Devils

thumb|upright|Statue of the devil in "the Žmuidzinavičius Museum|Devil Museum" in [[Kaunas, Lithuania|alt=A winged male humanoid devil holds a naked woman as she touches her breast. ]]A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of the devil can be summed up as 1) a principle of evil independent from God, 2) an aspect of God, 3) a created being turning evil (a fallen angel) or 4) a symbol of human

thumb|The Devil in Christianity|Devil whispers to the Antichrist; detail from Sermons and Deeds of the Antichrist, [[Luca Signorelli, 1501, Orvieto Cathedral.]] In Christian eschatology, Antichrist, or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah, refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and falsely substitute himself as a savior in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) is found four times in the New Testament, solely in the First and Second Epistle of John. Antichrist is announced as one "who denies the Father and the

Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman (; ). The name can appear in English-language works as Ahreman and Ahrimanes.

personification of death

thumb|upright|1900s illustration of Saint Nicholas and Krampus visiting a child The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (Krampusnacht; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly behaved ones with birch rods.

thumb|Mephistopheles by Paul Mathey, 1888 Mephistopheles ( , ), also known as Mephostophilis or Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore, originating as the chief devil in the Faust legend. He has since become a stock character appearing in other works of arts and popular culture. Mephistopheles never became an integral part of traditional magic.

thumb|300px|A woodcut of Belial and some of his followers from a German edition of Jacobus de Teramo's book [[Consolatio peccatorum, seu Processus Luciferi contra Jesum Christum (1473).]] Belial (; , Bəlīyyaʿal) is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil in Christian texts of the New Testament. Alternate spellings include Baalial, Balial, Belhor, Beliall, Beliar, Berial, Bylyl and '''Beliya'al'. Early usage of Belial'' referred to "wickedness" or "worthlessness", occurring several times in the Old Testament. Later, in the Dead Sea Scrolls

museum in Kaunas, Lithuania dedicated to devil sculptures