The opening pages of Good Omens is set in the Garden of Eden immediately after the Fall of Adam and Eve. A storm—the first storm ever—approaches. An angel, Aziraphale, and the infamous serpent, Crawly, discuss good and evil, the fate of Adam and Eve, and the Almighty’s real motivation for placing temptation within such easy reach. If He really didn’t want the first humans to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, wonders Crawly, why not place it on top of a mountain somewhere? Aziraphale, in a moral quandary, confesses that he gave his flaming sword to Adam and the pregnant Eve to help sustain them after their banishment.

Two mysterious figures—the demons Hastur and Ligur—lurk in a darkened graveyard waiting for someone to arrive. Meanwhile, Crowley (previously Crawly until he decided the name wasn’t a good fit) speeds down the road in a 1926 Bentley, ruminating on his past evil deeds and “enjoying the twentieth century immensely” (16). He pulls up to the graveyard, and he, Hastur, and Ligur compare stories of how they are corrupting humanity. Hastur and Ligur have different methods than Crowley, as they corrupt one soul at a time while Crowley prefers large, dramatic gestures.