Bearalzebub and the Daivas
DevilBear
is a Webcomic created by Ben Bourbon that has been online since July of 2009. All of the pages are hand-drawn and a new page is posted weekly each Monday.
The Devilbear is a plush bear named Bearalzebub who rules teddy bear hell and is assisted by a group of devil girls called Daivas (because plush bears are limited by having "mitten hands"). The Daivas each have a job named for one of the Seven Deadly Sins, such as "Daiva of Gluttony" but generally do not demonstrate the sin so much in themselves, but instead they do things that encourage others to partake in it. For example, the Daiva of Lust is very curvy and oozes innuendo but she does not lust for anyone herself and the Daiva of Gluttony is not a glutton herself but she is an awesome cook. The Daiva of Sloth, however, wears only one sock; she is either too lazy to remove it, or too lazy to put the other one on, and the Daiva of Wrath is currently trying to kill everyone.
Most of the plush bears that end up in teddy bear hell are parodies of famous plush bears or celebrities personified as plush bears and die violent deaths that spill their stuffings about.
DevilBear provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: The whole cast. They may not be Joker level evil, but they are not very nice people, but they are pretty likable in the process. Well, except Wrath...
- Anthropomorphic Food: Gummy Berries, which are basically sentient talking gummy bears that can be harvested from bushes. And in spite of being berries, do not want to be eaten.
- Berserk Button: It is not recommended that you mock Cerebutt's triple butt... he won't take it well.
- Bland-Name Product: Helle Belle is apparently addicted to Diabear 3.
- Came Back Wrong: When Kristofer Raven and Porklet make an attempt to bring their Plush Bear friend back from the dead, he comes back Axe-Crazy and tries to eat his friend's stuffings.
- Care-Bear Stare: A rainbow attack employed by the Virtue Bears incites love, serenity, and altruism. It backfired.
- Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: The familiar-looking secretary in Gener-ahh-city makes a Gendo pose while plotting at her desk.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: One sinful bear integrated too many electronics with his body and had his empathy weakened as a side effect. After said electronics are broken, he expresses deep regret over getting his best friend killed... just before getting murdered by Bearalzebub.
- Deal with the Devil: The band members of Smooch (a parody of KISS) are tricked into selling their souls in exchange for being rock stars for life. Then they promptly die partying too hard after their first show.
- Destructive Savior: When Super Bear winds in Hell, he points out how he helps and saves people. DB points out he also wrecks cities, artifacts and lives in the process.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Mo is possibly this, after retrieving the remains of the original Devil Bear.
- Driven by Envy: One sinful bear was left to die in a fire, while one of his fellow toys, a stuffed bunny, was loved enough to become real and therefore to escape. He now murders stuffed rabbits and has been making a rabbit suit out of their parts, hoping that this will make him as loved as them.
- Driven to Suicide: The long line of bears from the infamous 2013 VMAs incident, you can guess what happened.
- Easy Road to Hell: There is no Teddy Bear Heaven. The only thing a teddy bear can do is to avoid dying as long as possible.
- The closest thing to a Teddy Bear Heaven is Gener-aah-city. But the souls of dead teddy bears good or bad aren't intended to go there in the first place and won't barring a mishap.
- According to Bearalzebub, Teddy Bear Hell is a punishment for those teddy bears who failed to exert universal love and friendship. Bears who do well go to the Fabric of Time, but hell appears to be the default fate for most bears, with even the childishly innocent Poquebears ending up in that place.
- Even if a bear does do well, the Fabric of Time isn't exactly a reward. The victim is stitched into a gigantic patchwork quilt and spends the rest of eternity in an And I Must Scream situation.
- Eventually, both Gener-aah-city and the Fabric of Time are left in ruins, leaving Teddy Bear Hell as the only place for dead teddy bears to go. Where all dead bears are tortured for the rest of eternity, regardless of deeds.
- Another Afterlife eventually does open up its doors, allowing dead teddybears to work off their sins. However, it's existence is based off a loophole, allowing harmful beings entry to places they can cause trouble in.
- Evil Versus Evil: Many of the conflicts in the comic essentially amount to this.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: The Church of Bearalzebub doesn't believe there is an actual Bearalzebub and treats him as a symbol for their ideals.
- Furo Scene: Because cleanliness is next to Daiva-liness.
- G-Rated Drug: One sinful teddy snorts sugar.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: As his revenge against Bearalzebub and Raine, Bearlial recruits the Pegasus of Conquest, the Unicorn of War, the Alicorn of Famine, and the Pony of Death to initiate the long foretold Apawcalypse. All of whom are Shout Outs to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. There is also a little known fifth Pegasus of Pestilence, who was replaced by Conquest due to his brain problems, and is currently under Bearalzebub's thumb. All of them turn out to be Too Dumb to Live, and the Apawcalypse only damages Gener-ahh-city before they get themselves killed.
- Hot Springs Episode, Modesty Towel, Skinny Dipping, and Outdoor Bath Peeping: All at the same time.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: One foe claims this is true for all Plush Bears, even Bearalzebub, and tries to tempt him to her side by offering to play with him and cuddle him at night and basically treat him like an actual teddy bear. He turns her down.
- Light Is Not Good: The "Bright Side" tends to be about as evil as Bearalzebub, just more self-righteous about it. Raine doesn't even manage that.
- Living Toys: Toys are alive and in addition to some being owned by humans are a regular part of society.
- Naked Apron: In the first story arc, when Lucy, the Daiva of Lust, fills in for the Daiva of Gluttony position, she naturally adds a flair of Lust to it.
- The Nudifier: The Death Pony can radiate power to destroy everything fabric, making it a devastating attack against both teddies and fashion.
- Parody: DevilBear is full of them. Especially in the teddy bears that end up going to Hell. Parodies of Winnie the Pooh , Kiss, and Pokemon to name a few.
- Posthumous Character: Sinnamon, the original Daiva of Gluttony.
- Power Gives You Wings: The Daivas have wings made out of light
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: In the second story arc, Bearalzebub uses rock music against a teddy bear parody of Kiss.
- Rule of Sexy: Many examples throughout the series, usually performed by one of the Daivas.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Each of DevilBear's female assistants represent a different deadly sin, though Pride (seen here) joins them later on, and Wrath had to be 'put on ice' prior to the start.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The chapter, Cooking with Fire, features a cooking show hosted by Bearalzebub, with the prize being the award of Reincarnation and a second chance at life for the damned contestants. Nuzzle continuously murders the other contestants, eventually building up to a confrontation with Chastity Bear. In the end, Nuzzle and Chastity Bear "die" at one another's hands, leaving the Boatsman as the winner by default. But then Bearalzebub remembers that he is an employee, and is therefore disqualified.
- Slip into Something More Comfortable: Lucy changes from wearing nothing but an apron to wearing a black corset.
- Sneeze of Doom: Turns out Poquebear has a rather powerful sneeze.
- Species-Specific Afterlife: It's called Teddy Bear Hell for a reason. One stuffed animal manages to get out of Teddy Bear Hell on a technicality, only to end up in stuffed Marsupial Hell instead.
- Sugar Apocalypse: DevilBear loves to do this. Often a parody of some familiar teddy bear character ends up going to hell and/or literally having the stuffings ripped out of him. Winnie the Pimp and friends is a classic example. Bearlial's vengeance, the Apawcalypse, is far more literal:Pegasus of Conquest: The sky will rain flowers! The streets will flow with rainbows!
- Take That!: It's undeniable this scene was an blatant jab at MileyCyrus' 2013 VMAs incident.
- Twincest: The twin attorneys, Ipso & Facto, seem to have a rather close relationship.
- Under Boobs: Pleased to meet you, with a side of side boob on the side.
- World of Pun: The comic uses puns frequently. The characters Bearalzebub and Lucy Fur in particular make puns the most in the series. Ursa, the Daiva of Wrath, however, indicates that she hates puns.
