Alastor in Wonderland AU:
"Our 'people', Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!"
"Yeah, nobody cares, man! Look, uh, I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work, okay? You're garbage. That's why you're in Hell. You were a failure in life, and you're a failure now. Okay?"
"Oh! look who it is interrupting this riveting conversation I was having with... who are you again?"
It has been well established at this point that 1) Lucifer regrets granting humanity Free Will and the ability to choose for themselves and 2) he hates 'Sinners' yet does not understand them and 3) he sees sinners as not individuals, but caricatures.
Despite Vox being the main villain of season two and how hypnotising the masses and exploiting others is his whole shtick, Lucifer has yet to be challenged on these views. If anything, his prejudice and hatred might be stronger than ever after 'the Scary Box' and presumably missing the 'Hear My Hope' musical number. Heck, are we even certain that he is even aware of Sir Pentious's redemption, the cancelled Exterminations or why Sera had appeared at the cringe fail intimidation rally?! From after Alastor left until Vaggi asked for his help he had buried himself in his rubber ducks while the rest of the Hotel barely kept itself standing, completely oblivious to Vox slandering the Hotel despite admitting to recognising 'the TV Guy'.
Lucifer didn't take Vox seriously, dismissing him as a loser in life and death, until it was too late for him to do anything. This could've been the opportunity for the King to learn how Vox had taken the autonomy -the same Free Will Lucifer had granted- of one of his daughter's friends and clients away and forced him to work against the Hotel. To learn how Carmilla made the weapon he's powering in hopes of protecting her daughters from Heaven, and how he absolutely would've done the same if forced into that situation. To meet the Sinner from 'Trust Us' (who was around during Hear My Hope could've been inspired) who takes pity on him and so lets him out of the box, and for him to hear about how she had her afterlife completely destroyed by the Vees; how they gave her an 'opportunity' to fufill her dreams, only to use her until she had nothing left to give and then thrown away like garbage just like he was.
Someone in this AU who could challenge Lucifer in a similar way to Vox, perhaps even better than the wannabe God, would be Angus Bumby: the Dollmaker. To me, he seems almost perfectly designed to challenge all of Lucifer’s preconceptions of Sinners.
1) Who are you again?
Lucifer's greatest weakness is his Pride, and it is the major cause of ninety percent of his fuck ups in the show. I presume Pride is also why he doesn't bother to remember the names of Charlie's friends or enemies -with one exception- and judges all sinners with the same brush -again, with one exception- without distinction between a shoplifter or a mass murderer.
There's also the fact that this Bumby is a trained psychiatrist (albiet one from outdated times, but I'll presume he's been working to improve his craft) and a skilled manipulator. He could easily learn of Lucifer's fears, insecurities and rage points simply by watching Vox's rally through his dolls' eyes and after learning of his inability to kill sinners, would accordingly be careful to use only sinner dolls in the Devil's proximity.
The slimeball would absolutely take advantage of this, as he had similarly used people's pride (Nurse Witless) or willing ignorance (Alice) to get away with his horrible crimes in life.
Regardless of which AU they're in, Bumby could thoroughly play an unprepared Lucifer.
2) You're garbage. That's why you're in Hell. You were a failure in life, and you're a failure now.
There are many things you can say about Bumby, but being 'a failure in life' is not one of them.
As of now we haven't seen his backstory in the games, but according to interviews with American Mcgee and the official Alice: Asylum design bible, Bumby was an orphan like Alice/Alastor, born to a severely mentally-ill mother and a physically and mentally abusive father who worked as a taxidermist. Irredeemable monster he may be, but unlike Vox and Lucifer, Bumby legitimately got his position in life through hard work and intelligence (and not being outwardly other) instead of murdering his way to the top or being 'born' already there.
He was also genuinely respected by society unlike Lucifer and likely mourned by the unknowing public upon his death. A self-made man who then used his position of power to exert control over others instead of helping those similarly powerless as he used to be.
3) They got gifted Free Will and look what they did with it.
Bumby's main source of prey was children, specifically orphans who have no one else to care for them. He used hypnotherapy and drugs to 'help' them forget their traumas... and everything else about who they were before molding them into prostitutes.
If acts such as drug usage, prostitution, sex before marriage and being born out of wedlock are legit enough reasons to be sent to Hell as some religious texts claim, that means Bumby personally sent hundreds of children to Hell through no fault of their own.
And Lucifer gets to meet these children in Alastor's sanctuary, children who had their Free Will taken away and still ended up in Hell for it.
