Almost always, the Devil is depicted as a hideous creature with horns and a pointy tail. The frightening aspects are intended to portray the devil as a creature of evil. He will sneak around and plot against human beings and sometimes even make deals with them. I don't have a problem with them depicting the Devil like this at all; however, I do believe that it is quite distant from the truth.
A common trope in fairy tales is that he will make a deal with you in exchange for your soul. I don't know about you, but if a horned, red-skinned creature who talks like Tim Curry tried to make a deal with me, I would be less than enthusiastic about it. These writers often try to promote the idea that the ends justify the means. They swallow back the idea that the Devil is ugly, and take the deal anyways for their benefit. Where the latter may be true for some people, I see a far more powerful deal-maker if he is beautiful in form.
The Devil is almost never portrayed as a pretty boy in old fairy tales. They do sometimes remove the monstrosities from his form, but they still will give him the looks of an old man or something less than pretty. Once again, that is fine. The idea is for you to be against this character. Just remember that in real life, that is very likely a falsehood.
It seems to be a far more realistic thing that the Devil, namely Satan, is a very beautiful man. A sort of Fabio type. He is very charming and friendly. His mannerisms are calm and lovely. It is a very hard thing to deny him anything. Unfortunately, he is quite good at putting on facades. He is so good at it that if you actually knew who he was and what he was up to, your efforts to get one over him would still fail. He is simply that convincing.
Evil is not always ugly on the outside. Fairy tales tend to paint a darker picture of these creatures so that you can see them more easily. As long as you understand that they are doing that. Don't get lost in the sensationalism of the Devil when the real one is a bit more subtle.
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Yes, the bottom picture is the more accurate depiction of the real devil. Even this one should be staring the viewer right in the eye, however, and with a reassuring smile.
ReplyDeleteWell, you would be surprised how hard it was to google a Lucifer that didn't look like the ugly ones.
DeleteI do like how you distinguish between the real devil and his inaccurate portrayals. As a writer you would probably use the false version to represent petty evil. I doubt you would care to represent the real Devil in anything you imagine.
ReplyDeleteThey have their place in fantasy fiction. Monsters are fun to write for.
DeleteIf the devil was portrayed as attractive and charming, then so many would not recognize him as the villain. That is why he has the horns and the pitchfork: to remind us that this is the bad guy. That just proves to me how strong his influence really is.
ReplyDeleteIn this form he is a monster however that is not such a bad thing in fiction. Monsters are cool.
DeleteI can't remember ever reading a story that actually got the Devil right visually but sometimes they come close to capturing his nature. The father of lies uses the emotions of the masses to great effect, vanity is his favorite plaything. I love that this spotlight shines a light on the true form of the Devil.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the movie Legend that was not really Satan as much as it was a very powerful monster. At the same time it was also Satan as viewed by unrealistic people.
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