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Disclaimer: All animation belongs to subsequent creators/estate. Title art is copyright to ~Abbinurmel aka my art DA ~lainwiththedevil. Abbinurmel doesn't condone the cool practice of summoning the Dark One and will not be held responsible for your soul. PLEASE no Evangelism, faith-bashing, or 'you-ain't-no-mythology-scholar!' flame-wars in the comments. People are allowed what they want and I don't have literally any real opinions on Satan/God the same way I don't have any opinions on staplers, the alphabet, or the color Beige...I'd like it to stay that way.

Happy Post-Halloween everybody! Boy I love the Devil. By that I don't mean by in any terms of actual worship- I mean that the Devil is such a great FUN arechetype to work with in stories! Since Man came up with the idea of a personifcation of Evil there've been 100s of many colorful fascinating forms. Some are jerks, some are fair and even have a code, some want to punish the Wicked, some only want to hurt the Good. Some are lame goofballs who suck at their job, others are suave or terrifying monstrosities who will keep you on the straight and narrow out of fear of being dragged into Hell. The Devil has been a prominent character in Animation since the very begining of it, so lets have a look at some the fiend's coolest forms- WELCOME TO THE TOP 13 ANIMATED DEVILS!!...cos 13 is a badass number, don't ask why.

Some rules first: it MUST BE THE ACTUAL DEVIL. Not a unique villain who simply wears horns or makes twisted bargains, like Ursula or Maleficent. NOT the Grim Reaper, a demon servant, occultist, monster or cult that serves Hell. No 'shoulder-angel' voices of Temptation, not the snake who persuades Adam and Eve, not a boogeyman, hobgoblin, gargoyle, imp, or any creature who might bear a pitchfork or look like the classic devil with goat beard and wings...it has to be explicitly stated THE Devil. As in the main guy who rules Hell and tortures souls/makes deals for them. NOT just any mean trickster or someone who rules any old land 'Of the Dead'. It has to be HELL, as in fire and brimstone, demons and torturing souls because they were wicked while alive. See, there's so many variations both in folklore and modern stories, we have to have some rules to keep things simple. That's why I am sticking with the most modern but 'classical' version of the stereotyped devil. Even the Bible itself doesn't adhere truly to where our 'mainstream' devil comes from but this is about Animation here and animation generally reflects the Devil within a few very certain characteristics and motives.
So here we go, say it with me now kids: SIX SIX SIX! SEX SEX SEX! BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!! ILLUMINATI! BOOOOOOO! AHM SCARY!

13) Disney's Silly Symphony 'The Goddess of Spring' www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdLGZI…

This devil bears close resemblance to old Victorian art and is part of the story of Persephone, taking place of Hades in a hammy classical style. He has a theatrical design, and a nice operatic voice. This short is one of Disney's early tests of realistic human animation before 'Snow White'. See how awkward the bodies are, they haven't broken out of that traditional 1930's rubbery 'Betty Boop' era look. But you also can see in places that they studied real live actors and are trying here their best, even if it does dive right into the Uncanny Valley. In a way I actually like those bizarre fluid hands the Devil has, they make him more 'demon'. Beelzy also like the real legend of Hades is nice enough to offer Persephone her freedom, so long as she returns back every couple of months. He is not even much cruel to her, but tries to woo her with diamonds and vows of loyalty, just like the real myth or stalker. Despite that, this guy isn't the Greek god Hades. He's blatantly SATAN, thanks to the firey pits, the gleeful demons joyous at someone's misery, down to the way he dresses. Also note how frequently Hell, the pit of Damnation, tends to get portrayed like some kind of fun nightclub in these early cartoons. Flames are changing colors, people playing keyboard and dancing and singing everywhere...not too shabby is it?

12) THE REALLY ANGRY ONE! from 'Animaniacs!' www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR4OOt…

This devil gets just so much laughs. He's not funny like some silly devils are because he's wimpy, but because of how damn actually imposing and awesomely badass he really is- and the Warners STILL manage to get him out-hammed! Torturing Saddam Hussein with god knows what (which is a bit awkwardly uncomfortable, as the man was not actually dead yet back then...I'm not sure if this makes it better or worse than South Park's example, since this was a KID'S cartoon, and he was probably at the height of his atrocity then...) Subjecting the Warners to things like 'Whiny protest songs from the 60s!', this truly is a force of evil to reckon with. Unless you're a zany god-modding cartoon character that is.

11) The Devil from 'God, The Devil and Bob' www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VYlig…

This heavily under-rated show was hated by many for being 'sacriligeous' but really it's one of the most tamest adult-oriented animated shows I've seen. Not tame as in bland, just tame in that I've seen my boyfriend binge watch almost the entire series and there was MAYBE one tiny instance of BLOOD in it. MAYBE, I can't even remember. There is barely any cursing or gross crass offensive material. God is represented in most episodes as overall kind, wise, laid-back, and wanting to be loving of mankind, just not sure if he did it the right way the first time. In the first episode, God is tired of endless suffering and evils of man, and decides to investigate the life of a single human to see if they can teach him anything about why keeping mankind alive is worthwhile. The Devil to be fair gets to have his pick of who that representative for all humanity is, and that everyman is Bob. Satan and God share a very unique interesting relationship here: In this show they are like 2 brothers or old world-weary friends, with the Devil being rather needy and neurotic in a very similar to 'The Monarch' way from Venture Brothers, and God being the more mellow and understanding one. He accepts that the Devil is evil, and the Devil accepts that God is good... He's much more frustrated about not having God's RECOGNITION more than anything else! In one episode, when the Devil gets pissed that God forgot his birthday (yet again!) Satan decides to remove all evil from the world, which has actually worse consequences than you might think! God and Satan BOTH need to exist in this show, and instead of battling each other they run the world in balance. The Devil is also LAVENDAR which is pretty odd, and BRITISH in an otherwise all-American voice cast, which is not odd at all....for some reason. No honestly, why DO evil characters tend to be British?? Is there something we have against them? I really don't think so, I just think it's just cos sounds cool and intellectual, but...why is that?? Anyway The Devil often tries to sway and corrupt Bob and his family, but generally he is treated like he's an annoyance, and an annoyance who is NOT actually your rival or fearsome nemisis but like that 'friend' you can never get rid of just because you feel sorry for them, or maybe THEY feel sorry for YOU. The best thing about him would probably be his right-hand henchman demon Smeck....(Oh my god...SMECK....DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THAT NAME!?) Smeck is an adorable hapless minion who often suffers comedic slapstick gold, but in spite of being punished all the time he still is faithful and concerned for his master. Awww. I love when a Devil or evil master has a servant who cares about them. It's so sweet and tragic, I wish we'd have more tales from a loyal loving minion's point of view instead of a villain's one.

10) Flanders Devil from 'Treehouse of Horror, The Simpsons' www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ZcZ2…

The concept of Flanders as THE DEVIL is hilarious. It's just one of the funniest ironic things the Simpsons ever did. Satan made many appearances on the Simpsons, but he didn't always look like him, and I think this is his best moment ever. I like how they actually have in this hell an "Ironic Punishment" department, like, they are just that blunt with it. This disturbing force-feeding punishment is lifted straight out of an old disturbing Porky Pig cartoon, Moe Sizlak-like creepster demon and all! Of course for Homer it ain't no big deal. It's probably his idea of Heaven if anything. What adds to Flander's devil charm is the fact he COULD be actually not look like Flanders but a lot more terrifying, but he just CHOOSES to stay as Flanders to keep Homer upset. I also love the casual exchange of 'Hello Bart!', 'Hey Satan.' he gets in at seeing him. What's the history between those two?? I'VE GOT TO KNOOOOOW!

9) Mr. Itch, from 'Pinky and the Brain's Halloween Special' www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2xOXO…

....Hmm-hmm, hmm, hm-HMMM...hm-hm, hm, HMM-HMMMM....sorry. Caught a tune in my head. What was I doing? Oh right, wasting life. This was a grand special! It might earn its own review someday! Mr. Itch is a Satan of the 'Faustian' variety, a much more sly and casual charming schemer than overt evil overlord. I love how Italian godfather this guy is, and how smoothly he's dressed. I also love how right off the bat he VERY NEARLY hypnotizes Brain into signing his contract. He's that persuasive, even with a strong-minded mouse like Brain is. What's so awful about this guy is he didn't go after Brain endlessly after he rejects him- Instead, he plays with his emotions by taking passive-aggressive attention to PINKY instead, guilt-tripping him into SACRIFICING his soul for Brain's sake! Awww. That's so sad. Pinky is tortured mercilessly, but Mr. Itch can't break him because he enjoys it too much. Brain eventually gives up his greatest dream come true for the sake of rescuing his friend, by braving the dangers of the DMV (tis a silly place...) and Satan only loses his bet all because he didn't deliver on his wish, to give Pinky a 'Radish-Rose-Whatchamahoozit'. Just a ton of fun Devil character and one of the best Halloween cartoon specials that requires a lot more praise.

8) Robot Devil from 'Futurama' www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z_zqO…

I think out of all Matt Groening's characters, next to Sideshow Bob Robot Devil is my favorite of his creations. He's SO hysterical and hammy I need a delicatessan to hold him. He's got a fantastic singing voice, and a spectacular tribute to character players like Hans Conried. Bender is almost never really intimidated or out-conned by anyone-....but Robot Devil might be his closest match. Bender's hell for robots sounds just as unpleasant and agonizing as it would be for any human. I love how RD doesn't mind dealing with humans as much he does robots, and even plots to marry Leela! There's certainly no need for any real philosophical gazing at one's navels to consider if robots even HAVE a soul in this universe is there? He's just pure awesome, and main reason he probably isn't lower is I wish he showed up more frequently for longer periods of time.

7) Big Pete as the 3rd Ghost from 'Mickey's Christmas Carol' www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su_lu7…

It may seem cheating as this isn't blatantly Satan. It's the Ghost of Christmas Future from Disney's take on 'A Christmas Carol'. Almost every version of that tale, even modern spoofs, seems to agree that the 3rd Ghost is Death. Literally Death. It's just a grim reaper to show you what will happen after you are gone and how you'll be remembered. The motive is more of a mechanical assignment than having any vested interest in your soul. In fact it almost never talks or shows any emotion or desire for Good or Evil at all. It's usually a very neutral character, very robotic and gray, not traditionally very devil-like at all which is normally bright red and bombastic.
It's always chilling how quiet and detached the 3rd Spirit is. In the normal tale, Scrooge despairs at how empty his life has been and begs for a 2nd chance at the 3rd Ghost's feet seeing that nobody cares about his death and Tiny Tim will perish if he is not helped. ....Here, this is QUITE something else: Big Pete at first does not do any talking like a traditional 3rd Dickens ghost, and appears in what looks like a brown robe with his face not seen by the audience. Then he does something different-...Instead of Scrooge finding his own name on the gravestone like usually he'll do, HE reveals it FOR him- with a match. With FIRE. After the big name reveal, he lights up a cigar with the match, revealing his face which is grinning. Pete mocks him, and then SHOVES EBENEZER RIGHT INTO HIS GRAVE WHILE CACKLING. After that, the sky and Pete's robes turn bright red. As if it weren't enough symbolism, the coffin underneath him suddenly opens up to reveal fire and smoke with Scrooge pleading "NO! NO! NO!" and hanging on for his damn life. It's pretty obvious this guy is Satan- They just will not say it. Pete here definitely wants him to die, and WANTS him to go to Hell, or at least gets a very sick amusement out of Scrooge's pure terror. I love that they didn't need that exposition here, they let the atmosphere and the panic speak for itself. Much as I love the original 3rd Ghost of 'A Christmas Carol', there's something about the intensity of this ending that really proves you to believe he's been scared straight a lot more than the others.
It even used to scare me quite a bit as a very little kid.

6) The Imposter/Real Deal from Jonathan Wojcik's 'The Fear Hole, episode 8' www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEasX…

The devil here is actually up till the end only the MANIFESTATION OF THE IDEA of the 'Devil'. OUR idea of the Devil is when you think about it rather silly.
And he is absolutely hysterical. One of the most adorable things I seen in ages. I love it when sincerely he tries to pull the whole 'seduction of Faust' act, and is still so goofy at it. THE ACTUAL Devil who comes along to place a 'cease and desist' order might just be one of the worst things to enter your nightmares. What's nice is to see a FEMALE actual Satan pregnant with the unholy spawn of...evil...and the sheer aura of pain and horror. It's in the details: Eyes just floating there, the halo of thorns, the screams and wails in the air along with the overlayed footage of terror...That is actually one of the smartest best ways to depict something pure unearthly and unbearably evil in our presense, and I am so dissappointed it takes a guy with a Halloween website and not a big budget Hollywood director to think of a devil this creative. The day Mr. Wojcik manages to get a contract to get 'Fear Hole' to go on adultswim I know I can die happy.

5) Robot in the sequence called 'Nightmare' from 'Robot Carnival' www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxrTbj…

By far and large, this Devil has my favorite MUSIC THEME of all time. This devil is so badass he made me recede my original 'no anime' rule. No animes as Japan seems to run a whole Devil GENRE. There's WAY more 'humanoid' Satans than 'Devil' Satans though, and interestingly, being Satan in manga/anime half the time is actually a TITLE you inherit like superpowers or royalty. There are I know a LOT of devils out there in Japanese media, and it almost became too daunting. The majority of them overall however are to some major degree very boringly humanoid. Demonic MINIONS can get crazy but for some reason true Beelzebub's tend to look like Sephiroth. This guy on the other hand does not. Although we don't know what his Biblical alliances are, there's something unmistakably 'wrong' about him that intends to sow chaos and destruction from the start. It's clear his top dog doesn't have any softness for humanity anyway, and looks like they well intend to swarm the earth. Robo-Satan acts without mercy as he grinds up living servant demons to make bigger ones and kills the prototype first wife they build him only because she is ugly; like many of the other animated devils, his army of minions all seem to be caught in the middle an awesome revelry. So for all metaphorical and literal purposes, this guy pretty much IS the Devil. Even though from what I can tell, I have no idea how evil or physically real he even is. But everything about this guy in terms of atmosphere is pure hellish and alien. There's something about him that is so much worse than just a regular giant mecha, it makes you quake in dread. He is nothing like any of the other robots seen throughout this anthology. There is something here distinctly not part of this earth that tells you he is NOT made by any scientist or alien inventor. We have no idea where he comes from. How he can hypnotize machinery to his whim, why do none of the people living in the city overall take any notice of his presence? Why does he have 'demon' robots trying to build him a wife at all? Why does the sunlight vanquish him? We don't have any idea. It's kind of disturbing how he almost looks like an BDSM figure with a ballgag in his mouth, or how his entire body is always crawling over with moving pieces or minions. I could easily picture that there is a literal living Hell INSIDE this guy, like a factory or junkyard inhabited by thousands more. The animation here is strongly borrowing from Fantasia's 'Night on Bald Mountain' (don't worry, it's coming...) and Ichabod Crane of 'Sleepy Hollow.' There's kind of a symbolic tone here both in terms of Japanese youkai folklore (where ordinary objects like umbrellas have 'souls' of their own) and the way the environment of Japan is ever increasingly overrun by urban sprawl. In a way it's all the questions that go unanswered that really make this being feel evil, and worthy of being called a Devil. It takes a brilliant mind to take something tangible in reality, like a robot, and still make it feel spiritual and terrifying.

4) Chernabog from 'Night on Bald Mountain sequence of Fantasia' www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLCuL-…

You all knew he was coming. I feel awful not making him be number one as he's such a legend, but I just managed to find other Devils I liked even more over the years. Sorry big guy. Your silence is menacing, and I approve of it a WHOLE lot more than if you ever made any kind of sound, but it's hard to like a guy who kind of...doesn't do or say anything except BE scary, over an actual CHARACTER in a narrative, you know? This is still saying a HUGE lot. It is unfathomable, my love for this sequence now. It is probably one of my favorite Disney characters and Disney things EVER, as it is Disney at its most dark, most unhinged, most purest evil, all for the sake of pure atmosphere and beauty. Yes, this sequence is BEAUTIFUL. He is purest Satan at its most classic literary essence. Based on the model reference of Bela Legosi, lovingly animated, gorgeous threatening music, color, stunning atmosphere and backgrounds...why is he not number 1!? He should be, since he terrified the pants off me as a kid to the point every time 'Dance of the Hours' ended (the part with the ballerina hippos and ostriches) I'd rush to the VCR and hit the eject button as swift as possible. I was THAT scared by it. My poor little mind had been exposed to NIPPLES. HARPY NIPPLES!!!! Which is silly, cos I'd grown up with a fine artist dad who painted nudes, but don't ask me about logic. I was more scared by how many skeletons there were in this scene, a huge silly phobia I had as a child, but I was also disturbed by how sickeningly cruel this Chernabog was. Always twisting and crushing his demon forms, only to apathetically hurl them back into fire. This still gives me chills, and after watching it so many times, and knowing I still am going to be long after, a tiny part of me almost misses being able to be hide-under the blankets scared from this...just a little.

3) B. L. Zeebub, from 'The Devil and Daniel Mouse' www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZTC1…

If the late master Tony Jay, the voice of Megabyte from 'Reboot', Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame's' Judge Claude Frollo, Wraith from 'The Mighty Ducks' and 'The Transformers' Megatron, isn't actually what the voice of Old Scratch sounds like whenever I go down to Hell someday I AM GOING TO BE VERY DISAPPOINTED! He is too perfect as a villain. This Devil is quite interesting. I don't mind the tall skinny Beelz, but I REALLY approve of the morbidly fat variety much more. It makes them so much more a symbol for hedonistic wealthy excess and greed...Plus there's just something more I don't know...intimidating about large fat villains than the prissy skinny kind. This guy is a dangerous shapeshifter but even in regular form he's kind of scary. His sidekick Wheez takes a lot of the scare out of him, but he's sure a lot of fun. It's unique how he is dressed in all WHITE instead of red or black, and I like how he looks more like a coroporate businessman or a smarmy modern day tv-evangelism scam artist than a wizard or something. There's almost a kind of hideous barely implied 'rape' threat with him eerily near at the end when he comes for Jan's soul. He even makes kissy faces, and calls her 'my little dumpliiing...' Ew! Unpleasant, deliciously skeezy, and just the right amount of sticking to the Old Codes but rage for being caged inside them for a perfect Devil. He has weakness being confined to certain rules, but you can tell very easily a LOT of the rules he just upholds for appearance. He could probably snap his fingers and say 'fuck you all' and reduce everyone to ashes. But that would not be as much fun and he could probably not get away with much more stuff after that. A bit of trivia, if you're a Bauhaus fan, one of their tracks on 'Swing The Heartache' called 'Party of the First Part' uses audio from this film. In fact I'd heard the song before I watched this many years later, I had no idea of it's existence, I thought the samples came from an old black and white movie, or always pictured some goth 80s Siouxsie looking chick in a live action camp-horror film. Not until I watched the movie 'Rock and Rule' and learned of its origins this was the short that inspired it. It has not dampened the darkness or imagery from the track though, and knowing the track only enhances the Devil in this for me. If you want to hear the song here it is- www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwQRp…

2) Devil from 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' cover by Primus www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9uk9I…

It isn't fair probably to make him so high as I am a huge Primus fan, and I REALLY prefer this cover (for a ton reasons) HUGELY to the original song. It isn't superficial fandom alone. The reason Primus' cover works so well is it has tons more personality, tons more atmosphere, tons more darkness to the stakes...and tons more ROCK in it. But outside the music this video is gorgeous. That stop-motion is pure gold ambrosia for my eyeballs. This Devil is incredible. He is both genuinely scary, funny, cute, traditional, and new ALL. AT. ONCE. Plus what a treat are those absolutely ROCKING OUT evil tree root minions of his! The way they are summoned and de-summoned, just simply reeks of evil, but it feels natural and part of the all-devouring mindless cycles of nature. You don't really know if they are actually FROM Hell or they are just the Devil's magic spreading into his surroundings for show. But I mean when was the last time you saw a typical red-horned devil with TEETH THAT BIG? Or riding a bicycle? WITH ROAD GOGGLES on? It's just....everything I love in a character design, I have seen here. Plus is it just me, or does he kind of look like Tom Waits when he isn't smiling?? Knowing Primus, that could be very likely not just a coincidence- www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4OhIU…

And now before #1 here are THE HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Marceline's Dad from 'Adventure Time' www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEasX…

Not exactly Satan, but he's just about there. They never really explain if the NightOSphere is actually a realm for the evil souls of the dead, or just a separate alien dimension that LOOKS like Hell. One of the coolest 'true forms' for a demon/vampire/whatever it is king, he is something between a giant Lovecraft being, a parasite, a talking vagina, and an ass. He's also not the only evil satan who ultimately only cares about raising their little pumpkin (at their expense) I seen, so the joke is kinda meh to me, but he's certainly memorable.

Devil from 'Silly Symphonies: 4 Hell's Bells' www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow-qil…

The oldest here, this black and white Silly Symphony is from 1929 when it was a much simpler time and cartoons were a lot closer to brief music videos and not much else. This Devil is SO basic and simple, he has charm. I LOVE that old scratchy Golden Age cartoon 'bad guy laugh' he has most.

Satan from South Park - 'Bigger Longer & UnCut' www.youtube.com/watch?annotati…

I was not a huge fan of South Park until pretty recent- I don't know how much presence Satan had prior to the film. But he had a very unique fleshed out role and has continued to be entertaining past that. In the film, Satan exists in a pretty boss Hell, and runs a good operation- but he's trapped in a toxic romance with Saddam Hussein. He learns to develop self respect, and grows courage to finally stop taking Saddam's shit, ultimately killing him. He gets a grand song number, similar to many a Disney 'I want more' song by a princess. He wants more than just torture, but evil still lies in his nature and he's conflicted. The Devil for South Park still seems to whenever I see him again return back to this 'princessy' role, though when I say princessy (is that even a word?) the devil here is no pansy. He just talks and acts like an emotional teenage girl, always expecting to get what he wants, and when he doesn't, it confuses and frustrates him usually to violence. But he's often mature enough to eventually figure things out all for himself through openly honest dialogue, if not with a little help from Kenny and friends. An unusual, amusingly honest, and silly devil, but with just enough badassness and machismo to bring some threat into his......threat. Not really a big fan of him though. He's just interesting and famous enough for mention.

Hades from Disney's 'Hercules' - www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxdDZ…

James Woods is so awesome. But he can't make the list- Hades is in real Greek myth the Lord of the Dead, but isn't so much a cruel tempter as just a lonely fellow stuck with a boring necessary job in a dark land of gloom and endless gems. He's more a god of the LITERAL underground where spirits wander as confused ghosts, which was often common as an idea of the afterlife before Judeo-Christian time. Tartarus was kind of like Hell guarded by Cerberus a 3-headed dog, but Hades also had rule over the Elysium Fields, which was like Heaven too. So he neither is techically good or bad, just stuck with the dead of all sorts, and hated his job because of how lonely it is. He'd sometimes provide heroes with good tools or advice, and aside Persephone Hades never played much of a 'villain' role, he even let her go out of pity. That changed with Disney's 'Hercules' where he pines to take over the cosmos. Hades has everything nearly down on the list of a 'devil' that only increases when adapted to the 90's TV show as seen here...Firey temper, firey powers, a mean-spirited attitude to the dead, servile imps, and enjoys making corrupt deals with heroes in our story. He lusts to mess with people...yet he's not ACTUALLY the PERSONIFICATION of 'Evil'...he's just a bad guy. While Hades is fighting against Zeus, Zeus is no avatar for the forces of Good even in this story, Zeus is plain to be kind of a jerk, and Hades isn't so much bent on Evil just for the sake of it, its because he's got ulterior motives. He's has finally had enough taking his brother's shit, being left out of the party on Mount Olympus. It's a classic 'sick with your lot so take things for yourself' villain. Not a nice guy, but not really so much a literal deity of Evil as a omnipotent deity of chaotic selfish nature. He's also not the only god of Greek myth OR this tv show to take manipulative advantage of others, in fact its kind of a thing ALL Olympian gods do at least once in a while, so maybe it just runs in the family tree. It's also weird to consider Hades the Devil, when one of the other major Pagan influences of the 'classical' devil is seen alongside him in Phil the satyr, a representative of the mischievous male fertility nature god 'Pan', from which we get the words 'panic' and 'pandemonium!'

Cronk's voices from Disney's 'The Emperor's New Groove' www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5n-X…
No myths here. These guys are only shoulder-voices, but just the funniest ever.

And here it is. Rest your souls at ease, your wordy torture is finally done!!!-

#1 ) THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, from 'The Adventures of Mark Twain' www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpaRou…

Yes. This guy. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY. YOU ALL KNOW WHY. He is terrifying. He is one of the creepiest not just Satans, just THINGS ever, in any kind of media. There's a reason people on Youtube use him as clickbait. There's a reason it was banned from the air. There's a reason nobody will ever come close to this kind of thing ever again. It isn't just the fact alone he's so unique and creepy looking. Or the fact that he has such a soft and disturbingly alluring voice. The symbolism of all that he represents, is terrifying and hits home, equally as an adult or a child. Everything that he does to the sentient little dolls is so horrifying, because we can see ourselves reflected there. We see more than in any instance what Evil is really about, and more-over, what SUFFERING is, in what the Devil does to those he manipulates. Although many of these incarnatons we've seen here show the Devil in some way or another tormenting, even KILLING his prisoners or minions sometimes, this is the only time we see him really put anyone through actual MISERY. His minions tend to react with a sort of oblivious stupidity or glee at being destroyed, while usually the prisoner souls tend to just groan and sound like they have a headache, or cut a jib. These guys who are only for a DEMONSTRATION, actually feel grief, rage, and pain. Pain at not knowing WHY some higher power would do this to them. And the Devil doesn't do this because he thinks this is funny. Not because he is simply evil, or sadistic- he is NOT AWARE of what Evil actually IS. And as he does not grasp the concept of Evil, he says he does not need to understand the concept of REGRET. This is by far probably the best summary of what most kinds of human evil actually is. We do not do terrible things most of the time because we know they are bad, we act out in bigotry, in cruelty, in selfishness, because we see it as NORMAL or RIGHT! If we see there is no reason NOT to be ignorant, there isn't any reason to care about others needs and mature. And when one person like this raises a child or a sibling or a pupil to feel this way, we only perpetuate that evil, without even knowing.

....So I hope next time that you all think about depictions of evil in your artwork and stories, instead of just trying to come up with the worst amalgorithim of different animals and monster body parts you can think of, you also might take a long good hard look in the mirror. Cos there's no denying we're all a LITTLE BIT evil on the inside....

*turns flashlight shining on her face off*

Or you could try looking at some soccer moms or something. They're very creepy looking.

Description
Disclaimer: All animation belongs to subsequent creators/estate. Title art is copyright to ~Abbinurmel aka my art DA ~lainwiththedevil. Abbinurmel doesn't condone the cool practice of summoning the Dark One and will not be held responsible for your soul. PLEASE no Evangelism, faith-bashing, or 'you-ain't-no-mythology-scholar!' flame-wars in the comments. People are allowed what they want and I don't have literally any real opinions on Satan/God the same way I don't have any opinions on staplers, the alphabet, or the color Beige...I'd like it to stay that way.

Happy Post-Halloween everybody! Boy I love the Devil. By that I don't mean by in any terms of actual worship- I mean that the Devil is such a great FUN arechetype to work with in stories! Since Man came up with the idea of a personifcation of Evil there've been 100s of many colorful fascinating forms. Some are jerks, some are fair and even have a code, some want to punish the Wicked, some only want to hurt the Good. Some are lame goofballs who suck at their job, others are suave or terrifying monstrosities who will keep you on the straight and narrow out of fear of being dragged into Hell. The Devil has been a prominent character in Animation since the very begining of it, so lets have a look at some the fiend's coolest forms- WELCOME TO THE TOP 13 ANIMATED DEVILS!!...cos 13 is a badass number, don't ask why.

Some rules first: it MUST BE THE ACTUAL DEVIL. Not a unique villain who simply wears horns or makes twisted bargains, like Ursula or Maleficent. NOT the Grim Reaper, a demon servant, occultist, monster or cult that serves Hell. No 'shoulder-angel' voices of Temptation, not the snake who persuades Adam and Eve, not a boogeyman, hobgoblin, gargoyle, imp, or any creature who might bear a pitchfork or look like the classic devil with goat beard and wings...it has to be explicitly stated THE Devil. As in the main guy who rules Hell and tortures souls/makes deals for them. NOT just any mean trickster or someone who rules any old land 'Of the Dead'. It has to be HELL, as in fire and brimstone, demons and torturing souls because they were wicked while alive. See, there's so many variations both in folklore and modern stories, we have to have some rules to keep things simple. That's why I am sticking with the most modern but 'classical' version of the stereotyped devil. Even the Bible itself doesn't adhere truly to where our 'mainstream' devil comes from but this is about Animation here and animation generally reflects the Devil within a few very certain characteristics and motives.
So here we go, say it with me now kids: SIX SIX SIX! SEX SEX SEX! BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!! ILLUMINATI! BOOOOOOO! AHM SCARY!

13) Disney's Silly Symphony 'The Goddess of Spring' www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdLGZI…

This devil bears close resemblance to old Victorian art and is part of the story of Persephone, taking place of Hades in a hammy classical style. He has a theatrical design, and a nice operatic voice. This short is one of Disney's early tests of realistic human animation before 'Snow White'. See how awkward the bodies are, they haven't broken out of that traditional 1930's rubbery 'Betty Boop' era look. But you also can see in places that they studied real live actors and are trying here their best, even if it does dive right into the Uncanny Valley. In a way I actually like those bizarre fluid hands the Devil has, they make him more 'demon'. Beelzy also like the real legend of Hades is nice enough to offer Persephone her freedom, so long as she returns back every couple of months. He is not even much cruel to her, but tries to woo her with diamonds and vows of loyalty, just like the real myth or stalker. Despite that, this guy isn't the Greek god Hades. He's blatantly SATAN, thanks to the firey pits, the gleeful demons joyous at someone's misery, down to the way he dresses. Also note how frequently Hell, the pit of Damnation, tends to get portrayed like some kind of fun nightclub in these early cartoons. Flames are changing colors, people playing keyboard and dancing and singing everywhere...not too shabby is it?

12) THE REALLY ANGRY ONE! from 'Animaniacs!' www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR4OOt…

This devil gets just so much laughs. He's not funny like some silly devils are because he's wimpy, but because of how damn actually imposing and awesomely badass he really is- and the Warners STILL manage to get him out-hammed! Torturing Saddam Hussein with god knows what (which is a bit awkwardly uncomfortable, as the man was not actually dead yet back then...I'm not sure if this makes it better or worse than South Park's example, since this was a KID'S cartoon, and he was probably at the height of his atrocity then...) Subjecting the Warners to things like 'Whiny protest songs from the 60s!', this truly is a force of evil to reckon with. Unless you're a zany god-modding cartoon character that is.

11) The Devil from 'God, The Devil and Bob' www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VYlig…

This heavily under-rated show was hated by many for being 'sacriligeous' but really it's one of the most tamest adult-oriented animated shows I've seen. Not tame as in bland, just tame in that I've seen my boyfriend binge watch almost the entire series and there was MAYBE one tiny instance of BLOOD in it. MAYBE, I can't even remember. There is barely any cursing or gross crass offensive material. God is represented in most episodes as overall kind, wise, laid-back, and wanting to be loving of mankind, just not sure if he did it the right way the first time. In the first episode, God is tired of endless suffering and evils of man, and decides to investigate the life of a single human to see if they can teach him anything about why keeping mankind alive is worthwhile. The Devil to be fair gets to have his pick of who that representative for all humanity is, and that everyman is Bob. Satan and God share a very unique interesting relationship here: In this show they are like 2 brothers or old world-weary friends, with the Devil being rather needy and neurotic in a very similar to 'The Monarch' way from Venture Brothers, and God being the more mellow and understanding one. He accepts that the Devil is evil, and the Devil accepts that God is good... He's much more frustrated about not having God's RECOGNITION more than anything else! In one episode, when the Devil gets pissed that God forgot his birthday (yet again!) Satan decides to remove all evil from the world, which has actually worse consequences than you might think! God and Satan BOTH need to exist in this show, and instead of battling each other they run the world in balance. The Devil is also LAVENDAR which is pretty odd, and BRITISH in an otherwise all-American voice cast, which is not odd at all....for some reason. No honestly, why DO evil characters tend to be British?? Is there something we have against them? I really don't think so, I just think it's just cos sounds cool and intellectual, but...why is that?? Anyway The Devil often tries to sway and corrupt Bob and his family, but generally he is treated like he's an annoyance, and an annoyance who is NOT actually your rival or fearsome nemisis but like that 'friend' you can never get rid of just because you feel sorry for them, or maybe THEY feel sorry for YOU. The best thing about him would probably be his right-hand henchman demon Smeck....(Oh my god...SMECK....DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THAT NAME!?) Smeck is an adorable hapless minion who often suffers comedic slapstick gold, but in spite of being punished all the time he still is faithful and concerned for his master. Awww. I love when a Devil or evil master has a servant who cares about them. It's so sweet and tragic, I wish we'd have more tales from a loyal loving minion's point of view instead of a villain's one.

10) Flanders Devil from 'Treehouse of Horror, The Simpsons' www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ZcZ2…

The concept of Flanders as THE DEVIL is hilarious. It's just one of the funniest ironic things the Simpsons ever did. Satan made many appearances on the Simpsons, but he didn't always look like him, and I think this is his best moment ever. I like how they actually have in this hell an "Ironic Punishment" department, like, they are just that blunt with it. This disturbing force-feeding punishment is lifted straight out of an old disturbing Porky Pig cartoon, Moe Sizlak-like creepster demon and all! Of course for Homer it ain't no big deal. It's probably his idea of Heaven if anything. What adds to Flander's devil charm is the fact he COULD be actually not look like Flanders but a lot more terrifying, but he just CHOOSES to stay as Flanders to keep Homer upset. I also love the casual exchange of 'Hello Bart!', 'Hey Satan.' he gets in at seeing him. What's the history between those two?? I'VE GOT TO KNOOOOOW!

9) Mr. Itch, from 'Pinky and the Brain's Halloween Special' www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2xOXO…

....Hmm-hmm, hmm, hm-HMMM...hm-hm, hm, HMM-HMMMM....sorry. Caught a tune in my head. What was I doing? Oh right, wasting life. This was a grand special! It might earn its own review someday! Mr. Itch is a Satan of the 'Faustian' variety, a much more sly and casual charming schemer than overt evil overlord. I love how Italian godfather this guy is, and how smoothly he's dressed. I also love how right off the bat he VERY NEARLY hypnotizes Brain into signing his contract. He's that persuasive, even with a strong-minded mouse like Brain is. What's so awful about this guy is he didn't go after Brain endlessly after he rejects him- Instead, he plays with his emotions by taking passive-aggressive attention to PINKY instead, guilt-tripping him into SACRIFICING his soul for Brain's sake! Awww. That's so sad. Pinky is tortured mercilessly, but Mr. Itch can't break him because he enjoys it too much. Brain eventually gives up his greatest dream come true for the sake of rescuing his friend, by braving the dangers of the DMV (tis a silly place...) and Satan only loses his bet all because he didn't deliver on his wish, to give Pinky a 'Radish-Rose-Whatchamahoozit'. Just a ton of fun Devil character and one of the best Halloween cartoon specials that requires a lot more praise.

8) Robot Devil from 'Futurama' www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z_zqO…

I think out of all Matt Groening's characters, next to Sideshow Bob Robot Devil is my favorite of his creations. He's SO hysterical and hammy I need a delicatessan to hold him. He's got a fantastic singing voice, and a spectacular tribute to character players like Hans Conried. Bender is almost never really intimidated or out-conned by anyone-....but Robot Devil might be his closest match. Bender's hell for robots sounds just as unpleasant and agonizing as it would be for any human. I love how RD doesn't mind dealing with humans as much he does robots, and even plots to marry Leela! There's certainly no need for any real philosophical gazing at one's navels to consider if robots even HAVE a soul in this universe is there? He's just pure awesome, and main reason he probably isn't lower is I wish he showed up more frequently for longer periods of time.

7) Big Pete as the 3rd Ghost from 'Mickey's Christmas Carol' www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su_lu7…

It may seem cheating as this isn't blatantly Satan. It's the Ghost of Christmas Future from Disney's take on 'A Christmas Carol'. Almost every version of that tale, even modern spoofs, seems to agree that the 3rd Ghost is Death. Literally Death. It's just a grim reaper to show you what will happen after you are gone and how you'll be remembered. The motive is more of a mechanical assignment than having any vested interest in your soul. In fact it almost never talks or shows any emotion or desire for Good or Evil at all. It's usually a very neutral character, very robotic and gray, not traditionally very devil-like at all which is normally bright red and bombastic.
It's always chilling how quiet and detached the 3rd Spirit is. In the normal tale, Scrooge despairs at how empty his life has been and begs for a 2nd chance at the 3rd Ghost's feet seeing that nobody cares about his death and Tiny Tim will perish if he is not helped. ....Here, this is QUITE something else: Big Pete at first does not do any talking like a traditional 3rd Dickens ghost, and appears in what looks like a brown robe with his face not seen by the audience. Then he does something different-...Instead of Scrooge finding his own name on the gravestone like usually he'll do, HE reveals it FOR him- with a match. With FIRE. After the big name reveal, he lights up a cigar with the match, revealing his face which is grinning. Pete mocks him, and then SHOVES EBENEZER RIGHT INTO HIS GRAVE WHILE CACKLING. After that, the sky and Pete's robes turn bright red. As if it weren't enough symbolism, the coffin underneath him suddenly opens up to reveal fire and smoke with Scrooge pleading "NO! NO! NO!" and hanging on for his damn life. It's pretty obvious this guy is Satan- They just will not say it. Pete here definitely wants him to die, and WANTS him to go to Hell, or at least gets a very sick amusement out of Scrooge's pure terror. I love that they didn't need that exposition here, they let the atmosphere and the panic speak for itself. Much as I love the original 3rd Ghost of 'A Christmas Carol', there's something about the intensity of this ending that really proves you to believe he's been scared straight a lot more than the others.
It even used to scare me quite a bit as a very little kid.

6) The Imposter/Real Deal from Jonathan Wojcik's 'The Fear Hole, episode 8' www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEasX…

The devil here is actually up till the end only the MANIFESTATION OF THE IDEA of the 'Devil'. OUR idea of the Devil is when you think about it rather silly.
And he is absolutely hysterical. One of the most adorable things I seen in ages. I love it when sincerely he tries to pull the whole 'seduction of Faust' act, and is still so goofy at it. THE ACTUAL Devil who comes along to place a 'cease and desist' order might just be one of the worst things to enter your nightmares. What's nice is to see a FEMALE actual Satan pregnant with the unholy spawn of...evil...and the sheer aura of pain and horror. It's in the details: Eyes just floating there, the halo of thorns, the screams and wails in the air along with the overlayed footage of terror...That is actually one of the smartest best ways to depict something pure unearthly and unbearably evil in our presense, and I am so dissappointed it takes a guy with a Halloween website and not a big budget Hollywood director to think of a devil this creative. The day Mr. Wojcik manages to get a contract to get 'Fear Hole' to go on adultswim I know I can die happy.

5) Robot in the sequence called 'Nightmare' from 'Robot Carnival' www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxrTbj…

By far and large, this Devil has my favorite MUSIC THEME of all time. This devil is so badass he made me recede my original 'no anime' rule. No animes as Japan seems to run a whole Devil GENRE. There's WAY more 'humanoid' Satans than 'Devil' Satans though, and interestingly, being Satan in manga/anime half the time is actually a TITLE you inherit like superpowers or royalty. There are I know a LOT of devils out there in Japanese media, and it almost became too daunting. The majority of them overall however are to some major degree very boringly humanoid. Demonic MINIONS can get crazy but for some reason true Beelzebub's tend to look like Sephiroth. This guy on the other hand does not. Although we don't know what his Biblical alliances are, there's something unmistakably 'wrong' about him that intends to sow chaos and destruction from the start. It's clear his top dog doesn't have any softness for humanity anyway, and looks like they well intend to swarm the earth. Robo-Satan acts without mercy as he grinds up living servant demons to make bigger ones and kills the prototype first wife they build him only because she is ugly; like many of the other animated devils, his army of minions all seem to be caught in the middle an awesome revelry. So for all metaphorical and literal purposes, this guy pretty much IS the Devil. Even though from what I can tell, I have no idea how evil or physically real he even is. But everything about this guy in terms of atmosphere is pure hellish and alien. There's something about him that is so much worse than just a regular giant mecha, it makes you quake in dread. He is nothing like any of the other robots seen throughout this anthology. There is something here distinctly not part of this earth that tells you he is NOT made by any scientist or alien inventor. We have no idea where he comes from. How he can hypnotize machinery to his whim, why do none of the people living in the city overall take any notice of his presence? Why does he have 'demon' robots trying to build him a wife at all? Why does the sunlight vanquish him? We don't have any idea. It's kind of disturbing how he almost looks like an BDSM figure with a ballgag in his mouth, or how his entire body is always crawling over with moving pieces or minions. I could easily picture that there is a literal living Hell INSIDE this guy, like a factory or junkyard inhabited by thousands more. The animation here is strongly borrowing from Fantasia's 'Night on Bald Mountain' (don't worry, it's coming...) and Ichabod Crane of 'Sleepy Hollow.' There's kind of a symbolic tone here both in terms of Japanese youkai folklore (where ordinary objects like umbrellas have 'souls' of their own) and the way the environment of Japan is ever increasingly overrun by urban sprawl. In a way it's all the questions that go unanswered that really make this being feel evil, and worthy of being called a Devil. It takes a brilliant mind to take something tangible in reality, like a robot, and still make it feel spiritual and terrifying.

4) Chernabog from 'Night on Bald Mountain sequence of Fantasia' www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLCuL-…

You all knew he was coming. I feel awful not making him be number one as he's such a legend, but I just managed to find other Devils I liked even more over the years. Sorry big guy. Your silence is menacing, and I approve of it a WHOLE lot more than if you ever made any kind of sound, but it's hard to like a guy who kind of...doesn't do or say anything except BE scary, over an actual CHARACTER in a narrative, you know? This is still saying a HUGE lot. It is unfathomable, my love for this sequence now. It is probably one of my favorite Disney characters and Disney things EVER, as it is Disney at its most dark, most unhinged, most purest evil, all for the sake of pure atmosphere and beauty. Yes, this sequence is BEAUTIFUL. He is purest Satan at its most classic literary essence. Based on the model reference of Bela Legosi, lovingly animated, gorgeous threatening music, color, stunning atmosphere and backgrounds...why is he not number 1!? He should be, since he terrified the pants off me as a kid to the point every time 'Dance of the Hours' ended (the part with the ballerina hippos and ostriches) I'd rush to the VCR and hit the eject button as swift as possible. I was THAT scared by it. My poor little mind had been exposed to NIPPLES. HARPY NIPPLES!!!! Which is silly, cos I'd grown up with a fine artist dad who painted nudes, but don't ask me about logic. I was more scared by how many skeletons there were in this scene, a huge silly phobia I had as a child, but I was also disturbed by how sickeningly cruel this Chernabog was. Always twisting and crushing his demon forms, only to apathetically hurl them back into fire. This still gives me chills, and after watching it so many times, and knowing I still am going to be long after, a tiny part of me almost misses being able to be hide-under the blankets scared from this...just a little.

3) B. L. Zeebub, from 'The Devil and Daniel Mouse' www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZTC1…

If the late master Tony Jay, the voice of Megabyte from 'Reboot', Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame's' Judge Claude Frollo, Wraith from 'The Mighty Ducks' and 'The Transformers' Megatron, isn't actually what the voice of Old Scratch sounds like whenever I go down to Hell someday I AM GOING TO BE VERY DISAPPOINTED! He is too perfect as a villain. This Devil is quite interesting. I don't mind the tall skinny Beelz, but I REALLY approve of the morbidly fat variety much more. It makes them so much more a symbol for hedonistic wealthy excess and greed...Plus there's just something more I don't know...intimidating about large fat villains than the prissy skinny kind. This guy is a dangerous shapeshifter but even in regular form he's kind of scary. His sidekick Wheez takes a lot of the scare out of him, but he's sure a lot of fun. It's unique how he is dressed in all WHITE instead of red or black, and I like how he looks more like a coroporate businessman or a smarmy modern day tv-evangelism scam artist than a wizard or something. There's almost a kind of hideous barely implied 'rape' threat with him eerily near at the end when he comes for Jan's soul. He even makes kissy faces, and calls her 'my little dumpliiing...' Ew! Unpleasant, deliciously skeezy, and just the right amount of sticking to the Old Codes but rage for being caged inside them for a perfect Devil. He has weakness being confined to certain rules, but you can tell very easily a LOT of the rules he just upholds for appearance. He could probably snap his fingers and say 'fuck you all' and reduce everyone to ashes. But that would not be as much fun and he could probably not get away with much more stuff after that. A bit of trivia, if you're a Bauhaus fan, one of their tracks on 'Swing The Heartache' called 'Party of the First Part' uses audio from this film. In fact I'd heard the song before I watched this many years later, I had no idea of it's existence, I thought the samples came from an old black and white movie, or always pictured some goth 80s Siouxsie looking chick in a live action camp-horror film. Not until I watched the movie 'Rock and Rule' and learned of its origins this was the short that inspired it. It has not dampened the darkness or imagery from the track though, and knowing the track only enhances the Devil in this for me. If you want to hear the song here it is- www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwQRp…

2) Devil from 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' cover by Primus www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9uk9I…

It isn't fair probably to make him so high as I am a huge Primus fan, and I REALLY prefer this cover (for a ton reasons) HUGELY to the original song. It isn't superficial fandom alone. The reason Primus' cover works so well is it has tons more personality, tons more atmosphere, tons more darkness to the stakes...and tons more ROCK in it. But outside the music this video is gorgeous. That stop-motion is pure gold ambrosia for my eyeballs. This Devil is incredible. He is both genuinely scary, funny, cute, traditional, and new ALL. AT. ONCE. Plus what a treat are those absolutely ROCKING OUT evil tree root minions of his! The way they are summoned and de-summoned, just simply reeks of evil, but it feels natural and part of the all-devouring mindless cycles of nature. You don't really know if they are actually FROM Hell or they are just the Devil's magic spreading into his surroundings for show. But I mean when was the last time you saw a typical red-horned devil with TEETH THAT BIG? Or riding a bicycle? WITH ROAD GOGGLES on? It's just....everything I love in a character design, I have seen here. Plus is it just me, or does he kind of look like Tom Waits when he isn't smiling?? Knowing Primus, that could be very likely not just a coincidence- www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4OhIU…

And now before #1 here are THE HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Marceline's Dad from 'Adventure Time' www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEasX…

Not exactly Satan, but he's just about there. They never really explain if the NightOSphere is actually a realm for the evil souls of the dead, or just a separate alien dimension that LOOKS like Hell. One of the coolest 'true forms' for a demon/vampire/whatever it is king, he is something between a giant Lovecraft being, a parasite, a talking vagina, and an ass. He's also not the only evil satan who ultimately only cares about raising their little pumpkin (at their expense) I seen, so the joke is kinda meh to me, but he's certainly memorable.

Devil from 'Silly Symphonies: 4 Hell's Bells' www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow-qil…

The oldest here, this black and white Silly Symphony is from 1929 when it was a much simpler time and cartoons were a lot closer to brief music videos and not much else. This Devil is SO basic and simple, he has charm. I LOVE that old scratchy Golden Age cartoon 'bad guy laugh' he has most.

Satan from South Park - 'Bigger Longer & UnCut' www.youtube.com/watch?annotati…

I was not a huge fan of South Park until pretty recent- I don't know how much presence Satan had prior to the film. But he had a very unique fleshed out role and has continued to be entertaining past that. In the film, Satan exists in a pretty boss Hell, and runs a good operation- but he's trapped in a toxic romance with Saddam Hussein. He learns to develop self respect, and grows courage to finally stop taking Saddam's shit, ultimately killing him. He gets a grand song number, similar to many a Disney 'I want more' song by a princess. He wants more than just torture, but evil still lies in his nature and he's conflicted. The Devil for South Park still seems to whenever I see him again return back to this 'princessy' role, though when I say princessy (is that even a word?) the devil here is no pansy. He just talks and acts like an emotional teenage girl, always expecting to get what he wants, and when he doesn't, it confuses and frustrates him usually to violence. But he's often mature enough to eventually figure things out all for himself through openly honest dialogue, if not with a little help from Kenny and friends. An unusual, amusingly honest, and silly devil, but with just enough badassness and machismo to bring some threat into his......threat. Not really a big fan of him though. He's just interesting and famous enough for mention.

Hades from Disney's 'Hercules' - www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxdDZ…

James Woods is so awesome. But he can't make the list- Hades is in real Greek myth the Lord of the Dead, but isn't so much a cruel tempter as just a lonely fellow stuck with a boring necessary job in a dark land of gloom and endless gems. He's more a god of the LITERAL underground where spirits wander as confused ghosts, which was often common as an idea of the afterlife before Judeo-Christian time. Tartarus was kind of like Hell guarded by Cerberus a 3-headed dog, but Hades also had rule over the Elysium Fields, which was like Heaven too. So he neither is techically good or bad, just stuck with the dead of all sorts, and hated his job because of how lonely it is. He'd sometimes provide heroes with good tools or advice, and aside Persephone Hades never played much of a 'villain' role, he even let her go out of pity. That changed with Disney's 'Hercules' where he pines to take over the cosmos. Hades has everything nearly down on the list of a 'devil' that only increases when adapted to the 90's TV show as seen here...Firey temper, firey powers, a mean-spirited attitude to the dead, servile imps, and enjoys making corrupt deals with heroes in our story. He lusts to mess with people...yet he's not ACTUALLY the PERSONIFICATION of 'Evil'...he's just a bad guy. While Hades is fighting against Zeus, Zeus is no avatar for the forces of Good even in this story, Zeus is plain to be kind of a jerk, and Hades isn't so much bent on Evil just for the sake of it, its because he's got ulterior motives. He's has finally had enough taking his brother's shit, being left out of the party on Mount Olympus. It's a classic 'sick with your lot so take things for yourself' villain. Not a nice guy, but not really so much a literal deity of Evil as a omnipotent deity of chaotic selfish nature. He's also not the only god of Greek myth OR this tv show to take manipulative advantage of others, in fact its kind of a thing ALL Olympian gods do at least once in a while, so maybe it just runs in the family tree. It's also weird to consider Hades the Devil, when one of the other major Pagan influences of the 'classical' devil is seen alongside him in Phil the satyr, a representative of the mischievous male fertility nature god 'Pan', from which we get the words 'panic' and 'pandemonium!'

Cronk's voices from Disney's 'The Emperor's New Groove' www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5n-X…
No myths here. These guys are only shoulder-voices, but just the funniest ever.

And here it is. Rest your souls at ease, your wordy torture is finally done!!!-

#1 ) THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, from 'The Adventures of Mark Twain' www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpaRou…

Yes. This guy. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY. YOU ALL KNOW WHY. He is terrifying. He is one of the creepiest not just Satans, just THINGS ever, in any kind of media. There's a reason people on Youtube use him as clickbait. There's a reason it was banned from the air. There's a reason nobody will ever come close to this kind of thing ever again. It isn't just the fact alone he's so unique and creepy looking. Or the fact that he has such a soft and disturbingly alluring voice. The symbolism of all that he represents, is terrifying and hits home, equally as an adult or a child. Everything that he does to the sentient little dolls is so horrifying, because we can see ourselves reflected there. We see more than in any instance what Evil is really about, and more-over, what SUFFERING is, in what the Devil does to those he manipulates. Although many of these incarnatons we've seen here show the Devil in some way or another tormenting, even KILLING his prisoners or minions sometimes, this is the only time we see him really put anyone through actual MISERY. His minions tend to react with a sort of oblivious stupidity or glee at being destroyed, while usually the prisoner souls tend to just groan and sound like they have a headache, or cut a jib. These guys who are only for a DEMONSTRATION, actually feel grief, rage, and pain. Pain at not knowing WHY some higher power would do this to them. And the Devil doesn't do this because he thinks this is funny. Not because he is simply evil, or sadistic- he is NOT AWARE of what Evil actually IS. And as he does not grasp the concept of Evil, he says he does not need to understand the concept of REGRET. This is by far probably the best summary of what most kinds of human evil actually is. We do not do terrible things most of the time because we know they are bad, we act out in bigotry, in cruelty, in selfishness, because we see it as NORMAL or RIGHT! If we see there is no reason NOT to be ignorant, there isn't any reason to care about others needs and mature. And when one person like this raises a child or a sibling or a pupil to feel this way, we only perpetuate that evil, without even knowing.

....So I hope next time that you all think about depictions of evil in your artwork and stories, instead of just trying to come up with the worst amalgorithim of different animals and monster body parts you can think of, you also might take a long good hard look in the mirror. Cos there's no denying we're all a LITTLE BIT evil on the inside....

*turns flashlight shining on her face off*

Or you could try looking at some soccer moms or something. They're very creepy looking.