History Main / CirclesOfHell

[[caption-width-right:325:If you think this is bad, you should see the other place]]

** The Abyss is probably infinite in horrifying variety, but tradition holds it consists of [[NumberOfTheBeast 666]] layers, each somehow worse than the last. It should be noted that there's no real order to these layers, since most of them can be reached by jumping in the right pit from the "top" layer of the plane, Pazunia, the Plain of Infinite Portals, so any numbers associated with them are based on the order of their discovery by planar cartographers.

* The Outer Planes in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', both good and bad (and neutral and lawful and chaotic) are almost always divided into different layers. However, a soul's actions in life determine which ''plane'' they end up on, usually not which layer of that plane. Those who lived a LawfulEvil existence wind up in Baator where their immortal soul is tortured to empower the devils who rule the plane, evil warlords may face an eternity of mindless conflict on the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, ChaoticGood fighters meanwhile get to enjoy a WarriorHeaven in Ysgard, and TrueNeutral souls gravitate toward the Concordant Domain of the Outlands at the hub of the Great Wheel of planes.

* In both ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the [[GodOfEvil Chaos God]] [[SenseFreak Slaanesh]]'s palace is described in these terms, ringed by the [[ArcNumber six]] Circles of Desire: Avidity, Gluttony, Carnality, Paramountcy, Vainglory and finally Indolence. Each layer serves as a defensive mechanism, so that an intruder may be turned into a lifeless golden statue after lingering too long in Avidity, fall prey to the [[HornyDevils Daemonettes]] inhabiting Carnality, or become [[LotusEaterMachine trapped in Indolence until their body crumbles to dust]].
* The Seven Heavens of the world of the [[http://www.mimgames.com/cof/index.html Children of Fire]] RPG contain a number of realms that would be Hellish in the eyes of many a mortal. The Second Heaven is where the Fallen were cast down after [[{{Satan}} Sammael]]'s rebellion, and is a place of sightless torment. The northern realm of the Third Heaven, Tartarus, is where human sinners are punished, and is a desolate, lifeless place. Finally, the northern realm of the Fifth Heaven is where corrupted angels are punished.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Werewolf The Apocalypse}}'', the Black Spiral Labyrinth represents the tormented mind of the Wyrm. The labyrinth is divided into nine circles, each of which tests and torments visitors until their minds are broken. For example, the circle of endurance pushes visitors to their physical and psychological limits, while the circle of loyalty forces visitors to choose between (what's left of) their humanity and fealty to the Wyrm. Black Spiral Dancers pass through the circles to gain rank, but only a handful have ever passed through all nine circles. Gaia Garou consider dancing the Black Spiral a {{fate worse than death}}.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Hell - also known as the [[{{Bowdlerise}} Home For Infinite Losers]] - seems to have a number of layers.

[[caption-width-right:156:If you think this is bad, you should see the other place]]

** The Nine Hells of Baator are obviously inspired by Dante, but the individual layers are tailored more to the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Archdevils]] who rule them rather than a particular type of damned soul. Dis for example is an infernal metropolis organized as an Orwellian police state under the paranoid schemer Dispater, while Maladomini is a reeking ruin fit for Baalzebul, the disgusting Lord of Flies. Malbolge is particularly disturbing for being made ''[[BloodyBowelsOfHell from]]'' its former ruler.

* The ''[[Anime/BleachHellVerse Hell Verse]]'' movie of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' mostly takes place in Hell. The first layer of Hell is a "city" of floating gray blocks with blue walkways between them all under a [[RedSkyTakeWarning red sky]]. The guards, called Kushanada, mostly patrol this layer, which contains damned souls that have gone insane. The second layer is a vast sea with stone platforms and giant bowl-like sculptures shaped like lillies floating on it. At least one has a Kushanada skeleton impaled within it. The sky here is a lavender color. The third layer has the bottom of the sea as its "sky" and is made of several plateaus pockmarked with pits of yellow liquid. The liquid can harm souls and is deep enough to hide Kushanada. The spaces between the palteaus are filled with clouds. The fourth layer is covered in dunes of blue grit, which formed from countless damned souls [[CessationOfExistence dying again]]. The most prominent landmark is a Stonehenge-like structure that partly encircles a LavaPit that has a giant humanoid skeleton halfway out of it. The horizon is concealed by yellow clouds which also fill the sky. The lowest layer is dotted with irregular pillars topped with lava pits. The Kushanada can emerge from the pillars. Rivers of lava flow between the pillars under a perpetual thunderstorm. Bones of various sizes cover most of the solid ground there.

* Subverted in an ComicBook/XMen annual where the team goes to Hell to save Nightcrawler's soul. Since supernatural realms are out of their element (this was before Comicbook/{{Magik}} became the X-Men's resident sorceress), they enliste ComicBook/DoctorStrange's help, but he notices that "hell" is exactly as it's described in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' and is nothing like the previous time he had been there. Sure enough, it turned out to be an illusion created by Nightcrawler's adoptive mother, sorceress Margoli Szardos.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' had a characer trapped in a suburban style part of hell and Angel had to bust him out. Spike tagged along and told him that there's more than one Hell such as a "Freezing Hell".

* Invoked, naturally enough, in Creator/LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's ''Literature/{{Inferno}}'', which is a 20th century take on Dante.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the main religion of Westeros is known to have seven gods (one of whom, the Father, is explicitly identified as a judge,) and seven hells, but no details of the hells are ever given, so it's unknown whether they belong to specific gods or are tailored to specific sins or have any sort of hierarchy of punishment.

* In ''Film/AlongWithTheGodsTheTwoWorlds'', the recently deceased must traverse 7 Hells and endure 7 trials in order to achieve reincarnation. The order in which a soul traverse through the Hells is decided by the King of Hell, Yeomra. The order is based on the severity of the crimes committed by the soul in life, so it's different for every person.

* ''{{Spawn}}'' features ten spheres of hell. They're distinguished from one another more by their native fauna than by their prisoners.

* Circles exist in ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'''s version of Hell. There's one specifically for people that get in the way of Integra's mission. Committing that sin takes precedent over any other sins the human or vampire may have committed (explained as because she's on a mission from God, fighting her is akin to fighting God).

* ''Website/TheOnion'' has an article with the headline [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28898 "Tenth Circle Added To Rapidly Growing Hell"]]. Corpadverticus, the realm of Total Bastards, is built to contain publicists and lobbyists, media whores, and awards-show hosts.

* The Outer Planes in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', both good and bad (and neutral and lawful and chaotic) are almost always divided into different layers. However, a soul's actions in life determine which ''plane'' they end up on, usually not which layer of that plane. For example, those who lived a LawfulEvil existence wind up in Baator where their immortal soul is tortured to empower the devils who rule the plane, while evil warlords may face an eternity of war on the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron.

** The Abyss is probably infinite in horrifying variety, but tradition holds it consists of [[NumberOfTheBeast 666]] layers, each somehow worse than the last.

* OlderThanPrint: Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'' isn't the TropeMaker, as it's based on some apocryphal scriptures, merely the TropeCodifier for the West. It's often not mentioned that Dante's Heaven and Purgatory are built in a similar way, with Purgatory having "terraces"--it's a step-shaped mountain--based on the SevenDeadlySins and Heaven having nine "spheres" associated with the Ptolemaic (geocentric) model of the Universe based on the Christian SevenCardinalVirtues with some modifications (e.g., the lower/inner three spheres are based on those in Heaven who were nevertheless deficient in some virtue) plus the otherworldly Empyrean (the abode of God).
** Note that while it's often depicted as a series of vertically stacked discs, as in the page image, Dante's Hell is a subterranean bowl, with the levels descending in rings, so they are literally circles of hell (except the bottom one, which is a frozen lake).

* The fourth ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' movie mostly takes place in Hell. The first layer of Hell is a "city" of floating gray blocks with blue walkways between them all under a [[RedSkyTakeWarning red sky]]. The guards, called Kushanada, mostly patrol this layer, which contains damned souls that have gone insane. The second layer is a vast sea with stone platforms and giant bowl-like sculptures shaped like lillies floating on it. At least one has a Kushanada skeleton impaled within it. The sky here is a lavender color. The third layer has the bottom of the sea as its "sky" and is made of several plateaus pockmarked with pits of yellow liquid. The liquid can harm souls and is deep enough to hide Kushanada. The spaces between the palteaus are filled with clouds. The fourth layer is covered in dunes of blue grit, which formed from countless damned souls [[CessationOfExistence dying again]]. The most prominent landmark is a Stonehenge-like structure that partly encircles a LavaPit that has a giant humanoid skeleton halfway out of it. The horizon is concealed by yellow clouds which also fill the sky. The lowest layer is dotted with irregular pillars topped with lava pits. The Kushanada can emerge from the pillars. Rivers of lava flow between the pillars under a perpetual thunderstorm. Bones of various sizes cover most of the solid ground there.

* ''CtrlAltDel'', like Dante, gives [[http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20090928 nine circles]], but they're for the different types of bastard you encounter in [=MMOs=]. {{Griefer}}s are forever spawn-camped, [[NinjaLooting Ninja Looters]] roll a 1 on every drop, and so on.

* In ''DresdenCodak'', [[http://dresdencodak.com/2010/05/05/a-degenerate-prepares-for-hell/ plans for Hell involve figuring out which circle you end up in.]]

* ''TheOnion'' has an article with the headline [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28898 "Tenth Circle Added To Rapidly Growing Hell"]]. Corpadverticus, the realm of Total Bastards, is built to contain publicists and lobbyists, media whores, and awards-show hosts.

[[IronicHell Rolled up and smoked like a panatella]]\\

* In the ''IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, both Heaven and Hell possess different circles/regions. Where you end up depends on what kind of person you were in life. In Heaven you go to different circles if you were a philosopher or a military leader. In Hell people who litter ([[KnightTemplar yes]]) are forced to pick up litter in the freezing cold without any clothes until they've picked up as much litter as they contributed to, directly or indirectly, in life... though since this was shown and explained by Satan while giving a third party a supervised "tour" of Hell, its truthfulness is highly questionable, at best.