A Chat with Satan: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Devil in the Mirror by AequitasOzzy.jpg|frame]]

 

Before the hero can achieve his destiny, he has to face himself and defeat the darkness in his own heart. Because [[Only the Worthy May Pass]], someone has to put the hero to the test and make sure that he has the character necessary to see things through.

 

Essentially, when a supporting character talks to the hero to reveal [[What You Are in the Dark]]. Differs from a [[Deal with the Devil]] in that the Satan-figure is primarily concerned with exposing the hero's true nature (and can sometimes be akin to a [[Trickster Mentor]], actively trying to improve the hero by getting them to see and reject their darker side); if the hero does not succumb to temptation, it doesn't mean that the tempter has failed in his mission. A type of [[Threshold Guardians]]. If the character playing "Satan" really ''does'' want to corrupt the hero, then they're [[The Corrupter]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Naruto]]'' plays this very straight in one example, except for one minor twist; Naruto knows his dark side even better than the "dark side" itself, and actually embraces it and comforts it. In a way, his dark side was something that he mostly outgrew as he grew up.

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Evangeline goes through this with Negi. She tells him he can either face down his true dark nature and overcome it, bending it to his will, or he can become a raging immortal demon. She thinks the latter is kind of cool.

** G'Kar plays this role for Londo in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari".

** And of course Morden ends up playing this role for Delenn and Vir. He was trying to be [[The Corrupter]], but Delenn blew him off, and Vir, well, he gave Morden an answer to his offer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0n2vurSBIQ that Morden didn't like].<ref>And [[Brick Joke|two seasons later]], [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Vir got what he asked for, one of the few actually to do so with Morden.]]</ref>

** Leoben plays this role for Starbuck several times during the series, most dramatically when she is assigned to interrogate him in "Flesh and Bone".

* In Season 5 of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', {{spoiler|Lucifer}} has had talks like this with both {{spoiler|Sam and Castiel}}, but they both resist his seductive nature.

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

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