So I haven’t written one of these in forever, and I guess this counts as an analysis, but honestly it feels more like a “who, what, where, and why the hell did they do Abel like this” kind of ramble-post. I was rewatching some Hazbin Hotel Season 2 episodes last night, and a couple things started poking at my brain, like, “Hey, are we not gonna talk about this?”
When we first get introduced to Abel, the first thing that happens is Lute cutting him off and telling him to shut up because “your father didn’t even like you.” And Abel confirms this with a sad little “I know” and then calls it a “fact.” And then the show doubles down on this when Lute says it again, (the Adam in her head says it), and everyone’s acting like it’s common knowledge that Adam couldn’t stand his own son.
So to me, this makes sense why Abel doesn't seem to be visibly upset and has conflicted feelings about his father being dead. Like in the meeting Sera hosts with St. Peter and Abel, where Abel admits that he doesn't like confrontation or the idea of taking revenge. But what struck me the most was the awkward phrasing, “But they sort of, kind of, killed my dad a little bit. So, maybe I'm pretty okay with either option, to be honest.” Like he’s trying to figure out how he’s supposed to feel about a man who never liked him. I mean, how can you blame him if Adam “didn't even fucking like him"?
And later we see Abel trying to get one of his dad’s guitars “to remember him by,” and even later he prays, “Dear Dad, tell me what you would’ve done. Too bad, that I’m not your braver son.” To me, these two moments really suggest that he felt more love toward his father than Adam ever showed him and that Abel sees himself as a disappointment. To which I ask, why does he see himself as a disappointment if his father didn't make him feel like one?
And here’s the thing that keeps circling back for me: this is not how Abel is treated in the original biblical story. At all! In the Bible, Abel is the beloved son. The innocent one. The baby precious. The one whose death devastates both of his parents. In Bouguereau’s The First Mourning painting, it literally shows Adam and Eve collapsed over Abel’s body in absolute grief. I read that it’s “one of the most famous depictions of parental loss in Western art.” And Hazbin Hotel completely ignores that! Their Abel is the overlooked son, the one nobody wanted, the one who grew up thinking his father hated him.
I'm going to be honest and share a little theory of mine, here: Back when season one first came out, I thought/theorized that Adam is the leader of the exterminators and created them because it had something to do with Cain, his firstborn son, murdering Abel, his second-born son. Because murder is a sin that would directly give Cain a one-way ticket to hell, making him a sinner and Adam wanted to punish Cain and get revenge for Abel.
And the more I think about it, the more it makes me wonder: did Adam even care that his son was murdered by his other son? Because in the biblical story, Abel’s death is a soul-crushing tragedy, and Adam and Eve mourn him deeply.
And what does that mean for Cain? Did Adam favor Cain? Did he bully Abel alongside Adam? Did Adam excuse his sin? Did Adam just not care enough about Abel for it to matter? And how did Adam get to go to heaven if so? Because if Abel grew up believing his father didn’t love him, then what does that say about the family dynamic before the murder even happened?
Ahh! 😫 I don’t know! 😖 I’m just thinking out loud here. 😵 Like, how come Adam is just a surface‑level villain, but all the Vees are villains with feelings and layers? When I first heard that Abel was going to be in season 2, I was honestly hoping we’d get to see a different/interesting side of Adam through Abel. Like, besides Adam just being a major asshole/misogynist, he'd be a silly/loving/nice daddy to Abel or something.
I think it would be interesting if Adam had this subversive soft spot because he’s such an asshole to everyone else, but he’s unexpectedly tender with Abel. And that would make Lute so jealous! She’s used to being Adam’s favorite, and seeing him show love to Abel, something she never gets, would absolutely drive her up a wall.
It's just the cliché mean‑dad‑to‑wimpy‑son dynamic.
Not that I think Abel's a wimp, but you get what I mean.