History Main / PurgatoryAndLimbo

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': The Fugue Plane serves this purpose: a flat, gray wasteland under an equally colorless sky, the sole features of which is the City of [[JudgementOfTheDead Judgment]], ruled by impartial Kelemvor, [[TheGrimReaper god of the dead]], and the Wall of the Faithless. The souls of mortals are left to wander the city for ten days before being collected by the servants of their gods, during which time they're tempted by devils (per the Nine Hells' agreement with the city) to join the latter's ranks. The Wall, meanwhile, is where the souls of those who worshipped no gods in life (even if they never knew they had to) are pressed into the wall itself and left to languish until their minds and souls [[CessationOfExistence disintegrate into nothingness]]. Controversial in-universe, many see the Wall as a punishment even harsher (the process is said to be agonizing) than that faced by the False (those who betrayed their gods) or souls damned to the Hells.

*** The Vestibule of Hell is not strictly part of Hell proper, but rather the barren hinterland skirting the Pit. Here, Dante comes across the souls of opportunists, ditherers and fence-sitters, who chase named through the mist in endless pursuit of a wavering banner, alongside the angels who refused to take sides in Lucifer's rebellion. As these figures refused to take sides or make moral choices in life, they are kept out of both Heaven and Hell and doomed to an afterlife of futility.

* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Kiyoshiro ends up in limbo (represented as an empty DarkWorld) after a near-death experience from Piximon & Gammamon's roughhousing, and after he's revived by Jellymon's MagicalDefibrillator he starts being terrorized by the [[ISeeDeadPeople spirit medium]] Digimon Sepikmon who sought to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality kill him to be his friend]]. After he hits his head and ends up in limbo again, Sepikmon [[DraggedOffToHell attempts to drag him across the River Styx]] to ensure he could never leave again.

* In the Mexican movie ''Como caido del cielo'' ("Like a Gift from Heaven"), Mexican singing legend Pedro Infante is in purgatory, which for him is and empty, dark auditorium, where he has spent decades singing to a nonexistent crowd. He demands that he be let into heaven, stating that his music brought joy to the people of Mexico, but the unseen angels tasked with looking after him say that, yes, his music did bring joy to millions; but they can't ignore the fact that, in life, he was an unrepentant adulterer. They make a deal with him, if he can fix the marriage of an impersonator within two weeks, he'll be allowed into heaven, if he doesn't, it'll be purgatory for all eternity.
* In ''Film/JacobsLadder'', a major influence on ''Franchise/SilentHill'', the final [[TheReveal reveal]] is that Jacob [[spoiler:died in combat in Vietnam]], and what he saw as his life falling apart and the demonic visions he [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness wasn't sure were actually real]] was actually [[AllJustADream all just]] a DyingDream, preparing him for the afterlife.

* In the ''Film/VanHelsing'' movie, the priest/bishop at the beginning states that if Dracula isn't vanquished by Anna Valerious, her whole family will stay in Purgatory. He also hopes Van Helsing has to spend a week in Hell for breaking one of Notre Damme's windows.
* In ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', the "white hotel room" Dave Bowman finds himself in after entering the monolith is a secular version of this, as it is an intermediate step between his existence as a human being and his existence as the immortal [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Starchild]].

* TheReveal of ''Film/{{Reeker}}'' is that the characters were DeadAllAlong and suffering in Purgatory by being Slasher Movie'd by a [[EvilSmellsBad malodourous]] [[ZombiePirateNinjaRobot zombie cyborg]] who represents [[GrimReaper Death by Car Accident,]] and inflicts wounds that mirror the ones that killed them.

** In ''Inferno'', Limbo is the outermost circle of Hell and the final destination of "failed" souls who never attained salvation but aren't evil enough to merit any worse punishment than simply being estranged from God forever; many of them are people who, by virtue of their location in time or space, couldn't accept Christ through no fault of their own. It's largely portrayed as a fairly pleasant place to be in, with green fields and many famous people to talk to; the main punishment is simply the knowledge that there's something better you could've gotten but didn't.

* ''Literature/{{Heck}}'': If a minor is bad, instead of going to Hell, they go to a place called "Heck" that is like Hell, but not as bad and is essentially a reform school where the kids are taught to drop the SevenDeadlySins.

* In Piers Anthony's ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, Limbo is where the various Incarnations live when they aren't on Earth actively running the universe. Their "support staff", the people who serve and support the Incarnations in their jobs, are all dead people who weren't good enough to get into Heaven, nor evil enough to be sentenced to Hell.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', the Dark Forest was [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness originally]] treated as a purgatory for warriors that betray the Warrior Code. They would wander in a cold, starless forest. Later books stray from this idea.
* Parodied in ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'' where the [[ViolentGlaswegian Nac Mac Feegle]] help Roland visit the (or rather, ''an'') underworld and explain "This one used tae be called Limbo, ye ken, 'cuz the door was verra low."
* Anyone ''Literature/{{Corum}}'' kills ends up in a dimension called Limbo. He can summon their souls to fight for them and anyone they kill will take their place so they can move on to CessationOfExistence.

* The final revelation in ''Series/LifeOnMars2006[=/=]Series/AshesToAshes2008'' is that the setting is Purgatory for dying and dead police officers.

* A common fan theory in the early years of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' was that the Island was purgatory and that the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 were in fact DeadAllAlong. The creators denied the theory, which was ultimately {{Jossed}} by various characters escaping the Island, before ultimately returning. In the GrandFinale, however, it turned out that the final season's FlashSideways, rather than being an AlternateTimeline, were actually a FlashForward to a point where all the characters who had died by the end of the series were in purgatory, awaiting the realization of their own death that would allow them to move on

* In ''Series/SleepyHollow'', Purgatory, or the World Between Worlds, is a DarkWorld in which the spirits of the dead and undead are imprisoned, "trapped in the middle" as they wait to go to either heaven or hell.
* In the ''Series/StElsewhere'' episode "After Life", Dr. Wayne Fiscus has a near death experience after being shot. His visions include a trip to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory (which surprises him, since as he says, "I'm not Catholic"), during which he meets the souls of patients and friends who have already died.
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Purgatory is AnotherDimension which serves as an afterlife for all the setting's monsters and a prison for SealedEvilInACan such as the [[HumanoidAbomination Leviathans]] and Eve, the [[MonsterProgenitor Mother of All]]. It's an endless, mistbound forest where all souls are fated to perpetually prey on one another. It's "vast, underutilized, and hell-adjacent", according to the demon Crowley.

** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E32APassageForTrumpet A Passage for Trumpet]]", after the drunken Joey Crown deliberately steps off the curb as [[DrivenToSuicide part of a suicide attempt]], he is hit by a truck and enters a limbo state between life and death.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E4ThePassersby The Passersby]]", [[spoiler:it turns out that the dirt road outside Lavinia Godwin's house is Purgatory. She and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln are the last people to walk down the road and into the afterlife]].
** {{Discussed|Trope}} in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E14FiveCharactersInSearchOfAnExit Five Characters in Search of an Exit]]". The hobo speculates that they are trapped in Limbo.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology

** Asphodel Meadows is also a limbo, though from the way it's described, it's quite a nice place. The destination for most ordinary people, who were neither evil nor great heroes, their souls were free to wander [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin through nigh-boundless meadows of asphodel flowers]], but with one caveat; should any soul drink from the waters of the Lethe, which ran through the fields, they would lose their identity. It's thought this somewhat bittersweet aspect of the Meadows was added to encourage people to seek employment in military roles, as this would grant them access to Elysium.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has an afterlife for each alignment (and then some). The explicitly neutral ones are Purgatory (also called the Boneyard), where the souls of the dead are judged by Psychopomps working for the local Goddess of the Dead and those deemed sufficiently TrueNeutral are kept indefinitely; Limbo (also called the Maelstrom), where the inscrutable Proteans and ChaoticNeutral souls sail through ever-shifting seas of primordial chaos older than the universe; and Utopia or Axis, where LawfulNeutral souls are watched over by the eternally strict Axiomites and Inevitables.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Wagadu Chronicles}}'': the material plane in Wagadu Chronicles is something like this, the Upper Realms are a more Utopian Perfect reality and periodically people from there end up falling to Wagadu, as far as anyone knows this is a one way trip.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', the Trinity of Realities that make up the universe consists of three realms: Paradiso, the Human World, and Inferno. Between them is Purgatorio, a realm existing parallel to the Human World outside of the Trinity where angels, demons, and magical humans are able to travel to. Here is where Bayonetta is free to wreak havoc on her foes without regard to property damage or bystanders.

* The primary character in ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}'' is a nameless boy, who awakens in the middle of a forest on the "edge of {{hell}}", looking for his missing sister. The atmosphere in general is a gray place with only silhouettes and the eyes are seen as [[MonochromaticEyes monochromatic]] [[BlankWhiteEyes white eyes]].
* ''VideoGame/PonyIsland'': As the game slowly reveals itself, you discover that you are a crusader from the 1200s stuck in purgatory- which here is a badly-programmed arcade game made by [[TheDevilIsALoser Satan]].
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'' has the titular town as a kind of fog-covered no-place in which the main characters are faced with horrific ''Film/JacobsLadder''-esque BodyHorror monsters/demons, manifestations of their crimes, failings, and regrets, and their actions and choices in-game determining whether they escape with their sins expiated, remain trapped in the town, or die there.

* ''{{VideoGame/ULTRAKILL}}'': Limbo is depicted as a false paradise: the clear skies are projected onto monitors, the water is holographic, and the sounds of tweeting birds are actually coming from speakers. The primary punishment is driving the residents mad with the artificial serenity, though any notions of serenity are quickly dropped once the enemies start appearing.

* ''{{VideoGame/Valheim}}'': The game is essentially a Myth/NorseMythology version of Purgatory: Warriors' souls are dropped off by Valkyries in Valheim, a tenth world which serves as a prison for the Forsaken, giant monsters that rejected Odin's authority. The player character is not the first to come there (and while none of those who came before remembers their life in Midgard, one runestone muses that they weren't exactly paragons of virtue as "warrior's souls are never clean"), and must defeat each of the Forsaken to mark themselves as worthy of entering Valhalla. Sometime Odin himself pops in to check on your progress.

** ''Shadowlands'': The realm of Revendreth is home to a race of vampiric overlords who feed on souls' pride and sin, purging them of wickedness until they can safely go to one of the other realms of death. It's not pleasant, but since the alternative is eternal damnation in [[{{Hell}} the Maw]], it's a much better choice for anyone sent there.

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* The setting of [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7j5FieXSTf1_gNwhix5n-SA_Ahfcvy1 Purgatony]].
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* In ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the LawfulGood {{heaven}} is shown to have a FluffyCloudHeaven -- like entry area where the newly deceased wait in line to be checked out by the CelestialBureaucracy to see if they qualify to be admitted to {{Heaven}} proper. {{Player Character}}s, however, can optionally just wait there until they are resurrected.
* ''Webcomic/BeyondTheEnd'': The entire story takes place in Purgatory, as the world has ended and all that is left is Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Purgatory constantly shifting with specific zones for the people and creatures that live there, creating an ever changing landscape as the characters journey through. Purgatory has a mix of people from the Beforeworld, native Purgatorians, angels, and demons.

* Limbo in ''Literature/DantesInfanzia'' is established as being where all unbaptized babies end up, managed by St. Jude and Judies, angels who's job is to act as the baby's caretakers and surrogate mothers. This seems to extend to all unbaptized non-believers that do not qualify as adults in their respective society (Dante winding up in Limbo when he died mere seconds before he turned 18). Since God decreed that all who wind up in Limbo are to be treated as babies, Limbo is considered to be a type of IronicHell for anyone who winds up there that isn't an actual baby. They are treated as babies (forced to wear and use diapers and baby clothes, are unable to walk, etc.) by the Judies taking care of them and [[SanitySlippage prolonged exposure to this causes them to regress until they start acting as babies]] without some type of hobby to keep them anchored. [[spoiler:After Dante sacrifices himself by throwing himself into Hell, Lysa's continued defiance against Jude's rule regardless of the odds convinces him that she is allowed to leave Limbo and enter Purgatory (which Jude implies will be a type of pre-school for her) as a "Saint-in-Training".]]

* Featured in a CutawayGag in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', showing the family floating in a white void, feeling ambivalent about the situation.
* Discussed in ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob'': in Episode 11, when Bob's [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] dies, Bob goes to hell to visit him but the Devil informs Bob his dad is not there. When Bob asks if he's in purgatory then, the Devil admits that the place doesn't actually exist.

* The Ghost Zone in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is this according to WordOfGod.