| Hell | |
|---|---|
| |
Vital statistics
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| Type | Supernatural Dimension |
| Level | Unknown |
| Location | Below the Earth |
| Inhabitants | Lucifer(master/ruler) Demons Damned Souls Various Hellish Creatures |
- "Hell...is not the nicest nor friendliest place there is in the Multiverse. Burning, searing flames...endless screaming, pain, agony, misery, and torture for the rest of eternity. Once you're in the Underworld, you can not ever escape. You live forever in supremely horrible pain in the fiery pit, with burning agonies you can't even begin to imagine. All sinners are there in misery, dying over...and over...and over. It's a prison, made of flesh and blood and bone and fear. And there is more than just demons down there. There are creatures, evil down there that does not sleep. It is the most miserable place in the history of all Creation. And if you have anything to do with that place...a place of fire, cold, and everlasting pain, agony, and eternal darkness, I promise you, you will be going to the black, gold, fiery, and frozen pit...of Lucifer's world."
- —Oracle, about Hell
Hell (also known as The Woeful Realm), often called Downstairs, Hades, The Basement, The Pit, The Hot Box, MotherShip, The Deep Fryer, The Inferno, or even The Underworld, is the fearsome spiritual realm for punishment and pain of the afterlife, a realm inhabited by tortured souls, Hellhounds, Demons, and even Lucifer himself located below the mortal plane where unrepentent humans who committed sin are sent to be tortured as punishment for eternity. Human souls who are sent to Hell are tormented until their humanity is stripped away and they become demons. Hell is said to be so terrible that even the demons, with the exception of Aloastair, hate and fear it. Composed of nine circles (or more or less nine levels), the Inferno is strictly Lucifer's domain. Each circle acts as a prison for souls who committed certain types of sins and are punished poetically in death.
History[]
Origin[]
Hell was created by God as a prison for Lucifer as punishment for twisting the first human soul into a Demon, to spite God. God commanded Michael to throw Lucifer into the pit, where he was cut off from the rest of creation. From then on, wicked humans went to Hell after death, and were tortured into demons. Despite being the leader of hell, Lucifer was bound to his Cage. Instead, Lucifer selected his elite and loyal servants to act in his place. It has been hinted that Azazel had been Hell's viceroy in the absence of Lucifer up until his own death.
Lucifer may have never had the time to reign as king of hell, as his corruption of the soul of Lilith was what caused God to order Michael to imprison him in the cage. But the seed had already been planted, and the demons he created started to demonize more souls, which carried out his work in his name. Once in the cage, all communication to him was cut off. Lucifer's Rising shows that Azazel was one of few demons who had not given up in his search for Lucifer, and tried to find a way to "spring" him from his cage
Azazel's Plan Lucifer eventually instructed Azazel with two tasks important in his plan to escape the Cage: Freeing Lilith from Hell, and raising a very special child strong enough to kill Lilith and break the final seal. Azazel succeeded in both tasks, though he was killed by Dean shortly after Lilith and hundreds of other demons escaped. However, Azazel also managed to secure a righteous man in Hell, when Dean sold his soul for the resurrection of Sam. After Azazel's death, Lilith assumed control of Hell.
Appearance and Characteristics[]
Hell is described to be a place so bad that that even some of its own inhabitants fear and despise it. Only one demon, Aloastair, so far has been described to enjoy Hell. Oracle described Hell as not being able to remember who you used to be. Virgil described it as a prison of "flesh, and bone, and blood, and fear" that one of the reasons demons keep on returning to Earth is because they themselves do not want to suffer the tortures of Hell. During her time in Hell, Mia is seen connected to "racks" long dark chains that look very similar to meat hooks, which are provided as extra torture, while demons such as Aloastair use "razors" to torment souls further.
It could be assumed that Hell, much like Heaven, is also a varying landscape. When the demon Satan became King, he drastically altered Hell changing it into a never-ending queue. In recent times Satan seems to have returned Hell to its former more terrifying and savage state. Time in Hell is about 120 times faster than time on Earth, as basically every month on Earth is equivalent to 10 years in Hell. For example, four months on Earth is equivalent to 40 years in Hell. In addition, a year-in-a-half on Earth is equivalent to 180 years in Hell. Five years on Earth is equivalent to 6 centuries in Hell.
Access and Location[]
Hell is a supernatural realm often pictured to be underneath the Earth. Lucifer's Cage is a special part of Hell designed solely for the purpose to keep the fallen archangel Lucifer himself incapacitated, as it is also in the lowest part of Treachery, the ninth, darkest, and lowest circle in Hell. Another known way of entering the Cage is through the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Angels are capable of forcing their way into Hell. Demons, regardless of their location on earth, are forced directly back into Hell once exorcised. Reapers are able to secretly access Hell through a portal located in Purgatory that acts as a "backdoor." Any being can use this door both ways as long as they are aware of its location on both ends and have access to Purgatory.
The Nine Circles[]
| “ | Nine circles comprise the Inferno, with Lucifer himself residing in the lowest. Horrifying, I know. In truth, there are more souls damned in Hell...than there are souls liberated in Heaven. | „ |
| — Oracle, about the circles of Hell | ||
Limbo[]
- Main article: Limbo
In the first circle, Limbo, resides the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not sinful in life, did not accept Christ. Limbo is on the outer boundary of Hell, just across the river Acheron. The guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of heaven. Lacking a baptism they lacked the hope for something greater than themselves.
Lust[]
Below Limbo is the second circle, Lust. In this circle the carnal damned are punished in an endless tempest of fierce winds representing the power of lust to blow one about aimlessly and needlessly. Within it lies Cleopatra, who rules over the shades atop The Carnal Tower with her lover, Marc Anthony.
Gluttony[]
Below lust is the third circle, Gluttony, where gluttonous souls forever lie in vile slush produced by ceaseless foul and icy rains; symbolising the cold, empty sensuality of their lives. The circle is guarded by the three-headed guard dog, Cerberus. Beyond The Great Worm is the cold valley of rain and mud, and the Hall of Gluttons, where even the royalty and high status indulged food and drinks in life. They're constantly devoured and excreted by several gluttons for eternity
Greed[]
- Main article: Greed
Below gluttony is the fourth circle, Greed. Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished, including avarice, who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. Within the circle are occupants who are boiled alive in molten gold below, condemned for hoarding too closely or spending too freely with riches. Here Plutus, God of Wealth resides, along with Lady Fortune.
Anger[]
- Main article: Anger
Below greed is the fifth circle, Anger. In the The River Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water, withdrawn, "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe." Guarded by Phlegyas, he transports anyone across the poisonous river. Beyond the river lies a city of fire and brimstone, the Gates of Dis.
Heresy[]
- Main article: Heresy
Below Anger is the sixth circle, Heresy. In this circle heretics, such as epicureans (who say "the soul dies with the body"), are trapped in flaming tombs. Those who have denied the existence of God and the soul after death or who worshipped false idols and devils. In this nether-hell, Pagans, the followers of Epicurus, and atheists are burned in sealed coffins for all eternity.
Violence[]
- Main article: Violence
Below Heresy is the seventh circle, Violence. This circle is guarded by a Minotaur and separated into three parts: Violence against others, Violence against ones self, and finally, Violence against God. Those who acted with violence against others are boiled in the river of blood (ThePhlegethon). Those who committed suicide, or violence against themselves, are placed as part of the Wood of the Suicides condemned to writhe in eternal pain as gnarled trees. Having willingly given up their old bodies, they are denied a new one in death. Finally, those who showed violence against God are placed in the harsh region of the Abominable Sands.
Fraud[]
- Main article: Fraud
Below Violence is the eighth circle, Fraud. Fraud is an extremely dark place that holds those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil, who used lies and deception for personal gain. This circle is divided into ten ditches, known collectively as the Malebolge and individually as Bolge, each holding a different type of liar and each with a different form of punishment. The ten ditches of Fraud are:
- Panderers and Seducers - forced to march in seperate lines in opposite directions, whipped by demons.
- Flatters - submerged in human excrement.
- Simony - placed head-first in holes in the rock, with flames burning on the soles of their feet.
- Diviners - sorcerers,astrologers,and false prophets have their heads twisted around on their bodies backwards, so that they "found it necessary to walk backwards,/because they could not see ahead of them".
- Politicians - corrupt politicians are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.
- Hypocrites - hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing gilded lead cloaks, which represents the falsity behind the surface appearance of their actions falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.
- Thieves - repeatedly pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards whose poison transforms their bodies into grotesque shapes.
- Evil Counselors - eternally set on fire, appearing as nothing more than pillars of fire.
- Sowers of Discord - a sword wielding demon hacks at the sowers of discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others. As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again.
- Falsifiers - infected with various painful diseases and infections.
Treachery[]
- Main article: Treachery
Below Fraud is the ninth circle, Treachery. The farthest place in all of creation from the light of God. This is the deepest and blackest of all the circles, where the traitors are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying family, the community, guest, and even Christ. The final circle is literally Hell, "frozen over." Alongside the traitors, the giants of old are condemned here as well, including Ephialtes and Typhon. At the very bottom of Treachery lies Lucifer himself, trapped in the frozen Lake Cocytus from the waist downwards. The futile beating of his wings causes an icy wind, which combined with the tears he sheds only trap him in the ice even further.