Mephistopheles

Prince of the Pit

The archdevil Mephistopheles, sometimes shortened to Mephisto, is the ruler of Caina, the Eighth Layer of Hell, where he keeps many of Hell's greatest secrets and contracts. He is known as the most powerful archdevil next to Asmodeus himself and Hell's greatest wizard.

Appearance

This diabolical, nine-foot-tall fiend had crimson skin and handsome-yet-diabolical features such as red-skin, three sets of curving horns atop his brow and three mismatched pairs of wings.

Personality

Mephistopheles is a being of razor-sharp instinct, careful suspicion and prodigious brilliance, a cunning genius with an unparalleled understanding of Hell's political dangers and a great capacity for patient deception. Foremost wizard of the Pit his ordinary speech is like a whispering wind and his cool, pleasant demeanor give him the outward appearance of a princely gentleman. He comes off as sophisticated and charming when he speaks, an intellectual force of wit, reason and self-restraint. However, this is by no means his ordinary behavior, but a facade that disguises his true personality, a charade of elegance as carefully crafted as his traditionally infernal appearance.
Despite his courteous persona, Mephistopheles is an unstable individual, the contrast between his cold surface and fiery core a perfect example of his existence as a walking contradiction. Mephistopheles is a vicious being with an outrageous temper, who when alone in his palace frequently flies into violent rages, his quick wit burning away when met with his underlying hate and frustration. In his shrieking fits of terrible wrath, he would tear at his own skin and destroying his surroundings in explosive outbursts of fiery, magical destruction, his unpredictable eruptions of rage have been his undoing multiple times. Although his conniving intelligence is certainly real, Mephistopheles is an emotional entity that is ultimately driven by his passions.

Obsession

Mephistopheles suffers no distractions from his focus, his studious pursuits being of utmost importance to him. Though he will entertain visitors purely for his own amusement, a rarity among the archdevils, he hates any unwanted distractions and rarely give time to anything not worth his personal attention. He is known for disintegrating underlings for the slightest annoyance, only allowing a few devils to speak without being spoken to, and sometimes executes his servitors based on the suspicion that they would bother him. Further cementing him as a contradictory entity is the strong but flickering nature of his focus.
Mephistopheles's great intelligence often ends up mixing with his obsessiveness, as in his pursuit of knowledge he becomes fascinated with the most minor details. Though this allows him to delve deeper into topics than typical wizards, his unrelenting focus has to be tempered by his responsibilities and is ultimately undermined by his mercurial behavior. When forced by some political circumstance to stop what he is doing, there is a chance upon returning that some new project would catch his eye, at which point the research would become his new top priority instead. Because of this cycle of undivided attention followed by casual neglect, Mephistopheles has many useful discoveries ready to be accessed that he simply doesn't know about.

Pride

While his anger and neurotic tendencies are weaknesses, which he can either hide or use to his advantage, Mephistopheles' most damaging issues are his rampantly unchecked megalomania and recklessness in the pursuit of power. Though he hates being compared to Baalzebul, both archdevils seem incapable of being content and compulsively overextend themselves, Baalzebul's plans collapsing under the weight of his unrealistic expectations and Mephistopheles becoming so absorbed in his plans that he ignores his overall wellbeing. Mephistopheles's manifestation of greed however is somewhat opposite to that of the Lord of the Flies, who hides his goals through skillfully woven deception, since Mephistopheles's execution of wicked plots are always extreme and dramatic, his brazen ambition is almost glorious in its dramatic flare.
Mephistopheles is perhaps the most entitled of the archdevils, an avatar of envy who resent the fact that he is "merely" the second most powerful archdevil. Always jealous of others, he can't get enough of prestige, wondering where his awards are when another is rewarded for service despite having continually, confidently and directly told Asmodeus he plans to take his throne. He normally doesn't bother to cloak his intent with fake vows of obedience, truly believing that he is the rightful ruler of Hell, that his destiny is to rule it, and that he deserves to be worshiped as a god. He constantly demonstrates this attitude anew each day, and likely won't be satisfied even if he achieved this primary reason for existence.

Abilities

Mephistopheles is a being with unrivaled mastery of hellfire. A corrupt and extremely potent energy with the properties of flame, hellfire is unimaginably hot and created by tapping into and mastering the profane essence of Hell and channeling into a usable form of power. Unless he chooses to repress it, his body would emanate dark flames, causing anyone who touch him, or anyone nearby if he evoked into a burst around him, to be scorched by the unholy energy.
To further his mastery of fire, Mephistopheles took up the study of wizardry, specializing in evocation magic modified to taint his foes with foulest evil, with a noticeable disinterest in enchantments and illusions. Given the nature of hellish politics, Mephistopheles rarely travels alone, often bringing two bodyguards with him anywhere he goes and able to summon a few pit fiends, while his accompanying servitors keep the enemy busy. Given his sense of self-importance, he believed anyone who dare attack him deserve no less than utter obliteration, and so let loose a barrage of offensive magical destruction from the rear of the fight, teleporting away and leaving his allies to their fate if met with a real threat.

Realm

The archdevil Mephistopheles rules his layer of Caina an unending expanse of hanging cages, narrow stone platforms, and iron bridges. Caina is also known as the Bones of Hell. The realm is regarded as a land of eternal torture and unceasing darkness.

History

Mephistopheles originated as the consciousness of the Pit itself, predating Asmodeus' discovery of the plane. When Asmodeus and his followers entered Hell following their Exodus from Mount Celestia, Asmodeus traveled into Caina and tore Hell's very flesh from its bones, reshaping it into a being he named Mephistopheles. The newly formed entity, the first true devil, pledged to oppose Asmodeus' enemies as if they were its own, and became one of Asmodeus' closest lieutenants.

Worshipers

Mephistopheles is in something of an irritating situation when it came to cults, as despite being second only to Asmodeus, he has one of, if not the, smallest cults out of all the archdevils. Mephistopheles had been so effective in making himself the image of the devil that he has become generic in the eyes of many mortals, is frequently confused with and believed to be the same as Asmodeus to the point where the Overlord of Hell has left it to him to operate many of his cults. Not only that, but further blurring any sense of identity is his symbol, or rather symbols, since he constantly adopts new icons to represent himself. As someone who adore worship as a god, this mistaken identity is frustrating to no end.
Still, even before his recent discoveries, Mephistopheles had a distinct brand of corruption, existing as a patron of magic and the source of many warlock pacts. He has the advantage of having the lowest quotas of the archdevils but with the limitation of the highest standards. He and his harvesters specialize in luring skilled wizards and cunning sages into making deals by playing on their curiosity and ambition, the offer of magical might by itself often seen as proof of that mortal's greatness. Most of these types of cultists also sought to crush their rivals with said magical power, and gain the ability to deflect and absorb magic through the deal.
While skilled, the mortals being lured into Mephistopheles's traps are targeted due to gullibility or ego, and while the arrangement offered them magic it also ensured them misery. Mephistopheles's façade of charm only needed to last until the aspiring caster signed away their soul, and after death they would face decades of tedious routine, deep regret, and isolation to prevent dissent. The agents of Mephisto carefully avoided statements about their lord's behavior and actions, and the clever clauses in the signed soul contracts allowed him to destroy the tricked sages with a word. Sometimes entire wizard guilds and sage conclaves fell under Mephistopheles's sway, as did magic-using beings like storm giants or oni.

Unholy Symbol

Mephistopheles' official and true unholy symbol is, in essence, a crimson trident piercing a golden ring, with the three prongs of the trident alluding to the spires of Caina. His symbols are rarely seen, however, as owing one's allegiance to Mephistopheles is most often kept secret. Simpler, alternative versions of his unholy symbol exist, including a red sun eclipsed by three mountains; a tongue pierced with three studs; and a scale surmounted with a feather, topped by a bone. The latter evokes Mephistopheles' three sets of wings.

Divine Classification

Archdevil

Alignment

Lawful Evil

Current Location

The Nine Hells

Species

Devil

Honorary & Occupational Titles

• Crimson Son
• Devil King
• Lord of the Eighth
• Merchant of Souls
• Seneschal of Hell
• Prince of the Pit

Gender

Male

Eyes

Fiery

Hair

Long Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Red

Height

9'

Weight

500lbs

Holy Symbol

Pathfinder Statistics

Divine Domains

• Evil
• Fire
• Law
• Magic
• Trickery

Favored Weapon: Trident

D&D 5e Statistics

Suggested Domains

• Arcana Domain
• Trickery Domain