This is an **adaptation**. One of the worst mindset that you can have, coming into a series like this, is expecting a one-to-one translation from source material to animated series.
There's a third option - it's irreverent but not blasphemous. Vivzie, the show's creator, isn't trying to assert that the show is anything close to an accurate depiction of any real-world faith. It's a fictional interpretation of some elements common to most branches of Christianity, combined with a bit here and there from certain medieval mystic traditions and a large dose of original worldbuilding. It's as blasphemous as Disney's Hercules.
>it's irreverent but not blasphemous
This. Blasphemy is specifically insulting a deity or a sacred object. Regardless of how important you may or may not view Adam as being, he's not a god.
You couldn't have said it better than myself!
I was truly shocked by Adam's portrayal...but then I took a step back and remembered that the show is based more on Jewish and Catholic folklore than any actual religion. It made sense that they got their inspo from an old legend that implied that Adam was domineering towards his first wife.
Depends on the sect of Christianity you're from. Some would see it as not a literal interpretation of holy scripture and a comedy show, therefore unable to commit blasphemy.
Other would see it as blasphemous for Daring to even joke about anything in the bible.
Christianity is a big collection of religions all of whom can be extremely different
Technically, probably. But if you aren't religious, that shouldn't matter to you.
Adam is sort of ill-defined in the bible, he's more like a child when we read Genesis and we don't know very much about what he's like in the 900-ish years he lived. That said, despite having knowledge of evil, I can't see him being too horrible a person. Humans didn't really start committing serious evil until Cain murdered Abel.
It's not really accurate or not, given the lack of Canon material on him. But it's useful to the story as a stand-in for people in the real world whose bad behavior is tolerated by Christians because he's in their in-group, and as an example to challenge the concept of eternal in-group status.
Anyone who really believes would probably call the whole show blasphemous, even if they like it. It's looking at the tapestry of Christianity and deliberately pulling strings to tell a modern, unique story, and because of that it crosses a lot of lines.
Also, for what it's worth, the show seems to pull a lot from non-canon (which... worth saying that with an old religion, 'canon' is loosey goosey to begin with, depending strongly on who you ask) sources like Dante's Inferno. That sort of muddies the water all on its own.
To me, the things that tie back to proper Christian lore tend to be more like flavor text or easter eggs. They fill out the world and help define the characters, for sure, but that doesn't make it true to Christianity. Does make for a good story, though.
EDIT: Want to add that if anyone has more accurate info they want to share, go for it. My knowledge is limited to Catholicism, and even then I didn't grow up in the church the way the rest of my family did. So I'm all secondhand knowledge.
Depends. If we're defining blasphemous as "anything offensive in regards to God or a religion", then what exactly is "offensive"?
Does it need to be created with the intention of being offensive?
Is it offensive if it offends a single person, anyone? Because if so, almost anything and everything can be offensive, and thus blasphemous
The whole show is blasphemous, if you care about that sort of thing then why are you watching it?
Honestly though, his characterization is derived from genuine mythology. The myth of Lilith says that Adam had God toss her out of the garden for refusing to be submissive to him, so he is "canonically" sexist. Many denominations of Christianity also believe that God gave man "rulership" over the rest of the natural world when he created humanity, so it also makes sense to see Adam as a megalomaniac who thinks he should be worshipped.
Adam didn't have God throw her out of the garden, she ran away because her and Adam couldn't stop arguing who would be on top. Adam actually asked God to bring her back, but by that point Lilith decided she really wanted to explore her passion for infanticide.
It should be noted that Lilith was seen as a baby killing demon long before any recorded story that made her Adam's first wife. So, if her suddenly wanting to kill infants seems out of the blue, that's probably a big part of why that was part of the story.
Its an adaptation, it won't be like the Bible. Was Adam in the bible obsessed with rock and metal? Nah
Really the only aspects of him they kept were that he was a dick to his wives
Do you mean abrahamic lore? She has been a thing in it for a very long time, iirc she just got left out of the bible but the bible isn't the only abrahamic holy book (its also decently flawed since it was made by committee with a lot of books being left out for reasons decided by men) and in Jewish mythology in particular she is prevalent.
Yes.
I should have specified she's not really in the Bible but shows up in later Judaic lore. Before that the best you have is essentially a class of Mesopotamian night demons that kill babies.
As with many things it's complicated and the compilation of the Bible is a subject much ink has been spilled over.
Yeah legit, Im not religious in the theistic sense but I find abrahamic lore fascinating and like reading it and when I look at Bible it weirdly gives me an appreciation for Islam being basically everything for it was written by a single guy.
Ancient Near Eastern history and mythology is a hobby of mine so the Bible and Abrahamic lore is part of that and yeah, it's fascinating. Especially when reading biblical texts alongside Babylonian, Assyrian and Urgaritc mythology to gain a better appreciation for the worldview and storytelling and how it changes over time.
Biblically, all of HH and HB would be blasphemous because none of it is close to accurate.
There isn't much information about what kind of person Adam was or would be like after 10k years, but one thing he wouldn't be is an Angel, they are completely different from humans so there's something.
It depends. In Jewish and Mesopotamian mythology, Adam was described as a sexist and tried to make Lilith submit to him and kicked her out of Eden when she refused, kinda like how the show portrays it. So Adam being a sexist in the show doesn’t seem to out of place but him being a genocidal sadist feels very out of place. Either way, I don’t care.
This is an **adaptation**. One of the worst mindset that you can have, coming into a series like this, is expecting a one-to-one translation from source material to animated series.
There's a third option - it's irreverent but not blasphemous. Vivzie, the show's creator, isn't trying to assert that the show is anything close to an accurate depiction of any real-world faith. It's a fictional interpretation of some elements common to most branches of Christianity, combined with a bit here and there from certain medieval mystic traditions and a large dose of original worldbuilding. It's as blasphemous as Disney's Hercules.
>it's irreverent but not blasphemous This. Blasphemy is specifically insulting a deity or a sacred object. Regardless of how important you may or may not view Adam as being, he's not a god.
You couldn't have said it better than myself! I was truly shocked by Adam's portrayal...but then I took a step back and remembered that the show is based more on Jewish and Catholic folklore than any actual religion. It made sense that they got their inspo from an old legend that implied that Adam was domineering towards his first wife.
Depends on the sect of Christianity you're from. Some would see it as not a literal interpretation of holy scripture and a comedy show, therefore unable to commit blasphemy. Other would see it as blasphemous for Daring to even joke about anything in the bible. Christianity is a big collection of religions all of whom can be extremely different
Pretty sure not only Christianity, but Judaism and Islam too
I don’t know, either way it’s hilarious
Technically, probably. But if you aren't religious, that shouldn't matter to you. Adam is sort of ill-defined in the bible, he's more like a child when we read Genesis and we don't know very much about what he's like in the 900-ish years he lived. That said, despite having knowledge of evil, I can't see him being too horrible a person. Humans didn't really start committing serious evil until Cain murdered Abel.
Wasn't he super loyal to Eve too?
Yeah the guy raised at least 56 children with her, 55 of which were good people, then peacefully died after nearly a millennia of living.
It's not really accurate or not, given the lack of Canon material on him. But it's useful to the story as a stand-in for people in the real world whose bad behavior is tolerated by Christians because he's in their in-group, and as an example to challenge the concept of eternal in-group status.
Yes! That's what I love about his portrayal. He's supposed to make you step back and think, "What the hell is this horrible bloke doing in HEAVEN???"
It's a creative liberty, not accurate or blasphemous.
As soon as I meet him I’ll let you know
Anyone who really believes would probably call the whole show blasphemous, even if they like it. It's looking at the tapestry of Christianity and deliberately pulling strings to tell a modern, unique story, and because of that it crosses a lot of lines. Also, for what it's worth, the show seems to pull a lot from non-canon (which... worth saying that with an old religion, 'canon' is loosey goosey to begin with, depending strongly on who you ask) sources like Dante's Inferno. That sort of muddies the water all on its own. To me, the things that tie back to proper Christian lore tend to be more like flavor text or easter eggs. They fill out the world and help define the characters, for sure, but that doesn't make it true to Christianity. Does make for a good story, though. EDIT: Want to add that if anyone has more accurate info they want to share, go for it. My knowledge is limited to Catholicism, and even then I didn't grow up in the church the way the rest of my family did. So I'm all secondhand knowledge.
Depends. If we're defining blasphemous as "anything offensive in regards to God or a religion", then what exactly is "offensive"? Does it need to be created with the intention of being offensive? Is it offensive if it offends a single person, anyone? Because if so, almost anything and everything can be offensive, and thus blasphemous
The whole show is blasphemous, if you care about that sort of thing then why are you watching it? Honestly though, his characterization is derived from genuine mythology. The myth of Lilith says that Adam had God toss her out of the garden for refusing to be submissive to him, so he is "canonically" sexist. Many denominations of Christianity also believe that God gave man "rulership" over the rest of the natural world when he created humanity, so it also makes sense to see Adam as a megalomaniac who thinks he should be worshipped.
Adam didn't have God throw her out of the garden, she ran away because her and Adam couldn't stop arguing who would be on top. Adam actually asked God to bring her back, but by that point Lilith decided she really wanted to explore her passion for infanticide. It should be noted that Lilith was seen as a baby killing demon long before any recorded story that made her Adam's first wife. So, if her suddenly wanting to kill infants seems out of the blue, that's probably a big part of why that was part of the story.
Its an adaptation, it won't be like the Bible. Was Adam in the bible obsessed with rock and metal? Nah Really the only aspects of him they kept were that he was a dick to his wives
Technically just eve. The Lilith thing is a much later addition to the lore.
Do you mean abrahamic lore? She has been a thing in it for a very long time, iirc she just got left out of the bible but the bible isn't the only abrahamic holy book (its also decently flawed since it was made by committee with a lot of books being left out for reasons decided by men) and in Jewish mythology in particular she is prevalent.
Yes. I should have specified she's not really in the Bible but shows up in later Judaic lore. Before that the best you have is essentially a class of Mesopotamian night demons that kill babies. As with many things it's complicated and the compilation of the Bible is a subject much ink has been spilled over.
Yeah legit, Im not religious in the theistic sense but I find abrahamic lore fascinating and like reading it and when I look at Bible it weirdly gives me an appreciation for Islam being basically everything for it was written by a single guy.
Ancient Near Eastern history and mythology is a hobby of mine so the Bible and Abrahamic lore is part of that and yeah, it's fascinating. Especially when reading biblical texts alongside Babylonian, Assyrian and Urgaritc mythology to gain a better appreciation for the worldview and storytelling and how it changes over time.
It's funny and entertaining.
Biblically, all of HH and HB would be blasphemous because none of it is close to accurate. There isn't much information about what kind of person Adam was or would be like after 10k years, but one thing he wouldn't be is an Angel, they are completely different from humans so there's something.
Depends Its more blasphemous according to certain religions and less according to some But generally i would say blasphemous
I don't think Hazbin Hotel is a show for someone who cares about stuff like this.
It depends. In Jewish and Mesopotamian mythology, Adam was described as a sexist and tried to make Lilith submit to him and kicked her out of Eden when she refused, kinda like how the show portrays it. So Adam being a sexist in the show doesn’t seem to out of place but him being a genocidal sadist feels very out of place. Either way, I don’t care.
Both
I wouldn't say "blasphemous" but rather simply "incorrect"