The villain who never won
He was built to lose.
In the German puppet booth the devil is the standing adversary. The children start shouting warnings before he is even on. He comes with an temptation. He leaves beaten about the head, to enormous applause. He was the one character everybody was allowed to hate, and hating him was the best part of the afternoon.
So he came on, night after night, charming and patient, and he was struck down every time. Nobody ever took the deal. Then the booth was folded up for the last time, the hand went out of him.
Poor devil.
He is still smiling. Look at what kind of smile it is. Not a snarl. A salesman who has been refused a thousand times and still believes the next one will say yes.
What you will receive
You will receive the devil himself. A period glove puppet of the type used in German Kasperletheater, mid twentieth century, not a reproduction made to look old. He is unmarked. We do not know who made him and we will not pretend otherwise.
Composition head, painted scarlet, with two black horns and a black crescent of a mouth that goes further round the face than a mouth should. Green eyes, looking slightly to one side rather than at you. A black cotton ruff, a faded coral costume, blacked wooden hands, and dangling legs ending in long wooden boots that knock together when he moves.
The legs are the detail that gives him away. A glove puppet does not need legs and most do not have them. Legs are for a devil who was meant to be seen sitting on the edge of the playboard, swinging his heels, waiting for somebody to make a bad decision.
He is honestly worn and has never been restored. Paint rubbed from the horn tips and the nose, a fine craquelure across the face, frayed cuffs, threads hanging loose. The head is sound. Nobody mended him. They just stopped using him. He's about 16 inches in length.
Using him in your show
There is no method here. He is hollow to the shoulder, and that is the only thing he does. Whatever he does next, somebody will have done it.
He was built to make an offer and be refused, so the question the object asks is what happens the one time he is not.
Then hand him to somebody else. It costs nothing to do and a great deal to receive. A sitter with a devil on their hand has been made responsible for him, and the room will feel it. Nothing needs to happen after that. Let them work out how to give him back.
Play him warm. He is likeable, well mannered and endlessly persistent, and the discomfort comes from liking him rather than fearing him. He has been refused for seventy years and he is in no hurry at all.
