The Devil
- For the in-game character, see The Devil.
"♫ In case you ain't heard, I'm the Devil.
I'm a real low down, not on the level.
They call me Old Scratch, Mr. S, the Big D.
I'm the king of the underworld, yeah it's great to be me. ♫"
—The Devil singing about himself, Carn-Evil
"You have taken something of great value to me, so I shall take something of great value to you."
—The Devil taking Mugman away
The Devil is the main antagonist of The Cuphead Show!.
Profile
Appearance
The Devil's design for The Cuphead Show! remains more or less the same, with only a few stylistic changes made. In addition to now always shown as having a tail, his nose has gained a red flush along with having longer yellow horns instead of white horns, and the red irises he is only occasionally depicted with in-game are now a permanent part of his design. His fur is softer and less scruffy and has also gained a slight blue tint. Two more notable differences from his in-game counterpart are that he shows a bit of fat and his ears are a bit longer and spikier.
While the Devil is essentially naked, he is briefly seen wearing a white tailcoat with a matching top hat, white spats, and a red bow tie during his song in "Carn-Evil". Clothed or not, he goes barefoot throughout the episodes. In "Sweater Off Dead", he's briefly seen wearing a party hat. In "Release the Demons!", he briefly appears having apparently just gotten out of the shower, draped in two pink towels, one around his body (and held up to his chest) and one around his head (or, more accurately, his horns).
Personality
The Devil is manipulative, evil, flamboyant, and has an obsession with collecting souls. He is more jolly and playful than he is in the game, and behaves in a more sassy and childish manner. In "Carn-Evil", he gleefully sings about how great it is to be him, how he adores being a naughty bully to the Isles' locals, and that collecting the inhabitants' souls is his favourite hobby. He also shows a sarcastic side after seeing Cuphead play Soul-Ball without losing the game and his soul, calling him a show-off. Through this, it is also implied that he has a hatred for exhibitionists in general. However, he can be very intimidating as seen in "Roll the Dice" when he threatens King Dice after his failure. His temper is violent and (literally) explosive, able to easily level the entire carnival without even really trying to and capable of letting off a huge explosion of fire that levels an entire stretch of forest, but he tends to calm down or get distracted as fast as he gets angry, just in time for something else to make him mad. Another example of his rage is shown in "Release the Demons!", where he accidentally (and casually) kills several of his demons during his tantrums about how Cuphead irritates him alone, showing his terrifying amount of power. In the second season, the Devil’s hatred of Cuphead becomes more intense, to the point where just talking about him is enough for him to have explosive bursts of anger. He also becomes more bad-tempered and wrathful in general, including towards other demons such as Henchman and Stickler.
At the same time, the Devil is rather comically conceited. He is incredibly prideful of himself, believing he'll always win and get what he wants in the end. This pride is what leads to his failures in both the game and the show. In "Sweater Off Dead", he throws himself a celebration because of how well he's running his operation, and sees their most productive year as being because of his hard work and dedication, giving no credit to his employees who did the actual heavy lifting. He's evil and wants others to know it, threatening Henchman in his song to make sure that the other demon agrees he's "a real naughty boy". He also takes great pride when the residents of Inkwell Isle scream and run away at the sight of him. While he's no less dangerous, he's played much less seriously in the series than he was in the game, being much more overtly pompous and bombastic. The start of the series has him retain his fearsome reputation, with the Cup Brothers outright panicking when they see him and the citizens of Inkwell Isles running away in terror. As the series goes on and the brothers keep foiling his plans, however, The Devil slowly becomes less of a feared figure and more of an incompetent loon, to the point that by "The Devil's Pitchfork", the masses of Hell are demanding he steps down from the throne because he simply doesn't command the same respect before the events of the show. He also seems to pay a bit of attention to his appearance, such as putting cucumbers on his eyelids while taking a bath in "Roll the Dice" and, at one point, being seen filing his nails earlier in "Sweater Luck Next Time".
Most of the time he's seen lazing around in the Underworld without a care in the world while his minions work assiduously on his behalf. Despite having the ability to teleport wherever he wants whenever he wants, he initially only puts up wanted posters for Cuphead rather than actually going back up himself to collect his due, which in turn gives Cuphead enough time to seek out Quadratus for protection. The only time he ever decides to take action is when something goes wrong or when Stickler harasses him to do so. He becomes even more egregious when he finds out his contracts have expiration dates.
Despite his evil traits, he does have a benevolent side. While he holds very little sympathy for those in his employ in the game, that doesn't really seem to be the case in the show. One of his nicer moments includes replacing King Dice with Henchman, a big fan of Dice and his show "Roll the Dice", as the host of Dice's radio show. While it's likely not the intention, the Devil holding a celebration party for his accomplishment does allow his workers to finally take a break from their 3000 years (according to one of the workers) of grueling works. It is also implied that he has a soft spot for Henchman and is shown to be more patient with him compared to his other minions, consistently thanking him for his contributions, sometimes suppressing his feelings of annoyance, and not threatening him much, even if his thanks are rather clearly not straight praise. Curiously, when he is not obsessing over souls, he can be quite pleasant, the most obvious example being in the episode "Sweater Luck Next Time", where he ends up laughing at Cuphead's jokes while they both wait in line for the ride. Quite fittingly for his position as a ruler (though downplayed), he has a rather regal and elegant streak, most notably shown during the first time he comes across the cup brothers.
He has a rather warped sense of fair play and honesty, gladly using any ability at his disposal to get Cuphead's soul, but as he points out, Cuphead did lose at Soul Ball and therefore owes his soul like anyone else at the carnival. The Devil also holds up the bargain to paint Elder Kettle's fence in exchange for Cuphead taking off the protective, invisible sweater and is incensed when the boys run off behind his back. And while he does not hesitate to hurt Mugman alongside Cuphead when he has the chance, the Devil never threatens to take Mugman's soul as leverage presumably because Cuphead is the one who owes him. At the end of "The Devil's Pitchfork", he actually does kidnap Mugman so he can trade him for the pitchfork, but only after Cuphead electrocuted him repeatedly while pretending he was trying to give it back and mocked him when the Devil let it slip that he is off the hook because the deadline to collect his soul has expired leading to the Devil to decide to just screw the rules. Even so, it seems the Devil only did that because he considers it a fair trade, trading something he finds valuable (his pitchfork) for something Cuphead finds valuable (Mugman).
The Devil is noticeably more actively involved in pursuing his goals than his counterpart character from the game.
Powers and Abilities
- Teleportation: He can transport himself anywhere in the world in a cloud of smoke.
- Levitation: He can lift himself off the ground and fly.
- Telekinesis: He can move people and objects without touching them.
- Shapeshifting: Like in the game, he can transform into other creatures, such as a goat, octopus-like monster, a giant serpent, and even Quadratus himself. Sweater Off Dead proves that this power can go haywire when the Devil is extremely angry.
- Pyrokinesis: He can produce and control fire, usually when angered. He can even force it to become more intense with effort, like when he's trying to get Cuphead to take off an invisible sweater. The flames are hot enough to set an entire city ablaze and turn the strongest demons into piles of ash.
- Soul stealing: He can remove people's souls with his bare hands.
- Prehensile tail: His tail acts as an extra limb, seen when he uses it to pop the balloons of a group of children.
- Mutation: He can transform animals into monstrous versions of themselves, such as enlarging a pigeon in a park.
- Dancing/Singing: The Devil definitely knows his way around a musical number. This includes singing, playing music, and dancing. His dancing (and singing) ability comes up more than once, first during his song and then when he makes a big show out of painting Elder Kettle's fence. He also demonstrates some dexterity in playing the piano.
Weaknesses
- Anger issues: The Devil's temper often gets the better of him. As of season 2, he has been trying to learn to control his emotions, with little success.
- Brotherly love: The power of brotherly love can repel his attacks, seen when Mugman hugs his brother to shield them from The Devil's flames.
- Invisible sweater: Powered by brotherly love, the sweater can prevent The Devil from stealing the wearer's soul, giving him a painful electric shock whenever he touches it. It can also protect the wearer from The Devil's pitchfork, seen when The Devil tries to destroy Stickler with a ranged attack, only to learn he has become the sweater's new owner.
- His pitchfork: He is not immune to attacks from his own weapon, seen when Cuphead repeatedly electrocutes The Devil with his pitchfork when the latter tries to retrieve it.
- Bureaucracy: Even a being as powerful as The Devil is not above rules and regulations, as Stickler reminds him he has exceeded the time limit for acquiring Cuphead's soul.
Appearances
Season 1
Carn-Evil
Cuphead wanted to go the carnival. Mugman refuses to go. but they went anyway. Cuphead saw a game called soul ball. He was pretty good at the game. Everyone was watching. The Devil sings a song introducing himself. The soul counter stops working. The devil notices there were no souls. Even though Mugman made Cuphead lose. And Cuphead almost got his soul taken away. The Devil appears and everyone starts to run away. Devil chases Cuphead and Mugman. Mugman pushes away Cuphead and the soul ball game was destroyed. The Devil has not claimed Cuphead's soul since.
Roll the Dice
After King Dice realizes he has Cuphead, he calls the Devil to let him know. The Devil, though annoyed at his bubble bath being interrupted, is happy to learn this. But, he does warn King Dice that he "hates' disappointment". After King Dice fails at getting Cuphead's soul, he invites King Dice down to Hell, where he violently confronts him about losing Cuphead's soul, and fires him as the host of Roll the Dice. At the end of the episode, we can see that the Henchman has been employed as the new host of the game show.
Sweater Off Dead
Mugman knits a sweater for Cuphead so he can be safe from the Devil taking his soul. The Devil is touring the Gluttony Department with Henchman, before he throws a party in the underworld in celebration of the operation he is running. Stickler, his auditor, keeps ruining the Devil's vibe in the party until he goes out to collect that "Cup Soul". Throughout the episode, he tries various attempts to get rid of Cuphead's sweater, to no avail and only gets angrier after each failure. The Devil becomes frustrated and bursts into flames in rage, but soon attempts to use that to his advantage after realising he can make Cuphead take off the sweater with the heat. However, the protective invisible sweater Cuphead is wearing, combined with Mugman's "one last hug", creates an invisible forcefield that protects them from the literal firestorm unleashed by the Devil. Even though the flames scorch the forest area around them, they are still unharmed when the smoke clears away, which makes the Devil throw a big tantrum where he angrily shapeshifts into different beasts and lastly an eldritch horror before quickly settling and leaving in a huff, stating that he "hates those cups." Now back in the Underworld, the Devil tries to continue the party but Stickler tries annoying him again. The Devil lies that he captured Cuphead's soul, to which Stickler reminds the Devil that each soul must be registered in order for them to count as being captured, to which the Devil irritatedly responds by destroying Stickler's book of souls, announcing that they must all be counted again and kicks him out of the party.
Sweater Luck Next Time
Cuphead and Mugman ask the Devil to paint the fence so the boys can sneak away. The Devil teleports to Cuphead and Mugman and does not notice Cuphead has taken the sweater off and Mugman leaves. When they get to the top the Devil pats Cuphead's shoulder and notices he is not wearing the sweater. The Devil finally attempts to take Cuphead's soul but Mugman comes back with the sweater and puts it on the Devil. Cuphead and Mugman were able to escape the Devil.
Season 2
Release the Demons!
After many unsuccessful attempts to capture Cuphead's soul, the Devil is furious. He orders Henchman to bring him his "finest demons". The Devil is impressed by the demons and tells them about how he previously tried to get Cuphead's soul and failed, which makes the Devil so enraged he accidentally incinerates the demons. This happens again with his second-finest demons. He releases the third-finest group of demons, even though he isn't impressed with them, to the hay maze Cuphead and Mugman are going to. After the Devil finds out King Dice has had all of the demons killed (so he could claim Cuphead's soul by himself), he teleports to Elder Kettle's cottage to capture the soul himself. He is then interrupted by Stickler, who informs him that Cuphead's soul debt has expired. It is revealed that Stickler is where the protective sweater was hidden. The Devil and Stickler get into the lift taking them back to Hell, and the lift breaks down.
The Devil's Pitchfork
Henchman comforts the Devil after his previous defeat and attempts to cheer him up by opening his curtains to reveal souls being tortured outside and reads the headlines of tragic events in a newspaper to no avail. After the Devil reads a recent review of him, Henchman then encourages that the Devil to use his pitchfork to blow off some steam and to torment those in the Inkwell Isles above. He then appears after the Devil accidentally leaves his pitchfork as he explains what he did, and Henchman says to retrace his steps on where he left it. After the two go back up to the surface, and the Devil is unable to find his pitchfork, Henchman compliments him for blowing up half the forest (being oblivious that Cuphead and Mugman were the ones that did it). He and the Devil later catches onto Cuphead's act with the pitchfork and later in the elevator when the Devil kidnaps Mugman.
Season Three
Relationships
Cuphead
In the episode "Carn-Evil", Cuphead first caught the eye of the Devil with a string of Soul Ball wins. Hating show-offs, the Devil himself went in front of Mugman and Cuphead, then made sure the latter lost. However, Mugman managed to save his brother's soul, and the Devil went after them. The two brothers manage to escape the Carn-Evil after releasing all the souls, and the Devil swears that Cuphead's soul will belong to him, no matter what.
At first, the Devil does not really seem to care about Cuphead's soul, except when he learns that King Dice has let him escape, provoking his fury. This annoyance grows when Stickler asks him to retrieve the soul that is missing from his collection, and finally the Devil decides to personally take Cuphead's soul in the episode "Sweater Off Dead". However, in the meantime, Mugman has knitted Cuphead an invisible sweater, preventing the Devil from taking his soul. The Devil sets several traps for Cuphead to force him to remove his sweater, all foiled by Mugman. When he finds that the two brothers are still safe after burning the forest, the Devil can't contain his anger, then reluctantly gives up.
In the episode "Sweater Luck Next Time", his obsession only increases, confessing to Henchman that "the only thing that can make him feel better is to get that cup's soul." He then tries several times to take Cuphead's soul, without success, always because of the sweater. He is even willing to paint the fence just because Cuphead promised him he would take off his sweater if he did. When he realizes he has been tricked, the Devil returns to the two brothers, who took advantage of him being focused on his task to flee and line up for a ride. Having learned from Henchman that the ride in question goes so fast that it takes off all the clothes, the Devil sees the perfect opportunity to get rid of the invisible sweater, and offers Cuphead to wait with him. While they wait, Cuphead tells jokes to the Devil, which he tries to ignore at first, before he cannot stop laughing. He is finally surprised to find that he is having a good time, and even admits to Cuphead that he finds him "not so bad after all." However, when the Devil realizes that Cuphead is not wearing his sweater, he obviously tries to take his soul, bringing things back to status quo. This proves that if the Devil was not obsessed by souls, he and Cuphead could get along.
At the end of the episode, after Henchman has rid him of the sweater that Mugman had put on him by force, the Devil is delighted to finally be able to take Cuphead's soul whenever he wants, since Cuphead does not have protection anymore. However, since he was not able to collect his soul within the month he was supposed to, he no longer can.
Mugman
While the Devil is obsessed with Cuphead and his soul, he seems to have no interest in his brother, Mugman, even if he's annoyed by one as much as by the other. Curiously, while Mugman is the one who manages to foil all the Devil's traps, the latter never attacks him. Yet the Devil is perfectly aware that it is Mugman's brotherly love that protects Cuphead, not being surprised when he tells him that is what makes his sweater so effective, adding "Of course it does". The hypothesis would be that the Devil cannot attack anyone who does not owe him their soul, which is the case of Mugman, who has never lost at his game. However, this does not stop him from kidnapping Mugman as means of payback against Cuphead stealing the Devil's pitchfork.
Henchman
"Thank you, Henchman."
—The Devil to Henchman, various episodes
Henchman is, as his name suggests, the Devil's henchman. Henchman has a friendly and helpful approach towards the Devil and, despite his clumsiness, the Devil is rarely aggressive towards him and even seems to appreciate him, such as knowing that he is a big fan of the King Dice show and never misses an episode. The Devil trusts Henchman enough to admit to him that he failed to get Cuphead's soul at the beginning of "Sweater Luck Next Time" and let him treat his injuries at the end of the same episode. The Devil also seems to pay attention to Henchman's advice, notably concerning the Obliterator, which could allow him to force Cuphead to remove his invisible sweater.
In "Release the Demons!", seeing the Devil tearing the pages of a book entitled "Controlling Your Rage," still upset about not having retrieved Cuphead's soul yet, Henchman tries to lighten up his mood by complimenting him about his fur having almost grown back and attempts to calm him down with some tea, to no avail as the Devil blasts it with his pitchfork once he hears the word "cup." He is later seen helping the Devil send a squad of his finest demons. However, as he expresses his vengeance about Cuphead, he accidentally ends up destroying them, as well as his second finest demons. Over the course of this, Henchman demonstrates his cognizance of the Devil's incinerating outbursts, hiding behind a stalagmite and later pulling King Dice back too. Throughout most of the episode, Henchman corrects the Devil when he refers to Cuphead as "cup". Although it's clear that the Devil is very annoyed by this, he merely thanks Henchman for reminding him.
In "The Devil's Pitchfork", Henchman attempts to cheer the Devil up, who is upset over no longer being able to collect Cuphead's soul because he missed the deadline, by reading the headline of the newspaper. This does not work until he hears a review about him, and how that his touch is getting frantically weaker, thus angering him and using his pitchfork to roast the newspaper. Henchman then encourages the Devil to cause mischief around Inkwell Isles and thus finally cheers up the Devil, who thanks him (sincerely this time) and goes out to do so. Afterwards, the Devil blissfully tells Henchman about the trouble he caused. Later in the same episode, Henchman helps him look for his pitchfork and tells him to retrace his steps, which makes him realize that he left it lying against a tree. Shortly thereafter, they find Cuphead and Mugman are the ones who have Devil's pitchfork. The two demons are later seen descending with Mugman in the elevator, leaving Cuphead standing in the woods alone, devastated.
Despite the fact that he gave the invisible sweater to Stickler, who the Devil is incredibly fed up with, the king of the underworld does not seem to be angry with Henchman about it after he finds out and doesn't even bring it up.
The Devil is notably a lot less harsh on Henchman, compared to his other minions. Even when Henchman annoys him, the worst the Devil does is just give him a sarcastic, "Thank you, Henchman," even when alluding to things that will bring out the Devil's extreme anger. He generally seems to be the closest thing the Devil has to a friend, being the only demon seen to act as his advisor and generally just caring about the Devil's health and well being, as well as the only demon who the Devil confides in and never seriously threatens in any way, indicating that he genuinely values Henchman's companionship on some level.
King Dice
Although he is supposed to be his self-proclaimed Number One, the Devil does not really seem to pay attention to King Dice, sometimes even forgetting who he is, until he tells him that he has captured Cuphead (which is not true). The Devil finally calls him his Number One, but not long before he warns him that he "hates disappointment". When he learns that King Dice has let Cuphead escape, he threatens him without restraint, then tells him that he is no longer his Number One and fires him as the host of Roll the Dice. King Dice seemingly tries to have a chill and easygoing approach towards his boss, though, The Devil seems to have more respect for Henchman than him.
Despite serving him, King Dice can be seen as a foil to the Devil in the show: both are villainous soul stealers in positions of power, but while the Devil is dreaded and feared by the residents of Inkwell Isles, King Dice is a villain with good publicity and adored by the masses. Their soul stealing tactics are exact opposites; the Devil's carnival steals the souls of those that lose the games there, while King Dice's game show steals the souls of the winning contestants. The Devil's first instinct to getting Cuphead's soul is to chase him down and attack him with fire, while King Dice only resorts to violence as a last resort. Neither of them like Cuphead, but the Devil slowly (albeit temporarily) bonds with him over their shared sense of humour while King Dice progressively hates him more and more as Cuphead continues to fail his (rigged) game show.
Headwriter Deeki Deke believes that the Devil enjoys it when Dice feels like he has something to prove.
Stickler
The Devil is very annoyed with Stickler, his auditor, because he keeps reminding him that he has not yet succeeded in taking Cuphead's soul. When he makes everyone believe that he has finally succeeded, Stickler does not believe him and reminds him that all souls must be counted, prompting the Devil to burn his account book and order him to do a full recount. At the beginning of the episode "Sweater Luck Next Time", the Devil confesses that he lied just to buy himself some time before Stickler found out, adding that he "hates that guy". Curiously, despite his hatred of him, the Devil does not attack or fire Stickler. He does try to do so once in "Release the Demons!", but it turns out he cannot as Stickler now has the invisible sweater.
Gallery
A sketch of The Devil in Serpent form
The Devil warning his henchman about the carnival destroyed
The Devil getting angry/frustrated (CarnEvil)
Cuphead dodging the bolts of the Devil's pitchfork
The Devil getting angry/frustrated (Sweater Off Dead)
"Attention Everyone, we're having the most productive year in a millennia"
Comparison of Storyboard and Final production
The Devil straight off appears in the Carnival
A character card of the Devil Laughing
The devil, as he appears in front of a crowd of people in Carn-Evil
"Stickler! What are you doing here?"
The Devil enraged
The Devil Laughing
The Devil thanks Henchman
The Devil and Henchman in the Gluttony Department
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Video
- The Cuphead Show! - Party in the Underworld - Netflix
- The Cuphead Show! - Calling All Bosses - Netflix
Trivia
- As seen in the episode "Sweater Luck Next Time", the Devil is shown to be adept at painting, able to magically paint Elder Kettle's fence.
- In the episode Sweater Off Dead, two demons claim that they have not had a break for 3000 years, which would confirm that the Devil is over 3000 years old.
- As the widely feared ruler of the Underworld who schemes to collect Cuphead's soul, he naturally holds the title of the show's main antagonist. Still, while he is also the game's main antagonist, the Devil is not mentioned in the show outside of the episodes in which he takes on a prominent role. He only appears in half of the first season's episodes and goes from the overarching villain whose actions pushes the entire story to the most recurring villain in the show, with plenty of episodes lacking his presence.
- It's implied that the Devil's ability to claim souls is dependent on people willingly taking part in one temptation or another that he's set up but nothing in the rules says he has to tell people what they're signing up for, which makes it easier to lure in his victims. He really pulls a case of this in "The Devil's Pitchfork" after Cuphead screws him just a little too much after the Devil lets it slip that Cuphead can't have his soul stolen anymore. He may not be able to take Cuphead or Mugman's souls without a proper claim but it appears nothing keeps him from kidnapping people wholesale, as Mugman finds out.
- The Devil bursting into flames when angry may have been inspired by Hades from Disney's Hercules.
- The Devil turns red when angry. This resembles his red form in phases 2-4 of his in-game battle.
- The close-up of the Devil's eye in The Cuphead Show! intro is similar to his intro animation from his in-game battle.
- It is unknown why soul debts expire so the Devil cannot take their soul from the person they owed him. As from Stickler he says in over a month or 31 days; if you failed to have collected a soul after that time, it reverts to its' original owner, thus prohibiting the Devil from collecting it.
- The Devil speaks in a British accent.
- The Devil is one of a few characters in the show to have a British accent rather than an American one, the others being Quadratus, Ludwig, Sally Stageplay and the ghosts Duke, Emma, and Jasper. He speaks in a posh RP accent.
- He claims to have invented deviled eggs.
- While he normally has square teeth, he sometimes sports fangs, which can vary from long-sharpened canines to a mouth full of sharp teeth.
- Instead of deal-making, The Devil steals souls through cons and trickery.
- In "Release the Demons!", it is hinted that the Devil may be queer in some shape or form, which is shown when he is impressed with one of his first finest, a very muscular demon, and feels up the demon's arm.
- "Old Scratch", one of his self-appointed aliases in the song, was an actual nickname used for the Devil in old times, especially in South USA.
- Some fans believe that his actual name is "Lucifer".
- During the Devil's dance at the end of his song, if one looks hard enough, the background has what appears to be a pair of photorealistic eyes.
- The Devil is the only major character in the show who does not wear any gloves.
- Like with his game counterpart, the Devil's name is changed to Satanasso in the Italian dub, with "Satanasso" being an Italian folk nickname for Satan.
- It is possible that the ghosts from both the game and the graveyard episode were killed by the Devil through trickery but escaped. It is also possible that Ms. Chalice was also a soul that escaped the Devil or that she was an angel.
- In the TV series, he collects souls from losers of the Soul Ball game in the amusement park he runs instead of a casino.
- A running gag in the series is The Devil referring to Cuphead simply as "Cup" and Henchman adding the word "Head" immediately afterwards.
- According to the head writer Deeki Deke, the Devil's favorite food is a filet of souls.