I didn’t think I needed to see an adult animated series made solely around the concept of Hell and Heaven, but Hazbin Hotel has changed my mind. In this trippy and weird animated musical about the politics of damnation and redemption, one can feel like the makers have taken inspiration from old cartoons and infused some dark themes that we generally reserve for gritty dramas. There is a witty story drawn from Adam and Eve describing how Hell was formed, and soon we are plunged into Hell, the origin of all monstrosity, but Heaven has its part to play in it as well. The cheeky and blasphemous nature of the series makes it a risky adventure, but there are some interesting characters in the show that are skillfully explored within this microcosm.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did The Hazbin Hotel Come Into Existence?
Charlie Morningstar, the daughter of Lucifer, was left with a storybook that she read out loud whenever she couldn’t stand to see Hell getting destroyed by Heavenly angels anymore. The book outlined how Hell came into being and how Lucifer and his wife Lillith had a great idea with regard to a place where people could have the magic of free will to live their lives how they wanted. Lucifer tried to give free will to Eve, and this was seen as disobedience. It caused a lot of problems, and they were thrown into dark places meant to be populated with those who did wicked deeds, the sinners, and the evil folks. But the strength of Hell grew exponentially, and Heaven was threatened by it. They made a decision to send an army down once every year to finish off the demons in Hell in an event known as ‘the extermination’. Lilith, before going AWOL, had an idea to make a safe place for damned souls who wanted to try their hand at salvation and find an official route to entering Heaven, away from the hurly-burly of Hell. Thus, the Hazbin Hotel came into existence, and Charlie, who had not seen Lillith in seven years, had the task of convincing Hell-dwellers to come live in the hotel and try and be at peace, learning the ways of Heaven. Charlie, being the princess of Hell, would go up and talk to Heaven representatives for the smooth transfer of suitable candidates who were about to be rehabilitated from the Hazbin Hotel to Heaven.
Why Did Heaven Change The Annual Extermination Into A Semi-Annual One?
On one hand, Charlie was trying hard to create an advertisement to lure others to the Hazbin Hotel, and on the other hand, Heaven was planning something to crush her spirit. The responsibility to make a fantastic advertisement was given to a powerful overlord named Alastor, who was once a radio star. He didn’t quite get the assignment and made something that was more likely to repel everyone from the Hazbin Hotel. Charlie lived with Vaggie, and there was just one resident in the hotel so far, an adult movie star named Angel Dust. There was a grumpy old bartender, Husk, and Vaggie’s bug-hunting daughter, Niffty. None of them had any clue how to create an ad campaign to market their hotel. Charlie left all the others to meet with the angel army’s representative from Heaven’s embassy, an angel named Adam. She pleaded, but Adam didn’t budge, and there was a reason for it. In the previous extermination, an angel had been killed, which had never before happened in the history of Heaven and Hell. Adam not only declined to look into Charlie’s plan of rehabilitating Hell-dwellers but also shortened the time period before the next extermination attack, which meant more and more souls were going to vanish until Hell’s population came under control. He had plans to keep an eye on the Hazbin Hotel, and hence he sent a spy, a snake named Sir Pentious.
How Did Angel And Husk Become Friends?
Sir Pentious had once tried to take over a city in Hell, and now he had come to stay in the Hazbin Hotel, under the pretense to rehabilitate himself. It was only because of Charlie’s big heart that he was let in by Vaggie. He was caught too soon, and he learned his lesson that Adam wasn’t on his side once he was caught. Sir Pentious thought Charlie and the others would kill him, but they didn’t, and this was the beginning of his change of heart. So there was scope to change someone for the better. Everybody in Hell was there for a reason. Perhaps somebody couldn’t control their lust – like Angel Dust. Then there was the issue of a lack of trust – like in almost everyone in Hell. So Charlie planned to play some games that could increase trust among everyone and perhaps make one reflect on their life choices so they could change. Angel made a breakthrough as he dropped his act of always pretending like his hormones were always raging, and befriended Husk, who was the only one who saw past his persona and did something about it. They were not fond of each other earlier, but soon they became the best of friends.
Who Killed The Angel?
Alastor was part of a group of overlords who were concerned about Hell’s functioning given that the extermination was now going to happen twice in a year. He had been away for seven years and had returned. He had shown how he could control Hell’s media, beating TV stars at their game. He heard about the meeting of overlords and went to join at the last moment, meeting Zestial on the way. Zestial was a close friend of Carmilla, the head of the overlords. They had to discuss the strategy to prepare for the next extermination, but they were told about the severed head of the angel, which had made Adam mad earlier. The idea was that if angels could be killed, the overlords had to prepare to overthrow Adam and the Angel’s army rather than trying to find a hiding spot. Zestial was of the opinion that unless it was known how the angel was killed, implying finding out who killed him, going against the angel army would be a mistake. Frank, one of Sir Pentious’ Eggs (children), was present at the meeting as it had followed Alastor. When everyone left, Carmilla revealed to Zestial that the angel had attacked her kids and she had to kill him, even though she didn’t want to. She didn’t want anyone to know about it, as Hell could blame her for the semi-annual extermination, but Alastor now knew the secret. Perhaps he now wants to seize the opportunity to overthrow Carmilla and be the head of the overlords.
