Alternative Character Interpretation / Hazbin Hotel

Hazbin Hotel

Alternative Character Interpretation in this series.

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Pilot

• When Angel Dust says "We are keeping this!" in response to Alastor adding a bar to the hotel, it's possible that he doesn't specifically want the bar, but Husk, who is the one running it. This is supported by the fact that his immediate action was not to order a drink, but to hit on Husk.
• Some have postulated that Cherri Bomb's antics aren't just motivated by fun and profit, but also by some greater goal, such as wanting to tear down Hell's current hierarchy (or lowerarchy, as it were). After "ADDICT" was released, some people also came up with the idea she is out to screw over Valentino.
• There are some who at least jokingly suggest that Katie Killjoy may be an Armoured Closet Gay, pointing to the fact that barely ten seconds after claiming she "doesn't touch the gays", she starts poking Charlie's breasts for emphasis. This is despite the authors stating she's straight.
• By his own admission, Angel Dust is a heavy user of cocaine even after checking in to Charlie's hotel. This raises a question: how much of his jerkishness is his natural personality, and how much is a side effect of his rampant drug abuse?
• The denizens of Hell’s treatment towards Charlie in general. Are they mocking her ideas simply because it’s fun and easy like the pilot suggested? Or perhaps they’re trying to goad her into punishing them to be more like her ruthless father?
• Was Alastor telling the truth about not recognizing Sir Pentious? Or was he just acting like it to get under Pentious' skin?
• The fact that Lucifer doesn't think Charlie can make the hotel work is usually interpreted to mean that he's not that good a father, but it could simply be a case of Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids! and not wanting his daughter to waste time chasing rainbows, as the song goes.
• Does Angel react to Travis calling him a slut the way he does because it's an uncreative insult, or because he doesn't even consider the term to be an insult in the first place?
• Why does Alastor pick on and troll Vaggie? Is it because she threatened him? Because of how grouchy she is? Or is it his way of trying to subtly drive a wedge between her and Charlie so the latter can be more easily manipulated?
• Some viewers have suggested that at least part of the reason the sinners (or at least some of them) rejected Charlie's hotel idea was because "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" had some rather... unflattering descriptions of the people she was trying to advertise her idea to and they took offense at it.
• When Charlie asks Katie how her "standards" are working out for her while looking at a sign saying "Hell's #1 News Show", is she implying that Katie's homophobia landed her in Hell or that it could only make her show popular in Hell?
• All indications are that Sir Pentious was the aggressor in the Turf War, and Cherri and Angel were fighting defensively, but no one brings this up including Angel. Does this mean that Heaven's standards are so high that they regard all violence by non-Angels as wrong? Does it imply that the denizens of Hell don't understand the importance of context to morality? Were Charlie and Vaggie just mad that Angel made them look bad? Or were they mad that Angel and Cherri made no effort to minimize collateral damage?
• Why does Alastor add a bar to the hotel? Is it to sabotage Charlie's mission? To help sinners show that they can resist temptation? Or was it just to increase the potential for future amusement and entertainment?

Season 1

• Is Charlie's story about how Hell came to be true, or a distorted narrative told to her by her parents to make them look like tragic victims? Given Adam's personality and behavior the former seems more likely.
  • While the full story isn't entirely clear, the Season 1 finale strongly indicates that the latter is at least partially true. The opening paints Lilith as a tragic victim who was screwed over by an unfair system, but the finale shows that she's chilling in Heaven and was apparently still on speaking terms with Adam, even making some kind of deal with him. At the very least, it certainly makes her come across as a shitty parent, ghosting her daughter when she was calling for emotional support while enjoying an extended vacation up above. Not enough is known about Lucifer's or Lilith's past to say that the opening narration is wrong, but there is clearly more to the story that's being omitted, whether deliberately or not.
• Why Lucifer called Charlie in Episode 1 to meet with the angels is a subject of debate. Either he wanted her to see the cruel reality of your ideas being shot down like what happened to him, or he really didn't want to go himself and asked the closest person he knows. Considering he would have to meet with his wife's ex-husband, it's likely the latter.
• Is Pentious actually a bad person at all? Episode 3 seems to imply that he makes weapons because he assumes everyone else is out to get him, so he might as well strike first. Once he's reassured that no one will hurt him at the hotel, he seems to lose interest in the pursuit. As for his paranoia, it's not clear if he's Properly Paranoid, being in Hell, or has some mental illness that causes his behavior.
• Is Niffty genuinely a dangerously unstable, if childish and absent-minded Genki Girl or is she really Obfuscating Insanity in order to prevent people from screwing with her? Maybe use her sweet demeanor as a tactical advantage?
• Was Valentino really planning to shoot up the hotel, or did he want Vox to talk him out of it. Velvette described him as waiting for a flat faced prince to calm him down and he didn’t start getting his weapons out until after Vox showed up.
• It's never shown what the "full assault plan" Velvette says the Vees came up with. While it's implied she intended for them to get killed to leave a power vacuum, it's also possible there was no plan to begin with and she said whatever could make Carmilla look bad at the moment.
• Does Sera actually dislike the Exterminations and feels guilt for allowing the annual genocide of human souls, or does she just feel more embarrassment about them than Adam does and shows disdain for sinners in a more passive way?
  • Additionally, the fact that she and the other heads of heaven don't know what gets a soul into heaven themselves, refuses to look into it and acknowledge how Angel's improvement as a person during the court hearing counts as evidence that a sinner can be redeemed, Sera can either be interpreted as an Improperly Paranoid extremist, or since she knows that the system is flawed and unfair, sees the possibility that dammed souls can be saved, but decides to ignore it for the sake of heaven's higher standing, maintain heaven's natural order over hell, and so she won't have to acknowledge the idea that her fears were unfounded, that she was wrong about Sinners being Beyond Redemption, and enabled a genocidal maniac's mass slaughter for eons, thus making everything she's done and allowed All for Nothing.
  • Also she was shown as a silhouette in Charlie's story on the creation of earth, mankind, and hell, implying that she also banished Lucifer to Hell with the other leaders or at least stood by and allowed them to make the decision to cast him and Lilith out, the camera also pans away from her eyes when mentioning Lucifer, suggesting that she might have some background about their relationship, it's possible that she may be sad as her voice entails, maybe having seen him as a friend and misses him, fears him because she saw his past idealism as a threat to the order that heaven enforces, or she resents him for screwing up their creation of mankind, which led to the sinner Overpopulation Crisis in the first place.
  • Sera claiming that she lied to her and kept the extermination secret because she wanted to prevent Emily from rebelling and subsequently obtaining same fate as Lucifer much to Emily's disbelief and rejection can be interpreted as her self-rationalizing her choices so that Emily wouldn't be disappointed in her, or as a way to make sure Emily stays in line and keeps doing her job for heaven's status quo, telling her to let Sara "worry about this". Considering that Sara continues to believe that the genocide was a Necessary Evil and allows it even when called out by her and Charlie, but also how heaven seems to be run on a Control Freak Order Is Not Good mentality, it's certainly possible.
  • Is Sera's look after Sir Pentious' redemption a look realizing she's doomed thousands of Sinners to die needlessly? Or is she disgusted at seeing a Sinner being redeemed and accepted into Heaven?
    • The only thing we know for absolute certainty is that she cares for Emily. During the bridge in You Didn't Know, Sera's genuine horror as she sees her protégé actively (and possibly) falling before her eyes and that it's all her fault.
• Alastor:
  • Alastor says to Charlie that a smile intimidates enemies and reassures allies, especially in times of trouble. Considering he himself wears a Perpetual Smiler, whoever has him under contract or Charlie's situation could be bothering him a lot more than he lets on. The former is confirmed in his part of "Finale", where his body language and eyes make it clear he's very troubled by his situation.
  • During Alastor's breakdown in "Finale", he sings "Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends. Sorry to disappoint, that it not how it ends!" Is he calling the Hotel crew his friends in an ironic way to lament how his reputation may be falling apart, or is he realizing he actually cares about them and is terrified of what that means for his persona and evil goals? The earlier scene in the episode where he says to Niffty that he's genuinely enjoying the banter and rapport of the Hotel crew, all while saying it without the clear signs of insincerity he often does, heavily implies that some part of the latter reason is true.
• Adam:
  • Why did Lilith reject Adam? While it is easy to assume Adam was at fault for Lilith rejecting him, we don't exactly know what happened. Furthermore, that Lilith made a deal with Adam to be allowed to remain in Heaven as long as he lived suggests their relationship might not have been completely dead.
  • Was Adam always the chauvinistic jerk we know him as today? Or is this Adam trying to build up his own confidence, to remind himself that he has worth after it's implied both his wives left him for Lucifer? Did he turn out this way as a natural consequence of being the first (and only) human being around upon his creation, living in isolation and never learning how to be an actual human being due to lack of proper social interactions with others of his kin before Eve was made? Or was it the Trauma Conga Line of being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, presumably witnessing his firstborn son kill his second born, and being the only member of his family to ascend into Heaven that made him utterly selfish and evil?
  • In the first episode's retelling of the Garden of Eden story there's no reference to Adam eating the fruit. If you assume that he really never ate it, does that mean he didn't know his actions were evil, and thus got into Heaven because he couldn't be held accountable?
• Rosie:
  • In "Scrambled Eggs", Rosie frightens Frank with a Slasher Smile after noticing him waving at her in the meeting room. Was this her intimidating him for intruding on the Overlord's meeting, or was it actually an attempt at a genuine smile that was ruined by her Scary Teeth? Especially since Word of God has previously mentioned that she's actually friendly for an overlord.
  • Was Rosie's kindness towards Charlie genuine? She gave her understanding and legitimate advice regarding Charlie and Vaggie's rocky relationship, not even judging Vaggie for being a fallen Exorcist, but at the same time, she agrees with Alastor that Charlie has power "he can guide" and that if he "Stick[s] with her," he'll "be on the winning side". Does she think he's going to guide her in a power-hungry sense (supported by her previously giving him intel that there's a down-on-his-luck demon vulnerable to a deal) or in a more fatherly sense? Considering she's Affably Evil, her help could be motivated by both compassion and clout-seeking.
• Is Lute's disgust at Charlie and Vaggie's relationship because she's homophobic or that she's repulsed that an angel, even a Fallen Angel, would become intimate with a demon, let alone the Princess of Hell? Adam's following line calling the relationship "hot as fuck" and Lute later making some rather nasty remarks about Angel Dust's sexual orientation implies the former.
• Velvette doesn't talk during the Extermination, and looks far less happy than the other Vee's. As the only Vee without anything personal against anyone on the hotel, is it possible she didn't actually want them to lose? And if so did she actually care about the lives in the hotel, or did she just see the Angels caught somewhat off-guard, and realized it was the most favorable Battlefield against Heaven that Hell could have hope for?

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