Dog Scratcher, Wild Hog, and Big Nasty Dragon

If there is any comedy to be found in Dante Alighieri's La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), it might in the fifth ditch of the eighth circle (introduced in Canto XXI), where devils assigned to patrol are called the Malebranche (Evil Claws). Their colorful, often satirical names include: Graffiacane (Dog Scratcher), Ciriatto (Wild Hog), Draghignazzo (Big Nasty Dragon), Cagnazzo (Nasty Dog), and Barbariccia (Curly Beard).

The joking stops with their given names, though. These diavoli hook and torment one of the sinners (Ciampolo), who tricks the Malebranche in order to escape back into the boiling pitch. They also turn out to have lied to Dante and Virgil, having given them false directions to the next bolgia (ditch of stone).