Hell: Difference between revisions

The theological roots of Hell, and the modern pop-cultural image of it, come from a variety of sources, from Christian beliefs to Greek and Egyptian mythology to medieval literature. In more recent times, Asian conceptions of the afterlife, particularly the Chinese and Japanese ideas of Hell, have attained some prominence in the West, particularly through video games and anime. The idea of a moral dichotomy in the afterlife, with different fates reserved for the virtuous and the wicked, goes back to [[Egyptian Mythology]]. Making Heaven and Hell entirely separate places is a relatively recent idea from Judeo-Christianity. Many other ancient religions gave the same bland afterlife to everyone who died, save for those lucky few favored by the [[Powers That Be]].

Stories that don't necessarily want to deal with the religious angle, but still want to use the basic idea of Hell for dramatic purposes, might use a thinly disguised "dimension of pain and suffering" instead. If it's a story with some science fiction elements, this'll often take the form of [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place]].

== Literature ==

* [[Homer]]'s ''Odyssey'' and Virgil's ''Aeneid'', which introduced the River Styx, Cerberus, the descent with a guide into the underworld, and various [[Ironic Hell|ironic punishments]] for the sinners. Other Greek and Roman myths, such Orpheus descending into the Underworld, Persephone's abduction by Hades, and Hercules capturing Cerberus also helped create many of the [[To Hell and Back]] trope's elements.

* ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' also sets most of its story in Hell, particularly in the demon capital Pandemonium, as Lucifer and the rest of the demons plot their next move against God. It's a much more passive setting than in the Divine Comedy, and human sinners are never seen (since, at this point, Adam and Eve are the only humans around).

* Buddhist texts call Hell [[wikipedia:Naraka (Buddhism)|Naraka]], which can be divided into two categories: the icy Hell and the fiery Hell. The cold one has no demons, but the victims must spend an extremely long time there, alone and naked. The worst of these Hells, Mahapadma, is so cold that the victim's body cracks into pieces. The fiery Hells are much more ''active'', with Yama's attendants torturing victims to death in various ways. The victims quickly revive, only to suffer the same fate again and again, for a very long (though not endless) time. The worst of the fiery Hells (and the lowest of all the hells), Avici, is reserved for those who commit one or more of the Five Grave Offenses (murder of one's father, murder of one's mother, murder of a Arhat or enlightened being, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and causing a schism within the Sangha, the community of Buddhist monks and nuns), and life and suffering in this Naraka lasts the longest out of all the hells put together.

* One of the [[Wing Commander (novel)|Kilrathi]] hells is called Nagrast, a name given to an ice world orbiting a brown dwarf where survivors from a battle at the end of the war have gathered in an [[Enemy Mine]] situation, in ''False Colors''

* In his chilling short story "Other People" [[Neil Gaiman]] portrays Hell as a single room, the walls covered with instruments of torture, where a single soul enters, and the demon goes through each instrument of torture over and over again, until the pain of each becomes bearable. Then they start picking through the soul's mind, making them relive and reexperience every lie and misdeed, every mistake, all their doubt and guilt. And then... well, you'll have to read it.

* In the [[The Culture|Culture]] novel, ''Surface Detail'', Hell, or the appropriate equivalent is a very real possibility. It should be noted that that the Culture Universe is based on incredibly advanced technology, such as recording mindstates (which are often analogised as 'souls'). A variety of afterlifes can be created in the form of flawless computer simulations. Whilst the vast majority are benign or pleasant, some civilisations deliberately create a Hell simulation to send their dead to. The more horrifying thing about this is that most of the Hell builders think that it's a good idea. Needless to say, the running of Hell programs is one of the very few things the Culture actively dislikes and makes a point of making this known.

== Tabletop Games ==

** The Nine Hells of Baator, which paid homage to Dante's version. It's also home of all types of nasty, but with a different slant along Alignment lines—the devils of Baator [[Lawful Evil|want to rule]] [[The Multiverse]], whereas the demons of the Abyss [[Chaotic Evil|want to destroy it]].

*** As of the fourth edition, [http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/45536ba641a897edcc85536f05a293fe97906a7c.jpg Hell is a planet.]

* In the [[Old World of Darkness]], there was the Abyss from [[Demon: The Fallen]]. Here, Hell was the absence of God... and everything else, in fact. And since the titular demons had just been tossed in by God and had a bunch of anger issues, [[Self-Inflicted Hell|they quickly turned on one another and made it into the classical version]].

** The oWoD also had the Thousand Hells from ''[[Kindred of the East]]''. The spirit realms that became the Hells were originally intended to be for the punishment and correction of Asian mortal souls. Then their rulers, [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|the Yama Kings]], discovered that they could draw strength from pain, suffering and corruption, and were more than happy to embrace this new source of power, diving headlong into corruption themselves. In the present day, correction has no place in the Hells; it's all about torment and suffering.

** ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' calls it "the Realm of Chaos".

* Malfeas in ''[[Exalted]]''...the dumping ground for the Primordials who didn't end up minced. By and large, mortal souls don't end up here; it's not intended for them.

[[Category:Afterlife Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Infernal Settings]]