He goes by many names: Ba'al, Akuma, Iblis, Diablo, but in any English speaking country he is better known as the Devil. The granddaddy demon of the abyss and overlord of all that is wicked, if there is carnage and chaos there's a chance this figure may have had some involvement.
This past month I have talked about many of the evil beings in our narrative history and while many of them are nasty in their own right, credit needs to be given to the Devil himself for inspiring them in the first place. Without the Devil there is no evil and a strong argument could be made that all the great villains and monsters of lore were working through or working for the prince of darkness himself; seeding his evil wherever they roam. There are many different versions of the Devil, but it's when he goes completely unopposed that he works best.
Sure, if you are viewing the devil from the perspective of the Abrahamic religions he doesn't seem like too much of a threat. After all, he is a lesser being than god and most of his work in the bible is very indirect outside of Genesis. However, the idea of Satan when applied to a story where he is allowed to roam wild is when he becomes a truly ghastly thing to behold. Witnessing the actions of the pure manifestation of all evil with no barrier in check is enough to send chills down anyone's spine. He's more cunning than us, more powerful, and can manipulate humans as if they are marionettes and there's nothing to stop him.
One moment he is haunting a person as punishment for a crime, the next he is possessing an innocent to try and corrupt humanity, and when he's really feeling vile he just kills people in the most agonizing and psychologically depraved manner possible. Unlike most monsters, the Devil is given license to choose to be either a creature with a goal or a force of aimless destruction. This strange dichotomy amplifies his already frightening image as it ensures the audience will never be 100% sure on the Devil's MO. Even if an explanation is given, we can't be guaranteed it's the truth since most stories claim that he is an expert liar and the master of deception. With so many conflicting ideas and theories circling the King of the Underworld what can we truly attribute to this creature? Well, I have a thought....
Humans recognize when bad things happen and we don't like it very much. Many times, these catastrophes occur naturally and are completely out of our control. This gives us a diminished feeling of control on the world around us. However, there is one way we can harness it, one way that we can try to reason with it and give us the false impression that we can possibly change the outcome. We can label it. We can give it a name and a personality; we can project human characteristics on it. We can call it the Devil.
Sadly, as much as we'd like to design a character that explains these problems we ultimately can't escape from one undeniable truth. The Devil is the cocktail of Human fear and hubris, all the things that we can't explain or overcome and for that reason he will always be with us and will always be our greatest adversary.
Happy Halloween!
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