Devil (Stagolee)
The Devil appears in African American folklore as a complex figure — sometimes a fearsome adversary, sometimes a comic figure who meets his match. In the Stagolee legend, the Devil is challenged by the bad man himself: after Stagolee is hanged for murder, he arrives in Hell and pulls his pistol on the Devil, kicks him off his throne, and takes over the underworld. The Devil finds he cannot control Stagolee and must beg God to let him into Heaven. In High John the Conqueror tales, the Devil sets impossible tasks for John but is outwitted by John and his daughter's cleverness. The Devil in Afric