Hell: Difference between revisions

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[[File:dore-circle3.jpg|link=Divine Comedy|right|[[No Exit|Hell is other people]]. ''Lots'' of other people.]]
[[File:dore-circle3.jpg|link=Divine Comedy|frame|[[No Exit|Hell is other people]]. ''Lots'' of other people.]]




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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|Powers that Be]].
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|Powers that Be]].


Trying to separate the reality of Hell from its [[The Theme Park Version|theme park version]] is a hopeless cause. Not only is the reality of Hell debated, but what's realistic and what's not often depends on who's being asked. Many evangelical Christians believe that Hell is a literal, lake of fire filled with evil spirits. More liberal theologians often take the position that Hell is the willful separation of the soul from the light of God, and that any suffering beyond that is [[Self Inflicted Hell|self-inflicted]]. Perhaps for this reason, many serious stories about Hell that are set in the "[[Plausible Deniability|real world]]" won't even try to directly depict Hell, and rely more on what the characters who've been there have to say about it. Sometimes this [[Offscreen Afterlife|lack of an onscreen Hell]] is explained by saying that seeing it would [[Go Mad From the Revelation|drive a person mad]].
Trying to separate the reality of Hell from its [[The Theme Park Version|theme park version]] is a hopeless cause. Not only is the reality of Hell debated, but what's realistic and what's not often depends on who's being asked. Many evangelical Christians believe that Hell is a literal, lake of fire filled with evil spirits. More liberal theologians often take the position that Hell is the willful separation of the soul from the light of God, and that any suffering beyond that is [[Self-Inflicted Hell|self-inflicted]]. Perhaps for this reason, many serious stories about Hell that are set in the "[[Plausible Deniability|real world]]" won't even try to directly depict Hell, and rely more on what the characters who've been there have to say about it. Sometimes this [[Offscreen Afterlife|lack of an onscreen Hell]] is explained by saying that seeing it would [[Go Mad From the Revelation|drive a person mad]].


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]].
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]].


See [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]], [[Ironic Hell]], [[Bloody Bowels of Hell]], [[Circles of Hell]], [[Hellevator]], [[Self Inflicted Hell]], [[To Hell and Back]], [[Planet Heck]], [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]], [[The Legions of Hell]].
See [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]], [[Ironic Hell]], [[Bloody Bowels of Hell]], [[Circles of Hell]], [[Hellevator]], [[Self-Inflicted Hell]], [[To Hell and Back]], [[Planet Heck]], [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]], [[The Legions of Hell]].


For Hells that [[Subverted Trope|aren't so bad]], see [[A Hell of a Time]]. For gloomy and/or subterranean afterlives that [[Dark Is Not Evil|have nothing to do with wickedness or eternal punishment,]] see [[The Underworld]].
For Hells that [[Subverted Trope|aren't so bad]], see [[A Hell of a Time]]. For gloomy and/or subterranean afterlives that [[Dark Is Not Evil|have nothing to do with wickedness or eternal punishment,]] see [[The Underworld]].
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== Film ==
== Film ==
* ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' features something of a [[Self Inflicted Hell]], as well as a self-created Heaven. After a journey that takes him through various sorts of twisted landscapes, the hero finds his wife, who died from suicide, living as an amnesiac in a ruined, monochrome version of their old house.
* ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' features something of a [[Self-Inflicted Hell]], as well as a self-created Heaven. After a journey that takes him through various sorts of twisted landscapes, the hero finds his wife, who died from suicide, living as an amnesiac in a ruined, monochrome version of their old house.
* Lucio Fulci's ''The Beyond'' has a city overwhelmed by the forces of Hell, and the heroes finding that the only way out is to go right through the [[Hell Gate|hellgate]]. There, they find an endless, mist-shrouded plain of dust littered with fallen bodies, as the narrator repeats an earlier book passage: "and you shall face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored". And then [[Downer Ending|the movie ends]].
* Lucio Fulci's ''The Beyond'' has a city overwhelmed by the forces of Hell, and the heroes finding that the only way out is to go right through the [[Hell Gate|hellgate]]. There, they find an endless, mist-shrouded plain of dust littered with fallen bodies, as the narrator repeats an earlier book passage: "and you shall face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored". And then [[Downer Ending|the movie ends]].
* ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure|Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]]'' has the heroes dying and, due to a mix-up during a seance, ending up in Hell. Disappointed that they were "totally lied to by our album covers" (it appears to be a series of floating rocks over a fiery abyss, with the damned sentenced to perpetual hard labor), they complain to Satan, who casts them into a personal Hell, with each one facing the embodiment of his deepest fear.
* ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure|Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]]'' has the heroes dying and, due to a mix-up during a seance, ending up in Hell. Disappointed that they were "totally lied to by our album covers" (it appears to be a series of floating rocks over a fiery abyss, with the damned sentenced to perpetual hard labor), they complain to Satan, who casts them into a personal Hell, with each one facing the embodiment of his deepest fear.
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* Dan Aykroyd's original idea for ''[[Ghostbusters|Ghostbusters III]]'' was the boys somehow ending up in ''a'' Hell-like dimension, explained as normally being hidden between the "frames" of the real world. He described it as being like New York City... during the worst traffic jam and the worst heat wave imaginable.
* Dan Aykroyd's original idea for ''[[Ghostbusters|Ghostbusters III]]'' was the boys somehow ending up in ''a'' Hell-like dimension, explained as normally being hidden between the "frames" of the real world. He described it as being like New York City... during the worst traffic jam and the worst heat wave imaginable.
* Though we only catch a glimpse of it, ''[[Drag Me to Hell]]'' gives us a brief but horrific sight of what appears to be a [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]].
* Though we only catch a glimpse of it, ''[[Drag Me to Hell]]'' gives us a brief but horrific sight of what appears to be a [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]].
* ''[[Hellbound Hellraiser II]]'' depicts a gothic-looking, otherworldly area of Hell (or, at least, a very Hell-like dimension [[From a Certain Point of View|that promises unimaginable sensations]]) called the Labyrinth, where the people who [[Schmuck Bait|solve a cursed puzzle box]] end up. [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|Escape is possible]], and the first two movies focus more on human villains who've returned to the real world and [[Our Vampires Are Different|need blood]] [[Self Constructed Being|to restore their bodies]] than on [[The Legions of Hell|the cenobites themselves]].
* ''[[Hellbound Hellraiser II]]'' depicts a gothic-looking, otherworldly area of Hell (or, at least, a very Hell-like dimension [[From a Certain Point of View|that promises unimaginable sensations]]) called the Labyrinth, where the people who [[Schmuck Bait|solve a cursed puzzle box]] end up. [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|Escape is possible]], and the first two movies focus more on human villains who've returned to the real world and [[Our Vampires Are Different|need blood]] [[Self-Constructed Being|to restore their bodies]] than on [[The Legions of Hell|the cenobites themselves]].
* In ''[[Event Horizon]]'', the ships first attempt at [[Faster Than Light Travel]] [[Gone Horribly Wrong|goes horribly wrong]], and apparently [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|hyperspace really]] ''[[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|is]]'' [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|a scary place]], because the original crew killed one another in really [[Squick|gruesome]] ways. According to a later character, whose sanity has [[Sanity Slippage|slipped]] a little thanks to the [[Genius Loci]] of the ship, where it went was ''[[Up to Eleven|worse]]'' than hell and that "hell is just a word."
* In ''[[Event Horizon]]'', the ships first attempt at [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]] [[Gone Horribly Wrong|goes horribly wrong]], and apparently [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|hyperspace really]] ''[[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|is]]'' [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|a scary place]], because the original crew killed one another in really [[Squick|gruesome]] ways. According to a later character, whose sanity has [[Sanity Slippage|slipped]] a little thanks to the [[Genius Loci]] of the ship, where it went was ''[[Up to Eleven|worse]]'' than hell and that "hell is just a word."




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* Norse mythology brings us the word Hell from "Hel", the goddess of the dead, though it doesn't exactly have a matching concept; Niflheim, the cold abode of the dead that she ruled, was [[The Nothing After Death]] for everyone except the greatest warriors.
* Norse mythology brings us the word Hell from "Hel", the goddess of the dead, though it doesn't exactly have a matching concept; Niflheim, the cold abode of the dead that she ruled, was [[The Nothing After Death]] for everyone except the greatest warriors.
* In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Eric|Eric]]'', the [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]] is of the typical variety, with lakes of fire, terrible demons, and souls in torment. The thing that the demons hadn't realized, though, is that, lacking physical bodies, the whole lakes of fire and iron maidens business ''doesn't actually hurt'' the victims. The newest demon king attempts to turn the whole thing on its head by instituting new torture in the form of extreme boredom and pointlessness.
* In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Eric|Eric]]'', the [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]] is of the typical variety, with lakes of fire, terrible demons, and souls in torment. The thing that the demons hadn't realized, though, is that, lacking physical bodies, the whole lakes of fire and iron maidens business ''doesn't actually hurt'' the victims. The newest demon king attempts to turn the whole thing on its head by instituting new torture in the form of extreme boredom and pointlessness.
* Buddhist texts call Hell [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.
* 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 (Literature)|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''
* One of the [[Wing Commander (Literature)|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 ''[[I Lucifer|I, Lucifer]]'' one of the few things Lucifer is very vague and evasive on is the exact nature of hell, whether it's a horrific place or actually not so bad. It's very difficult to assess if he's hiding something or just messing with the reader.
* In ''[[I Lucifer|I, Lucifer]]'' one of the few things Lucifer is very vague and evasive on is the exact nature of hell, whether it's a horrific place or actually not so bad. It's very difficult to assess if he's hiding something or just messing with the reader.
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** In fact, ''D&D'' has ''several'' planes of ultimate evil, collectively known as the Lower Planes. From [[Lawful Evil]] through [[Neutral Evil]] and to [[Chaotic Evil]], they are: the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, the Nine Hells of Baator (or just "Hell"), the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, the Gray Waste of Hades, the Tarterian Depths of Carceri (aka "Tartarus"), the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, and the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium.
** In fact, ''D&D'' has ''several'' planes of ultimate evil, collectively known as the Lower Planes. From [[Lawful Evil]] through [[Neutral Evil]] and to [[Chaotic Evil]], they are: the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, the Nine Hells of Baator (or just "Hell"), the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, the Gray Waste of Hades, the Tarterian Depths of Carceri (aka "Tartarus"), the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, and the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium.
* The [[New World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|New World of Darkness]] sourcebook "Inferno" details Hell, which in this setting appears to be a personification of human evil, and grants the opportunity for unpleasant spirits, the ghosts of evil people, and goetic demons, escaped [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Anthropomorphic Personifications]] of dark human urges, to become corrupting [[The Heartless|Dominions]]. Just ''looking'' at it can damage your [[Karma Meter]] - it's not an evil act, but you are looking at the heart of all sin in this or any reality, and it's nearly impossible for it not to erode your moral standards.
* The [[New World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|New World of Darkness]] sourcebook "Inferno" details Hell, which in this setting appears to be a personification of human evil, and grants the opportunity for unpleasant spirits, the ghosts of evil people, and goetic demons, escaped [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Anthropomorphic Personifications]] of dark human urges, to become corrupting [[The Heartless|Dominions]]. Just ''looking'' at it can damage your [[Karma Meter]] - it's not an evil act, but you are looking at the heart of all sin in this or any reality, and it's nearly impossible for it not to erode your moral standards.
** The [[Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|Supernal Realm]] of Pandemonium is generally hellish, albeit of the [[Self Inflicted Hell|self inflicted]] variety, the rationale being that when faced with a place of pure thought, people will generally force themselves to confront their worst aspects.
** The [[Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|Supernal Realm]] of Pandemonium is generally hellish, albeit of the [[Self-Inflicted Hell|self inflicted]] variety, the rationale being that when faced with a place of pure thought, people will generally force themselves to confront their worst aspects.
* In the [[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]], there was the Abyss from [[Demon: The Fallen (Tabletop Game)|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]].
* In the [[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]], there was the Abyss from [[Demon: The Fallen (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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.
** The oWoD also had the Thousand Hells from ''[[Kindred of the East (Tabletop Game)|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 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 40000]]'' calls it "the Warp".
* ''[[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 40000]]'' calls it "the Warp".
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== Real Life ==
== Real Life ==
* The urban legend "[http://www.snopes.com/religion/wellhell.asp Well to Hell]", documented on Snopes, tells the story a Russian geological team whose equipment [[Dug Too Deep|accidentally drilled all the way into a subterranean Hell]], revealing a scorching darkness filled with the screams of the damned. While there's a slight element of truth, in that a Russian geological team did discover something interesting during a dig, that something apparently wasn't the underworld.
* The urban legend "[http://www.snopes.com/religion/wellhell.asp Well to Hell]", documented on Snopes, tells the story a Russian geological team whose equipment [[Dug Too Deep|accidentally drilled all the way into a subterranean Hell]], revealing a scorching darkness filled with the screams of the damned. While there's a slight element of truth, in that a Russian geological team did discover something interesting during a dig, that something apparently wasn't the underworld.
** What they did was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole drill a hole] as far as possible into the earth's crust, before it became too difficult due to the heat. They found interesting geological anomalies, but no [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]].
** What they did was [[wikipedia:Kola Superdeep Borehole|drill a hole]] as far as possible into the earth's crust, before it became too difficult due to the heat. They found interesting geological anomalies, but no [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]].
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway Hell].
* [[wikipedia:Hell, Norway|Hell]].
** There are a couple of other places named "Hell" in real life:
** There are a couple of other places named "Hell" in real life:
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Grand_Cayman one in the Caymen Islands]
*** [[wikipedia:Hell, Grand Cayman|one in the Caymen Islands]]
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan one in Michigan]
*** [[wikipedia:Hell, Michigan|one in Michigan]]
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_California one in California]
*** [[wikipedia:Hell, California|one in California]]
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Arizona several places with the word "Hell" in their names in Arizona]
*** [[wikipedia:Hell, Arizona|several places with the word "Hell" in their names in Arizona]]
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_for_Certain,_Kentucky How about Hell for Certain, Kentucky] [[False Reassurance|I wonder?]]
*** [[wikipedia:Hell for Certain, Kentucky|How about Hell for Certain, Kentucky]] [[False Reassurance|I wonder?]]
* Hell's Kitchen, Manhatten, named because of the high violence and crime rates which, until the 1990's, were found there.
* Hell's Kitchen, Manhatten, named because of the high violence and crime rates which, until the 1990's, were found there.


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[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Hell]]
[[Category:Hell]]
[[Category:Trope]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Hell"