History Main / IronicHell

* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Hell itself is this for Lucifer who gifted humanity free will, but only ever gets to see the human souls who used his gift to commit evil. The once WideEyedIdealist is utterly apathetic to sinners after so many years of only seeing the worst of humanity.

* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Hell itself is this for Lucifer who gifted humanity free will but only ever gets to see the human souls who used his gift to commit evil. The once WideEyedIdealist is utterly apathetic to sinners after so many years of only seeing the worse of humanity.

* A religious parable of unknown origin has the protagonist shown a vision of Hell in which everyone is eternally seated at a table filled with delicious-smelling food. However, none of them can eat a bite because they can't bend their elbows (or, in another version, their forks are far too long to reach their mouths). The protagonist then sees a vision of Heaven where the same banquet and same anatomical (or cutlery) restrictions apply, but everyone is feasting happily. Why? Because unlike the people in Hell who think only of themselves, the people in Heaven feed each other. (Depending on your sensibilities, this is either heartwarming or a GoldenMoment.)

* Creator/RowanAtkinson has a skit in which he appears as the Devil introducing people to Hell. Among the newcomers are the French and the Germans, who are placed together, and the adulterers, who are instructed to line up behind "that small guillotine".

* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' book ''[[Recap/PastDoctorAdventuresFestivalOfDeath Festival of Death]]'' has the villain wipe out a species in order to understand their "circular reincarnation" (their consciousnesses being sent back to their births upon death), so that he can do the same thing and save his parents from a shuttle crash. [[spoiler:He succeeds...at the reincarnation part. What he ''can't'' do is influence history; [[AndIMustScream he's just a passenger]]. Meaning that he has to watch his parents die, and his own chain of poor life decisions, without being able to do anything about any of it. And since he is only a passenger he can't even stop himself from going back ''again'' due to the circular nature of it so he has to witness the death of his parents and all his mistakes FOR ALL ETERNITY.]]

* ''Literature/SkinGame'': [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Harry, who points out to Nicodemus that while [[spoiler: Deidre]] dying in Hades's vault might have put [[spoiler: her]] out of the reach of Heaven, it put [[spoiler: her]] into the domain of the Greek Gods, who practically invented the idea of afterlives where the punishment was tailored to an individual's crimes. And given the sheer number of horrific crimes that [[spoiler: Deidre]] was responsible for, that was probably a ''much'' worse fate. Nicodemus does not take this well.
* Creator/TomHolt's ''Only Human'' showed us someone who ended up in hell as a result of [[TakeThatCritics being a jerk to authors]] (complaining that their newer stuff wasn't as good as their old stuff, to every author) being forced to read a book that may well be ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} The Colour of Magic]]'' over and over again for the rest of eternity. No matter how good Creator/TerryPratchett is, that's gotta suck.
* Referenced in ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': Edward believes he is dead, and at first believes it to be Heaven since Bella's there...then comments that she [[ForbiddenFruit smells the same]], so it might be Hell.
* ''Creator/PaulJennings'' had a short story named ''Unhappily Ever After'' which shows several people being punished for the way they acted in life by suffering the fates they made others suffer.

* On ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'', [[spoiler:Delphine [=LaLaurie=], a notorious serial killer and torturer, is forced to watch her ArchEnemy Marie Laveau torture her and her children for all eternity. It doubles as an Ironic Hell for Marie as well, as she herself is being forced to torture them, thus destroying her sense of moral superiority.]]

** "Atheists? Right over here, please. *smirking* You're feeling a right bunch of nitwits, aren't you?"

* ComicBook/FinalCrisis: ''[[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy Prime]]'' fate at the end of ''ComicBook/LegionOfThreeWorlds'', trapped on the very world he wanted to get to the whole time, powerless, and with his parents and former lover utterly terrified of him because of the monstrous actions he committed to get there in the first place.

* The DarkerAndEdgier ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' fanfic [[http://www.rovl.org/vi/?p=display&e=8482 It Makes Me Happy That I'm Not Them]] inflicts these on a few of the BigBad characters, as well as the OC lead. We hear mention of Gabool being trapped among constantly-ringing bells, similar to the hallucinations which drove him insane in canon, and the {{Narcissist}} Ublaz being rendered "furless". The punishment of the canon character we see onscreen is rather less intense; Swartt Sixclaw, who was, among other things, an abusive husband and father, is effectively forced to become a StepfordSmiler.

* In the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'', [[spoiler: it's revealed that [[BadFuture Dark World]] is this for [[PsychopathicManchild Dark World!Discord]]. He gets to reign over the world for all eternity, his defeats always get undone, and the consequences of his actions are always erased...[[GroundhogDayLoop always, for eternity]]. It eventually got to the point where trying to save [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his daughter]] from death is the ''only'' reason he even ''tries'' to achieve anything. Ironically, by the time this is revealed, he's actually had a HeelRealization, but the mastermind of the loops won't let him act on it until [[SpannerInTheWorks Rancor]] throws things so far out of whack she can't overwrite it.]]
** [[spoiler: [[DaddysLittleVillain Fluttercruel]], after [[DeityOfHumanOrigin becoming a full Draconequus]] and being banished from the mortal plane, is eventually punished for all her crimes by being forced to live a mortal life as one of her own victims. This finalizes the HeelRealization she began just prior to her banishment.]]

* In [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/388353/best-hell-ever Best Hell Ever]], thanks to [[{{Troll}} Discord]] playing a prank, [[BadassBookworm Twilight]] ends up in the Ironic Hell for sloth, organizing the books in a library which has ''every'' book ever written, will be written, was never written, and will never be written. [[AHellOfATime Naturally, she absolutely loves it]], and after she actually [[BeyondTheImpossible manages to sort all the books]], she starts reading them. In the sequel, after being sent home when the mistake was discovered, she recruits Starlight to help her return and encounters several other hells, like an ObstructiveBureaucrat (or just completely inept due to sloth) who tried to get recruited into the infernal bureaucracy only to get trapped in filling out the paperwork for the position, a punishment still being set up where a greedy pony has all the wealth they could ever want but have nothing to buy with it since the stores are always a minute away from opening, and one where gluttonous ponies are forced to constantly give food away without being able to have a bite themselves. She also suggests making an [[GreenEyedMonster envious]] pony president of the fan club of the person she's jealous of when she stumbles into a meeting where a demon is chewing out another for not being able to come up with a punishment for envy, a keg party with pretty mares where the kegs have holes in the bottom and the mares have none for Lust (see the joke section of this page for more details), a pony prideful for his accomplishments in life now gets graded for literally everything, and a sailor who swore gets a literal NarrativeProfanityFilter (which he seems to consider worse than having to be immersed in acid for eternity).

-->'''Plankton:''' It's not worth it! It's just not worth it! Goodbye, everyone. I'll remember you all in therapy.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama All-Stars]]'' [[spoiler: Mike tries to seal away his evil [[SplitPersonality personality]] Mal by hitting himself on the head with a large rock. He ends up [[NiceJobBreakingItHero giving Mal complete control of his body]] and is trapped in his own head, chained to the rock he hit his head on and forced to listen to Mal's EvilGloating.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', Hades' EvilPlan in one episode is to change the course of the River Styx so that Athens is now part of the Underworld. This includes Prometheus Academy, so Hades inflicts ironic torments on Hercules and his classmates--Cassandra and Icarus can't get out of their least favorite classes (Home Greconomics and P.E. respectively) while [[ItsAllAboutMe the egotistical Adonis]] has to serve his servants.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': At the end of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E25TheEndingOfTheEndPart2 The Ending of the End Part 2]], the LegionOfDoom, who constantly argued about everything and fought among each other, are [[spoiler:[[TakenForGranite sealed away in stone together]], forced to spend an eternity together. For an added layer of irony, Discord, the one who previously had this punishment inflicted on him, is the one who suggests it to Celestia and Luna in the first place and helps them carry it out. Discord himself also lampshades how this is a [[FateWorseThanDeath fate the three villains would hate more than anything]]]].

** That said, the above method is less effective on trolls and more on spammers and bots, as trolls are likely to notice a pattern (that said: their comments being neglected) or see the community through other means (incognito mode, use another account, monitor streams, etc.). If anything, it's more of an ironic hell on spammers and bots than anything, as they really will fail to notice that nothing they put out makes through.

* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' skit featured Music/SimonAndGarfunkel making a deal with the devil in order to become successful. The sketch then jumps ahead to Satan meeting an aged Music/PaulSimon (played by Simon himself) in an elevator to collect his debt. The elevator speaker is playing a [[HellIsThatNoise muzak version of "Mrs. Robinson."]] This is where Satan leaves Paul Simon for all eternity.

* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' book [[Recap/PastDoctorAdventuresFestivalOfDeath Festival of Death]]'' has the villain wipe out a species in order to understand their "circular reincarnation" (their consciousnesses being sent back to their births upon death), so that he can do the same thing and save his parents from a shuttle crash. [[spoiler:He succeeds...at the reincarnation part. What he ''can't'' do is influence history; [[AndIMustScream he's just a passenger]]. Meaning that he has to watch his parents die, and his own chain of poor life decisions, without being able to do anything about any of it. And since he is only a passenger he can't even stop himself from going back ''again'' due to the circular nature of it so he has to witness the death of his parents and all his mistakes FOR ALL ETERNITY.]]

* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' book "Festival of Death" has the villain wipe out a species in order to understand their "circular reincarnation" (their consciousnesses being sent back to their births upon death), so that he can do the same thing and save his parents from a shuttle crash. [[spoiler:He succeeds...at the reincarnation part. What he ''can't'' do is influence history; [[AndIMustScream he's just a passenger]]. Meaning that he has to watch his parents die, and his own chain of poor life decisions, without being able to do anything about any of it. And since he is only a passenger he can't even stop himself from going back ''again'' due to the circular nature of it so he has to witness the death of his parents and all his mistakes FOR ALL ETERNITY.]]

** A LooseCanon alternate universe shows the [[EnfantTerrible Nameless Filly]] who killed Cupid being stopped from murdering him due to [[ForWantOfANail ponies praying for his protection that day]], meaning Turris (the God of Defense) was keeping a close eye on him that day. Turris [[BigDamnHero came to his nephew's aid]] and [[VictoryByEndurance his unbreakable defense ultimately causes the Concept Killing Spear to snap]], after which he used the broken half against itself to RetGone it from existence, the resulting blast kills the Nameless Filly. In Hell, the Nameless Filly is condemned to a GroundhogDayLoop where she returns to before her attempt on Cupid, but can ''never'' actually succeed in her goal, doomed to try and fail for all eternity unless she actually [[TheSociopath lets love have a place in her heart.]] Given her actions would've erased countless innocent people from existence for a petty grudge, its a fitting fate.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': After dozens of nights after having to read ''Hamster Huey'' over and over again, Calvin's dad muses:

** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has [[BigBad Yoshikage Kira]], a hand fetishist, [[spoiler:dragged to hell by an army of ghostly hands. And since he wants to live in peace so badly, he's dragged off to a place where he can't]].

* After the events of the Marineford War arc in ''Manga/OnePiece'', Sanji, the ship's cook and [[ChivalrousPervert a raging skirt-chaser]], is stranded in the Kamabakka Kingdom: an island nation of [[CampGay superhumanly tough, strong and fast extremely flamboyant]] and ''very'' {{gonk}}y {{Drag Queen}}s who all [[AbhorrentAdmirer think Sanji is extremely sexy and keep trying to alternatively hit on him or force him into drag as well]]. For an added layer of irony, they started pursuing him when he mistook one of them[[note]]he was only seeing "her" from behind, and thusly fooled by her outfit[[/note]] for an actual girl and started up his usual girl-chasing routine. Although he came out of the experience all the stronger -- having learned powerful new techniques, gaining even greater levels of SuperStrength and SuperSpeed, and learning special new recipes -- the events deeply scarred him; forever afterwards, anytime he brings up the island, he refers to it as "Hell".

* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' book "Festival of Death" has the villain wipe out a species in order to understand their "circular reincarnation" (their consciousnesses being sent back to their births upon death), so that he can do the same thing and save his parents from a shuttle crash. [[spoiler:He succeeds...at the reincarnation part. What he ''can't'' do is influence history; [[AndIMustScream he's just a passenger]]. Meaning that he gets to watch his parents die, and his own chain of poor life decisions, without being able to do anything about it. And since he is only a passenger he can't even stop himself from going back ''again'' due to the circular nature of it so he has to witness the death of his parents and all his mistakes FOR ALL ETERNITY.]]

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' presents us with a variation of this trope, in form of [[spoiler: EMIYA (aka. Servant Archer)]], whose attempts to fulfill his dream of becoming a hero brought him into a situation where he only killed people "for greater good", without ever saving anyone, [[ICannotSelfTerminate and incapable of ending the cycle]]. [[DespairEventHorizon He doesn't take it well]].
-->[[spoiler: '''Rin''']]: The boy who stated that he just doesn't want to see anyone cry... could only see crying humans forever.

** In the Fourth Circle, the hoarders and the wasteful try to crush each other by rolling huge Sisyphean diamonds at each other, only to always knock each other flat and have to start again. One individual, who spent all his money hoarding rare and irreplaceable books that rotted away for lack of care, is considered both a hoarder and waster and is left to lie flat between the two groups, crushed on every pass. Nearby, in and across a large break in the cliff, greedy land developers endlessly built dams and bridges while {{Animal Wrongs Group}}s tear them down.
** In the Fifth Circle, the wrathful fight viciously in the swamp of the Styx, while the sullen lie gurgling in the water.

** The Seventh Circle's first ring is Dante's lake of boiling blood for murderers, warmongers, and others who caused violent suffering. A sunken ship swamped in the blood holds the souls of slave traders trapped belowdecks. Crooked cops, judges, lawyers and lawmakers who let killers loose in the public that trusted them to keep them safe are crippled and turned into an island that killers trample over to find refuge from the blood. The second ring, of the violent wasters, is now mostly given over to a wasteland where living bulldozers chase the souls of the worst polluters and environmental despoilers. The burning desert in the third ring also holds loan sharks.

** In fact this appears to be the Underworld's whole thing. Milla, Rumpelstiltskin's ex-wife who abandoned their son is a crossing guard, forced to spend eternity looking out for other children. Gaston, who prided himself on being a great hunter, has to work in an animal shelter. Liam, Captain Hook's older brother who spent his life trying to be an upstanding role model for his drunken wastrel brother, is now a bartender slinging drinks. And Hercules, a hero who had twelve epic "labours" in life is now a literal labourer hauling loads on the docks for no apparent purpose.