Condemned Souls

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 due to the wrongs in their past lives.

Condemned Souls, also commonly known as Damned Souls and Unclean Spirits, are villains or antagonists in some setting, that have 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 evildoer'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 (e.g. Abigail Williams). 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.

Examples

• The Devil/Satan/Lucifer: Is said to be imprisoned within the very deepest, most central part of Hell. Is also destined, according to scripture, to ultimately be cast by God into the Lake of Fire with all other evil beings on Judgement Day, to suffer for all eternity.
• In Supernatural, humans who committed certain acts of evil which doomed their souls for their stay in Hell (such as murdering just out of evil, spilling innocent blood in God's name, or selling their soul to a demon in a deal) are all Condemned Souls. The main antagonists, Demons, are themselves Condemned Souls, because they are what human souls become after centuries of torture, corruption and mutilation in Hell.
  • Jeffrey (Supernatural): It was confirmed by Jeffrey's Demon that after the Winchesters killed him, Jeffrey's soul would be condemned to Hell to be tortured until he became a demon. *Judge Claude Frollo: Fell from a gargoyle at Notre Dame into molten lead below, when the gargoyle cracked rather ominously just after Frollo had smugly and blasphemously revealed how evil he really was. Frollo's death seemed to be symbolic of divine intervention, and how he falls into a fiery pit emphasizes the fear he had for the fate of his soul.
• Dr. Facilier: After the destruction of his talisman destroyed his hope of repaying his debt to the Friends on the Other Side, the latter entities dragged Facilier screaming into their world, in a manner reminiscent of one being dragged to Hell.
• Alighiero Alighieri: After being killed, he was condemned to the Fourth Circle of Hell, Greed, where he was horrifically tortured and transmogrified into a demon.
• Frank Cotton: Was taken to Hell by the Cenobites when he solved the Lament Configuration, until he escaped and was resurrected in an undead state of sorts. Frank was taken back to Hell by the Cenobites when he was exposed by his niece Kirsty.
• Jason Voorhees: Was sent to Hell when he was killed in Jason Goes to Hell, but was rescued and resurrected by Freddy Krueger in Freddy vs. Jason.
• Lord Voldemort: After finally being properly killed in Deathly Hallows, due to his soul's mutilated and incomplete state from splitting it so many times to gain immortality, Voldemort was condemned to spend eternity in Limbo, unable to ever move on or return as a ghost.
• The Brethren (Silent Hill): Were condemned by Alessa Gillespie's powers to her own personal Hell, which consisted of the Fog World and Otherworld, as Alessa's vengeance on the Brethren for the evil and terrible crime they committed when they burned Alessa alive (similar to The Order because of their religious motives and their involvement in the horrific immolation of Alessa). The Brethren spent several decades there denying their damnation and lying to themselves that they were living during the End of Days and being protected by their faith. The time finally came for the Brethren to face justice for what they had done to Alessa when Rose told the vicious cult the truth about how the way they used their faith brought only death, agony and damnation, and allowed Alessa to enter their church; Alessa used animated barbed wire to hack the members of the Brethren to shreds.
• Kahmunrah: Was thrown alive through the Gate into the Underworld.
• Callisto: After she was killed by Xena, Callisto was condemned to eternal torment in Hell, until Xena sacrificed her own salvation to redeem and save Callisto.
• Imhotep: After being heartbroken by Anck-su-namun's betrayal when she left him to die and cowardly fled for her life, he allowed himself to be dragged by into the Underworld by the damned through a fissure within the Scorpion King's pyramid in Ahm Shere.
• Felix Faust: Was trapped in Tartarus after he died and his remains were sucked through the gate to the Underworld. Faust's soul was also later doomed to eternal torment in Tartarus after he made a failed attempt to usurp Lord Hades' rule over the Underworld.
• Steven Price and Evelyn Stockard-Price: Were killed by, and had their souls absorbed into the Darkness, resulting in their souls joining the other tormented spirits in the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute. Their souls' fate was revealed to be being tortured on an operating table by the asylum inmates on the astral plane for their ancestors' crimes, in an analogous manner to how Dr. Vannacutt and a nurse were tortured to death for their crimes.
• Van Zant: When Dragon Balls used to summon the dragon to restore Earth and its inhabitants, Van Zant was among those whom not revived as the price to destroying Majin Buu's innocence.
• Father (Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood): Was sent to the Gate Of Truth after he died, because he tried to attain perfection for being boastful. Unfortunately, and consequently, he suffered a fitting punishment, the despair, without remorse or regret.
• Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious: Upon his death (35 ABY in Canon and 11 ABY in Legends), the Dark Lord of the Sith, Emperor Sidious, was sent to Chaos to eternally rest with the other Dark Lords of the Sith deep within the dark regions of the Netherworld of the Force.

Quotes

“	That's how it is. And always will be. Night after night, we have to retell the evil things we did in our lives. Night after night for all eternity.	„
	~ Sebastian explaining that he and the others are doomed souls forced to tell the stories of their evil deeds for eternity.

“	I PROMISE I’LL PAY Y’ALL BACK! I PROMISE!! AAAAAHHHH!!!	„
	~ Dr. Facilier before being dragged off by the Friends on the Other Side to their world.

Gallery

NOTE: The limit is for 20 pictures only

Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol).

Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street).

Rasputin (Anastasia).

The Vault of Horror Villains (The Vault of Horror).

Horned King (The Black Cauldron).