Mephisto Pheles

**Mephisto Pheles**, also known as **Mephistopheles** is one of the original Devils in existence, born from the remaining demonic essence left behind by Ayin following her imprisonment.

He is a Grand Prince of Hell, the unofficial leader of the Extra Demons and has been active since the time of the previous Seven Great Satans and Progenitor of the Mephisto Clan.

He uses the name **Johann Faust V** in public and is the Headmaster of the True Cross Academy - One of the institutes used by the Christian Faction to train future Exorcists. He is also the chairman of the Magician organization, Grauzauberer.

He is the adopted grandfather of Vasilisa the Fair and the infamous Russian Warlock - Grigori Rasputin. Mephisto Pheles is currently the fiancée of the infamous immortal witch in Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga - Old Woman of the Dark Woods.

## Overview

Originally appearing in literature as the name of the Trickster Demon in the Faust legend, he has since appeared in other works as a stock character version of the Devil himself. Known as the the plasterer of lies, he is a exceptionally powerful demon of trickery and hatred, responsible for making the deals with mortals, and bringing nothing but eternal suffering to those whom create the deals in exchange for their souls.

Mephistopheles is a powerful shapeshifter able to take any form he likes includes stronger demons, angels and gods. He is such cunning and deadly shapeshifter that he is said to be equal to Loki himself. He is treated as the personified principle of negation as Lucifer was betting with God that Mephisto Pheles would succeed to make Faust turn away from God.

While they are not condemned to Hell, they are instead cursed. The greedy take no ill will of it, for they could only desire power. Mephisto Pheles is known to be a master manipulator, although not in league with Satan. He enjoys toying with one's emotions, particularly negative emotions such as greed, guilt, and fear. However, even as a cunning tempter and agent of Belphegor, he does not search for men to corrupt, but comes to serve and ultimately collect the souls of those who are already damned.

Mephisto Pheles is already trapped in his own Hell by serving the devil. He warns Faustus of the choice he is making by "selling his soul" to the devil: "Mephisto Pheles, an agent of Belphegor, appears and at first advises Faust not to forgo the promise of heaven to pursue his goals". Farnham adds to his theory, "...[Faustus] enters an ever-present private hell like that of Mephisto Pheles".

Thanks to this, Mephisto Pheles has been sometimes treated as a servant of God who fell and was controlled by Mundus and later Lucifer & Satan for their own schemes. With this, he been connected with the fallen angel Samael. Like the other demons, Mephisto Pheles, by his nature, is either confrontational or chaotic.

Mephisto Pheles is also said to be the King of the Crossroads. Meaning he is the ruler of the demons that can be summoned at crossroads, and those demons are ones whom take a person's soul once the person makes a deal with the demon. The crossroad demons are even believed to be the "children" of Mephisto Pheles.

## Apperance

Mephisto Pheles is a friendly-looking man with shoulder-length dark-purple hair that shifted into a mixture of red and blue at the tips. He has heterochromia; his left eye is blue, while the right is red. He is considered to be handsome for someone appearing in middle-age. He also gives out a mysterious atmosphere. He is also very tall, having a height of 195 cm (6'5").

He is usually seen in an elegant white outfit that consists of a white top hat with pink and purple around the base, purple gloves, a tie that is pink with white dots, a white suit-shirt and undershirt, jester-style pants, and pointed shoes. His appearance prompts Issei to refer to him as *The Clown*.

As the series progresses, he stops wearing the jester pants and pointed shoes, instead wearing white dress pants and black shoes. Like other Archdaemon, his eyes glow an eerily gold whenever he uses his demonic power.

In addition, he can transform into a small white dog when he counts down from three in German (up to three in the anime). In this form he is a small, fluffy, Scottish terrier-looking dog with a large pink ribbon around his neck with a silver trinket attached to it, the trinket being the symbol of an Grazauberer. He also is shown to be able to transform into a Bug.

As an Archdemon, he possesses a total of four feathered-wings which are similar to his eyes, the two wings on the left is icy-blue while the right is crimson-red, that faded into a jet black at the tips. There are countless numbers of eyes located on his wings, each being the same eerie-looking gold like his when using demonic power.

## Personality

Shrouded in mystery, one quickly learns of Mephisto's innate ability to act as if he knows more than what he is letting on. Careful and meticulous, he is like a chess player, always ahead of the game.

He enjoys chaos, as he stated to himself that he is a hell-raiser, and the human world to be his playground. He frequently observes the growing conflict around his adopted grandson Grigori Rasputin and his friends with delight, though he does not wish to see any of his students get killed. He apparently 'loves' humans. He likes to make gambles with whoever possible, including his clients, his fiancée Baba Yaga, and the True Cross Order.

He believes in Liberalism, so he didn't get along with the Second-Generation Satans due to their extremely domineering nature of ordering him around. Mephisto even admits he outright hates them, who he considered to be snot-nosed brats walking around in their parents' shoes before they could learn to crawl. He also isn't interested in the Rating Game, so he doesn't give that many orders to Tannin, and allows him to roam freely as he pleases.

He is prone to eccentric moments nestled in between serious moments, making light of a heavy mood and is portrayed as a man with more money than sense, but is very cheap when it comes to spending on others. He loves to eat sweets and is deeply interested in modern Japanese pop culture, proudly stating that he is an otaku, much to Baba Yaga and Lavinia Reni's embarrassment.

## History

Mephisto is the third Original Demon, being born from the remaining demonic essence left behind by Ayin after her imprisonment by God and the Archangels. When Lucifer and her Fallen Angels were banished from Shamayim to the Sitra Achra, they absorbed the remaining essence of Ayin and became the Nephalems - half-Demon/half-Angel beings of immense powers - and began their conquer of the primordial realm.

During the Great War, he joined the side of Lucifer as he couldn't accept living in the rigid hierarchy on Heaven and thus became an Archdemon after his banishment. In the Abrahamic Underworld, he began to rise up the infernal hierarchy and gain the rank of Grand Prince and served directly underneath the Emperor of Hell Belphegor as her right-hand man.

After the death of Belphegor, the remaining Emperors passed down her position as the leader of the Faustian Demons to him, making him the second-generation King of the Crossroad.

In the past, Mephisto was known as the legendary Devil that formed a pact with Johann Georg Faust. After forming a pact with Faust, he remained in the human world even after Faust died and quickly rose to the top of the Magician organization, Grauzauberer, becoming the director for the Magician Council. At some point in time afterwards, he reincarnated Tannin as a member of his peerage as well.

## Powers and Abilities

**Archdemon Physiology:** Mephisto Pheles possesses all the standard traits and abilities of an Archdemon.

* **Immense Demonic Power:** Mephisto has an immense amount of demonic power beyond that of a regular Maou-Class Devil. He could generate a red-and-blue aura around himself that he could cover his attacks and weapons with to increase their overall destructive power. According to Rias, his demonic aura is as mysterious and chaotic as its owner.
	+ **Clockwork**: The signature power of the Mephisto Clan, which allows him to manipulate, distort, or bend the space-time continuum - The fabric of reality in which all exist in, serving as the boundary of existence, separating different realities and timelines and keeping them flowing properly.
		- **Er Stopfen**: A special barrier that stops time from passing within it, which lasts about four to five months. It could also be empowered by additional demonic power to increase its duration up to a maximum of a year.
		- **Consciousness Transference:** He is able to transfer his and others' consciousness into other worlds and dimensions that aren't protected against demonic power.
	+ **Demonic Constructs:** He could turn energy into tools, objects, weapons and other items, create semi-living constructs and/or creature structures/buildings of varying permanence. His mastery over shaping his demonic energy allows him to use it for almost any situation, creating nearly anything he need.
	+ **Telekinesis:** He could passively manipulate his demonic energy to control/influence/manipulate/move matter and objects using the power of his mind. He could freely move objects he summons, such as making his chair levitate, flying a rice cup in the air, and more.
* **Inferni-Umbrakinesis:** Mephisto could generate and manipulate pure darkness that is imbued with his own demonic essence, thus making it extremely more effective toward light or divine beings, such as gods and Fallen Angels.
	+ **Darkness Solidification:** He could solidify or give solid-like properties to the infernal darkness he generated with the level of solidity going from loose jelly to metal-like hardness or beyond.
		- **Infernal Darkness Constructs:** He could turn infernal darkness into tools, objects, weapons and other items, and semi-living constructs of varying permanence. He could create a pack of giant wolves or carnivorous rabbits out of pure darkness.
		- **Infernal Darkness Barrier:** He could create giant barrier from infernal darkness that could absorb all magical attacks to increase its own power. He could then manipulate the size and form of the barrier, from widening or narrowing its size or changing the shape of the barrier as a whole.
	+ **Infernal Portal Manipulation:** He could create infernal portals out of demonic darkness that lead to different worlds and realities.
	+ **Hell Spider Web**: He created a giant web-like trap using his infernal darkness which are smaller than the eyes could see and are sturdier than even the most powerful metal in the human world. It could immidiately capture anything/everything located near it and imprison them in their place, partially petrify them into a statue of pure solidified infernal darkness until Mephisto decided otherwise.
* **Shapeshifting:** Mephisto could shapeshift his corporeal form, transforming and reshaping it down to the genetic and cellular structure. He could impersonate others or enhance his own body for combat, either by turning into animals, humanoids, monsters, etc. or by making the body stronger. He has shown to transform into a small dog, which allowed him to escape through small gaps and spaces. He has also shown the ability to transform into a cockroach, which he used to spy on a conversation between Azazel and Akeno.
* **Soul Absorption:** Mephisto could absorb the souls of those he killed or gained through contracts to increase his powers and status within the infernal hierarchy. Often, by doing this, his victims will be left in a persistent vegetive state: empty shells that are still alive but irretrievably "gone".
* **Immortality:** Mephisto is an immortal being who could live infinitely unless he's either killed or faded.
	+ **Nigh-Invulnerability:** He could not be harmed or killed by unconventional means, as only Enochian or Faustian weapons and magic could be able to harm or kill her. He is also immuned to all curses, poisons, and diseases that aren't angelic or demonic in origins.
	+ **Regeneration:** He possesses an immensely powerful regenerative ability which allows him to instaneously regenerate every and any wound he received on his corporeal form that aren't caused by holy/light weapons and magic. He could easily regenerate himself down to every single cell in mere seconds.
* **Flight:** Mephisto is capable of flight, with or without his two pairs of wings.

**Immense Strength:** Mephisto Pheles is an immensely powerful Grand Prince of Hell, holding the position of King of the Crossroad who rules over all the Faustian Demons. His powers exceed the standard Satan-Class used by modern Devils, only being able to be ranked based on the estimation based on the abilities he had demonstrated. He is said to be vastly more powerful than the previous generation of Seven Great Satans, who are children/descendants of the Emperors of Hell Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Lucifuge, and Leviathan, and could easily wipe the floor with the current generation of Ultimate-Class Devils. He is also considered to be the unofficial leader of the Extra Demon Faction because of his sheer power and authority.

**Master Magician:** As the chairman of the highest-ranked Magician organization, Grauzauberer, and the director of the Magician Council, Mephisto possesses immense skills and knowledge about ancient magic lost to time. He has been known since ancient times as the patron of Magicians and guardian of Witches, gifting them with magical powers in exchange for their souls, loyalty, or simply sex. He has knowledge about numerous Magic Systems and rituals unknown by even the gods, ranging from the Antediluvian times, as well as countless types of forbidden technique.

* **Divination Magic:** Mephisto could perform divination rituals to gain insight into a question or situation. When performing these rituals, his eyes glow a bright gold while he levitates several centimeters above the ground.
* **Summoning Magic:** Mephisto is able to summon a variety of objects by counting up to 3 in German, "*Eins, Zwei, Drei*". He often summons his Peerage members such as Tannin or Baba Yaga.
	+ **Kuchens Kuckucksuhr** A giant candy clock, it has a large cuckoo which springs out and grabs the target. It is first used to capture Amaymon.
	+ **Das Stärkste Gefängnis**: A prison touted as the "strongest defense," it has the ability to halt the movements of those who approach it with hostile intent. It cannot be opened from the inside without the key but can be easily opened from the outside.
* **Flammendes Pentagramm**: Mephisto waves his hand in circles above him and a giant flaming pentacle appeares in the air. It creates powerful strikes of lightning as it hovers, which is noted by Azazel to be infernal lightning - The opposite of Baraqiel and Akeno's Holy Lightning.

**Faustian Bargain:** As the King of the Crossroad, Mephisto is the most powerful of all Faustian Demons, capable of entirely warping the reality surrounding him and his clients through a combination of his demonic power and said client's soul. Following their deal, he will gain a near-absolute authority over his client, allowing him to control them to his heart's content. According to Rias, the price for dealing with him is so high that only exceptionally powerful and important figures should summon him, though many desperate people have been known for making deal with him as a last resort, the most famous one being the Magician Johann Georg Faust.

**Witch's Pact:** Mephisto is the Contracted Demon of multiple witches throughout history, being the main source of power behind many great and ancient witches in mythology. In the ancient times, he would appear as a small black dog with red-and-blue eyes and make deals to desperate and vulnerable people, such as prisoners, wives, bastards, etc.

**Genius-Level Intellect**: As head of True Cross Academy, he has access to countless articles on demon-hunting which is supplemented by his own experience as one of the Kings of Hell, making him a deadly exorcist despite his heritage. In addition, he is a meticulous planner, admitting to viewing all others except for his father as mere pawns with the True Cross Order, Gehenna, and the Illuminati being left unable to properly identify his intentions.

* **Master Manipulator**: In addition, he has roamed the Earth for an unknown amount of time, studying humanity for all that time under various other alias, such as Loki, Trickster, and Raven, thus making him a master manipulator of the human psyche. He also has a vast amount of resources at his disposal, managing to gather a team of scientists to clone vessels for the various Seven Deadly Sins, a feat that takes a colossal amount of time and money, without the knowledge of the True Cross Order and only revealing his deception when it suited him most.

## Equipment

**Parasitic Bomb** (, *Parashitikku Bomu*): An Artificial Sacred Gear created by Azazel as a gift for Mephisto's 30-billionth birthday. It resembles. It is a nearly-endless chain of parasite-like pocket watches which he could manipulate with his telekinesis. It could creep into the magical cores of living beings and the spiritual forms of spirit-like beings before exploding them immidiately, with him being able to set up a maximum of 30 bombs at the same time. These bombs are said to be extremely powerful, with Azazel confirming that a single bomb is able to explode the entire Buckingham Palace into a pile of rubbles in seconds.

## Quotes

* *"Dear me.. you've got too much tension in those shoulders, Mr. Teacher... You should try to enjoy life a little. And it's not just the order we have to contend with... it won't be long before Satan makes his move." -* Mephisto Pheles After his talk with Azazel.
* *"To a libertine like me... there could be no better playground than this! The real fun is just beginning." -* Mephisto Pheles to Amaymon.
* *"It‘s my nature! I gotta give it to the one who doesn‘t want it instead of the one who does!☆"* - Mephisto Pheles to Rias Gremory.
* *"Please respectfullyyyy obey meeeee!!"* - Mephisto Pheles at his peerage's members' attitude toward him.

## Trivia

* Mephisto Pheles' appearance is based on Mephisto Pheles from "Ao no Exorcist".
* He likes the current Seven Great Satans compared to the previous ones.
* His average hours of sleep is 1 hour.
* He is pretty good at party games, claw crane games and chess.
* His pastimes and talents are: watching movies, reading manga, watching anime, playing video games, listening to music, toys, and subcultures.
	+ All manga genres are his favorites.
* His favorite food is junk food (mostly candy).
* His favorite type of women are those who are temptresses, "devilish", or elegant/beautiful. He mentions also fancying "pretty girls with a sad past", as well as charismatic women.
* In legends, Mephisto Pheles' name is considered as one word: Mephistopheles.
* Grauzauberer means "Grey Wizards".