Even before Christianity took its roots in world culture, evil has been rampant in the artwork of man. Demons, djinn, devils, shadows; Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Angel of Light, the Fallen; these are just some of the multiple names for the creatures who have inhabited man’s nightmares and, subsequently, his art, for millennia. There is no denying the huge impact the forces of darkness have had on the psyche of humanity.

Whether you believe in evil as an entity or force, or whether you believe it is in the hearts of man, even the most secular artist can find themselves creating darkness out of nothing on whatever canvas they choose. The eternal battle of light and dark has long been a popular topic among artists, dating back to pre-Christian pagan deities of destruction and the Egyptian gods of the underworld.

There is certainly no lack of the presence of creatures of the dark here in DA; in so many mediums, one can find shadows growing and nightmares being born. The most popular character in this, Lucifer, takes on endless numbers of forms in art, from a handsome angel who seems misunderstood, to a raging deformed monster bent on the destruction of man. And of course, we’ve even found some humor in his fall and acceptance as the tempter of mankind. However you personally see the devil, it’s obvious he’s still alive and well in the minds of mankind.

And so I present some sympathy for the devil, courtesy of the artistic minds of deviantART.