Hazbin Hotel Season 1 Review

Updated 2024 Feb 25 by Likho (licho@firemail.cc)

Warning: this show is for adults. Also I am not concerned with the show’s compliance or lack of with Christian or Jewish morality.

Hazbin Hotel is an American animated cartoon about the Princess of Hell opening a hotel with the goal of rehabilitating sinners (= demons), redeeming their souls to send them to Heaven. Her lofty and well-intentioned project is frequently doubted and spat upon by both demons and angels. But her ideas develop with the help of a mysterious demon named Alastor. With his help, the Princess of Hell Charlotte “Charlie” Morningstar hopes that her hotel will stop the yearly angelic raid upon hell which exterminates her fellow demons.

Characters

Charlotte Morningstar

“Charlie” Morningstar is the Princess of Hell. She has long blond hair and very pale skin, but her appearance becomes more demonic when she is angered. Unlike most other demons in the show (“sinners”), she is born to not condemned to Hell.

She is young and unconfident. Despite her title, she does not command much authority over other powerful demons of Hell. She also doesn’t embody any particular sin (besides her homosexual relationship) and instead is compassionate, forgiving, and merciful.

Vaggie

Vaggie is Charle’s girlfriend and the first to support Charlie’s concept of a rehabilitation hotel. She is apt to offer physical protection from most threats that come to the hotel and appears to have a military background. Having grey skin, white hair, and a red eye (the other lost), she appears to be another demon of Hell but isn’t.

Angel Dust

(Vaggie: Was that you trying to be sexist or racist?)

Whatever pisses you off more.

Is there seriously no liquor in here!

— Angel Dust, pilot episode1

More often referred to as Angel (real name: Anthony) is a fluffy spider demon, but his third set of arms are often hidden. He is effeminate, androgynous (male), and is a sex worker. He is Hazbin Hotel’s first patron though initially interested only for residing there rent-free.

He has a very abstract character design lacking many human facial characteristics. He is also visually unappealing; he wouldn’t be a character I would put on promotional material. However, based on Episode 4, there is a very good reason he is drawn this way.

The fourth episode Masquerade reveals his overt sexuality is a means for his self-destruction. The same point, the exploitative nature of his job and his downward spiral, may not have been communicated if his character design and episode instead aroused the audience. Overall I’m glad there was more to his character beyond a “stunning and brave” token gay man.

Alastor

Also known as “The Radio Demon”, Alastor is powerful despite having a mortal soul. He owns the souls of other demons and is known as the cause for the disappearances of competing (former) overlords of hell. How he acquired this kind of power is unknown.

He was alive around the 1920s. Likewise, his voice is filtered by an old radio, and he has a strong dislike for television. If a camera has been pointed at him, the recording glitches out and the camera breaks (a power I wish I had). Despite the era he is from, he has a modern scene hairstyle.

Much of his actions appear to be benevolent as he makes undemanding deals with other characters. But as he says in Episode 7, he hides his true intentions behind a persistent smile.

Husker

Everyone likes to bitch to the bartender.

— Husker, Episode 4

Husker is a demonic chimera, a feather-winged mammal, summoned by Alastor to be Hazbin Hotel’s bartender. Husker formerly held a lot of power as a demonic overlord.

Nifty

Nifty is a small demon girl summoned by Alastor to be Huzbin Hotel’s housekeeper.

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious is a silly snake demon that appeared as the antagonist of the pilot episode. He leads an army of little egg minions and is capable of engineering odd contraptions (war blimp, death ray, etc). He has a petty, one-sided rivalry with Alastor. With very little conflict, he moves into Hazbin Hotel.

Adam

I started everything on Earth. All of mankind came from these fucking nuts!

— Adam, Episode 8

Adam was the First Man. In Heaven, he is a high-ranking angel in charge of the army that annually raids Hell. He is the primary antagonist of the show and follows the “thorough asshole” trope, having no redeeming qualities to his characterization to the end.

Lucifer Morningstar

Our people, Charlie, are AWFUL!

They got gifted free will and look what they’ve done with it!

—- Lucifer, Episode 5

Lucifer Morningstar is the King of Hell. He is an angel who at the beginning of time had dreams and ideas that were not accepted by Heaven and was excluded from the process of creating Earth. His story follows the original mythology relating to the Garden of Eden. It is elaborated that part of his punishment, the banishment to Hell, is only being able to see the worst sides of human nature; the people who enter his domain are sinners who had squandered their gift of free will in life.

In Hell, Lucifer maintains his halo, wings, and the angelic ability to conjure the golden dust of creation. He is a short man who has a taller wife and daughter. His height isn’t a sensitive topic, and he carries a lot of authority and power unlike his daughter. His time in Hell however has made him depressed and withdrawn.

Lilith

Lilith was the first wife of Adam who left him for Lucifer. Throughout the season, she is only seen in paintings and mentioned in reference. Charlie tries to talk to her, but Lilith does not return her calls. Based on Episode 8, she may play a larger role in the plot of the next season.

Misc. comments

Of The Vees, a media corporation of Hell headed by a trio of demonic overlords, Velvette has the least to her character. The other two being Vox and Valentino are more notable in that they either say or are involved in something funny and entertaining. Both Vox and Valentino are also relevant to a resident of the Hazbin Hotel: Vox, being a TV demon, has a grudge against Alastor; Valentino being a pimp owns Angel Dust. Meaning, Velvette is by comparison underdeveloped.

Carmilla Carmine is in a similar position to Velvette. She appears in two episodes, but has two songs written for her and is made plot relevant.

Interpretations

The rules for getting into Heaven changed over time

In Episode 6 “Welcome to Heaven”, many angels in Heaven’s Court don’t know what it takes to enter Heaven. Therefore, Heaven as a paradise for the virtuous is under question. Adam testifies against Charlie with a hastily handwritten note that the requirements are the following:

According to the Mesopotamian creation myth, Adam is the first man on Earth and the father of all humanity. He appears in the Book of Genesis which is included in the Torah or The Old Testament. In Hazbin Hotel, Adam is crass (not a sin), vulgar towards woman (also not a sin) but demonstrates many cardinal sins in the first episode:

However, being the first man, he predated the formalization of the cardinal sins (6th century) and very likely entered Heaven when the rules were simpler. His possible primary motivation, other than being the “thorough asshole”, is that he would fail the contemporary moral standards which grant access to Heaven. In turn, this threatens his position as an angel.

In series and being a Book of Genesis character, he follows an “eye for an eye” (Episode 1) as opposed to “turn the other cheek”. He also comments to Charlie in Episode 8,

“Risking your mortal life for sinners? That’s some crazy shit!”

(Something that Jesus did.)

I don’t expect a corporate-funded animated series to delve into either Christian or Jewish morality. Therefore, I don’t think the series will or can specify even a category of morality that forms the foundation of Heaven.

As a side note, according to the Seraphim in Episode 6, Adam is also the first human soul in Heaven. This means either Abel did not qualify for Heaven, or Abel does not exist in this continuity.

The real consequence of vice

In Hazbin Hotel, Hell looks like a bad neighrhood rife with crime and nonexistent law enforcement. However, demons enter contracts with each other which may involve an exchange of one’s soul. Episode 4 highlights this concept through Angel Dust (male prostitute) and Husker (gambler). The former lost his soul to his pimp; the latter lost his soul as a part of a bet. Both are contractually beholden to their owners, having less agency or choice in what they do; Husker can outright be summoned by Alastor.

In real life, both of these are actions for which consequences occur without divine judgement. It appears, for good reason, who the demons were in life were never revealed as it would strongly define the morality the show operates on. Hell is Heaven’s dumping ground for the worst sides of humanity but…

An example would be whether Angel Dust in life was similarly a male prostitute, a homosexual man who hasn’t yet hurt himself or anyone, or a pimp damned to experience the exploitation he inflicted upon others.

Lilith was Hell’s only effective leadership

After Lucifer and Lilith were banished to the Hell. Lucifer becomes crestfallen. Meanwhile, Lilith’s songs inspired sinners to build a city in the place of darkness. The power of Hell had started to threaten Heaven.

Lilith has done the most for the denizens of Hell compared to:

Not much is known about Lilith beyond the prologue of the first episode. Charlie has not talked to Lilith in seven years.

What’s with Alastor

Alastor the Radio Demon is stated by other characters to have disappeared from Hell for seven years. Only for the quantity of time, this lines up with the years since Charlie has heard from Lilith. Additionally, in Episode 5, Alastor butts into Lucifer’s song to the latter’s chagrin with the following tyrics:2

(To Charlie)

I’m truly honored that we’ve build such a bond!

You’re like the child that I wish that I had

(Lucifer: Uh. What?)

I care for you like a daughter I spawned.

It’s a little funny.

You can almost call me..

Dad!

Song: More Than Anything

More than Anything is the second song of Episode 5,3 sung by Lucifer and Charlotte. The lyrics and visuals combined convey information about Charlie’s ambitions and the status of Lucifer and Lilith’s marriage.

Charlie is possibly an angel born in Hell, but unlike her father, she does not (yet) have wings. Her project of Hazbin Hotel represents her idea of redemption. Throughout the series, her aim to rehabilitate sinners demonstrates forgiveness unseen in other angels.

There are two notable frames in the animation:

Charlie’s ambitions likely parallel Lucifer’s own dreams; however, given the circumstances of the past, the latter had given up on them. As a result, Lucifer may have stopped being the man that Lilith had married.

Episodes

The pilot and the first episode contain important introductions to the plot. But it is possible to skip to the fifth episode without missing too much.

The minor but plot-relevant characters introduced in the second to the fourth episode have sufficient re-explanation in later episodes.

Out of these three lesser essential episodes, my favorite of them is episode two Radio Killed the Video Star. My overall favorite episode is Dad Beat Dad introducing Lucifer Morningstar.

Conclusion

Hazbin Hotel has expressive animations and a song in every episode. It also contains minor pokes at news media and central banking that some audiences would appreciate. I am not sure why, but I prefer the style of the pilot episode over the later ones.

The character designs are a mixed bag. Out of the roster, Sir Pentious has a better looking design despite being a former minor antagonist. Meanwhile, Lucifer Morningstar, despite having an elaborate outfit (serpent-shaped crown, apple motif), is drawn with a more neotenous face than his daughter (no nose, his eyes being the majority of his face).

  1. HAZBIN HOTEL (PILOT), https://vidious.librenet.co.za/watch?v=Zlmswo0S0e0&t=16m27s↩︎

  2. Hell’s Greatest Dad Sing-Along | Hazbin Hotel | Prime Video, https://yewtu.be/watch?v=jNUTxvki_d0↩︎

  3. More Than Anything Sing-Along | Hazbin Hotel | Prime Video, https://yewtu.be/watch?v=QzMHmnDwOz8↩︎