Big Red Devil: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

In western media, Christian [[Our Demons Are Different|demons and devils]] often have a very specific appearance. You can usually spot them by their [[Horned Humanoid|horns,]] [[Good Wings, Evil Wings|demon wings]], [[Amazing Technicolor Population|red skin]], [[Goatee of Evil]], furred legs with hooved feet, and sometimes a [[Prongs of Poseidon|trident]] (pitchfork). [[Satan]] himself often takes this appearance.

 

See also [[Fauns and Satyrs]]. Compare [[Grandpa God]].

{{examples|Examples of this trope in modern media:}}

** Another example is Femto, the fifth member of the Godhand, who is blood-red with sinister batlike [[Cape Wings]] and has the feet and talons of a bird of prey, though he has no horns to speak of and other than that looks mostly human (fitting considering that {{spoiler|before the Eclipse, he was once Griffith, one of the main characters of the manga}}).

** Devimon as well.

*** Daemon is also a red devil.

** Subverted with [[Satan]] who looks more angelic

* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', {{spoiler|the demon inside of Soul is a mix between this and [[The Imp]].}}

* Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo in the anime and manga of ''[[Slayers]]'' (his appearances in the novels wildly differ).

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Nightcrawler from ''[[X-Men]]'' has the pointed ears and tail. Depends on the continuity whether he's truly demonic or not.

** His dad Azazel is the red version. Nightcrawler gets the blue from his mom, Mystique.

* [[Satan]] is usually a version of this in [[Jack Chick|Chick Tracts]].

* Surtur and the rest of the Demons of Muspelheim in [[The Mighty Thor]]

* Kid Devil from [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] is just a red devil of average teenage boy height, but his future Red Devil self fits the trope perfectly.

* Some Hell Lords in the [[Marvel Universe]] like Mephisto and Lucifer, the latter of whom turned out to be a rebellious angel named Marduk Kurios who more or less ''is'' the actual Lucifer, despite most Hell Lords just pretending to be [[Satan]] [[For the Evulz]]. Mephisto is slightly less stereotypical in that his "horns" is actually just his pointed red hair hair, but he is still a tall, red, humanoid demon, if thinner and lither than most. His ''true'' form is similar but somewhat more alien, his head looking something like an eyeless lizard with no hair or horns whatever.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Evil in ''[[Legend]]'' has red skin and black horns.

* Subverted in ''[[Devil's Advocate]]'' and then played straight as the Al Pacino devil goes from looking like an ordinary guy to showing his true form, which is the trope played straight.

* The Devil (Liz Hurley) in the remake of ''[[Bedazzled]]'' rejects this image as "Too 'trick-or-treat'".

** In the original, George Spigot (Lucifer) preferred to look fully human, but always wore red socks as a nod to people's expectations.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''Pure Dead Brilliant'', by Debi Gliori, witch Fiamma d'Enfer fits this trope right down to her name. She's come up with some ingenious ways to hide her demonic characteristics, including human feet prosthetics which screw into her hooves.

* The [[Discworld]] demon king Astgl. Normally looks like a human in red tights and fake pointy horns holding a trident. When enraged, has huge ram's horns, claws and wings that are made of pure energy but still look batlike because it's traditional.

* Christopher Brookmyre's ''Pandaemonium'' has a subversion (or even deconstruction) of this trope as its central message. Just because they're big, red, horned, brutal, pointy-tailed, cower from crosses and Bible verse, seem to be immune to gunfire but are burned by holy water, and come from deep beneath the earth, ''doesn't mean they're necessarily actual demons''. The point is not to rely on superstition even when it's very familiar, and also to deliver a [[Take That]] to the church.

 

* The Beast from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", who claims to actually be [[Satan]].

 

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** Balors on the demonic side and Pit Fiends on the diabolic side also qualify, the former once being called Balrogs before the Tolkien estate complained.

 

* In ''[[Damn Yankees]]'' the devil wears a red suit.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** The Eredar are probably the closest major race, possessing the whole red skin with hooves and horns scheme. Draenei (probably the nicest of the playable races) look exactly the same except for being blue rather than red, a sign of their common heritage.

* [[Aerith and Bob|Carlos]] from ''[[Requiem]]''. Interestingly enough, he is one of your [[Super Mode|Super]] [[One-Winged Angel|Modes.]]

* Lou from ''[[Guitar Hero]]''.

** Chaos, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', looks like this. It's implied that he [[Evil Makes You Monstrous|only gained this appearance after growing/absorbing too much power]], though.

* ''[[Diablo]]'' is a mix between this, and [[Godzilla]]. But if the first ever trailer for the game is any indication, his original design was much closer to this.

** Some of them, at least. [[Light Is Not Good|Aurorans]], however...

* ''[[Doom]]'' has the Cyberdemon and the Baron of Hell.

* The aptly-named Horned Reaper from ''[[Dungeon Keeper]]'' and its sequel.

* In [[Ultima VI]], the Gargoyles which have invaded Brittania and tried to sacrifice the Avatar during the intro are large, red, horned humanoids.

* Eidolon from ''[[Hexen|Hexen II]]''.

* Devilman from ''Devil World''. Strangely enough, he's ''blue''.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'' the devil is red skinned, has the horns and the tail, and wears the red suit.

** He has two demon girls, Fuschia and Cyan, who have the horns and tails, but wear bikinis of the color that matches their name.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' has the Old-Timey King of Town, who just happens to be their equivalent of the Devil.

** One Strong Bad Email had Strong Bad imagine his "stupid baby brother" Strong Sad suddenly sprouting a pair of horns and a tail. Strong Sad then arrives dressed as Calibos from ''[[Clash of the Titans]]''.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''Him'' from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' has the red skin, the horns, the yellow eyes, the [[Goatee of Evil]], and rather than hooved feet, crab claws.

* Satan from ''[[South Park]]''.

* Doctor Satan in ''[[The Haunted World of El Superbeasto]]'' becomes this after gaining all the [[Running Gag|sudsy powers of Hell]].

* [[Planet Eater|Unicron]] from ''[[Transformers]]'' is esentially this version of Satan in the form of a robot.

* Pluto (no, not [[Pluto the Pup|that Pluto!)]] from ''The Goddess of Spring''.

 

[[Category:Paint the Index Red]]

[[Category:Fountain of Expies]]

[[Category:Villains]]