Among all the bacchanalian parties and hedonistic indulgence, Netflix’s Lucifer is about one main thing: A heroic anti-hero figuring out who he really is without all the mythology of his fall from grace. Lucifer is paired with someone who arguably are pure and kind as an adult who lives in Los Angeles and works as a cop possibly can be. Chloe Decker is a good person, and her presence brings out a side of Lucifer he never knew possible.
Though Lucifer Morningstar loves his sensualist bad boy persona, his good side wins more and more throughout the series. Here are 10 moments when the Devil was actually the good guy.
S1E10: Pops
The first 10 episodes of Lucifer see our resident devil figuring out what makes Detective Chloe Decker so special. He convinces himself it’s unrequited lust and tries to have sex with her, but she turns him down every time. So when she turns the tables and tries to have sex with Lucifer, it’s surprising when he turns her down.
He clearly feels it would be wrong, since Chloe was drunk and upset about the return of her mother, and he’s right. Drunk people can’t give consent. This is the first time we see Lucifer as a good guy in all senses of the word. This catalyzes Lucifer’s character growth because his desire to care for Chloe scares the hell out of him (sorry, we had to).
S4E9: Save Lucifer
We’ve seen Lucifer willingly show people his devil face to make them obey him. It worked to tame the demons and souls of hell, so why not criminals on Earth? His devil face is terrifying, and he knows it. It even drove one person to insanity.
But when Chloe asks to see it, he is extremely reluctant to allow her to see it. Even as his body transforms into his devilish self in this episode, Lucifer worries just as much about scaring Chloe with his face. His concern for her own sanity and well-being is touching.
S2E13: A Good Day to Die
When Chloe is poisoned by a vicious serial killer, the murderer is killed before he can reveal the formula for the antidote. With time running out and the team no closer to guessing how to save Chloe’s life, Lucifer knows what he must do: Return to Hell.
But without his wings, he can’t just hop down. Lucifer brings in Maze and Dr. Linda to stop his heart just long enough for him to go to Hell as a dead soul (sort of). He forces the antidote out of the serial killer, and is brought back in time to save Chloe.
S3E6: Vegas With Some Radish
Candy Morningstar, as she was introduced in season two, is reported dead in Las Vegas. Lucifer and Ella try to find out what has happened, and Lucifer is pulled into his memories of the first time he met Candy. They struck a deal where Candy helped him with some family problems and he got her out of trouble with a gang.
When he returns to Vegas and saves Candy again, he doesn’t ask for a favor in return. There’s no quid pro quo. Lucifer saves Candy because he cares about her and she needed help.
S2E11: Stewardess Interruptus
The sexual tension between Lucifer and Chloe has reached a boiling point and it is getting in the way of their work. By this point, Lucifer made several attempts to turn their relationship into something sexual and Chloe has rebuffed him at every turn with one exception. But here, Lucifer decides to stop.
“You deserve someone worthy of that grace…someone as good as you,” he tells her, insisting he is not that person. It’s one of the first times they discuss sex and romance without Lucifer attempting to manipulate Chloe, so of course it’s when she kisses him.
S3E24: A Devil of My Word
After struggling with the return of his wings, Lucifer finally puts his heavenly appendages to good use: Saving Chloe’s life.
The season has had a long arc of accepting things as they are. Pierce has been running from death for millennia only to finally die, Lucifer has been trying to escape his own nature only to be forced to embrace it, and Chloe has been turning a blind eye to mounting evidence of Lucifer’s true nature only to finally see it when he unleashes his wings to protect her from a fatal barrage of bullets. It’s a brilliant episode.
S4E7: Devil Is as Devil Does
When Trixie is upset and needs a friend, she runs to Lucifer’s penthouse. This by itself is a very sweet moment—in a moment of sadness, Trixie believes Lucifer is who can take care of her best. Of course, assassins show up to Lucifer’s loft.
After he fends them off, Lucifer tells Chloe, “I hope you know I would do anything to protect that little urchin.” For all of Lucifer’s hatred of children, he knows that Trixie is the most important person in Chloe’s life, so he automatically extends his love for Chloe to her daughter and protects her unconditionally.
S2E18: The Good, the Bad, and the Crispy
One of the largest arcs of season two was Lucifer, Amenadiel, and their mother Goddess learning how to be a family. However, Charlotte Richards’ body cannot contain the powerful essence of the Goddess and something must be done to save her.
Instead of killing her or sending her back to Heaven, Lucifer does the kindest thing he can: He creates an entire universe for Goddess to reside in. It’s hers to do with as she likes, and while she’ll never see Lucifer or her other children again, she’ll start over without the specter of God hanging over her.
S4E2: Somebody’s Been Reading Dante’s Inferno
Previously, Chloe’s peaceful calm after Lucifer saved her was a front for deep-seated terror about the implications: he really is a supernatural being, religion is real, etc. So while disappointing, it’s hardly surprising for Chloe to panic and turn to the only source on Satan she thinks of: The Catholic Church.
Here, she struggle between the Church's teachings and the man she knows. When Lucifer saves her again and tells her “I would do it again, and again, don’t you know that detective?” it convinces her of the truth: Whatever his past, Lucifer is a good guy.
S4E10: Who’s Da New King of Hell?
Lucifer’s vacation comes to a breaking point: the demons of Hell are rebelling and he must go back there to reestablish control. Of course, it comes at the price of leaving Earth, and only just as Chloe is finally ready to admit her feelings: She loves Lucifer.
Is it cruel or kind that Lucifer tells Chloe that he never loved Eve just before he left? Fans have differing opinions. But the sacrifice he makes to protect Earth—and especially the humans that he cares about—is undeniably the right thing to do. This is the moment when Lucifer finally knows he’s a good guy. There’s always season five for Lucifer to tell Chloe he loves her.