
Saving Blitzo
is a Helluva Boss fanfic by TalosLives
, inspired by the “Blitzo Is Kidnapped” Instagram event. It is available on Fanfiction.net
& AO3
and is part of the Author's Salvation series
.
It was normal for Blitzo, the boss of I.M.P to disappear at times for a few days. Often it was because he was doing some crazy thing that usually involved trouble. So the employees of the company didn't pay much attention to it and only planned on yelling at him when he returned. However, nine days of not seeing their boss was starting to make the group worry that something had happened to him.
Those worries are founded when a call comes in with a simple sentence that changes everything: "I have your boss."
The sequel Healing Blitzo
, deals with Blitzo attempting to recover from his trauma, while his friends and family help him through it while dealing with their own problems. All the while a secret alliance scheme in the background.
These fanfics provide examples of:
- Acceptable Breaks from Canon: Given that the story was written shortly after the first episode, a few details contradict later canon. The most prominent is Stella's name originally being Selena, which was later corrected, and Loona having been adopted by Blitzo at a much younger age. Also, Blitzo's family is closer to the one hinted at in the pilot, with Tilla being his sister rather than his mother and having a different father.
- Adaptational Heroism: While Stella is still portrayed in a negative light, she's shown to be much more caring towards Blitzo and Stolas. She only arranged Blitzo's kidnapping to stop his affair with Stolas and quickly tries to help him when she sees what he's being put through and her parents' plans. While the canonical Stella still doesn't seem like the genocidal type yet, her hiring Striker to assassinate Stolas, paints her in a much unfavourable light than this one.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original Blitzo Is Kidnapped event lasted only about a day both in- and out-of-universe, with only a few posts from the character’s Instagram accounts. Here, the people kidnapping Blitzo and the length of his absence are changed drastically, turning it into a more action-packed and dramatic story.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Blitzo and Stolas' relationship is much more mutually amicable this time around, with the former having grown true romantic feelings for him, this time around.
- Stella relationship with Stolas & Octavia also reserves a mention, after Helluva Boss S2E1 "The Circus". Whereas in canon, Stella is shown to utterly despise Stolas, taking any opportunity she can to make his life miserable, just out of spite and pettiness, in here she's shown to have had genuine feelings for the prince, and is genuinely heartbroken when her family disowns her for her actions.
- Adapted Out: Spindle, Blitzo's horse from his Instagram account
◊, doesn't get as much as a mention in here despite being the one who saves Blitzo in the Blitzo Is Kidnapped event. - Asshole Victim: Outside from Stella, no one sheds a tear over the deaths of Natasha, Alexander, and the rest of their family. Especially considering their genocidal plans and everything they've put Blitzo through.
- The Atoner: Stella is on the path of becoming this, signing up for the Happy Hotel as a means to make up for what she did to Blitzo.
- Batman Gambit: As it turns out, the whole plot to kidnap Blitzo and get the Grimoire was secretly a scheme by the cloaked figure to gain information about the book and its wielder so that he and his allies can better prepare for their true plans.
- Battle Butler: Both Reginald and Grimbeak are this to Stolas, both of them joining in with the rest of I.M.P to save Blitzo.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Both Lady Natasha and Alexander are this. Despite being one of the many behind Blitzo’s kidnapping, and their grand scheme that would kill off half of hell’s population, they ultimately end up killed by the end, leaving the real Big Bad alive and free, to further plan out his real goals. By the end, he ends up killing Natasha, when the plan falls through and she’s no longer needed.
- Bittersweet Ending: Blitzo is successfully rescued and reunited with his friends, Stella’s family is killed and the Grimoire remains out of the hooded villain’s hands. However, not only does the mysterious figure escape, remaining free to plot a great ploy against all of Hell, Heaven & Earth, but Blitzo has become traumatized and broken from several days of torture and the Nightmare Parasite, which have driven him to depression and in need of help. The latter does have a more uplifting note, with the rest of I.M.P. and Stolas being determined to help him through it.
- Broken Bird: By the end of the story, Blitzo has become this after several days of torture and being mind raped by the nightmare parasite, falling into a deep depression of self-loathing. The sequel will deal with him & his family trying to help him heal.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Poor Blitzo spends most of the story being brutally and horrifically tortured in various painful ways, for the location of the book. He receives brutal beatdowns, has his horns & limbs broken, is cut, electrocuted, whipped, stabbed, and forced to humiliate himself for it to stop. And once he has outlived his usefulness, he’s subjective to mental torture in the form of the Nightmare Parasite.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Blitzo has had a long rough life that has caused him a lot of self-hatred and regrets. This includes him causing the death of his mother through childbirth, his siblings dying in front of him, and his first wife Zella passing away.
- Death by Adaptation: Barbie is alive and well in canon, but dies in her teens this time around.
- Death by Childbirth: Blitzo's mother died while giving birth to him due to complications. This death has forever haunted Blitzo, making him believe he's ruined lives since the day he was born.
- Death by Secret Identity: Right before she’s killed by her former hooded ally, Natasha can figure out his identity when he reveals his mark to her.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: When the story was originally published, Stella’s official name had not been revealed yet and thus was referred to as Selena for most of the fanfic as a placeholder. When Loo Loo Land was eventually released, the chapters were rewritten to include her canon name.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Blitzo may be greedy, cynical, and more than happy to kill most people, he turns down a job involving them burning down a hospital and the patients in there after he and his team entertained the children there. He even shoots the client dead right there.
- The Faceless: The unnamed, hooded figure working long aside Natasha’s family is never given any kind of description other than wearing a hood and having a cursed mark.
- Fallen Princess: By the end of the story, Stella has become this, abandoned by her family. Disgusted by her actions, she disavows her own title, gives up all her riches and spoils, and gives up the Ars Goetia life style, for a chance at redemption at the Happy Hotel.
- Gas Leak Cover-Up: Stolas and I.M.P. attempt to frame the attack on Natasha’s manor and the death of her family as this. Lucifer sees right through it, however.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: While at the hospital, Loona slaps Blitzo to stop him from wallowing in his guilt, before telling him that the gang really does like him.
- Gilligan Cut: Poor Moxxie has one in Chapter 7.Moxxie: I don’t care! I am not going to go undercover!
[Later]
Moxxie: I can’t believe I’m going undercover. - Gory Discretion Shot: Used when Loona utterly butchers one of the owl demons, attempting to escape with Blitzo.
- I Am a Monster: During his rant in the final chapter, admitting to all his failings and how he feels undeserving of love, Blitzo says this about himself.
- I Have No Son!: More of a case of, I have no wife/mother. Stolas and Octavia both disown Stella, after finding out about her involvement in Blitzo’s kidnapping and her family’s plans for Hell’s lower class.
- In the Hood: The secret Big Bad is constantly hidden beneath a hooded cloak, with very little description given to his appearance. He is not even named throughout the first story.
- Impersonation Gambit: After finding and interrogating Vaax, the Imp hired to kidnap Blitzo, I.M.P. decides to disguise Moxxie as the assassin in an attempt to lure out his employers and capture them for info.
- Last Episode, New Character: The final chapter of the fanfic features an appearance from Lucifer and a cameo from Angel Dust, both of whom look to become more prominent in the coming sequels.
- Lock-and-Load Montage: I.M.P. & Stolas have one before they and the prince’s army start their attack on Natasha’s mansion, complete with them picking weapons and a rousing speech from Stolas.
- Lost Lenore: Chapter 13 reveals that Blitzo had a wife before founding I.M.P. and meeting Loona, in the form of a lizard demon named Zella, before she was killed.
- Mind Rape: Blitzo eventually becomes the victim of a nightmare parasite, a worm-like creature that latches onto a victim’s brain, and puts them into a comatose-state while their worst fears, past mistakes, and hidden thoughts are played out in their mind on loop until the victim dies. While Blitzo survives the ordeal, the experience leaves him traumatized and broken as he’s forced to watch his loved ones die or abandon him, all the while calling him out for his selfish behaviour and failings.
- Mistaken Identity: On their way home, from a canceled hit at a hospital, Blitzo, Moxxie and Millie are mistaken for a group of clowns, hired to entertain the children at the hospital wing. Luckily, Blitzo’s circus days come in handy as they’re able to amaze the children and leave without getting caught.
- Mythology Gag: In chapter 3, in the Archive Of Our Own version, everyone gets their first lead to Blitzo’s kidnappers, with a photo from his Voxagram account of a disguised imp photobombing him.
◊ This is the same picture of Blitzo’s Instagram account, which was the start of the Blitzo is Kidnapped event. - Off with His Head!: Stolas kills Alexander this way, after stabbing him with his spear.
- Parental Abandonment: In this timeline, Loona was left as a baby by her birth parents & pack due to being the runt of the litter.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Loona gets one from Blitzo, during a flashback, after meeting her real family and claiming that he doesn't see her as anything other than a pet.Blitzo: “Loona. I’m going to say this just once to you. So you better fucking listen well. Every day, hour, and a minute since we first met all those years ago, I have always thought of you as my daughter. Not once have I ever seen you as some kind of pet or animal or beast. I’ve always seen you as my pride and my joy. I have spent these sixteen years working my ass off to make sure you were fed, educated, and safe. I threatened, blackmailed, and paid off those teachers and principles just to make sure you weren’t kicked out. I didn’t take those life-risking jobs, some that would give you nightmares, just so I could fill my wallet. I did it so I could give whatever I could to you! I didn’t fucking pray to God, something no demon EVER DOES, when you were sick with Kennel Cough when you were nine years old because I was bored! I did all of that because I FUCKING LOVE YOU!”
- “The Reason You Suck” Speech: Blitzo gets several while being mind raped by the nightmare parasite, though the most scathing comes from a mental doppelganger of himself.Blitzo: N-no! Stop! You can’t!
Fake Blitzo: Why not? Didn’t we swear we were going to do whatever it takes? To not give a fuck about anyone or anything else? Didn’t it feel great just finally killing them all and getting drunk afterward? Don’t you remember it?
Blitzo: No! I never wanted to remember it! “You have to stop!”!
Fake Blitzo: I can’t because this is what you wanted. Don’t be such a pussy. It’s not like you really care about them, or anyone. You don’t care about anyone anymore. You numbed yourself so you couldn’t feel that pain ever again. You love nobody but yourself. That was what you promised afterward, wasn’t it? Let’s count your so-called family? Loona? She’s just a pretend daughter for something you’ll never have in real life. That spineless shrimp, Moxxie? He’s a weak, pathetic loser who reminds you of your former self, so you just kick him around because it feels good hurting him, doesn’t it? That psycho lapdog Millie? The only reason you keep that crazy bitch is that she’s good at killing and says yes to you like a good little bitch. That rich asshole, Stolas? The only reason you’re fucking Stolas is that you just need his book, and you know that deep down, there is no future for you two.
Blitzo: N-no! That’s not true! They’re my-
Fake Blitzo: Your family died years ago, Blitzo. Getting it through you’re fucking thick skull. No amount of pretending your employees are family is going to change that. It’s not like you’re a good ‘family man’ yourself. You don’t care about any of them for who they are or what they want in life. You just care that they give you the satisfaction of a fake family because that’s what you are. A fake pathetic wannabe who's just good at killing people because that’s all you’ve ever done in your life. From the moment you were born and killed your mother, you’ve always been a cursed soul. - Rejected Apology: No one is forgiving of Stella after she apologizes for her deeds, least of all Stolas & Octavia.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Played with. While Loona is still Blitzo’s adopted daughter, here she was adopted as an infant rather than as a young adult.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Millie goes on one in chapter 8 after Moxxie is shot while impersonating an imp assassin. Luckily, he survives, as the mask he wore protected him from the bullet.
- Rousing Speech: Prince Stolas delivers one to his private army and the rest of I.M.P. before they storm Natasha’s home.
- Shout-Out: Before the story, Moxxie had a near-death experience while delivering a package for Blitzo to Stolas. During his delivery, the Extermination started early with Moxxie ending up being attacked and nearly killed by an exorcist. A very clear reference to Maxx TP’s short webcomic, with the same premise in which Moxxie is killed during this.

- Torture Is Ineffective: Despite Blitzo being put through the wringer both physically and mentally, it is not enough for him to reveal the location of the Grimoire to his captors.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Natasha & Alexander’s ultimate plan is to use Stolas’ Grimoire to cast a spell that will suck all the lower class citizens of Hell, subsequently killing them all, and thus ridding it of the overpopulation problem and the Exterminations.
- Wham Line: In Chapter 8, we finally learned who hired Blitzo’s kidnapping.Stolas: Octavia...I’m so sorry...I’m so so sorry...
Octavia: D-Dad? W-Who...who is...”
Stolas: “...It’s Stella...It’s...your mother.” - You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The first story ends with I.M.P. and Stolas giving one to Blitzo, after he breaks down in front of them, reassuring him that despite his past mistakes and what he thinks of himself, they still love him and will never abandon him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The mysterious figure kills Natasha after she stops being useful to his plans.
- Abomination Accusation Attack: Once Millie’s family hear about Moxxie's Dark and Troubled Past as an artificially made Super-Soldier, their previous hatred of him grows even more, and they waste no time in letting him know how disgusted they are with him and keep calling him an unnatural freak, monster, and abomination. Moxxie, for his part, is mostly unphased by it - After all, he already agrees with them and has considered himself a monster for a long, long time for all of the horrible things the I.R.A forced him to do - but when Joe dishes out the same accusation to his and Millie’s unborn child, that’s when he has enough of it and clocks Joe in the jaw for it, warning him that he’ll do worse to him if he dares insult their baby again.
- Acronym Confusion: When Rachmiel hears about the Imp Resistance Army, he's at first confused because they use the same acronym as the Irish Revolutionary Army.
- A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 10 takes a break from I.M.P. & Stolas, instead focusing on some of the side characters. In particular, Metatron discussing Blitzo with Azrael and why they would let him be healed.
- Abandoned Area: Tyson and his gang set up shop in an old abandoned factory that used to be used for creating farming equipment and studying earthquakes.
- Abusive Parents: Moxxie's parents treated him less as a person and more like a tool for their own ends. He wasn't even given a name for most of his life, being instead referred to by a serial number.
- Accidental Pervert: Rachmiel ends up becoming this when he touches Loona's breasts during their first meeting. She rewards him with a slash of her claws.
- Acid Attack: Millie's vomit becomes acidic as she & Moxxie learn when she accidentally kills one of their targets with it. This is revealed to be a side effect of her being pregnant.
- Adaptational Heroism: This was planned out long before Season 2, so when we see Blitzo's father, he's a tough, but kind, loving, and supportive parental figure who encourages his son to never give up on his family rather than a self-centred, manipulative, and abusive jerk who sold him for five dollars and a condom just for a chance to get richer.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Blitzo went from having a crush on Fizzarolli, one that his best friend never knew about, to them being in a relationship during their teens at the Family Circus. Still ends in flames though, the two likely departing on bad terms.
- Adaptation Species Change: Played with; Moxxie is technically still an imp, though he is an artificial one grown in a lab rather than one by birth.
- Adoptive Name Change: While ACDS only used the name Moxxie while undercover at The Sirenis Musical Academy for Gifted Students, he would eventually embrace his new name and even used it during the short time he was adopted by Alex & Isabella.
- Afraid of Needles: Millie, of all people, is revealed to be this, apparently believing Alex Jones' conspiracy theories about them.
- All Bikers Are Hells Angels: The Scarhorns, a biker gang working for Tyson, are all depicted as being monstrous and savage, taking glee in murdering and hurting others and even keeping tallies of their kills on their horns.
- Allergic to Evil: Upon arriving in Hell, Rachmiel is overwhelmed by all the sin and evil of the realm and becomes sick. He manages to adjust a while later, but it's clear this is effecting him.
- Anger Born of Worry: Both Moxxie & Loona are upset with Blitzo after his near death. Moxxie is getting tired of Blitzo keeping secrets and his refusal to open up and seek help, and Loona goes on a furious destructive rant at Blitzo before breaking down in tears.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Moxxie gives an emotionally tearful one to Millie along with an apology for lying about his true heritage in Chapter 27. Thankfully, after their time apart, it's enough to make her forgive him and the two happily reunite.
- Animal Motifs: The angel Rachmiel has the form of an anthromorphic caladrius. The caladrius was a snow-white bird from Roman & Christian tales that would heal the sickm, which is a fitting match given his ties to Heaven and job as a doctor & spirit healer.
- Archangel Azrael: The titular angel appears in Chapter 10, having a chat with Metatron regarding whether or not to heal Blitzo. He's modeled after the signature Grim Reaper and adorned with accessories related to Death from different cultures.
- Archangel Raphael: The prime archangel serves as the mentor and father figure to his fellow healer Rachmiel, and he even appears in person in Chapter 15 to say goodbye and give him a gift as his student prepares to go into Hell.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In Hell, schools are destroyed on the regular due to many different factors such as Exterminations, Overlord turf wars, natural disasters and football rivalries.
- Artificial Human: Moxxie, along with an army of imps, was grown in a lab to become the ultimate weapon in a revolutionary army against the upper class of Hell. They all look like imps, but were crafted to think, survive, move and fight better than most common imps.
- Astral Projection: Stolas is revealed to have this ability in Chapter 12.
- The Atoner:
- Moxxie is deeply regretful of his past life with the I.R.A. and being a killer for his parents, having left that life behind. He's done his best to atone for his past actions while starting a new life with Millie & I.M.P.
- As mentioned before, Stella has been making great strides in becoming this, throwing away much of her wealth and possessions, joining the Hazbin Hotel to better herself by becoming their chef, attempting to find a cure for the Nightmare Parasite and wanting to help Blitzo and others any way she can once she learns of Rachimel's presence.
- Baby's First Words: During the flashback to Loona's childhood, we get to see her first words. That being Blitzo, much to the younger imp's delight and joy.
- Badass Boast: When Moxxie and Blitzo arrive at the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch in chapter 27 to meet up with Millie again after she left in the wake of Moxxie’s past being revealed to her, Millie’s family confront the pair and ask Moxxie to give them one good reason why they should let him speak to Millie after he supposedly hurt her. Moxxie responds with one of these:Moxxie: I’m a genetically altered child soldier created by my parents, who happened to have been the Leaders of the Imp Resistance Army. I have been trained since I was created to kill and be the perfect assassin. I have killed multiple targets ranging from political figures to outright military officers. I know a hundred ways to hurt, maim, cripple and even kill you and your family right here and now, and half of them are with my bare hands. I have personally taken part in the wiping out of the I.R.A, including the deaths of my other genetically altered siblings, who I personally ended. I have mastered every type of gun you can imagine, and I know every bone in the body’s breaking point. I have survived countless do-or-die missions and killed so many people I can fill your farm with graves. I’m a living fucking weapon, Joe.Moxxie: Do you really want me to turn the safety off and show you that I’m not a skinny-ass bitch? Because I am this close to making you one of mine.
- Bad Boss: Father, the creator and commander of the Synthetic Imps, was neither a good father figure or leader to his creations, even killing one of them just for feeling sick.
- Becoming the Mask: Initially raised to be an emotionless, living weapon, Moxxie would take on the persona of a talented but common orphaned imp with a love of music while investigating a potentially corrupt music school. During his time there, he ended up living under the roof of one of its music teachers, Alex, and his wife Isabella. However, the kindness of his surrogate parents, along with his newfound friends at the legitimately good school, soon began to influence the young Moxxie as he got his first taste of real love and fitting in somewhere, so much so that he began to view Alex & Isabella as his actual parents and happily agreed to be adopted by them. Their deaths and the destruction of the school is what lead Moxxie to take down the I.R.A.
- Big Brother Instinct: Rachimel's older brother Tezal isn't too happy about his younger brother going to Hell to help heal an imp, mostly because he knows how much the denizens of Hell hates Heaven and angels and that Rachimel's life will be in constant danger the longer he stays there. He unsuccessfully tries to convince his brother to leave and gives him a holy gun in order to defend himself while he's there.
- Big Brother Worship:
- Rachimel greatly admires and respects his older brother Tezal, with the brother's encouragement helping him to improve his skills with a gun and confidence with himself.
- Blitzo similarly respects his deceased older sister Tilla.
- Big Damn Heroes: After a quick call from Blitzo, Stolas quickly arrives to end the siege of Millie's family home, quickly turning the bikers into stone and then reducing them to dust.
- Big "WHAT?!": Loona & Stolas let out one in chapter 27 when they find out about Blitzo & Moxxie going to get Millie from her parents.
- Bird People: Rachmiel Ta’lin, the spirit healer in charge of caring for Blitzo, is an anthropomorphic caladrius.
- Bitch Slap: Moxxie gives a devastating punch to Joe when he insults both him and his unborn child.
- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: The Imp Resistance Army, or I.R.A., was a revolutionary group of imps who wanted to overthrow the ruling hierarchy of Hell and inspire other imps to rise up against their obsessing upper class and supposedly establish a better, more fair order for the lower class. However, in the time they operated, they were brutal in their ways, assassinating, bombing, and raiding numerous members of the nobility and anyone, including other imps who spoke out against them.
- "Both Sides Have a Point" Remark: Upon learning that Don Ziggler plans on burning down the circus, in retaliation for the Ringleader refusing to pay him, Blitzo's father's first response to have him and his family flee under the cover of night. Blitzo is outraged by this, reminding his family how he taught them the Circus was his family, and that they couldn't abandon their friends, including his then boyfriend Fizzarolli, like that. His father acknowledges the hypocrisy but counters that telling everyone would start a panic and give away their escape, so it is best to prioritise their immediate family under the circumstance. Even Rachmiel the angel acknowledges that he wouldn't know what to do in that situation.
- Brutal Honesty: The Doctor treating Blitzo after his near suicide incident in Chapter 6 doesn't pull any punches when addressing Octavia & the rest of I.M.P. He tells them that Blitzo is a lost cause and that it would be better to euthanize him before he tries to kill himself again.
- Bullying a Dragon: Even after Moxxie reveals to them that he’s a genetically engineered Super-Soldier and former member of the I.R.A. and they realize that he could’ve killed them all at any time if he’d wanted to, Millie’s family (sans Sallie May) still refuse to stop badmouthing him or try to coerce Millie into dumping him. If anything, the reveal makes them double down on treating him like crap by outright calling him a monster, freak and abomination to both his and Millie’s faces at a point where she’s already forgiven him for keeping his real identity a secret from her and knows that he’s become The Atoner ever since he took down the I.R.A.
- Cain and Abel:
- Moxxie & Tyson were raised to be assassins and soldiers by their parents until the former grew disillusioned with his lifestyle. This, naturally, turned the two against each other, with Moxxie believing that he killed his older brother. As it turns out, Tyson survived the attempt and is hellbent on killing Moxxie and all those he hold dear as revenge.
- Cain himself is revealed to be the mysterious hooded figure from Healing Blitzo, and Big Bad of the series, planning something that would disturb the foundations of Heaven, Hell and Earth.
- Calling the Old Man Out:
- Moxxie calls out Joe as well as Millie's entire family for not only keeping his wife from him, but for never treating him with respect despite his best efforts to appease them.
- In the next chapter, both of Millie's parents get no end of talkings to for how they treat Moxxie after his past is revealed to them. These come from not only Millie but Moxxie, Blitzo, and even Stolas by the end.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You:
- After the revelation that Heaven is aware of I.M.P. and their activities on Earth, Stolas asks why he hasn't been killed for his part in their actions. Metatron explains that it's partially because Stolas is too valuable when it comes to the creation of additional Heavens and Hells.
- Moxxie's parents are revealed to be alive, though locked up in an undisclosed location, because the leaders of Hell wante to use their cloning expertise to potentially build their own army.
- Catapult Nightmare: Blitzo does one in the prologue after suffering through a nightmare of the death of his sisters.
- Child Soldiers: Moxxie is revealed to have been one during his time in the IRA along with several other lab-grown imps.
- *Click* Hello: Moxxie's first encounter with Danarius lead to him greeting the lizard like this.
- Cliffhanger:
- Chapter 12 has quite the haunting one as Moxxie finds Tyson, his former brother that he was sure he'd killed, in his home with his pregnant wife.
- Chapter 22. Moxxie finally decides to tell Millie the truth about himself and his brother, only for Tyson's "gift" to Millie to explode in close proximity to her. The final moments of the chapter have her blacking out while Moxxie calls out to her.
- Clone Angst: Moxxie views himself as an abomination and not a real imp due to being a clone created just for the sake of war. He even considered killing himself over it at one point.
- Closet Geek: To prove his Omniscience to Blitzo, Metatron reveals that he knows he secretly roleplays as the Seventh Doctor with an Applejack plushie serving as his Ace.
- Commonality Connection: Blitzo and Rachmiel bond during one of their mental voyages over their shared admiration and love for their older siblings.
- Crash-Into Hello: How Loona and Rachmiel first meet each other in Chapter 15, as they clash while Loona is about to leave through the door to Blitzo's room just as Rachmiel enters.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Rough N’ Tumbleweeds versus the Scarhorn biker gang in chapter 28 ends in a landslide victory for the former - It's to the point where the family spends most of the battle arguing with each other over their treatment of Moxxie rather than actually focusing on their foes. The only real damage the Scarhorns manage to do in the end is blowing a hole in a wall and mildly injuring Joe’s leg… And that’s when Blitzo calls in Stolas, who ends the battle right then and there by turning the invaders to stone and then reducing them to dust with a snap of his fingers. The remaining bikers have enough sense to turn tail and run after that.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Before joining I.M.P., Moxxie was a nameless lab-grown Child Soldier who was raised by his birth parents, alongside his siblings, to be a coldhearted emotionless killer for the Imp Resistance Army. However, as time went on, Moxxie started becoming regretful of taking lives, especially innocent lives, and the path he was forced into by his parents. When he was set to infiltrate a prestigious music school, he ended up getting taken in by a music teacher and his wife, who loved him as if he was their own child and hoped to adopt him for real...only for the I.R.A to kill them alongside Moxxie's new friends by blowing up the school just for the sake of "sending a message" about the I.R.A's power. This incident is what caused Moxxie to finally turn on his parents and kill his former family, sans his brother Tyson who survived.
- Deadly Graduation: The final test Moxxie had to pass in his training to be an assassin for the I.R.A. was to take out another Synthetic Clone, his own batch sister. Both had to assemble a pistol and fire it at each other before the other could. Moxxie passes with ease, only being caught off guard when he notices the relief on his sister’s face before she dies.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tyson has quite the sharp tongue on him, which he readily demonstrates whenever he deals with people he considers idiots and especially when they state the obvious.Scarhorn Leader: (after returning from the failed ranch raid) My entire gang is dead!Tyson: I can see that.
- Death Is Cheap: This is the case for Angels. Unlike demons, they have no permanent-death; Should they be killed, they will eventually return to life either through reincarnation or healing depending on the state of their bodies through channeling an energy that they call grace.
- Death Wail: Blitzo lets outs a loud guttural one, after being painfully and vividly reminded of the night his circus burned down, his boyfriend was burned alive and biological family was killed right in front of him. This first time he's had to deal with it in years.
- Defusing the Tyke-Bomb: In Moxxie's backstory, Alex, Isabella, and the students at The Sirenis Musical Academy for Gifted Students ended up unknowingly doing this to Moxxie. He was merely sent by the I.R.A. to infiltrate the school under a fake identity as a musically gifted orphan, but Alex and Isabella taking him in and showering him with love and affection as if he was their own flesh and blood alongside the friends he made at the academy slowly made Moxxie want to abandon his mission, having grown to consider Alex and Isabella his true family. Their deaths and the destruction of the school devastated him and is what made him see the I.R.A. for what they really are, which led to him turning on them.
- Demolitions Expert: This was Tyson's main specialty in the army.
- Didn't See That Coming: After the Scarhorn leader calls Tyson out on not informing them that Moxxie had a Goetian prince on his side thanks to his connection with Blitzo, Tyson replies that he actually genuinely didn’t believe that Stolas would get involved. He also admits to himself that while he didn’t expect the bikers to actually subdue Moxxie, he’d at least hoped that they’d successfully kill Millie and her family and is genuinely surprised that the family so thoroughly kicked the Scarhorns’ asses.
- Disposable Woman: The deaths of Barbie, Tilla and Zella, Blitzo's former lover, ultimately feel like this as they were killed off, mainly to fuel Blitzo's desire for revenge on Don Ziggler and later to lead to his later Heroic BSoD Arc in the sequel.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Being a doctor and healer, Rachmiel isn't fond of guns or using one in general. Nevertheless, he reluctantly accepts the holy gun that his brother Tezal gives him for his own safety.
- Dream Intro: More of a Nightmare intro. The prologue opens with what seems to be a flashback of Blitzo performing with his sisters Tilla & Barbie. Midway through their act, however, the sisters turn into mangled, twisted versions of themselves before they plummet to their deaths. It ends with his mental duplicate taunting Blitzo before throwing him off his platform into an abyss, causing him to awake.
- Driven by Envy: BoBo, one of the many imps from Blitzo's circus, always hated and resented the imp for getting more attention and praise than he was despite being an imp, routinely bullying him and mocking his dead mother whenever he could.
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Easily Forgiven: Downplayed and zig-zagged with Moxxie. After his past as an artificially made Super-Soldier and former terrorist is revealed, the reactions are decidedly mixed:- Blitzo holds no ill will towards him as he’s made his fair share of mistakes and shitty things over the course of his life, and he can tell that Moxxie is genuinely remorseful for what he’s done.
- Loona, while surprised, also brings up that Moxxie had no choice but to obey, meaning that she can’t bring herself to dislike him over it.
- Millie is much slower to it, feeling rather betrayed over finding out that their relationship was built on nothing but lies and how Moxxie’s past had put a target on the backs of not just her, but also their unborn child. It leads to her travelling back to Wrath to stay with her family and decide on how she feels about him. A pep-talk from Sallie and Moxxie’s Heartfelt Apology does cause her to realize how genuine he is, which leads her to forgive him. It helps that she’s realized that he had no choice in the matter, either.
- Averted with Millie’s family, whose hatred kicks into high-gear when he reveals his past to them. They waste no time calling him a freak and a monster and try to force Millie to leave him even after she’s reconciled with him. They also discuss the trope with Millie, pointing out (not unjustly) that there are demons who won’t be as merciful should they find out about it as the IRA killed a lot of innocent people due to their With Us or Against Us view.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: ACDI makes her debut in a flashback to Moxxie's past, breaking into Moxxie's surrogate family's home and eating some of their leftover cake before bringing her brother home.
- Establishing Character Moment: Chapter 11 serves as a great introduction to Rachmiel Ta’lin, showing off his knowledge as a healer, his socially awkward personality and his desire to do good & seeing the best in people.
- Expendable Clone: The synthetic imps made by Moxxie’s parents raised them to be nothing more than weapons for the I.R.A. When one died, they were quickly replaced with another to take their place without so much as a tear.
- Face Your Fears: The main way the Soul Walk heals someone of the Nightmare Parasite, is by taking the person on a journey through their memories, mainly the traumatic one, in order to allow the individual to confront and make peace with them.
- Faint in Shock: Moxxie has this reaction when it's revealed that Millie is pregnant.
- Fallen Princess: Isabella Esine, the former countess and second niece of Earl Furfur, was viewed as a disgrace by her family and fellow Goetia, causing her to isolate herself from them. Once she turned eighteen, she agreed to give up her titles and never return to her family in order to settle down in a normal life. Unlike many cases, Isabella viewed this deal as a positive thing as it allowed her to strike out on her own without having to worry what her family thought of her.
- Family of Choice:
- While they started out as a more dysfunctional one, after everything they went through to save Blitzo, I.M.P. have since grown closer and more of a real family together. This is best shown in Chapter 9 where they encourage Blitzo to disband the company, telling him that they'll still be there for him regardless.
- Alex & Isabella become Moxxie's new surrogate parents during his months undercover at The Sirenis Musical Academy for Gifted Students. Over time he comes to prefer them to his actual parents as they treat him with genuine kindness and love, something Moxxie was completely unused to by that point. When they offer to become his adopted parents, Moxxie happily agrees. Unfortunately, they don't have a long time together before Alex & Isabella are blown up by the I.R.A., along with the school and its students.
- Fantastic Racism: Played with; while Blitzo is not fully prejudiced against angels & Rachmiel, he is extremely hesitant about letting one of them heal him, which makes sense given the tense history & rivalry between Heaven & Hell.
- Flashback Echo: Blitzo suffers from one after learning that Millie is pregnant, causing him to flashback to when his old wife Zella told him the same news.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Dr Spencer is a steadfast atheist even after having undeniable proof that Cain, Heaven and Hell are real. She later justifies herself by stating that she's become disillusioned with Heaven, believing God has abandoned his creations and wants to create a world without him wherein humans can live on their own with the help of science.
- Flatline: Blitzo briefly flatlines after his suicide attempt but is brought back to life thanks to defibrillation.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite Rachmiel's desire to rebuild the bridges between Octavia and Stella, the owlet and Loona make it very clear that there's no forgiving her after what she put Blitzo through.
- Freudian Slip: Moxxie accidentally called Isabella "Mom" after coming home from school one day. Worried and embarrassed at first, Isabella and Alex are actually thrilled by it, offering to formally adopt Moxxie.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: During her stay at the Hotel, Stella has become friends with almost all its residents…except for Alastor, whom she warns Stolas to be vary off, sensing that he has plans involving the prince.
- Friendless Background:
- Octavia didn't have any friends as a child; While she attempted to form friends with the other kids in school, she was unable to connect with the other kids due to her uncommon interests and was frequently bullied during her time there.
- Rachmiel confesses to Blitzo that he doesn't have many friends in Heaven, and the ones he does have, he only really knows in passing.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Moxxie's Mother & Father are so skilled in Genetic Engineering and Cloning that they were spared by Hell despite their numerous horrific crimes in order to use their knowledge to build an army against Heaven.
- Get Out!: In the aftermath of the battle against the Scarhorns in chapter 28, Joe demands that Moxxie leave the ranch and never come back, blaming him for the damage caused to the family’s farm since the bikers were hired by Tyson to capture Moxxie and making it crystal-clear that Moxxie is no longer welcome under their roof or on their land (not that he was exactly welcome even before that) under any circumstances.
- Gilligan Cut: We get one in Chapter 21.Moxxie: Yeah, honey. Everything is fine.
Lin on the phone with Millie: Everythin’ is not fine. - Given Name Reveal: Moxxie reveals his true born name to Blitzo at the hospital. It's revealed to be a bar code, ACDS-131524240905, having been created in a lab and raised to be a living weapon.
- Good Feels Good: Millie notes that while it's weird that they're working for angels, it feels good and more satisfying than killing innocent people.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Tilla's death and implied rape is never shown, as we see it through Blitzo's POV, who was hiding with Barbie so as to not get hurt. We do hear noises though, enough that we can tell her final moments were not pleasant.
- Grave-Marking Scene: In Chapter 22, Moxxie visits the graves of the ones he considers his true family: his former music teacher and adopted father Alex Esine and his wife Isabella Esine. He talks to them about the recent going ons, the return of his brother and his worries on how his wife will take the news regarding his origins. It's this visit that ultimately convinces him to admit the truth to Millie.
- Glamour: Raphael gives Rachmiel a glamour ring that allows the angel to disguise himself as a demon, even masking his aura, should he ever want to interact with other demons.
- Hates Their Parent: Moxxie utterly despises his parents to the point of wanting to kill them and claiming to everyone that they are dead.
- Heartfelt Apology: In chapter 27, Moxxie and Millie have a private heart-to-heart after Moxxie and Blitzo arrive at the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch in order for Moxxie to set things straight and reaffirm his love for his wife. Moxxie tells Millie that he’s not proud of what he’s done as an I.R.A. Super-Soldier, especially since they killed many innocent people such as his adoptive parents and friends, and that he considers himself a monster and contemplated killing himself after destroying the I.R.A. and killing off all of his siblings; he states that he would’ve gone through with it had he not met Blitzo and Millie and found a new purpose in life. He then apologizes for keeping his past a secret from her and admits that he said nothing about it because he was afraid that he’d lose her if she knew the truth, and he promises that he’ll tell her everything from now on and confirms that he wishes to face whatever comes next by her side for the sake of their child. All the while, he’s fully prepared for the possibility that Millie might reject him and be disgusted with him not just for what he did in the I.R.A. but also for not being a ”normal” imp. Millie’s response is to pull him into a tight hug and declare that she’s missed him, having had a lot of time to mull things over and realizing that she still loves him regardless of what he’s done. She also takes Moxxie’s arrival to make amends with her as the ultimate proof that his feelings for her were always real, thus proving Sallie correct, even if his identity wasn’t.
- Hermaphrodite: Isabella posses both female (including a feminine face and upper body) and male traits (antlers, eyes and lower body). While she was originally fully female, her father attempted to change her gender when she was still in the womb due to his sexism and desire to have a son. The spell backfired, however, as she was then born as a mix of the two genders, causing her to become an outcast and freak among the Ars Goetia. Despite having both gendered traits, however, Isabella identifies as female.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Moxxie shuts down at the end of chapter 25 after Millie leaves for her family’s farm in the wake of him revealing his past as a former I.R.A. soldier to her, needing some time to digest everything and re-evaluate her relationship with him, in particular if she can still trust him. For a whole week, he stays in his room, curled up in a Troubled Fetal Position and blaming himself for Tyson trying to kill Millie. He also has no intention of going after his wife since he firmly believes that she hates him for his past actions, which have now also put both her and their child in danger. Blitzo snaps him out of it by barging into his room to break up the ”pity party”, forcing him to acknowledge that he loves his wife and kid and practically dragging him along on a road trip to Wrath to meet up with Millie again, even putting his own treatment on hold to do so, all so that Moxxie can come clean and properly apologize and reaffirm his love for Millie. All the while, the I.M.P. founder also comforts Moxxie and tells him that he doesn’t hate him or blame him for what he was forced to do in the I.R.A., telling Moxxie that he’s at least trying to atone for his crimes and admitting that he himself has done more than his fair share of fatal mistakes over the course of his long, long life and thus has no place to judge.
- Millie slips into a small one after effectively disowning her family when they force her to choose between them and Moxxie and her unborn child. While she still loves them, she despairs over just how little they seem to trust or respect her choices and wishes even after she’s forgiven Moxxie for his actions in the IRA and for keeping his past a secret from her. Hearing about her unborn baby’s gender thanks to a slip of the tongue from Rachmiel snaps her out of it somewhat, though.
- Hidden Depths: Stella is revealed to be a great cook, a skill that comes in handy at the Hazbin Hotel when she takes up residence there. It leads to her officially becoming the hotel's chef.
- Human-Demon Hybrid: Played with; Moxxie's former music teacher Alex Esine was the product of a dead human sinner and a Chimera demon lord.
- Human Weapon: Moxxie was crafted into being the perfect Super-Soldier for the I.R.A. along with numerous other imps, including his own brother Tyson. He was given abilities, skills and organs to make him a terrifying, dangerous and deadly killer who was meant to be able to last longer than the average demon, think better than them and more easily kill them.
- I Am a Monster: Moxxie admits that he feels like one due to both his status a lab-grown weapon and all of the heinous things he was forced to do as a member of the I.R.A.
- Immortality Hurts: Cain can not only feel pain, but feels it on a constant basis, having been cursed to physically, mentally, and spiritually experience every act of violence and murder being committed on Earth for as long as he lives.
- Internal Reveal:
- Chapter 22. Millie finally learns about Tyson's true intentions from Moxxie...just in time for her to be wounded by one of his bombs.
- Chapter 24. Millie, Blitzo and the rest of his family find out Moxxie was synthetically made and his past with the I.R.A. Millie's family finds out in Chapter 27.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Barbie catches Blitzo making out with Fizzarolli, during the flashback to the destruction of the circus. Blitzo jokes she should be lucky she didn't catch them during sex.
- Ironic Echo: After Moxxie’s Dark and Troubled Past is revealed in full in chapter 25, a shaken and heartbroken Millie asks Stolas to open a portal to the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch so that she can get some time alone, process everything she’s just heard and determine how she feels about her husband because she’s worried that she can’t trust him anymore, asking the Prince to ”take [her] home.” In chapter 28, a just as hurt Millie once again begs Stolas to portal her home (as in, back to Pride), this time after her family forces her to choose between them and Moxxie in the wake of the battle against the bikers.
- I Shall Taunt You: When the Scarhorn bikers arrive at the ranch in chapter 28, they try to draw the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds out by shouting insults at them, calling them cowards for hiding away and insinuating that they’re weak, which is an extra grievous insult in the Wrath Ring. The family, alongside Blitzo and Moxxie, are Genre Savvy enough to realize what the bikers are up to and resolve to not respond to the taunts… But unfortunately, Millie’s brother Billie doesn’t get the memo, lets himself get provoked and fires a shot, thus driving the bikers to attack.
- It's All My Fault:
- In Chapter 7, Millie blames herself for Blitzo's near suicide after he experiences a panic attack from the news of her being pregnant. Moxxie and later Blitzo manage to talk her out of it though.
- Moxxie blames himself for the destruction of The Sirenis Musical Academy, which led to the deaths of his adoptive parents and friends, as he'd been sent to infiltrate and investigate it by the I.R.A and couldn't stop them from going through with their plans despite his protests.
- Blitzo, understandably, blames himself for the fire that killed his family, destroyed his old circus and scarred his best friend, for disobeying his father's requests to run away with him.
- I Want Them Alive!: The Scarhorns, a gang of bikers that Tyson hires in chapter 27, are told they can kill anybody they please on the Rough N' Tumbleweed ranch except for Moxxie, who is instead to be captured and brought back alive.
- Jerkass Has a Point: During the battle against the bikers in chapter 28, Millie’s family continuously badmouth Moxxie to her face and telling her that he’s a monster and unnatural freak due to his nature as a lab-created Super-Soldier, and they refuse to listen to her when she speaks up in his defense. However, Millie’s brother Stan points out that Moxxie being The Atoner now doesn’t undo all of the war crimes he committed as a member of the I.R.A., even if he had no choice in the matter, and that a lot of people have good reason to dislike him for that should they find out the truth, as the I.R.A killed a lot of innocent demons, children included…note Something that Moxxie himself has already acknowledged and is a large part of why he considers himself a monster.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind: Rachmiel reveals the only way to properly heal Blitzo is with the The Anima Ambulare, or Soul Walk. Blitzo must use it to enter his own soul, confront his inner demons & broken parts and make peace with them. This starts in Chapter 16, with Rachmiel acting as Blitzo's guide through it.
- Kick the Dog: Moxxie revealing his past to Millie’s family causes their previous hatred of him to kick into high gear. Not only do they keep trying to force Millie to leave Moxxie and continuously call him a freak and a monster to both of their faces, they also refuse to listen to Millie and Blitzo when they hammer in that Millie still loves Moxxie despite everything and that he’s actively trying to atone for his past, insisting that he’s an irredeemable monster and effectively insulting Millie’s judgement in the process. And then Joe takes it even further by calling their unborn child a freak, as well, and it all culminates in Joe giving Millie an ultimatum and forcing her to choose between her husband and her biological family.
- Kill Tally: The Scarhorns biker gang carve scars onto their horns for various acts such as helping their fellow bikers, doing bike tricks and sleeping with women.
- Let the Past Burn: The end of the first act of the story, has a flashback to how his family were killed and how his circus was destroyed, due in part to his actions. This would eventually result in him becoming an assassin, to avenge the loss of all he had at that point.
- Lethal Chef: Sir Pentious is revealed to be one in chapter 29, having made a complete mess of the kitchen in his attempts to help Stella cook, much to her dismay.Stella: Tell Charlie we’re gonna have to get takeout tonight.
- LGBT Awakening: Blitzo had his when he was twelve with his childhood friend Fizzarolli. While his first crush was with a girl when he was 10, his first male crush was when he was 12 and fooling around with Fizzarolli, becoming attracted to him after admiring his beauty.
- Love at First Punch: Moxxie & Millie first meet and bond after the female imp decides to test his fighting skills. Afterward, she became attracted enough to him to join full-time.
- Love Letter: Blitzo had one made for Fizzarolli on his birthday similar to the one he had planned to deliver to him in the flashback in "Oops". After dancing around it for a bit and being too nervous to give it too him, Fizz eventually reads it and happily return his affections, telling Blitzo it was the best gift he could ask for.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: Millie’s entire family, minus Sallie May, was already this, but Moxxie revealing himself to be an artificial demon who used to be a Child Soldier in the I.R.A. makes them crank it up to eleven. During the battle against the bikers in chapter 28, they insist on continuing to openly call Moxxie an abomination and a freak and try to force Millie to leave him, refusing to listen to her and Blitzo when they try to tell them that she still loves him and has forgiven him for his transgressions and that he’s trying to make up for the horrible things he was forced to do in the I.R.A. (It certainly helps that Moxxie didn’t exactly have a choice, either.) It all culminates in Joe forcing Millie to choose between Moxxie and her family, fully expecting that the ultimatum will make Millie ”come to her senses” and choose them over their hated son-in-law. Color him and the rest of the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds (and Moxxie) surprised when a heartbroken and devastated Millie, who has come to realize just how little her family respects her wishes and choices, instead chooses Moxxie and their unborn child, effectively disowning her birth family as a result.
- Love Triangle: Moxxie briefly had one going while at The Sirenis Musical Academy for Gifted Students between a female sinner named Cassie & a Shark Demon named Nack. The three of them would seemingly come together for a polycule... but sadly, both Cassie & Nack were killed in the explosion that destroyed the academy, courtesy of the I.R.A.
- Man on Fire: Fizzarolli's naturally ends up burning alive during the night the family circus went up in flames. The scene is depicted in a scary, gory manner, emphasising the horror of the moment.
- Meaningful Name: Chapter 6 reveals that Loona was named after what Zella proposed to Blitzo they'd name her then-unborn child if it was a girl: Luna.
- Meaningful Rename: All of the rulers of Hell, sans Lucifer, took on new names upon falling from Heaven. Asmara became Asmodeus, Beatrix Beelzebub, Matthias Mammon, Beluolisa Belphegor, Levion Leviathan, Bellamy Belberith, Melchior Mephisto, and Samual Samael.
- Mental Health Recovery Arc: Blitzo's main character arc in this story sees him trying to cope and recover from the weeks of torture and abuse he had to endure as well as his own guilt over his past failings.
- Mental World: As we learn during Blitzo's first trip inside his soul, it's a mostly black, empty void surrounded by several orbs representing his various memories, and while he's there, he can summon virtually anything he wants. According to Rachmiel, one can shape it into something else, but that takes years of training.
- Metatron: The titular angel appears as a reoccurring character and a close friend of Stolas. He acts as God's strategist in carrying out his divine will, and knows all the affairs that go on in Heaven, Hell & Earth. This includes I.M.P.'s dealings on the mortal plain. Despite this, he is willing to work alongside them once Stolas sides with Heaven, but only if Blitzo agrees to disband the company.
- Mood Whiplash: The initial moment of everyone celebrating Millie's pregnancy is utterly ruined due to Blitzo's panic attack, causing him to have a suicide attempt and nearly die.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, Mother & Father having The Sirenis Musical Academy for Gifted Students blown up and killing numerous innocent demons, including Moxxie's new friends and his surrogate parents, all to send a message to the Elites of Hell, was the breaking point that caused Moxxie to turn on the I.R.A. and dedicate much of his life to taking down the organization.
- Motor Mouth: Rachmiel has a tendency to ramble when he's nervous, as shown in his introduction.
- Mouth of Sauron: Metatron serves as a good guy version of the trope, being this to God himself.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Blitzo has this reaction after Stolas tells him that Heaven knows about what they've been up to and that he almost got himself and the rest of his team killed.
- Mythology Gag: When Millie starts pondering on what Moxxie's true origins could be, she thinks of a few possibilities, including his actual true backstory of him being the son of a mafia boss.
- Nightmare Sequence: The opening of the prologue starts with this, which involves Blitzo dreaming of a twisted version of the death of his sisters.
- Noodle Incident: Loona is not allowed to use rusty spoons as weapons anymore after doing something utterly shocking to someone's spleen with one.
- Non Fatal Explosion: Thanks to Moxxie reacting fast, he and Millie survive Tyson's necklace bomb with few but very minor injuries and are both patched up by Rachmiel upon being placed into the hospital wing of Stolas's castle.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: During Moxxie's depressive state, Loona asks Rachmiel if there's anything he can do to heal him. The angel refutes this since he's a medical doctor, not a counselor.
- Not Quite Dead: Moxxie thought he had killed his brother Tyson years ago. But he turns out to have survived and is hell-bent on causing trouble for him & I.M.P.
- Odd Friendship: Stella and Angel Dust strike up one during her stay at the hotel, with the sinner being inspired by the former princess' desire to better herself despite her many sins.
- Offing the Offspring: Moxxie's parents had no qualms about killing their clone children if they didn't meet their standards or showed any hint of defection or seemingly problematic behavior; one of Moxxie's batch siblings was killed right in front of him just for feeling a little bit sick.
- Oh, Crap!: Stolas has this reaction upon learning that Heaven is aware of I.M.P.s activities on earth, mostly due to the mountain of evidence left behind by Blitzo and co.
- Our Homunculi Are Different: The various artificial imps created for the Imp Resistance Army, Moxxie and Tyson included, were treated more as weapons than actual people. Despite having blood from their imp creators, they are considered synthetic and false creatures rather than imps and are not considered clones due to having enough of their own DNA from their donors.
- Painting the Medium: The angels' dialogue is bolded to signify how otherworldly they are compared to imps. Metatron had a very fancy font at one point before it was changed so it could be easier to read.
- Papa Wolf: After revealing his true nature to Millie’s family, Moxxie takes their accusations that he's a monster and a freak in stride, having already internalized his status and the war crimes he was forced to commit as an I.R.A. Child Soldier a long time ago. But when Joe starts badmouthing Moxxie and Millie’s unborn child by calling them a freak as well, the freckled sniper punches Joe in the face so hard that he’s practically sent flying and coldly reminds him that he can and will do much worse to him if he says anything like that about them again.
- Parental Substitute: Alex & Isabella fulfilled the loving and caring parental roles for Moxxie that his actual parents never did. They were even briefly his adopted parents for a time before they were killed in the same explosion that destroyed their Music School.
- Pass the Popcorn: Blitzo happily snacks on some popcorn while he watches his past self kill one of his old mafia rivals.
- Pensieve Flashback: During their Soul Walk, Blitzo and Rachmiel witness several of the imp's memories and have to fight off the Nightmare Parasite twisting them to torment him.
- Persona Non Grata: The aftermath of the battle against the Scarhorn bikers in chapter 28 sees Moxxie being officially barred from the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch since Millie’s family blame him for the bikers coming after them in the first place due to them being hired by Tyson to kill Millie, her family and Blitzo and capture Moxxie, with Joe telling him in no uncertain terms that he’s never to set foot on or near their premises ever again.
- Please Wake Up: A young Blitzo does this to the body of his father, thoroughly shake and distraught, after having just lost his big sister.
- Precision F-Strike:
- Blitzo has some choice words towards Metatron:Blitzo: "Yeah? Metatron? Voice of God and all that? Two words for you, buddy. FUCK AND YOU!"
- Rachmiel drops his first swear in the opening of Chapter 25 upon hearing about Moxxie's past. Everyone is shocked to hear an angel actually cursing, with Loona remarking she didn't think they could do that.Rachmiel: Yes, I can curse. I just don’t do it often. Saying a bad word here and there isn’t a sin. Jeez, how stuck up do you think we Angels are?Rachmiel: Nevermind. Don’t answer.
- Blitzo has some choice words towards Metatron:
- Pregnant Badass: Millie makes it quite clear she's not going to let her being pregnant get in the way of her fighting.
- Protect This House: Chapter 28 has Millie, Moxxie, Blitzo, and all of Millie's family having to fight off a horde of bikers who attempt to invade Joe & Lin's home, kill the family, and kidnap Moxxie. Thankfully, being from Wrath, they're well prepared for this with hidden weapons, booby traps and explosives which last long enough for them to deal with the invaders.
- Protection Racket: The main cause of the destruction of Blitzo's circus is revealed to be due to Don Ziggler burning down the place, in retaliation for the Ringleader refusing to pay him to use his land.
- Purgatory and Limbo: Most of Chapter 7 is set in Purgatory, which has been modernized for the story. Everyone enters via an airport and spends most of their time waiting and being tested until they're sent to either Heaven or Hell. Rather than simply one island, this version of Purgatory is made up of 9 islands; 7 for the Heavenly Virtues, the Island of Knowledge where the atheists are taught by the angels of Gods' existence and the path to salvation and the Island of Judgement where the souls in Purgatory are sent for their test which sends them to either Heaven or Hell. In addition to angels, there are also demons who dwell there in order to further test the residents with temptations of sinful actions.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: How do you establish that the bikers that Tyson hires to go to the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch to capture Moxxie in chapter 27 aren’t merely hired goons but gleefully evil scumbags? They talk about Tyson allowing them to kill and hurt whoever they want aside from their target, even stating that they’d get to ”play” with the Rough N’ Tumbleweed women afterwards if they wanted to, suggesting that they’re intending to keep Millie, Lin, and Sallie as sex slaves.
- “The Reason You Suck” Speech:
- Moxxie gives one to Joe in Chapter 27 when he tries to keep him from seeing Millie:Moxxie: I am going to talk to Millie. That’s all I want. If she wants me gone? Fine, but I do not care what the rest of you think. Yes, I lied, but have you ever tried to make me part of this family? I get it. I’m not Wrath born. I’m not from a farming family. I lived in a city. But all my attempts to try and be nice to you guys have always ended up with you arguing with Millie about how I’m not good enough or that she should divorce me. You think I don’t fucking listen to what you guys are saying?
- Stolas dishes out a short but succinct one to the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds in chapter 28 after they force Millie to pick between Moxxie and them after he’s revealed himself to be a genetically engineered Child Soldier and former I.R.A. member, refusing to accept that she still loves him:Stolas: I was under the impression that Wrathborn imps valued family above all. Clearly, I was wrong.
- Moxxie gives one to Joe in Chapter 27 when he tries to keep him from seeing Millie:
- Reformed, but Rejected: Stolas is still very understandably unforgiving of Stella's actions even after Charlie tells him she's changed dramatically joining the Hotel Staff. While seeing her himself is quite a shock, it's unlikely he's going to change his stance on the matter anytime soon.
- The Resenter: The reason for Blitzo's unfair treatment towards Moxxie was because he was secretly jealous of his successful marriage & life with Millie.
- Riches to Rags: As part of her journey to redeem herself, the former princess Stella sold off and liquidated almost all of her possessions and renounced her titles, making her no wealthier than an average citizen of Hell.
- Run or Die: Encouraged by Don Ziggler, when he comes across a young Blitzo & Barbie, shortly after he's done burning down their circus and killing the rest of their family. He offers them a deal, they can run and one of his men will take two shots at them. If they survive, they're free to go. Blitzo gets his but manages to live. Barbie isn't as lucky.
- Runic Magic: The spell required for the Soul Walk requires several runes being drawn upon the subject's body to focus the magic on them before they can enter their mind.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: It's revealed in a flashback that Blitzo was offered the chance to work for the fallen angel Abaddon, a job that would've seen him gain a large payment along with several benefits; However, this would've come at the cost of firing Moxxie, Millie & Loona. Upon learning of this, he tears up the contract and refuses the offer.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: What’s left of the Scarhorn biker gang after the failed siege at Millie’s family’s farm decide to cut their losses and refuse to have anything to do with Tyson anymore after finding out just what they were up against. Tyson merely gives them their payment and sends them on their way… And then he kills them with a time-delayed bomb.
- Secret-Keeper: A flashback reveals that Stella became one for Vaggie after an attack on the hotel lead to Vaggie being revealed to be an angel. Stella distracting Angel Dust in order to let Vaggie clean off her golden blood after getting attacked by a surviving Sinner lead to the latter fully beginning to trust the Fallen Princess, and they ended up becoming rather close friends as a result.
- Self-Harm: Blitzo has taken to cutting himself to relieve the pain of his depression.
- Shout-Out:
- The gun Tezal gives his brother Rachmiel is basically just a heavenly version of the Lawgiver from Judge Dredd. Rachmiel even says as much himself.
- Among Millie's theories on what Moxxie's origins are include him being a fallen angel.
- In chapter 28, Stolas reducing the petrified bikers to dust with a Badass Finger Snap brings to mind the
Signature Scene in Avengers: Infinity War.
- Sibling Team: Blitzo, Barbie & Tilla used to be this back when all three were alive, with the trio regularly performing together in the circus and the twins always helping the other out whenever they needed it.
- Side Bet: After accidentally blurting out the gender of Millie's baby, it's revealed Loona & Blitzo had an ongoing bet going bet about it. Once which Loona just won.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Rachmiel is a skilled doctor & healer, but is a bit clumsy and has a bad tendency to ramble whenever he's nervous.
- So Proud of You: Blitzo’s demeanor in regards to Moxxie finally standing up to his Obnoxious In-Laws when they try to prevent him from seeing Millie in chapter 27 suggests this trope, the I.M.P. founder gleefully observing Moxxie reveal that he’s never felt intimidated by Millie’s meathead brothers and repeatedly mouth off to them:Rodney: (To Blitzo, outraged) Yer gonna let yer employee talk like that to us?!Blitzo: (grins) Personally? I’m finding this ”take no shit” Moxxie both adorable and amusing.
- Spare Body Parts: After Rachimel scans Moxxie, he is shocked to find he possesses a boatload more extra organs and intestines than an average imp. These include an organ to digest food better, a smaller lung to allow for more blood and oxygen, a brain implant allowing him to react and think faster, a valve in his heart that causes him to heal quicker, a nerve organ that improves his sight, and blood that's unlike any other kind found in Hell.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: A young Moxxie pulled one on Danarius, during their first encounter after giving him the information needed to help defeat the I.R.A.
- Stunned Silence: Millie's whole family has this reaction when they learn that Moxxie was a member of the I.R.A.
- Success as Revenge: Stolas accuses Stella of using her stay and role at the Hazbin Hotel as a way to deflect suspicion off of herself while she schemes for revenge behind the scenes. Stella simply laughs at the notion, confirming that she's doing it to better herself and enjoys her new station there.
- Summon Bigger Fish: In chapter 28, after the Scarhorn gang finally manages to blow a hole in the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds’ wall and rush the ranch house, Blitzo decides to call up Stolas for assistance. Not even a second later, Stolas arrives through a portal and ends the battle by turning the invaders to stone and then having them Reduced to Dust. The remaining bikers are smart enough to see how hopelessly outmatched they are against a Goetian Prince and hightail it out of there.
- Supreme Chef: During her time at the Hotel, Stella discovers she quite enjoys cooking and becomes the main chef at the establishment, with her food being described by everyone there to be absolutely heavenly.
- Survivor Guilt: Among the trauma Blitzo has sustained from his torture of the previous chapter, one of them is blaming himself for the deaths of his sisters, believing he should've died in their place.
- Swiss-Army Gun: The Bishop Cross MK 2.0. is an advanced holy gun, capable of firing different types of ammunition from regular bullets to miniature grenades.
- Take That!: It is revealed that Gadreel, a fallen angel, has been secretly hiding in the Pentagon, having stayed there since Woodrow Wilson was president and supplying the USA with weapons & tactics in exchange for security, secretly corrupting things behind the scenes.Metatron: This kinda explains a lot for the past few decades, huh?
- Thanks for the Mammary: Rachmiel accidentally touches one of Loona's breasts when he ends up bumping into her in Chapter 15. He gets a nasty scratch in return.
- The Villain Knows Where You Live: Tyson shows up at his brother's home in chapter 12 to reveal that he survived his murder attempt.
- Time Skip: A minor one, as this fic takes place six months after the events of Saving Blitzo.
- Title Drop: Not of the fanfic but of the show's title. During a flashback to his youth, a young Blitzo mentions his dream of running his own circus, declaring that he would be a 'Helluva Boss'.
- Token Human: Compared to the rest of her villainous colleagues - a cursed immortal, a Fallen Angel, a demon king, and an Outer God - Dr. Alexia Spencer is just a normal human scientist who happens to be skilled at robotics and nanotechnology.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Alex & Isabella were incredibly loving and kind towards Moxxie during his time with them, treating him like a surrogate son and even offering to adopt him. They, along with the Music Academy and all of Moxxie's friends, were killed in the explosion set up by Moxxie's clone family simply to send a message to Hell's Elite.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Similar to canon, Fizzarolli loses his limbs, horns and is scared from an accident caused by Blitzo. While trying to save his boyfriend from a hellhound mafia member, Blitzo lights him up with a burning piece of wood. This horribly backfires when the hound slips onto a box of spirits, which then spread the fire onto Fizz.
- Training from Hell: The Synthetic Imps created for the I.R.A. were made to go through a brutal and monstrous obstacle course that tested their skills, agility, use of weapons, and finally having to kill each other until only one remained.
- Trauma Button: Millie revealing that she's pregnant triggers a memory for Blitzo of his previous love Zella announcing that she's pregnant with his child. This causes Blitzo to have a sudden panic attack, being haunted by her voice, causing him to throw himself out of a window and nearly kill himself.
- Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: As far as Tyson is concerned, this is why he considers Moxxie to be unforgivable and is hell-bent on getting revenge on him as the latter turned on the IRA, killed off their siblings and caused their parents to get captured and locked up in an unknown location. Tyson’s goal is not just to kill off his brother for betraying them, but also to find and free his parents.
- Underestimating Badassery: The bikers that Tyson hires to kidnap Moxxie and raze the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch, and by extension Tyson himself, do this. It’s extra dumb in the latter case: the bikers might not have known that they were going up against a Badass Family, an assassin with literally over a hundred years of experiencenote and an expert sniper, but why Tyson thought that they’d stand a chance against a genetically engineered Super-Soldier is anybody’s guess. The end result is predictable, and even moreso when Stolas enters the picture.
- The Un-Favourite: Countess Isabella was considered a freak and disowned by her family practically at birth. Being the daughter of an Ars Goetia who only wanted sons, he attempted to alter her gender while still in the womb to turn her male. Instead, it resulted in her being born with both male and female traits. That, along with her being born sterile as a side effect, caused her to be viewed as useless and a mistake by her family, sealed in her own wing of the home for her entire childhood while everyone mocked her behind her back. Her team of imp servants treated her more like a daughter than her actual family. By the time she turned eighteen and wanted to live on her own, her family was more than happy to disown her and give her enough money to live by herself as long as she never contacted them again.
- Un-person: In exchange for helping to expose and take down the IRA, Moxxie requested a clean slate with a new identity and life away from his old one.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Downplayed; while on their Soul Walk, the first memory Blitzo & Rachmiel witness is a flashback to Blitzo's early days raising a baby Loona. Rachmiel's caught off guard by the adorable hellhound pup due to how Loona has been nothing but cold, rude, angry, and aggressive towards him since they first met.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Dr Spencer is willing to join forces with Cain and his ilk and do untold experimentations on humans & demons, all to further her own universe without God or Lucifer since she believes that humanity would thrive without these forces and become better as a result.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Millie has one while killing a target, the vomit melting through the poor soul like acid.
- Wanted a Son Instead: Isabella's father only wanted sons, and even after having two already, he was disgusted at the thought of having a daughter. So much so, in fact, that he attempted to magically alter her gender while still in the womb...which only resulted in her gaining both male & female parts.
- Was It All a Lie?: Millie begins to wonder if Moxxie's love for her was ever real, mainly due to his identity never being the "real" him from the start, but also because of his past as a former terrorist, essentially making their marriage built on nothing but lies. Moxxie tries to assure her that his feelings for her are and always have been genuine, but Millie still ends up feeling betrayed and asks Stolas to take her to her childhood home for some time alone, needing to reflect on what Moxxie has told her and re-evaluate her relationship with him. She confides in Sallie May that she's not sure if she can trust him, but Sallie gives her sister a pep-talk where she tells her that Moxxie probably had a good reason to keep his past a secret (though at this point, she has no idea that he's a former I.R.A soldier) and that he'll come back for her if he ever truly loved her. This talk is what ends up convincing Millie to forgive him when he does indeed show up.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Imp Resistance Army, or the I.R.A., seemingly was a group fighting for the rights and freedom of all lowerborn demons, in particular imps. However, their methods were too extreme and violent, seeming to take no issue killing other innocent demons, even the lowerborn they supposedly wanted to protect, in their quest for freedom. This even extended to children.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 7 has Stolas swearing eternal loyalty to God and the forces of Heaven, making him a double agent & enemy of Lucifer, in exchange for the means to heal Blitzo.
- Chapter 14 reveals that the mysterious hooded figure from the first story is none other than Cain, the first murderer himself.
- In Chapter 18, not only do we get introduced to the rest of the main villains, but Stella confronts Stolas about Rachmiel.
- Chapters 24 and 25 finally reveal Moxxie's backstory after a medical examination reveals him to not be a normal imp.
- Chapters 30 and 31. [[spoiler: We not only learn and see how Blitzo's family circus was destroyed, but we also learn the identity of the arsonist. Don Ziggler, the father of Blitzo's wife Zella.]
- Wham Line:
- In Chapter 8, the Metatron & Heaven agree to Stolas' request for a Spirit Healer, under three conditions: Stolas must also support Charlie's hotel, they cannot force a Spirit Healer to take the job, and the final one?Metatron: I.M.P. must be disbanded.
- In chapter 10, we're introduced to a mysterious imp who goes to meet with some members of a failed imp rebellion. He offers to give them the name of the one who betrayed the army. To prove his legitimacy, he reveals that he has a barcode tattoo...similar to the one Moxxie has.Tyson: "And the traitor? He’s my brother."
- Two in chapter 29:
- After killing the remaining Scarhorns for their failure in killing the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds and capturing Moxxie (Though it’s also strongly implied that he would’ve killed them anyway even if they’d succeeded), Tyson suddenly gets a phone call from an unknown number:… and the person on the other end reveals that they know his bar code:Tyson: Who is this?Mystery Caller: Someone who taught your parents everything they knew.
- After receiving a burst of confidence when Moxxie and Millie ask him to be the devilfather for their child, Blitzo reflects on how useless he felt during the Scarhorn attack and decides that he needs to work on himself and get better for the sake of his loved ones. So, he goes to Rachmiel and asks him for a particular memory to look at, the one memory he’s been dreading the most:Blitzo: I want to see… the day I lost my family.
- After killing the remaining Scarhorns for their failure in killing the Rough N’ Tumbleweeds and capturing Moxxie (Though it’s also strongly implied that he would’ve killed them anyway even if they’d succeeded), Tyson suddenly gets a phone call from an unknown number:… and the person on the other end reveals that they know his bar code:
- In Chapter 8, the Metatron & Heaven agree to Stolas' request for a Spirit Healer, under three conditions: Stolas must also support Charlie's hotel, they cannot force a Spirit Healer to take the job, and the final one?
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Having never known real familial love in his life, young Moxxie is completely taken aback by Alex & Isabella's affection towards them, not even being able to understand what to do when Isabella gives him a hug.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Millie gives a cold one to Moxxie for lying to her about his identity for their whole relationship, questioning if anything he told her was true.
- White Magic: Angels are capable of this. In particular, the Spirit Healers use to it heal those inflected by mental illnesses.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: As punishment for killing his brother, Cain was given a curse. Not only would he live forever, including resurrection upon being killed, he would be forced to feel the pain of torment of every act of violence and murder ever being committed on Earth. And given that one of those is performed somewhere almost every second, his life is a never-ending torment which he has suffered from for centuries.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Chapters 24-25 are this, revealing Moxxie's true past and how he became the imp everyone knows and loves.
- With Us or Against Us: The big reason why the I.R.A. became so hated even amongst other imps is due to them having this attitude: Anybody who didn't submit to them or even agree with them, even the groups they were supposedly trying to promote and elevate, was considered an enemy that needed to be eliminated. This constant killing of innocent people garnered them the reputation of being a group of Not So Well-Intentioned Extremists by many of Hell's lower castes, being looked at with scorn and disgust instead of the saviors and champions of the masses that they seemingly wanted to present themselves as.
- Worf Had the Flu: Blitzo's mental state and aftermath of the Nightmare Parasite have severely affected his skills as he went from a deadly, terrifyingly accurate killer to barely being able to hit his targets.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- After Moxxie’s past is revealed, Blitzo snaps him out of his Heroic BSoD by letting him know that he doesn’t think that he’s a bad person, pointing out that Moxxie has been actively trying to make up for what he’s done. This pep-talk turns out to be exactly what Moxxie needs as it makes him snap out of his stupor and go to Wrath in order to make up with Millie.
- In chapter 29, when Blitzo tries to deflect Moxxie and Millie’s thanks to him by mentioning that all he did during the Scarhorn attack was to provide weapons, ammo and emotional support for the others, Moxxie shuts his Heroic Self-Deprecation down by pointing out Blitzo’s part in making the couple reconcile after Moxxie’s past was revealed to everyone, and the couple asks Blitzo to be the devilfather to their child. This turns out to be a boost Blitzo also sorely needed, as tis is what leads him to gather the courage to look at his one of his worst memories so that he can recover.
- You Are Number Six: Moxxie reveals to Blitzo that he originally didn't have a proper name. Instead, he was given a serial number, ACDS-131524240905, by his parents.
- You Got Murder: Attempted; Tyson gifts Millie with a present in the form of a necklace with a beautiful pendant on it. It turns out the pendant is a bomb, which Moxxie realizes just in time to get rid of it before it goes off, though Millie is still hurt and knocked unconscious as a result of the blast.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: While it’s framed as a You Have Failed Me, this is strongly hinted to be the reason why Tyson kills off the remaining Scarhorns after they return from their failed siege at the Rough N’ Tumbleweed ranch and decide to get the hell out of dodge. The fact that their Suitcase Full Of Money contained a bomb suggests that Tyson never had any intention to let them live even if they’d succeeded with their task.
