History Main / DealWithTheDevil

* In ''ComicBook/AndThenEmilyWasGone'', Bonnie Shaw (the bogeyman) is called when a parent makes a deal in exchange for their child. [[spoiler:Emily's mother made a deal to get rid of her husband's sickness.]]
* In ''ComicBook/AngelAndFaith #10 and #11'', two of Giles' spoiled and snobbish aunts come to Angel and Faith for help. They made deals with several demons in exchange for eternal youth, beauty, perfect health, etc. As the demons come out of the woodwork looking to collect on their bargains, Angel and Faith slay them one by one, with the aunts refusing to lift a finger to help. One of the demons says that the aunts bargained a kiss for his gift, so Angel and Faith let him pass. As the demon forcefully French-kisses the complaining aunts, the next demon that comes calls a truce and says he will leave satisfied if Angel and Faith let him watch.

* ''[[Magazine/CreepyMagazine Creepy]]'':

* As Alice found out in [[http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-02-23 this strip]] in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', becoming a manager requires this sort of deal. Fortunately, they give you your soul back if you're demoted or learn to play sax.
* One [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse ''Donald Duck'']] story has him going to the DeepSouth to become a folk singer after hearing a story about an ancestor of his was one and saved a town from a family of hillbillies who made one of these and takes the nephews along, on the way they meet a BigFun PigMan tax collector who hitches a ride because he's going to the same town and loves Donalds horrible singing voice. When they arrive it turns out that the hillbillies from the story are still around and Donald briefly has a HeroicBSOD after hearing a recording of his voice and realizes both he and his ancestor were both sounded horrible although he recovers when he realizes his singing really does act like a KryptoniteFactor for the hillbillies and their monsters. Later they find out that the tax collector managed to beat the hillbillies offpanel after Donald drove them back and after he leaves they realize the truth: the "tax collector" was the devil come to collect the hillbilies souls and the reason why Donald's and his ancestors voice acts like a KryptoniteFactor for the monsters is because he likes their singing so much he added that into the contract.
* ''ComicBook/DylanDog'' has multiple examples with different devils and supernatural entities, who grant the wish in different manners but always demand a soul in exchange:

* [[AlphaBitch Sistah Spooky's]] backstory in ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' is a subversion. The deal she cut when she was her high school's ButtMonkey was only for beauty, but her caseworker screwed up the paperwork and she got Fearsome Arcane Might as a bonus. (Her first plan was [[WhosLaughingNow Bloody Vengeance]] on her AlphaBitch tormentors, but the demon couldn't inflict harm on other clients of Hell -- they'd all sold their souls for beauty already.)

* The main character of ''Jack of Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' has been selling his soul to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve a series of devils]] since he was in his twenties, originally to gain a physical body after being killed the first time and banned from the afterlife. He gains another hundred years of life every time he does it. It in of itself may have been unnecessary since popular fables like himself are pretty much immortal and tend to get new bodies or at least something similar takes their place eventually. He realizes too late that in the long run it is a bad deal because sooner or later he will run out of devils to deal with and things to offer while agreeing to suffer torments punishments each time. When they come to collect he is screwed.
* ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'': Heroine Caitlin Fairchild resolves a BroughtDownToNormal storyline by making a deal with [[BigBad series villainess]] [[TheBaroness Ivana Baiul]]: restore her powers now, in exchange for performing one mission for Ivana sometime in the future. The plot hook is left alone until Adam Warren's run, where he has Ivana call in the favor for one issue -- only to reveal that she'd been repeatedly using Fairchild on missions, only to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase her memory of the job, and of repaying her debt, every time]].
* In ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' a wannabe rocker named Jeffrey Brevard ("Six Sixx") sells his soul and the souls of his band to an entity he thinks is the Devil ([[EldritchAbomination it's not]]) in exchange for fame and fortune (and demonic powers). As a part of the deal he also has to supply his benefactor with virgins for... breeding [[MarsNeedsWomen purposes]]. Also, [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Elvis apparently got his talent from the same entity.]]
* [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]] has used this motif several different times, notably in "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0034/0034_01.asp Angels?]]," "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0078/0078_01.asp The Contract]]", and "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1109/1109_01.asp It's A Deal]]." This is arguably a subversion, since the point of these tracts is to contend that Jesus could save you even from one of those contracts if you have the requisite faith. (And if you ''don't'' have faith in Jesus, the devil gets you whether you sign a contract or not.)
** "The Contract" is almost certainly intended as a {{Deconstruction}} of ''Literature/TheDevilAndDanielWebster'', while "Angels" is an over-the-top TakeThat to rock music. It's not clear whether Jack Chick really believes Satan has ever showed up in person and tried to buy anyone's soul, though he's willing to work with the idea as a hypothetical situation in his stories.
** Given that the contract actually makes zero difference in whether the devil gets your soul, it's not clear why he goes around making these offers anyway. Possibly to trap people in despair (because they think the contract is unbreakable), or maybe just ForTheEvulz.
*** "The Contract" does hint at another potential reason near the end: such a contract can be useful as a FalseReassurance to any friends and associates of the signer who ''didn't'' make any deals with the devil. It certainly served up a nasty TwistEnding for Bob Goode:
--->Bob Goode: But the ''contract!'' ...I ''didn't'' have a contract with you! You ''can't'' get my soul!
--->B. Fox: ''You'' '''fool!''' ...I don't ''need'' a contract! ''I've got everyone anyway.''
* In ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', John Constantine, of Franchise/TheDCU but mostly of Creator/VertigoComics, has a reputation of usually being able to get the upper hand in Infernal Contracts, earning him the irritation of Heaven and Hell. Most notably, he [[spoiler:sold his soul to all three archdemons, meaning he can't die until they've resolved who actually gets it. Being archdemons, they aren't inclined to compromise, and the only alternative is open war between them - something they are very keen to avoid. ]]

* In ''ComicBook/LoriLovecraft: My Favorite Redhead'', Natasha Reich and Dick Van Von make a deal with a demon: Natasha wanting fame and power, and Dick riches. Things go badly for them when they fail to deliver the second HumanSacrifice.
* In ''ComicBook/LostAtSea'', Raleigh believes that her mother sold Raleigh's soul to TheDevil in exchange for career success and that TheDevil placed her soul inside a cat.
* Many a heroine of a ''ComicBook/{{Misty}}'' story would make one of these, for various reasons.
* In ''ComicBook/NthManTheUltimateNinja'', after Sgt. Levin was dying of a chest wound, she is instantly healed by PsychopathicManchild RealityWarper Alfie O'Meagan after she agrees to perform a favor for him in the future.
* In ''ComicBook/RebelDeadRevenge'', Satan transforms ugly pariah Jezebeau into a beautiful woman. In return, she becomes his slave.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', this trope gets a real workout in many different forms. Morpheus makes several deals over the course of the comic, in each case giving people almost exactly what they asked for in return for a seemingly negligible gain to himself -- but what the humans get out it of inevitably turns out to be a heavy cost in and by itself.

* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons:'' One Treehouse of Horror comic begins with Mr. Burns playing battleship with the Devil, and losing. Discussion turns to payment. He declines Smither's soul, but Mr. Burns reveals the plant's employees actually sold their families souls in the last round of contract negotiations. [[TooDumbToLive For three-ply toilet paper in the washrooms]]. As a result, the Devil sends two demons to grab Bart and Lisa's souls (not Maggie's. Babies stink up the place.) But due to a mix-up involving Bart switching the Simpsons and Flanders mailboxes, Rodd and Todd get taken instead.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' comic book story "Sagratamabarb", Gargamel makes a deal with Beelzebub that, if he can get rid of his titular cousin, he would be his slave forever. [[GoneHorriblyRight It didn't turn out well for Gargamel]].
* Comicbook/{{Spawn}} WasOnceAMan named Al Simmons, a CIA-employed assassin. Simmons was betrayed, murdered, and condemned to Hell for all of the horrific deeds he committed as an assassin, only to be approached by the demon Malebogia and offered a chance to return to the land of the living and be reunited with his wife, in exchange for his immortal soul. Thus was Simmons reborn as a Hellspawn (or "Spawn" for short), a powerful demon tasked with amassing an army of damned souls for the coming war between Heaven and Hell.

%%* Kicks off the entire plot in ''Manga/{{Tanpopo}}''.
* In ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'', a priest/healer named Jizonobu hands himself over to his EvilCounterpart[='s=] evil gods after the latter appears to have healed a sickly child (the [[SadisticChoice other option]] being to die along with his fellow priests and another sickly child). It gets worse: [[spoiler: The being that takes over Jizonobu's body transforms him into the AxeCrazy Jei. [[BloodbathVillainOrigin Guess what happens to the above-mentioned fellow priests]].]]
* ''ComicBook/TheWarlordDC'': Deimos, who'd been reduced to a head on a hand by that point, makes a deal with The Evil One to restore his body, as payment the Evil One takes Deimos' magic skill, which Deimos needs to fight the Warlord.
* A light-hearted parody. In the Hong Kong comic ''ComicStrip/TheWorldOfLilyWong'', the hero works for a deeply immoral advertising agency named Faust Associates whose logo is a devil.
%%* The ''ComicBook/XXXenophile'' story "Demonstration of Affection".

* In ''Comicbook/{{Birthright}}'', Mikey Rhodes agreed to serve God King Lore after he failed to defeat him. Lore sealed the deal by attaching a Nevermind (a malevolent spirit that is an extension of his own will) to Mikey's soul. The Nevermind gives Mikey advice and grants him power while they serve Lore, but it also enforces Lore's will. Removing it isn't really an option either, since being bonded to Mikey's soul also made it necessary for Mikey to survive. If it goes, Mikey goes with it.
* The trope is referenced in ''Comicbook/{{Nikolai Dante}}'', when Akita Sagawa hires Nikolai to help apprehend Katarina. Nikolai turns the tables, taking out the {{Yakuza}} air force that was going to destroy Katarina's {{pirate}}s and 'accidentally' kill him.
--> '''Murakami:''' We made a ''deal''...\\
'''Nikolai:''' You'd be better off dealing with ''the devil''.
* Doxta of ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' is happy to bargain with those who approach, sometimes by offering to give them back something she just took in exchange for some greater sacrifice. It's implied she's amused by the suffering endured as her victims live out their lives knowing what they've lost.
* ''ComicBook/TexWiller'' examples:
** It was long implied, and eventually confirmed, that Mefisto [[FromNobodyToNightmare went from a stage magician turned spy with no actual powers to a powerful warlock]] through a series of deals, rendering unspecified services to the infernal powers in exchange for knowledge. Knowing perfectly the risks involved, his deals were small and implicit, with little consequences should he fail to do his part.
*** In his final storyline Mefisto does two ''explicit'' deals [[GodzillaThreshold because he had no other way to fix the situation]], but he's still prudent. The first sees him consecrating his soul to a certain devil so he'd cure his son Yama from being an insane vegetable (a consequence of him messing up a deal), as he has failed to cure him with every other way and [[PapaWolf couldn't bear to see his son broken like that]]. Later, with Tex and his pards coming close enough to kill him and his powers made unreliable by the arrival of Narbas ([[DemonicPossession whose body Mefisto had stolen to come back to life]], the sorcerer, knowing he has to do ''something'' in the next few seconds or he'll get shot, offers their souls in exchange for unleashing a horde of demons of them, knowing that the service will automatically allow the devil to claim their reward... But failing to realize that [[spoiler:Narbas had reclaimed his body just as he called on the devil, so he only got an ''illusion'' of victory before being dragged to hell]]. He had also been ready to make an explicit wish at the end of the "Tragedy in the Jungle" storyline, as the situation was equally desperate (he and his accomplices had a faux-medieval ''castle'' but most of his minions had been already killed, and he knew Tex was coming for him with the Seminoles, far too numerous for his remaining men to hold off)... But Tex had also involved the ''US Army'', and their artillery hit a gunpowder magazine and and they blew up the castle before he could summon the devil.
** Mefisto's son Yama followed his father's example, but, [[GenreBlind not being as savvy]], eventually made the error of making two ''explicit'' deals [[IgnoredExpert against Mefisto's advice]]. While the first went well (in fact he made sure to fulfill his part first), the second time he demanded ''the'' Devil did his part first and then failed to hold his side of the deal, and [[EvilIsNotAToy found out the hard way why his father had told him to not do it when the Devil ripped his soul from the body and made him insane]].
* In ''ComicBook/SoulsearchersAndCompany'' #6, a demon transforms the team into [[NinetiesAntiHero '90s antiheroes]] and presents them with a contract to make their new identities and popularity permanent in exchange for their souls. Their new personalities are inclined to sign, and it is down to Arnold to save the day.
* Spoofed in ''ComicBook/{{Sturmtruppen}}'', when the Doctor becomes so obsessed with returning young he admits he'd make one such deal... And [[HonestJohnsDealership Musolesi]] promptly sells him a cooking book that he passes as a coded grimoire to summon the Devil. And ''then'' Musolesi finds out the Doctor has a lot of gold stashed away, so he ''[[RefugeInAudacity feigns being the Devil to con him out of that gold]]''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'': The villain Von Kreist was a World War 1 Prussian officer who sold his soul to a demon in exchange for immortality. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Unfortunately for Von Kreist, the deal didn't stop his body for rotting and decaying while he was alive.]]

* Several characters in ''VisualNovel/TyrionCuthbertAttorneyOfTheArcane'' discuss accounts and legends of people making Blood Pacts with demons, with predictably negative results. [[spoiler:And it turns out that several characters in the game have made Blood Pacts.]]

Compare BargainWithHeaven, which this trope [[MorePopularSpinOff originated as an]] [[InvertedTrope Inversion]] of, but which is largely [[ForgottenTrope forgotten]] in the mainstream, but still very much in use in some contexts. Compare also ReasoningWithGod. For the occasions when the Devil comes out ''behind'', see DidYouJustScamCthulhu. See also EvilIsNotAToy, which this trope overlaps with. These types of deals are often {{Rash Promise}}s, if the characters involved swear to honor their bargain without actually thinking through what they're doing.

* "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (as mentioned in the VideoGames entry for ''VideoGame/GuitarHero III''). The song could be considered an inversion of the trope as the "main character" (or as far as a song can have one) actually comes off better after a deal with the Devil and wins a Golden Fiddle in a fiddle contest.

* The song ''Demolition Lovers'' off of ''I Brought You My Bullets...'' and most of the album ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' by Music/MyChemicalRomance were supposed to operate on a story line that [[OutlawCouple a somewhat nefarious pair of lovers]] are killed in a hail of bullets. The man gets to Hell, finds out the woman is still alive, and then makes a deal with the devil -- he'll kill 1000 evil men in order to get his life back and be with his woman. However, the band is [[Music/TheBlackParade a fail at sticking to story lines]] when they decide to make a concept album, so you just have to [[WordOfGod trust them on this]].

* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': [[spoiler:Dr. Regis Blackgaard, as it turns out, made one of these when he was injected with a deadly virus, selling his soul to save his life. Before he did so, he was a well-intentioned MI6 agent, but the loss of his soul effectively turned him into a moustache-twirling supervillain. Also, as it turns out, the deal only slowed down the virus and it's eventually going to kill him, and as a result, he's desperate to find a way to escape his death.]]

Deal With The Devil plots can overlap with IdiotBall, as smart and rational people know to stay well the [[{{Pun}} hell]] away from deals like these. Some writers try to defend the Faust by turning the deal into a LeonineContract - either the deal was made when the Faust was in desperate straits or under some kind of duress, or the Mephistopheles made the offer when the victim had no time to think (e.g., offering to save him from the DeathTrap in return for something nasty). Others make the contract so long, complex and filled with Latin-esque legal jargon that no one will ReadTheFinePrint [[SevenDeadlySins (Sloth is a very undervalued sin)]]. Also expect ExactWords and YouDidntAsk to be employed against the Faust. Don't be surprised if the Devil pulls out a ComicallyWordyContract.

!!Examples: