The Ruler of Hell (informerly King or Queen of Hell), also referred to as the Lord of Hell and King of Hellfire, is the absolute overseer of the realm known as Hell, which serves as the eternal home of sinful deceased mortals. The latest and most recent known ruler of Hell is Satan. It is the title and highest position a demon can hold over Hell.
History[]
When Lucifer was cast into Hell, the then on became its emperor, even while he was imprisoned in his cage. However, while he was in the cage, he made his lieutenants, the Greater Demons, rule over Hell. But once all of them were destroyed and he was set free, Lucifer ruled Hell once more. When Lucifer was defeated bu Oracle and was then thrown back into the cage, he was no longer its ruler and Satan took over. Upon the Darkness being set free and after God's departure with her, Lucifer voluntarily left Hell under the rule of Satan.
Characteristics[]
The Ruler of Hell can control the fate of any soul that goes to Hell and has such a high authority that he or she may even trade any number of souls in Hell as per their wish, as seen when Satan gave Oracle "fifty large, fifty thousand souls from the pit", to make a showing in front of Michael during the civil war in Heaven. The King or Queen of Hell can also alter Hell's appearance and how it is run, as Satan redesigned hell following Lucifer's imprisonment and replaced the previous method of extreme physical torture with continuous queuing (which served as a psychological torture for all in Hell).
While other demons have ruled Hell previous to them, only Satan, Abbaddon, and Lilith have used this title to describe themselves. It is currently unknown how the King or Queen of Hell is elected. However, it may simply be that the most powerful demon takes power. In Satan's case, the Team had eliminated all of the other powerful demons who could be his contenders and locked Lucifer back in his Cage. However, in Season 6, he indicated that his position wasn't secure and he needed the power of the souls of Purgatory to secure it.
This seemed to be resolved until Abaddon emerged to challenge him for power in which they fought a civil war for control of Hell. With Abaddon's death, he regained full control of Hell. In one brief episode it shows Satan talking to council of demons and letting them know the king has returned.