History Main / HeavensDevils

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast'' features the Howl of the Devil-Tiger dharma, who believe their role is to serve as replacements for the corrupt Yama Kings as devils in the service of Heaven. On the one hand, they are to punish (and make use of) humanity's greatest sinners; on the other, they are expected to act as befits their station in the Celestial Order, behaving as truly cultured and magnificent devils should.
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' has a faction called the Lancea Sanctum. They're a group of vampires who believe in a Path of Enlightenment called the Path of Night: though they are damned and possessed by the demon-like Beast which drives them to evil acts, they are meant by God to scare and punish humanity through their depredations so they remain virtuous. This is, to say the least, hotly contested since it functionally pushes them to seek ways to harm humanity actively, albeit with more focus on the wrongdoing. Their mythology even tells of visitations by disapproving Angels when vampires fail to live "up" to their role.

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'':
** Part of the basis for the Lancea Sanctum is the Path of Night, a Path of Enlightenment which believes a vampire's purpose is to serve as an agent of evil in the service of the PowersThatBe, tempting and horrifying mortals in order to test them, the weak falling and the strong tempered by their trials.
** ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast'' features the Howl of the Devil-Tiger dharma, who believe their role is to serve as replacements for the corrupt Yama Kings as devils in the service of Heaven. On the one hand, they are to punish (and make use of) humanity's greatest sinners; on the other, they are expected to act as befits their station in the Celestial Order, behaving as truly cultured and magnificent devils should.
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' has a faction called the Lancea Sanctum. They're a group of vampires who believe that though they are damned and possessed by the demon-like Beast which drives them to evil acts, they are meant by God to scare and punish humanity through their depredations so they remain virtuous. This is, to say the least, hotly contested since it functionally pushes them to seek ways to harm humanity actively, albeit with more focus on the wrongdoing. Their mythology even tells of visitations by disapproving Angels when vampires fail to live "up" to their role.

* The ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' [[OurManticoresAreSpinier Manticoremon]] is a mindless demonic beast with an obsession for consuming the AlwaysChaoticEvil [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Virus Digimon like itself]]. For this reason, it's often used as an attack dog by angelic [[AlwaysLawfulGood Vaccine-type]] Digimon. It makes its first anime appearance in ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'' where it went rogue but its angel master Darcmon shows up at the last second to stop the heroes from killing it and bring it back under control.

* Downplayed in ''Film/LittleNicky''. Satan rules hell mostly because someone has to see to it that evil souls are punished, and he's simply the guy who's most suited for the job (after his father, Lucifer, grew too old and retired). His older sons Cassius and [[BigBad Adrian]] ''are'' evil to the core, however. His youngest son, Nicky? [[TheHero Not so much]].
* The demons in ''Film/DarkAngelTheAscent'' are religious, and Hell is indicated to be working in concert with Heaven. They're not evil, just doing God's will punishing sinners.

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' mentions it in passing in [[spoiler: the Chaos Ending, where Lucifer says that he himself is also a part of YHVH.]]

* In ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' most angels and demons like to consider themselves as the pure good and pure evil respectively. However, the first few games seem to indicate that they're more like order and chaos but otherwise basically just people with wings and horns and such. The fourth game is the one that starts this trope by making it clear that angels and demons have their own roles based around the human worlds. While angels provide guidance, compassion and so on, demons are basically meant to serve as a boogeyman for humans: If humans stop being afraid of demons, they grow out of control and put themselves at risk of extinction. Thus, angels feed off faith and prayer while demons are sustained by mortal fear to make sure everyone does their job properly. The villain is actually disrupting this system by making humans independent enough to fear each other more than demons, which means the demons lose power and can't make humans behave themselves. [[NobleDemon Demons seem to thus hold to certain standards, even helping out when they consider it necessary, and offenders of these standards are held in contempt.]]

* {{Implied}} with Chris Kyle from ''WebAnimation/MonsterLab2021''. While he's referred to as "God's holiest angel" [[spoiler:even by {{God}} himself]], his ability to [[DemonicPossession possess people]] and his demands for [[HumanSacrifice blood sacrifice]] imply ... something else.

* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': The Habbalah claim to be this; they live in Hell and are demons, but they believe that they're angels working where God needs them most, and that God has given them free license to punish sinners (and every human's a sinner, of course). Canonically, they're even more deluded than most demons.

* In ''Literature/TheAeneid'', the infernal Furies are sent away from their work in the Underworld by Juno, goddess of the heavens. She uses them to start a war between Aeneas and Turnus to delay Aeneas' fated victory, an unnatural plan that earns Juno Jupiter's reprimand.
* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Virgil trusts the devils of fraud because his paganism has taught him that demons are agents of the gods' justice. The trope is Subverted when the Malebranche try to kill Virgil and his ward after lying to them about how to leave their torture-chamber. It's so foolish to think [[FallenAngel Fallen Angels]] would act justly that even a damned {{Hypocrite}} mocks Virgil for his blunder.
* In ''Literature/TheMetamorphoses'', the Furies, Harpies, and other cthonic monsters Orpheus charms are agents of justice imposing punishment on wicked men. They may be intimidating, but they punish those who offend the gods and are not themselces tortured like Christian devils.
* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's "The Last Trump", the angel responsible for Earth is very much surprised to learn that the Devil is God's servant, since Good requires Evil to struggle against.
* In ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', the Friar's Tale implies this, telling a story about a [[SinisterMinister corrupt church Summoner]] making friends with a low-level demon. They come upon a frustrated coachman, who angrily tells his horses to go to Hell. The Summoner points out to the demon that this is effectively permission to go take the guy's stuff. The demon, however, points out that the carter didn't really mean it, and specifically invokes God's authority in his reasoning: "'Nay,' quod the devel, 'God woot, never a deel! It is nat his entente, trust me weel.'" [[note]] "No," quoth the devil, "God knows, not a bit! It is not his intent, trust me well.'"[[/note]] As the story goes on, we see that the Summoner is [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters nowhere near so bound by the rules of fair play]], and fully prepared to twist people's words, so at the end, [[spoiler: the demon drags him off to Hell.]].

* In ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'', this is one theory about why demons do what they do; even though they appear to be enemies of God, they are actually about God's work. The Avengers of Evil in particular claim to be about this, and they can make a fairly good case that they're telling the truth...but no one can ever be sure, since a demon's very nature is to deceive.

* Part of the basis for the Lancea Sanctum is the Path of Night from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', a Path of Enlightenment which believes a vampire's purpose is to serve as an agent of evil in the service of the PowersThatBe, tempting and horrifying mortals in order to test them, the weak falling and the strong tempered by their trials.
* ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast'' features the Howl of the Devil-Tiger dharma, who believe their role is to serve as replacements for the corrupt Yama Kings as devils in the service of Heaven. On the one hand, they are to punish (and make use of) humanity's greatest sinners; on the other, they are expected to act as befits their station in the Celestial Order, behaving as truly cultured and magnificent devils should.

A common [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], or perhaps [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]], occurs when this trope is how the cosmos is ''supposed'' to work, but due to corruption, apathy, or a simple breakdown in communication, Heaven and Hell are in an adversarial relationship, to the detriment of a properly-functioning cosmos. Sometimes, the plot will even revolve around finding out what has gone wrong and fixing the situation.

* In the Art/SistineChapel's altar painting, the infernal Charon is seen beating the damned into {{Hell}} in accordance with [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Christ]]'s last judgement. This role comes straight out of Myth/ClassicalMythology, but it fits awkwardly into Creator/{{Michelangelo}}'s Christian cosmology, where demons are all rebels against {{God}}.

* This is actually pretty close to how Satan and Hell are portrayed on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. Satan is actually one of the [[OnlySaneMan more level-headed characters in the entire show]], and he sees the tormenting of sinners as just a job he does with the temptation of mortals being necessary to ensure free will. Then again, it's also shown that, in the ''South Park'' universe, ''everyone'' goes to Hell except for Mormons. Even though [[MindScrew God is a Buddhist.]]

This trope can overlap with DarkIsNotEvil, but not always. Sometimes BlueAndOrangeMorality is in play, sometimes GodIsEvil, and sometimes, just serving a divine purpose doesn't exempt demons from being [[{{Jerkass}} sadistic jerks]].

* The Literature/BookOfJob in ''Literature/TheBible'' is the TropeMaker, where ''ha-satan'' ("The Accuser") is a member of God's divine council. When God points out Job as a righteous and virtuous man who has never turned away from Him, Satan responds that of course Job is a loyal servant of God; he has everything he could possibly want, and if he lost all of that, he would curse God and turn away from him. God agrees that Satan may put his claim to the test.

* In ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy Perelandra]]'', Ransom mistakes the horrible insects below the Underworld for demons, only to realize that the creatures below the ground are just as much a part of God's creation as those on the surface. He appreciates the pagans for honoring these cthonic beasts and not falling into the pantheism of the real demons.

->''I am {{Satan}}, the one who stands below God the judge. I see you have chosen to retaliate, just as that man did. Then prepare, Seraph, to receive God's eternal punishment of damnation!''
-->--'''Satan''', ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei: VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga''

* ''Angels of Hell'' (see "Myths & Religion") appear in a book of the ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' continuum, where Lucifer tires of running Hell and, to fill the void, God sends two righteous Holy Angels down to take over and ensure things are running properly. The two Angels, out of a combination of [[KnightTemplar self-righteousness]] and [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkassery]], end up making Hell a never-before-seen place of pitiless and unmitigated horror and suffering, convinced this is necessary to fulfill God's will...
* Discussed in ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', which compares and contrasts this trope with its counterpart, the devil as adversary of Heaven - the difference between the accuser in Heaven's service who scours and tests mortals (as with Satan in the Book of Job) and the adversary who seeks to destroy what God has created.

** {{Implied}} in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting: the devils/baatezu have contracts with the god of the dead (currently the LawfulNeutral Kelemvor) that allow them to recruit unclaimed dead souls from the Fugue Plane (where the dead are sorted). Exactly what the gods get out of it is not explained, but it contrasts sharply with the demons/tana'ri, who occasionally mount raids on the Fugue Plane and simply kidnap the souls they want.
* In ''TabletopGame/InNomine'', the Habbalah claim to be this; they live in Hell and are demons, but they believe that they're angels working where God needs them most, and that God has given them free license to punish sinners (and every human's a sinner, of course). Canonically, they're even more deluded than most demons.

* This is actually pretty close to how Satan and Hell are portrayed on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. Satan is actually one of the [[OnlySaneMan more level-headed characters in the entire show]], and he sees the tormenting of sinners as just a job he does. Then again, it's also shown that, in the ''South Park'' universe, ''everyone'' goes to Hell except for Mormons. Even though [[MindScrew God is a Buddhist.]]

* ‘’Literature/TheThebaid’’: Oedipus' pious prayers for the death of his sons is answered by the heavenly King Jupiter by sending the Queen of the Pit, the Fury Allecto, to breathe hatred and envy into their souls.

* The Literature/BookOfJob in Literature/TheBible is the TropeMaker, where ''ha-satan'' ("The Accuser") is a member of God's divine council. When God points out Job as a righteous and virtuous man who has never turned away from Him, Satan responds that of course Job is a loyal servant of God; he has everything he could possibly want, and if he lost all of that, he would curse God and turn away from him. God agrees that Satan may put his claim to the test.

** Supplemental sourcebook ''Tyrants of the Nine Hells'' proposes the theory that the LawfulEvil Devils are angels who were created by the heavens for the purpose of battling the ChaoticEvil Demons, and who took on some of the fierce and terrible traits of the Demons to better understand how to combat them. This caused the other angels and gods to shun them and eventually led to the Devils being granted (or possibly being exiled to) the realm of Baator the Nine Hells to ensure the conflict was kept away from the other realms of Law. Keep in mind [[UnreliableNarrator that this is the version of events that's supposedly told by Asmodeus himself]].