History Main / ReroutedFromHeaven

'''ALERT! DeathTrope ahead!''' You will be SpoileredRotten! Hit the back button, ''hit the back button!''

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', the Wingly civilization built a machine that reroutes all human souls to hell ([[ForTheEvulz because they could, apparently]]). By the time of the game, the device has largely broken down so that now it only snags those souls who are in great emotional turmoil, including a main character and [[BossRush several bosses]].

->''"She didn't see any light because there was nothing left in her to see that light. Because so much of her was gone and destroyed by the indoctrination that she was subjected to... that there was no light for her. That there is no After for her."''
-->-- '''Lorerunner''' describing Matriarch Benezia, ''VideoGame/MassEffect1 [[https://youtu.be/zwNzL8tbPiI?t=8779 Lorerun, Part 4]]''

* In Jon's story of Issue #39 of ''ComicBook/TarotWitchOfTheBlackRose'', we are catered to a hypothetical story about what would happen after his death. As he ascends to Heaven (being a catholic hero), a Valkyrie escorting a viking named Einherjar crashes into him, accidentally knocking the viking right into his Heaven as the valkyrie escorts Jon to Valhalla. Unfortunately for Jon, it was right then and there he is recruited into the beginning of Ragnarok.

* What kicks off the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/HailToTheKingQwapdo''. The nameless main character died and was heavily implied to being going to Heaven. Then King Sombra, who recently was [[NeverSayDie defeated]], runs past him trying to get into the portal because of all the crystals. The portal quickly gets closed to prevent him from getting in. Then Sombra attacks the main character and they both start to get dragged downwards. To prevent this trope from playing fully, The Powers That Be quickly grab the main character and throw him into the closest thing to prevent that. That thing being Sombra's comatose body. HilarityEnsues.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "[[Recap/SupernaturalS08E19TaxiDriver "Taxi Driver" (S08, E19)]]": Bobby Singer was sent to Hell instead of Heaven because Crowley, the King of Hell, had a personal grudge against him and enlisted a rogue {{Psychopomp}} to reroute him from his final destination. [[spoiler:The Winchester brothers [[RescuedFromTheUnderworld break into Hell and rescue him]].]]

* In ''Film/{{Constantine}}'', this is arguably the case with Angela's sister Isabelle, who was manipulated by demons into committing suicide and being damned, despite being a devout Catholic who would have known better. At the end, the titular character gives up his own life to let her return to heaven, and by this HeroicSacrifice his soul is finally judged worthy of entering Heaven. The devil is so annoyed at being cheated out of his soul that he brings Constantine back to life and cures his cancer so that he has at least a few more years to screw up and get himself damned to Hell.

* At the end of the 1967 ''[[Film/CasinoRoyale1967 Casino Royale]]'', everyone dies and goes to Heaven including the villain, Jimmy who's there briefly before being quickly sent to Hell.

* On ''Series/{{Preacher|2016}}'', Jesse accidentally sends Eugene to Hell after using his CompellingVoice (which at this point he doesn't really know how to use) when he snaps at him, "Go to Hell!" In the next season, we see that Hell is having some glitches, although whether this is due to Eugene erroneously being sent there or [[spoiler: God being out of Heaven]] is anybody's guess.

* What kicks off the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/HailToTheKing''. The nameless main character died and was heavily implied to being going to Heaven. Then King Sombra, who recently was [[NeverSayDie defeated]], runs past him trying to get into the portal because of all the crystals. The portal quickly gets closed to prevent him from getting in. Then Sombra attacks the main character and they both start to get dragged downwards. To prevent this trope from playing fully, The Powers That Be quickly grab the main character and throw him into the closest thing to prevent that. That thing being Sombra's comatose body. HilarityEnsues.

** The basic premise is that Eleanor Shellstrop finds herself in a heavenly realm for a life of saintly good works she didn't do, and has to prevent her similarly saintly neighbors from discovering her real self. Later on, she learns that Jianyu was also mistakenly sent to the Good Place and is actually a petty criminal named Jason instead of the Buddhist monk he was believed to be. Even later on, she meets the [[NamesTheSame other Eleanor Shellstrop]] who was mixed up with her and got sent to the Bad Place as a result. [[spoiler:''[[SubvertedTrope However]]'', it turns out all of this has been a gigantic lie -- Eleanor and Jason are exactly where they should be because [[ThisIsntHeaven they've been in the Bad Place all along]], the other Eleanor is actually a demon pretending to be the real Eleanor's good counterpart to further add to her guilt, and most of her [[PuritySue ludicrously pure neighbors]] are demons as well to annoy her with their "goodness" (a few of her neighbors are real humans unknowingly sharing her torment).]]

** The basic premise is that Eleanor Shellstrop finds herself in a heavenly realm for a life of saintly good works she didn't do, and has to prevent her similarly saintly neighbors from discovering her real self. Later on, she learns that Jianyu was also mistakenly sent to the Good Place and is actually a petty criminal named Jason instead of the Buddhist monk he was believed to be. Even later on, she meets the [[NamesTheSame other Eleanor Shellstrop]] who was mixed up with her and got sent to the Bad Place as a result. [[spoiler:''[[SubvertedTrope However]]'', it turns out all of this has been a gigantic lie -- Eleanor and Jason are exactly where they should be because [[ThisIsntHeaven they've been in the Bad Place all along]] and the other Eleanor is actually a demon pretending to be the real Eleanor's good counterpart to further add to her guilt]].

** In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E10BartGetsHitByACar Bart Gets Hit By A Car]]'' when [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bart gets Hit by a car]], he goes up an [[StairwayToHeaven escalator to Heaven]]. A computer voice tells him not to spit over the side. When he does this, it turns into a SurpriseSlideStaircase that takes him to Hell. Luckily he later wakes up in hospital.
** The second sketch in ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E24TheSimpsonsSpinOffShowcase The Simpsons Spin Off Showcase]]'' has Grandpa getting hit by a car, his WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath but collides with a plane and falls back to Earth, ending up haunting Moe's Love Tester machine. As the intro says he "floated up toward Heaven and got lost along the way".
** At the end of ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E18SimpsonsBibleStories Simpsons Bible Stories]]'' TheRapture happens and Lisa (but no other Simpson) is being lifted bodily into Heaven. Homer grabs her ankle and makes her go to Hell with the rest of the family.

The AlwaysLawfulGood {{Chronic Hero| Syndrome}} has died after a life of [[DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp stopping to help]]. He [[GoIntoTheLight Goes Into The Light]] and... it's {{Fire And Brimstone| Hell}}?

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a cartoon of a man and pigs in FluffyCloudHeaven, captioned "Through an unfortunate celestial error, Ernie is sent to Hog Heaven".

* In an Creator/AlanMoore ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' storyline, Anton Arcane, having possessed the near-omnipotent Matt Cable's body, not only kills his innocent niece Abby, but casts her soul down to Hell. When the title character, accompanied by ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger, seeks entrance to Hell in order to [[OrpheanRescue rescue]] her, ComicBook/TheSpectre--here serving as the guardian at the borders of Heaven and Hell--at first behaves like an ObstructiveBureaucrat, stating that, once in Hell, Abby must stay there whether she deserves it or not, because it's forbidden for the dead to come back. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "Then what of Jim Corrigan?"]] asks the Stranger, referring to the Spectre's sometime human identity. Taking his point, the Spectre lets them pass.

* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, the system for processing souls is rather messed up, due to God slacking off. In ''Literature/OnAPaleHorse'', Zane, the new Death, is unsatisfied with babies going to Purgatory, and manages to get the system adjusted to send them to Heaven instead. Later on, when Parry takes over running Hell in ''Literature/ForLoveOfEvil'', he realizes a large portion of souls arriving there don't deserve it, and tries to show them AHellOfATime instead. Eventually, he instigates a {{Plan}} to get God replaced.

* {{Subverted}} in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season 6. The Scooby Gang suspects Buffy was sent to a hell dimension after her HeroicSacrifice and Willow brings Buffy back from the dead, but it turns out she actually ''was'' in heaven. Oops.

This is used in the penultimate verse of the novelty song "The Thing", which is about a man finding a box containing unidentified contents and never being able to get rid of it. After years of being stuck with the box, the man dies and goes to Heaven, but once St. Peter sees the box, he orders the man to take the box with him to Hell.

* {{Implied}} in ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes.'' In fact, this was the original premise: Jimmy should have gone to Heaven but, due to a clerical error, was sent to Hell. Luckily, he's TooSpicyForYogSothoth. The finished project doesn't make this explicit, but it's not hard to interpret Miseryville has Hell.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The "River of Souls" that carries the dead across the VoidBetweenTheWorlds and into the Outer Planes is guarded by powerful [[{{Heaven}} angels]] and [[{{Hell}} fiends]] alike, so this trope is rare but possible. The Night Hag WitchSpecies tries to [[YourSoulIsMine trap souls]] for barter, while one variety of OmnicidalManiac Daemon exists solely to [[SoulEating devour souls]] from the River.

** Tamriel's [[OurGodsAreDifferent many religions]] offer differing ideas of just what happens to a mortal's soul upon death. Some cultures, like the ProudWarriorRace Redguards and Nords, have their own versions of a WarriorHeaven. The Imperial [[SaintlyChurch Church of the Divines]] seems to imply that the souls of the faithful dead end up in Aetherius, the realm of magic. The [[OurElvesAreDIfferent Altmer (High Elves)]] believe in {{reincarnation}}, and have been known to MercyKill undesirable offspring so that their souls have the chance to be reincarnated in better forms. The Dunmer (Dark Elves) practice ancestor worship (among other forms of worship), and call upon the spirits of their honored dead for guidance and protection. Out of game [[WordOfGod developer-written]] "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" go into greater detail, explaining that the souls of the dead enter the "Dreamsleeve", where they are broken down, reassembled, and rebirthed as new beings on Mundus. All of that said, it is known that [[YourSoulIsMine some souls are claimed]] by the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] or other such divine beings, usually as part of a pact made when the mortal in question was still alive. In this case, the mortal's soul goes to the realm of the deity in question to serve for eternity.

* One of the shorts in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS32E3NowYouMuseumNowYouDont Now You Museum, Now You Don't]]" has Homer dying and being so heavy that the Stairway To Heaven falls so that the other end is in Hell.

* ''Webcomic/{{Jack}}'': Hell loves to find ways to corrupt souls or get them into Hell [[EasyRoadToHell on a technicality, like counting ''accidentally'' falling to your death as a suicide]]. In one notable instance however, the government discovered a way to ''resurrect the dead''... which went horribly wrong, as it caused souls seized from Heaven and Purgatory to have a massive freak out and try to commit suicide to go back, which sent them to Hell.

* ''ComicBook/ThorVikings'': In order to prevent the loathsome zombie Jarl Jaekellsson from reaching WarriorHeaven, Thor hurls him into Earth's orbit, where he will remain forever without dying. The mortals who assisted Thor during the battle (descendants of the man responsible for the zombies' curse) are shown to eventually go there, despite one being a Catholic knight bent on exterminating pagans and the other a WWII German pilot.

* At the end of ''Film/{{Constantine}}'', the titular character dies via HeroicSacrifice and his soul is finally judged worthy of entering Heaven, but the devil is so annoyed at being cheated out of his soul that he brings Constantine back to life and cures his cancer so that he has at least a few more years to screw up and get himself damned to Hell.

* Tom, from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', appears to have been killed in "Heavenly Puss" and goes to Heaven where the conductor to the Heavenly Express won't grant him passage because of his persecution of Jerry. The conductor does say that if Tom can get Jerry to sign a certificate of forgiveness, he'll be granted passage. But he has only an hour or he'll wind up in Hell, where a devil avatar of Spike the bulldog waits for him. Tom does get Jerry to sign the certificate, but he's too late and he plunges right into the boiling cauldron the devil bulldog has for him. Fortunately for Tom, it was all JustADream.