How do you get a police procedural out of the Lucifer comic? With the amount of traveling and supernatural lore, it’s the farthest thing from the plausibility of a crime scene investigation. Though considering Fox originally picked up the pilot and ran it in a primetime slot, the TV adaptation had to constrict itself to more conventional, mass-appeal storytelling than a semi-indie comic line.
With more freedom from both having a successful show and jumping from a network to a streaming site, the writers of Lucifer have slowly been introducing more of the lore and background of the non-human characters over the crime of the week. By design, they still had to leave a lot out from the source material. From early in the show’s history, here’s 10 things Season 1 cut from the comics.
Lucifer’s Appearance
Ok, no one is complaining about the casting; Tom Ellis is fantastic in the role and brings such charisma to a character that we honestly shouldn’t like as much as we do. Plus, the British accent makes everything he says so politely passive-aggressive—or flat-out aggressive, depending on the situation—that we end up laughing along most of the time.
But, wow, does comics Lucifer look very different. Blonde hair and green eyes, a bit stockier in build, but still devilishly handsome. In contrast, Ellis has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and, because of his height, comes off as lankier with hidden wiry muscles. You notice them more when the blazers come off.
Jill Prestos and the Baranos
Jill is awesome, and it’s a shame she wasn’t included in the show when four other characters were created. But, oh well, Chloe serves as a better foil to Lucifer than Jill would, even if Jill is sassy and strong-willed.
But Jill’s story is so closely tied with the Baranos that leaving her out makes sense. The Baranos become major antagonists and almost destroy the universe as we know it, affecting more of the comics exclusive characters than the ones included in the show. Still, not having magical tarot cards is a bit of a missed opportunity.
International Travels
Despite retiring in Los Angeles, Lucifer doesn’t spend a lot of time there in the comics. The Lux functions more like a home base, a headquarters of sorts, as Lucifer gallivants across the country and the globe. Look, a flight from LAX to Berlin is nothing to sneeze at—that’s a long flight!
The show keeps Lucifer in sunny LA, or rainy Vancouver, however you want to think of it. Yet, nobody really leaves the city, and definitely not for supernatural occurrences. Can’t leave when there are so many hot victims to avenge.
Michael and Elaine Belloc
Move over baby Charlie, Elaine was the first true angel baby. Keeping with the idea that angels can’t conceive, Michael was captured and experimented on by Sandalphon in order to create Elaine.
Neither of them appear in Season 1, but angel babies are a slice of the Season 4 conflict pie. Though the explanation there isn’t torture, when Amenadiel lost most of his angelic abilities, he truly did become one with humanity. Wink.
Possession of the Wings
Ok, so Lucifer still cut his wings off after leaving Hell, and they’re portrayed as the typical white, angelic wings we’re used to seeing in most interpretations of angels. But he didn’t put them behind a hidden door in a shipping container.
The goddess Izanami had possession of them. To combat the decline of worshipping among mortals, she began collecting mystical artifacts that could be considered prominent in mortals’ thoughts. Lucifer’s wings, stemming from Christianity, became one such item. Lucifer had a whole adventure devoted to getting them back, which involved murdering other deities, angering Izanami, and recruiting a demon for his ranks.
Lucifer’s Underhanded Manipulation
This isn’t to say that TV Lucifer isn’t self-serving and manipulative, but he has lines he won’t cross. For instance, he wouldn’t drag a teenager through the desert and use her to lead him to the silent gods, and, instead of using her grief to bring back her dead brother, uses it to banish the gods. No, TV Lucifer would try to get them to play fetch or run a massive weed empire. Drugs not hugs, right?
But comics Lucifer did the above and then left the girl to find her way home after going on a massive spiritual journey into a heritage she hadn’t explored or felt was a part of herself. Classy, Lucifer.
Leaving that part of Lucifer’s character behind was for the better. We get the sense that he’s very self-involved and not aware of how his actions affect others, but the lack of intention makes him more relatable, likeable, and helps us understand why he is the way he is. We probably wouldn’t want to watch comics Lucifer be a jerk and have the show expect us to like him.
Closing Hell’s Gates
Within the show’s lore, we know that Amenadiel took over the duty of overseeing Hell after Lucifer’s self-proclaimed vacation. Look, he probably accrued at least a century’s worth of vacation days—he’s allowed to take them.
But, in the comics, when Lucifer leaves Hell, he locks Hell’s gates. Of course, he does so after expelling every demon and soul trapped there. More importantly, there’s a way to physically pass control of Hell to someone else via the key to Hell. Could that be Lucifer’s ring?
Lucifer’s Formal Resignation From Hell
It’s not until Season 3 that we get confirmation that God does indeed exist and that he is actually the single, omniscient ruler of the universe. But, even with that alternate universe episode featuring Neil Gaiman as God in a universe he created, he’s very hands-off when it comes to making decisions about and for his creations. So, he just kinda sits back and lets Lucifer gallivant around Los Angeles.
In the comics, Lucifer formally resigns from Hell, and God accepts it. God lets Lucifer go. So yeah, there goes all of the family conflicts in Season 1.
A Universe Beyond The Bible
The biggest drawback of the show is that they haven’t been able to expand into a larger universe. That makes sense, given the budget, mass appeal factor, and how hard it is to write that many characters well. Six or seven well-written characters are better than fifteen meh ones.
But, by just focusing on the Christian Bible—or to an extent, the three most prominent religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—we already lost the first story arc of the comics: the Silent Gods. The first season would’ve felt way too bloated and disjointed if other deities had been included, but it would’ve been really cool to see that many cultures represented in a primetime show.
Hell Was A Gift
Season 1 runs with the story of Hell being punishment for Lucifer’s rebellion. Without a doubt, it’s the Bad Place for any mortal, but not so much for a celestial. It’s just a job nobody wants.
In the comics, Hell was intended to be a gift for Lucifer. God knew he wasn’t happy in Heaven, so God created Hell to design itself around Lucifer. Hell is a reflection of Lucifer. Knowing that, coupled with Lucifer being back in Hell for the start of Season 5, this concept still could tie Lucifer’s story arc together. By playing into his self-image, maybe Hell will be used as a tool for self-reflection, showing Lucifer who he was in contrast to who he is now.
