“Is Charlie Even The Protagonist?”

“Is Charlie even the protagonist?”

It is not easy to make this NOT look like clickbait because I am serious yet I noticed the lack of fan content for certain characters in the Hazbin Hotel Fandom, primarily the female ones. I found a lot of fanworks, fanarts for all the main characters. Pictures of Charlie, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Alastor, Husk and Niffty. Yet, the content for certain characters, especially Alastor and Angel Dust is way more numerous than the content for the others. This wouldn’t be that bad because there are many fanarts of all characters but the crux comes in when we start talking about comics made by the fans. Many fancomics are out there, most of them are short affairs with one, maybe two pages. Some are longer and many of these comics revolve around shipping. And many are ships of questionable logic. I know Alastor is sexy but he is asexual. Radiodiust and Charlastor will not happen in canon as long as Viz not suddenly decides to erase asexual representation in a massive way.

Source: https://twitter.com/germanMaySerena/status/1078503703181709313

Meanwhile there are no issues with Angelhusk. The spider is gay and the cat pansexual, so that works out, at least there are no sexualities in the way. In regards to Alastors Asexuality I found only ONE comic that actually had it as a subject matter and it was about the time where asexuality was seen as a disorder, not a sexuality, the time Alastor was alive. A very good comic at which end he saw that his old and new friends accepted his asexuality and even presented him with the Ace-Flag, that he was part of the LGBTQ-Community. https://mallowtonmouse.tumblr.com/post/623465005339262976/this-is-the-comic-i-drew-for-pride-month-i-posted

As for my next point there are hardly any Charlie x Vaggie or Chaggie comics. Despite being a canon ship there are hardly any comics of these two ladies but at least many fanarts of it. My best guess is that Vaggie is either to abrasive for some fans or not as interesting as Alastor so Charlie gets often shipped with him despite his asexuality. It is sad that people forget that Vaggie has good reasons to mistrust an Overlord, any Overlord of Hell for that matter, especially Alastor considering his raw power and abilities. Luckily there are at least a few nice Vaggie comics out there.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEP50xmhpr8/?igshid=1xs9hkfwae0fs&epik=dj0yJnU9RnF6emJlcWN5ZmMxWTBIQ25oS0xFVlRlcm1TenhGaFomcD0wJm49MjFuZlZMVS05Q3RCTDlSSnBFUjhJZyZ0PUFBQUFBR05vQS1J

But it gets more ridiculous when we talk about secondary characters. Why does a guy like Valentino get more comics than Vaggie? Even comics where the artist tries to present him as nice despite being abusive to his boyfriend Vox and taking so much of Angel Dust’s money he can’t pay rent anymore and has to give his landlord sexual favors instead. Not to mention Valentino RAPES Angel Dust. I get comics where Valentino is the bad guy but making him looks sympathetic? No. And should it be funny Valentino should be the butt of the jokes. Luckily a good number of the comics show Valentino as the vile bastard he actually is. Husk gets often shipped with Angel Dust as well, in Fanarts and comics but that is no issue because Husk is pansexual. But nobody is shipped with Niffty… Seriously, I think I saw no shipping Fanart with Niffty to my surprise. She is of legal age I want to add. I found only one longer comic with Niffty as the focus character. Yet there should be able to be done more with a boy crazy cleaning lady and cook. I mean couldn’t she write Yaoi for example? That could be nice meta commentary. In any case there is no shipping for Niffty which is kind of sad. There is also a lot of content about Lucifer, the Prince of Pride. Which…. Well, there was also always fascination with the devil and this one is different than others. Happily married with Lilith who is the more dominant in the relationship but it is in no way suggested that this makes Lucifer weak. Many Fanarts and some comics depict them in a healthy and happy relationship. Yet, they get more character work than some main characters in fanworks and even more comics which resolve around them. There are interesting aspects revolving around them I don’t disagree with that there are interesting stories to tell but ignoring the romance of Vaggie and Charlie feels strange because with some creativity a lot of good can be made from it like how a few comics proved it. And here are two examples of nice Chaggie Fanart:

Source: https://azulbun.tumblr.com/post/650443371216846848/chaggie-month-2021-day-6-protection

Source: https://twitter.com/misspanica1/status/1297891984091340800?s=12

And a comic:

Source: (Unable to find original Artist) But let us present my greatest issue: The great music by Paranoid DJ. What is the issue? He made great songs for Alastor, Angel Dust and Husk. He also made songs for Vox, Valentino, Lucifer, Stolas and Fizzarolli of all people. But so far no music for Niffty, Vaggie and the fricking main character Charlie?! Charlie would probably make sense as the big finale, but not giving Niffty or Vaggie a video at this point is confusing and in a sense insulting. I agree there is a lack of info about Niffty but there is enough info about Vaggie to make a good song about her. Finally, Paranoid DJ made a song and music video about Cherri Bomb. She may not be a main character but at least she is female. Yet, the music represents a growing trend in the Hazbin Hotel Fandom, the Helluva Boss Fandom and maybe the shows itself: Concentrating on certain male characters over the female ones. One explanation how this happened is that the male characters stand more out. Interesting designs, personalities that appear more prominent and/or great animations when they move. A truth in many cases sadly among many shows, movies, videogames etc., also because of the roles they play. Yet, nothing of this should be seen as set in stone at this point. Many things can change, characters can develop and more stuff about them can be revealed, especially Vaggie and Niffty. First impressions can count a lot and the only impression of the characters so far was the pilot, a pilot that showed Alastor and Angel in action but not really anything interesting battles Vaggie or Niffty. That counts for Husk too but I can’t deny he was able to sell the short time he was on screen really well. About Paranoid DJ’s songs: They are good very good. I heard all of his songs he made about the Hazbin Characters.

'We're Sure To Drown (Husk's Tale)' (Original Music feat. Cycoriot) by PARANOiD DJ

So beautiful music but mostly for the guys. Yes, Charlie is in the song about Husk and she is really good at singing, well Cycoriot is really good at singing her. Making a song about Charlie should be really easy to make. Her entire motivation, her current state as a laughingstock in Hell, her strained relationship with her parents and her new and old relationships should give plenty of material for a song. Yet Lucifer gets a song before her (which is a good song I want to add): Change the Order (by PARANOiD DJ)

This all sounds pretty negative, I know. Yet I like Hazbin Hotel and Helluva boss. My greatest fear is that both shows devolve into pointless shipping drama. Shipping drama or regular romance mostly involving the male characters like the fandom is already doing. I just hope that when Vaggie, Niffty, Millie, Loona, Cherri Bomb and the other females get more attention by the shows that the fandom will support them with many fanworks in response.

Imagine somebody making songs about the "Owl House" Characters but Belos, Hunter, Gus, King and freaking Tibbles would get songs before Luz, Eda and Lilith. Or Sprig, Hop-Pop, Andrias and Grime get songs... And the first female to get one is Bessie for whatever reason. Until then I hope that Paranoid DJ and other prominent Hazbin Hotel Fanwork artist will produce more content about the ladies of Hazbin Hotel in the near future. I really hope Paranoid DJ will eventually deliver songs for Niffty, Vaggie and especially Charlie. Songs for Millie and Loona would be nice as well.

This is all I have to say. (EarlyStarArturo came up with the title of this post. Thank you my friend.)