This article lists cultural references to Mephistopheles, the fictional devil from Faust and Doctor Faustus who has been used in other pieces of literature, film, comics and music.
Art The 19th century wood statue Mephistopheles and Margaretta is based on the Goethe's play Faust. Mephistopheles by Mark Antokolsky (pictured right), 1884, is a marble statue by the Russian sculptor. Mephistopheles by Paul Mathey, 1888, is a portrait of the character.
Drama 1594 – Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
1808 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part One 1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part Two 1996 - Richard O’Brien starred as the swanky Mephistopheles Smith in his musical comedy Disgracefully Yours.
Opera 1816 – Ludwig Spohr's Faust (based on plays and poems by Klinger and von Kleist, derived from the Faust folk tales) 1846 – Hector Berlioz's "Légende dramatique" La Damnation de Faust (based on Goethe's Faust, Part One, but includes a tragic ending without redemption for Faust, following the Faust folk tales) 1859 – Charles Gounod's Faust (loosely based on Goethe's Faust, Part One) 1868 – Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele (the most faithful adaptation of Goethe's Faust, Part One; it is the only operatic adaptation to date to include Faust, Part Two as well)
Music Mephiskapheles is a New York City-based ska band founded in 1990 with a playfully Satanic theme after the fashion of heavy metal music. The band helped define, then transcended, the ska punk genre. Mephiskapheles' music has diverse stylistic influences, including reggae, jazz and hardcore punk, and the band has made several national and international tours since 1995. Mephistopheles is mentioned in the song "If You Want A Receipt For That Popular Mystery" sung by Colonel Calverley in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience, in the lyric "Force of Mephisto pronouncing a ban". Marilyn Manson has a song entitled "The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles", from the 2015 album The Pale Emperor. The Police song "Wrapped Around Your Finger", from the album Synchronicity, mentions Mephistopheles in the third verse.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The Radiohead song "Videotape" from In Rainbows mentions Mephistopheles. A lyric in the OneRepublic song "Love Runs Out" mentions "Got an angel on my shoulder, and Mephistopheles." However, Ryan Tedder may be referring to Mr. Mistoffelees, from T.S. Eliot's poetry. Mephistopheles is the main character in the song "The Devil's Song" by Marcy Playground . Additionally, Mephistopheles is mentioned in the Marcy Playground song "Deadly Handsome Man". The band Streetlight Manifesto mentions Mephistopheles in the song "Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Café", which talks about going to Mephistopheles cafe in reference to going to hell. The Strung Out album The Element of Sonic Defiance has a song named "Mephisto". Kamelot has written the albums Epica and The Black Halo, telling the tale of a deal that Mephistopheles offers to God. If Mephistopheles can claim the soul of God's favorite man, an alchemist and scholar named Ariel, then he can return to Heaven; if not, then Mephistopheles will be condemned to Hell forever. The second album in the story has a song titled "March of Mephisto". The Trans-Siberian Orchestra album Beethoven's Last Night (2000), telling the tale of a deal Mephistopheles offers him: in exchange for his musical works, Beethoven will regain his soul, which was never taken from him in the first place. The album incorrectly presumed Mephistopheles and the devil are one and the same. Mephistopheles is a popular brass band 'contest' march composed by Shipley Douglas (1868-1920) of technical complexity, dynamic and rhythmic detail, and melodic variety out of the rigid conventions and structural formulae of the military march. It poses a stiff challenge for any band having more in common with a light opera overture than a traditional road march, and as such is a favourite march chosen by many of the top bands. On his 2010 album Heartland, Owen Pallett included an original track entitled "Tryst with Mephistopheles". U2 singer Bono created the alter ego Mr MacPhisto for the band's Zoo TV Tour in 1993. "The Sins of Memphisto" is a track on John Prine's 1991 album The Missing Years. Memphisto is a blend word of Memphis and Mephisto. "Mephistopheles" is the title of the eighth track from the self-titled album by the American death metal band Deicide. Mephistopheles is mentioned in the Fugees song "Zealots" in the first verse recited by Wyclef Jean: "I haunt MCs like Mephistopheles" off of their second album The Score (1996). Mephistopheles is mentioned in the song "bedroom community" by Glass Beach with the line "To the arms of Mephistopheles." Mephistopheles is mentioned in the song “Call Me Little Sunshine” by the Swedish band Ghost from their fifth album Impera (2022). “Call me, call me Mephistopheles”. Mephistopheles is represented in the four Mephisto Waltzes by the composer Franz Liszt. "Mephisto" is the title of the fourth track on Klaus Schulze's 2005 electronic album "Moonlake". It is taken from a 2003 live performance in Poznan in Poland. "Mephistofeles" is the name of an Argentinian proto-doom band. is a song released by the Japanese rock band Queen Bee, used as the ending theme for the anime Oshi no Ko. The single also included the track , which describes the deal he made with Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is mentioned in the English progressive rock band Cardiacs song, "Fast Robert", which was first released as the seventh/eighth track (seventh track on LP, eighth track on CD) of their second studio album; On Land and in the Sea (1989). The third verse starts with the lyric, "Poison in my idle mind makes quick work for the Mephistopheles". Faust symphony is a three movement symphony by Franz Liszt featuring one act for Faust, one for Gretchen, and the last for Mephistopheles. "Mephisto Waltz" is the sixth track on the album Nocturnal Opera released by the Japanese visual kei gothic metal band Moi dix Mois in 2004. "Mephisto" is a song released by the Portuguese gothic metal band Moonspell on their second album Irreligious in 1997.
Films One of the antagonists in the 1945 Republic serial film Manhunt of Mystery Island is a resurrected pirate named Captain Mephisto. In the 1946 film Angel on My Shoulder, Claude Rains portrays Mephistopheles, who is nicknamed Nick. In Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru, the character Sakai, portrayed by Haruo Tanaka, likens himself to Mephistopheles, as he guides the main character through a night of debauchery as he grapples with a cancer diagnosis and his impending death. In the 1981 film Mephisto, which won an Oscar in 1982 for Best Foreign Film, actor Klaus Maria Brandauer plays a German stage actor whose abiding ambition is to play Mephistopheles on the stage. However, in order to achieve it, he "sells his soul" to the Nazi regime and in effect becomes Faust in real life. M, based on the character by Tim Vigil and David Quinn from the comic Faust, appears in the 2000 film adaptation Faust: Love of the Damned by director Brian Yuzna, portrayed by Andrew Divoff. In the 1994 film Faust by director Jan Švankmajer, Mephisto is summoned to make Faust's contract with Lucifer. In the 2007 film Ghost Rider, Peter Fonda plays the demon Mephistopheles. In the 2018 film Vox Lux, Jude Law's character "the Manager" can be interpreted as Mephistopheles, guiding the main character Celeste after she makes a deal with Satan.
Comics Mephisto is a character who acts as a surrogate version of the devil in the Marvel Universe. Among other feats, he is responsible for turning Johnny Blaze into the Ghost Rider, fathering Blackheart, and imprisoning the soul of Doctor Doom's mother, Cynthia von Doom, as well as erasing Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's marriage from history in the One More Day storyline. Mephistopheles Yōma, a character of the manga Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas – The Myth of Hades. Mephistopheles is a main character in Soul Cartel, a manhwa loosely based on the Faust legend.
Mephistopheles is part of the main cast in the web comic and animated web series, Welcome to Hell. Mephistopheles is a side character in the cast of the manga Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun.
Literature In E. M. Forster's short story "Co-Ordination", Mephistopheles appears as a spiritual being opposed to the coordination of mankind. In Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles is the personified principle of negation, betting with God that he would succeed to make Faust turn away from God. In the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by British playwright T.S. Eliot, as well as the musical adaptation Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mr. Mistoffelees, a black cat with magical powers, is named after Mephistopheles. Mr. Mistoffelees is also a main character in the 2019 film adaptation of Cats. In The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett, Mephistopheles is the name of a highly intelligent goat befriended by one of the characters, who is able to count to 20 and use the privy. In the fictional works of Bengali author Narayan Gangopadhyay, a character named Tenida (Bengali টেনিদা) had the catchphrase "De la grande Mephistopheles! Yak yak!" (ডি লা গ্রান্ডি মেফিস্টোফিলিস! ইয়াক ইয়াক!) In Dina and Daniel Nayeri's Another Faust series, Mephistopheles takes the form of a beautiful governess named Nicola Vileroy, taking children from their families, offering them deals that involve supernatural gifts, and raising them to be highly influential members of society. It is implied that among her charges were Queen Elizabeth I and Harry S. Truman. In the Matthew Reilly novel The Four Legendary Kingdoms, a character named "Mephisto" is a human who has been completely tattooed red, with surgically implanted horns. The character and his ancestors are shown to be the cause of the "Mephistopheles" myth. In The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Emilio Sandoz is said to take on the personality of Mephistopheles in order to protect himself from his past experiences.Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow. Ballantine Books, 2016, pages 386 and 394 In Agatha Christie's novel Cards on the Table, a pivotal character named Shaitana, who is described as being 'theatrical', with a 'macabre' and 'oriental' taste, is called 'Mephistophelian' several times throughout the novel. In the Highschool DxD light novel series, Mephisto Pheles is an Extra Demon, being one of the ancient Devils who have lived since the time of the original Devil Kings; as a liberalist, Mephisto has an antagonistic relationship with the Original Devil Kings Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan and Asmodeus. Thus, Mephisto spent most of his time in the Human World, where he became famous as the legendary contracted Devil of the master sorcerer Johann Georg Faust. After Faust's death, Mephisto became the chairman of Grauzerberer, a famous Magician Association founded by Faust. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad the unnamed Brickmaker at Central Station is described as a papier-mâché Mephistopheles. In A Modern Mephistopheles by Louisa May Alcott the title alludes to the character Jasper Helwyze, who devilishly tempts aspiring writer Felix Canaris with fame and fortune in exchange for his soul. The story was published anonymously in 1877. In We (novel) by Yevgeny Zamyatin the revolutionary group MEPHI is named after Mephisto/Mephistopheles, as is stated in record 28 by the character I-330.
Anime In the animated version of Shaman King, Faust VIII refers to his spirit, Eliza, as Mephisto E during the Shaman Fight, which is playing upon the Faustian legend he is associated with. In the Japanese anime Digimon Tamers, Mephistomon is the name of an Ultimate Level Digimon.