A Chat with Satan: Difference between revisions

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

{{quote|''Everyone who wants to grow up, sooner or later sits down and has [[Trope Namer|a chat with Satan]]. Or they never grow up.''|'''Amos Maple''', ''Down From Ten''}}

Enter Satan. Sometimes this is the literal Guy With The Horns and Pitchfork; sometimes it's just the character's [[Shadow Archetype]], or the [[Old Master]]. Regardless, it's the character who knows the hero's dark side better than the hero himself -- andhimself—and is determined to make sure the hero sees it, as well.

Essentially, when a supporting character talks to the hero to reveal [[What You Are in Thethe Dark]]. Differs from a [[Deal Withwith 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]].

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]: The Two Towers'', Smeagol talks to his alter-ego Gollum and must choose between his loyalty to Frodo and his lust for the Ring.

* In ''[[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]]'', after the death of {{spoiler|Shepherd Book}}, Malcolm Reynolds has a conversation with the Operative who is hunting him. The Operative confronts Mal with the fact that he caused the destruction with his [[Refusal of the Call]]. The conversation convinces Mal to put aside his apathy and go on the offensive.

* In ''[[X Men Origins: Wolverine (Film)|X Men Origins Wolverine]]'', Victor tries repeatedly to persuade Logan to embrace his bestial nature.

* ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]'': Happens several times, making it [[Older Than Feudalism]]:

* Ditto in [[Useful Notes/Buddhism|Buddhism]] -- the—the last barrier to [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|enlightenment]] that Siddhartha Gautama faced was Mara, the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of temptation. Less Demon and more Trickster, Buddha simply touched the Earth to remind him that there was still dirt under his feet and ignored the hallucinations of women that he sent him. Last seen as a giant penis-chariot in [[Persona 4]].

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', Frodo has this chat with Galadriel in Lothlorien, as she probes the purity of his heart around her mirror.

* In one of the later ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' books, [[Eldritch Abomination|Crayak]] offers to give [[The Big Guy|Rachel]] all the power she needs to defeat the Yeerks if she [[Deal Withwith the Devil|agrees to serve him]]. This forces Rachel to confront the fact that she's been steadily turning into a [[Blood Knight]] over the course of the series.

* In ''[[The Neverending Story (Literaturenovel)|The Neverending Story]]'' Atreyu has to pass through a mirror gate and face his true self. {{spoiler|So does Bastian, the kid reading the book.}} The latter doesn't take it well.

* In [[H.P. Lovecraft (Creator)|H.P. Lovecraft's]] ''The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath'' the protagonist Randolph Carter meets Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos on top of the titular fortress of gods, in the shape of a handsome youth. In this case Carter fails to pass the temptation of the easy path, and almost meets his doom, before finding a loophole in Nyarlathotep's own boasting.

** 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>

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|The rebooted ''Battlestar Galactica]]'' (revamp series)]]: Head Six sometimes encourages Baltar toward goodness and sometimes tempts him toward evil, but she usually helps him to come to some important revelation about himself.

* 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.

* The verse drama ''Murder in the Cathedral'' by [[TS Eliot|T. S. Eliot]] focuses on Archbishop Thomas Becket in the days leading up to his murder. In the first act, he is visited by "tempters" who plead with him to give up his feud with the King of England. The first tempts him with hedonistic pleasures, the second with a restoration of his former authority, the third with political power. He rejects them all, but the fourth tempter surprises Becket by asking him to ''seek out'' martyrdom, and be glorified as a saint long after his death. Becket has to reconcile his moral stance with his own selfish desire to be justified in the hereafter. (In most productions, the fourth tempter is presented as being separate, more enticing than the first three, and possibly the Devil in disguise.)

* ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'', Cecil at the top of Mt. Ordeals.

** In [[Final Fantasy IV: theThe After Years|the sequel]], Kain also does this at the top of Mt. Ordeals. {{spoiler|He ''fails'', and he has to hunt down his [[Enemy Without]].}}

* In ''[[Zelda II: theThe Adventure of Link (Video Game)|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'', Link must defeat his own shadow, later named Dark Link, in order to obtain the third Triforce piece and awaken Princess Zelda. (However, given Link's status as the world's most legendary [[Heroic Mime]], there's no actual "chatting" involved.)

* ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'': Saren counts if you go Renegade, since that's how he operated.

* In ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal]]'', this role is played by an ''angel''. The Solar reveals the player character things about themselves and their destiny bit by bit, and their (the player's) verbal reactions affect a [[Karma Meter]] that determines whether, at the end, {{spoiler|they become a god of goodness instead of a [[God of Evil]] if they choose divinity.}} Her goal is ostensibly to make the PC understand themselves, but they could go through the whole thing missing the point.

* Done with [[Reverse Psychology]] in ''[[Persona 4 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]''. {{spoiler|You really should listen to your [[Shadow Archetype]] when it's telling the truth that you don't want to hear.}}

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'': Nightmare Moon does this to Rainbow Dash when she's off alone, attempting to tempt her into forsaking her friends for the chance to live her dream. Rainbow Dash is quick to refuse and help her friends.