The Devil [The Cuphead Show!]

The Devil personality: The Devil is manipulative, short-tempered, evil (not completely), flamboyant, and has an obsession with collecting souls. He is more jolly, childish and playful, and behaves in a more sassy, perhaps non-terrifying manners. 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 the show. He also takes great pride when the residents of Inkwell Isle scream "The Devil!" and they run away at the sight of him.

Despite what one may expect from him, he absolutely loves Christmas time. Mainly because the omnipresent festive cheer "brings out the devil in him". While he's no less dangerous, he's played much less seriously in the series, 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, as well as some positive traits, and even standards. 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. 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 (though by the third season, his gratitude becomes genuine). 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. While not explicitly shown, it is hinted that the Devil might actually hold some respect for his other Imps as well, such as when Stickler tries to derail the celebrations to convince the Devil to collect Cuphead's soul; the Devil ignores him in favor of starting a conga line, eating deviled eggs, and cutting a cake and never takes out his wrath on any of the demons, instead sullenly agreeing to go to collect the debt. Additionally, it's shown that he holds stage shows for his demons, though they don't share his enthusiasm for the theatrical arts. Curiously, when he is not obsessing over souls, he can be quite pleasant, where he ends up laughing at Cuphead's jokes while they both wait in line for the ride. Additionally, The Devil, although briefly considering it, can't resort to taking Elder Kettle's soul after he took care of him and showed him nothing but love and kindness. This, along with his interactions with Henchman, indicates that he is capable of showing appreciation for any genuine kindness shown towards him. 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.

The Devil 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. The Devil once 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). When the Devil needs to bring back one soul to the Underworld to gain access to his prized possessions, even he can't bring himself to steal Elder Kettle's soul after the old man had mistaken him for a stray cat and treated him with love and kindness.

In the Christmas Special episode "A Very Devil Christmas", he's highly unnerved by Santa Claus' Christmas ritual and goes so far as to refer to him as a 'complete psycho' to Henchman. Though The Devil's perfectly happy to be widely feared and dangerous, at the same time, more and more hints have been dropped in Season 3 that the Devil is quite starved for validation and affection (from people other than Henchman). It kicks off in "The Devil's Pitchfork", when he takes a bad review of him in a newspaper column very badly. In "Cupstaged", he flat out admits that one of the reasons he wants to become a star is for the love from an audience of "strangers". This comes to a head in the Season 3 finale when he, in near tears, slinks away with only Henchman by his side when Cuphead eventually outwits him at 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' while the crowd lovingly cheers for the cups and Ms. Chalice.

The Devil appearance: The Devil's design for The Cuphead Show! remains more or less the same of the Game counterpart, with only a few stylistic changes made. The Devil is all covered in dark blue-whale short fur, matching in his face, arrow-shaped tip tail and body. The bare skin of his claw-like hands and feet with sharp yellow nails is dark blue-grey. His nose is red, big flush. He has longer yellow horns above his circle shape head with big, bit longer & spikier ears. Inside of his ears has a copper rose color. He has thin ovals average eyes that has yellow sclera, and having pie-cut red pupils. His white human-like teeth can turn sharp if he's angry. He shows a bit of fat but has skinny limbs. At the end of each of his fingers and toes are short, pointed yellow nails. His fur is softer and less scruffy and has also gained a slight blue color. 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. The hexadecimal color code #826C43 in The Devil's eyelids has a Raw Umber color. The hexadecimal color code #C3A581 in The Devil's vertical middle eyelids shader color is a shade of Light French Beige.

While the Devil is essentially naked, not counting his fur, he is briefly seen wearing various outfits and accessories in the show, most notably during the third season. His primary outfit consists of a white tailcoat with a matching top hat, white spats, and a red bow tie, that he wears during his song in "Carn-Evil" episode and during the dance battle against Ms. Chalice in "The Devil and Ms. Chalice" Season 3 final episode. Clothed or not, he goes barefoot, except for his outfits during his performance in the Underworld and later his audition in "Cupstaged" where he wears a blue and purple prince-like theater costume and pink ensemble with a black top hat and high-heeled boots respectively. In "Sweater Off Dead" episode, he's briefly seen wearing a party hat. In "Release the Demons!" episode, 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). In "Roadkill" episode, when mistaken as a stray cat by Elder Kettle, he's briefly seen wearing a pink bow on his head. As shown in "A Very Devil Christmas" episode, his winterwear consists only of a striped red scarf. At the end of the same episode, he wears a train conductor costume when he plays with his toy train.

The Inkwell Hell (commonly known as the Underworld in the show) is where The Devil, Henchman, Stickler, and the Imps live. Thousands of feet underground and below the city of Inkwell Isles, it is a common setting for the episodes the Devil appears in. Location: Underground Type: Place of departed souls Ruler: The Devil Employees: Henchman (administrator) Imps (employees) Stickler (auditor) Inhabitants: The Devil, Henchman, Imps, Stickler, nunerous unnamed demons, The Four Horsemen Visitors: King Dice, Cuphead, Mugman, Ms. Chalice.

Stairs to the Surface or the Underworld and vice-versa: Hilariously, there is a very long spiral staircase that actually leads from the surface to the Underworld and vice versa. The throne room as a whole is usually surrounded by trails of fire, pressumably used to block victims from escaping.

The Staff Room: This is where the staff meetings between the Devil and his Imps are held. It has a long, pink canyon table and sixteen chairs, with a big one for the Devil at the end. Henchman's seat is, fittingly, right next to the Devil's. About two large statistics boards can be seen hanging on the wall and there is a coat rack near the entrance.

Control Rooms: Where the Imps work. The rooms are basically a large cavern that seems to be divided into departments with individual work stations. Typically, multiple switch boards, typewriters, sonar screens, electronic displays, and control panels are present in those rooms, as well as a couple of maps, bulletin boards, radars, and a "24/7/365" busy atmosphere. Multiple Imps are on duty at all times to ensure continuous vigilance. •Soul Counter/Soul Tubes: This is where souls are collected. The souls of Inkwell Isle residents are sucked into the Soul Bank through the tubes directly under the Devil's carnival, accounted for, and put in the Devil's soul vault. •Soul Vault: The souls the Devil captures are all put in a ginormous vault through the tubes. According to the Devil, he plans to own every soul one day, even those of the innocent. •Gluttony Department: Where gluttony and other concepts related and/or similar to it, such as famine and hunger-induced rage, are monitored by different teams of workers. •War Section: Where the Imps calculate wars, the causes, and the consequences of them on all sides, under continuous video surveillance and recording.

The Inkwell Hell scenario: The walls are basically canyon, but individually depicted by different shades of pink & red. When you enter into a big area, it contains the throne of The Devil! The area has a dark pinkish-red canyon floor with a very long cadet blue rug with beige fringe; The throne is raised in front. There's large tapestries between tall, grey pillars in each corner of the rug, on the wall, each depicting The Devil's images chasing/torturing souls in various shapeshifted forms into anything he wants like wild animals such as bull, octopus-like monster, giant serpent, etc.

The Devil's Bedroom: Where the Devil sleeps. In the room, there's a large king-sized bed shaped like a circle with a red blanket. It is draped in a canopy and is filled with yellow cushions. Above the bed hang a couple of the Devil's portraits, such as a one that looks like Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, one that looks like either a woodcut portrait of Jacobus Gallus from 1590 or the Cobbe portrait. Nearby, there is a huge window draped in large red curtains that gives a view of the souls tortured outside. As there is lava outside where the souls are tormented, the room may be located near a volcanic area.

The Devil's Bathroom: Based on what is shown, it seems to be a rather tight space. In the bathroom, there is the bathtub, toilet and a mirror over a golden sink, next to which a pink towel with the Devil's initial can be seen. The upper half of the walls is dark fuchsia with light brown bricks exposed at the bottom half. It looks to be the only bathroom in the entire Underworld. Although the washroom is primarily seen used by the Devil, it can be assumed that it is actually used by everyone in the organisation, shown in a deleted scene where Henchman uses it.

The Devil's Mirror Chamber: The Devil's Mirror is presumably positioned in close proximity to his throne. It is one of the Devil's connections to the surface and is capable of showing anything he wishes to see on its glass and in its current situation. The other person, besides the Devil, that is seen using it is Henchman, who keeps watch on the demons in the same episode while his boss takes a bath (likely to calm himself). The mirror has a greyish golden frame with a small ruby at the top and a base that resembles the Devil's horns. The mirror rests on a dark purple canyon wall.

The Devil's Theater: The Devil's theater is the room where the Devil often holds performances for his demons. The room consists of a typical, large Proscenium theater stage with red and yellow curtains and numerous rows of chairs at the front that stretch out far into the area. It is rather raked, meaning the stage is gently sloped rising away from the audience's seats. Like many stages of the sort, it has a golden architectural frame, whichever, in this case, is arched in shape to closely resemble the Devil's serpent form. Located on the left and right side of the stage, are two loge seats.

Library: It has a big red chair facing a magnificent fireplace, and a pink carpet on the colourful canyon floor. The library possesses four cupboards and many books. Over the fireplace hangs a portrait of the Devil likely impersonating Frans Hals' portrait: Young Man with a Skull.

Community Refrigerator: This is where everyone in the Underworld stores their meals. The community refrigerator could imply the existence of a kitchen as well, or at least, a lunchroom for everyone in the organization.

The Elevator: The Elevator is a machine of transportation that regularly appears in The Cuphead Show!. It vertically transports people between the surface and the Underworld. It is owned by the Devil and is usually managed by Henchman. The elevator has a black and dark blue exterior with a slightly darker-coloured patio door, and a yellow and red circle resembling the demons' eyes on top. The interior consists of pale and dark red tones. While it has automatic positioning of the floor on which the cab stops, it also seems to be controlled by a lever. Like most elevators, it is a rather tight space, and as a result, one can fit in large objects, like bicycles, with difficulty.

Elevator Usages - While the elevator is primarily located in the Underworld, it can dig upwards back up and then back down at any time. It is commonly used for the Devil and other demons to get up to the surface world. When the elevator arrives on the surface, it emerges surrounded by flames. The Devil commonly uses the elevator to summon people such as his victims (e.g Ms. Chalice) or minions (e.g King Dice) to the Underworld from the surface. It can also be used by individuals other than demons. The elevator can be summoned by the chalk created by Quadratus; the person has to draw a square drawing on the ground, which glows before revealing the elevator from below.