History Main / DevilsJobOffer

* When ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' loses both his and his brother Mugman's souls in a gamble against the Devil, they both get on their knees and beg for any way to save their souls. The Devil then offers them a deal to go out and collect the soul contracts of every person who owes a debt to him in exchange for their lives.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has the infernal pact [[HunterOfMonsters Wyll]] made with the cambion Mizora. In exchange for his warlock powers to combat the forces of evil across the Sword Coast as the Blade of Frontiers, she would have him hunt down infernal targets of her choosing. While this wasn't much of a problem for Wyll since most of his quarry were evil, the pact would eventually bite him in the ass when he was forced to hunt down Karlach, who despite being Zariel's champion was forced into her service years ago and is genuinely a good soul.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Preacher}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/devils_job_offer.jpg]]]]

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-->-- ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}''

* ''VideoGame/Phantasmagoria2'': Curtis Craig's computer becomes possessed and he starts to receive strange emails; one of them includes a job offer from hell's recruitment department. [[spoiler:However, these are later revealed to be hallucinations.]]

* Shizuka Satomi from ''Light from Uncommon Stars'' made a deal with the devil for musical talent, then to avoid her own damnation by condemning the souls of seven musical prodigies to hell. A chapter from her contractor's point of view reveals that this is how deals are expected to end, as it ensures a greater number and higher misery of souls than simply making a deal for one.

* ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'': Larisa is offered a DealWithTheDevil in order to [[spoiler:save Sandra's life]], but is still apprehensive about selling her soul. The Devil clarifies that he doesn't want to ''buy'' her soul, he wants to ''hire'' it. When she dies, she will become a [[HornyDevils succubus]] whose job will be to seduce young men into a life of sin and hedonism. Cue PervertedDrooling from LovableSexManiac Larisa.

* The Golden Age Black Widow ([[PunnyName Claire Voyant]]), was brought back to life by the devil in exchange for essentially becoming his debt collector. She'd go after those who had made deals with him and collect their souls once their contract had expired.
* Happens as a major plot point in the 1990s ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'', where Vampirella is killed and ends up in Hell, which is fortunately ruled by her mother Lilith, who gives her a mission to fight vampires on Earth just before she is killed. (This was a mild retcon since Lilith was killed, but this implied that she had been in Hell all along.)
* In ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'', the story's VillainProtagonist Warren White goes from handsome ButtMonkey NewMeat in the prison to a [[BeautyToBeast hideous]] but competent and powerful supervillain and in addition to his worldly "success", he manages to outwit some demons seeking to deal with him and so impresses ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} that he's offered a cushy job when he inevitably ends up in Hell after death.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Bill canonically offers a protagonist a chance to help him take over the world as part of his army of interdimensional "freaks." A popular AU for fanfiction/fan-art is for the character to take him up on it in an act of self-sacrifice and then have to adjust to life as a super-powered villain.
* In ''[[http://www.c4vct.com/kym/etchings/hellboun.htm The Hellbound Heart]]'', part of Kim [=McFarland=]'s ''[[http://www.c4vct.com/kym/etchings/index.htm Etchings]]'' set of fanfics (mostly ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''-related), Lucifer reveals that he considers Negaduck "one of [his] best field agents" and that he has a job waiting for him when his time is up. [[spoiler:That comes to pass some stories later at the end of ''Ahiru'', and he's a demon in subsequent stories]].
* The WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} and Anime/{{Attack on Titan}} crossover ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13858618/1/ Attack on Titan A New Path]]'' begins this way. With the God of Darkness offering Eren Yeager the chance to be reincarnated on Remnant in exchange for getting rid of Salem for him.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In Kenneth Oppel's ''Literature/{{Silverwing}}'' series, the cannibal bat Goth is sent back to Earth to re-teach the living cannibal bats about Cama Zotz. He may be a slight inversion in that he's not quite sent back by Zotz himself and just told about the two living bats in the Underworld so that he can kill one to take the life into himself and live again.
* In Creator/AnneRice's ''[[Literature/TheVampireChronicles Memnoch the Devil]]'', Lestat is given a tour of the history of mankind and the afterlife, including Heaven and Hell. In Hell, the Devil (Memnoch, in case you missed it) offers him a job as his "right-hand man/vampire". Lestat declines and runs screaming out of Hell.

* The premise of ''Series/{{Reaper}}''. Sam's parents sold him to the devil before he was born and now the devil has come to collect - by making Sam track down souls who have escaped hell and sending them back.

* A close variant in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting. Kelemvor, god of the dead, is sometimes known to punish the souls of the False (i.e. people who claimed fealty to a deity but didn't actually obey the tenets of the faith) by putting them into servitude in his domain, the Fugue Plane. The job varies, from guarding the realm against demonic incursions to acting as a local guide for living people who are just visiting the Fugue Plane for whatever reason.
* From ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', this is Abyssal and Infernal Exaltation in a nutshell. For Abyssals, the various devil-equivalents (incredibly powerful ghosts called Deathlords) come to them when they're about to die; the Deathlords offer immortality, powers, and whatever else they feel like throwing in, in exchange for the Abyssal working for them to destroy the world. The Infernals get the offer from the Yozis, the imprisoned AbusivePrecursors of the setting, generally right after they've failed at or chickened out of something really awesome (the basic sales pitch generally goes something along the lines of "you could have done that if you only had the power I'm about to offer you..."). The Infernals also get immortality, powers, and various other cool stuff, in exchange for working to break the Yozis out of their prison.

* When VideoGame/{{Cuphead}} loses both his and his brother Mugman's souls in a gamble against the Devil, they both get on their knees and beg for any way to save their souls. The Devil then offers them a deal to go out and collect the soul contracts of every person who owes a debt to him in exchange for their lives.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' has a rather interesting example. Rather than dying, the player's character has been welcomed into [[{{Hell}} the Labyrinth]] [[BonusLevelOfHell of Amala]] by Lucifer himself, who has a proposal for you, involving destroying the Ten [[TheGrimReaper Incarnations]] [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse of Death]]. Once you reach a certain level in the Labyrinth and he has given you [[MoreThanMindControl all the info he wants you to have]], he makes you an offer -- prove yourself to him, and get a job triggering a Class Z ApocalypseHow by killing God's embodiment in the Vortex World.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/SuperColumbineMassacreRPG'', Satan does this with the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold by turning them into [[DemonOfHumanOrigin his demonic minions]], seeing them as {{Worthy Opponent}}s for both their crimes in life and [[DefeatMeansFriendship how they fought their way through Hell in death]].
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'': Judas was ''offered'' a job by the resident DarkMessiah, but he [[FaustianRebellion rejected it]] and was just sent back to Earth instead of getting shipped back to Hell.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Darken}}'': the main character, Gort, dies on [[http://darkencomic.com/?webcomic_post=20031216 the first page]], killed because he [[http://darkencomic.com/?webcomic_post=20031229 cut a deal]] with Mephistopheles to serve him in exchange for a mortal victory, and then he needed to die so Mephistopheles can put his mark on him before being sent back.

* The central premise of ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper''; 'Scarlet' starts the comic in Hell with amnesia, and is promptly offered a deal by Satan as the Grim Reaper, tasked with reaping one sinner a day. Or, of course, [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse she could immediately start her sentence all the way down in the 9th circle]]...

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': HIM (who is technically {{Satan}}) brings back the Rowdyruff Boys to kill the titular girls.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': Him (who is technically {{Satan}}) brings back the Rowdyruff Boys to kill the titular girls.

* In the manga ''Manga/BeyondEvil'' (''Aku no Higan''), the protagonist, a high schooler named Terajima Gouta is confronted by Victor, a demon-like being who literally deals in lives by buying and selling years of people's lives and has supernatural powers and charisma. Terajima is in a situation where he is about to be murdered and Victor offers to save his life if Terajima signs a contract which makes him Victor's assistant/errand boy and aides him in his deals with humans and other demon-like beings. Terajima takes the deal.

* The central premise of ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper''; 'Scarlet' starts the comic in Hell with amnesia, and is promptly offered a deal by Satan as the Grim Reaper, tasked with reaping one sinner a day. Or, of course, she could immediately start her sentence all the way down in the 9th circle...

* In ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'', the story's VillainProtagonist Warren White goes from handsome Buttmonkey NewMeat in the prison to a [[BeautyToBeast hideous]] but competent and powerful supervillain and in addition to his worldly "success", he manages to outwit some demons seeking to deal with him and so impresses ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} that he's offered a cushy job when he inevitably ends up in Hell after death.

* ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': Inverted in Season 1. When Chloe and Lucifer investigate a murder linked to a satanic cult, a killer gets involved hoping to impress Lucifer enough to take him on board as a lackey. Lucifer is horrified by this and wants nothing to do the man beyond stopping him. He's also alarmed by the reason why the man knows he's the real Devil at all. [[spoiler:Amenadiel resurrects Malcolm to help him get Lucifer back to Hell, falsely promising to send him to Heaven instead of Hell when the job is done. Having experienced just 30 seconds of Hell, Malcolm's mind begins deteriorating; he starts identifying with the Devil and killing. When Lucifer finds out, he lampshades what a topsy-turvey situation they're in where an angel is making false, murderious job offers as if he's the Devil, while the Devil is trying to save human lives as if he's an angel.]]

* ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': Inverted in Season 1. When Chloe and Lucifer investigate a murder linked to a satanic cult, a killer gets involved hoping to impress Lucifer enough to take him on board as a lackey. Lucifer is horrified by this and wants nothing to do the man beyond stopping him. He's also alarmed by the reason why the man knows he's the real Devil at all. [[spoiler:Amenadiel resurrects Malcolm to help him get Lucifer back to Hell, falsely promising to send him to Heaven instead of Hell when the job is done. Having experienced just 30 seconds of Hell, Malcolm's mind begins deteriorating; he starts identifying with the Devil and killing. When Lucifer finds out, he lampshades what a topsy-turvey situation they're in where an angel is making false, murderious deals as if he's the Devil, while the Devil is trying to save human lives as if he's an angel.]]

* ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': Inverted in Season 1's "[=#TeamLucifer=]". When Chloe and Lucifer investigate a murder linked to a satanic cult, a killer gets involved hoping to impress Lucifer enough to take him on board as a lackey. Lucifer is horrified by this and wants nothing to do the man beyond stopping him. He's also alarmed by the reason why the man knows he's the real Devil at all. [[spoiler:Amenadiel resurrects Malcolm to help him get Lucifer back to Hell, falsely promising to send him to Heaven instead of Hell when the job is done. Having experienced just 30 seconds of Hell, Malcolm's mind begins deteriorating; he starts identifying with the Devil and killing. When Lucifer finds out, he lampshades what a topsy-turvey situation they're in where an angel is making false, murderious deals as if he's the Devil, while the Devil is trying to save human lives as if he's an angel.]]

* ''Series/{{Lucifer2016}}'': Inverted in Season 1's "[=#TeamLucifer=]". When Chloe and Lucifer investigate a murder linked to a satanic cult, a killer gets involved hoping to impress Lucifer enough to take him on board as a lackey. Lucifer is horrified by this and wants nothing to do the man beyond stopping him. He's also alarmed by the reason why the man knows he's the real Devil at all. [[spoiler:Amenadiel resurrects Malcolm to help him get Lucifer back to Hell, falsely promising to send him to Heaven instead of Hell when the job is done. Having experienced just 30 seconds of Hell, Malcolm's mind begins deteriorating; he starts identifying with the Devil and killing. When Lucifer finds out, he lampshades what a topsy-turvey situation they're in where an angel is making false, murderious deals as if he's the Devil, while the Devil is trying to save human lives as if he's an angel.]]

* Happens as a major plot point in the 1990's ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'', where Vampirella is killed and ends up in Hell, which is fortunately ruled by her mother Lilith, who gives her a mission to fight vampires on Earth just before she is killed. (This was a mild retcon, since Lilith was killed, but this implied that she had been in Hell all along.)

* The Music/{{Manowar}} song "Dark Avenger" is the story of a man who was horribly wronged by local village elders, and eventually killed. When he enters Hades, the "Guardian of Lost Souls", (voiced by Creator/OrsonWelles) offers him a job. The man is equipped with a magic blade which was forged in brimstone and tempered in the tears of the unavenged dead, as well as a pitch-black horse with flaming eyes to carry him back to Earth. The Guardian tells him to "seek payment, not only for thine own anguish, but vindicate the souls of the Unavenged". The song then is told from the Dark Avenger's perspective, which he mostly spends listing the fates of his targets.

** During the events of the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'', a World Eaters Space Marine [[http://uk.games-workshop.com/chaosspacemarines/kharn/ known as Khârn]] racked up an enormous body count during the final siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra. He was killed during the battle, but Khorne, the Chaos God of war, blood and carnage, was so impressed by his showing that he brought Khârn back to life so he could continue to spill blood and collect skulls. It should also be mentioned that Khorne isn't particularly concerned about whose skulls Khârn collects, hence his nickname of "The Betrayer" (he got it during a battle where both his enemies and allies were too cold to fight, so he ran around with a flamer torching every shelter and insufficiently-motivated Space Marine he saw).
** [[http://uk.games-workshop.com/chaosspacemarines/typhus/ Typhus]] and the entirety of the Death Guard are an example. Stricken down with a terrible plague on their way to said final siege of Terra, the entire legion of disease resistant super soldiers is struck down by Nurgle... until Typhus makes a deal. Nurgle restores them to life, with the caveat that they will never be free of their diseases and must spend all of eternity bringing Nurgle's plagues to others.

** Lord Siegfried Gunther Aern Damaske von Callan (or Siggy) dies killing the Royal Seer and immediately becomes the lieutenant of Karnak, who had moments before killed every high level demon in Hell, so high-quality damned souls were in high demand.

* The central premise of ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper''; 'Scarlet' starts the comic in Hell with amnesia, and is promptly offered a deal by Satan as the Grim Reaper, tasked with reaping one sinner a day. Or, of course, she could immediately start her sentence all the way down in the 9th circle....

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': The "Devil's Feud Cake" short is composed of footage of previous shorts, all of them involving Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, put together with story connecting them. The connecting story went as follows: After being sent to Hell after being outfoxed by Bugs, Sam was offered a chance to go back, so long as he sent Bugs there to take his place. After trying and failing several times, Sam got sick of it, and decided he'd rather stay in Hell.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

-->'''Satan:''' *''sneer''* It's you.
-->'''Adam:''' *''sigh''* Listen. If I'm gonna be stuck down here, I might as well make myself useful.
-->'''Satan:''' We have the position of "Prince of Hell" still open.
-->''' Adam:''' Brilliant.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Bill canonically offers a protagonist a chance to help him take over the world as part of his army of interdimensional "freaks." A popular AU for fanfiction/fanart is for the character to take him up on it in an act of self-sacrifice and then have to adjust to life as a super-powered villain.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/DeadInTombstone'', Satan releases Guerrero from Hell with a promise to return him to life if he can deliver the souls of his six betrayers to Hell within 24 hours. At the end of the film, [[spoiler: Guerrero fails to meet his deadline by two minutes. Satan allows him to remain on Earth so long as he continues to send the souls of outlaws to Hell]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** During the events of the Literature/HorusHeresy, a World Eaters Space Marine [[http://uk.games-workshop.com/chaosspacemarines/kharn/ known as Khârn]] racked up an enormous body count during the final siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra. He was killed during the battle, but Khorne, the Chaos God of war, blood and carnage, was so impressed by his showing that he brought Khârn back to life so he could continue to spill blood and collect skulls. It should also be mentioned that Khorne isn't particularly concerned about whose skulls Khârn collects, hence his nickname of "The Betrayer" (he got it during a battle where both his enemies and allies were too cold to fight, so he ran around with a flamer torching every shelter and insufficiently-motivated Space Marine he saw).

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' has a rather interesting example. Rather than dying, the player's character has been welcomed into [[{{Hell}} the Labyrinth]] [[BonusLevelOfHell of Amala]] by Lucifer himself, who has a proposal for you, involving destroying the Ten [[TheGrimReaper Incarnations]] [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse of Death]]. Once you reach a certain level in the Labyrinth and he has given you [[MoreThanMindControl all the info he wants you to have]], he makes you an offer - prove yourself to him, and get a job triggering a Class Z ApocalypseHow by killing God's embodiment in the Vortex World.

* ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}'': Curtis Craig's computer becomes possessed and he starts to receive strange emails; one of them includes a job offer from hell's recruitment department. [[spoiler:However, these are later revealed to be hallucinations.]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan''
** When The Infernomancer (aka 'TIM') is sent to Hell by the white magic of Gregory Deegan, he strikes a (new) deal with Karnak to return to the land of the living. Actually, Karnak was bluffing, but TIM didn't know that...

-->'''Sock:''' So, what gonna happen?
-->'''Mephistopheles:''' What's going to happen is that i'm going to give you an offer.
-->'''Sock:''' Oh, you mean like a [[DealwiththeDevil deal with the dev-]]
-->'''Mephistopheles:''' I mean like a job offer.
-->'''Mephistopheles:''' Oh please, Mr.Sowachowski, I already have your soul, did'ya think I was gonna challenge you to a fiddling contest or something?