Every night the foulest creatures imaginable hound me from one end of the inferno to the other! I ride through fire and blades and swamps of rotting flesh, I immerse myself in caverns filled with blood like veins-but I can't shake them off! And every night they tear me to shreds! 
Not to be confused with Hel, Hell is an extra-dimensional realm which acts as afterlife for the Abrahamic religions. It's where evil souls are sent and are subjected to punitive suffering, often torture as eternal punishment. It is home to various beings known as Demons and Fallen Angels. There are various Hell dimensions; whether they are separate from each other or different areas of a much larger dimensional plane has not been clearly explained, nor can be confirmed due to the deceitful nature of the realm(s)' various rulers.
History
Rulers[]
Many beings claim to be the ruler of Hell. These beings have all been referred to as Hell-Lords and have often worked with, or against each other and have referred to themselves and/or posed as the Biblical Satan at one point or another. These rulers have included:
At the location in Hell known as the Devil's Advocacy, the throne of the biblical Satan sits unoccupied, with the various Hell-Lords being unwilling to claim it for themselves lest it spark a war between them.[10] However, a ritual called the Descent can be enacted to determine which of the Hell-Lords will ascend to sit on Satan's throne and become the supreme ruler of all the Hells.[11]
Most of the Hell-Lords preside over their own personal Hell Dimensions - most prominently the one ruled over by Mephisto - and often claim that their realms are the biblical Hell as a form of propaganda. However, the Hell-Lords are bound by a pact to keep their realms seperate, though some - such as Lilith - harbor the ambition of merging the Hells together into a single realm ruled over by one king and/or queen.[12]
Hell is many things, among them a mirror of the collective unconscious.[13]
20th Century[]
One of the most active demons claiming to be Satan during the 20th Century was the demon that empowered the Black Widow in 1928. This Satan had the Black Widow bring him the souls of the wicked and those who violated deals that he had made of them. The first of these was criminal Lester Maddox, who killed the Black Widow's sister Debbie.[14] Accounts of other souls that the Black Widow has brought to this hell-realm included James Wagler,[15] Garvey Lang,[16] and war profiteers Lewis and Sykes.[17] The Black Widow was also sent to Germany during World War II to collect the souls of Nazi soldiers due to the fact that their leader Adolf Hitler had apparently violated some pact that he had made with the Black Widow's master.[18]
One region of Hell was briefly run like an Earth-style business in 1942. Dubbed "Hades Inc." it was run by a demon calling himself Lucifer Satan (or L.S. for short). They claimed to have been responsible for Hitler's rise to power. They also sent one of their agents to the town of Arbor City in the United States and as local celebrity Victor Risling, entered into politics in order to spread his message of hate and prejudice. Risling was defeated and exposed by the other-dimensional Vision.[19] In 1943, a demon calling himself Satan and his mistress claimed that they were involved in Hitler's rise to power. Unimpressed with the progress Hitler was making during the war they decided to replace him with Attila the Hun. This plot was foiled by the Destroyer.[20]
Following his death, a Red Skull impersonator found his soul in an unspecified Hell Realm ruled by the Master Judge of the Lower Depths, calling himself "Satan". He tricked this Satan to pull the soul of Captain America to Hell. There both men battled for their freedom, with Captain America ultimately winning his freedom by defeating the Red Skull.[21]Points of Interest
The realm is broken down into nine Sections or "Circles", They were described by Dante Alighieri in his book the "Inferno" during his journey to the depths of Hell.
- Limbo: the First Circle of Hell is a nether realm or void of in which souls go before they are judged to go to Heaven or Hell. The Gateway to Hell can be found here. Once through the gate the soul is ferried along the Styx River by the ferryman Charon to the second circle to be judged.[22]
- Second Circle of Hell is home to the lustful and King Minos who judges the soul and decides what level they will reside for all eternity.[22]
- Third Circle of Hell is home to the gluttonous and guarded by the hellhound; Cerberus.[22]
- Fourth Circle of Hell is home to the souls of the greedy.[22]
- Fifth Circle of Hell is home to the swamp of Wrath.[22]
- Sixth Circle of Hell is home to the Heretics and the fiery city of Dis, home to hordes of Demons.[22]
- Seventh Circle of Hell is home to murderers and those souls who committed violence.[22]
- Eighth Circle of Hell is distinguished from its predecessors by being made up of those who consciously and willingly commit fraud.[22]
- Ninth Circle of Hell is home to the treacherous and is the place in which Satan resides.[22]
Some invocations and mentions present Hell as having only seven circles.[23][24][25] Another invocation mention the "ten unholy levels of Hell".[26]
In Hyboria, invocations mentioned seven[27][28] or nine Hells.[29] Conan once shouted about "seven Hyborian Hells".[30] One demon was known as Azthamur of the Hundred Hells.[31] Another invocation mentions the "Nine Seas of Hell".[32]
In Earth-85133, there's at least nine circles, with Belathauzer as the arch-lord of the Ninth Circle.[33]
Alternate Realities[]
Earth-199999[]
Ghost Rider returning from Hell
On Earth-199999, the Darkforce Dimension has been sometimes referred to as Hell.[34]
After learning his uncle Eli Morrow had succeeded in getting his powers by channeling the quantum energy from the Dark Dimension, the Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes helped S.H.I.E.L.D. to kill him along with his crew, but in the process Reyes ended up trapped in Hell. When Aida used the power of the Darkhold to create a human body for herself in the Earthly plane, a tear ruptured in Hell and Ghost Rider finally escaped. He eventually found his way back to Earth, just in time to kill Aida using his Hellfire Chain. He then opened a portal back to the Hell Dimension taking the Darkhold with him.[35][36]Residents
Notes
- Not to be confused with Hel.
See Also
- 208 appearance(s) of Hell
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Hell
- 29 minor appearance(s) of Hell
- 1534 mention(s) of Hell
- 11 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Hell
- 3928 invocation(s) of Hell
- 13 image(s) of Hell
- 34 article(s) related to Hell
- 216 citizen(s) of Hell
Links and References
References
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #13
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 4) #27
- ↑ WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Modern Age #1
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #2
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 5) #6
- ↑ Gambit (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #93
- ↑ Conan #2
- ↑ Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider #1
- ↑ Journey Into Mystery #627
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 2) #41–42
- ↑ Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons #1
- ↑ Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #11
- ↑ Twelve #8
- ↑ Mystic Comics #4
- ↑ Mystic Comics #5
- ↑ Mystic Comics #7
- ↑ Twelve: Spearhead #1
- ↑ Marvel Mystery Comics #27
- ↑ All Winners Comics #8
- ↑ Captain America's Weird Tales #74
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 X-Men Annual #4
- ↑ Son of Satan #7
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #76
- ↑ Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #4–5
- ↑ Son of Satan #6
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #1
- ↑ Conan Death Covered in Gold #3
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #52
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #46
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #51
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #79 ; Island of Pirates' Doom Part VI
- ↑ Dead of Night Featuring Devil-Slayer #4
- ↑ 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' EPs on That Eventful Midseason Finale and What Comes Next
- ↑ Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 8
- ↑ Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 22