Mephistopheles

“	Oh, how I loved listening to your sweet prayers every night. And then you'd jump in your bed, so afraid I was under there. And I was!	„
	~ Mephistopheles to John Constantine

Mephistopheles, also known as simply Mephisto, is a Prince of Hell. Mephistopheles is said to be the messenger of the Devil who sends him out to bring and corrupt any mortal that is foolish enough to make Faustian bargain before dragging them to the eternal fires.

Overview

Originally appearing in literature as the name of the trickster demon in the Faust legend, he has since appeared in other works as a stock character version of the Devil himself.

Mephistopheles is already trapped in his own Hell by serving the devil. He warns Faustus of the choice he is making by "selling his soul" to the devil: "Mephistopheles, an agent of Lucifer, appears and at first advises Faust not to forgo the promise of Heaven to pursue his goals".

Farnham adds to his theory, "...[Faustus] enters an ever-present private hell like that of Mephistopheles". Thanks to this, Mephistopheles has been sometimes treated as a servant of God who fell and was controlled by Lucifer & Satan for their own schemes. Like the other demons, Mephisto, by his nature, is either confrontational or chaotic.

Appearance

Being a shapeshifter, Mephistopheles can assume many shapes, with William Shakespeare saying that he has power to assume "pleasing" forms. Mephistopheles craved importance and elegance before he turned into a demon. These yearnings are reflected in his demonic shape, which is much more human and attractive than the shape of other demons. Most of the time, Mephisto can also appear as a random individual that would be passed as a friendly citizen. Example of which was when he appeared before Geralt as a seemingly ordinary merchant but with subtle and hidden dark undertones.

Mephistopheles is usually described as a pale man with dark hair and very sharp features. From his pointed beard to his tapering fingernails and slanted eyebrows, the demon’s features are at once delicate and menacing. His costume enhances his natural appearance. He dresses in fine Renaissance clothing—puffed sleeves and pants, a short cape, a feathered cap, and tights that disappear into pointed shoes—all made of red and black silk. Naturally, his look is completed by a gleaming sword tucked into his belt.

History

Background

The origins of Mephistopheles are largely unknown with the demon himself being vague and cryptic when questioned of his origins. Of the two prevailing theories regarding his background, he was either created by the Devil to serve as his messenger or was once a mortal that was so malicious and conniving that he found favor with Satan and appointed him among the ranks of Hell's legion.

According to Premethine Shakeslock, a professor and occult expert, there are records of encounters with Mephistopheles dating back thousands of years, in many cultures, and under many names. He is the archetype of a trickster devil, as he plays with victims and thrives on pacts above all else. Seemingly harmless contracts that drives their parties to madness. Mephistopheles himself states that he is fond of making deals with mortals that have corrupted moralities and any tale involving him follows naturally - a meeting at a crossroads, a wish, a pact signed in blood, and a price to be paid.

Mephistopheles is also said to be the King of the Crossroads. Meaning he is the ruler of the demons that can be summoned at crossroads, and those demons are ones who take a person's soul once the person makes a deal with the demon. The crossroad demons are even believed to be the "children" of Mephistopheles.

Faust's Slave

When Mephistopheles first appears to Faust, he makes his position clear. First, he informs Faust that he does not wander the earth seeking out souls to corrupt. Instead, he claims that he was “just passing by” and sensed that Faust, who had been attempting to magically summon demons, was already on the brink of corruption.

Next, Mephistopheles warns Faust to change his ways, describing the horrors of his own “private hell” to try to convince Faust bargaining with the devil is a bad decision. Unfortunately, Mephistopheles’s warnings fail. Faust insists that Mephistopheles should be his slave for twenty-four years, after which he will give his soul to the devil. Eventually, Mephistopheles accepts. As Faust’s slave, Mephistopheles goes above and beyond to make Faust’s sacrifice worthwhile. He brings him wealth, beautiful women, and all sorts of “earthly pleasures.” Most importantly, he takes Faust on grand adventures, even time-traveling and flying to the stars with him, so that he can understand all of creation. Eventually, Faust proclaims, “Had I as many souls as there are stars, I’d give them all for Mephistopheles,” proving that the demon is a pure, never-ending delight.

Of course, Mephistopheles can’t share Faust’s delight. Even during their most dazzling journeys, he continues to remind Faust that he will regret their twenty-four-years of pleasure when he has to spend an eternity in hell. Mephistopheles also makes countless cynical observations about humanity and civilization, like “all that comes to be deserves to perish wretchedly; ‘twere better nothing would begin.” Inevitably, Faust's time was up and Mephistopheles drags him into the depths of Hell to suffer for all eternity.

Dealer of Hell

As Hell's dealer, Mephistopheles was summoned by many power hungry, desperate, and corrupt humans over the years and each of them ended up having their souls dragged to Hell when their contracts expired. There were times where he faced resistance, among them was the likes of dealing with Geralt of Rivia, a Ghost Rider, and even the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, and was thwarted a few times by such individuals. Mephistopheles even at one point fathered a son with a witch named Sycorax in exchange for demonic knowledge with the child coming to be known as Caliban.

However, Mephistopheles' status became not all that well-received with the introduction of the Hellspawn. The Hellspawn were created to drag sinful and tainted humans to the depths of Hell so that they could be added to the Devil's army when the End of Days begins. This resulted in his work becoming obsolete in a sense which frustrated the Faustian Devil greatly as he was regarded as nothing more than a "sleazy salesman" by other demons. It especially did not help when he was outsmarted twice by the likes of Geralt and Stingy Jack. Nonetheless, Mephistopheles continued with his work, but not without plotting to raise himself high up in the ranks.

Mephistopheles continued to remain active up to the mid 1960s to late 70s, when was summoned by a disgraced musician Dale Ferdinand Kobble. In the mid 60s, Kobble suffered a traumatic experience that ended his career. This led to him taking extreme measures, the worst of which was dabbling in the dark arts where he summoned Mephistopheles himself. Kobble pleaded for Mephistopheles to grant him the desire to be a famous musician once more to which the Devil agreed. But in exchange, Kobble will have to take innocent human lives of his own. Mephistopheles granted Kobble the power to control the minds of others via a doll that was fashioned after them much like Voodoo. Kobble would use the doll to take control of a family member and use them to kill their kin which in return would allow him to keep his musical skills. He must perform this "thrice under two moons" and if he fails, Mephistopheles will claim his soul to Hell. When Kobble was intercepted and finally detained by FBI Agent Lee Harker, Kobble kills himself in the interrogation room leading Mephistopheles to drag his soul to the depths of the Pit.

One of his more notable dealings was with the Curtis family. During the later 1980s, Izumi Curtis's child tragically died during childbirth due Izumi being constantly ill. The death of her child rendered her deeply depressed and desperate enough to try and revive her stillborn child by summoning none other than Mephistopheles himself, although she was unaware that ritual itself involved the summoning of a demon. However, instead of outright taking her soul, Mephistopheles saw that her illness would do the job for him, and the "toll" Izumi was required to pay for summoning him resulted in some of her internal organs being removed, causing her to be both constantly ill and completely incapable of ever becoming pregnant again. This created a fierce antagonistic relationship between Izumi and Mephistopheles.

Conspiring against the Devil

Ever since Vergil emerged from Hell, a sequence of events emerged that resulted in the seals that kept Lucifer in his tomb being broken. This also made Mephistopheles anxious as he was one of the few that was aware of Lucifer's true intentions in regards to bringing forth a New World Order. Furthermore, he was also aware of the fact that Satan himself had a hidden agenda of betraying Lucifer by outright destroying existence during the final phases of the plan so as to not deal with the likes of humanity, Heaven, as well as Hell. Seeing that his very life was on the line, Mephistopheles feigned obedience and loyalty to his masters all while attempting to gather as much information as possible in a bid to prevent this catastrophe.

However, he knew he stood no chance against his masters and thus decided to seek aid from the Sons of Sparda although that in of itself was not any better especially considering that he has history with Izumi Curtis who is practically their surrogate mother. The twins wondered why Mephistopheles would even want both Lucifer and Satan out of the picture with the Faustian Devil replying that both Lucifer and Satan see demons as nothing but expendable servants and that once Lucifer remakes all of creation, the demons will be removed from the picture entirely. Though still reluctant, the twins were convinced by John Constantine to have Mephistopheles become their informant as they wanted to know any sort of information that would benefit them and their allies in trying to get two-steps ahead of Lucifer, moreover, they only agreed to have him help them if he would return Izumi's internal organs and nullify her deal with him to which he begrudgingly accepted.

Despite the extreme danger, Mephistopheles was confident that this would benefit him greatly. He knew that if the Sons of Sparda and the Dark Knight Initiative were able to defeat Lucifer, Satan, and prevent the Apocalypse then there would be a vacancy for the thrones of Hell. As such he would use this defeat over Hell as a way for him to rise up to the ranks and become a great prince of Hell or even the newly established emperor of Hell which would allow him to spread his power and influence far more than he could ever dream of. He did, however, needed to wait his time and play his cards right as he knew that there were other powerful monarchs in Hell that were still loyal to Lucifer and would try to restart the Apocalypse anew for his sake. He would lay behind the shadows and allow these infernal nobles to be slain by the sons of Sparda so as to slither his way up to the top of the demonic pyramid.

Personality

Known as the the plasterer of lies, he is an exceptionally powerful demon of trickery and hatred, responsible for making the deals with mortals, and bringing nothing but eternal suffering to those whom create the deals in exchange for their souls. Despite his position, Mephistopheles has manners, an affable demeanor, can be friendly, easily approached, and is quite charming. While he uses these qualities to manipulate others to his own ends, this affability is not entirely an act as he will still act polite regardless of the circumstances at times. He has no problems moving about in normal society and interacting with the population at large partially to find his "marks" or "accomplices" but also because he genuinely enjoys watching the lives of others and events of the world unfold.

Mephistopheles is suave, but he loves to use insults, sass and banter. Mephistopheles is an efficient business man and while he prides himself on integrity, he will use any loopholes given to him to turn the situation to his benefit, proving the saying 'be careful what you wish for' to be more than true. Mephistopheles has standards and personal ethics, even for a demon. He believes that when one makes a deal they must keep it. He cannot abide blatant dishonesty and people who go back on their word. As he has said to others "I never cheat" though he is known to mislead as he is still cunning, devious, and highly skilled at manipulating others, on par with Loki himself, although not in league with Satan or Lucifer.

Despite his arrogance, he does not dismiss possible threats like the sons of Sparda as other demons do, but seeks to eliminate said threats, however at times he does let his arrogance get the better of him, especially if he feels certain he will win. He leaves once he realizes that a situation is too dangerous for him to risk, but resolves himself when he knows that escape isn't an option. He thought up new ideas for how Hell ought to be run and tried to implement new ideas when he became its king; when other demons resisted this, he called them "evil, lying prats" and "stupid," expressing the desire to kill them all at times.

Mephistopheles is a being of extreme sadism, cruelty, manipulation and spite. He will always honor a pact but plays with the wording of the aggreement to his own advantage and the pain of the deal maker. A scholar that studied him stated that "he gives you what you ask for but not what you want" and that he's fond of riddles, wordgames, and misleading statements. While those that make deals with Mephistopheles are not condemned to Hell, they are instead cursed. The greedy take no ill will of it, for they could only desire power. He enjoys toying with one's emotions, particularly negative emotions such as greed, guilt, and fear. However, even as a cunning tempter and agent of Hell, he does not search for men to corrupt, but comes to serve and ultimately collect the souls of those who are already damned.

Quotes

“	Let me tell you something about Him. He is the biggest underachiever of all time. He just has a good publicist, that's all. Something good happens? "It's His will." Something bad happens? "He moves in mysterious ways." You take that overblown press kit they call the Bible. You look for the answer and what does it tell you? "Shit happens." Please.	„
	~ Mephistopheles' view on God