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The Devil (Lucifer) is the main antagonist of 2017 run & gun videogame Cuphead.
Biography[]
In the past, the Devil made several deals with with various inhabitants of the Inkwell Isles in exchange for their souls. However, they all somehow managed to get away with their own soul contracts.
After they disobey Elder Kettle by venturing far from their house, Cuphead and Mugman somehow end up in Inkwell Hell and discover the Devil's Casino, where they get into a a winning streak while playing at the Craps table. Suddenly, the Devil himself approaches them and, seemingly impressed by their streak, offers the pair all of the loot in the casino if they win the next roll. However, if they lose, he would take their souls. Cuphead, blinded by greed, threw the dice before Mugman could stop him and came up snake-eyes. Having lost, the brothers begged the Devil not to take their souls and if there was anything else they could give him in exchange. Seeing an opportunity, the Devil made another deal with them: If they can gather the Soul Contracts from his other debtors before midnight, he would pardon their souls. He then booted them both out of his casino, while warning that he will take their souls if they fail him. He also sent out his right-hand man King Dice to keep an eye on them to make sure the pair fulfill their end of the bargain.
As one would expect, all the debtors were not keen on giving up their souls, forcing Cuphead and Mugman to fight and defeat them in order to obtain their Soul Contracts. At some point during their adventure, King Dice reports to his boss of their success rate thus far. The Devil himself wasn't too surprised, as he saw great potential within the two. Then when King Dice voices his concern about their growing power, the Devil tells him not to worry, as he'll be prepared if they ever turn on him.
Eventually, Cuphead and Mugman successfully retrieve all the Soul Contracts and return to the Devil's Casino. After dealing with King Dice (who tried to kill them himself after losing a bet), they approach the Devil in his throne room. He congratulates the two for all the work they've done and demands the Soul Contracts they've obtained. However, he goes back on his promise to spare their souls and instead offers them in joining him to wreak some havoc. What happens next depends on whether or not the player decides to give the demon what he wants.
Bad Ending[]
If the player agrees to hand over the contracts, Cuphead and Mugman accept the Devil's offer. The Devil, delighted with their choice, turns the pair into his demonic minions and watches happily as they both maniacally laugh. It is unknown what has happened to the Debtors, or even King Dice afterwards. Then the credits roll with a much more somber tune, nailing down the seemingly stupid decision the player made.
Good Ending[]
If the player refuses to give the Devil the contracts, this enrages him and prompts him to fight the brothers. In the end, the Devil is defeated and is forced to surrender. Cuphead and Mugman then destroy all the Soul Contracts, thus freeing Inkwell Isles and its inhabitants from his clutches.
Battle[]
During his intro, the Devil shows a scene of a cup being destroyed by a cleaver in his eyes, much to Cuphead's dismay.
Phase 1[]
| “ | You broke our deal...now it's my turn to break you!!! | „ |
| ~ The Devil's first death screen |
During his first phase, the Devil's attacks include using his trident to send fire around the stage and using an animal-based attack. Snake means the Devil's head will snake onto the stage. Spider involves the Devil pulling off his own head which then slams onto the stage like a Thwomp from the Super Mario series. Ram involves him trying to crush the player between his hands. This has to be dodged by a well-timed jump.
Phase 2[]
| “ | Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed! | „ |
| ~ The Devil's second death screen |
After taking enough damage, the Devil flees underground leaving behind his skin. Cuphead follows him into the hole, intent on defeating the fiend. After he lands, Cuphead finds that he is in even more danger, as his opponent has grown huge enough to crush him to a pulp.
The Devil's second phase involves five platforms the player has to jump around in between. Occasionally, a Poker Chip will fall from the ceiling, crushing anyone on a platform it chooses. These Poker Chips start their assault on one side, then move to the other. Touching them deals a little bit of damage. All the while, the Devil can turn his head to unleash a bat bomb which will explode if not parried. These bombs deal extreme damage to anyone caught in their explosion. Another attack involves the Devil summoning an axe from his eyes. These axes will spiral around the stage, dealing decent damage to anyone in their path.
Phase 3[]
During this phase, the Devil will become agitated. His new attacks involve summoning fat demons to aid him and creating small blue imps. The fat demons will shoot a skull out of their mouth (which deals a bit of damage) while the small blue imps spin their body to slice Cuphead into bits. Cuphead can use his parry to destroy the pink skulls, which deal less damage to their target.
Phase 4[]
After his eyes take enough damage, the Devil will begin crying in pain. This renders him helpless, so Cuphead merely needs to shoot the Devil a bit more to defeat him, but he must be fast, as poker chips will continuously fall on the one platform left.
Once his stamina is drained, the Devil is defeated.
Trivia[]
- The Devil takes his battle theme from a chaotic remix of various boss battle themes in the game. This remix is called Admission Into Perdition.
- During the second phase, this is replaced by the more chaotic One Hell Of A Time. Both themes probably mean that Cuphead and Mugman are fighting not only for their own lives, but those of the other debtors.
- Out of all the bosses in the game, the Devil and those who directly work for him are the only bosses who are truly evil. All the other bosses that Cuphead had to fight before arriving in Inkwell Hell had clear motivations and redeemable qualities.
- The Devil is often mistakenly thought to be the secondary antagonist, due to the fact that Dice has more screen-time, often mistaking him for the main antagonist. However, the Devil says Dice is a "good-for-nothing lackey", confirming that he is the superior evil.
- It's unknown why the Devil relied on Cuphead and Mugman to retrieve the soul contracts rather than doing it himself or sending King Dice to do so.
- Likely, it is because the Devil is unable to leave his own domain, and King Dice is not as powerful if he leaves either.