The Smiling Man

from /hhg/ - Hazbin Hotel #315
----
It was mentioned the other day that very powerful sinners ARE in fact capable of permakilling other sinners if they really put their backs into it, and it was suggested that maybe Alastor was deliberately being merciful by not doing any real damage to Sir Pent when he attacked him, among other possibilities.

So, on that note, what if Alastor's motivation actually is to try to redeem himself? What if something has already happened to him that's made him want to get to Heaven, but he doesn't know how to admit it, and all his talk of not believing that sinners can be saved is just him blowing hot air. Like how Angel Dust is always hiding his true self behind his "slut king" persona, Alastor is afraid to drop his bombastic, gleefully evil showman persona and admit that he's unhappy and wants to change.
-
I don't think he's hiding anything - he's simply bored, and just sees the Hotel as entertainment. He may be convinced along the way to redeem himself, but he's definitely not there for that initially.
-
That’s not a bad thought. He *does* smile particularly hard, and 100% of the time he’s on-screen—that’s often a sign IRL that someone is unhappy.
-
I wouldn’t be surprised either way, honestly. A character with that much enigma and showmanship is a wildcard for a reason. I just hope that they execute whatever they have planned for him—I’d rather him become an irredeemable villain with well-written motives than have him pull a change of heart without building up to it.
-
What I was really trying to drive at there is the idea that Alastor ALREADY had a change of heart, before he even walked on screen. Like, something happened to him in his private life that's made him want to be good. The problem is that he's spent most of his afterlife playing the role of a chaotic, cartoonish murder-monster. Even if he was truly evil and violent when he first manifested, he's drained of it after so many decades. He wants to cleanse himself, but he can't. He's a very powerful, very public figure in Hell, and he's probably made plenty of enemies as well. If he just abruptly drops out and starts dancing to whatever tune the giddy, naive princess is playing, there's no telling what could happen. So instead he finds a way to involve himself in this redemption project that still allows him to claim that he's as wicked as ever and only looking to have a few laughs at someone else's expense.

He doesn't want to be "the bad guy" anymore, but he's afraid of dropping the facade of implacable evil that's shielded him this whole time; he knows that there's a good person somewhere in there, but he's afraid that if he lets them out they'll be quashed in an instant. So, as illogical as it may be, he concocts roundabout ways to get closer to the people he hopes might somehow fix him whilst simultaneously acting as though he doesn't need to be fixed, and just hopes for the best.
-
Yeah, I understood you. In terms of logic and timeline, he would have already had experiences getting him into the “contemplative” phase of making a change—wanting to, but without having made any moves yet—by the time the pilot starts.
But in terms of thematic presentation and foreshadowing, him grinning the way he does all the time is a good metaphor for putting on a mask so that onlookers can’t sense any suffering or “weakness.” That’s a very common feature of mood disorders like depression IRL, when someone wants to be free of guilt/sadness but it’s always there in the back of their mind.
Maybe he started the smiling, cackling persona to strike fear in others, but now that he’s made the mask such a well-known entity he can’t take it off—both because it would disturb the balance of power you described, and also expose him to scrutiny and judgement by anyone he actually cared about being viewed by.
-
There's a part of me that wonders if Alastor just got tangled up in his own mythos. Maybe the showman part of his personality, an ultimately harmless facet, got the wires crossed with the darker urges in a very bad way. He always had a smile on his face but the reasons for it changed drastically over time.

It went from

>Keep smiling. If you keep smiling no one will know how broken you are

To

>Keep smiling. If you just smile maybe they won't realize what you've done

To

>Smile at your victim. They know who you are at this point. They've read the stories in the papers from the ones who escaped about how you always smile. They're expecting you to be beaming when you cut them down. Do you want to disappoint them?

To

>Smile for the firing squad, they've been waiting so long to meet you, you should at least put on a happy face for them

To

>Smile for the overlords you're toppling. Make sure it's clear that you're having a grand old time wrecking the joint

To

>Smile at the little demon princess. You're the guy who smiles. You have to keep smiling. You can't tell her about your guilt and misery, you have to put on the same show she's expecting, that everyone's been expecting for years now. Pretend that you think this is all a big laugh. Just smile and hope she can see through it.
-
That was very well put.
I’ve never killed anyone, but I’ve definitely done a similar series of “putting on a face” which has evolved over time—bear through hard times, hide depression, hide guilt, scare off people who are trying to hurt you, just keep smiling and joking so that no one tries to get too close and see how much pain you’re in.
I hope, if Alastor ever breaks down his last emotional defenses and lets Charlie see parts of him that no one else has seen, he keeps smiling even as he’s breaking down. It would be a shame to let the audience think that he could have let himself stop smiling at any time.
-
It could be a pretty good visual to have Alastor maintain the exact same expression he always had while tears are rolling down his cheeks.

Maybe his version of getting "choked up" is the radio crackle in his voice getting thicker and thicker until you can barely understand what he's saying. Like you're driving through the mountains and the station is getting weaker and weaker.
-
what if his smile goes away?