Catholic Corps (Antarctic Press Comics)
The Catholic Corps is a fictional military order in the Warrior Nun Areala universe and appears in several comic books published by Antarctic Press. It was created by Ben Dunn and its first appearance was Warrior Nun Areala Vol. 1 #1 in December 1994.
Origin
The Catholic Corps is an amalgamation of the old military orders which in the fictional world of Warrior Nun Areala have survived in their original purpose to this day. Smiting the hammer of death unto the devil those forces that would make the core of the Corps were preceded by superhumans empowered by God such as those mentioned in the Golden Legend and by martial saints such as Saint Maurice or Saint George but go back nearly a thousand years.
It began in 1066 when a Scandinavian girl named Auria was born to a pagan father and a Christian mother. Impressed by her fighting prowess, Odin called her to serve as a Valkyrie but she was disillusioned when she saw he would only accept warriors who had died in battle into Valhalla, even if they were wicked, and disregard good people who died peaceful deaths. Renouncing her father's gods, she swore loyalty to God Almighty—in her words "the only true God"—who accepted her conversion and gave her the Christian name Areala. Waging a one-woman war against the Norse gods, she was ultimately killed by Tyr though she was reunited with her mother and her father, who converted to Christianity shortly before his death, in Heaven. Now an angel of the Heavenly host, Areala's mother advised her to continue her work through others. That was she she saw a nun seeking to escape Viking raiders in Norway. She gave the sister her name and power to the sister who promptly killed those that would have raped and killed her.
This all happened in 1066 with the Sister Areala raising the Angelic Areala's sword to protect the Church and all God's children from the Devil's schemes, be they natural or supernatural, human or monstrous. Soon enough, she inspired other women to take the veil and follow her forming the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a religious order combining military and religious ways of life to literally be soldiers—as well as Brides—of Christ. In fact, these Warrior Nuns were the very first military order ever predating the Knights Hospitaller by four years. However, it was not until sometine between 1073 and 1085 that Pope Gregory VII recognized them and granted them their Papal Orders.
Their brother order, the Order of Magic Priests began in 1212 when Pope Innocent III chose to create a new Order, one in which the miracle workers who had existed since before Moses would receive proper training in their gifts. One of their first tests was with the Children's Crusade where Father Hugo, one of the first Magic Priests, and Warrior Nun Ursa rescued them. Following the traditional version of the Crusade, an orphan boy—here named Stephan of Burgess—found himself gifted with super-human powers by God and rallying other children decided to use his powers to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule. However, Stephan failed and he and his friends were captured by Muslim Arabs, the boys for use as slaves and the girls for use as concubines. The slave ship's captain was about to [...] one of the little girls when Sister Ursa killed him and her nuns freed the children. Seeking Stephan, she told him of the newly formed Magic Priests which Father Hugo invited him to join. He eagerly accepted.
Mission
The Catholic Corps serves the (fictionalized) Roman Catholic Church and protects the instrument of God's will on Earth from all His enemies, natural and supernatural, such as demons, witches, Satanists, werewolves, oni, fallen Angels, zombies, antipopes, Masonic plotters, [...] mystics, aliens, and other monsterous slaves of the Devil, thus ensuring that against the church Christ built upon Peter "the gates of Hell shall not prevail." They are needed because Warrior Nun Areala presents the Catholic Church as literally representing God on Earth. Glimpses of Paradise show this and for their part, demons actively hate the Church, using its name interchangeably with Heaven and seeing it as what must be destroyed in order to allow for their slaughter of the human race. (Except for the Devil and his most fanatical minions, most demons recognize the futility of an assault against God and instead seek to strike at Him through His human children.) As such, the Vatican's Catholic Corps is the means by which Heaven fights a proxy war against hell for the purpose of protecting God’s children on Earth
The Silver Cross Program
Though miracle workers and warriors of the faith had existed for centuries it was not until 1212 that Pope Innocent III decided that children either gifted by God with superhuman powers would receive proper training in their gifts or be trained to serve in various military orders. Perhaps their first recruits were the participants of the Children's Crusade. After being rescued by the then 150 years old Warrior Nuns and the newly formed Magic Priests, the children volunteered to serve, with Stephan--the boy who had led the failed mission--learning to use his powers as a Magic Priest and his sister Mary recruited to serve as a Warrior Nun. Dubbed "Orphans of Christ," they were raised to serve with the Warrior Nun who rescued them, Ursa, giving Mary a silver cross.
This has continued to this day with future soldiers of the church mostly chosen at birth from promising orphans to learn demonology and receive basic training from childhood at military academies /orphanages, as part of the Silver Cross Program. In that the academies are also Catholic schools they also receive religious education in their catechism; uniforms are mandatory. It is assumed that they also learn traditional subjects such as math and history. The most famous academy is the St. Thomas Academy in upper New York State though there are others such as Saint Paul's or Saint Dymphna's. Trained in martial arts and endowed with superhuman powers, the youths of the Silver Cross Program--male and female--get into their share of trouble. Once they complete their training and are accepted as Warrior Nuns, the young women can and often do customize their battle habits. For example, Sister Shannon's adopted sister Sasuki, a Japanese Warrior Nun, gives her uniform a Ninja motif. On becoming Magic Priests, the young men tend to be more restrained in their fashion sense.
Defensive Units
The Defensive Units are the means by which the Church protects all God's children from monsters. Divided into various groups, each dedicated to specific tasks, the Units police the world and are its oldest and most respected religious militia. They do not think of themselves as superheroes. They are not vigilantes but are fully deputized by the governments in which they serve and are forbidden from taking human life under almost any circumstance, though they can and will use non-lethal force against aggressors. Dedicated, the men and woman of the Defensive Units often serve for life with cybernetic enhancements augmenting their physical prowess as they age or are injured. Cyborgs are common and Ben Dunn deadpanned that prosthetic arms are all the rage at the Vatican.
Warrior Nuns
The earliest and definitely the best known member of Vatican's military orders is the Order of the Cruciform Sword , a military order of Warrior Nuns. Doing the hardest work, doing it with the fewest resources, going through the hardest drill instruction of their military -- so hard that one out of fourteen completing final training is an accomplishment--, these women are the Marines of the Defensive Corps. Essential to Warrior Nun training are faith, vigor, and most important of all compassion so that justice be tempered with mercy. Trained from childhood and instilled with an ethos of Holy War, the girls that grow up to Warrior Nuns are true Crusaders.
Formally receiving their Papal Orders from Pope Gregory VII sometime between 1073 and 1085, the Warrior Nuns fight the war against hell with the vows of vigilance, chastity, and faith laid down by Sister Areala. The first of the military orders, they, alongside the Magic Priests and others, serve in the Vatican's paramilitary Defensive Units and are under the leadership of Cardinal Shoc with Mother Superion as his right hand woman. They, of course, have their world headquarters in Vatican City, specifically underneath St. Peter's Basilica. Doing battle against Satan in all his forms yet protecting all human life, Warrior Nuns and their ilk seen to operate in the United States, Europe, Japan and other places around the world.
They are very dedicated and will serve unto death. Even so, there have been cases of Warrior Nuns leaving the order, the most famous of them being Shotgun Mary. Also, even some Warrior Nuns that remain in the order are critical of the system seeing themselves as second class citizens who are overshadowed by the Magic Priests. That is because the Magic Priests do not suffer constant budget reduction and are fully trained in the superhuman powers that both possess. Despite requests to the contrary and there being young Catholic girls who could grow up to be as good a miracle worker as any Magic Priest, they only receive limited training.
In times past, the Warrior Nuns participated in the Crusades and numbered in the thousands. At the moment there are only a few dozen Warrior Nuns currently active and some look at it as being "archaic, pointless and superstious ramnant[sic] of the Middle Ages", that is "nothing more than the Catholic equivalent of a kung-fu academy." With how the biased Cardinal Stark lowered their budget and overstretched them--indeed, tried to unmake them--, there were at one point even rumors that Sister Shannon Masters's students would be the last generation of the order. However, no Pope has ever cleared the decision to dismantle them. In fact, glimpses of the future show that the Catholic Corps with its attendant Warrior Nuns and Magic Priests will continue for decades, perhaps even centuries to come.
Other Defensive Units
In line with its military role, the backbone of the Corps is its Defensive Units the most famous of them being the Warrior Nuns. However, they are not the only ones. Others include--
- Magic Priests--The Magic Priests are the second most famous of the Defensive Units and, as their names implies, they are miracle workers. Founded one-hundred forty six years after the Warrior Nuns in about 1212, the two orders are complementary and were equalized in 1304 by Pope Benedict XI's Papal Bull. Unlike the Warrior Nuns, they are always well funded and are the Catholic Corps preferred Unit. Their training is rigorous and go through grueling mental probes to see if they can indeed be trusted to wield their powers. There are thirty six Magic Priests in the world with twelve of them on active duty, doubtless in imitation of the Twelve Apostles.
- Techno-Priests--Designing the weapons and equipment the other orders use, the Techno-Priests are heirs to the Church's scientist-priests such as Lemaître and Mendel. With how monsters are real in the Warrior Nun Areala universe, the fictional Church has had to encourage advanced technology even more than it has in real life to combat said monsters.
- Warrior Priests--Like the military orders of the the middle ages, warrior priests do exist. Unlike their miraculous brothers, they use no supernatural powers and they mostly use modern weapons as are used by modern soldiers. The prime example is the now defunct "Black Hand", the (fictionalized) Pope's personal special forces team.
- Psi-Priests--They are psychic clerics in the service of the Vatican. They are mostly used in interrogation, intelligence, and to mentally probe Corps members to test for spies. Resembling the grey aliens, they are bald, have almond eyes, extremely thin, have almost no facial features, and are emotionless.
- The Black Angel Corps--The Black Angel Corps is the Catholic Corps' air force. Its airmen are, in fact mostly women, highly trained Warrior Nuns. Training is difficult and Mother Superion personally leads it.
- Small navy?--Though it is not known if it is a true navy, the Vatican is seen to command a small fleet of submarines and ships, such as Exodus for example.
- Swiss Guard?--The Swiss Guard are the real Vatican's real military. Like their real world counterparts, the fictional Swiss Guards' main purpose is to guard Vatican City itself and the Pope's life. They presumably would be part of the Catholic Corps.
Abilities and weapons
Super-powers
In a clear case of continuationism, the powers the Magic Priests and Warrior Nuns use are gifts of the Holy Spirit. An earlier Sister Areala remarked that on receiving her powers she knew what the Apostles felt at Pentecost. (See the [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:1-21%20;&version=31; anointing of power]). In fact, the Order of Magic Priests, cultivate such powers as flight, firing energy blasts, detecting demonic forces, remote viewing, and using Jedi Mind Trick like powers of suggestion, and presumably more. However, while both they and the Warrior Nuns are touched with the gift of miracles, only the Magic Priests are fully trained. Sister Shannon once told her students that while Warrior Nuns may be receive some training such as healing and temperature control full training is allowed to the Magic Priests for the same reason women may not be ordained. She, for example, has the powers of exorcism and healing, two hallmark abilities of those touched by the Holy Spirit in the Bible's Acts of the Apostles, but no more. For example, no one is seen to speak in tongues.
In what seems like a goof, these men are called "Magic" Priests despite the fact that, along with other branches of Christianity, Catholicism frowns on sorcery. However, they do not truly violate Christian views on magic because of the source of their power. Creator Ben Dunn states that "In the WNA universe magic is based on several components. Some are earth based. Some are demonic. In this case the church taps into the magic that is heavenly. Sort of like the clerics in D&D." Thus, while the powers the Catholic Corps heroes use would more accurately be called miracles, they can be called magic in the theurgic sense.
Tools and weapons
While not all its members receive full training in the supernatural, Warrior Nuns and other members of the Corps' Defense Units are still trained in the martial arts and in swordsmanship and are the equals of any Army Ranger, SEAL, or Green Beret. Due to the Order of the Cruciform Sword's dual oath to defend the innocent and battle evil, Warrior Nuns have been traditionally equipped with holy swords that kill "spawns of Satan" but that for the most part pass harmlessly through humans or any other of God's children.
However, when the sword passes through an especially wicked person, such as a [...] or someone who made a deal with the devil, that Sword will induce intense pain and trigger visions of Hell inside the person's mind, sending him or her into shock. The effect varies on other non demonic beings; for example, when adventurer and were-cheetah, Brittany "Cheetah" Diggers was brainwashed by Neo [...] Dr. Frederick Ottoman and sent to kill Sister Shannon, she was dealt a blow by Sister Shannon's sword. While she was merely fainted and woke up healthy and free from mind control, were-cheetahs serving Ottoman of their free will fought Sister Shannon were wounded by her sword. The Warrior Nuns and the rest of the Catholic Corps' Defensive Units may also use other relics or other religious objects.
Thanks to the Techno-Priests, however, supernatural weapons are not the only ones at the Catholic Corps' disposal. Just as in the real world, there has always been Vatican supported scientific advancement. That the fictionalized church in Warrior Nun Areala conducts research and development itself is due to an almost alternate history question posed by creator Ben Dunn: if demons were to walk the Earth with mortal feet, would not the Vatican have embraced and encouraged high technology early on to counter them? As such the Techno-Priest's innovations allow the Warrior Nuns and others to access the finest firearms, "rayguns", infra-red night vision goggles, jet packs, heavy artillery and high-tech vehicles--from single passenger hover cars to airships--and much more that the Holy See can provide them. The Warrior Nuns and their co-religionists have full access to the Vatican's central computer/database, Gabriel; named for the angel, it is shown as a benevolent machine with full artificial intelligence. Robots are also used by the Corps for heavy work and combat; they are also sometimes used in conjunction with Holodeck like holograms and virtual reality for training purposes. They can also use cybernetic enhancements, an example of which is Sister Shannon's artificial limb.
One of the most impressive devices is the Crown of Thorns satellite array. One of the Vatican's crowning achievements, it can be and is used for more mundane tasks like recon and communications. However, its chief purpose is its function as a teleportation system. The Crown of Thorns allows for teleportation of tools, weapons and other objects to any place in the world at any time; for example, when Sister Shannon summons her battle habit and weapons, she is in fact using Crown of Thorns. No mention has been made of teleporting people. Crown of Thorns thus allows the Corps an instant worldwide reach and makes the small force a foe to be reckoned with.
The larger world
Unlike the DC Universe, for example, in which virtually all published books take place and the characters therein regularly crossover and meet Warrior Nun Areala stories and related comic books mostly take place in their own self contained fictional universe. While the heroes have met other Antarctic Press characters such as those from Gold Digger and Ninja High School, such crossovers are an exception. While the fact that the characters could meet one another with no problem whatsoever show that they are not absolutely separate, the events in one Antarctic Press "universe" generally do not affect the events in another.
They are not vigilantes, though the Warrior Nuns' relationship with law enforcement varies. For example when the New York police face a case involving the supernatural, it falls under the jurisdiction of a deputized Warrior Nun or other member of the Corps who is authorized to take full authority of the case. In case of complaints, the police officer is to take said complaints to the local bishop or archbishop. This is due to the fictional Vatican having military treaties with various countries deputizing the Catholic Corps to freely hunt monsters in their borders. For their part, the Vatican tends not to get involved in secular crimes (humans attacking humans) on it being outside their "jurisdiction" unless requested to by parties involved or if there is an overriding concern such as the Corps working with the militaries of other governments to fight Neo-Nazis. The Corps has contacts with the Italian government and police--and presumably other governments and police departments.
In the context of the larger world, it is unknown what effect literal physical manifestations of religious truths has on the general public. One letter to the editor of Warrior Nun Areala stated that with the forces of Heaven and Hell in plain sight, that people would have no choice but to believe. Regardless, the Church's Catholic Corps--Warrior Nuns, Magic Priests, etc.--are known to the world at large and its members have been interviewed on television by New York's Action News. They are seen as controversial by outsiders and even by some of their co-religionists such as the Daughters of Charity, something that is said to have always existed. Vocational nuns tend to look at their warrior sisters with anger or pity.
The public is also aware of them through unauthorized comic book adaptations of their adventures. (It is seen that other Antarctic Press heroes have also had comic book adaptations of their adventures, leading characters to reference their own comics.) As stated above, it is known that law enforcement is aware of them and will work with the Catholic Corps when they have a common goal. World governments will also call on the Catholic Corps and/or similar groups to combat supernatural threats. For example, in World War II, a fictionalized Winston Churchill called on the Church of England's Warrior Nuns during the Battle of Britain.
Funding
It is said that the Warrior Nuns have a budget that rivals that of the Pentagon but it is never explained how the Church provides that much money for either the Warrior Nuns or the Magic Priests, either from the collection plate, the Vatican Bank, or somewhere else. (Regardless of the money it has invested in ornate churches, the real Roman Catholic Church actually does not have as much money as people think. This is referenced when one when priest asks Areala that she "not put such a strain on the Vatican's limited resources. .. For such a small group, you Warrior Nuns spend money like there's no tomorrow!" ) It is possible that like another great Catholic military order, the Knights Templar, they or the fictionalized Church have banking and business interests, albeit one's not seen. The more devout Catholics that can do so are known to give generous tithes. In that world governments know that the Devil's minions are real and that the Roman Catholic Church combats them, it is possible that world governments pay the Roman Curia Peter's pence in order to fund its mission of battling demons but this is only speculation.
View of other religions and faith militias
Despite the Catholic Church being portrayed as the "official" church in Warrior Nun Areala, God does not scorn non-Catholic or even non-Christians. God acknowledges all as His children. He will not punish non-Christians for ignorance. Included among them are His Earthly worshipers--Christian, Muslim, Jew--who number in the billions, but also His worshipers from other planets in the universe and worshippers from all the parallel universes in the multiverse.
Over the series, the men and women of the Catholic Corps have met with heroes and villains of other belief systems and their relationships with them have varied. There are several other groups loyal to God and that serve Him and are quite respectable. They have sisters in the Church of England's Warrior Nuns who, in World War II, worked with Druids to prevent [...] invasion of UK during the Blitz. Sister Shannon's own adopted grandfather was a Shinto priest and her patron, Saint Areala the Angel of War, was a being from Norse mythology before converting to Christianity. She has met and befriended martial Buddhist nuns whose (fictionalized) Shaolin Monastery she sees as "magnificent. .. rivaling even the Vatican!" The Corps has dealt with Jewish anti-hero, the Hammer; empowered by Kabbalah mysticism despite the fact that Jews mostly reject Christ as their Messiah, he has made a career of being a [...] hunter and of protecting Israel. The Vatican has worked, albeit reluctantly, with the Sehkmet, a group representing Egyptian myth. In Japan, lesser kami from Japanese mythology have been seen active in Japan, even working with the Catholic Corps against folklore oni and Sister Shannon's grandfather was an Onmyōji. All religions--except for devil worship and witchcraft--are shown to have degrees of truth but the Corps tends to look at non-Abrahamic religion skeptically. This is seen when Mother Superion tells a heroine of the Sekhmet, a group representing Egyptian mythology, "I know of you and your organization! We are not unaware of your doings..."
The above, however, tend to be disciplined, deputized, full time professional fighters. Thus, the fictional Vatican tends to looks down on religious vigilantes working independently as so much rabble. Examples include the "Ba'albuster" a punk with little more than a costume, an attitude, and no concern for civilian casualties. There is also the late Cleric and his three children, the Cross, the Host, and the Wine, naming themselves for the elements in the Eucharist . Extremists, they oppose the "papists," of the Catholic Church for being too soft on demons. Their use of imagery does not suggest Protestantism.
The Redeemers
Heaven and Hell
As might be expected, the crux of the story is the battle between good and evil. The fictional theology presented in Warrior Nun Areala roughly corresponds to orthodox teachings. God created reality long ago out of love for those who would be His children. Ruling from Heaven on high and "working in mysterious ways," He guides Creation to the ultimate good of His children. Indeed, His Christian worshippers refer to Him as Father. However, not all wish to accept His love and even reject Him and His goodness altogether. In the beginning, one of His creations, Lucifer rejected God's wisdom and, thinking that he could be a superior leader than his omniscient Creator, sought to take The Throne of Heaven. Lucifer's War of Heaven and rebellion against God and His goodness led to the creation of evil. Lucifer of course lost.
At the moment, skirmishes between the two sides are common but total war will not flare up again until Armegeddon when Christ will ride from Heaven on a white horse, His eyes like fiery flame, wearing clothes dipped in blood, His sword coming from His mouth, and the Heavenly Host at His side. For now, Heaven wages a "cold war" to contain evil and protect the innocent. There us in fact an uneasy truce with Heaven content to leave Hell alone if it does not transgress its boundaries. For that, demons rely on generations of Satanists to do their dirty work and to provide conduits to the mortal world, or "Prime Material Plane," as demons call it. A fictionalized Aleister Crowley is a prime example of such men; his black magic spells and demon summoning rituals are used to this day.
Heaven
Heaven is the abode of God and His angels. God is the Supreme Being, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, the All-Perfect and All-Loving Father and Ruler of all Creation. Ruling from Heaven on high and "working in mysterious ways," He created the physical universe along with all reality an indefinite time ago out of love for those who would be His children. Indeed, His Christian worshippers refer to Him as Father.
Warrior Nun Areala uses traditional Dantian imagery of skies and clouds to show Heaven as a place in the sky. Heaven is seen to be a wonderful, beautiful place where those who died in the hope of rising again find themselves. Every tear is wiped away, every injury is healed, and those who lost their loved ones are reunited. With their glorified bodies they live as virtual godlike immortals in everlasting paradise walking along streets of gold as equals to the angels in unending pleasure and happiness. Reunited with those they love, the blessed in habit marble palaces finer than any on Earth . It is a place where a lion laying down with the lamb and where a child leads them are common sights, Heaven is the ultimate destination, luxury, seaside, ski, mega- resort.
People already there make a habit of showing disconcerted "new arrivals" around and joke about Heaven getting "good publicity" by the people still on Earth. They trust the Earthly ministers of the Church to tell how people to get "up there" and intervene directly or indirectly when needed on Earth. This is seen in the Arealas, especially the original Saint Areala who still serve by aiding Warrior Nuns on Earth by empowering them or advising them--usually by means of visions or near-death experiences. Indeed, the saints whether canonized or not form advocacy groups for those on Earth with family members looking out for their loved ones that have yet to come home.
Roman Catholic Church
Evil exists and to delilver His children whom He so loved from evil, God sent Jesus, His only begotten Son and even sacrificed His life so that whoever believes in Him should not die but have eternal life. Afterwards, God made His will known through the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church that His Son established on Saint Peter. The Church was then charged by Christ to spread the Good News across the entire world with the promise to be with them even until the end of time. In Areala, the Catholic Church is taken for granted as being God's "official" church. Despite the fact that Heaven and Hell are in a cold war, demons sometimes bring their battles to Earth. When that happens it is the duty of the Church's Catholic Corps to intervene and protect the innocent.
The Vatican
In the real world as in the fictional world of Areala, when "the Vatican" is used, it usually refers to the Holy See. It represents the international government of the Church and is based in Vatican City where Saint Peter may have been crucified upside down over 1900 years ago. The fictional Vatican in Warrior Nun Areala is mostly like the real world's real Vatican though with key differences. For example, the real Vatican is slow moving and seemingly inefficient due to the fact that it has no policing power, relying instead on winning the argument and goodwill to maintain communion with over a billion people from literally every country and every conceivable socio-economic/political background. It neither thinks of itself as a government or a corporation nor works like one. Despite various myths, it does not function as a secret society, have billions of dollars hidden away, engage in millennia long conspiracies, or rule the world.
However, the fictional Vatican does have several of the above characteristics, albeit in a good way to protect the world. Also unlike the real Vatican, the fictional Vatican of Warrior Nun Areala has policing power in the form of the Catholic Corps and does operate like a government or a corporation. Having fought an unending war against monsters for centuries, the fictional Vatican has no choice but to be fast moving and able to act on a moment's notice either to save humans or kill demons. Like the real Vatican, it has treaties and relations with nearly every country in the world though the fictional Vatican also has military treaties with various countries deputizing the Catholic Corps to freely hunt monsters in their borders. For their part, the Vatican tends not to get involved in secular crimes (humans attacking humans) on it being outside their "jurisdiction" unless requested to by parties involved or if there is an overriding concern such as the Corps working with the militaries of other governments to fight Neo-Nazis. The fictional Vatican also has contacts with the Italian government and police--and presumably other governments and police departments--to a far greater extent than the real one. Vatican Museums and archives are said to hold the largest collection of relics and supernatural objects, pertaining to both good and evil in the world and is the world's foremost authority on the supernatural. It is also portrayed as one of the most secure locations in the world; attacking it is said to be [...].
Hell
Warrior Nun Areala uses the traditional fire and brimstone imagery to portray Hell as a fiery, volcanic, underground torture chamber. Hell in Warrior Nun Areala is portrayed as being underground but it is not known if it is literally inside the Earth like a huge cavern that anyone could dig to. Like Dante's Inferno, it is divided into various zones, primarily wasteland areas and urban areas that are nothing more than unending slums and shanty towns. One invention was to portray Hell as having multiple moons.
A cosmic gulag worse than any death camp Hell began when Lucifer and his angels entered into revolt against God in the War of Heaven, thinkin to create their own realm. They failed to defeat God and yet He allowed them their wish; they were given Hell. However, having rejected God's love they deprived themselves of all happiness. That is because the fallen angels, now demons, have nobody but each other to make themselves happy and with inherently selfish natures, they only make each other miserable. Now deformed cretins, they are made as ugly as they once were beautiful. When humanity chose to sin, they followed the demons in rejecting the happiness God would give them. At the moment, Hell is filled with the [...] from all times, people so selfish and wicked that they would rather suffer until the end of time, shaking their fists at God all the while, than express one shred of remorse for the evil they had done in life. Yet even if they do deserve it, even if they do choose to go to hell, it is always seen as a tragedy when anyone finds himself there. Broad is the way and wide is the path that leads to destruction and feigning religion is far from enough to avoid the line to perdition . Glimpses of Hell even show nuns and priests thinking their just offices would be enough to assure them in a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. It was not. One hero seeing them thought why even bother when so many find themselves in Hell regardless of all attempts to give them salvation. Yet the answer they realize is right there. "We bother 'cause every one of those millions coulda been in line at the gates of Heaven."
As for the place itself and not the "inmates," it is a place of absolute chaos and pure evil. Due to the selfishness and treacherous nature of its inhabitants, Hell is a failed state and through the various levels of the Inferno, demon warlords fight for power. This chaos exists because although Satan nominally rules, having led his followers in revolt, they themselves revolt against him. He himself is chained as a prisoner in the deepest pit of Hell for the sake of Creation. Most demons are glad to have their despot, their taskmaster, their genocidal tyrant neutralized. They know that if he were free he would grind them them under his totalitarian dictatorship, leading the [...] in a war against God to destroy all goodness and to take the throne of Heaven for himself. Though their only fate would be [...], demons remaining loyal to Satan--the worst of the worst--hate God so much that they don't care if it would be their end and the end of all that exists. Terrified of Satan, most demon warlords are willing to set aside their rivalries and combat Satan loyalists to keep him from being freed. Their lives are literal Hell but at least they are allowed to live.
Regardless of disunity across Hell as a whole, demon warlords keep a tight reign over their personal fiefdoms, functioning as quasi naturalization agents registering lost souls at "Processing Centers" where the dead are stripped of whatever religious symbols they took with them. Also, dead people might find themselves in Hell with their tombstones complete with crosses and inscribed prayers. Said symbols are promptly destroyed at Processing as their power remains effective at repelling demons even there. Afterwards, the [...] are then assigned to everlasting torment. This includes random torture for sadistic pleasure, use by demon mad scientists, slavery, or being processed for food. Being that they are already dead, when the [...] are butchered in open-air slaughterhouses they are eaten "alive" and remain "alive" as they are digested. Some demons have proven able to show compassion--albeit limited--usually to their family members. However, while even monsters love their children, with those children raised in a culture that nurtures their inherent evil, they are promptly corrupted. However, demons defecting back to Heaven are not unknown nor are demonic double agents working for Heaven. Children born of angelic/demonic unions even happen from time-to-time. Lillith is an example of such a union.