A devil is the 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, and 4) a symbol of human evil.
Statue of the devil in the Žmuidzinavičius Museum or Devil's Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania
Satan (the dragon; on the left) gives to the beast of the sea (on the right) power represented by a sceptre in a detail of panel III.40 of the medieval French Apocalypse Tapestry, produced between 1377 and 1382.
A fresco detail from the Rila Monastery, in which demons are depicted as having grotesque faces and bodies
The Fallen Angel (1847) by Alexandre Cabanel (Musée Fabre, Montpellier)
Satan, also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or "evil inclination". In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Shaitan, also known as Iblis, is an entity made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās.
Illustration of the Devil on folio 290 recto of the Latin, Bohemian Codex Gigas, dating to the early thirteenth century
Balaam and the Angel (1836) by Gustav Jäger. The angel in this incident is referred to as a "satan".
The Examination of Job (c. 1821) by William Blake
The sound of a shofar (pictured) is believed to symbolically confuse Satan.