How is Hell able to contain these increasingly strong villains?

[johnboy1]

I know Toriyama isn't a "world-building" kinda writer: He writes what needs to be written for the current situation. That works, but it also raises a bunch of unintentional questions: The villains that Goku and friends are killing at this point are stronger than absolutely all of the "authority figures" in either Heaven or Hell, and yet being sentenced to Hell is still very much a binding position for said villains. I mean, we have them causing trouble and having to be locked up in the Kai Tournament arc, as well as two large-scale "breakout" attempts in DBZ Movie 12 and the Super 17 arc, but otherwise Hell seems to be business as usual.

While you can say that some mystical force keeps them from actually breaking out of Hell, the point is that Zamasu, Frieza, and Cell should be running the place by now.

[theherodjl]

Toriyama didn't actually write the version of Hell seen in the anime & movies. He did come up with several ideas that he passed off onto the anime staff but the majority of the final product that we see is from Toei.

As for why Toei allows super-strong villains to keep their bodies in Hell, having the power to destroy solar systems apparently can't stand up against a simple jail cell. Its funny...I guess.

[LoganForkHands73]

Yeah, it annoys me too, though we see that the majority of the dead inducted at the Check-In Station are reduced to their souls without bodies. IIRC, Goku's situation of being able to keep a body was a privileged situation, but then there's Enma's comment about having subdued Raditz. I presume that Enma was exaggerating, and that Raditz was reduced to a harmless cloud wisp like most deceased souls. My headcanon is that all the souls still perceive themselves as having bodies, explaining Vegeta's audience with Enma. With Freeza, I like to believe that he too was reduced to a soul while being transported through the afterlife, but was then allowed to keep his body while glued down in his personal hellscape as an ironic form of torment -- Freeza, after all, prized his naturally powerful body above all things, yet he's still powerless to escape, surrounded by cute teddies and fairies that destroy his evil self-image.

When it comes to Toei filler stuff... yeah, I just don't think about it too hard. Seemingly, the only things keeping the powerful dead villains in line are the even more powerful dead heroes like Paikuhan and Goku, and eventually Piccolo. I guess you can equate it to when socially powerful businessmen, crime lords and assorted VIPs get locked up in real life, yet still command authority from inside prison because of their money and influence (think Noel Coward's character from The Italian Job). While the DBZ villains are strong enough to form regular breakout plans, they probably get a relatively cushy life in Hell compared to most sinners, so are usually content to stay there. We see them hanging out with the oni guards to watch Goku vs. Kid Buu on a big flatscreen like prisoners being allowed to watch a sports match in the lunch cafeteria.

[Lionel]

I assume some integral natural force or essence binds the individual's soul and prevents them from escaping or acting out. LoganForkHands73 raises a good point about the situation with Raditz and Yemma.

With how the perceived contraints of power and authority being constantly shattered by Goku and the group is a staple of the franchise, the kind of reasoning of there being an absolute seems contradictory to the nature of Dragon Ball. I myself believe that the likes of Zeno, for now at least, do prove that some type of absolute exists. Although with Freeza in the anime musing to himself about one day usurping authority, who knows what the future may entail. Maybe on a conceptual level certain absolutes can exist such as the limitations of the afterlife.

It's admittedly difficult to argue or explain.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Well Freeza was powerless to free himself from that cocoon, although Goku in base form cut it down easily, and Freeza (with his mastered Golden form) was arguably stronger than Goku at that point. So maybe people in Hell just can't free themselves?

[Kataphrut]

The old anime filler version of hell never made sense because of that issue, and the fact that it had not one, not two, but three villain jailbreak plots proves that.

The first instance of the now-canon hell we see in Resurrection F makes it clear that villains are simply powerless to escape, which neatly addresses the matter. As of the last Super arc, even Moro was afraid of ending up there.

[precita]

We saw this in the Freeza arc, after the Ginyu force are knocked down to hell. Recoome and the others fly up to the clouds and smash their head against the "ceiling" and fall back down. They're literally trapped there.

In the beginning of the Boo arc we see Pikkon take care of any strong fighters like Cell and Freeza and keep them in line. Since in the old anime there wasn't anyone above the level of Boo, it's easy to see why they were taken care of.

[Polyphase Avatron]

The old anime filler version of hell never made sense because of that issue, and the fact that it had not one, not two, but three villain jailbreak plots proves that.

The first instance of the now-canon hell we see in Resurrection F makes it clear that villains are simply powerless to escape, which neatly addresses the matter. As of the last Super arc, even Moro was afraid of ending up there.

I recall a discussion here once where if Zeno hypothetically died and went to Hell, he could just erase all of Hell, but even if he could, would he still be trapped in the 'non-space' where Hell used to be?

[johnboy1]

I recall a discussion here once where if Zeno hypothetically died and went to Hell, he could just erase all of Hell, but even if he could, would he still be trapped in the 'non-space' where Hell used to be?

"FINE! I'll make my own Hell! With blackjack! And hookers!"

[Melee_Sovereign]

The answer is simple. The dead can't escape the afterlife. Because they're dead. It doesn't matter how strong they are.

As for the cocoon binding the likes of Frieza, I'm pretty sure that goes beyond sheer power as well. I've always interpreted the cocoon as some form of supernatural binding. It binds him because, well, it just can. Goku was able to cut the cocoon because he's still among the living, and he has the privilege to. The cocoon isn't for him, so it isn't gonna resist him.

It's like the Mafuba in a way. Its sealing capabilities are supernatural/magical, and doesn't operate under sheer power. Like the cocoon, it can bind someone who is ultra powerful, but a simple human can free them by simply opening up the container and/or removing the talisman.

[johnboy1]

I suppose, but it's like Lionel said: The franchise has made such a habit of perpetually upping the ante that the idea of anything having a hard limit kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. If something exists it must have finite durability, and if it has finite durability that means Goku can train until he's strong enough to break it, and if Goku can break it that means the villain of the next arc can break it too.

[Kepiaschkz]

Well, it seems that there are some holes to fill to reconcile together all the tinies infos we are given here and here in the original Manga and super manga. Starting from Enma's statement regarding Raditz, to Piccolo ones without omitting the Toriyama's dragon world macrocosm.

This is what I come with by attempting to gather theses elements into a cohesive single concept.

My head Canon, is that villains, and 99% of the deceased, arrives before Enma's desk without their body. Then, when sentenced to hell, they are given their body back in order to better suffer their future torment. As soon as it happen, they are teleported into the cocoon tied to the tree of their own personnel hell. The cocoon act similarly as the Android 19/20 palm device and drain all their energy right to the tree.

This way, they just can't free themselves. because no matter how much energy the deceased villains attempt to deploy in order to break free from the cocoon, it just leak to the tree. Then, they suffer a personnal punishment. For Freeza, it consists in a parade of plushes and fairies. For other villains it may be something else. They endure it until they mentally breaks down and repent. If it happens, their memory is erased and their soul is reincarnated into an other sentient creature in the universe. In most of the case, it is a quick process which explains why Hell is mostly an empty space. Freeza's case of stubbornness is a rare exception.

Then all the energy drained during the process will be progressively transfered to the new creature as he's growing.

Regarding the Universal hell vs Planetary hell issue :

I think the hell is still located under the yellow clouds covering the entire surface of the Otherworld hemisphere as established in the original mange. But it is divided into as much definite areas that there are planets in living world. So there is still an "Earths hell". Its location in the Otherwolrd Hemisphere mirror the actual location of the solar system in the living world hemisphere. It just isn't a planet orbiting a star, it is a static place. It happens that Earth hell is a submarine meadow. But it may not be the case for other planets hell. I guess water is held by a magic glass dome.

[FoolsGil]

At least before Resurrection F and in the manga, you don't go to the afterlife with your body, just your soul. Unless you're a good warrior who sacrificed themselves for the greater good like Goku and the others. Vegeta in the Buu Saga even asked Piccolo if he would get the same reward as Goku. The Reward was keeping his body.

After Resurrection F I'm not sure anymore.