Infernal Tropes

The following is a compiled list of tropes related to Hell, the Underworld, and its inhabitants (which are often demons).

Compare This Index Is on Fire. Contrast Tropes of the Divine and Angelic Tropes.

Tropes:

Characters

• Anti-Anti-Christ: The offspring of the personification of evil has no interest at all in ending the world or even being evil.
• The Antichrist: The offspring of the personification of evil who is destined to bring about the apocalypse.
• The Anti-God: Another opposing deity on the level of God.
• Ascended Demon: A demon becoming a heroic angel or other divine entity.
• Asmodeus: A Demon Prince representing Lust.
• Baphomet: A goat-headed, triple-horned, black-winged demon with both female and male attributes.
• Beast of the Apocalypse: A monster that kick-starts the end times.
• Beelzebub: A famed demon prince and Lord of the Flies.
• Big Red Devil: The typical depiction of Satan as being a large, red demon.
• Born of Heaven and Hell: A character who's half-angel, half-demon.
• Cybernetic Mythical Beast: Sci-fi variants of demons or devils fused with technology.
• Davy Jones: A powerful ocean entity sometimes linked with the Devil or Hell.
• Demiurge Archetype: A villain who shares similarity with the Gnostic Demiurge — basically Satan if he had the power of God over the world.
• Demon/Devil Distinction: A work treats demons and devils as different beings.
• Demon King Nobunaga: A demonic variant of Oda Nobunaga.
• Demon Lords and Archdevils: Powerful demonic hierarchies.
• Demon of Human Origin: A demon who used to be human.
• Divinely Appearing Demons: An inhabitant of Hell being superficially similar to an angel or other Heavenly being.
• Dragons Are Demonic: Dragons portrayed as evil or satanic.
• Eldritch Abomination: A bizarre entity that defies the laws of reality and is incomprehensible to others - often a trait of demons.
• Embodiment of Vice: A character with a negative quality assigned to them as a trait.
• Everybody Hates Hades: God of death portrayed as evil.
• Fallen Angel: An angel who rebels against Heaven and is cast out, often becoming evil in the process.
• Fallen Cupid: An evil version of Cupid.
• Female Angel, Male Demon: The tendency for angels to be female and demons male when paired together.
• Flaming Devil: Satan depicted as flamboyant.
• God of Evil: A god who represents all that is evil.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: When a character has to make a moral decision, they imagine an angel and a devil appearing on their shoulder to give their two cents on the right choice to make. Typically, the angel will try to encourage the person to make the right decision and the devil will do the same with the wrong decision.
• The Heartless: Monsters created from negative emotions.
• Heaven's Devils: Divinely stationed demons.
• Hellhound: Evil, supernatural dogs.
• Hellish Horse: Monstrous, sometimes evil, horses.
• Hell Seeker: Someone who wants to get into Hell.
• Horned Humanoid: Demons and devils commonly possess horns — common in depictions of Satan.
• Human-Demon Hybrid: Part demon, part human.
• The Imp: Small, antagonistic creatures that are more annoying than evil.
• Jury of the Damned: A jury of murderers and traitors who sit in judgment of someone.
• The Krampus: An Alpine mountain demon frequently associated with Christmas and Santa Claus.
• The Legions of Hell: Hell's army.
• Lilith: The female incarnation of lust in some Christian and Jewish folklore.
• Louis Cypher: The devil disguises himself using an obvious alias.
• Maou the Demon King: The king of demons in some Japanese fantasy stories.
• Mammon: A demon associated with greed and wealth.
• Mephistopheles: A demon of folklore, famous for tricking mortals into signing away their souls.
• Our Demons Are Different: The varying portrayals of demons in fiction.
• Our Imps Are Different: Small, weak demonic creatures.
• Satan: The personification of evil who leads others to Hell.
• Satanic Archetype: A villain who shares similarities with Satan.
• Stingy Jack: A character from Irish folklore infamous for his Deal with the Devil.
• Succubi and Incubi: Demons who traditionally have sex with humans.
• Succubus in Love: Succubi or sex demons that fall in love.
• Southern Gothic Satan: A representation of Satan in American folklore.
• Winged Humanoid: Demons or devils with wings, often bat wings.

Locations

• Bloody Bowels of Hell: Hell appearing as bloody flesh.
• Circles of Hell: Sinners being sorted by the severity of their crimes.
• City of the Damned: Hell depicted as an urban environment.
• Creepy Cave: Hell is often depicted as a large, dangerous cave.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: The typical depiction of Hell as a fiery realm full of screams and torture.
• Hellgate: A literal doorway or portal to Hell.
• Infernal Paradise: One religion's idea of Heaven being another's idea of Hell.
• Ironic Hell: In Hell, a sinner is punished in a way that fits the bad things they did in life.
• Karmic Reform Hell: An Ironic Hell meant to rehabilitate lost souls.
• Physical Hell: A literal Hell on Earth.
• Planet Heck: Hell being a playable video game level.
• The Underworld: The often gloomy land of the dead.

Narrative

• Deal with the Devil: Someone makes a deal with Satan to get what they want, often at their own peril.
• Deliverance from Damnation: It is possible to rescue a person from Hell and bring them to Heaven.
• Demon Slaying: Destroying or killing demons.
• Devil, but No God: The work establishes that Satan exists, with God's existence either being disproved or not acknowledged.
• Devil in Disguise: The Devil, or someone working for him, hiding among living humans.
• Devil in Plain Sight: Everyone trusts this character in spite of the obvious signs that they are evil.
• The Devil Is a Loser: Satan is portrayed as a complete joke.
• Devil's Job Offer: Satan offering someone a career opportunity.
• Diabolus ex Machina: A sudden, unanticipated tragedy strikes.
• Divine–Infernal Family: The Devil and God are considered family.
• Dragged Off to Hell: A character ends up carried to Hell against their wishes.
• Easy Road to Hell: Doing one bad thing will instantly condemn you to Hell.
• Escaped from Hell: A character who ends up in but ultimately escapes from Hell.
• False Innocence Trick: An incapacitated stranger feigns innocence to trick some poor sap into freeing them.
• Faustian Rebellion: Overthrowing Satan.
• Harbinger of Impending Doom: A character tries to warn everyone about something they barely escaped from, but they just dither until it shows up anyway.
• Heaven Versus Hell: Conflict between Heaven and Hell.
• Hell Has New Management: Someone other than Satan ruling over Hell.
• Hell Invades Heaven: The forces of Hell infiltrate Heaven.
• Hell Is War: A scenario in which a character (or characters) is forced to fight indefinitely.
• A Hell of a Time: Hell is actually a nice place to be.
• Hell on Earth: Demons invading the world and transforming it into a hellish wasteland.
• Hollywood Satanism: The stereotype that Satanists are evil people who worship the devil.
• Hot as Hell: Demons portrayed as conventionally attractive or seductive.
• Infernal Fugitives: Hell's escapees being hunted down.
• Not Afraid of Hell: A character isn't afraid of any infernal realm.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Someone fighting deities.
• Religious Horror: A subgenre of horror relying on presentation of real-life religious beliefs as fact in-universe.
• Satan Is Good: Satan depicted as a good guy.
• Self-Inflicted Hell: Whatever you expect to happen when you die is exactly what you get.
• Sold His Soul for a Donut: A character selling their soul for something comically insignificant.
• Taking Over Heaven: Someone taking control of Heaven away from angels and God.
• This Isn't Heaven: Someone thinks they've gone to Heaven, but they then learn they're actually in Hell.
• To Hell and Back: Visiting and returning from Hell.
• To Hell with This Infernal Job: The Devil quitting ruling over Hell.
• You Are Worth Hell: Love interests staying with each other in Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, or some other similar place.

Other

• Absurdly Sharp Claws: Demons and devils often have these.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Demons often come in a wide variety of colors.
• Angels, Devils and Squid: When a story blends Christian and Lovecraftian elements.
• Apocalypse Cult: A cult devoted to the end of everything around them, which often involves an evil entity.
• A Chat with Satan: When a character tries to make the protagonist recognize their darker side.
• Corrupt Church: A good church turned bad.
• Cute Little Fangs: Demons or devils with small fangs added for cuteness.
• Demonic Possession: People get possessed by demons.
• Devil's Pitchfork: Tridents used by and associated with demons, Satan, or other evil characters.
• Ear Wings: Some demons have the bat wing version of this.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: Associating fire with evil.
• Fangs Are Evil: Demons almost always have sharp fangs.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Demons frequently have bat wings in contrast to the bird wings of angels.
• Hellevator: A downward elevator to Hell.
• Hellfire: Fire powers with dark and/or demonic attributes.
• Hellish Pupils: Non-human shaped pupils on a character's eyes are creepy and/or frightening.
• Horns of Villainy: Another common demon attribute.
• Infernal Background: When someone is being (or acting) evil, flames appear behind them, or they stand in front of a flaming object.
• Living Bodysuit: Someone being puppeteered by a sentient, supernatural force from within the victim.
• Many Spirits Inside of One: Multiple demons, ghosts, or spirits possessing one body.
• Mark of the Beast: A physical mark indicating a character is associated with a malevolent entity.
• Number of the Beast: 666 is the number of the Devil.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: A choir singing powerfully in Latin.
• Pointy Ears: A common feature of both the Devil and many other demons.
• Possessing a Dead Body: A dead body that's (re)animated by an inhabiting demon or spirit.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: A common color scheme for the Devil and his minions.
• Religion of Evil: A religion focused on dark powers and evil intentions.
• Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Rock music in association with demons.
• Satanic Panic: A fear of many of the tropes listed here, usually leading to a public panic (and in some cases, real).
• Seven Deadly Sins: Seven vices that are believed to be very sinful (Greed, lust, pride, envy, wrath, gluttony and sloth).
• Sin Invites Possession: The idea that being an evil person leaves you vulnerable to the influence of evil entities.
• Sinister Schnoz: A common attribute of both the Devil and demons in general.
• Speak of the Devil: Say the name of a villain, and they shall appear.
• Spikes of Villainy: Demons and devils commonly sport sharp spikes or spines.
• Unusual Ears: A fairly common demon attribute.