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OM Sinner's Choice - Purgatory

So far in the world of Obey Me we've seen hell, we've seen heaven, and now it's time to see purgatory. Or should I say, Purgatorio...

It's no secret that OM has taken liberally from Dante's Divine Comedy - most depictions of hell and heaven have! - going so far as to label the layers of the Underworld by the same names, right down to the four concentric circles of Cocytus, and the City of Dis above.

But while the Inferno isn't a one to one match for the Devildom, what with the seven deadly sins differing from those Dante deems hell-bound, and while Paradiso doesn't seem to hold much in common with the Celestial Realm, the middle volume, Purgatorio, has a great deal that is relevant to our fallen angels.

[Note: while the OG game was more in line with the Devildom and its layers being akin to the Inferno, but replacing the bottom frozen layer with the home of the sleeping Demon King, Nightbringer moved away from this, introducing the nine layers proper as a distinct realm from the eight-layer Devildom.]

The Underworld, as it is termed in NB, is set out in the exact same manner as the Inferno - nine layers, with Cocytus at the bottom.

The first, topmost, layer of Dante's Inferno is Limbo, a name often conflated with Purgatory, but the two have a distinct difference - Limbo is for those not condemned to hell, but neither afforded the ability to atone and work their way to heaven; while Purgatory is for those who are not condemned, but are given the ability to atone.

The bad but not bad enough and the good but not good enough yet, perhaps.

In the image released above, the title is Purgatory - so not Limbo of the Infernal realm, nor the gates of the Celestial. This is truly the inbetween.

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Judgement - the Seven Sins

As I've written about before, the nine layers of the Inferno did not match up particularly well with the notion of seven deadly sins, and thus with our main OM cast.

But those very same sins form the structure of Purgatorio, where a soul must ascend up each layer, conquering each sin, in order to reach salvation.

And while the Inferno is structured to be travelled downwards, Purgatorio is structured to be travelled upwards. An inverse.

It is here, with some uh, educational methods that happen to look a lot like punishments, that relates directly to each sin, and the angel of the opposing virtue guards each gate.

The first of these seven layers... is Pride.

Guarded by the Angel of Humility, the proud walk with large rocks upon their backs, doubling them over, surrounded by sculptures depicting humility, and warning statues of Lucifer below.

The second layer is Envy, guarded by the Angel of Charity, where the envious have their eyes sewn shut with iron wire as they listen to examples of their sin.

The third is Wrath, guarded by the Angel of Peace, where the wrathful are swallowed by acrid smoke and visions of wrath.

The fourth is Acedia (Sloth), guarded by the Angel of Zeal, engaged in ceaseless activity.

The fifth is Avarice (Greed), guarded by the Angel of Moderation, where the greedy lay face down reciting psalms.

The sixth is Gluttony, guarded by the Angel of Temperance, where the hungry are starved of delicious fruits forever out of reach.

The seventh is Lust, guarded by the Angel of Chastity, where the damned run through terrible flames (direction dependent on sexuality which ew, but also surprisingly progressive of the time to not just send them to hell so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

All seven sins are said to be a form of twisted love. The first three are described as perversions of love into the harm of others (pride, envy, wrath); the fourth as deficient of love (sloth); and the final three as excessive or disordered love (greed, gluttony, lust).

What does this mean for Sinner's Choice? Well, see my full theory below ¬ᴗ¬ But it's pretty neat that each of the sins is represented as being in this Purgatorial space, alongside the opposing virtues and the opportunity to atone.

In the case of the world of OM, we know that the brothers do not want to atone - at least, not in the future. But upon their time of actually falling and grappling with their new identities? It may be more nuanced than that, and separate from their anger.

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💫 Full theory and plot speculation below the cut! ↓

Purgatory 101

[Nb - all that is written here is vastly condensed, the subject matter is huge! I am also writing from a non-religious point of view - my interest is in comparative mythology, not theology. No DMs about the state of my soul pls ¬_¬;]

Purgatory as a place is not terribly old, or rather, that place being called Purgatory is not terribly old. The idea of an afterlife that is neither punishment or reward is as old as the notion of an afterlife itself - perhaps even older. The notion of atonement in death and the current meaning of Purgatory, came later, the naming of the physical later still.

Enkidu climbed the great stairs to the Sumerian Underworld, Innana traveled through the seven gates of the same, Orpheus plunged into the Greek Hades to try and save his wife (really, all the Greeks were popping in for a chat), various apostles made the trip, several religious and folklore figures fell down holes, and of course Dante wrote arguably the most famous trip - a repeating great story adapted over time to change the landscape, the occupants, and the political meaning to suit the author and/or readers.

Most cultures that have left written records across the centuries had a notion of an Underworld, and it was later that the idea of judgement came to be. In its earliest forms the Underworld was often a grim and sombre place, underground as the name implies, dark and dust and nothingness.

This grim fate was not terribly inspiring for those still living, which is perhaps the point - it reinforced the importance of survival, of living.

Later, when survival was not so tooth and claw, and when religions and faiths began to cause friction between warring gods, the notion of a death earned in battle being rewarded arrived, along with the promise of evil deeds ending in everlasting punishment. A call then to defend one's land and expand the rulers' reach with the blessing of the gods, and to live by the laws of the land to earn reward after death. (Oh look, that only benefits the rich and powerful, what a coincidence!)

Fast forward through time and organised religion then bent this to their own profit, where prayers for the dead didn't only help their lost loved ones progress through purgatory, but also lined the pockets of those promising salvation.

Dante penned the most influential trip through the Underworld, a bestseller to this day, but he was far from the first. There were multiple big hits before him, some of them extremely lurid in their graphic detail with a particular relish for the various punishments ಠ_ಠ;

Dante wrote not of a holy vision, but with political intent, which is why he is often pointed to as a forefather of fanfiction, with his various friends, enemies, and heroes all slotted into the places he deemed them deserving.

Incidentally, if you haven't read the Divine Comedy, I do recommend it. It's a classic for a reason! More than any that came before him, Dante solidified how the Infernal, Celestial, and Inbetween were perceived in the cultural imagination of an afterlife borne in the shadow of Lucifer and Satan.

[The later Paradise Lost by Milton goes a long way to explain the more sympathetic modern view of Lucifer too.]

Purgatory had became an active practise, and later the name of the previous inbetween, the place that was once the entire Underworld, and now operated as a spiritual waiting room where souls worked to jump the queue. (Unless they were in Limbo instead, which in Dante's description was a lush green place full of poets and artists which sounds vastly preferable!)

Purgatory, Purgatorio, the place in between... as the current day religions took hold, this place was given a particular shape - a mountain raised from the Earth, caused directly by the fall of Lucifer/Satan.

A great tower of tiers rising up into the sky, like a circular stairway to heaven - echoing that journey of Enkidu millennia before, and the countless stepped structures from ancient history that represent the same. (Tower of Babel anyone...?)

And caused by the fall of Lucifer you say...

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Cocytus & Hell Piercer

So somewhere along the way, OM has shuffled things around from the source inspiration of the Divine Comedy. Cocytus lies at the bottom of the Underworld, and Purgatory and the associated tower lies at the top. This is hell, the Inferno, and the Devildom with its eight layers is... something else.

It's not entirely contradictory, and implies that perhaps the Celestial Realm also has a separate Paradise/Paradiso, allowing the main realms to exist on their own terms rather than comply with older assumptions (or indeed, deal with the notion of the fate of human souls).

They have made it their own.

Cocytus has been touched upon before in the OM lore, back in Nightbringer, but little is known about it comparatively. The four concentric circles copy Dante: Caina, traitors to their kindred; Antenora, traitors to their homeland (country); Ptolomaea, traitors to their guests; Judecca, traitors to "him" (their lords).

And in the Inferno, at the centre is the prison of Lucifer/Satan, trapped in the same ice that holds all within Cocytus, the beating of his wings freezing the air as he cries bloody tears.

Fun fact, for those who haven't read it, Dante and Virgil exit hell by climbing down Lucifer and passing through the centre of the universe... in Lucifer's genitalia ⚆_⚆ Well, to be fair, it could also be his ass crack.

Obey Me though, has rather sensibly opted for an elevator instead!

The concept of an elevator to hell is, obviously, far younger than the concept of a staircase to heaven. But it is simply a modern twist on the ancient journey to the Underworld, to katabasis and beyond.

The good afterlife has almost always been up, and the bad or neutral afterlife has almost always been down. Underground is dark and scary and where dead things go. Up above is unknowable and where the gods live.

An elevator, unlike a staircase, is fast enough that a sudden drop is a popular theme park ride - terrifying, exhilarating, and acting as an inbetween space in itself as you hurtle through the air at the mercy of a mechanism that is fallible.

No elevator plunging underground is going to open its doors to Paradise, even though logically that same elevator has to come back up.

The stairs of Paradise and Purgatory require effort, work, toil. The fall to the Infernal, whether in an elevator or from the sky like a fallen angel, is a one way ticket with no options of turning back.

Hell Piercer as a name is likely a wink and a nod to the many variations on Heaven Piercer across various anime and manga - the heaven-piercing move is a trope all of its own.

For our characters facing a downwards descent, its a fitting name indeed, and a subversion of their former selves.

How much this Purgatory shares with Purgatorio is unknown, though even adding the seven sins in the forms of their soon to be avatars does strengthen that connection.

Purgatory here shows us a battlefield, a place where angels fall, and the ground cracks open.

And Purgatorio was created by that very fall.

This then is perhaps the origins of that Purgatory, and this the first ever judgement and case for potential atonement, that goes on to create a layer for every sin - every brother - thus judged.

All my own theorising and speculation ofc, but it's kinda neat!

~

Lucifer

The first to be judged, the leader of the fall, and the birth of Wrath.

There's a lot to fit into the plot here, and while the game is titled for Lucifer, we do know that all the brothers play a part here, along with Diavolo and Barbatos.

We also know some of what has happened at this time in the canon, though of course that is always open to retconning.

The angels fell. Lucifer found Lilith. His oath was given to Diavolo. Barbatos did not approve of the new demon. None of the brothers knew of her being saved and reborn as a human. None of them knew why Lucifer would obey Diavolo's every whim.

And somewhere before Lilith was found, the four-winged Lucifer had already split from the Satan inside him.

One of the OM experts on my server suggested that the game should canonically launch on the date of Satan's birthday, and I couldn't agree more!

Satan can only be a large part of this game, as he is a large part of Lucifer - a physical manifestation of the rage that led him to rebel.

I just hope that unlike the mobile games, this one doesn't hold back from holding on to that anger and pointing the finger where it belongs.

The angels fell for their beliefs. They have nothing to atone for. What then does that say for those who fought against them...? 👀

~

Demon King

A final note, that is more just my own curiosity... But we know from the original game that it was the Demon King who assigned the brothers their status as Avatars of the deadly sins.

We also know he was not present for the oath between Diavolo and Lucifer.

What political shenanigans might be afoot, and whether we get to finally see the long unknown Demon King... well, that I'm keen to find out 👀👀

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