DevilDice

DevilDice
GENERAL
Cuphead
Character	The Devil
Character	King Dice
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Boss and Subordinate (video game) Boss and (former) second-in-command (tv series)
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash
Also Known As	Snake Eyes

DevilDice is the slash ship between The Devil and King Dice from the Cuphead fandom.

Canon

In the game, King Dice is the Devil's right-hand man and the manager of his casinos. He and his boss send Cuphead and Mugman (who'd gotten themselves indebted to the Devil) to collect the Soul Contracts of the Runaway Debtors so they can be freed of their debt. Eventually Dice and the Devil make a bet over whether the Cup Brothers will return successful or fail in the process where Dice bets against them making it. Eventually he loses the bet and his favor with the Devil after Cuphead and Mugman defeat him, with the Devil offering them to take Dice's former spot. Eventually the Devil is beaten and forced to surrender, leaving him and Dice unable to do evil anymore, or at least for a good amount of time.

In The Cuphead Show King Dice first appears in "Roll the Dice" (S1E5). Although he is supposed to be his self-proclaimed Number One, the Devil doesn't really seem to pay attention to King Dice, sometimes even forgetting who he is, until he tells him that he has captured Cuphead (which is not true). The Devil finally calls him his Number One, but not long before he warns him that he "hates disappointment". When he learns that King Dice has let Cuphead escape, he threatens him without restraint, then tells him that he is no longer his Number One and fires him as the host of Roll the Dice. King Dice seemingly tries to have a chill and easygoing approach towards his boss, though, The Devil seems to have more respect for Henchman than him.

In "Release the Demons!" (S2E8) King Dice enters the Underworld through a cave after the Devil accidentally disintegrates his finest demons. When King Dice comes across the remains of the demons, he is left startled upon notice. After having to comply with his third finest ranking demons, the Devil releases them from the underworld before King Dice realises he is also required to get Cuphead's soul, as he too runs out from the gates of the underworld. When he arrives at the corn maze, that Cuphead and Mugman are at, he eliminates the demons one by one so he can catch Cuphead himself. However, his actions are discovered by Henchman, who immediately reports to the Devil that King Dice is the only one left, though Henchman didn't tell him that the latter had killed all of them. King Dice is then shown dancing in triumph through a magic mirror. Later, he places himself above the maze exit with a net waiting for the opportunity to pounce on Cuphead. Unfortunately for him, however, when he notices the Four Horsemen, which the Devil also released, King Dice turns very pale, leaving him frozen with fear. Later, when two visitors notice him, they proceed to call him lame.

In "Down and Out" the Devil and King Dice cross paths again after the former and Henchman decide to the "new club" the latter heard about (mainly to avoid going through a ledger review with Stickler). There, they find Dice performing. During the break, the Devil confronts Dice and reminds him of the last time he was unable to capture Cuphead, revealing that, if he failed, he would destroy him. However, instead of being terrified, King Dice reassures him that it's all part of his plan to make up for it: with Cuphead believing to be his "manager", he's planning on getting him to sign a business contract, which gives ownership of his soul directly to the Devil. Hearing this, the demon decides to give his former Number One one last chance. King Dice presents the scroll to Cuphead as a contract that confirms the cup as his official manager, only to be turned down, with Cuphead claiming that "music's out and comedy's in", using Mugman's ventriloquism as an example. This infuriates the Devil, who proceeds to leave with Henchman back to the Underworld. Just before they get in the elevator, they notice Dice walking out of the barn and the Devil stops him. Near the end of the episode, however, a more positive interaction is seen between the two. While the Devil is very disappointed in King Dice, he admits that Dice "has something that's been sorely lacking from the organization for too long" and how it needs "his glitz, pizzazz, and razzle-dazzle." Though baffled at first, King Dice agrees and the two demons welcome him to the elevator with them. After this, it could be assumed that the Devil and Dice are on better terms now.

Fanon

DevilDice started mostly after the Cuphead game was released. One of the main reasons this ship is so popular is probably their similar, yet with significant differences, personalities: both are villainous soul stealers in positions of power, but while the Devil is dreaded and feared by the residents of Inkwell Isles, King Dice is a villain with good publicity and adored by the masses. Their soul stealing tactics are exact opposites; the Devil's carnival steals the souls of those that lose the games there, while King Dice's game show steals the souls of the winning contestants. The Devil's first instinct to getting Cuphead's soul is to chase him down and attack him with fire, while King Dice only resorts to violence as a last resort. Neither of them like Cuphead, but the Devil slowly (albeit temporarily) bonds with him over their shared sense of humour while King Dice progressively hates him more and more as Cuphead continues to fail his (rigged) game show.

DevilDice's portrayals tend to ignore the canonical portrayal of the Devil as someone who hardly cares about Dice and is perfectly willing to replace him with the Cups upon them beating him. Though at the same time the shippers run with Dice's bigger devotion to the Devil as being romantically-motivated with the Devil not noticing his henchman's feelings for the most part instead of being outright dismissive.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Devil/King Dice tag on AO3

Devil & King Dice tag on AO3

FAN ART

DevilDice tag on DeviantArt

DevilDice hashtag on Instagram

TUMBLR

DevilDice posts on Tumblr

DevilDice tag on Tumblr

Snake Eyes posts on Tumblr

Snake Eyes tag on Tumblr

TWITTER

DevilDice posts on Twitter

DevilDice hashtag on Twitter

Trivia

• Headwriter, Deeki Deke believes that the Devil enjoys it when Dice feels like he has something to prove.
• In the ship name Snake Eyes, there is a reference to the game, as Cuphead loses his and Mugman's first deal with the Devil by rolling snake eyes (a throw of two ones with a pair of dice). King Dice is present throughout that scene.

Variations

HenchDevilDice refers to the ship between Henchman, the Devil and King Dice