History Main / Hellgate

* In Literature/TheBible, more specifically the Literature/BookOfRevelation, a gate to the bottomless pit is opened and demons led by [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Abbadon]]. Whether this 'bottomless pit' is hell remains unclear, but what comes out are definitely TheLegionsOfHell.

* In the 1977's horror film ''Film/TheSentinel'', the heroine moves to a remote building in New York that turns out to be an entrance to Hell.

* In Literature/TheBible, more specifically the Literature/BookOfRevelation, a gate to the bottemless pit is opened and demons led by [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Abbadon]]. Whether this 'bottomless pit' is hell remains unclear, but what comes out are defenitely TheLegionsOfHell

* Marvel's CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}'' naturally has a few of these. ComicBook/{{Magik}} even has the power to open them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': The Season 2 special "The Smurfs Christmas Special" has an evil lord attempt to use one to allow him to take two children he kidnapped (along with Gargamel and Azrael) on "The Final Journey," presumably another dimension, where he planned to do who knows what to his captives (and force Gargamel to watch) before killing them all. He first builds a wall of fire before beginning to summon more of his powers to open the Hellgate ... but is eventually stopped.

* The tunnel to Makai/the demon world in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Old Momentum, following the Zero Reverse.

* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'': [[CoolGate Gehenna Gate]] is central to the plot, and {{Satan}} wants to open it.
* One of the later episodes of ''Manga/AkazukinChacha'' has a villain plotting to open one of these. The protagonists close it by [[spoiler:using their {{Transformation Trinket}}s, and thus removing Chacha's ability to transform into a MagicalGirlWarrior. [[note]]This is because only items belonging to gods can be used to shut the door, and the magical princess that Chacha transforms into was a warrior queen who got deified by the people.[[/note]]]]
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'''s Underworld has a copy of the Arc de Triomphe with "[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Abandon all hope, ye who enter]]" written on it.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', the heroes at one point have to go through one to recover a shard of the Shikon Jewel before Naraku gets it: the gate is a massive iron door chained and located in a stone grotto in a volcanic place, with petrified demons fused to the floor. First, it's guarded by the gigantic and invincible Youkai Gozu and Mezu, who will only let the dead pass (and if you're alive, then they'll help you with that). Second, even if you just smash the chain and open the gate by force, the light coming from the portal will turn all living beings in reach to stone. The heroes have to look for another way, but later Sesshomaru, thanks to his sword Tenseiga (which can actually hurt Gozu and Mezu, as well as reviving the dead) is allowed to cross the treshold safely.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': One of [[Creator/GeorgePerez Perez]]'s most drastic changes to the Amazons' culture - instead of being just a HiddenElfVillage, they now guard Doom's Doorway, behind which lies a cave system leading straight to The LegionsOfHell. Their rate of success has had its ups and downs.[[note]] It's not clear if this is supposed to be the mythological Tartarus or something else entirely.[[/note]]

* ComicBook/ManThing's swamp holds the 'Nexus of all Realities', which by extension is one of these on a wee bigger scope (it connects to every dimension in the Marvel multiverse; some are outright hell dimensions and some are ''just'' [[CrapsackWorld mundanely awful]]) than most of these things. In any case, its presence keeps the plot well-fueled with strange goings-on.

* Gata from the ''ComicBook/AdventureTime'' comic series has one of these in her mouth when she sleeps. In order to stop the monsters from coming through her mouth, Finn and Jake's father had to use some [[RetGone RetGone-ing goop to wipe her from existence.]] Years passed, and Finn and Jake accidentally bring her back. They then travel into the mouth of their forgotten childhood friend (possibly adoptive sister) in order to stop the monsters at the source.
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': It's opened by Haazheel Thorn on the Prince of Darkness's orders so TheLegionsOfHell can assist the [[ReligionOfEvil Black Moon]] in destroying the empire before laying waste to the rest of the world. [[spoiler:After Wismerhill discovers the plan was not simple to dismantle the empire but to create HellOnEarth all along, he marshalls his forces for an epic battle to banish Lucifer and his demons back to Hell and close the portal for good.]]
* In ''ComicBook/NancyInHell'', the only way to escape Hell is through the Gates of Hell, a massive set of doors with a goat-like skull decorating it. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that the demon Mr. Macabre had killed Nancy with the express purpose of opening the Gates so that HellOnEarth would commence]].

* In ''Fanfic/PokemonMaster'', the BigBad's goal is to open three hellgates and unleash upon the world all kind of monstrosities.

* In ''FanFic/EquestrianAllianceProjectOblivion'', the Protean Cybernetics Corporation (ProteC) has created a technology capable of sending matter instantaneously over long distances. Unfortunately, it proves to function equally well as a Hell gate, resulting in an alien invasion.
* In ''Fanfic/TheTeacherOfAllThings'', [=MagnaAngemon=]'s "Gate of Destiny" leads to a dimension full of banished enemies and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Whenever he uses the technique, he never allows it to stay open for very long for fear that they may escape.

* In ''FanFic/TheBugTypeQueen'', Mr. Fuji creates a machine to poke a hole into the Spirit World in Lavender Town. It... goes about as well as you'd expect and Agatha of the Elite Four is called in to deal with it.
* In the first story arc of ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Colossal Boy]] and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} enter Hell through a passageway to stop [[EvilSorcerer Mordru]] from making himself one with the embodiment of Evil.
* ''FanFic/ADragonInShiningArmour'' has the dark rifts, though they're usually only large enough for [[TheCorruption dark data]] to escape.
* In ''FanFic/YuYuGiDigiMoon'', any dimensional portal or may potentially become a door to Hell.
* ''Fanfic/TheEquestrianWindMage'': Any portal to the Dark World. And to add to the horror, Dethl can open new ones at will.
* In ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] and [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] join forces to stop a Kryptonian vampire from opening Sunnydale's Hellmouth and gather a demon army.

* ''Fanfic/DividedRainbow'': Profound Koan, the last Still Way grandmaster whom Lyra visited on her sabbatical, spent all his time fighting the demonic creatures that were spilling out of such a portal. Admittedly, the demons were pathetic specimens, but he was trying to prove a point to the bigger demons that were watching further back.

* ''[[https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominator_(comics) Dominator]]'' starts with three sisters accidentally summoning the titular demon through a one-way Hellgate. He agrees to defend Earth from anything else that emerges until their exorcist father finds a way to send him home and close the gate.

* In ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'', Rasputin teams up with [[{{Ghostapo}} Nazi occultists]] for Project Ragna Rok, an attempt to open a portal to The Void and summon [[EldritchAbomination the Ogdru Jahad]] to destroy the world. Hellboy is all that comes through before the portal gets destroyed. 60 years later, Rasputin comes back to make Hellboy reopen the portal.

* The 1980s B-movie ''Film/TheGate'': the eponymous gate is a entrance to hell open by a group of kids thanks to ritual in a heavy metal disc.
* ''Film/{{Poltergeist|1982}}'' has the portal in the children's bedroom closet.

* The eponymous spaceship in ''Film/EventHorizon'' opens a gateway to hell (or a hell-like dimension) when testing the first interstellar drive.
* In the 1977's horror film ''Film/TheSentinel'', the heroine moves to a remote building in New York that turns out to be an entrance to Hell.
* In ''Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979'' the eponymous house has one in the basement that gets [[SequelEscalation bigger and nastier]] in every sequel.

* In ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'', the Eiffel Tower is a hidden spaceport with a portal that lets alien refugees come to Earth. The Hive reroute it to their own planet so they can invade Earth.
* In ''Film/HeadlessHorseman'', there is a bubbling spring in Calvin Montgomery's cellar. This was where he used to place the bodies of his victims when he was human murderer. After being transformed into the HeadlessHorseman, he delivers the heads of his victims here to keep his pact with Hell.
* ''Film/TheFieldGuideToEvil'': In "What Ever happened to Paganus the Pagan?", the small Greek island is home to a gateway to the underworld known locally as 'the World Below'. It opens once a year at Christmas to allow the goblins out to play tricks on mortals. After capturing a goblin, Paganus ventures into the World Below, and is enraptured by the blue flame, and remains there when the gate shuts.

* The Dark One's prison in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' seems to be located around Shayol Ghul. More accurately, it is all over the world (hence the ''cuendillar'' seals being found everywhere), but it is ''weakest'' around Shayol Ghul, creating the Blight by allowing the Dark One's power to seep through.
** Eventually, Myrdraal drive the Trollocs through the Ways, destroying the hearts of several nations right before [[spoiler: the Last Battle]]. In an unexpected display of common sense and tactics, the Forces of Good don't allow the Trollocs to dictate their field of battle. They ignore the invaders except to evacuate civilians.
* The gate of the old gods in ''Literature/GilsAllFrightDiner''.
* In Eve Forward's ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'', the goal of the main characters is to open one of these [[spoiler: in order to ''save'' the world.]]

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero Lost]]'', there's a crate that hell hounds come out of. In ''Prospero in Hell'', when they decided on ToHellAndBack, they have to crawl through it and a tunnel behind to get to the rather more traditional gate -- which Dante got the inscription on, ''almost'' right even.
* The story of ''Literature/{{Spellbent}}'' kicks off when the protagonist participates in a simple magical ritual that is only supposed to call down some rain, but which somehow opens a portal to a hell instead.
* Dungeon Number One and the Bottomless Whirlpool in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' are used in ''Darke'' as gateways for exiting and entering, respectively, the Darke Halls.
* In the Creator/ManlyWadeWellman short story 'Chorazin' a man finds a gate to Hell [[EldritchLocation or someplace equally nasty]] in the side of a mountain. It's filled with piles of gold and precious jewels [[EldritchAbomination and some very unpleasant inhabitants]]. Wellman must have liked the idea, as he also used it in a Literature/SilverJohn story, though that one ended with John [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeating its master,]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils the demon Molech]].

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' inverts this trope with the Veil in the Department of Mysteries, which is a one-way portal ''to'' the afterlife (meaning nothing can get into our world from the next).
* In ''Literature/TheGirlFromTheWell'', Aitou village was the site of a ritual intended to open a hellgate, which resulted in its destruction and the entire surrounding forest becoming haunted.

* ''Literature/ANetOfDawnAndBones'' has the Demongates, vast magical constructions built from HumanSacrifice, negative emotions and evil that allow demons to invade Earth from Hell with impunity. They are relatively rare because the knowledge and patience required to create a gate isn’t something most sorcerers can manage. The last few times one has been completed have caused catastrophes to occur including [[RealEventFictionalCause the Great Fire of London, the 1692 Jamaican Earthquake and the 1257 Mount Rinjani explosion]]. The BigBad is trying to create a new one in Intrepid, and has had twenty odd years to build the foundations, starting with using his older brother as a HumanSacrifice. [[spoiler: Despite the best efforts of everyone involved it opens of Halloween during ''Seeds of Blood'', before being destroyed by [[HolyHandGrenade celestially powered]] ColonyDrop.]]

* The Hellmouth in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer.''

* The Cardiff Rift in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''.
* The anomalies in ''Series/{{Primeval}}''.
* The Thirdspace gate from ''Series/BabylonFive''.

** In the fifth season finale, rings taken from the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse are used to create a portal to Hell [[spoiler:through which Sam (possessed by Lucifer) and his little brother Adam (possessed by Michael) fall, trapping the two Archangels and ending the immediate threat of the Apocalypse).]] Appropriately enough, this occurs in a cemetery in Stull, Kansas, near the boys' hometown of Lawrence and, according to real life urban legend, home of a hellgate of its own (see Real Life, below).

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has had a few of these over the years -- in ''[[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Lightspeed Rescue]]'' the demons' master plan is to open one to free their brethren from the barren "Shadow World". In ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'', the entire season is a XanatosGambit by [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Lothor]], who sent his [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters]] to their deaths week after week to fulfill a prophecy whereby the "Abyss of Evil" would burst open from the pressure of all the evil spirits contained within it. In [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force's]] backstory, Claire's mother sealed away [[EldritchAbomination The Master's]] legions the behind the one they used to attack the surface.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' is no stranger to this trope. In ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' the forces of [[GodOfEvil N Ma]] (the gate's creator who made so his army could attack the sufrace) had to be sealed from both the outside AND the inside. The parts relating to this were mostly the same in ''Magiranger'' and ''Mystic Force,'' but unlike Clare's mother, Lunagel didn't have to [[spoiler: CastFromHitPoints with the sealing spell, and so didn't turn to dust immediately afterwards]]. [[DiscOneFinalBoss Branken]] attempts to unseal the gate so he can attack the surface ([[MagicKnight Wolzard]] not having the power, or interest, so this the only he can leave), but after his death it's barely mentioned because all the monsters can freely travel to and from without it or any outside help.

* ''Series/TheCollector'': Temporary portals to Hell appear to collect the Devil's [[DealWithTheDevil debts]]. [[InvisibleToNormals Only his clients can see or hear them.]]
* {{Series/Garth Marenghis Darkplace}}: Darkplace Hospital is built over the very gates of Hell itself.
* The 2010 series of ''Series/DoctorWho'' gives us the cracks in time, which don't release any extradimensional nasties but can RetGone anyone and anything (even ''reality itself'') out of existence.

* In ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', it's made clear that Gates of Hell are a real, physical place. [[spoiler: Specifically, in the depths of the Greendale Coal Mines, as that's the spot where Lucifer fell to Earth from Heaven.]]

* The animated band Music/{{Gorillaz}} have a personal HellGate in their basement.

* The entire game of ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' is built around countless eponymous gates opening up as a response to the world's mana rising after the Third World War, ripping open the fabric of time and space. Not as many open up as frequently as when the whole sequence started, but there are some stable gates -- such as the entirety of the St Louis Arch which is a permanent portal to various hell-like dimensions.

* Both ''TabletopGame/{{Malifaux}}'' and ''TabletopGame/HellDorado'' subvert this; it's humanity invading Malifaux/hell, instead of the other way around. Particularly glaring in Malifaux where the first time the breach was opened the Neverborn wiped the tresspassers, and closed the portal while throwing one body trough it before it fully closed. The body had one word written on it: Ours.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has a few of these, some leading to the Underworld, some to [[{{Hell}} Malfeas]]. To get to the Underworld, you enter a [[CorpseLand shadowland]] and wait until nightfall. Voila -- now you're in the Underworld! Too bad the borders go back up at sunrise. There are sixteen secret ways into Malfeas from Creation, one of which is as simple as wearing green while riding through an area of desolation and ending up on the sands of Cecelyne, the Endless Desert (and yes, it's suggested [[FridgeHorror people do this accidentally]]).

* TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons has multiple.
** Sigil in ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' is a massive city filled with gates to outer planes. The Outer Planes include locations like Gehenna, the Abyss, Pandemonium, and, of course, the Nine Hells. Several of the Gatetowns also qualify.
** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Neverwinter, a densely populated city on the Sword Coast, is just filled with these, specifically places where you can pass to Neverwinter's Shadowfell counterpart, Evernight.

* The Dark Portal in the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' series was forcibly bored between Azeroth and Draenor, but since then it proved nigh-impossible to close (physical structure of the portal can destroyed as it's just a stone structure, destroying the rift connecting the worlds is another story), and also paved the way for the Burning Legion (and others) to eventually enter Azeroth.
** Other, more literal examples exist, one of the most significant being the one created by the Highborne during the War of Ancients using the Well of Eternity. While it never got strong enough to summon [[GodOfEvil Sargeras]] (because it destroyed before that was made possible), it did summon a whole lot of other demons.

* ''VideoGame/HellgateLondon'' is about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin hellgates in London]].
* The gates to Oblivion in, er, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]''. Specifically, gates to Mehrunes Dagon's (the Daedric Prince of Destruction) plane of Oblivion, the Deadlands. In order to close each gate, one must march through the gate into Oblivion, battle your way through (or just run right past) Dagon's demons, find the Sigil Stone powering the gate, and grab the sucker.
** Subverted in the ''Shivering Isles'' expansion, where a gate opens to said location but nothing comes out of it, save for one complete loony (like all the rest in there) that gets killed by a guard anyway. The gate's purpose instead is to attract an adventurer capable of helping the Daedric Prince Sheogorath defend his realm. [[spoiler: Or rather, to attract an adventurer capable of ''replacing'' him so that his original self Jyggalag can escape the Shivering Isles.]]
** This is pointed out as being really odd, as someone with experience about Daedric summoning notes that opening portals to Oblivion that lasts ''this'' long shouldn't be possible. The reason for that is solved in-game [[spoiler: in a more permanent way, less relying on there being an Emperor]], though we only got some implying about why it only became an issue ''this'' time, and not all the other times in the past that [[spoiler: no Emperor was there to light the Dragonfires]]. Sheogorath manages to explain away his ridiculously stable gate by saying it's not really an Oblivion gate to Tamriel, more a Tamriellic gate to Oblivion. The distinction is subtle, but significant.

* The chaos gate, the final destination of most players in ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery''.
* The chaos gate in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork5TeamColonelAndTeamProtoMan''. It's a BonusDungeon, but ''you'' have the option of opening it. This act floods the Internet with evil and powers up the viruses.
* In a sense, Exor the giant sword in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''.

* Tartarus in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' is a borderline example; it's not an actual ''portal'' (more of a [[EvilTowerOfOminousness giant tower]]), but fulfills all the other traits of the trope by being a spawning and nesting ground for the [[DemonicInvaders Shadows]].
* The ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' series [[spoiler: is based around ritual sacrifices designed to keep a number of these closed.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ninja Gaiden II]]'' on the Xbox 360 has a Hellgate at the peak of Mt. Fuji.
** Ashtar's whole plan in ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos'' for the NES is to open one of these and bring about an age of "Eternal Darkness."
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' grants the Greeks the ability to summon an Underworld Passage from one point of the map to another, averting the trope... but the ''Titans'' expansion gives the Atlanteans the power of creating a small Tartarean Gate, allowing dog-like demons to continually respawn until the gate is destroyed.
** The main campaigns of both game and expansion center around attempts to open ''much larger'' Tartarean Gates in order to release Kronos and his... ummm... "Kronies".
** And in normal gameplay of the expansion, each civilization can summon a [[OurGodsAreDifferent Titan or suitable mythological replacement]] from such a gate to help crush enemies and so forth. AOM really likes this trope.
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' features portals into the Dark World as the randomly generated {{Bonus Dungeon}}s.
* Big Whoop from the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series is revealed to be this the third game, one with a power supply that will eventually run out.
* ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow]]''[='s=] castle was built on "The Mine of Judgement" which leads directly into "The Abyss".
* An [[InvertedTrope Inversion]], sort of, in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes''. The [[LegionsOfHell Ing]] themselves don't use the portals to [[DarkWorld Dark Aether]], as they can't survive on Aether in their normal forms; they appear as mist that [[DemonicPossession possesses]] creatures instead. Some of the portals appeared spontaneously, and some were created by the Luminoth so that they (and eventually Samus) could return the favor. However an optional combination weapon known as a "Dark Burst" basically creates a portal to somewhere even worse than Dark Aether. A mobile portal that attempts to draw in everything that comes close to it!
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': The characters are actually pretty careful about the [[OurWormholesAreDifferent mass relays]] and refuse to open them until both entrances are discovered normally, for fear that something horrible and unknown might be waiting on the other side. The galaxy has learned this from bitter experience, as some thousand years before the game starts, when they blindly opened a mass relay, they got invaded by [[BugWar Rachni]]. In fact, the First Contact War started because humans were just opening mass relays whenever they found one, and this caught the turians' attention. [[spoiler: There is indeed [[EldritchAbomination something out there]] -- [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Reapers]]. The cornerstone of [[SapientShip the Reapers]]' plan was the fact that the Citadel itself, basically the centre of galactic civilisation, contains a mass relay. Every few millennia, species reach the Citadel, then Reapers invade and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong somehow breed]] using said species. [[ViciousCycle Rinse and repeat]].]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has so many of these, it seems like people almost trip over them on the way to the store. Residents of one dimension of the {{Multiverse}} or another seemed to invade Gensokyo on an almost annual basis. It doesn't help that Yukari Yakumo can create portals to any dimension she wants at her whim.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' has this in the endings where you don't run away. The whole freaking sky opens up into a demonic vortex [[spoiler: and reality starts to collapse as the Bels fight for the title of demon king.]]
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has an entire NegativeSpaceWedgie, the [[DarkWorld Schwartzwelt]], open up in Antarctica. Inside, it's a maze of intertwining dimensions and horrors beyond time, releasing demons outside the field and into the mortal world. And the place is ''[[OhCrap growing]]''...
** Later boss Orcus is ''literally'' a Hell Gate.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' has the idiotic MadScientist Harada trying to create one of these to gain a limitless source of demonic servants. He screws the process by not using the correct items [[EvilIsNotAToy and is swiftly killed for his trouble]]. Later, TheHero repeats the procedure with the proper corrections and successfully establishes a link between Earth and the higher dimensions.
* The Pest Control minigame in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has a team of players cooperate to destroy interdimensional portals that are vomiting out deadly alien invaders.
* "Hell's Maw" is the name of both [=E1M8=] and Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}''. Closing it is the focus of the non-{{Shareware}} episodes.
* The Fade of ''Franchise/DragonAge'' isn't the local afterlife, but it's populated by spirits that reflect virtues and sins. The second category are driven to possess mortals, particularly mages, and can come through more easily where the barrier between worlds is weaker or "torn". The plot of [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition the third game]] is kicked off by a rift bigger than anything we've seen before, allowing a demonic invasion into a world already on the brink of collapse.
* ''VideoGame/CookieClicker'':
** The Portal building is stated to be a portal to the Cookieverse but is implied to be one of these. It costs [[NumberOfTheBeast 1,666,666 cookies to build the first one, and produces 6666 [=CpS=]]]. When the [[spoiler:grandmapocalypse]] reaches its late stages, your Portals power up [[spoiler:Grandmas]].
** In the old "Cookie Clicker Classic" version, the image for the portal in the game window resembles [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion an Oblivion gate.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War II]]'''s Retribution expansion has this in one of the mission where the Chaos Space Marines working under [[spoiler: Kyras]] construct a port to the warp that they brag about every chance they get. Makes it all the more fun to destroy it.
* The portals left behind by Monoculus in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' take the player to a ghostly Loot Island, the underworld section of the Halloween event map Eyeaduct.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'': You get to Hell by summoning a fiery red portal in the air, and then jumping into it.
* [[spoiler: Marx]] in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' ''splits in half and reveals one inside his face'' as his most powerful attack. Should Kirby get caught by the attack, he's briefly sucked into what can best be described as a ''dimension made of pain'' before being spat back out. You know, ''for kids!''
* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': These are set up all around the Castle to summon Desmodiij from the Spirit World.

* In the ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}'' franchise, Umbran Witches can use their hair as a conduit to open temporary gates to Inferno, this game's version of Hell, in order to summon Infernal Demons to do their bidding. In the sequel, it's revealed that the Umbran Witch counterparts, the Lumen Sages, can do something similar by opening up a temporary gate to Paradiso in order to summon Angels. However, LightIsNotGood is in full effect here and Bayonetta primarily fights angels, so despite Paradiso being eponymous to Heaven its implied to be just as bad as Inferno. Also in the sequel, ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta 2}}'', the titular character needs to travel to the holy mountain, Fimbulventr, in order to access a permanent passageway to Inferno, fittingly called (through translation) the Gates of Hell. The mountain houses a permanent gateway to Paradiso as well, a Heaven's Gate.
* Like the original poem it's based on, ''[[VideoGame/DantesInferno Dante's Inferno]]'' features the gates of Hell. It also scores bonus points by being in the shape Auguste Rodin's "Gates of Hell" sculpture.

%%* The World Gate in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII''.%%Zero-context example.
* in both ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'' and ''VideoGame/BaldursGateSiegeOfDragonspear'', the BigBad seeks to open a portal to Avernus, the first layer of Baator (aka the Nine Hells).
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'', Garcia Hotspur and Johnson need to get into the [[{{Hell}} City of the Damned]] to rescue his girlfriend who was kidnapped by [[{{Satan}} Fleming]]. The entrance to the City is located just beyond the horizon (Garcia having procured this information on the internet), manifesting as a large set of doors with various locks and chains hanging off them and a pair of horse-head statues standing guard on both sides.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': The Gate of Finis where Galdera was sealed away by the twelve gods. Where the other side is located is ambiguous, and described in story only as beyond the borders of the world. Several hints though such as Galdera's power over life and death, the shades of deceased bosses, the ghosts of Kit's parents showing up, and the title of the local Tome of Eldritch Lore indicate it's the afterlife of Orsterra.

* A portal to hell briefly opened up in ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound'''s [[AdventureTowns Tackleford]], and was only shut down by some [[http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20070705 quick legal beagling]] on the part of Shelley. At a cost.

* ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'' does this literally, with portals crossing dimensions are the only way for anyone to move between Heaven, Earth, or Hell. This means that the only way for either side in the massive three way war to attack any of the others is through the portal, but a portal big enough to move an army through is impossible to close. This really fucks the daemons over when [[spoiler:the humans capture the Hellgate in Iraq]]. Smaller portals are commonly used for rescues or surgical strikes.

* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', it turns out [[spoiler:Raven herself is one. The prophecy states that "The gem was born of evil's fire, the gem shall be his portal" and she is the gem.]]

* Happens quite a few times on ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''. The most notable is in the HalloweenSpecial when Jack o Lantern uses Grim's scythe to open a rip to allow spirits to come forth and take pumpkins for bodies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': The Season 2 special "The Smurfs Christmas Special" has an evil lord attempt to use one to allow him to take two children he kidnapped (along with Gargamel and Azrael) on "The Final Journey," presumably another dimension, where he planned to do who knows what to his captives (and force Gargamel to watch) before killing them all. He first builds a wall of fire before beginning to summon more of his powers to open the Hellgate ... but is eventually stopped.
* The fourth season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' has an AncientEvil summoned by opening a portal to the Netherworld. Although the Bloodwolf is defeated, season five reveals that said portal remains open and infernal beasts continue to come out of it.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''FanFic/EmbersInTheDusk'': Avernus has open Warprifts at the poles, but the wildlife there is so dangerous that any Warp entities that get through tend to get eaten. Literally.

* In ''Fanfic/TheTeacherofAllThings'', [=MagnaAngemon=]'s "Gate of Destiny" leads to a dimension full of banished enemies and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Whenever he uses the technique, he never allows it to stay open for very long for fear that they may escape.

[[folder:Mythology]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/RealmGrinder Realm Grinder]]'', The Hell Portal is the most expensive building available to Evil, opening where a cave entrance would normally be. The Demon faction uses an enhanced version, affected by their Hellfire. They eventually declare an invasion and transform it into an Infernal Realm, opening the possibility of shorter but stronger Hellfire Blasts.

* ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'' has the portal in the children's bedroom closet.

* Dana's apartment building in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' was designed by its architect, Ivo Shandor, to resonate with occult energies like a supernatural antenna, with the end result that it starts releasing supernatural entities throughout New York, who eventually converge and create a portal on the roof of the building through which the god Zuul intends to invade and destroy the world. The heroes destroy the portal by CrossingTheStreams.

* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'': [[CoolGate Gehenna Gate]]

SubTrope of CoolGate. Compare with GateOfTruth, {{Hellevator}}, PortalNetwork and TannhauserGate.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', the gateway between Earth and the world of the voodoo spirits is inside the mouth of a large, sentient voodoo mask.

* In ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', the gateway between Earth and the world of the voodoo spirits is inside the mouth of a large, sentient voodoo mask.

Compare with PortalNetwork.

* The chaos gate in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 5''. It's a BonusDungeon, but ''you'' have the option of opening it. This act floods the Internet with evil and powers up the viruses.

* The Tree of the Dead from ''Film/SleepyHollow'' became a gate to Hell after [[spoiler: Lady Van Tassel used the dark arts to sell her soul to Satan for a chance at revenge and taking over all the village's land, by being given control of the restless ghost of the Headless Horseman whose skull she kept with her.]]

A Hellgate is a connection -- doorway, [[TeleportersAndTransporters portal]], [[WhenDimensionsCollide interdimensional weak spot]], [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Wormhole]], NegativeSpaceWedgie, whatever -- between the normal world and someplace ''bad''. Whether it explicitly links to [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Hell]], [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Hyperspace]], a DarkWorld or just to AnotherDimension, the primary plot function of the Hellgate to allow [[TheLegionsOfHell legions of]] [[DemonicInvaders scary, evil]] weirdness to [[AlienInvasion invade]] [[HellOnEarth our world]].

* [[CoolGate Gehenna Gate]] in ''Manga/BlueExorcist''.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania Centralia, Pennsylvania]] is directly underneath an inextinguishable coal fire that has been burning for over 50 years with enough coal to keep burning for centuries into the future. As the ruins of the city crumble, the ground gives way to the smoke and fires right below. As David [=DeKok=] wrote for the University of Pennsylvania:

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.]]'' (Unless you're the [[PlayerCharacter Hero of Kvatch]], in which case, loot to your heart's content!)]]

->''"Legend has it that it was written by [[ReligionOfEvil the Dark Ones]].'' [[TomeOfEldritchLore Necronomicon ex Mortis]]. ''Roughly translated: Book of the Dead. The book served as a passageway to the evil worlds beyond."''

* Oddly enough, one seems to appear in the ''TheSmurfs'' Christmas special, in the form of the stranger's travelling spell when he moves to try to steal away the two children.