"Our people, Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!"
— Lucifer Morningstar
Charlie tries to convince her father to grant her an audience with Heaven.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Lucifer calls Vaggie "Maggie" when introduced to her, since he's preoccupied trying to find common ground with his daughter.
- Always a Bigger Fish: Alastor gets two. The first is Lucifer, unsurprisingly, since he's the most powerful being in Hell despite being incredibly goofy. More importantly, Husk reveals there's a mysterious someone who has bound Alastor's soul like Alastor has done with Husk.
- Ambiguous Situation: What exactly happened to the Overlords Alastor tortured on his broadcast is unclear. According to Mimzy, Alastor would add a "new voice" to his broadcast each time, each new scream correlating with the disappearance of a long-established Overlord. She doesn't go into detail about what he did outside of the notion that he tortured them, but the fact that they aren't mentioned as having returned, combined with Alastor being a known cannibal, makes it hard to gauge what became of them. Sinners can only be permanently killed by Heaven weaponry, and will just pull themselves back together otherwise, so it's not clear what Alastor did with them. Alastor does mention that should Husk spill the beans on his secret, he will tear his soul apart and air it so everyone can hear his screams; he could very well mean that literally.
- Ambiguous Syntax: When Charlie is ranting at the beginning about how her father allowed the Exterminations to happen, she has an epiphany halfway through which accidentally confuses Vaggie due to Charlie's phrasing of the sentence:Charlie: They just had a meeting, and said "go ahead and kill everyone!" *Gasp!* Wait! That's it!
Vaggie: ...kill everyone?
Charlie: No! He could get me a meeting with Heaven! - Armor-Piercing Question: As Lucifer points out how sinners never change and cause destruction, Charlie points out that at least Alastor is helping to defend the hotel. She then asks how come Alastor can come to her aid but her own father won't?
- Bait-and-Switch: When cooing over Razzle and Dazzle, Lucifer asks if they have been protecting Charlie, threateningly telling them they better be before going back to his silly and happy-go-lucky demeanor.Lucifer: (baby voice) Have you been taking care of my widdle girl? (threateningly) You better be.
[He then giggles, going back to his silly demeanor] - Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: After several episodes of build-up, we finally meet Lucifer: Charlie's Dad, The Devil, King of Hell, and the man who defied Heaven and their laws, ominously working on... a back-flipping, fire-breathing rubber duck toy. Then, when Charlie calls, he has a brief panic attack at the idea of talking to his estranged daughter and winds up beefing it before jumping at the chance to see her. This tells us that as bad as his reputation is, he's a total goofball who's become estranged from his wife and daughter, is desperate to fix it, and simply doesn't know how.Lucifer: [in a sing-song voice] My daughter wants to see me. (to a rubber duck) Take that, depression!
- Berserk Button: Two for the normally unflappable Alastor. He gives a rather pointed "Fuck you!" when Lucifer insults "Hazbin Hotel" as not being a clever name, a rare instance of Alastor using a swear. Later, when Husk makes a barb about Alastor also being "on a leash", Alastor gets pissed and threatens Husk into silence on that topic if he doesn't want to be tortured to death.
- Blasphemous Boast: One of Alastor's lines in "Hell's Greatest Dad" is that he's been "faithful as a nun," complete with nun habit and an inverted cross on the forehead band.
- Bumbling Dad: Lucifer towards Charlie, largely because he knows that his relationship with her isn't great, but he's desperate to correct it when given the opportunity.
- Bullying a Dragon: Alastor goes out of his way to antagonize Lucifer, seemingly just to get a rise out of him after Lucifer "disrespected" him by not knowing of or giving a shit about him, even though it's freaking Lucifer, who could crush him like a bug if he so desired.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Mimzy elaborates that Alastor became as feared as he did because he broadcast the torture of Hell's old Overlords.
- Crossover Cosmology: A Freeze-Frame Bonus of Charlie's phone contacts has the names of notable demons in Judeo-Christian lore... with the exception of Cyhyraeth, a banshee from Welsh mythology.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Once again, Alastor demonstrates why demons should fear him by massacring the loan sharks that attack the hotel. He seemingly goes the extra mile because these lowly demons dared to attack the hotel even though he's taken up residence there, Husk having implied his seven-year absence made people forget about his fearsome reputation.
- Curse Cut Short: During his Quarreling Song with Alastor, Lucifer gets as far as "You tacky piece of—" before he's interrupted by Mimzy.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Alastor forcefully threatens Husk with a tirade involving this after Husk dares to make a crack about how Alastor is also bound in servitude to another.Alastor: If you ever say that again, I will tear your soul apart and broadcast your screams for every other disrespectful wretch who DARES to question me!
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Alastor teases and even insults Lucifer, the most powerful being in Hell.
- Husk does this to Alastor when he reminds him that his soul is also on a leash like his to him.
- Disney Acid Sequence: "Hell's Greatest Dad" starts with Lucifer singing about his willingness to help Charlie as only a loving father would, the whole thing is done using magic that borders on Toon Physics similar to "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin. The song itself transitions into a Quarreling Song when Alastor butts in and starts competing with Lucifer over the role of "father figure."
- Distinction Without a Difference: Husk asks Charlie if she doesn't want to ask Lucifer for help because she has "daddy issues". Charlie denies it, but her explanation fits "daddy issues" to a T.Charlie: We just have... never been close. After he and Mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls... sometimes, but only if he's bored or, like, needs me to do something.
Husk: Daddy issues. - Embarrassing Ringtone: Lucifer's phone apparently has its ringtone set to "Entry of the Gladiators", complimenting his circus motifs.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Lucifer may count, as he is the ruler of Hell and the Pride Ring. And even if you don't consider this evil in itself, maybe you'd consider that being a careless ruler is. However, he genuinely loves his daughter Charlie and still seems depressed about his wife Lilith's disappearance.
- And "Evil" obviously applies to Alastor here:
- He subverts the trope when he states that he sees Charlie as his daughter. It's not true; he's manipulating her just so he can rile up Lucifer.
- Implied with Mimzy. He resents her for having knowingly brought a threat to the hotel and cuts ties with her. However, considering how Alastor usually deals with people who antagonize or cross him, or simply stand in his path, it is clear that Mimzy escapes a horrible fate because of their emotional bond.
- The Evils of Free Will: Lucifer has come to believe in this after his attempt to give it to humanity went horribly wrong.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Alastor's monstrous form more clearly shows off the static-distorted raspy Voice of the Legion that he rarely slips into for intimdation.Alastor: I WILL DEVOUR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
- Expecting Someone Taller: One of Alastor's early barbs to Lucifer is that he's smaller in person.
- Eye Twitch: Doubles as a Freeze-Frame Bonus: but when Lucifer hugs Charlie upon entering the Hotel, we can just barely see Alastor's eye twitching beneath his toothy smile, subtly foreshadowing how he sees Lucifer as a threat to his authority within the Hotel.
- Family of Choice: Alastor argues he has become a Parental Substitute to Charlie, seemingly just to piss Lucifer off. There really isn't anything to suggest he is being sincere here given his relationship with everyone is much more distant than that.
- Flashy Teleportation: At the end, Lucifer teleports away in a swirl of sparkly red magic.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- Charlie's phone contacts include the unseen Amon, Azazel, Barbatos, Belphegor, and Cyhyraeth.
- One of the photos hanging in Lucifer's room is a picture of Charlie giving an uncharacteristic scowl, dressed in a black blouse with black horns and a black streak of hair, implying that she went through a Goth phase in her youth.
- During Lucifer's song, right before he serves the cake, there is something that greatly resembles the flying spaghetti monster on Charlie's table.
- French Cuisine Is Haughty: Lucifer briefly puts on a French accent when he turns the surrounding area into a fancy restaurant and sings "Michelin tasting menu, free à la carte!"
- Game Face: When Husk scoffs that Alastor is a hypocrite due to also being on a leash, Alastor stops abruptly, and his eyes change to radio dials. He then briefly transforms into his One-Winged Angel form out of sheer rage before getting himself back under control.
- Get Out!: After dealing with the loan sharks, Alastor tells Mimzy, in no uncertain terms, that if she's not interested in redemption, then she's not welcome at the hotel and has to leave, now. He remains rather polite throughout, likely because of their history together, but it's apparent he's more than a little peeved at her for bringing trouble to his pet project's doorstep.
- Gilligan Cut: During the attack on the Hotel, right after Lucifer says that showing kindness to Sinners will only lead to disappointment right before Sir Pentious grabs Niffty to pull her out of the way of some debris.
- Hate at First Sight: Alastor and Lucifer start throwing barbs at one another the minute they are in the same vicinity. Alastor gets under Lucifer's skin by playing up that he is a better father figure to Charlie, while Lucifer implies that Alastor is a nobody not worthy of attention.
- Hating on Monday: Husk's coffee mug has "Fuck Mondays" printed on it.
- Hidden Depths:
- Mimzy reveals that there is more to Alastor than being the Soft-Spoken Sadist he plays himself off as. He loves jazz, rye, and dancing, and had frequented Mimzy's club back when they were still alive as Heterosexual Life-Partners. He's also constantly had to bail her out of whatever mess she had gotten herself into.
- Sir Pentious seems to be a surprisingly good baker, as the cookies he makes for Lucifer's visit look a lot better than the ones Niffty made.
- Hidden Eyes: Lilith's face is curiously shadowed in the flashback, despite her portrait being shown before.
- History Repeats: Like Charlie, Lucifer once tried to reform the Sinners in his domain, but he eventually lost hope and gave up on doing so.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Played with regarding Charlie's views on Alastor and Lucifer. Charlie's optimism ends up causing her to think Alastor is genuinely trying to help the Hotel, and that Lucifer doesn't have any faith in her or her dreams; despite Alastor openly stating numerous times he's only supporting Charlie so he can watch Sinners crash and burn for sadistic entertainment, and Lucifer repeatedly mentioning it's not her he lacks faith in but Heaven and the Sinners he has issues with. Charlie's attitude, though is justified due to her family issues and desire for approval; as Alastor, even if he's doing it out of sadism, actually is helping her overall, while Lucifer's strained relationship with Charlie makes her feel like he doesn't care, making her more willing to give Alastor the benefit of the doubt over Lucifer.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: While hinted at before, Alastor fully demonstrates how he needs to feel like the most important person in not just the room, but all of Hell. He is immediately irritated when Lucifer shows no knowledge of or interest in him, tries to act as a father figure to Charlie just to irritate Lucifer, and snaps at Husk when he is reminded that someone owns Alastor's soul just like he owns Husk's. Anything less than pure fear or reverence for Alastor is "disrespect" in his eyes, and despite Lucifer being the literal King of Hell, the notion of anyone daring to ignore him or not recognize who he is infuriates him.Alastor: It's time I remind everyone why I'm here. A reminder to all. Not to mess. With the Radio Demon!
- Lame Comeback: After Lucifer tells Alastor the name he came up with for the hotel isn't very clever, Alastor, who normally has a witty comeback ready, responds with a fake laugh and a "Fuck you!".
- Lampshade Hanging: During his part of "Hell's Greatest Dad" Alastor points out part of his schtick is anachronistic jokes, or as he puts it, "old-timey puns".
- The Last Straw: While Alastor had bailed Mimzy out of jams in the past, he takes her bringing trouble to the Hotel as this, telling her to leave and never come back.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Mimzy acts like everybody should know her and should have been eagerly anticipating her arrival. In Viv's early iterations of Hazbin, Mimzy was part of the main gang.
- Licked by the Dog: Keekee, Razzle and Dazzle are all delighted to see Lucifer when he arrives at the hotel.
- Like a Son to Me: Alastor admits that he sees Charlie as his own daughter. However, since he is clearly saying it to spite Lucifer, it's unclear if the statement is actually genuine.
- Literal Metaphor: Mimzy is hiding from shark demons she's taken a loan from, i.e. Loan Sharks.
- Musicalis Interruptus: Lucifer and Alastor's Quarreling Song ends with Mimzy suddenly breaking in and taking over the song with one of her own.
- My Little Panzer: Lucifer makes a cute rubber duck that can backflip... and breathe fire.
- Mythology Gag: Alastor introduces himself to Lucifer by saying "Pleasure to be meeting you, sir, quite a pleasure" in the exact same way he introduced himself to Charlie in the pilot.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently, the morning before the episode, Niffty somehow got stuck in the toilet drain, and Alastor had to get her out.
- No OSHA Compliance: Lucifer notes that the railings on the Hotel's balcony could use some work; later the chandelier falls right in front of them. This convinces him to show his usefulness by sprucing up the place.
- Offerings to the Gods: Lucifer sings that the going rate for his services is a sacrificial lamb (represented by Dazzle tied to an altar), but he'll give Charlie the "family rate".
- Oh, Crap!:
- The normally unflappable Husk has a moment like this when he makes a snide remark about Alastor also being on a leash, which completely sets Alastor off in a way unlike anything previously seen.
- Vaggie lets out a very unenthusiastic "Yay" when Charlie makes it clear she's taking Vaggie with her to Heaven.
- One-Winged Angel: When Alastor cuts loose against the loan sharks he transforms even further than he did in "Radio Killed the Video Star"—turning into a colossal Humanoid Abomination—large enough to pick up one of the loan-sharks between his fingers and swallow him whole—with writhing Combat Tentacles extending from his back.
- Papa Wolf: When Lucifer asks if Razzle and Dazzle are looking after his little girl, his voice switches from playful to deep and intimidating.
- Parental Obliviousness: Lucifer's estrangement from Charlie is emphasized by his total obliviousness to her Hazbin Hotel project, as well as being surprised that she likes girls when Vaggie is introduced to him as her girlfriend.
- Parental Substitute: Lucifer has gotten it in his head that Alastor is trying to replace him as Charlie's dad, something Alastor plays into just to mess with him.Alastor: [clasping Charlie's hands] You're like the child that I wish that I had. [caresses her cheek paternally... while looking snidely at Lucifer]
Lucifer: [staring incredulously] Uh, what?
Alastor: [tucking Charlie into bed and patting her on the head affectionately] I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned.
Lucifer: Hold on now!
Alastor: [leans on Lucifer's head, crushing his top-hat, before pulling Charlie away from Lucifer and putting his arm around her shoulder] It's a little funny, you could almost call me- [looks over his shoulder to leer at Lucifer] -Dad! - Parents as People: Lucifer clearly loves his daughter, but with Lilith being gone, he's heavily depressed and is struggling to connect with her. This causes him to try and impress her with shows of grandiosity and materialistic means, while unintentionally being ignorant to her actual wants and needs, not helped by her desires being a lot like how he used to be and not wanting her to suffer the same way he did. The two manage to reach an understanding after actually talking to one another and revealing how they both want to know each other "More Than Anything", with Lucifer becoming truly supportive of what Charlie wants, and Charlie seeing for herself that her dad always meant well.Lucifer: I've been dyin' to find out who you are.
Charlie: I've been waiting, wanting the same thing.
Lucifer: Looks like the apple doesn't fall far.
Charlie: Took you a while.
Lucifer: I've missed that smile. - Pass the Popcorn: Angel, Husk, and Pentious start eating popcorn as the drama between Charlie and Lucifer starts heating up.Angel: Ooh, drama.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Lucifer and Alastor immediately start engaging in this the second they meet, exchanging barbed remarks and competing for Charlie's loyalty and attention without outright brawling, likely because Lucifer doesn't want to cause a scene during his reunion with his daughter and Alastor knows better than to pick a fight with the strongest being in Hell. "Hell's Greatest Dad" perfectly exemplifies this, as it's a whole song of this that nearly comes to a head and nearly escalates into something worse before the unexpected arrival of Mimzy.Alastor: Sadly, there are times when a birth parent is a dud! They say the family you choose is better—
Lucifer: What a bunch of losers!
Alastor: Can you BUTT OUT OF MY SONG?
Lucifer: YOUR song? I started this!
Alastor: I'm singing it, I'll finish it!
Lucifer: OH, YOU TACKY PIECE OF- - Pet the Dog: Alastor plays this trope twice toward Charlie (who funnily enough has a character design partially inspired by puppies), but never straight:
- First, when he states in Hell's Greatest Dad that he sees Charlie as his daughter, although he's really just saying it to annoy Lucifer.
- Second, when he protects the hotel against the loan sharks. While he is protecting the hotel to assert his own authority (and declined Vaggie's participation) he did protect the hotel without hesitation, which is more than Lucifer does. He also kicks Mimzy out for endangering everyone, despite earlier lacking concern at what problems she might bring to the hotel.
- Precision F-Strike: When Lucifer mocks the name "Hazbin Hotel", Alastor laughs before quickly retorting "Fuck you." This is the first time Alastor drops an F-bomb in the series, showing just how much Lucifer had gotten to him despite the display of nonchalance.
- Pride: Both Alastor and Lucifer display it as a flaw while trying to one-up each other. Particularly notable for Alastor whose ego has been bruised and threatened by Lucifer's disinterested presence in the hotel. The very notion of someone disrespecting him is enough to make Alastor lose his cool demeanor, and reveal just how egotistical he is beneath it, even if the person he's doing it to is the literal King of Hell. This is further shown by how he responds to Husk and the Loan Sharks disrespecting him, where he can take his anger out directly.
- Properly Paranoid: Husk correctly guesses that Mimzy is in trouble and only dropped by so Alastor would fight her battles for her.
- Quaking with Fear: Alastor's Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon threat leaves Husk shivering in fear on the floor, showing that even someone as jaded as Husk can be terrified when Alastor really lets loose.
- Quarreling Song: Alastor and Lucifer sing "Hell's Greatest Dad" while competing over Charlie's attention, and their mutual dislike towards each other.
- The Reveal: Husk lets it slip that Alastor is, in fact, bound to an even more powerful individual.
- Rewatch Bonus: It's only after the season finale that it really becomes apparent exactly how badly Alastor was playing with fire by needling Lucifer so badly. For the entire series until now Alastor's true power has never been clearly defined but he's been The Dreaded who's easily dominated everyone who's attempted to challenge him, and even with the knowledge that sinner demons (even Overlords) aren't in the same league as hellborn ones, it might seem plausible that Alastor might have been able to throw down with Lucifer if it had come to it. After episode 8 sees Alastor get absolutely Curb Stomped by Adam, who then goes on to be even more decisively curb-stomped in turn by Lucifer, it becomes apparent in hindsight that Alastor couldn't even raise a finger against Lucifer if things got serious, so he was either playing a razor-edge mind game by counting on Charlie's presence keeping Lucifer from flying off the handle, or is simply massively overconfident.
- Room Full of Crazy: Charlie has gone mad trying to figure out why the hotel isn't working, with an entire String Theory board set up in the lobby of all their activities.
- Shout-Out: During Lucifer and Alastor's Quarreling Song, Lucifer plays a solid-gold fiddle, a reference to the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band where The Devil bets (and plays) a gold fiddle for someone's soul in a fiddling contest.
- Potentially another one, to Hellraiser; when Alastor threatens Husk that he'll "tear your soul apart" if Husk ever again brings up Alastor being under someone else's thumb, it echoes (in exact words) what Pinhead threatens to do to Kirsty if he finds that she's crossed him.
- In the opening scene Husk, a cat demon, is holding an orange mug expressing his distain for Mondays, much like Garfield.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Lucifer spends most of the episode dancing around the fact that he doesn't believe that the Hotel will succeed, having gone through similar attempts at redeeming sinners and failing spectacularly.Lucifer: You build something nice, you invite people in and offer them everything, and they bring violence and chaos to your doorstep. It doesn't matter how well-intentioned you are, they're always going to disappoint you.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil:
- The episode finally showcases that while Alastor isn't as directly abusive of Husk as Valentino is with Angel, he can be vicious if Husk actually manages to hit a nerve. Unlike Alastor's defense of the hotel, which is generally portrayed as over-the-top violence, his threats of physical harm to Husk for stepping too far out of line is deadly serious.
- When Husk brings up that Alastor is a hypocrite given how the latter is also on a leash, Alastor goes berserk, implying that he's also on the receiving end of this triggering subject.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Alastor and Lucifer engage in this from the second they meet. It starts out as Passive-Aggressive Kombat but slowly escalates over the course of their first enounter and "Hell's Greatest Dad."Alastor: Pleasure to be meeting you, sir, quite a pleasure! It's nice to finally put a face to the name! You are much shorter in real life!
Lucifer: Who is thi—who is this? Are you the bellhop?
Alastor: AHA! No! I am the host of the hotel! You might have heard of me from my radio broadcasts...?
Lucifer: Hmm... nope! I guess that's why Charlie called it the "Hazbin Hotel", haha?
Alastor: Ha ha ha. It was actually my idea.
Lucifer: [laughter] Well it's not very clever!
Alastor: Ha HA! Fuck you. - String Theory: A frazzled Charlie has put together a string board in the hotel lobby as she attempts to work out why her plan to redeem sinners isn't working with time running out. Five of the strings form a pentagram in the middle of it.
- Sudden Anatomy: Lucifer is usually The Noseless, but when he's psyching himself up to answer Charlie's phone call, he inhales through a pair of nostrils that suddenly appear on his face.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Mimzy drops by the hotel because she knows the loan sharks coming after her will attack it, thereby drawing the wrath of Alastor, who will then eliminate them for her. It works, but Alastor refuses to allow her to shelter herself there any further because she clearly won't make an effort to be redeemed.
- Team Dad: Alastor styles himself as the father figure within the Hotel, if only to drive Lucifer up a wall by poking at his insecurities. For what it's worth, he does seem genuinely protective of the hotel — despite clearly also getting sadistic glee out of punishing those who attack it.
- Thicker Than Water: Invoked by Lucifer against Alastor's Found Family argument on who is Charlie's favorite.
- This Is Gonna Suck: While everyone else reacts to Mimzy's sudden arrival with confusion, Husk is facepalming.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Lucifer reveals that like Charlie, he too tried the whole "Redemption" thing with the sinners of his domain, but has since given up trying to help any of them.
- Took a Level in Kindness: While how sincere it is is ambiguous, Alastor going out to protect the Hotel from the loan sharks and telling Mimzy to shove it because she endangered the Hotel and its residents with her recklessness implies he's actually starting to care about the gang.
- Visual Pun:
- The loanshark Demons who are after Mimzy are literal humanoid sharks wearing stereotypical mobster clothes.
- Lucifer's throne, which is first seen in person in this episode, features intricate wheels and eyes that make it resemble the Throne class of angels.
- Voice of the Legion: Lucifer has this moment naturally, despite his happy-go-luck demeanor, will get frightening if it means protecting Charlie. Except he's showing his darker side to Razzle and Dazzle, who are unfazed by his Implied Death Threat."You taking care of my widdle girl? YOU BETTER BE. Hehe!"
- Wham Line: Husk reveals that Alastor is on the leash of someone even higher than himself, an insinuation that enrages Alastor to the point of threatening Husk to never speak of it again.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Possibly; of the three female loan sharks seen on-screen, none of them are shown to die by Alastor's hands. It's entirely possible he killed them off-screen, but at least one (who gets knocked over when he smashes the cart) was pretty intentionally ignored by his tentacles as they grabbed everyone around her, and the other two are last seen fleeing the scene.
