MEPHISTO VS LUCIFER: The devilish good and The kind evil
A detail that I always loved about Lucifer and Mephisto and wanted to finally talk about it:
How their relationship with their peers is.
Mephisto is on the heroes side, yet he does not have a good relationship with the exorcists and they hate him
Lucifer is the second main villain of the story and objectively a much worse person than Meph, yet he is loved by his subjects and has a really good relationship with them
Yes, you could say that Lucifer being loved is more like a manipulation tactic and the people behind him are blindly following a cause. But nevertheless, he shows more closeness and a deeper relationship with his side than Mephisto.
Mephisto on the other side... yeah, he understand humans more, yes he is more compassionate than his brother, but people do not like him. But why is that? In my opinion is because he is honest with who he is and refuse to change on that.
Lucifer adapted in some way to the human world, he knows what works with them, he knows sweet talking to them will make them follow him, that's why he appears kinder but he is not
Shemihaza also says this on chapter 119
Mephisto doesn't do that. He recognizes that he is a demon and he shows it, yet he does not lie
I think this is his most important character detail.
Yes he is a manipulative piece of shit, but I think in no moment in the manga, he lied to his human companions, at least from what I can recall. He hides the truth and does not reveal until later yes, because he wants the rest to figure it out on their own , but in no moment in the manga he says "I did not do this" when he did. The moment he is exposed on his plan, he will spill the beans and he does it everytime it happens.
I think this is the main factor why Mephisto's human side does not like him. He doesn't present himself as kind or nice or anything, he presents himself as a demon , because that is what he is. And people do not like that. They do not like someone who is cruel or manipulative (for obvious reasons ofc), yet they refuse to understand that this honesty, manipulation and cruelty is what kept them alive all this time.
Lucifer ,is also manipulative and cruel ofc, but he does lie. He presents to his people this idea that his plan is for the greater good, but we all know he wants to do it for his selfish reasons and his own pain, he just puts a nice ribbon into it and calls it a gift.
Mephisto follows an ideal of being realistic yet hopeful while Lucifer follows an ideal that goes close to fantasy basically. That's what defines the way they see the world and also the mental maturity both have (Lucifer being the most immature of the two even though he is the oldest)
Mephisto believes in reality and believes that what makes the world a better place is the people in it, that is why his main idea of peace is demons and humans being in mutual agreement as he said in chapter 49, on the contrary of Lucifer that thinks that demons should rule over humans due to being more powerful. That's why their ideals clash between them and that is why Mephisto seems to see Lucifer as a threat even more than Satan.
But going back to their relationship with their respective teams.
The idea of Lucifer being the villain yet being shown as a more angelic figure, like someone you could trust and talk with, is really great because it emphasizes the cult leader definition. He gave his people an idea to live and fight for but it is not a good one.
While Mephisto basically looks like the creepy dude you find on an anime convention tbh, and I think his oddness is what makes his interactions with the rest of the team better.
But objectively, he is better person than Luci and he actually cares about the humans beneath him and puts up with the role of god much better than his siblings, even though he is not considered a god or authoritarian figure within the exorcists, nobody respects him as a boss, he is just some weird guy they have to endure because he is the only hope for humanity apart from Rin and he knows it. He endures being hated by them because he wants to save them and I think that trope is my favourite one for god-type characters: a god that endures pain, having to reset the timeline again and again and doing the best he can to keep every one of his creations/followers alive because he loves them and he is obsessed with them, is such a tragic but beautiful trope and absolutely love it.
I think this is really important for the manga, the story would not work if their personalities were switched, we already have the massive powerful and sadistic villain represented in Satan and if Lucifer was also that, it would not work. The same with Mephisto, the story would not work if he was an angel, first of all because the story would get resolved in like 3 chapters, 2nd of all because he is a god, and ofc, you can have kind gods and stuff, but the whole point is that he is a being with infinite power that has lived thousands of years so he can't put himself on a lower seat (but he tries at least) and that's makes the story more interesting and better in my opinion.
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