Sadao Maou (真奥 貞夫 Maō Sadao?)/ Satan Jacob (サタンジャコブ Satan Jakobu) is the main protagonist of the Hataraku Maou-sama! series. He was once the Devil King who declared war on Ente Isla in an attempt to annex the four continents. However, due to the actions of the Hero Emilia Justina and her companions, he was forced to retreat to Earth, causing him to lose almost all of his powers.
Satan is a humanoid demon that stands over three meters tall, possessing a fair complexion, sharp red eyes, and slightly messy black hair with a mildly unkempt spiky appearance. His body is well-built with a muscular torso, thick neck, and toned arms and legs. Though his default form is humanoid in appearance, he possesses several features that are decidedly more demonic, including sharp-clawed hands, a pair of yellow ridged horns that curve outwards from beneath his hair along the sides of his head, and large furry goat-like legs ending in thick hooves. Satan also possesses two large bat-like wings that span several times the length of his body when unfurled, though he does not require them to fly, and usually keeps them hidden inside his body. His outfit as the ruler of demons consists of a dark jacket with gold trim around the seams, the bottom partially opened to reveal his waist. He wears short black pants which are the same color as his top, the former of which is tucked into a pair of large dark boots that cover his animal-like calves and feet. Over his clothing he wears a high-collared cape in the same colors as his jacket, fastened at the front with a thin golden chain, and held in place by large shoulder pads bearing a small resemblance to his horns.
As a human, Maou looks like an average Japanese young man. His facial features and hair are largely unchanged from his original demonic form, though he appears younger and his face more expressive than before. Aside from losing his horns, hoofed legs, wings, and claws, the most noticeable difference is the drastic reduction in stature between his human and demon forms. As Sadao Maou, the Devil King is roughly the average human's height, being noticeably shorter than before with a smaller build that lacks the musculature and imposing size of his previous body. While living in Japan, he normally wears simple clothing purchased from UniClo, a store specializing in low-budget, used clothing, his typical garb being a simple t-shirt and jeans. While working at MgRonald's, Maou dresses in the franchise's uniform: a short-sleeved red t-shirt with a button-up collar, a yellow strip running across the mid-torso with the company's logo on the right breast. Also included is a pair of black pants, a belt, and a matching visor hat, also bearing the MgRonald's logo.
When he regains his powers, Maou's body reverts back to its previous form, depending on the amount of magic he has accumulated. In the manga, when he regained his powers after the mall collapsed, only his stature remained human, but his pants were torn due to his transformed legs. In the anime, he returns to his full demon form, shredding all his clothes.
Personality
Professional MgRonald's worker
Perhaps the most intelligent and charismatic of his kind, the Devil King came from humble origins as a member of a low-class goblin tribe, yet through tireless efforts and a drive to better his people, he managed to gain support from others, eventually uniting the warring factions of the Demon World under his rule. Satan was well-known throughout the lands of Ente Isla as the great overlord of his people, his name synonymous with terror and cruelty, despite being, in truth, a gentle leader who sought for less destruction and casualties as much as possible. His true intentions were misunderstood because he ordered his generals to conquer the lands of Ente Isla without explaining the meaning of 'conquer', thus leading each general to conquer in his own way leaving cruel actions and destruction in the Western and Southern Continents, staining his name with bloodshed. While his actions in life were for the betterment of demonkind, he had to conquer the human civilization to ensure the survival of the demon race. Later it is revealed that during his invasion of Ente Isla, he decided to research human society instead rather than heading to battle. He did this to gain information that could help him conquer Ente Isla, but also because he had a deep curiosity and respect for human society. During this time, it is revealed that Satan did care for the humans he trampled during his invasion, but was forced to choose between humankind or the survival of the demon race, after which he chose the latter. Satan's true motivation was to create a situation where he could force the human race into producing negative emotions toward demons, thus creating large amounts of demonic energy (which was starting to run out in the Demon Realm). He never intended to annihilate the human race completely, but actually to conquer it. He gave each of his generals free will on how to carry out the conquest, but established that they must accept humanity's surrender. Due to this, though in some cases the conquest was gruesome and full of bloodshed (like in Malacoda's case), in other cases was relatively moderate, without actually damaging anyone but soldiers who opposed the conquest (such as in Adramelech and Alciel's case). As the great ruler of demons, he was shown to be a proud and resolute individual. However, his defeat at the hands of the Hero Emilia and the sudden loss of his magic abilities on Earth left him with no choice but to abandon that pride and live the life of an ordinary human.
Maou happily greets a customer
On Earth, Sadao Maou is shown to be a diligent and proactive employee, instead applying his strong drive and determination to better himself in his new life. Forced to spend time living as a human and interacting with those he previously considered to be lesser beings, the Devil King slowly began to understand mankind and has since developed a kindhearted and cheerful disposition making him popular among both his colleagues and neighbors. While he does not desire to cause trouble to the world that has treated him with nothing but kindness, Satan has not entirely lost his desire for power and influence and instead strives to climb the corporate ladder at MgRonald's.
"I will become a full-time employee in this world!"
He hopes to legally obtain influence and wealth on Earth that will allow him to amass new resources with which to return home to Ente Isla. Due to this wish, or despite it, Maou expresses great pride in his job as a fast-food employee. He pompously brags about the many promotions he will hopefully receive in the future, often much to the dismay of those around him. Maou is most impressed with the fundamentals of capitalism, as he sees the market economy on Earth as a model for his new ideal society back home. His current goal is to observe the system in Japan and establish a more civilized society in the Demon Realm, where profit and trade can be used to obtain power without unnecessary bloodshed. Notably, he still has a strong drive to rebuild the Devil's Army and has consciously toyed with finding replacements for deceased generals.
Sadao Maou is also shown to be thoughtful, well-mannered, and empathetic toward those around him, and he is willing to help others in any way possible if he is able. This new disposition clashes heavily with the merciless Devil King the people of Ente Isla thought he was, which confuses the Hero Emilia when she first encounters him on Earth. Despite her having been the cause of his downfall and subsequent depowerment, Maou displays no hostility towards the hero, and even some pity upon learning that she had been stranded on Earth alone while chasing him through the Gate. Despite being archenemies back home, he displays great strength of character despite her hostility towards him, quietly accepting her accusations without objection, and even showing concern for Emi's well-being and that of others. Naturally, his kindness confuses those who knew him back in Ente Isla. When asked about his previous actions as the Devil King, Maou also expresses regret for doing so many horrible things. He reluctantly apologizes to the Hero, though he ruefully claims not to have understood humans before having been forced to live as one, and has come to acknowledge this ineptitude. While he does not intend to shirk responsibility for the deaths he had caused, Maou rarely discusses it unless directly confronted.
While he often appears to be clueless, the former Devil King is shown to be highly intelligent. He can analyze each situation logically while discerning the best course of action. This is first seen through his amassing of political power in the Demon Realm, eventually becoming its ruler, and later during his strategic conquest of Ente Isla. Upon arriving on Earth, he deduced the best way to survive without magic. He used his intelligence to spot potential assassination plots from Ente Isla while bettering himself in the work environment. Despite his impressive mind, Maou appears to be dense about matters regarding women. He is shown reacting awkwardly and somewhat confused by Chiho's confessions of love, although some of his comments make it sound like he does this intentionally for reasons not yet revealed.
In both worlds, Maou looks out for his juniors and subordinates and believes that any leader must take responsibility for the actions of those who serve under him, prompting him to cover for Chiho Sasaki when she makes mistakes at work while on duty at MgRonald's. This state of mind even extends to his interactions with Lucifer, who once severely damaged Shibuya in an attempt to kill the Devil King and the Hero. After ending Lucifer's rampage, Satan chose to use his newly-restored powers to repair the city and even hid Lucifer from the police. In doing so, he accepted full responsibility for the situation, even knowing that using up his magic to fix everything would render them unable to return to Ente Isla.
Maou retains his flair for dramatic speeches and poses even as a human.
Background
Demon King Satan
Though he is not the legendary Satan spoken of in the Ente Islan Bible, Satan Jacob was given the name at birth, as it has since become an extremely common name among demons. While he once belonged to a lowly goblin-class tribe, Satan's family and comrades were slaughtered in a conflict between demons, the enemy leaving him behind to die following the carnage. While lying motionless on the ground awaiting his eventual demise, he was found and rescued by a mysterious angel, who chose to care for the child and ensure his survival. The stranger claimed she had never seen a demon crying before and nursed him back to health, sharing many stories and her knowledge of humankind with him. While he cared little for her tales, the young Satan was not well enough to move and listened quietly while she spoke. Through her stories, he became instilled with a desire to unite his own kind in the same way that humans had done in the past. His savior was also the first to call him 'Devil King Satan', and before departing, she left him with a purple, crescent-shaped crystal. The angel told him to plant it if he wanted to know more about the world, advice that he would eventually heed.
The Demon Army advances
An unknown number of years later, Satan became a leader of a Demon Faction and began a great war to annex the rest of the Demon Realm. The struggle lasted from 1741 to 1799, eventually ending with the complete union of the warring tribes as one kingdom. In 1870, he became the Devil King, ruling over his people alongside his Demon Minister Camio while presiding over the tribe leaders within his territories. After completing his quest to unite the Demon Realm, he realized a huge problem that came with it. The demons in the Demon Realm fed on Demonic Force, which was produced from negative emotions. These negative emotions came from the everlasting conflicts inside the Demon World, which caused the world to be filled with said, Demonic Force. Because he turned the Demon World into a peaceful place, he cut the source of demonic energy from his world, thus facing the problem of starvation for the entire Demon race. To solve this problem, Satan attempted to conquer the land of Ente Isla, a territory consisting of five continents arranged in the shape of a cross, which sat upon the Ocean of Ignora. The Devil King desired to subjugate the humans living there. By doing so, he would create a situation in which the humans would hold grudges and several other negative emotions towards the demon race, thus producing enough demonic energy to sustain the Demon World population.
Satan musters his Four Generals
To this end, Satan sent his Four Great Demon Generals into battle, each leading a sizable force of the demonic host. Establishing his own domain in the now-destroyed Central Continent, he dispersed the remainder of the Devil King's Army to the other islands, each led by one of the generals with Adramelech heading North, Malacoda to the South, and Alciel towards the East. Knowing him to have come from Heaven, Satan chose Lucifer to attack the Western Continent, knowing it to be the place where the Church of Ente Isla was strongest. He believed the Fallen Angel's knowledge of Heaven's ways would allow them an easier victory, only to learn that a single human had repelled Lucifer's army, presumably killing him. Thus Satan became aware of the Hero Emilia, the one who would eventually bring about his downfall.
Satan engages the Hero Emilia in battle
While he initially believed that the remainder of his forces could defeat the hero, she slayed Adramelech and Malacoda in less than a year. As a master strategist, Alciel suggested they turn the battle into a defensive one, prompting Satan to order his forces to retreat from the Eastern Continent and fortify their stronghold in the central lands. Still, the surviving humans emerged from hiding and rallied under the Church and Hero, forming an army vast enough to overwhelm and crush the remains of the Devil King's Army. During the ensuing battle, Satan fought the Hero and her companions alongside his sole remaining general, but they eventually proved no match. After losing one of his horns to the Hero's Sacred Sword, the Devil King, and Alciel were forced to retreat and heal their wounds, knowing that the war would claim their lives if they continued. Opening a Gate in the skies above Devil's Castle, they planned to flee to another world and regain their strength. Before disappearing through the vortex, Satan vowed to return one day and conquer Ente Isla again.
Powers and Abilities
Demon Magic
As the Devil King, Satan possessed great demonic power. Demonic force is extremely strong, and each user has a unique colored aura to indicate its presence. For him, that color is black or red. On Earth, he lost most of his powers and was weakened to the point that he could only function as an average human. Finding magical sources was near impossible as magic is largely only present in the form of fiction. However, his powers can be temporarily restored by feeding off negative emotions like fear and despair from sentient beings in his surroundings.
Combat Magic
Transformation: Maou can transform between his human and demon forms at will, provided he has enough magic. When running low, he automatically takes human form. When he regains his powers, Maou undergoes a drastic change in his physical appearance, gaining an extremely robust body, claws, hooves, and horns.
Hypnosis/Mind Control: He has the power to influence the wills of humans and animals and gather information from their minds.
Magical Combat: As the Devil King, he was seen projecting powerful energy blasts and defending with shields against his opponents in the final battle for Ente Isla. During his fight with Lucifer, Maou combined dark magic and his augmented physical strength to perform a nuclear-scale finishing punch.
Telekinesis
Telekinesis: Maou has telekinetic powers that allow him to manipulate objects. They are so strong, that they're capable of lifting an entire road highway and keeping it afloat for an extended period of time.
Teleportation: Maou can teleport with another person in tow, as shown when he used it to help him and Emi flee from Lucifer. The limitations of this ability are unknown.
Glamour: With enough magical power, Maou can change his appearance at will. This is demonstrated during his battle with Sariel; Maou briefly took the form of Chiho to take him by surprise when Sariel thought to use Chiho as a human shield against him.
Forcefield Generation: Maou created one to protect him, Emi, and Ashiya from Lucifer's barrage of energy bullets. He has made individual shields for dozens of people in his demon form to protect them from falling rubble.
Sleep Spell: Maou cast this on the city's populace to stop them from witnessing the battle with Lucifer.
Time Barrier: Maou can generate a magical field temporarily suspending time.
Magic Transfer: Maou transferred magic to Ashiya to help him recover from his injuries. It is unknown if this ability is only limited to demons, or if he can transfer magic to other creatures as well.
Pain Stare: During his fight against Lucifer and Olba, Maou makes Olba lose consciousness by simply looking at him. It also seemed to inflict damage, as Olba was heard grunting in pain before losing consciousness. The details of this magic are still largely unknown.
Demonic Sword:
Maou creates a magic sword from a broom.
During his fight with the archangel Sariel, Maou was able to transform an ordinary broom into a great demonic sword using magic and used it to defeat Sariel instantly in one blow, whilst destroying half the city in the process.
Restoration: As shown after his battles with Lucifer and Sariel, he has the power to repair any form of collateral damage, no matter how great, at the expense of a large amount, if not all, of his magic.
Regeneration: Maou can regenerate his damaged body with high speed in his demon form. When Lucifer used his purple magic projectiles to shoot several holes through Maou's body by shooting him, Maou was able to heal his wounds after he transformed.
Flight: He can fly in his demon form quickly.
Keen Intellect
Maou possesses a keen intelligence. He could piece events together and deduce a logical and correct conclusion with relative ease, such as when he figured out Lucifer's motivations for the mugging incidents around the neighborhood to accumulate power without much information. The best example of his intelligence is how he nearly conquered Ente Isla, with the education and knowledge he learned and memorized 300 years prior to the story (which was a feat unrivaled by any in history). His intelligence remains the same regardless of his form.
Physical Abilities
Satan after he regains his powers.
Enhanced Reflexes: He has far superior reflexes than other demons.
Immense Strength: When transformed, he gains an incredible strength which makes him able to lift falling debris weighing tons and is many times larger than himself.
Immense Speed: During the battle against Lucifer, Maou could move so fast that Lucifer could not react, resulting in his utter defeat in just a flash.
Immense Endurance: Despite his more fragile human body, he could still continue running after being blasted by Lucifer's magic bullets right in his vital body parts until Olba shot his leg. In demon form, Satan can resist powerful attacks without so much as a scratch, even emerging unharmed from magical attacks and explosions.
Trivia
Maou's human name is a pun on his real identity. "Maou/真奥" sounds like "Mao/魔王" which means "devil" or "demon lord," and "貞夫/Sadao" means "decisive man", but it sounds like "Satan" or the start of words like "sadist" or "sadism".
Maou has a tendency to name his vehicles "Dullahan". Two of his bikes are named Dullahan I and Dullahan II, respectively, and his moped is named Dullahan III. Its name came from the Irish myth about a headless rider with a black horse who carries their head under one arm and from a Japanese proverb: to lose your neck, which means to get fired. It's Maou's reminder that he should never allow himself to get fired again, which happened when he recently arrived in Japan.
Satan is primarily understood as an "accuser" or "adversary" in the Hebrew Bible, and is not necessarily the personification of evil that he would become in later Abrahamic texts.
Though his character personifies Satan, he more likely represents Baphomet due to the goat-like feet and horns when he transforms.
Satan is merely a name that many other demons also possess, as Maou describes it as being "more common than the rocks" in the Demon Realm.
His shoe size is 26.5 cm.
Maou normally wears UNICLO clothing. UNICLO is a parody of the famous Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer, and retailer UNIQLO.
Emi often mocks Maou for constantly wearing the brand. Even Ashiya has pointed out how he wears it too much.
