Vivienne Medrano Explains Hazbin Hotel Season 2’s Strange New Character

Image: Prime Video

Season 2 of the acclaimed animated series Hazbin Hotel has officially premiered. The first two episodes, released on Oct. 29, introduce fresh faces, escalating tensions, and a new chapter for Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen) — the well-meaning demon princess determined to rehabilitate lost souls. Set soon after season 1’s finale, the new episodes explore the fallout from Charlie’s defiance of Heaven’s yearly eradication campaign, and split the focus more evenly between Hell and a brighter, more populated Heaven.

This shift brings us to one of the season’s most striking additions: a celestial envoy whose appearance echoes the avian-inspired demons seen in the Hellaverse’s companion series, Helluva Boss.

Polygon spoke with creator Vivienne Medrano about the character’s backstory, her ties to the wider Hellaverse, and what her presence suggests about the nature of divinity in Medrano’s world.

Ed. note: Light spoilers ahead for Hazbin Hotel season 2, episode 2, and more substantial spoilers for the season 1 finale.

In the season 1 finale, the snake demon Sir Pentious (portrayed by Alex Brightman) sacrifices himself during a duel with the archangel Adam (also Brightman) and rises to Heaven — appearing to be the first human soul redeemed. Season 2 examines the repercussions: Heaven’s authorities bristle at his presence, and a towering, golden birdlike figure appears to halt the unrest, introducing herself as the Speaker of God.

Longtime Hellaverse viewers will notice echoes of the Goetia — the demon family seen in Helluva Boss — in the Speaker’s design, which recalls figures like Stolas, Stella, and Octavia. Medrano, however, says that likeness is largely stylistic rather than canonical.

“The Speaker of God is not a Goetia, because they are a specific breed,” Medrano tells Polygon over Zoom. “Not all Goetia are birds — which is a visual motif you’ll see more of later. We hinted at that in the ‘Mastermind‘ episode of Helluva Boss, and we’ll expand on it. That said, I borrowed some design cues from how I depict Goetia as stoic, birdlike figures. The Speaker is meant to read like a phoenix, so she carries that mythical bird energy.”

Medrano explains the thematic reasoning: in her mythology, the Goetia were birthed by Lucifer, and many of those demons carry avian traits. “The Goetia are Lucifer’s creation,” she says. “Each of the Sins spawned a species of Hell. Lucifer’s legacy is the Goetia, so it makes symbolic sense that some heavenly or angelic visuals would echo that lineage. The Speaker’s spiritual likeness to them fits, because the Goetia technically trace back to an angelic origin.”

Asked whether Lucifer’s known fondness for birds relates to the Goetia’s feathered designs, Medrano laughs. “It could! We don’t have ducks among them—yet—but that would be hilarious. Many names and forms in the Goetia are drawn from the Ars Goetia, which describes several demons as avian — ravens, eagles, owls — so we riff on that imagery. And I like emphasizing Lucifer’s bird obsession, so it all ties together.”

The Speaker’s arrival also implies a higher power in the Hellaverse — not entirely unexpected in a story populated by Lucifer, Adam and Eve, angels, and seraphim. Does that mean we’ll ever see God on screen? Medrano says she prefers to keep the concept abstract rather than literal.

“I’m not particularly devout,” she admits, “and the notion of God feels inherently ineffable. I didn’t want to portray the ultimate being directly. The Speaker is the closest, a representation rather than the thing itself. There have been great portrayals of God in media — one of my favorites is Bruce Almighty — but here she functions as an intermediary.”

Still, Medrano teases that the Hellaverse does include entities that function as gods, and those figures will appear later in the series.

“We actually hinted at them in season 1, when the prologue describes personified forces of Good and Evil,” she says. “Without spoiling too much, the nearest things to gods here are those conceptual beings. I’m excited for viewers to meet them — they allow us to examine what a deity can be without making it what audiences typically expect.”

Season 2 of Hazbin Hotel is rolling out now, with new episodes on Wednesdays.

Source: Polygon