| HELL | ATLAS |
| Created by the Presence in the Beginning |
INFORMATION
Official Name: Hell
Aliases: Hades, Hela, or Hiyoyoa
Dominant Lifeform: Demons
Capital City: Dis
Prominent Inhabitants: Remiel, Duma, Beelzebub, Azazel, Belial, Neron, Etrigan
First Appearance: Hell was created by the Presence in the Beginning.
(modern DCU): Swamp Thing Annual Vol. 2 #2 (1985): "Down Amongst the Dead Men"
Creators: the Presence in the Beginning
OVERVIEW
The realm of Hell is both a place and a state of mind. It is within you all the time, wherever you go, no matter how pure your heart is or how good your intentions are. Although every human being knows what Hell is, its meaning differs in endless ways. In other cultures, it has been known as Hades, Hela, or Hiyoyoa. Each religion, each era, each culture has its own view of Hell. And, quoting the Phantom Stranger: "Within each Hell are many other Hells, as varied as the sins that built them. Between Dante's Inferno and Sartre's Stark room lies an immense expanse, as yet unexplored. For as soon as human thought conceives a new version of Hell, that Hell exists."
But even though Hell is a relative creation, a creation of mind and fear and faith, some of its incarnations are more persistent than others. If enough people believe Hell is a burning pit oozing of sulphur, that's what it is. It is true that Hell, the many and the one, is different to each and everyone who experiences it. But it is equally true that Hell was created at the dawn of time as Heaven's shadow, or rather, Heaven's dark reflection, created to harbor those stained souls who do not deserve eternal salvation.
The origin of evil in cosmos has never been fully explored. One explanation points at the forbidden experiments conducted by the Maltusian scientist Krona at the dawn of time, although this is clearly a more "scientific" version of many mythological legends like that of Pandora's Box. Some people claim that good and evil define each other, that one cannot exist without the opposite. Whatever the case, Hell, forever marked by sin, doubt, and regret, is the most extreme incarnation of evil ever seen.
The idea of an infernal realm is not confined to Earth beings. On the contrary, almost every civilization in the known universe has some version of it as part of their perception of the afterlife. The planet Thanagar, for example, has seven official religions, therefore seven Gods, seven Hells, and seven Devils. The ancient beings known as the Quantum Mechanics, on the other hand, had no perception of afterlife at all, and therefore Hell was not an option for them. The Dominators do not have a hell, though it is said they are sent to the afterlives of their many victims, the number of which far surpass the Dominator population.
HISTORY
Before even Lucifer or any fallen angels came to Hell, the being known as the First of the Fallen was its ruler. Originally created as a companion for God, the First opposed the Creator's idea to create a race with instinct and free will. The Almighty then cast the First from Heaven to Hell, where he became the sole inhabitant and ruler.
However, when Lucifer and his minions later plunged down to Hell, the First found himself deposed from the throne. Originally named Samael, Lucifer (also known as the Morningstar or Lightbringer) is the demon most well known in mortal realms. Samael was the first angel to rebel against the Creator, and the first to fall to Hell. Though being the most powerful of demons, he rarely ventured from his throne in Dis. His reign in Hell dating back almost to the Creation itself, Lucifer was the undisputed Lord of Evil for ages.
At the end of a course of events known as "American Gothic", a force called the Original Darkness arose and merged with the Divine. This resulted in a civil war in Hell, something that ultimately made Lucifer allow it to be ruled by a Triumvirate of Hell consisting of himself, Beelzebub, and Azazel (and on occasion, Belial). This Triumvirate, though, was mostly a formality and Lucifer was still more or less Hell's sole ruler.
However, after all this time, Lucifer had gone weary of his rulership. Not too long ago, he actually abdicated and evacuated Hell, giving the Key to Hell to Dream of the Endless. Dream was not sure what to do with the Key to Hell, and after having negotiated with many interested parties, he gave it to the angels Remiel and Duma, who now rule Hell as the Creator's agents in charge. Azazel, who wanted to rule Hell himself, unwisely tried to take the Key from Dream by force, and is currently imprisoned in the Sandman's collection of artifacts in the Dreaming.
Shortly before Lucifer's abdication and the subsequent fall of the Triumvirate the demon known as Etrigan tried to take control of Hell. There was struggle for power involving Etrigan, Belial, Asteroth and Morax, Bull-Beast of Stygia which almost ended with Etrigan declaring himself King of Hell by securing the Legendary Crown of Horns which brings it bearer almost infinite infernal power. That time, Etrigan was stopped by Merlin and his own human persona, Jason Blood. (The Crown of Horns first appeared in Demon Vol. 3 #7 January 1991.)
With the Triumvirate fallen Beelzebub changed his bug form into a humanoid body, and made a failed attempt to climb back to Heaven and destroy all mankind, involving himself in a clash with Kid Eternity in the process.
As the current coordinators of Hell Remiel and Duma have returned the realm to its former status. They have made it clear that the punishment of the damned is now solely for redemption. However, the damned don't seem to have noticed any difference.
Even though Hell is now under Heaven's control, there are other major demons who have proclaimed themselves its rulers. Though Remiel and Duma consider them deluded, some of these demons have obtained a lot of might and power, and their claims sometimes seem justified as they conduct a lot of infernal affairs behind the backs of the Hell's Angels and many of the current demons still wait for Lucifer's return and for Hell to once more spit its defiance at Heaven.
A few years ago, one of the oldest demons returned from oblivion and climbed the demonic ranks. His name was Neron, the Prince of Lies, and he soon established himself as the greatest power of Hell and its number one trader in souls. Neron has involved himself a lot with the super-human community, among other activities having boosted the power of numerous super-villains in exchange for their souls. -Underworld Unleashed #1
Another attempt to raise Hell on Earth was made when the creature called the Carnivore, voluntary outcast of Heaven and ruler of the Between City, briefly took over the power of the Presence and recreated the world in his own image with the help of the Earth-born angels and hordes of demons. Carnivore was defeated by Earth angels Supergirl, Blithe and Comet, and his new world order was nullified by the Presence. (Carnivore's agenda was first hinted in Supergirl Vol. 3 #19)
Shortly afterwards, Etrigan once again tried to take over Hell by allying himself with the evil angel Asmodel, binding the latter to the all-powerful force of the Spectre. After defeating Neron and freezing Hell all over, Asmodel proclaimed himself its ruler, breaking all Hell, its demons and damned souls, loose on Earth. This plan, commonly known as "the Day of Judgment", was thwarted by the combined efforts of Earth's heroes, and Asmodel was defeated. Neron attempted to claim the Spectre-Force for himself, but the Spectre instead chose Hal Jordan as its new human host. Neron was sent back to Hell, and since he had broken Hell's rules by using its power for his own pleasure, he was demoted from a Prince to a Rhymer by his fellow demons. Furiously, Neron realized that this had been Etrigan's plan all along. Asmodel, on the other hand, was imprisoned in Heaven since Hell had not been able to hold him. Such a thing has never happened before, and this may have consequences nobody has been able to understand yet. -Day of Judgment #1
Later, the mafia-like fraction of Hell called the Diablos allied themselves with the Egyptian sorcerer Hermes Trismegistus (in the body of Felix Faust) in trying to create a permanent gateway between Hell and Earth, thus ending the reign and existence of humanity forever. The plan was thwarted by the JLA, Blue Devil, and the soulless sorcerer Faust. -JLA: Black Baptism #1
DENIZENS OF HELL
The Damned
Awaiting the soul who has been damned to Hell are an infinite number of punishments that even Hieronymus Bosch himself would not have been able to imagine: being barbecued over open fire and eaten while still conscious, having to crawl for centuries in a sea of leeches, being force-fed hot lead in every body opening, demons playing soccer with your head...and that is just the beginning. Some punishments are even impossible to phrase. Often, it seems that the punishment is connected to the sins you have committed in your life, i.e. a man or woman guilty of gluttony gets overfed, the victim of lust gets sexually abused, and so on. At other times the punishment seems randomly chosen only for the reason to hurt the damned soul as much as possible in every thinkable way.
There have been questions as for why God would permit such a place of evil in his divine creation, and the answer always comes down to "free will". Formerly, it was generally believed that evil and sin was what made a soul go to Hell. Others reasoned that the lack of knowledge of, fear of, and commitment to God damned a soul eternally. These days, a favored explanation is that the souls who go to Hell do that because they, deep down, believe they have sinned so much that they deserve to be punished through eternity. They are stuck because they want to. Hence, there must be a Hell so that those souls stained with sin can punish, and hopefully redeem, themselves.
This theory suggests that any soul would be able to leave Hell if he/she realized that he/she has damned him/herself to suffering and was willing to redeem him/herself. However, such self-insight is rare, and fleeing Hell without redemption is not allowed. (In the past, the Heavenly Wrath known as the Spectre has been known to guard the border between Heaven and Hell, but he seems to have been discharged from that mission.) Of course, there are a few souls who have been able to escape Hell in other ways, among them Abigail Arcane (unjustly damned, saved by the Swamp Thing), Nada (saved by the Sandman), Asmodel (fleeing by force), Astra Logue (negotiated out by John Constantine), Kid Eternity (sneaking out), and Doctor Light (by dealing with a minor demon). The interstellar bounty-hunter Lobo was considered too wicked for both Heaven and Hell (or so he was led to believe) and was hence returned to life.
Others have been able to visit Hell without being forced to stay, like the Spectre, Dream, Tim Hunter, and the Phantom Stranger. An odd feat was made by the British brujo John Constantine. Formerly stained with sin and demon blood, he succeeded in sending the nasty bits of his soul to Hell, while his better part remains alive. However, the purpose of the damnation is, at the end, redemption. One of the few souls known to have actually redeemed themselves is Anton Arcane, an evil sorcerer who saw the light after years of torment in Hell, and was able to leave.
Demons
See Demons
ASPECTS OF HELL / DOMAINS IN HELL
Though Hell mostly seen appear to descend from a Judeo-Islamic-Christian tradition (which most of the above described beings are part of), other cultural aspects of the Netherworld are sometimes acknowledged, and they have completely different masters. In the Hades of ancient Greek mythology, the Olympian Gods of death known as Hades and Persephone are rulers. Hades' Roman counterpart is known as Pluto. In Norse mythology, Loki's daughter Hel manages the realm of Hela, and in ancient Egyptian religion, the god Osiris was the Judge of the Underworld. Nekron's realm of the Unliving may be still another aspect of Hell, but Nekron himself seems to be more more of an servant of Death, than a true demon.
In a realm built on faith, so many truths are possible.
COMMENTS
Not fully wikified - Hell