The Entertainingly Detestable wiki highlights the double standards Hazbin Hotel operates on.
Here why’s. Let’s do Adam vs. Valentino.
1. It manipulates sympathy.
Valentino gets humanized by season two. The wiki states that Valentino gets played for minor sympathy because he’s hurt that Vox is ignoring him. The sexually abusive Overlord gets handed emotional framing. While on the other hand, Adam’s humanity gets erased. Adam expressed genuine affection for Lute (he fist bumps her to congratulate her, he smiles at her softly before he dies), but it’s ultimately dismissed by the narrative and the wiki to make him 100% hateable. The wiki states in the “What Makes Him Detestable?” section that he constantly insults and mistreats Lute. Valentino has literally destroyed Velvette’s property, attacks Velvette and Vox’s assistants in childish/violent fits, and threw a glass cup at Vox’s face in anger yet Adam (the literal Father of Humanity) is the only one who’s deprived of sympathy.
2. The “Laughably Evil” label
The wiki proves that the show sanitizes the abuse with its description of Valentino’s season 2 moments due to being a favorite character.
A direct quote from the wiki:
“He becomes very laughably evil, especially in the second season. One of his most memorable moments is when he yells at Vox with a working-class accent... comically hit him and break his screen."
Valentino’s violence and narcissistic tendencies is framed as dark comedy. He’s allowed to torture Angel Dust in one scene and be funny in another because he’s a stylish, marketable demon sinner despite opposing the main cast. Adam has comedic moments but it’s never treated with affection because he opposes the main cast but he’s not a stylish, marketable demon.
Notice how Adam’s (left) description of comedic moments is far less detailed than Valentino’s (right)
3. Valentino benefits from plot protection
The conclusion of Valentino’s entry in the wiki is horrific.
“After Vox's defeat, the 666 News paints him as the sole savior of Hell, and he becomes the new CEO of VoxTek, with Angel Dust returning to work under him..."
Vox gets taken down, but Valentino gains more power and Angel Dust is back in his clutches. Valentino contributed to the near destruction of half of Pentagram City and received little to no punishment for it. So he technically got rewarded for his actions. Adam dies a pathetic and brutal death and gets mocked while the unrepentant serial rapist gets to be the new boss of an empire and takes full credit for saving Pentagram City.
It seems like actual committed atrocities don’t matter as long as you are a favored character and considered “funny”.
@almacambiondaughterofsaleos @thinker257
Links: https://entertainingly-detestable.fandom.com/wiki/Adam_(Hellaverse)
✓ Valentino is a major antagonist in the adult animated musical dark comedy series Hazbin Hotel, serving as a major antagonist in Season 1 a
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