The Antichrist

He'll grow up to destroy the world. Or just become Pope.

Anti-Christ: Condemn them, Mother, for they know exactly what they do!
Stan: Uh, I'm-I'm sorry, what does that mean?

Anti-Christ: You know, it's the opposite of, 'Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.' Hello? I'm the Anti-Christ! I'm the opposite of Jesus in every way!"
—American Dad, "Rapture's Delight"

For the movie, see Antichrist. As for the book by Friedrich Nietzsche...erm, give us some more time to get back to you on that.

The Dark Messiah may claim to be the Messiah/Saviour, but The Antichrist is the real deal... just for the Legions of Hell.

He is not dark but misunderstood, with good intentions albeit at high costs. What he wants is to bring about The End of the World as We Know It so that the evil can inherit the Earth. By force. Prefers eating puppies and setting fire to orphanages when bored.

This is a guy so far up the Sorting Algorithm of Evil that there's not likely to be a Deus Ex Machina capable of stopping him (yeah, for some reason Satan has his heart set on a boy), so the heroes likely have to race to stop him from either being released, being born, coming of age, or demonically possessing someone. Often, the consideration is that the vessel and the messiah are different entities, and killing the bad also kills the innocent...and if they do catch him before he starts putting his storyboards to film, they still have to kill an innocent (if only because he hadn't had time to do the bad stuff yet). Expect a lot of 666 motifs.

If the writer likes Irony, the antichrist will take after their dad...And be a rebel, disliking the whole "destroy the Earth" shtick and becoming an Anti-Anti-Christ.

This trope is an integral part of Religious Horror. If The Antichrist is unaware of or resistant to their fate as the Destroyer of All, s/he is the Apocalypse Maiden. If s/he actively tries to fight against the forces of evil, it's the Anti-Anti-Christ. Chances are that the antichrist will pose as The Ubermensch, and will almost certainly be a Dark Messiah.

Note that while the actual description of the antichrist in Christianity is not very well defined, it doesn't follow this trope very much. Mostly, the antichrist is a false prophet who is attempting to undermine the faith of Christians and slowly pervert their teaching. While he appears before the apocalypse, he is more like the chief of propaganda of Hell, and does not direct, or even participate, in the end of the world. In fact, Jesus Christ himself defines "antichrist" as anyone who believes that Christ is incorrect, with "anti-" being used in the same way as "anti-Semite" or "anti-abortion".

The end of the road for The Antichrist is normally God Is Evil. They can aim for that trope, but they will normally be given a final option before deciding their fate.

Examples of The Antichrist include:

Anime

  • Punie from Dai Mahou Touge. This becomes increasingly obvious as the series progresses. Her mom was basically this for Magical Land, and she succeeded.
  • Mistress 9 in Sailor Moon. Luckily, it's an extremely idealistic show. The outer Senshi also confuse her for Sailor Saturn (whose body she's using) and attempt to prevent her from awakening as a result. Saturn is actually a beneficial version of the Apocalypse Maiden.
  • Griffith from Berserk is more of a Dark Messiah, but still counts as he is a demon god who has come back to the physical plane so that he can become a king, and is apparently going to bring has just brought about an Age of Darkness. Guts also technically counts, as he's vowed to kill Griffith, who has been acknowledged by the equivalent of the Pope as The Messiah - but this is actually a good thing, due to the flipped perspective.
  • Knives from Trigun probably counts. He wants to wipe out the human race and replace it all with his "plant" kin.
  • Creed from Black Cat uses nanomachines to become immortal and, as he says it, a "God". His goal? To wipe out all the humans who don't have superpowers and create a society where he and Train can rule the "worthy".
  • Johan from Monster is compared with the anti-christ. Repeatedly. And appears to enjoy the comparison. Since Monster takes place in a seemingly realistic setting, however, it doesn't go beyond the comparison and a bunch of referential symbolism.
    • Though that doesn't mean he isn't, mind you. He does appear to have genuine supernatural powers, such as the ability to show people a vision of the end of the world. Some things that happen to him are in-line with some Anti Christ related prophecies, such as suffering a head wound twice. One character, a drunk mind you, even once sees him as a giant multi-headed dragon monster, much like the Biblical Dragon of Revelation.
  • In Beelzebub, the Delinquent main character, Oga Tatsumi, is forced to raise baby Be'el, the Son of Satan, into a powerful demon lord whose destiny is to destroy the world. A side effect of the bond they now share is that the more Oga fights, the more demonic he becomes. Incredibly enough, this is (mostly) Played for Laughs.
  • Rave Master's Lucia, who was primed by the universe itself to destroy the world.
  • Nico Robin from One Piece. Or rather, the Marines believe that she's it, anyway. Her Marine-created nickname is "Demon Child", they believe that she comes from a tainted bloodline and that she has the knowledge/power to destroy the world, or at least start Armageddon. Many claims about her are exaggerations or outright lies; they justified putting a bounty on her head when she was eight by claims that she had already sank six ships. The real reason that the World Government wants her dead, by the way, is that she is one of the only people who can read the Poneglyphs, which contain knowledge of the events of the Void Century, a passage of time that is deliberately suppressed by the World Government.
  • * In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, the four Dragon Boys are supposed to be this trope, all four being Reincarnations of Zarc and each holding a portion of his soul. However, only Yuri truly embraces this role; the other three try to reject it, although not without some trouble.

Comic Books

  • The "Son of Man" storyline in Hellblazer has a demon that John used in a faux-resurrection (then promptly got the fuck away from, as the corpse's father was one of the most dangerous mobsters in London) plot to bring about the birth of a messiah for Hell (because, as he reasons, Heaven is so popular on Earth because they proved it).
  • Hellboy in both continuities and Nuada in Hellboy II. Luckily, Hellboy is fervently opposed to bringing about the apocalypse, but then again, he's just one dead love interest away from the necessary Superpower Meltdown...
  • Johnny the Homicidal Maniac - Squee has this in the form of Pepito, who announces within his class that he is the Antichrist and goes so far as to use his powers. Nobody gives a flying fook.
  • Turns out, Green Lantern's old Harmless Villain Black Hand is Not So Harmless. In fact, he's the destined leader of the Zombie Apocalypse.
  • Marvel Comics' Son of Satan, Damon Hellstrom, AKA Damien Hellstorm...yeah, you can imagine. He's an extremely conflicted individual and he's got some serious daddy issues. And you wouldn't believe what a bitch his sister is, don't get this guy started. All in all, a force for good in spite of his heritage, but he's still painfully aware that if he doesn't remain constantly vigilant, he will raise the infernal horde and bring ruin to the earth. Nice guy, though.

Film

  • The Omen with Damien. Such an innocent name. This movie invented the idea that Damien was an evil name—it's a saint's name, after all.
  • Although it might've been made only to pre-empt the Left Behind movie, the movie The Omega Code offers a rare, somewhat sympathetic portrayal of the Antichrist. A rich philanthropist who's trying to exploit Biblical prophecy in a bid to rule the world, he actually does believe that he's doing what's best for the world, and intends to stop following the prophecies before things can go sour. Unfortunately, since the Biblical exegesis of Left Behind's Tim LaHaye says that the Antichrist suffers a fatal head wound and is resurrected as a soulless avatar of evil, he loses all say in the matter after getting shot in the head.
The plot-hole filled prequel/sequel Omega Code 2: Megiddo shows that the Antichrist has been possessed by Satan since he was born. Any sympathy created in the first film's portrayal was probably accidental; we were supposed to think he was pure evil all along.
  • Lead character Kirstie's son in The Calling turns out to be the son of the devil and the anti-christ, complete with resurrection and crucifixion.
  • Simon Magus in the Sci-Fi Channel film Soulkeeper is described this way.
  • This is the nickname for the jeep in The Gods Must Be Crazy. It really was that bad. Ay ay ay ay ay.
  • Franco Maccalusso in the Apocalypse film series.


Literature

  • This is the job description of the Child of Dark in the Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings. It starts the first series in the body of Torak, God of Darkness, as it has since the beginning of the backstory. When Torak ends up on the wrong end of Iron-Grip's Sword, it changes hosts and picks up Zandramas for the second series before finally settling on Garion's son, Geran.
  • A lighthearted take: Adam in Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens. Who is also an Anti-Anti-Christ.
  • Nicolae Carpathia in the Left Behind novels.
  • Christopher Goodman in the Christ Clone Trilogy novels.
  • Randall Flagg in The Stand. Not so much in The Dark Tower.
    • He winds up replaced by Roland's half-son, Mordred Deschain. While he's built up as a super-powerful half-God that will destroy Roland and bring about the end of the multiverse for three and a half books, when he finally arrives, he is shown to a be a pitiful, hateful child who can barely survive in the wilderness and winds up being weakened enough by food poisoning for Roland (and Oy!) to bring him down. Regardless, he does get points for killing and eating Flagg when the old and arrogant (key word: ARROGANT) wizard decides to try and use him to further his own ends.
  • Iscarius Alchemy, a resurrected Judas Iscariot in Matthew Dickens' Magnus.
  • Averted in, of all things, The Bible. According to 1 John 2, "antichrist" refers to someone who either (A) claims to be a Christian but denies that Jesus is God, or (2) claims to be the Messiah (the Christ) but isn't Jesus. (Verse 18 says "even now many antichrists have come.") The charismatic world-ruler who is anointed by Satan to bring about the end of the world is nowhere to be found.
    • The character does appear in Revelation, but is never referred to as the antichrist - only as the Beast (or the First Beast or the Beast from the Sea, in contrast to the Second Beast or the Beast from the Land, aka the False Prophet). Rather than being a prediction of some specific future ruler, however, many mainstream Christian scholars see the two Beasts as representing either one of the Roman emperors (probably Nero or Caligula) and the religious-political establishment that supported him, or tyranny in general.
      • Also popular is the view that the Beast isn't a particular Roman emperor, but the Roman Empire itself.
      • Plus, there are more than two Beasts with important parts to play in Revelation. The First Beast and Second Beast are just a set that appear together.
        • There is, however, a character in 2. Thessalonians, the Man of Lawlessness, who fits the description rather well. Evangelical Christians identify him, along with the Revelation Beast and another character referred to in the Book of Daniel, with John's Antichrist. (That is, "the" Antichrist of verse 18, who the other "many [lesser] antichrists" are compared to.)
  • Subverted in The Day Watch - we are led to believe that Zabulon means to summon the antichrist, but it turns out that, that was just to distract everyone from his much more subtle scheme.
    • It's not actually the antichrist but merely a dragon-mage. Besides, the main characters agree that even if Fafnir was resurrected, human technology has advanced to the point where they could, albeit with some difficulty, take him down.
  • The original human, Theo, in The War of the Flowers, plays this role.
  • In Sergey Lukyanenko Seekers of the Sky, several characters wonder if Marcus really is the second coming of the Redeemer or the Tempter, who is to come before the Redeemer and lead the world astray. However, one of the characters is a bishop who points out that the Church does not officially recognize the existence of the Tempter, as he is only mentioned in a non-canonical gospel. Privately, however, even the head of the Church is wondering the same thing.
  • In The Wheel of Time, Ishamael/Moridin plays this role, as he is the Dark One's annointed champion and also the Evil Counterpart to the series Messianic Archetype. It's heavily implied that his soul is reincarnated throughout history to serve as The Antichrist, similarly to aforementioned Messianic Archetype.

Live Action TV

  • Christina Nickson in Point Pleasant, a rare female example.
  • From Supernatural, Jesse. He's actually a fairly nice kid, and isn't really thrilled about the whole demon thing. He goes into hiding to protect his adopted parents.
    • Sam was called this by Gordon early in the series. At the time, Gordon was written off as a fanatical murderer, but the Straw Man Has a Point.
  • In Only Fools and Horses, Rodney suspects that Del Boy's son, Damien, is this, reading sinister undertones into everything he does. There is, of course, no indication that he's anything but an ordinary child.
  • American Horror Story has Michael, who is the product of The Sociopath ghost Tate raping the human Vivien. His birth is so brutal it kills Vivien and his twin brother. At three-years-old he murders his nanny.

Music

Professional Wrestling

Tabletop Games

  • The Vistani of Ravenloft have their own equivalent of the Antichrist, known as the Dukkar. A Vistani-blooded male born with the Sight, the Dukkar is foretold to destroy the Vistani people while freeing the darklords from their domains: a feat that may or may not cause the Land of Mists to collapse entirely, unleashing its trapped evils upon the multiverse.
  • Horus in Warhammer 40,000, who initiated the Horus Hersey and formed the Chaos Space Marines which led to the deaths of billions and billions of lives in the Imperium. And to top it all, he almost killed the Emperor of man.

Video Games

  • At this point, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII has finally morphed into the definitive video game icon of this. Being the Son of Jenova (a false alien God), being able to herald the Apocalypse (Meteor), and, finally, having armies of Devout Worshippers (the Reunion). Just for a kicker, he also comes back to life twice. The sequel film is even called Advent Children because Sephiroth does a Second Coming in it.
  • The Demi-Fiend from Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne was created with the potential to become The Antichrist, and not following any of the Reasons allows you to fulfill this potential to varying degrees. In the True Demon ending, you fulfill this trope to the letter by destroying all of Creation and becoming The Dragon to Lucifer himself, before leading the Legions of Hell to take on God.
  • Castlevania puts Dracula here. You spend every game stomping him before he reaches full strength.
  • In Halo, this seems to be what the Covenant naturally see the Spartans as in general - Master Chief in particular.
  • Gig from Soul Nomad and The World Eaters, who was created from the dead soul of Vigilance by Drazil for the explicit purpose of killing everything in Haephnes, leaving Drazil as the only remaining world.
  • In In Famous, it turns out that the villain is actually the protagonist from a Bad Future, coming back in time to better prepare him for the actual world-ending villain, who is called, of course, "the Beast."
  • Omega in Mega Man Zero, Ax Crazy yet loyal Dragon to Dr. Weil. Caused the demise of 75% of all sentient life (combined total of humans and reploids). Making things even more horrifying is that Omega is exactly what Dr. Wily intended Zero to be. Sprinkle a little extra Fridge Horror on there when the reveal is made that Omega is Zero's original body, meaning that Wily succeeded.
  • Played with in Devil Survivor. The main character obtains the potential to become an antichrist and a demon king partway through the game. Depending on the ending you gun for, you may become it or choose to use that potential for other ends.
  • The World Ends With You, with Megumi mainly being the prime suspect of this, and his band of cult followers who wear red pins. All of this occurs during the middle-last half of Beat's story.
  • Street Fighter III has Gill, in a surprisingly closer form to the Biblical version than most. He says that he wants to take mankind to a promised land where they'll be protected from The End of the World as We Know It, but considering how his oddly small Cult engages in a lot of brainwashing, deception, genetic experimenting, forcing people's hand, and whatnot, and the fact that they're called The Illuminati of all things, well…
  • Adachi from Persona 4 is a bit of an Antichrist. He is a terrible person who hates the world and wants to end the age of man, masterminding the events of the game since the real mastermind didn't do anything than give the means. He even gets the shadows on his side towards the end of the game.


Western Animation

Zorak: Space Ghost! I am the Lone Locust Mantis of the Apocalypse. Think of me when you look to the night sky!

  • The American Dad episode "Rapture's Delight" depicts the Antichrist as a Large Ham akin to the Riddler from the 1960's Batman live-action series. He claims to be the opposite of Jesus in every way (when the Death Trap he places Stan, Francine, and Jesus in breaks down, he claims that it's because Jesus is a master carpenter, thus making him "handy at nothing").
  • The titular character in "Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil". Slightly subverted because she is a girl. She has an on again/off again relationship with DJ Jesus. Wonder who that could be?
  • Bart Simpson in episode 20.13 of The Simpsons, "Gone Maggie Gone". The episode is a parody of The Da Vinci Code.
  • The Transformers Prime incarnation of Megatron has this going for him. He has necromancer-like abilities thanks to Dark Energon, made Cybertron unsuitable for life, caused mass murder on Cybertron, plans to do the same thing on Earth, and just when everyone thought he died when he was in a space bridge explosion, he recovered.
    • He even thinks he's the Anti-Primus, as he believed that a vision of coming darkness and the destruction of Earth was All About Him.
  • On Ugly Americans, Callie is the half-human daughter of the current Devil. She is currently taking part in his plan to cause the Apocalypse, and it's sometimes been hinted that she could have a larger role (she once had recurring dreams of the world ending if she slept with Twayne). She's not particularly enthused by this, though, and seems unsure if she wants to be this or the Anti-Anti-Christ.


Webcomics

  • Spatch and Spatch II from Rice Boy are clear antichrists. The terms in their own world are false "fulfillers"—but they have the role. They manage to be pretty darn scary for simply drawn anthropomorphic frogs.
    • In part, the problem with the Spatches was that The One Electronic essentially created his own Antichrists; somewhere between Order of Tales and Rice Boy, he started searching for some prophesied messiah, and each time he thought he'd found the one, he'd groom them to be this messiah he's seeking; unfortunately, Spatch started leveraging it for his own benefit and became corrupted by the cushy gig messiahdom had become. Spatch II inherited the title and his dad's attitude.
  • Played with in Sluggy Freelance: Apparently, Satan is intent on fathering someone who would become the Antichrist, but offspring from human mothers just don't seem to be good enough. So, albeit on a drunken dare, he fathers a litter of 18 (6+6+6) Satanic kittens. They don't qualify as the Antichrist either, though, so they just become killer slasher kittens of doom.

Web Original

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