First Family: Adam Firstman, Eve Firstman, Seth Adamson, Cain Adamson, Abel Adamson.
Heavenbound AU
Hazbin Masterpost
Since only Abel is currently in canon, I had a lot of wiggle room to decide how I wanted to go about this. In some ways that's easier, in others it's harder.
More under the cut
--Bible Story--
The basic story is that Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. Both offered sacrificial offerings to God. Abel offered the best of his flock. Cain offered some of his crops, but there was no mention of the quality of it. So it's implied that Cain did not offer his best. It was either average or sub-par.
God was pleased with Abel's offering, but not with Cain's. Cain was upset that Abel was favored over him. So out of jealousy, he killed Abel.
As punishment for murdering his brother, Cain was cursed, 1) to be a wanderer and a fugitive 2) he could no longer farm, because the ground would no longer produce crops for him.
God gave him a mark, so others would know who he was and not to harm him(because vengeance and judgement is only for God to enact). Nobody was allowed to kill or harm him. If they did, the damage would be returned sevenfold.
After Cain's banishment, Seth was born and considered to be a replacement for Abel.
-personal interpretation: I consider the story of Adam and Eve to be representative of the evolution of ape to sapient humans. In a similar vein, I consider the story of Cain and Abel to be a representation of humans' ability to sin, due to the knowledge of good and evil that came from Adam and Eve having eaten the fruit. Without getting too deep into any specific theology or nuances, sin is to knowingly and intentionally do bad things. Repenting is to continuously learn and change to become a better person. God's goal for us is our personal growth and improvement.
-Mark of Cain: it's not clear what the mark was, or if it was even visible. It was some sort of sign that warned people who he was. The idea of the mark being dark skin and that black people are Cain's descendents is not supported by the Bible. That was a medieval and/or colonial American christian idea that was used to justify racism, discrimination, and slavery well into the 1800s. It's, thankfully, not widely accepted anymore.
-Folklore: There's another myth floating around that Cain is Bigfoot(originating from LDS folklore), cursed to wander the earth for eternity. Although the Bible does not say that he would live forever, just that he wouldn't be killed. It's silly, but it served as inspiration for Cain's demon form.
--Alterations for the Heavenbound AU--
-Birth Order: It is never stated that either Cain or Abel are the firstborn. There could have been other children born before them that go unnamed. That's ultimately not important, so we're sticking with the three who are named for now. The bible only specifies that Seth was born after Abel's death. But I'm going to change that around a bit because I can take artistic liberties. Seth is the oldest now.
-Each son represents a lifestyle of early humans. Hunter-Gatherer and Agricultural(agronomy/horticulture is growing crops/plants, pastoral is raising livestock).
--Seth--
-Mortal: Because the lifestyles of Cain and Abel are pretty well defined by their biblical roles, Seth represents the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. But that means I had to change him to be the oldest, since that came before agriculture. This gives him a bigger role in the family dynamic.
After Abel's death, he and his family(unspecified wife and kids) had to take over the responsibilities of Cain and Abel. Seth himself favored shepherding over farming, since his hunting skills could transfer to that a little better than to raising crops.
Because he's a hunter, his clothing is composed of primarily animal skins and furs. I wanted him to look sturdy and strong, so he's a bit stocky.
-Postmortal design: his halo has a crosshair design to reference his hunter lifestyle. I don't really care that it wouldn't have applied to his time period. It gets the idea across for us, and I think that matters more. He is one of the most dangerous soldiers of the exorcist army. And he is somewhat annoyed he can't exterminate Cain.
--Cain--
-Mortal: Represents agronomy/horticulture (growing plants, particularly for food). He's a farmer.
His clothing would be made of plant-based fibers, like linen or cotton. I based his design off of Aaron from Dreamwork's The Prince of Egypt. I liked the tall, lanky look. It felt like a natural choice, since I based Adam off of Dreamwork's Moses.
Mark of Cain: during his life, I'll probably depict the mark as a symbol on his forehead. It's better than going the mark=dark skin route. His skin is a little darker than the other two, but that was because I was thinking of a farmer's tan, so it's unrelated to the mark.
-Postmortal: Because he's a wanderer, he has the ability to go between earth and hell(also because I want there to be bigfoot sightings, lol). Maybe it would be obligatory that he has to wander earth for 7 years, then wander hell for 7 years, then back to earth, etc. To force him to be nomadic. Idk for sure. He is easily identifiable by the mark that floats over his head(not typically visible to living humans on earth). The exorcists are forbidden from exterminating him(much to Seth's frustration). The other sinners can't hurt him either. He's essentially untouchable, but has no significant power compared to other sinners. He can't sell his soul, even if he wanted to, and he can't take other's souls. He's just lonely and miserable now. Cursed to wander, and can never truly rest.
--Abel--
-Mortal:
He represents the pastoral lifestyle and is a shepherd. I've got a bit about sheep HERE
In canon, he's blonde. But since I redesigned his parents, I had to change his color palette too. I gave them a more Middle Eastern inspired look, since they're based on ancient Hebrew characters.
I wanted him to look young and innocent, to emphasize the tragedy of his death. I kept the chubby look from canon because I thought it fit the vibe. He's the youngest of the brothers. His clothing consists of animal fibers like wool and possibly some sheepskins.
-Postmortal: His halo has a stylized ram symbol because of his background as a shepherd. He plays the bugle/trumpet and leads his merry band of sheep cherubim. He wears a marching band uniform, despite the concept not existing while he was alive. He fell in love with it in the afterlife. I altered the canon design so I could wrap my head around the construction of it, and also to simplify it a bit cuz Hazbin has a habit of overcomplicating designs.
He has a hard time seeing himself as much beyond "Adam's son--the one that was murdered". So he's got some low self-confidence issues and is a bit of a people pleaser and is non-confrontational. He would prefer to just hang out with his sheep. He needs to learn to accept his role as more than just the first murder victim.
--Animal companions--
Because I like dogs and sheep and spent too much time thinking about them, I'm including a bit here.
Seth: The domestication of dogs happened pretty early in human civilization. So I gave him a wolf dog that he probably would had as a hunting companion in life. They're big doggos.
But I didn't stop there. I wanted to combine various aspects of different breeds of hunting dogs. So I combined a German wirehaired pointer(I like the eyebrows and mustache) with the tri-coloring of a Foxhound and Coonhound, and long ears like a Beagle. Basically a sighthound and scenthount cross. The idea was to give him a multipurpose hunting hound. Sighthounds visually locate and retrieve prey, scenthounds follow prey's scent and alert the hunter. Beagles, especially, do not shut up(my family dog is a beagle).
Cain: I figured a farmer would want help with pest control. So, a cat to deal with mice. But there are also dogs for small game and pests too. So I gave him a terrier. It's mainly based off a rat terrier.
Abel: Shepherds often use two types of dogs for very different purposes. Herding dogs are obvious. And border collies are well renowned for their intelligence and herding skill. They're a bit more gentle than other herding breeds(ie heelers will nip at cattles' legs to encourage them to move), that gentleness is helpful for sheep especially, because you want to reduce as much stress as possible (stress affects the wool quality, which can be a big deal). But I was also inspired by the Austrailian Shepherds' multicolor coat. The two can look pretty similar.
The other type of sheep dog is a Livestock Guardian Dog(aka LGD). They are raised with the sheep and will protect them from wolves or coyotes, maybe even sheep thieves. They're massive dogs, and will sometimes be given a wicked-looking spiked collar(called an antiwolf heck collar) that protects their neck from predator attacks. Great Pyrenese and Maremma Sheepdogs are a couple popular breeds, but there are quite a few that are big, fluffy, and often white-furred. They can be super sweet, but don't approach their flock of sheep without permission, cuz you don't want to make them angry.
I think that's all.
(July 7, 2025— adjusted wording. Note: Agronomy and horticulture are related concepts, but agronomy seems to be larger scale and specifically for staple crops. Horticulture is smaller scale and more general, and can include ornamental plants)