How the Devil Went From Minor Player to Starring Role

In an impish Ted-Ed lesson written by Brian Pavlac and animated by Reza Riahi and Mehdi Shiri, narrator Jack Cutmore-Scott explains how the devil went from a relatively minor player in the Old Testament to a starring role of evil embodiment in the New Testament. The later versions of Satan took on three different faces that were captured by writers, poets and painters to live on through infamy.

Satan, the beast crunching sinners’ bones. Lucifer, the fallen angel. Mephistopheles, the trickster striking deals. These three divergent devils are all based on Satan of the Old Testament. But unlike any of these literary devils, the Satan of the Bible was a relatively minor character. So how did he become the ultimate antagonist, with so many different forms?

via Boing Boing