History Main / CirclesOfHell

'''As a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** The {{Trope Namer|s}}, if not the {{Trope Codifier}}s, are the nine circles Dante traverses in ''Inferno'', which start from the top with the offenses that least distance man from God, and gradually get graver and graver until it reaches the Earth's core, which is reserved for direct traitors to God like Lucifer and Judas. While it's often depicted as a series of vertically stacked discs, as in the page image, Dante's Hell is a subterranean bowl, with the levels descending in rings, so they are literally circles of hell (except the bottom one, which is a frozen lake). The lowest are divided into secondary circles, to give special attention to the various permutations of the worst sins. The Seventh Circle, for the violent, is divided into rings for the violent against others, the violent against themselves, and the violent agains nature, art, and God. The Eight Circle, for fraud, is divided into ten "evil ditches" (''male bolgie'') for specific types of hucksters, thieves and cheats. The Ninth and last Circle, for traitors, is divided into four icy rounds -- Caina, for traitors to family; Antenora, for traitors to their country; Ptolomaea, for traitors to their guests; and Judecca, for traitors to their lords. Satan, who personally betrayed God, is at the very center and bottom.

* ''Literature/GroundedForAllEternity'': The Pit is divided into nine circles, with souls sent to whichever circle best fit their most predominate evil trait. The first pit is for apathy, the second jealousy, the third theft, the fourth greed, the fifth wrath, the sixth liars, the seventh violent, the eighth manipulators, and the ninth holds the Cage. Samuel Parris is from the eight circle.

* The Hells of Buddhism are where people with particularly bad karma are reborn. They must live, die and be reborn again and again in whatever hell they're in until they have worked off all of their bad karma, which can last for many kalpas (eons) on end depending on which hell they're reborn in, with Avici, the lowest hell reserved for those who commit one or more of the [[MoralEventHorizon five unforgivable offenses in Buddhism]], being the longest in duration.
* The mix of Buddhism and local beliefs in East Asia has made Hell the [[CelestialBureaucracy Worst Bureaucracy Ever]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' and all the levels of Robot Hell. In the Robot Devil's VillainSong he takes Bender to multiple levels for various [[IronicHell ironic]] punishments, specifically levels number 1 (where, for smoking cigars, he's rolled up in a giant cigar and smoked), 2 (where for gambling, cheating, and forging bogus [=IOUs=] he's strapped to a wheel of random torments), and 5 (where the Music/BeastieBoys use his hard drive as a turnstile for music piracy).

* ''WebAnimation/{{Hellaverse}}'': Hell is divided into at least seven rings traveled between by giant elevators. However, deceased human sinners are confined to the Pride ring (the highest), causing an OverpopulationCrisis that is mitigated by annual culls from Heaven. Hellborn demons like imps and royals have free movement between rings. In ''Helluva Boss'' Greed is shown to be a crumbling capitalist hellscape while Wrath appears to be mostly agricultural and Lust is known for their nightclubs.

* Referenced by Shepherd Book in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds."

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Dead Run", newly condemned souls arrive in the Outer Circles of {{Hell}} and are eventually brought to its center where they are to spend all eternity. The CelestialBureaucracy doesn't particularly care whether the damned suffer as long as they are kept somewhere they can't hurt others.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' and ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' Hell is divided into at least seven rings traveled between by giant elevators. However, deceased human sinners are confined to the Pride ring (the highest), causing an OverpopulationCrisis that is mitigated by annual culls from Heaven. Hellborn demons like imps and royals have free movement between rings. In ''Helluva Boss'' Greed is shown to be a crumbling capitalist hellscape while Wrath appears to be mostly agricultural and Lust is known for their nightclubs.