Faust (German for "fist") or Faustus (Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky") is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which a medieval scholar makes a pact with the Devil. The tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works, such as those by Christopher Marlowe, Goethe, Klaus Mann, Thomas Mann, Charles Gounod, Arrigo Boito, Hector Berlioz, Mikhail Bulgakov, Franz Liszt, Oscar Wilde, Charles Gounod, Terry Pratchett, and Peter Cook & Dudley Moore.
The name "Faust" has come to stand for a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer") whose pride and vanity lead to his doom. Similarly, the adjective "faustian" has come to denote acts or constellations involving human hubris which lead eventually to doom.