Line #25 PlayingWith/DevilButNoGod


1	'''Basic Trope''': The Devil is real, but the jury's out on God.
2
3	* '''Straight''': Despite the Devil being real, and taking part in world events, God is never seen and rarely mentioned.
4	* '''Exaggerated''':
5	** The Devil [[HellOnEarth has total control over Earth]] while God [[HaveYouSeenMyGod is MIA]].
6	** [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Satan, not God, created the universe.]]
7	* '''Downplayed''':
8	** While the Devil's influence [[EvilIsVisceral is felt more strongly]], [[AWorldHalfFull God is still in full control of creation]].
9	** Only the Devil shows up in person, but God's involvement is still evident.
10	* '''Justified''':
11	** God's [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill total committment to free will]] and [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-intervention in human lives]] allows the Devil plenty of leeway.
12	** God has no jurisdiction over the earth-like layer of hell where the story takes place.
13	* '''Inverted''': God is real, the Devil isn't.
14	* '''Subverted''':
15	** It seems as if God is absent, until it's revealed Satan [[SatanIsGood is only a tempter meant to work sinners into the people God wishes them to be]], revealing that God [[RunningBothSides is in fact in control of the entire argument between good and evil]].
16	** There is one malevolent supernatural presence. But it's actually just an [[GodIsEvil evil god.]]
17	* '''DoubleSubverted''': But then it turns out that Satan was pretending to be God to get people on his side. Meanwhile, God is still nowhere to be seen.
18	* '''Parodied''': "[[Music/TomWaits There ain't no devil]], that's just God [[GodIsEvil when he's drunk]]."
19	* '''Zig Zagged''': God and the Devil [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil take turns in revealing and concealing themselves from observation]] based on their needs.
20	* '''Averted''': Neither God nor the Devil are mentioned.
21	* '''Enforced''': Most lives--and [[AnthropicPrinciple stories]]--would be [[GoodIsBoring pretty dull]] if the Devil didn't take at least some interest.
22	* '''Lampshaded''': Have [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou you]] felt the Presence today?
23	* '''Invoked''': The Devil can remain at the forefront of life [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil so long as sinners keep sinning]].
24	* '''Exploited''': The Devil uses God's seeming absence to [[CrisisOfFaith sap the Church's strength]] and make more sinners.
25	* '''Defied''': Both God and the Devil exist and take active roles in temporal affairs.
26	* '''Discussed''': "[[Music/EltonJohn If there's a God in Heaven,]] [[ReligionRantSong what's He waiting for]]?"
27	* '''Conversed''': "There's no God, but there's a Devil? I mean, I get the nihilistic idea of "There is no God", but you can't just have a big force of evil without a force of good to balance it out!"
28	* '''Implied''': While plenty of [[SatanicArchetype devils]], [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demons]], [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubi]] and [[HellHound other]] [[FlamingDevil hellish]] [[BigRedDevil effluvia]] have been documented, there are absolutely no accounts of [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]].
29	* '''Deconstructed''':
30	** The existence of evil without a counterbalancing good says some [[CosmicHorrorStory pretty nasty things]] about the nature of the universe.
31	** If God does exist, his silence and indifference put Him [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks in the same league as his counterpart]].
32	* '''Reconstructed''':
33	** God may be absent physically, but [[TheAntiNihilist His spirit is omnipresent]] and, in a sense, [[HeroicResolve invincible]].
34	** Satan has free reign in the [[HellOnEarth physical world]], but lives on borrowed time and will inevitably face God's judgement. God essentially WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing and acts through [[InMysteriousWays subtle means]].
35	----
36	''"[[DevilButNoGod Come in]], [[Film/TheExorcistIII Father Morning]]. Enter, knight. [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife This time you're going to lose]]."''

Context PlayingWith / DevilButNoGod