Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2023 July 9

= July 9 =

Human vs. Satan
Are there any films where a human protagonist (with his/her inevitable flaws) defeats Satan (or at least a supernatural, demonic Satan-like antagonist)? 2601:646:9882:46E0:D8D8:26A9:B991:74E2 (talk) 06:42, 9 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Yes, there are thousands of such films. See horror film. Unless you more precisely define "Satan-like antagonist" (bearing in mind that Satan is an imaginary figure) I don't see how we can narrow this down. Shantavira|feed me 07:52, 9 July 2023 (UTC)
 * By "Satan-like", I mean an evil supernatural antagonist with powers comparable to those of Satan or at least of his chief demons (so, for example, Blofeld or Palpatine wouldn't count because their powers are nowhere near those of Satan, and as far as Blofeld, he's not even supernatural at all). 2601:646:9882:46E0:192:9D57:5326:E8E4 (talk) 12:08, 9 July 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm finding it hard to think of a Satan-like figure that is unlike Palpatine. He seems to check many boxes: tempting people, legions of faithful troops, great personal powers that he rarely uses directly, etc. etc. Pazuzu in The Exorcist is clearly a devil and is defeated by a flawed human, but falls short of even Blofeld's body count. Matt Deres (talk) 13:22, 10 July 2023 (UTC)
 * This is not about body count -- the crucial element is that the villain must be a supernatural being with powers like those of Satan or at least of a demon (so Palpatine doesn't qualify for that reason -- he's just a corrupt politician who's very much of this world, even though he does have considerable supernatural powers, so in terms of supernatural abilities he's an evil wizard rather than an actual demon). Your example of Pazuzu in The Exorcist seems pretty good, though! 2601:646:9882:46E0:D0FF:E38C:C3AA:18B5 (talk) 09:56, 12 July 2023 (UTC)
 * For example, The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941). Clarityfiend (talk) 08:07, 9 July 2023 (UTC)
 * TV Tropes has a page on Satan. Some of the "film" examples fit your requiremets.Pacostein (talk) 16:33, 9 July 2023 (UTC)


 * And in music, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:57, 9 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Similarly "Tribute (song)". -- Jayron 32 12:18, 14 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Also Angel on My Shoulder (1946). Clarityfiend (talk) 11:33, 14 July 2023 (UTC)


 * For a more recent example see Fallen (1998 film) 89.172.36.212 (talk) 12:20, 15 July 2023 (UTC)