Condemned Souls

"And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!"

- Judge Claude Frollo's blasphemous last words before suffering a symbolic death.

"It is required for every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men and travel far and wide. And if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed wander through the world witness what it cannot share on Earth, but might have shared and turn to happiness."

- Jacob Marley explaining to Ebenezer Scrooge why spirits walk the Earth why do they come to him.

Condemned Souls, also commonly known as Damned Souls and Unclean Spirits, are villains or antagonists in some setting, that has been confirmed as being not only defeated in some fashion but literally dragged to Hell (or another spiritual realm of suffering and evil), either due to divine intervention, the villain's own actions (like destroying other people's innocence), or interdimensional imprisonment by the hero(es).

These villains are, by very definition, the exact opposite of a Karma Houdini and are considered to be paying the price for serious misdeeds - to be a Condemned Soul, the character in question is usually past the Moral Event Horizon, and some particularly evil beings even Condemn themselves by outright rejecting a chance for salvation and/or redemption; it also applies to certain Complete Monsters. It is the complete opposite of Saved Soul.

Damned Souls, also known as Doomed Spirits and/or Cursed Souls, are who not only died but were also condemned to live on in a spiritual hell-dimension, in essence they become akin to Demons or Ghosts but are distinct supernatural beings in their own right (often known as "Unclean Spirits").

It is considered the ultimate downfall and is often reserved for the most evil of characters, since only the most sinister of individuals (usually) give the audience enough hatred that they see eternal damnation as a suitable punishment. Most Complete Monsters are reserved for this. Most villains who crossed Moral Event Horizon will be susceptible to this.

However some Damned Souls can continue to plague the living after their death, becoming lesser demons or poltergeists.

Saved Souls are the complete opposite of Damned Souls.