# The Devil — Short Fiction character guide

> The Devil in Short Fiction by Nikolai Gogol.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Satan, Devil

**First appearance:** 0010-the-night-of-christmas-eve

## Snapshot

A sly, moon-stealing demon who thrives on human folly, slipping into Gogol's tales to bargain, torment, and occasionally serve as a very undignified horse.

## Who they are

He moves through the collection as a trickster who meddles in ordinary lives—snatching the moon, tempting the desperate, and inspiring mischief that no clerk can untangle. His power lies less in terror than in opportunism: he exploits vanity, greed, and love with equal delight. His early appearances set the comic and menacing tone for stories where the supernatural is never far from the bureaucratic or the domestic.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned in the context of old wives' tales and the story of the witch.

### [The Night of Christmas Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/the-night-of-christmas-eve)

The Devil who steals the moon and later is captured by Vakoola and forced to fly him to St. Petersburg.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/characters/the_devil
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/characters