddy issues. Fallen's hero, Aaron, has accepted his role as the foretold Nephilim (child of an angel and a human) who can redeem fallen angels and return them to Heaven. Suddenly, he's facing off against the ultimate absentee father, Lucifer Morningstar, who drags him down to Hell when Aaron won't issue his ticket to Heaven.
8. Futurama -- Beelzebot
More commonly known as Robot Devil, Beelzebot operates Robot Hell out of an abandoned amusement park in New Jersey because OF COURSE HE DOES. A talented fiddle player in his own right, he fronts a small wedding band in his spare time and still accepts first-born children as currency.
9. Good Omens -- Satan
He is 500 feet tall and voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. 'Nuff said.
10. Lost - Man in Black
After spending most of the series as a sinister cloud of black smoke, the primary antagonist of the surviving passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 is revealed to be Jacob's long-dead twin who can take on the forms of dead people and does exactly that in an attempt to escape the island. Repeatedly.
11. Lucifer -- Lucifer Morningstar
The shining example of how incredibly charismatic and yet conflicted the Devil can be while living it up in the City of Angels after abdicating the Throne of Hell, Lucifer manages to not only charm most everyone he meets, he solves crimes too.
12. Lost Girl -- Hades
Once again the Lord of the Underworld and Ruler of the Dead proves an absentee father. Bo's family reunion is less than happy when Hades arrives to use her powers of chi-sucking to turn the world into zombie minions.
13. Once Upon a Time -- Hades
As with many of Storybrooke's residents, Hades carries a lot of baggage in from before the First Curse. This includes a grudge against Zeus, a non-functional heart awaiting true love's kiss, and some management issues with the Underworld. Despite finding love, he's unable to overcome his need for revenge and is ultimately destroyed by the very object of power (wielded by the object of his affection) he had been pursuing for so long.
14. Powerpuff Girls -- HIM
The secondary antagonist of the series, it is pretty clear that HIM is meant to be the Devil and is probably more powerful than even Mojo Jojo. Not only can he control minds, he can shapeshift, spit acid, and fly. Despite all this, he is also quite polite and shows great pride in the shenanigans of his gang of Rodyruff Boys.
15. Reaper -- Jerry Belvedere
Once again contracting out some of Hell's more tedious tasks, ol' Jerry tries to keep the business in the family by claiming the indentured servitude of the series' protagonist, Sam Oliver, to "reap" souls that have escaped from Hell. Sound familiar? This Devil keeps things relatively light despite Sam's penchant for interfering with the process.
16. Rick and Morty -- Lucius Needful
Despite having only one appearance in the series, Needful is an entrepreneurial spirit who genuinely likes Summer, who, in turn, enjoys working in his shop of cursed merchandise. Of course, he's no match for Rick who ruins his business of selling Monkey's Paw-esque trinkets by opening up a curse-removal service.
17. Salem -- Samael
Child devils are so incredibly disconcerting. As the chosen vessel for the Devil, he was stolen away from his mother and raised by Elders who fostered him in the heart of a Satanic hive. That would screw with anyone's head but when you're a natural witch of incredible potential power, there's more than Hell that's going to need paying.
18. South Park -- Satan
Although everyone knows that Cartman is the true South Park embodiment of EVIL, Satan does make a pretty regular appearance and he's a surprisingly sympathetic character. He really pretty lonely and just wants someone to hang out with.
19. Supernatural -- Lucifer
Once the best-loved of the archangels, his expulsion from Heaven because he refused God's command to love humanity more than God was a painful blow to his pride. In his rage, he created the demons and the Knights of Hell and just spends his millennia of existence making life in general difficult. Of course, he takes a break now and then to fight on the side of Good but that's pretty short-lived.
20. The Collector -- The Devil
A little twist on working for The Devil here. The series' protagonist, Morgan Pym, after centuries of collecting souls for The Devil, bargains for the right to help people redeem themselves and annul their deal with the Lord of the Damned. The Devil appears in each episode, possessing a different unsuspecting human and lighting their eyes with Hellfire flames, to watch the targets squirm in their last 48 hrs on Earth.
21. The Messengers -- The Man
Another portrayal of Lucifer but this time he is focused specifically on ensuring The Rapture occurs. He is every bit the master manipulator and self-absorbed schemer that others have delivered with a smidgen of sadistic hatred of mankind thrown in.
22. Touched By An Angel -- Satan
Any show with an angel as the hero is going to run into Satan eventually. In this case, Satan appears in many guises, played by the likes of Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Dekker, and even Monica herself, Roma Downey. Always, he is looking to stir up trouble and score more souls who have lost their faith in good and God.
23. Wizards of Waverley Place -- Gorog
As the leader of the Angels of Darkness, intent on turning the world into another Dark Realm, filled with evil and hatred, Gorog attempts to take over the wizard world first through subterfuge and the theft of powerful items of magic.
24. Bonus: Childhood's End -- Karellen
Not The Devil in actuality but deliberately meant to resonate as such with all who saw him, Karellen is the "Supervisor for Earth" sent by the aliens, the Overlords, to oversee humanity's transition to their next evolutionary stage. He is wise and calm and effective in his duties. And the Overlords are smart enough to wait 50 years before revealing themselves in all their winged, horned, red-skinned glory because, unfortunately, humanity really does judge everything by looks first.
