This answer provides brief character descriptions from Marlowe's play 'The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,' highlighting Faustus as a scholar who makes a pact with the devil, Mephistopheles as his demonic servant, and Lucifer as the ruler of Hell. In Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Lucifer is portrayed as the powerful and malevolent fallen angel who represents the ultimate embodiment of evil. He is the leader of the devils and demons and is summoned by Faustus after making a pact with Mephastophilis. Written in the late 16th century and first performed around 1594, the play follows Faustus’ rise as a magician through his pact with Lucifer—facilitated by the demon Mephistopheles—and his ultimate downfall as he fails to repent before his damnation. He eventually makes a deal with Lucifer (commonly referred to as the Faustian bargain ), whereby he exchanges his soul for twenty-four years of the devil’s service to him. In the next twenty-four years, Faustus obtains all kinds of knowledge and power through his devil-servant, Mephistophilis. Need help on characters in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus? Check out our detailed character descriptions. From the creators of SparkNotes. The document provides character analyses of the main characters from Christopher Marlowe's play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus : Dr. Faustus is an ambitious, arrogant, curious, and reckless scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for power and knowledge. Lucifer is one of the central personages of the tragedy, which embodies the world of devilish power and immense pleasures. He serves as the source of contradiction, the beginning of anxiety and dissatisfaction. The titular character and tragic hero of the play, Faustus is a brilliant and well-respected German scholar. Faustus decides to learn magic in order to gain wealth, fame, and power. Faustus is a brilliant sixteenth-century scholar from Wittenberg, Germany, whose ambition for knowledge, wealth, and worldly might makes him willing to pay the ultimate price—his soul—to Lucifer in exchange for supernatural powers. Lucifer, with all its might and industrious crew, has been working for the destruction of mankind. It not only spares no chance but also is always looking to devise newer ways to deceive man into believing the life on Earth as the final and ultimate end in itself.