History Main / CelestialBureaucracy

* The original pitch of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' stated that reason why [[ThePollyanna Jimmy]] was in [[HellOfATime Miseryville]] in the first place was that after he died by being hit by a bus, an administrative error by the powers that be sent him down instead of up. Whether or not this is still the case in the final cut of the show is unknown.

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', Orpheus enters Hades' Underworld to find a gloomy office setting adjacent to his broadcasting network. Apollo and Calliope work in the memory-processing department and are tasked with erasing incoming souls' memories via a magic paper shredder.

* Given it was written in Qing dynasty China it's not surprising that a number of stories in ''Literature/StrangeStoriesFromAChineseStudio'' feature the Heavenly Bureaucracy. In one, a newly deceased man takes the Celestial court's exam and is awarded a post as god of his city, but refuses one the grounds that he needed to care for his ailing mother. His examiners are impressed by his show of filial devotion and bring him back to life until his mother dies of old age and he's free to assume his divine position.

* The Adjusters in ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'' are supernatural beings in charge of human destinies... and they dress like 50's office clerks and work in what appears to be a huge chancellery.

* Literature/TheQuran: In Islam, every part of a sentient being's (djinns are included) afterlife is managed by angels. For instance, every single human has two angels sitting on their shoulders to write down their piety and sin. After the Kiamat (End of the World), everyone will be in purgatory, where they have to go through several trials, which will be made either easier or harder based on those angels' reports. Afterward, the reports will be publicly announced to everyone who has been gathered, whereupon it will be decided ''how long'' they're going to stay in hell. Yes, everyone's going to hell at first, where the angels — not Satan — will torture them based on the sins they've committed. After repenting for their sins, the person will be removed from hell and gain eternity in heaven, [[NothingPersonal where the same angels who tortured them become their steadfast companions and servants]].

* The monsters of ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' have one; all we really know about it is that Xellos, despite being more powerful than any of Shaburanigdo's lieutenants (he was apparently created specifically for the War of the Monster's Fall), ranks well below them.

** King Yemma is in charge of judging the souls of the dead, determining whether they go to heaven or hell. He's actually a real figure from Asian mythology, but what makes him this trope is that his role is portrayed as a ''literal'' desk-job, with paperwork and pen-pushing and everything. Whether he judges ''all'' the dead or if he's just in charge of Earth's afterlife in particular is unclear, however the Buu Arc implies that he indeed does judge the dead across the ''entire'' universe.

** At the top of the hierarchy is Zen'O, "King of All" ("Grand Zen'o the Omni-King" in the English dub). He also has an Angel for an attendant, who is referred to as the Grand Priest. Unlike the Gods of Destruction, whose Angels are more powerful than they are, Zen'O is noted to be far more powerful than the Grand Priest is.

* In the 1946 Creator/AbbottAndCostello ghost comedy, ''The Time of Their Lives'', after the curse that prevents [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Patriot]] Horatio Prim (Lou Costello) from ascending to Heaven is lifted, he is still excluded -- because Heaven is "Closed for [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington Washington's]] Birthday."

* The Japanese film ''Film/{{Afterlife|19998}}'' is set in an AfterlifeAntechamber where the newly-dead are put through a formal process to prepare them for eternity.

* In ''Film/{{Toothless}}'' Limbo is a desert waiting area where souls are judged worthy or not, with professions such as dentistry being considered detrimental to entering Heaven.

* The monsters of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' have one; all we really know about it is that Xellos, despite being more powerful than any of Shaburanigdo's lieutenants(he was apparently created specifically for The War of the Monster's Fall), ranks well below them.

* ''Film/TheHornBlowsAtMidnight'': This infamous Creator/JackBenny flop has Benny's character dreaming he's in a FluffyCloudHeaven featuring an elaborate bureaucracy and symphonies orchestras of angels from multiple planets. Benny's assigned to end the planet earth by blowing his titular trumpet . . . . HilarityEnsues.

* ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'':
** Hades' realm in the Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' approaches this: though the place where the afterlife go is a chaotic swirling pool of ghosts and goo, when the dead enter Hades, a little sign clicks in: "1000001 served."

[[folder:Light Novels]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Have A Nice Death|Video Game}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60embwC6WM Have A Nice Death]] is a roguelike platformer where the TheGrimReaper has outsourced soul collection and become a CEO of a company processing souls, Death Inc. , unfortunately the department heads have staged a hostile takeover and Death has to get the company back.

* In the animated short film ''Heavenly Appeals,'' a reformed devil presents his appeals case to an obese angel guard at the gates of Heaven, only to be cruelly denied and have his documents thrown away. The angel further torments him by using a lever to make him bounce up and down on the stone platform he's sitting on, only to fall off his own cloud when he chokes on a donut. After hesitating, the devil saves the angel and they sit together on the cliff...[[UngratefulBastard and then the angel shoves the devil off.]] [[spoiler:But the devil is saved when he grows a pair of angel wings and a halo off-screen. He joyfully enters the gates of Heaven, while the angel's wings disappear and he grows horns as he's cast down into Hell.]]

* In ''ComicBook/DylanDog'' there are multiple "Hells" in the afterlife, some looking like a classical [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dantesque]] caves of eternal torture, others more peaceful and heaven-like (it's even suggested that life could be a Hell and death is only a way to get from one Hell to the other). There's a Hell dedicated to the archive of the deaths that happen in London that resembles the [[ObstructiveBureaucracy Obstructive]] VastBureaucracy from ''Film/{{Brazil}}''.

* Doubles with MundaneAfterlife in ''Series/MiracleWorkers''. After you die, you become an angel working at Heaven Inc., which runs the whole world, with departments running from the Department of Dirt to the badly understaffed Department of Answered Prayers, to the now defunct Department of Mammoths.

* ''VideoGame/HaveANiceDeath'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60embwC6WM Have A Nice Death]] is a roguelike platformer where the TheGrimReaper has outsourced soul collection and become a CEO of a company processing souls, Death Inc. , unfortunately the department heads have staged a hostile takeover and Death has to get the company back.

* Hades' realm in the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney version]] of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' approaches this: though the place where the afterlife go is a chaotic swirling pool of ghosts and goo, when the dead enter Hades, a little sign clicks in: "1000001 served."

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', there's a small team of immigration agents whose job is to help those in the Land of the Dead going to see their descendants (and stopping anyone who's not on their family's ''ofrenda''), or coming home with gifts and offerings.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'' contrasts the friendly counselors (all named "Jerry") who help new souls in the Great Before develop their personalities before going to Earth with Terry, the ornery accountant who tabulates the souls going into the Great Beyond. And when they notice an anomaly in the count, Terry goes out of their way to drag Joe's errant soul back to the conveyor belt. [[spoiler: In the end, the Jerries shift a bead on Terry's abacus while they're not looking and give Joe a second chance at life as a reward for helping 22.]]

* In ''Literature/TheAeneid'' Aeneas travels through the underworld to Elysium, where he finds his father, Anchises -- who is numbering souls on a tablet. So he's pretty much got a clipboard and is taking the names of everyone in Heaven.

* Literature/TheQuran: In Islam, every part of a sentient being's (djinns are included) afterlife is managed by angels. For instance, every single human has two angels sitting on their shoulders to write down their piety and sin. After the Kiamat (End of the World), everyone will be in purgatory, where they have to go through several trials, which will be made either easier or harder based on those angels' reports. Afterward, the reports will be publicly announced to everyone who has been gathered, whereupon it will be decided ''how long'' they're going to stay in hell. Yes, everyone's going to hell at first, where the angels — not Satan — will torture them based on the sins they've committed. After repenting for their sins, the person will be removed from hell and gain eternity in heaven, [[NothingPersonal where the same angels who tortured them become their steadfast companions and servants]].

** There was even several gods associated with bureaucracy. Including Ma'at (The bureaucracy of law and order through her aspect as the goddess of truth), her husband Thoth (The bureaucracy on a cosmic scale as one of the creators of the universe, including the concept of writing) and their daughter Seshat (goddess of bureaucracy in general, especially in regards to record keeping)

* In ''The Odyssey of Runyon Jones'' by Norman Corwin, a nine-year old boy traverses the cosmos, pleading with its various department heads for info concerning his dead dog who has been sent to "Curgatory."

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'': The ''WesternAnimation/HeavenlyPuss'' cartoon depicts the entrance to Tom's heaven as a gate before the Heavenly Express train. Cats that have just died wait in line before being admitted by the gatekeeper. Tom tries to sneak past, only to be told that he can only ride the train if Jerry signs a Certificate of Forgiveness first. Tom is given just one hour to go back to Earth and persuade Jerry to sign the document. Of course, it turns out it was AllJustADream

* ''Manga/HozukisCoolheadedness'' is about the bureaucracy of (Buddhist) Hell. They even have paid holidays for their employees.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''; in fact, Yusuke's first reaction is to ask "Is this the stock market?" His unexpected heroic death causing problems for the bureaucracy is actually the entire catalyst of the series. Because no one expected him to pull a random selfless act and die, there was no place for him in the afterlife, and he was offered a chance to be resurrected. In exchange, he becomes the "Spirit World Detective," overseen by King Yama's son, Koenma. In the manga, it turns out that [[spoiler:the bureaucracy is actually corrupt, with King Yama framing demons for violent crimes in order to maintain the Spirit World's control over the Demon World]].

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Soul Society is run this way, with authority from the (absentee) Soul King delegated to the (civilian) Central 46, which in turn commands the (military) Gotei 13. The bureaucracy has been in place for at least 1000 years and is just about as crusty and hide-bound as you'd expect. It's not an exaggeration to say that a good 75% of all the nonsense that goes down in ''Bleach'' is because of Soul Society being poorly governed. [[spoiler:In the second half of the series, this is slowly changing as the Gotei becomes more open, and as Kyouraku makes reforms in the wake of Yamamoto's death.]]

* ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'' is based upon this trope. The main characters are all dead people who serve as bureaucrats for the Afterlife Bureaucracy.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'' seems to have one too. This may be an homage to Yami no Matsuei.
* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'''s Heaven is full of celestial sysadmins. The episode where Belldandy gets demon powers plays up this trope.
* Edaniel describes the afterlife like this in ''Manga/{{Bizenghast}}''.
* The monsters of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' have one; all we really know about it is that Xellos, despite being more powerful than any of Shaburanigdo's lieutenants(he was apparently created specifically for The War of the Monster's Fall), ranks well below them.
* Hotori dies and finds the Japanese Heaven is like this in ''Manga/AndYetTheTownMoves''.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Valerian}}'', the celestial hierarchy based on planet Hypsis appears to be an extremely capitalist enterprise. Each pantheon's position in the hierarchy is determined by the gross national product of the planet it oversees, and it's possible for the enterprise to fail, which leads to stripping divinity and immortality from the pantheon's members, and banishing them to the infernal depths of the Point Central to work off their debts, as happened to one [[LouisCypher Mr. L.C.F. Sat]]. The members of the Earth's pantheon, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are a dilapidated business near collapse, and harassed by their colleagues over the Earthlings' habit of meddling with the affairs of others.

* The depiction of Hell and the Norse Afterlife seem to work this way in ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool''.

* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Back in 1942]], Fawcet Comics debuted Kid Eternity, a young hero who was the victim of the first celestial clerical error in two million years. After his grandfather’s boat is torpedoed by a German U-boat, he ends up in Eternity (the name for Heaven here) where he finds out he isn’t supposed to die for 75 years. Fortunately, this is a Celestial Bureaucracy that is big on restitution; they not only grant him life, but incredible super-powers (including the ability to summon both historic and fictional characters to aid him) and as further largesse, appoint the portly desk jockey (“Mr. Keeper”) who made the error to act as his partner. The duo fought crime and ThoseWackyNazis for about eight years, but Kid Eternity never had the PopularityPower he needed to be a hit, although he has had a few guest appearances since then. (And ironically, if he does indeed ever want to become A-list, he has to hurry; his 75-year reprieve is almost up!)

* In ''[[TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}} Jadeclaw]]'' Zhōngguó, being not merely a FantasyCounterpartCulture but even sharing a name with China, believes in a celestial bureaucracy. And one of the sample characters is a dragon who was fired from his job in the weather department for sleeping on the job and causing a flood, as shown in [[http://us-p.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Helvetica/jadeclaw-comic-1.jpg this]] [[http://us-p.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Helvetica/jadeclaw-comic-2.jpg comic]].

* In the ''VideoGame/DeathJr'' series, Death is the CEO of the corporation that handles the afterlife. The bureaucracy happens later (endless queues of souls, reams of forms) when Bureaucracy, the fifth horseman of the apocalypse, tries to take over.

* VideoGame/AtlantisTheLostTales: In the sequel while traveling in ancient China the player enters Hell to acquire an item, discovering it is a bureaucracy run by bored demons. The lost souls of those who died trying to cut through the red tape still wander the area.

* The [[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/pa/kq6/1/a.htm standard game over]] in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow''. Which you have to actually deal with ''[[ToHellAndBack without]]'' [[ToHellAndBack dying]] if you want the GoldenEnding.
* The main character of ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' is an employee at the Department of Death, which guides souls to the afterlife. It's a post-mortem travel agency.
* What we see of Hell in ''{{VideoGame/Guacamelee}}'' is a huge [[EvilLawyerJoke law firm]] called "Devil's Advocates", full of accountants and motivational posters. Of course the Devil's office is at the top of the building.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' loves this trope. At one point, hell's budget is dangerously in the red, and so it ''opens up stands in the world of the living in an attempt to balance the books''. Hell itself has the rather amusing title of "The Ministry of Right and Wrong" and they publish guidebooks.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60embwC6WM Have A Nice Death]] is a roguelike platformer where the TheGrimReaper has outsourced soul collection and become a CEO of a company processing souls, Death Inc. , unfortunately the department heads have staged a hostile takeover and Death has to get the company back.
* The celestial realm of ''VideoGame/DeptHeaven'' is, ironically enough, one of these; from the glimpses the players get over the series, it is a strictly hierarchy-based realm controlled by a small council who are the gods' proxies, particularly in Riviera, where the gods are ''[[HaveYouSeenMyGod in absentia]]''. And thanks to the series' villain, the system is corrupt as all get-out, too.

* Death in the ''VideoGame/DarkWaters'' fan campaign for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' is portrayed as a long-suffering bureaucrat who forgives your in-game deaths because he's [[PenPushingPresident too busy with paperwork]] to bother processing you into the afterlife.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has the player, on dying in battle, arriving at the shore of the Styx... to find that Charon is so far behind on the paperwork that it will take uncountable eons before he gets to the front of the line. It's gotten so bad that Charon now ''actively requests bribes'' so that souls can return to the living world and keep him from having to file a report on yet ''another'' soul. (He even lets you put one resurrection on a tab, though as soon as you can pay he'll take it out of your pocket.)
* The Blue Kingdom in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' is the region populated by the deceased and oh boy is it a bureaucratic ''nightmare''. There are specific statuses for both the dead and the rare living beings adventuring through this kingdom: Ephemera are the dead waiting to pass through Death's Door, Yoked are deceased which are servants of the Kingdom, Antedeceased, which are the not-dead-yet, and the Invisible, which are devoid of any statuses (a "bureaucratic nightmare" according to the Carious Official). There are a phenomenal amount of Courts held by various animals (Apes, Hummingbirds, Whales, etc) each with a ''very'' specific area of influence, and the queues to have an audience with them are ludicrously long. And don't get started on all the protocols that have to be followed in that realm. It can get so bad that it is highly advised to hire a Litigator to guide you while in there.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', which focuses on [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]], many of the Chthonic gods have roles that contribute to running the Underworld and managing the souls of the dead. Charon ferries dead souls down the River Styx (after [[{{Psychopomp}} Hermes]] delivers them to him), Hypnos keeps track of new arrivals, and [[PenPushingPresident Hades himself]] decides where the dead will be placed, determines any punishments, and listens to their claims. Meanwhile, Thanatos is in charge of delivering the souls of those who died peaceful deaths, and the Furies punish those who committed particular crimes in life. Despite the focus on the afterlife, it's still very much a bureaucracy with a lot of paperwork involved; there's even an administrative office that Zagreus can gain access to (and he even tried to work there himself, with disastrous results).

* In ''VideoGame/DeathAndTaxes'' the player character is a GrimReaper charged with maintaining the balance of life and death for a small town, through paperwork. Departments exist for the death of ''all'' things - from plants to animals to humans to stars to ''galaxies''.
* Heaven in ''VideoGame/NeonWhite'' has lobbies, kiosks, put-upon secretaries, strict regulations, and long waiting times.
-->'''Neon White:''' Look, I expect this much from the DMV, but I'm not waiting four hours for my stupid mission in HEAVEN.

[[folder:Web Originals]]

* ''VideoGame/Afterlife1996'' is entirely based off this concept - The player has to [[SimulationGame plan out both heaven and hell]] to be, respectively, as pleasant and torturous as they can be. The game includes workforce management (angels and demons), bank loans (the currency is pennies from heaven, with the banks of heaven and hell offering different terms), placing development zones (for the seven deadly sins), and a dry, worldly demon in a business suit as one of your [[GoodAngelBadAngel advisors]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/AtlantisTheLostTales Beyond Atlantis]]'', while traveling in ancient China the player enters Hell to acquire an item, discovering it is a bureaucracy run by bored demons. The lost souls of those who died trying to cut through the red tape still wander the area.

* The RomanceGame ''VisualNovel/TenDaysWithMyDevil'' has human death and reincarnation managed by demons, responsible for making sure that humans meet their fated deaths and that their souls are transported to heaven, and angels, who cleanse the souls of dead humans and reincarnate them into new lives. The two races are each ruled by a king and keep track of the fates of humans using an electronic database.

* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' is based around a filing error within the celestial bureaucracy that genderswaps a boy and erases the past two years of another girl; the human world has been altered to accommodate the change and they are the only ones who remember how their lives should be. [[spoiler:[[HaveYouSeenMyGod The lack of leadership and increasing chaos after God left]] caused one archangel to snap and try to usurp power using the bureaucracy's own incompetence to mask his assassinations. The main characters kill him before he can retcon humanity,]] but leave the bureaucracy permanently changed...
** ...Which leads into sequel series Hell High. After another major filing error causes birth rates to increase in Hell, especially in the ''infertile'' human damned, both sides agree to a compromise, creating a school meant for Hellborn to earn their ''first'' chance at a life on Earth.
* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' features a hierarchy of Deaths, who are periodically demoted, promoted, or fired by the Head Death. Each one is in charge of a particular cause of death, such as Insanely Overpowered Fireballs, Choking On A Giant Frog, and Being Wrestled To Death By Steve Irwin. One memorable storyline involved all of the Deaths going on strike.

* ''Webcomic/TheArtOfMonsters'' has a bureaucratic heaven based on Chinese mythology. One of the characters is hauled in front of a tribunal for her misdeeds, while another gets given a job in a celestial library and a fancy hat.
* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' plays with this; purgatory is an infinite diner where-in the dead [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/9p17/ must eat dishes symbolizing/made-from each of their sins]] before they can move on to the next (as yet unseen) stage of the afterlife. The real kicker? There's only one waiter in the whole place so the service is just ''terrible''; people that've been there for centuries are still on the bread basket.

* The angels in ''Webcomic/HolyBibble'' have offices, councils, rules, etc...
* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' is said to have a [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/2012/05/30/slide-rule/ celestial bureaucracy]] when Pete is tried for altering Joel/King's fate by turning him from a human into a dog. The eventual charge was "complicating matters in the celestial bureaucracy."
* The forces of cosmic evil are this in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater''. At one point Black Mage's patron mentions that having him take over Hell is an unacceptable form of apocalypse because there's just way too much paperwork.
-->'''Black Mage:''' Evil has middle management?\\
'''Unnamed Evil God/"Darko, Dark God of the Dark":''' Are you kidding? That's all we are.
* ''Webcomic/AngelMoxie'': The realm of the Higher Authority, which the characters answer to, turns out to work like this. Appeals to the Authority are handled by a receptionist who manifests as a squirrel.

* This trope is a mainstay of ''Podcast/LessIsMorgue''. Evelyn describes purgatory as being like the DMV, another character is forced to fill out mountains of paperwork before being assigned to his afterlife, and TheGrimReaper uses a mobile app - that he can't even begin to understand - to judge the spirits of the deceased.
* The animation ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyDjEfUha0g Mortys]]'' is about TheGrimReaper (who happens to be a woman) being buried in the paperwork of administering the dead people. Her son wants her to use computers to be more effective.

* In ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'', cats have life cards to show how many lives they have left. Eek was once tricked into taking the file of a bad cat and got sent to hell. Once the mistake got fixed, he regained all his lives.
* There's a bit of this in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldHis9Lives''. After losing his ninth, last life (in the future; modern-day Garfield is life eight), Garfield and Odie come before God, and Garfield successfully argues that his last death was unfair. God then asks which life he was on.
-->'''Garfield:''' You mean... you don't keep track?\\
'''God:''' Normally I do, but our computers are on the blink right now.
** Garfield then claims it was his first life, wrangling a full nine more lives for both him and Odie.
** However, there are hints that Heaven doesn't actually work like that, and God's just making up an excuse to show favoritism.
* The original pitch of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' stated that reason why [[ThePollyanna Jimmy]] was in [[HellOfATime Miseryville]] in the first place was that after he died by being hit by a bus, an administrative error by the powers that be sent him down instead of up. Whether or not this is still the case in the final cut of the show is unknown.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever", Stan dies and is sent to Heaven, where he demands a "Second Chance" at life. This process, it turns out, requires a courthouse trial, with Angels using victories in cases to decide their hierarchy. Stan winds up with Michelle, who hasn't ever won a single case, and thus, lacks even angelic wings.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon ''WesternAnimation/HeavenlyPuss'' depicts the entrance to Tom's heaven as a gate before the Heavenly Express train. Cats that have just died wait in line before being admitted by the gatekeeper. Tom tries to sneak past, only to be told that he can only ride the train if Jerry signs a Certificate of Forgiveness first. Tom is given just one hour to go back to Earth and persuade Jerry to sign the document. Of course, it turns out it was AllJustADream
* '' WesternAnimation/BigMouth'': It turns out that the Hormone Monsters work for "Human Resources -- We Manage People" ([[ProductPlacement presented by Acura]]), which manages all stages of human life. There is a Childhood Office, Department of Puberty, Center for Adulthood, Geriatrics and Bureau of the Dead. Nick, Andrew and Jessi find their way here when Tyler accidentally leaves a portal open.

* ''Webcomic/TheArtOfMonsters'' has a bureaucratic heaven based on Chinese mythology. One of the characters is hauled in front of a tribunal for her misdeeds, while another gets given a job in a celestial library and a[[NiceHat fancy hat]].

** This trope [[UpToEleven taken to its logical extreme]] perfectly describes the Auditors of Reality, who are essentially bureaucrats who oversee the minutiae of the MagicalUnderpinningsOfReality. Unfortunately for all sapient life, they ''[[OmnicidalManiac despise]]'' anything resembling creativity or individuality, since it increases the amount of paperwork they have to do.

* On '' WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' this is taken UpToEleven. It turns out that the Hormone Monsters work for "Human Resources -- We Manage People" ([[ProductPlacement presented by Acura]]), which manages all stages of human life. There is a Childhood Office, Department of Puberty, Center for Adulthood, Geriatrics and Bureau of the Dead. Nick, Andrew and Jessi find their way here when Tyler accidentally leaves a portal open.

Expect Hell in particular to be portrayed like this, because after all, for many people, [[ObstructiveBureaucrat dealing with the bureaucracy is its own kind of Hell]].

* Traditional [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese religion]].