"I'm positively evil!"
— Crow T. Robot (imitating Pitch with a camp voice), Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Santa Claus"
Want to demonstrate that your villain is undeniably evil but also has a flair for the (melo)dramatic or a knack for classically decadent self-indulgence? Make him a Flaming Devil!
Simply put, the Flaming Devil is a representation of Satan or any other demon with Camp Gay, or at least Ambiguously Gay, characteristics. Often but not always a villain or a demonstrable Depraved Homosexual, he's effeminate and at least prone to misbehaving, if not outright wicked.
The origins of this trope are Older Than Steam. Epicene depictions of Satan date back to the Middle Ages, in which folklore often described the Devil and his minions as having Ambiguous Genders and tempting men sexually. The homosexual implications in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and overtly bisexual Mephistopheles in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust eventually codified the image of a gleefully evil and flamboyantly effeminate devil.
Not necessarily related to Succubi and Incubi. Nor to Hot as Hell, though there can definitely be overlap. See also Sissy Villain. Though it is possible that they could overlap, a devil appearing Wreathed in Flames is a different trope.
Compare Hot God.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Griffith from Berserk was already a Sissy Villain but after the Eclipse, he graduates into this after becoming Femto, with his true form being a winged lipstick monster with hawk-talons for feet.
- Daiou-sama from Dororon Enma-kun might count.
- Although a minion and offspring of Father, who is an example of the Satanic Archetype, Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist is the most effeminate and flamboyant of the homunculi, having an androgynous appearance, flamboyant mannerisms, is rather vain about their appearance, and wears rather feminine clothes. Additionally, the homunculi (as well as Father) are themselves demons, making them fit this trope.
Comic Books
- Lucifer in Dawn: The Goddess is A) very diabolical, and B) Yahweh's gay lover. He's not remotely portrayed for comedy.
Fan Works
- Demon Aziraphale in the "Inverse Omens
" Good Omens (2019) Role Swap Plot AU has become this trope as a result of the story's metaphysical alignment flip. This version of Aziraphale retains the canonical camp and hedonistic qualities of his angelic self, but as a demonic tempter, he's much more flirty and outgoing about it.
Films — Animation
- Hades from Disney's Hercules is a variation on the trope, especially since he's portrayed as analogous to Satan. The Nostalgia Chick called him "Meg's bitchy gay boyfriend" in her review of the movie.
- The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat had Fritz end up in hell. Upon encountering the devil, who seems like a cross between Big Gay Al and Vincent Price, he lets out, "Oh, Jesus Christ, Lucifer is a faggot!"
Films — Live-Action
- While the Devil in Forbidden Zone is interested in the Princess, he's also played by Danny Elfman as a flamboyant showman with a Creepy Jazz Music number.
- Jennifer's Body gives us a Distaff Counterpart in the form of Jennifer Check, who returns from death possessed by a succubus. Despite seducing boys to eat them, the main attraction she shows throughout the movie is toward her female best friend. This was apparently intentional on the part of Jennifer's actor Megan Fox, herself bisexual.
- Jareth the Goblin King from Labyrinth, played by David Bowie in all his fabulousness, was explicitly designed as a Glam Rock version of Satan.
- Boris Lermontov in the 1948 film The Red Shoes is strongly implied to be Satan in human form. As with nearly the entire cast of the movie, he's also implied to be gay.
- Satan from Terror Toons gives this impression, referring to everyone as darling, among other things.
Literature
- Nyarlathotep, the Satanic Archetype in H. P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, manifests to Randolph Carter as a beautiful androgynous "young Pharaoh" in a sparkly, rainbow-colored robe. In episode 53 of the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, the hosts described the "flamboyant" Nyarlathotep's throne room as similar to "a Dead or Alive concert."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's interpretation of Faust includes an openly bisexual Mephistopheles, possibly the Trope Codifier.
- Inverted by Good Omens; while Crowley is described as being conscious of his appearance and makes some interesting remarks, it's Aziraphale, the angel, who comes off as "gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide".
Live-Action TV
- On a Halloween episode of Community, the study group tells scary stories which we see played out in Fantasy Sequences with members of the study group representing the characters. One story features Satan, who was represented by the Dean (who is pansexual, but extremely camp and prone to crossdressing).
- When K. Gordon Murray's Santa Claus (1959) turned up on Mystery Science Theater 3000, Crow characterized the demon Pitch this way. "I'm, like, poth-itively evil!"
- While not Camp Gay per se, on Reaper, Satan is a Depraved Bisexual. He actually used to be in love with God.
- Supernatural:
- Crowley, a Man of Wealth and Taste and the current King of Hell. He started out as a crossroads demon, the kind that humans make deals with, and these deals are made official with a kiss on the lips, so being a Depraved Bisexual is pretty much a job requirement.
- In the episode "Season 7, Time For A Wedding!", the main antagonist is the demon Guy, a sharp dresser with an affected lilt who is not shy about finding Sam and Dean attractive or about his own vanity.
Guy: I wasn't thrilled to see your new hubby was Sam freakin' Winchester. I mean, if he knew that I was here talking to you, he'd probably...
Becky: Gank your ass.
Guy: Yes. And I'm very protective of my ass. It's one of my best features.
Music
- Bo Burnham's "Sunday School" has the lyric "Did you know Satan wears a cape made out of a rainbow flag?"
- Satan as depicted in the Stephen Lynch song "Beelz."
- In the video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", Satan is shown wearing a leather body harness and getting a lap dance from Lil Nas X.
- "Mr. MacPhisto" by U2. Just look at him.
Tabletop Games
- In the Warhammer 40,000 setting, the Chaos god of excess Slaanesh and its followers, whether daemon, Drukhari (Dark Eldar) or human, are generally rather... flamboyant.
Video Games
- Emperor Doviculus from Brütal Legend isn't exactly camp per se, but he has a s&m aesthetic (as does his entire faction) and a lot of Hard Gay/Depraved Bisexual overtones.
- Though actually the resident Satan Expy's servant, Demon Lord Ghirahim from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword pushes Ambiguously Gay to the breaking point. The hair, the outfit, the Guyliner and white lipstick, the tongue-action, the uncomfortable body language, certain lines like "[that] filled my heart with rainbows", claiming that he and Link are tied by the Red String of Fate... Hoo boy... The only thing that makes Ghirahim Ambiguously Gay is the reveal that not only is he the Big Bad's number 2, he's literally his sword, bringing up the question of if he even had a gender to begin with.
Web Animation
- Continuing off from the above example is Helluva Boss's Asmodeus, an extremely flamboyant demonic embodiment of Lust.
Webcomics
- In the Webtoons comic Adventures of God, God sends a gay hairdresser to Hell. Upon finding out that the man was sent due to his orientation, Lucifer asks God to "Stop setting me up!" Their relationship is teased throughout the series by many characters who want to see the relationship progress, including his Right-hand Man, Ebag.
Web Original
- When Journalfen was functional, one of the members of Fandom_Wank posted an anecdote about a dream in which Bill Cosby and Samuel L. Jackson starred in a movie that involved Satan tempting Jesus Christ sexually.
Western Animation
- The Devil in A Tale Dark And Grimm is camp, flamboyant and voiced by Adam Lambert.
- The Red Guy in Cow and Chicken, explicitly referred to as the devil in the pilot. He's very flamboyant and effeminate, loves to crossdress, squeals like a little girl when excited, often comments on people's fashion sense, and sometimes screams like a woman when frightened.
- The Devil in The Cuphead Show! has a stereotypically Camp Gay voice and flamboyant mannerisms of an Evil Brit.
- The Robot Devil in Futurama tortures Bender with musical theater when they first meet and is typified by his flamboyant mannerisms.
- On the short-lived animated series God, the Devil and Bob, the Devil, voiced as an Evil Brit by Alan Cumming, isn't extremely camp, but he's certainly dapper and way more uptight than God, who's voiced by James Garner and is more of a laidback Jerry Garcia type.
- Hazbin Hotel is set in Hell and has a Cast Full of Gay, including Angel Dust, a cross-dressing gay spider-demon porn star/mobster.
- Him in The Powerpuff Girls (1998). One of the rare (mostly) serious versions.
- In The Simpsons episode "The Monkey Suit", Lisa's class has to watch the propaganda film So You're Calling God A Liar: An Unbiased Comparison of Evolution and Creationism, which depicts Satan making out with Charles Darwin, complete with Foot Popping.
- Played with by South Park, where Satan is gay, but is Straight Gay, if not full-on Manly Gay due to his huge and buff physique... at least most of the time, anyway. He spent all of "Hell on Earth 2006" acting like a spoiled teenage girl, but that was about it. He's also shown to be pretty nice, only torturing actual sinners while everyone else has A Hell of a Time (in South Park, everyone who isn't a Mormon gets sent to Hell whether they've sinned or not).
