Hazbin Hotel

Let's begin...

Hazbin Hotel is a black comedy musical cartoon made by Vivienne Medrano or VivziePop. It is about Charlie Morningstar, the daughter of Lucifer who makes a hotel that rehabilitates sinners. After the pilot on YouTube was successful, it got picked up as an A24 show. It is set in the same universe as Helluva Boss, though with different characters.

The pilot was released on YouTube in 2019, while the show's first season premiered on Amazon Prime on January 18th 2024.

Tropes used in Hazbin Hotel include:

• Abusive Precursors: Adam identifies himself as the father of all humanity. Yet he's shown to be eager to exterminate the people of hell.
• Abhorrent Admirer:
  • Travis seems to be this to Angel, he is seen kicking him in the "ADDICT" music video.
  • Angel started out like this to Husk. Subverted as he goes through Character Development, Husk starts to reciprocate his feelings.
• Adaptational Heroism: While the Bible does not explicitly state how Lucifer fell, the general consensus is that he grew too prideful and wanted to be seen as God's equal. This Lucifer is shown as an idealistic dreamer and a Well-Intentioned Extremist at his worst, cast out because he didn't buy into "The Evils of Free Will". He's also not a Manipulative Bastard who tempts Adam and Eve's children but someone who deeply regrets what he did.
• Adaptational Villainy: Adam in the Bible was said to be a benevolent father of humanity, the worst being some mild misogyny due to Values Dissonance. Here he's shown to be a Politically-Incorrect Villain who embodies the worst of toxic masculinity. Though this may be subverted as people debate whether Adam was always like this or was corrupted by thinking his ascension into Heaven meant he could do whatever he wanted.
• Aerith and Bob: You got names like: Charlie, Katie, and Adam but then there's also Vox (real name: Vincent), Alastor, and Zestial.
• All-Powerful Bystander: Lucifer during the Exterminations. The rulers of Heaven bought his non-interference on the promise that they'd leave the hell-born alone with his depression meaning that he wasn't motivated to do much more. Though when Adam breaks the deal and threatens Charlie, Lucifer goes full Papa Wolf and dishes out a Curb Stomp Battle to Adam's fragile ego.
• Always Someone Better: Adam was shown to be unstoppable throughout the first season, his Unskilled but Strong approach proving superior to Alastor's Weak but Skilled. The instant he breaks his Deal with the Devil, Lucifer shows up and proves Adam's better in every way.
• Ambiguous Situation: How does one get into Heaven? As "Welcome to Heaven" shows, not even the Angels know. It just appears that there's an Easy Road to Hell. Though ascending from Hell to Heaven appears to be atoning for My Greatest Failure.
• Ambiguously Human: It's unclear if the Exorcists were once human or created as angels to carry out the task. Some comments by VivziePop that suggest Vaggie was once human imply it's the former.
• Animal Motifs:
  • Heaven and the angels have a lot of bird motifs:
    • Ducks for Lucifer. He loves making rubber ducks and what's implied to be his true form is shown as swan-like, drawing a comparison to The Ugly Duckling, emphasizing his nature as an outsider and non-conformist in Heaven.
    • The Exorcists have something of a vulture flair with their dark wings, emphasizing their nature as predators who prey on those too weak to fight back.
  • Deers for Alastor. His design has several deer aspects (most keenly his antlers) but it also serves to emphasize that he's a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond. A deer is a regal animal but ultimately not a very dangerous one when push comes to shove.
  • Vox has a lot of shark aspects, even owning some as pets, emphasizing his bloodthirsty nature.
  • Valentino's design has a lot of insect flairs, specifically moths, a creature that thrives in dark places but is drawn to light, just as Valentino exists behind the scenes but is drawn to the glitz and glamour of showbiz.
  • Carmilla has a few bat motifs, her Anime Hair looking like bat ears and she often looks down on everything, like a bat hiding in the rafters.
• Ascended Demon: Charlie's goal. To redeem sinners so they can ascend to Heaven. Sir Pentious manages to achieve it in the first season finale.
• Ascended Extra: The Vees go from part of the Big Bad Ensemble in Season 1 to the Big Bads of Season 2.
• Badass Princess: Charlie being the Princess of Hell, is able to fight and defend herself, putting up against Adam.
• Bait and Switch Comment: An audience member said "Wow!... That was shit" to Charlie after she finished singing "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow".
• Bi the Way: Charlie is bisexual.
• Bullying a Dragon:
  • Vox makes fun of Alastor in "Stayed Gone", completely aware how powerful he is and that he almost beat him once. He keeps this up in Season 2 but it's shown that while Alastor may have his head on straighter, Vox is no push over.
  • Mind you, Alastor does this just as much, constantly belittling Vaggie (an angel immune to anything Alastor could do to her who could dish out a Cessation of Existence to him in a moment), Lucifer (literally one of the most powerful beings in creation) and thinks himself on Adam's level (he very quickly learns he's nowhere close).
  • Averted with Valentino in "Masquerade". As much as Val hates Charlie, he knows full well that he can do nothing against her. So he abuses Angel in her stead.
• Can't Take Criticism: Alastor really can't. He Rage Quits the hotel in "It's a Deal" because Lucifer points out that Vaggie is better at being the hotel's host, the job that Alastor didn't even want to do, and chides him for not using a coaster.
• Captain Obvious: When the angels fly down to the Hazbin Hotel to exterminate Charlie and her friends, Alastor creates a shield to stop them. Lute informs Adam about this, and he responds with "Oh, really? I didn't see this giant fucking shield in front of me! You dumb bitch!"
• Card-Carrying Villain: Alastor. "It's a Deal" reveals he knew he was going to hell and was only concerned with making sure he was a big(ish) fish when he arrived.
• Daddy Didn't Show: Lucifer was never close with Charlie and they haven't seen each other in years, but he finally visits her again in "Dad Beat Dad".
• Daddy's Girl: Charlie and Lucifer have a very close bond, while Lilith is mostly left out.
• Dark Reprise:
  • Alastor has his own reprise of "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow".
  • The song 'Addict' is already pretty dark, but Angel sings a more somber variation at the end.
  • "It's a Deal" has Vox reprise Rosie's "Don't You Forget" from earlier in the episode while calling back to his own "Once We Get Up There" and "Stayed Gone" in a "The Villain Sucks" Song towards Alastor.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Charlie made one with Alastor for information on how to kill angels, promising him some manner of favour. Though at the end, Alastor implies he'd made a deal with an entity more powerful than him. "It's a Deal" reveals that someone is Rosie. Alastor later calls on Charlie's favour to break his deal with Rosie in "Curtain Call".
  • The Rulers of Heaven entered into a literal one. They ensured that Lucifer would not take a stand against the exterminations on the promise that they would leave the hell-born alone. When Adam breaks that rule by attacking Charlie, Lucifer shows up to dish out a Curb Stomp Battle.
• Devil but No God: Lucifer exists but there's no mention of God, it seeming to be Lucifer's fellow angels who run Heaven, and even the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael aren't present. Season 2 introduces the Speaker of God suggesting that God does exist but Vivienne Medrano says He will never be shown.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • "Stayed Gone" is Vox mocking that no one cares about Alastor returning and how no one even noticed his absence. Expect no one did care or notice Alastor was gone. When Vox runs his hit piece, all it does is make his viewers interested in where Alastor's been.
  • "Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors" can best be described as Charlie having a death grip on this trope. As everyone keeps saying, Charlie has no idea how Pentious was redeemed or has any proof beyond Emily saying so yet she starts to publicize this fact. For all his flaws in the episode, Vox is absolutely right that the people of Hell will need some proof of this fact.
  • "It's a Deal" establishes that Alastor is such a powerful Sinner because he made a deal with Rosie to become such. He didn't account for the fact that there are entities more powerful than Sinners or that Rosie couldn't grant him more power than she already had.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Heaven's lack of tolerance for any deviance that led to the Sinners being in hell has more than a few shades of Evangelical Christians' intolerance for LGBT+ people. Adam and Lute even demean Charlie and Vaggie's relationship (even if Adam finds it hot).
  • Vox's rise to power in Season 2 is clearly patterned after fascist movements that exploit people's legitimate anger but are clearly only meant to serve those at the top instead of actually helping people.
• The Dragon: Lute to Adam. She presumes she'll become a Dragon Ascendant when Adam is killed but they gave the job to Adam's son, Abel.
• Driven to Suicide: "Scream Rain" implies that this was Vox's end goal for Charlie in his plans for his takeover of Hell.
• Easy Road to Hell: Very easy. "Storyteller" implies that it's due to "My Greatest Failure" eating away at a soul, with Pentious' redemption being him atoning for that.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being genocidal sadists, Adam and Lute have a genuine friendship. The latter is horrified by the former's death and the former smiles at the latter before finally passing away.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Sera is noticeably disgusted by Adam's For the Evulz attitude towards the Exterminations, viewing them as Necessarily Evil. She also frowns at his Kick the Dog attitudes towards Charlie and Vaggie.
  • When Adam is rousing his angel army, he's being his crass self. However when he mentions Vaggie, Lute yells at them to 'rip Vaggie's c*** mouth out of her ass.' Adam, weirded out, tells her to chill.
• Everyone Has Standards: The people of Heaven didn't think much of what goes on in Hell. But when they learn that Adam is annually condemning people to a Cessation of Existence for his own sick amusement, they're horrified.
• Evil Luddite: Alastor disdains any technology that debuted after the 1930s and is a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk who only wants to be free to continue killing.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: While both those in Heaven and Hell have non-human appearances, the Sinners have sharper angles and more predatory features. When Sir Pentious ascends, his new appearance has much softer angles.
• Exact Words: Alastor made a deal with Rosie to become the most powerful Sinner in Hell. This makes him, at best a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond. He's nowhere near as powerful as the Angels and others Sinners can become powerful enough to put him on the back foot. To get out his deal, Alastor has Charlie name Vox as the most powerful Sinner in Hell and gets out of his deal with Vox by banking that Vox is such a creep that he will literally lay hands on Charlie.
• Eye Scream: Lute ripped out Vaggie's eye after the latter was exiled from Heaven.
• Fantastic Racism: Adam, Lute, and most of the exorcists utterly despise demons and view them as a plague to be eradicated, which is why the yearly exterminations happen.
• Foil: Season 2 reveals that both Alastor and Vox were It's All About Me power-hungry Serial Killers while alive. But Alastor wanted to live in infamy while Vox wanted the spotlight. Alastor's ultimate ambition is just to be the mightiest Sinner while Vox wants to become a god.
• For the Evulz:
  • Why Alastor is sticking around the Hotel. He doesn't think the idea has any chance of success, he just wants to see people get their hopes up and fail.
  • Adam and Lute's main reason for yearly genocide of sinners? They enjoy it.
• Formerly Fit: Implied. Adam is shown to be a Villainous Glutton, much larger than the other Exorcists and Lucifer comments that he's let himself go.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Vox is a wannabe god who nearly destroyed Heaven by Season 2. He was began as a weatherman who couldn't stand that he wasn't the centre of attention.
• Genre Refugee: Charlie is essentially a Disney Princess; being just as much as the Adorkable Genki Girl Friend to All Living Things as any Disney heroine; in Hell. It actually works against her for the first half of the first season. Since Hell is largely a Crapsack World that demands cruelty to survive, no one pays a huge amount of respect to someone so unapologetically peppy.
• Genre Roulette: The soundtrack goes all over the place. You got jazz rock, Baroque Pop, electro swing, classic Disney-esque orchestral pop, alternative rock, etc.
• Hypocrite: Much of what Alastor says to Vox is mocking that Vox needs the Vees to be a threat. "It's a Deal" establishes that Alastor's power is reliant on a deal he made with Rosie to rig the deck in his favour whereas Vox climbed the ranks on his own. It's implied that some of this is Alastor projecting his own issues onto Vox.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In the pilot, while he's clearly just trying to get a rise out of Charlie, Angel is right to point out how underfunded and understaff the hotel is. For example, a hotel needs food.
• Kangaroo Court: Sera's court in "Welcome to Heaven". She's clearly holding it just to move the goalposts back enough so she can reject Charlie's proposal and sustains Adam's flimsy "objections" to undermine Charlie's self-confidence.
• Karmic Death: Adam is a Straw Misogynist who wants the people of Hell to worship him as the first of humanity. He gets killed by Nifty, a Female Misogynist who would likely agree with Adam's outdated attitudes but also is a complete non-entity in Hell as well as someone who doesn't see Adam as anything but another faceless enemy on the battlefield. And yes, it's a very Undignified Death.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Charlie. She owns KeeKee and loves her very much. Her father, Lucifer also coos over her.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Adam was the worst aspects of toxic masculinity. Abel is an Adorkable Nice Guy.
• Literal-Minded: Angel Dust said "Harder, daddy" to Sir Pentious when being choked in the pilot. The snake's response "Son?"
• Logical Weakness: Vox and Velvette are technological demons. And technology can be hacked or shut-off.
• Mind Rape: Vox's hypnotic right eye isn't just for show, he can use it to subject people to his will, though it only works on the Weak-Willed. "Scream Rain" reveals that sometime after their failure with Pentius in "Radio Killed the Video Star", the Vees turned Angel into their Manchurian Agent.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond:
  • Alastor. While he's the most powerful of the main cast, he's seen as on the lower-end of the totem pole among his fellow Overlords. But he's generally hanging out with people a lot less powerful than he is. Season 2 reveals that this is because while still alive, Alastor made a Deal with the Devil for Rosie to grant him power enough to become the most powerful Sinner in Hell. But the problem with Alastor's deal was that he had no idea that being the most powerful Sinner meant that demons, overlords and Archangels still power-scaled above him. And it's implied that there's some Exact Words at play as Vox managed to defeat him in a fight once. And while Alastor gives a good show against a One-Winged Angel Vox in "Curtain Call", he's on the backfoot by Vox's pet shark.
  • Downplayed for Lucifer. He'd be quite powerful if he remained in Heaven, but he wouldn't be unique. As the only Archangel in Hell, he's by far the most powerful entity in the setting.
• Oh Crap: Sera has this reaction when Sir Pentious arrives in Heaven, while Emily is overjoyed.
• OOC Is Serious Business: How Velvette is able to clock that Carmilla Carmine is hiding something. What kind of Arms Dealer is against war?
• Politically-Incorrect Villain:
  • Katie Killjoy is homophobic to Charlie.
  • The Vees are implied to be ageist. Embodying New Media Are Evil, they have no patience for anything from yesteryear.
  • Lute is implied to be both homophobic and racist against demons and has No Sympathy for abuse victims.
  • But everyone is outdone by Adam. Every time he's on-screen, he's shown to be a misogynistic (possibly homophobic or just fantastically racist) Man Child bully with a pronounced case of Fantastic Racism who outright admits that he considers genocide fun.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • There's nothing stopping Adam from enacting a full genocide of hell right in the pilot. But he waits six months to have some plausible deniability and not flag to anyone that he has an ulterior motive: that the Sinners managed to kill an Exorcist.
  • By the same token, the Overlords of Hell would love nothing more than to rally their armies and wipe out Heaven. But as they don't know what killed the Angel and don't know how reproducible the feat is, they abstain from military action until more intelligence can be gathered.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Averted. The hellborn are exempt from the Exterminations on the basis that they couldn't help who they were born to.
• Sir Swearsalot: Even in a universe known for potty mouths, Adam stands out by having almost every line from him have at least one curse word. He has by far the biggest swear count in the show.
• Straw Misogynist: Most lines out of Adam's mouth are him being the worst version of toxic masculinity.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: Implied to be why Sera is so hesitant to hear Charlie's proposal. If she admits that souls can be redeemed, then she has to admit that her system is broken and she really did let how knows who many people who could have been redeemed suffer a Cessation of Existence.
• Takes One to Kill One: The only power that can breach Sera's barrier around Heaven in Season 2 is the energy of another archangel, leading the Overlords to use Lucifer as a Living Battery of their superweapon.
• This Explains So Much: Said almost word-for-word by Charlie when she meets Adam, who she remembers from the stories as the obnoxious misogynist that forced her mother Lilith to be under his control.
• Undignified Death:
  • Alastor was shot by a hunter who mistook him for a deer.
  • Vincent/Vox died when a TV fell on his head and electrocuted him.
• Unskilled but Strong: The angels. So much more powerful than the average sinner and unable to be harmed by their victims that they don't bother with tactics. When the sinners are given angel-killing weapons, the vast majority of Adam's force is killed in battle.
  • Their leader Adam is an extreme example. He has lots of divine power but, until he breaks his weapon, he's outclassed in battle by the Weak but Skilled Alastor. Then Adam finds he has no chance at all against the Strong and Skilled Lucifer.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • While everyone hates Adam, they do admit that he has a point about Hell being full of awful people and the point of Hell being so awful is to punish them. Though as Sir Pentious shows, Adam was ultimately wrong in the end. People can rise above and be better.
  • Lucifer also notes this about the rulers of Heaven. The very existence of Sinners proves that they did have a point in warning him about "The Evils of Free Will". Though they're not presented as right overall.
• Wants a Prize For Basic Decency: Adam wants the denizens of Hell to worship him for being the first human, even as he kills them solely For the Evulz.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While the first season reveals the fates of Adam and Lilith, Eve's fate is not touched on.