| “ | Part of that force that always wills the evil and always produces the good. | „ |
| ~ Mephistopheles' most famous quote. |
Mephistopheles is a demonic figure from German folklore who was made famous in the legend of the German magician Johnathan Faustus (simply known as Dr. Faust) but would become a stock character in Germanic literature as a type of folk-devil and a personification of evil as one of the Devil's names.
Biography[]
Popular legends[]
Despite his scholarly eminence, Faust is bored and disappointed. He decides to call on the devil for further knowledge and magic powers with which to indulge all the pleasure and knowledge of the world. In response, the devil's representative Mephistopheles appears. He makes a bargain with Faust, as Mephistopheles will serve Faust with his magic powers for a term of years, but at the end of the term, the devil will claim Faust's soul and Faust will be eternally damned. The term usually stipulated in the early tales is twenty-four years. During the term, Faust makes use of Mephistopheles in various ways. In the early tales, Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven; when the term ends, the devil carries him off to Hell.
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe[]
In Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Mephistopheles serves as both a tempter and a tormentor. As a demon and servant of Lucifer, he facilitates Doctor Faustus’ pact with the devil, granting him worldly knowledge and power in exchange for his soul. However, Mephistopheles also embodies the tragic consequences of damnation, frequently reminding Faustus of the eternal suffering that awaits him. While he appears to obey Faustus’ commands, he ultimately ensures his downfall, revealing the illusion of control that Faustus believes he possesses.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust (Parts 1 and 2)[]
In many versions of the story, in particular, Goethe's drama, Mephistopheles helps Faust to seduce a beautiful and innocent girl, usually named Gretchen, whose life is destroyed. However, Gretchen's innocence saves her in the end and she enters Heaven. In Goethe's rendition, Faust is saved by God's grace via his constant striving—in combination with Gretchen's pleadings with God in the form of the Eternal Feminine.
Appearances[]
Movies[]
The most important movie where Mephistopheles appears is the 1960 German film version of Faust. In this famous movie, he was portrayed by Gustaf Gründgens, whose representation inspired many actors for Mephistopheles in the future.
Popular Culture[]
- In the Marvel Comics universe, there exists a demonic entity known as Mephisto, who serves as an enemy to Ghost Rider, the Silver Surfer, and many other heroes.
- A different version of Mephisto also appears in the Ghost Rider films, portrayed by Peter Fonda in the fist film and by Ciarán Hinds in the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
- In the Megami Tensei franchise, he appears as a Dark-Chaos aligned demon of the Tyrant race, being an agent of hell and an ally of Lucifer.
Powers and Abilities[]
Mephistopheles is a powerful demon who possesses a variety of supernatural abilities and magical spells:
- Immortality: Mephisto is implied to be immortal because of his self-description that he lived long before the universe existed.
- Dark Magic: When Mephisto reveals himself to Faust with his dark magic for the first time, he says he is a part of that power that always wants evil, but always makes good, which might mean that Mephisto is part of evil itself.
- Shape-Shifting: Mephisto came into Faust's lab by disguising himself as a poodle.
- Controlling Elements: Mephisto said that he tried to destroy the world often with the elemental powers and if he would not have kept fire for himself, he would never have anything. In "Auerbach's Keller", he creates a small flame to scare the guests.
- Mind Control: In "Auerbach's Keller", he hypnotizes the guests when they attack him, resulting in them hallucinating being in a strange land and almost killing each other, believing the others to be fruits
- Reality-Warping: In the movie (but not in the book), he is shown to warp reality: in the disguise of a poodle (the poodle's not seen in the movie), he ran behind a shelf in Faust's lab, starting to shift his shape with smoke. When Faust tried to command the being he let come into his house, shouting against the smoke, Mephistopheles is shown to sit already on the floor behind Faust.
Gallery[]
