The Wanderers and Hunters of Hell (and Ricky) was a crossover fanfic between Doom (2016), Hazbin Hotel (though primarily Helluva Boss), SCP Foundation and Trailer Park Boys and is written by SendBobAndVegana/DixieTemplar (AO3).
An incredibly powerful demon has appeared in the Hazbin Hotel Hell, with the Doom Slayer giving chase alongside his unwilling (and unwanted) sidekick, Ricky. Together, they team up with I.M.P. to stop the beast before it can wreak further havoc.
Unbeknownst to most, said quarry has decided to cash in a favor and hide at a certain hotel.
The story is actually connected to the author's previous story, The King Visits a triangle, as part of the author's "The Scarlet Dawn" series. Though reading it isn't required to understand this story.
The Wanderers and Hunters of Hell (and Ricky) provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Ricky manages to land more shots on his targets than in Trailer Park Boys, though this means shit when demons are explicitly immune to Earth weaponry. He's given the Slayer's energy pistol and becomes much more effective.
- Adaptational Jerkass: A retroactive example. At the time the story was written, only the Helluva Boss pilot was available. In the following episodes, characters like Stolas and Loona would be subject to Characterization Marches On, which makes them come across as far more unpleasant here compared to their canonical portrayals.
- Alternate Universe: The Hell of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss is completely different from the one the Slayer is used to, and is even connected to the Trailer Park Boys version of Earth.
- Anti-Hero Team: The Slayer, Ricky, and I.M.P are this. The Slayer is a massive dick who wants to kill his teammates and almost everyone around him thanks to his immense hatred for demons and is actively holding himself back in that regard, Ricky is a weed-addicted moron who gets on everyone's nerves, and the members I.M.P are all assassins who are only interested in killing Vagabond for the reward money and tow the line from being reasonable (Moxxie and Millie) to utter jackasses (Loona).
- Apocalypse How: Class X-4 (Universal destruction) if Vagabond succeeds in summoning the Scarlet King to Hell. He's already lain waste to another universe before coming to the Hazbin/Trailer Park Boys world.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Male example. Vagabond is a herald for his father, the Scarlet King, as he devastates and conquers entire worlds. His father and his forces then go to the newly conquered world and strip it of its resources.
- BFG: Doom Slayer wields the one and only BFG 9000. Later on, he receives the BFCS, Big Friggin Chain Saw, which also has a BFG attachment.
- Bitch Slap: The Slayer does this when he smacks Valentino, the Overlord of pimps, across the face.Loona (to the Slayer): Holy fuck, you just pimp slapped the overlord of pimps!
- Black Comedy: The story displays this often, such as the Slayer taking the head of a demon and putting it on the hood of a taxi with other demons complimenting it.
- Butt-Monkey: Ricky gets shot and beaten up in almost every fight he gets involved in. He's also frequently mocked and belittled, usually by Loona.
- The Cameo: Characters of other media make a brief appearance or mention such as the Scarlet King, who is also Vagabond's father.
- Chainsaw Good: A method used by the Doom Slayer, and is now used to even greater effect after he gains the BFCS.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Nearly everyone who can speak does this, not surprisingly as 80% of the cast is from Hell. Even the cast that isn't from Hell drops f-bombs as often as the demons. The only character who doesn't adhere to this is the Slayer, and that's only because he doesn't talk.
- Cute Monster Girl: Charlie, Vaggie, and Millie would count, as would some other female demons like Niffty.
- Deader than Dead:
- Any demon killed by the Doom Slayer or Vagabond.
- Hellfire is another means of perma-killing anything in Hell and is more typically used by the Overlords. Valentino uses Hellfire bullets to try and kill Vagabond. It doesn't work.
- Anything killed by Angels or Exorcists are dead beyond question due to their weapons being designed to do so. Some Overlords have stockpiled and collected angelic arms, allowing them to do the same. Moxxie and Millie raid one of Vox's facilities for said weapons to kill Vagabond.
- Deal with the Devil:
- Downplayed. When Ricky and the Slayer agree to have I.M.P. join them for their help. Blitzo was on the receiving end of the Slayer's death glare while the deal was being made. It's less of a deal and more of a mutual agreement.
- Alastor is typically a pro at this, but according to Velvet's speculations, he was on the receiving end of this in the past. His powers are actually derived from Vagabond and a deal they made long ago, and now the Scarlet King's son is cashing in the favor.
- The Dreaded:
- Vagabond (the demon the Slayer is hunting) builds up this reputation due to slaughtering so many throughout Hell and putting the Overlord community on edge. Even Alastor is very cautious when dealing with him.
- The Scarlet King is a terrifying Eldritch Abomination that has lain waste to dimensions and terrifies everything and everyone. Even Lucifer is afraid of him, and news of the possibility of his arrival frightens every Overlord in Hell.
- The Slayer naturally has this reputation among demons. He's even feared in alternate versions of Hell, with his legends being told as terrifying bedtime stories to get child demons to sleep.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Vagabond expresses revulsion at the cowardice of some of the Overlords and how they've been running Hell. He also has a sense of loyalty to those who help him, as he's genuinely grateful to someone called the "Dreamwalker" for saving him from the SCP Foundation and refuses to let harm come to her.
- Experienced Protagonist: Besides I.M.P's experience in killing and assassination (exception being Loona, who doesn't have any prior experience), the Slayer also has several millennia of fighting under his belt and has even been to different versions of Hell before, so universe hopping is something he knows about.
- Face Palm: Done by the I.M.P. a number of times due to Ricky's seemingly insane actions or suggestions.
- Genius Ditz: Ricky is an idiot most of the time, but his expertise in weed and drugs does make him a legitimately skilled chemist. He plans to use these skills on Vagabond by taking Lucifer's weed stash and turning it into a chemical weapon powerful enough to knock him out.
- Hidden Depths:
- Ricky may be a weed-addicted idiot, but he cares for his friends and is a doting father. His main motivation for chasing the bounty on Vagabond's head is to use the money to support the park and put his daughter through college. Even the Slayer is impressed by this remarkably selfless motivation.
- Loona's Phoneaholic Teenager tendencies are implied to be a coping mechanism to keep her mind off the horrid mill she was born and lived in before Blitzo adopted her. Also, when Ricky insults her attitude and tells her that no one likes her, she gets oddly solemn for a moment, implying that she desires companionship and knows how her negative attitude impacts this, but she doesn't know how else to act.
- Hitchhiker Heroes: The Doom Slayer gained Ricky and the Immediate Murder Professionals as allies during his journey, despite the inconsistencies of their backgrounds and improbability of their team-up due to Ricky being a normal human, the Doom Slayer being an inter-dimensional demon killer, and the I.M.P. being demons from hell who kill people as a business.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Not exactly "humanitarian" since everyone in Hell (barring Ricky) is a demon, but Vagabond outright devours two mobster demons whole in the first chapter.
- In Love with Your Carnage: In contrast to the other Overlords, who are terrified of the Slayer's brutality, Velvet is outright aroused by what a sadist he is. This also creeps everyone out except the Slayer, who doesn't care.
- Literal-Minded: Because of Ricky's stupidity, he can take things at face value at times. He finds the Doom Slayer's name dumb because of the idea that one can "Slay doom". The only reason he doesn't bring it up is because he's too scared of the Slayer to do so.
- Kick the Dog: When he leaves the hotel, Vagabond insults all the patrons and tells them that their hopes of redeeming themselves are nothing but a fever dream. Just to add insult to injury, he leaves the Scarlet King's moniker on the hotel, effectively placing a target on it for the Slayer when he arrives.
- Meaningful Name: A vagabond is someone who wanders from place-to-place, which fits Vagabond himself seeing as he wanders between dimensions and stops by the Happy Hotel.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Slayer's Testament that begins with "In the first age, in the first battle..." is referenced as a bedtime story used to scare demon children to go to sleep.
- "WARNING! THE SLAYER HAS ENTERED THE FACILITY. MORNINGSTAR CONTINGENCY NOW IN EFFECT."
- The Needless: The Doom Slayer, as Blitzo and IMP learn, doesn't need to eat or sleep and can just keep going without any rest.
- No-Sell:
- Demons are shown to be completely immune to weapons that aren't from Hell or Heaven. The Doom Slayer's weapons are shown to be able to permanently kill them as well as angelic weapons.
- Vagabond to nearly every attack done by other characters. This includes bombs, bullets, blades, and even hellfire bullets used by Valentino.
- Not Good with Rejection: Considering Stolas's response to Blitzo refusing to sleep with him is to cut I.M.P.'s funding and take the Grimoire back all while insulting him and his company, it's safe to say this is an understatement.
- Pet the Dog: Loona is incredibly callous and rude to damn near everyone, but she does genuinely care about Blitzo in her own way, as she went feral on the hellhound that attacked him and thanked Ricky when he saved her from their attackers.
- Physical God: Both the Slayer and Vagabond. The Slayer kills demons with his bare hands, has slain immortals, is eons old, and is strong enough to fight against Vagabond, who himself is not only absurdly powerful, but is also stated to be the offspring of a "long-forgotten forest goddess", making him a demi-god.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- To show how horrific the Slayer is, Alastor almost stops smiling when he learns of his arrival. He also mostly drops his trademark condescension when Vagabond starts staying at the hotel.
- While Loona is typically ill-tempered, everyone gets legitimately concerned when she lashes out at Blitzo and accuses him of treating her like a pet.
- In relation to the above, everyone also gets worried when Ricky drops his idiotic behavior and tries to calm Loona down. Ricky, for once, is the voice of reason.
- Our Demons Are Different: The demons that the Slayer is used to and the demons of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are dissimilar to each other. The ones the Slayer usually fights are monsters who typically speak in Black Speech and desire the destruction of everything and everyone, while the Hazbin demons are more human-like in behavior as they live hedonistic lifestyles and speak normal human languages.
- Skull for a Head: Vagabond's head is a deer skull. The deer-like appearance makes Angel question if he's related to Alastor.
- Steel Ear Drums: Vagabond is not affected by the sounds of explosions detonated point-blank to his face.
- The Stoner:
- Ricky is known to smoke a joint nearly every chapter which features him.
- Lucifer is one since he has a pretty massive weed garden for his personal use. Ricky and I.M.P. steal it to use on Vagabond.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The Slayer goes above and beyond what is needed to kill 80% of the demons he encounters, which usually entails ripping apart over and over again.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Despite his Butt-Monkey status among his associates (barring Millie), Moxxie actually gets the respect and admiration of the Slayer. A notable feat considering his attitude towards 90% of demonkind.
- Bubbles actually respects and compliments Sir Pentious's inventions, something that he delights in.
- Took a Level in Kindness: While Loona is still a huge jerk, she does start putting effort into being nicer to Ricky after he saves her life.
- Tranquil Fury: Doom Slayer's state most of the time since he remains perpetually stoic yet at the edge of slaughtering everything in his reach.
- Trapped in Villainy: The Happy Hotel is essentially being used as Vagabond's home base to hide from the Slayer for when he's not travelling around the Pentagram killing and wreaking havoc on the Overlords. The main reasons they can't just kick him out being due to Charlie's principles and the fact that Alastor owes him a favor. It's clear that none of the hotel staff or patrons want anything to do with him, but they don't have any choice.
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Both Vagabond and the Slayer have fought before in another universe before it was destroyed. The battle didn't have a decisive winner and ended with both of them forced to leave as the Scarlet King laid waste to that realm.
- Villain Respect: Lucifer respects Alastor thanks to his accomplishments as one of the strongest Overlords in Hell. Of course, "respect" doesn't mean "trust", and Lucifer suspects that Alastor has something to do with where Vagabond is hiding.
- Violence is the Only Option: The Doom Slayer in a nutshell. He either kills something or waits until he has the opportunity to kill something. Though this is understandable when a demon slayer is in hell, surrounded by demons.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Millie is Moxxie's violently protective wife. She pulled her battle-axe on a prostitute when she was eyeing her husband.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Downplayed. While Loona and Ricky can get along, they're usually at each other's throats and frequently lash out at each other.
- The Voiceless: The Slayer never talks once throughout the story and only expresses himself through either his violent actions or through his posture.
