Changes

'''Ruby:''' Actually, they got it that pretty right, except close. Except for all the custom leather.

[[Angels]] can bypass Hell's defenses, allowing them to enter and retrieve human souls while in groups, as Castiel and other angels laid siege to Hell to save Dean. [[Death]] can enter Hell and bring souls back to Earth, as shown when he retrieves retrieved Sam's soul from [[Lucifer's Cage]]. [[Reaper]]s and anyone else who has access to the secret portal inside of [[Purgatory]] can also enter Hell and rescue souls trapped inside.

[[Ruby]] revealed that "there's a real fire in the pit, agonies you can't even imagine."<ref name="three09" /> [[Meg]] described Hell as "...a prison, made of bone and flesh and blood and fear."<ref name="two14">[[2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign]]</ref> When Alastair was being tortured by Dean, he said that compared to Hell, reality is "too concrete" on Earth.<ref name="four16">[[4.16 On the Head of a Pin]]</ref>

The tortures endured by damned souls in Hell also consist of hallucinations meant to break their psyche and compel them to adopt the demon faith of their own volition. When Dean Winchester was dragged to Hell, he first found himself suspended on meat hooks among infinite chains as storm clouds raged around him.<ref name="three16">[[3.16 No Rest for the Wicked]]</ref> Hell also consists of endless racks which human souls hang from while being tortured. When Dean was tortured by Alastair in Hell, he told him that he would take him off the rack if Dean started torturing. For one month (equivalent to 10 years), Dean apprenticed under Alastair and tortured souls until he was rescued by Castiel. After taking charge of Hell, Crowley transformed it into a place where torture was exemplified by endless queuingwhere upon reaching the front of the line, they start over from the end. Though more traditional dungeon areas still exist, as evidenced when [[Sam]] traveled to Hell to perform the second [[trialTrial]] to save the [[soul]] of [[Bobby Singer]]. The tortures in the dungeon area appeared to be a mix of physical, with various damned souls shown to be mutilated in one form or another , and psychological as with Bobby Singer , who would be tortured daily by black-eyed versions of Sam and Dean Winchester.

Limbo is an area that resides in the furthest reaches of Hell, it's this place that Crowley would send unruly souls for "time out." While lacking in aesthetics, Limbo is an incredibly secure area that is accessed through a long corridor, whose with walls that have been built with bones of the damned. Once reached, Limbo is a desolate place where bones litter the ground, and torches light the plains of the damned as constant thunder and lightning storms rage above.

[[Azazel]] was a very powerful demon general who was a devoted zealot of [[Lucifer]]. He was described as a "tyrant" by [[Casey]], who kept the demons in Hell in line. After Azazel's death, [[Lilith]] was released from her prison and assumed the void in leadership. [[Ruby]] was another strong demon who eventually proved instrumental in releasing Lucifer by secretly manipulating [[Sam Winchester]] so that he would kill Lilith, breaking the last [[The 66 Seals|seal]]. Other more specific positions include King of Hell -- the ruler of all demons, King of Crossroads -- the demon who holds all crossroad deal contracts and Knights of Hell -- the elite guard of Hell. It is unknown what specific rank Lilth Lilith held amongst the demons, but the [[white-eyed demon]] [[Alastair]] was described by Ruby as, "Practically the Grand Inquisitor downstairs. Picasso—with a razor."

Lucifer is revered as the creator of demons, though no demons had been able to contact him in his isolation, other than Azazel. Lucifer would direct Azazel in the plans involving the [[Special Children]], and the plot to release him from [[Lucifer's Cage|his prison]]. Following Azazel's death, Ruby and Lilith took over his plan covertly. When Lucifer is was freed, the demons serve served himas the rightful ruler of Hell, with the exception of [[Crowley]]. After Lucifer's re-imprisonment,<ref name="five22">[[5.22 Swan Song]]</ref> Crowley declared himself King of Hell with the blessing of [[Ramiel]], a [[Prince of Hell]] and sibling of Azazel. [[Abaddon]], a [[Knight of Hell]] and one of the most powerful demons in existence eventually started a civil war with Crowley in order to take control for herself, but was killed by Dean Winchester with [[the First Blade]] before she could win the warofficially depose Crowely.

After Crowley is was betrayed by his demons and deposed as ruler by Lucifer, he agreed to help the Winchesters trap Lucifer in [[Apocalypse World]], in addition to agreeing to close the Gates of Hell forever, having grown tired being ruler and dealing with demons. Crowley was unable to make good on his promise, due to sacrificing himself to close the rift between universes to trap Lucifer. In Crowley's absence, at least one demon, [[Kipling]], attempted to fill the power vacuum left in Crowley's wake. His attempt to take over Hell, saw Kipling try and strike a deal with Sam Winchester, along the same lines as they had with Crowley. After Sam rejected Kipling's offer, and killed him, Sam would declare that, "There will be no new King of Hell. Not today. Not ever. And if anybody wants the job, you can come through me." A threat demons seemed to take to heart, as according to Nick the demons have kept track of where the Winchester family is at all times out of fear in order to keep far away. [[Belphegor]] later attempts attempted to use [[Lilith's Crook]] to gain power in Hell, but is was [[smiting|smote]] by Castiel, preventing this plan. According to [[Ardat]], Belphegor spent centuries waiting for his chance as after all of the other leaders were killed.

Following her death sacrifice to save the world, [[Rowena]] seizes seized power as the new Queen of Hell despite only being a damned soul.<ref name="fifteen08">[[15.08 Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven]]</ref> The demon Gregor indicates indicated that Rowena has had begun reshaping Hell for the better, holding receptions for newly-arrived souls rather than immediately condemning them to the endless lines of Crowley devised or the torture Hell is famous for.<ref name="fifteen13" >[[15.13 Destiny's Child]]</ref> Rowena also put crossroads demons out of a job by ending the practice of making demonic [[deals and pacts]], believing that all souls will end up where they're destined to go upon death.<ref name="fifteen15">[[15.15 Gimme Shelter]]</ref>

Human [[soul]]s can get sent to Hell after making [[Deals and Pacts|deals]] with [[crossroads demon]]s or other demons with the authority to make deals such as [[Azazel]] and [[Lilith]]. [[Hellhound]]s capture then kill the person when their their time is up. Once in Hell, a soul will be tortured for centuries until the last vestiges of their humanity are burned away, creating new demons to continue the cycle of torture. The length of time it takes for a human to become a demon is unknown, but may be dependent on a soul's endurance to the torture it endures, as John Winchester spent a century being tortured, and was able to escape Hell in his human form and refuse Alastair's offer for 100 years, choosing to endure his torture rather than inflicting it onto others. Like entry into Heaven, the criteria for a person being damned to Hell beyond selling one's soul is based on their life choices, however if a person is killed by a hellhound, their souls will be dragged to Hell regardless, as shown with [[Eileen Leahy]].  Human souls can remain in Hell for centuries before turning into demons. Souls that have escaped Hell, can appear as [[Hell Ghosts|skeletal apparitions]] that can manifest and retain their human appearance on earth.

* [[Daeva]]s – Savage and animalistic creatures that reside in shadows, and are summoned to act as demonic pitbullspit bulls.

In the rare instance that a human [[soul]] is able to escape from Hell, unless there is divine intervention, a damned soul cannot gain entry into [[Heaven]]. There have been only three known exceptions to the rule: [[Dean Winchester]], who was sent to Hell after his [[crossroads]] [[deal]] came up, but upon being killed by the [[hunter]] duo of [[Walt and Roy]], Dean was allowed entry into Heaven in order for the angel [[Joshua]] to pass along a message from [[God]] to the Winchesters. After [[Bobby Singer]] was killed by the [[Leviathan]] [[Dick Roman]], Crowley ensured through the use of the rogue [[reaper]] [[Ajay]], that Bobby would end up in Hell. Bobby was later rescued by [[Sam Winchester]] for the second [[trial]] to close to Gates of Hell, which required that "An innocent soul has to be rescued from Hell and delivered unto Heaven", which allowed Bobby entry into Heaven. For years it was unknown what became of [[John Winchester]] after his escape from Hell, after the second death of [[Mary Winchester]], [[Castiel]] confirmed that John was in Heaven with Mary, telling Sam and Dean that Mary was with "John, and there's no sorrow. There's no guilt. Just joy."

After God opens every door in Hell, the Cage is opened as well, potentially allowing Michael to escape.

After [[Chuck]] declared it "the End" of Sam and Dean's story, he opens a crack in the earth unleashing the souls of the damned onto earth. The demon [[Belphegor]] revels reveled to Dean that while in Hell, every single door "sprang open all at once", the sky cracked and all the souls, an estimated 2-3 billion escaped to earth. God released all of the souls and demons by opening [[Portal|the Rupture]], a giant tear in the ground of a cemetery in Harlan, Kansas leading into Hell itself. The Rupture was later closed by Rowena, Sam and Dean with the ''Sanetur Acre Vulnus'' spell and Rowena sacrificed herself to send all of the souls and demons back.

The Winchesters and Castiel were able to use a spell from [[Rowena's Spellbooks]] to travel into Hell in search of [[Michael]].<ref name="fifteen08" /> Sam and Dean later use the same spell to return in search of [[the Occultum]].<ref name="fifteen13" />

==External Linkslinks==

*[https://monicawoe.livejournal.com/24710.html 6x14 - thoughts about Helltime] by monicawoe (February 2011); [http://archive.today/2Bv7K archive link]*[https://samwinchestermeta.tumblr.com/post/130287109257/thornshrike-an-exercise-in-time-dilation An exercise in time dilation mathematics] by joonchi; thornshrike (November 2012); [https://web.archive.org/web/20171104084848/https://samwinchestermeta.tumblr.com/post/130287109257/thornshrike-an-exercise-in-time-dilation archive link]*[https://outpastthemoat.tumblr.com/post/39930485602 “That's efficiency:” A few thoughts on Crowley’s hell] by outpastthemoat (January 2013); [https://web.archive.org/web/20181205030956/http://outpastthemoat.tumblr.com/post/39930485602 archive link]*[https://spnmetaarchive-blog.tumblr.com/post/54813303566/we-get-the-hell-we-think-we-deserve We get the Hell we think we deserve] by nerdinessboundaries (April 2013); [http://archive.today/dHDGe archive link]*[https://fandomdebunker.tumblr.com/post/63573255978/ive-heard-people-say-that-sam-was-in-the-cage-for Ask: I’ve heard people say that Sam was in the cage for around 180 to 200 years. Can you tell me how accurate that is and then show me the math on that?] by fandomdebunker (October 2013); [https://web.archive.org/web/20150418055048/https://fandomdebunker.tumblr.com/post/63573255978/ive-heard-people-say-that-sam-was-in-the-cage-for archive link]*[https://larinah.tumblr.com/post/72881333749/sams-hell-is-reminiscent-of-how-mary-and-jess Four Hells - Sam’s, Dean’s, Crowley’s show for Cas, Bobby’s] by larinah (January 2014); [http://archive.today/eBfML archive link]*[https://semirahrose.tumblr.com/post/122755748633/i-accidentally-crushed-my-soul Short and Cruel Reflection on Cage!time vs. Earth!time] by semirahrose (June 2015); [https://web.archive.org/web/20200405023158/https://semirahrose.tumblr.com/post/122755748633/i-accidentally-crushed-my-soul archive link]*[https://ameliacareful.tumblr.com/post/131113536362/sam-dean-the-cage-and-memory Sam, Dean, The Cage, and Memory] by ameliacareful (October 2015); [https://web.archive.org/web/20200201230755/https://ameliacareful.tumblr.com/post/131113536362/sam-dean-the-cage-and-memory archive link]*[https://semirahrose.tumblr.com/post/173467717313/sam-was-tortured-for-around-200-years-at-least “...even ''if'' Sam’s estimation of his experience of Hell isn’t right and we just go with Dean’s, Sam was tortured in the Cage more than five times as long as he has been alive” (Untitled)] by semirahrose (April 2018); [https://web.archive.org/web/20200407011014/https://semirahrose.tumblr.com/post/173467717313/sam-was-tortured-for-around-200-years-at-least archive link]