- "Unholy nightmares who descend from the Heavens to shed the blood of billions of sinners a year. The Exterminators are harbingers of death, destruction, and insanity. These monsters masquerading as angels are said to reside in Heaven, where they wait in anticipation to unleash their annual carnage upon Pride. They cannot be reasoned with or engaged. The only chance of survival: Hide, and pray to Satan they do not find you."
- — Calcifer's description of the Exterminators.
The Exterminators, also known as the Exorcists and referred to as the Powers in Heaven, are the overarching antagonists of Hazbin Hotel: Journey to the Light.
They are a flashback antagonistic faction in Chapter 1, unseen overarching antagonistic factions of Chapter 2-4, one of the two main antagonistic factions (alongside The Insurgency) of Chapter 5, and supporting characters in Holy Hell.
They are an elite, all-female army of Angels who make up the cleansing forces of the Heavenly Host. Their duty is to annually descend to Hell from Heaven on Extermination Day (or December 31st in Earth time) to cull a portion of the Pride Ring's population. They are currently led by Adina, but were hand-chosen, founded, and in some cases created, by the Archangel of Death, Azrael. They were also the primary reason behind Charlie's cause, due to them annually slaughtering her people.
Following the temporary cancellation of the Extermination, the Exorcists were no longer barred from Heaven's other locations and allowed to travel outside of Haven, giving them significantly more freedom with Azrael banished to Hell, though some still used Haven as a general dwelling. Following the temporary termination of the cleanse, Adina and Fitch plot the use the Exterminators as their own personal army to subjugate all Creation and purge everything they view as imperfect.
History[]
Background[]
Shortly after Lucifer's fall from Heaven, the Seven Deadly Sins founded Hell, effectively creating a haven for sinners and demons to indulge in any crime and sin they desired. This was facilitated by the Root of Evil as a bid to gain more power by feeding off of sinners' wrongdoings. This left Heaven's officials terrified and not knowing how to deal with the situation before the Root of Evil grew too powerful to contain. However, Azrael and Adina stepped up, offering a plan where Azrael and his army would descend down to Hell to cull Hell's population to sever their connection from the Root of Evil and keep Hell's numbers suppressed. Heaven agreed to Azrael and Adina's scheme out of desperation. Azrael and Adina thin proposed their plan to Lucifer himself, who agreed to their proposition.
Azrael and Adina then personally selected numerous female angels to aide them in their cause, with Azrael using his divine magic and the feathers of his wings to create nearly all of the original Exorcists. Most of the other Exorcists selected were winners who would use their new positions to exact brutal retribution on the sinners that hurt/killed them back when they were alive. Said retribution is be very grotesque and disturbing, often reaching sadism, this being fueled both out of their hatred and rage, and the indoctrination of their leaders to be ruthless against their enemy, making them toe the line between revenge and "divine justice".
At the end of every year, the Exterminators would descend from Heaven with Azrael and enter the Pride Ring to cull and massacre as many demons and sinners as they could, before returning to Heaven on New Year's Day. Afterward, they simply wait in anticipation for the next year so they can massacre Pride's population again, a cycle they have repeated for thousands of years.
Despite what legends suggest, Azrael and Adina's true motive for establishing the Extermination was not for any virtuous or necessarily evil reason, but to enforce Heaven's power over Hell and destroy the morale of all demonkind without completely wiping their entire race out, leaving those who survived an Extermination in complete fear and sadness, not knowing which Extermination they would be erased in.
Events of Hazbin Hotel: Journey to the Light[]
Chapter 1[]
In "That's Entertainment", the Exterminators are seen in the opening sequence, standing triumphantly over the mutilated corpses of slain sinners, visibly satisfied with the success of the recent Extermination. Once they have left, the brutal aftermath of the Extermination is later seen as the countdown to the next Extermination resets for another year, and the sinners of Pride continue to go about their business.
The Exterminators appear in the opening flashback of "Gift from God", which details Charlie's first time witnessing an Extermination. In her youth, Charlie's father, Lucifer, invited her to watch an Extermination from the windows of the castle's royal hall. Ecstatic to finally find out what Extermination Day was, Charlie enthusiastically joined her father at the castle's window. That was when Charlie saw the Exterminators brutally slaughtering the Pride Ring's populace, leaving her catatonic with shock and terror, while her father reveled in the death and violence. This experience greatly traumatized Charlie, and it was after Charlie saw a grief-stricken mother cradling her baby's remains that the young princess swore from that day forward that she would find a way to prevent the deaths of her people.
In "The Harvest", Fergus tells Angel Dust about an encounter he once had with the Exterminators. On one Extermination Day, Fergus sought refuge in a brothel alongside other sinners, only to find that one of his closest friends, Brutus, was locked outside. Fergus demanded that his friend be let inside to safety, but at that moment, the siren signaling the beginning of the Extermination went off, so the patrons refused to allow him in. Refusing to let his friend die, Fergus desperately ran outside to defend his friend from Lute, the head Exterminator. Fergus drew his sword and goaded the Exterminator to attack. Lute rushed at Fergus, and their weapons clashed with each other. Fergus' sword shattered when it struck Lute's holy sword, which the Exterminator then used to successfully cut off Fergus' right arm. Lute then brutally kicked Fergus through a wall, knocking him unconscious.
Hour later, Fergus woke up in the desolate streets of Pride, surrounded by the mutilated bodies of hundreds of sinners, just as Charlie performed her fireworks display, signaling the end of the Extermination. After groggily searching through the bodies, Fergus discovered the corpse of Brutus, whose body was embedded with knives. Fergus desperately tried to revive his friend, but it was far too late. Fergus could do nothing but cradle the corpse of his fallen friend as the denizens of Pride went about their day as usual.
Chapter 3[]
In "Everything Changes", Satan shows Charlie visions of the Exterminators brutally torturing and massacring demons and sinners as a way to remind the princess of the pain the Exterminators have inflicted on her people, and makes a dubious claim that the Exterminators are machines of destruction made to further God's plan of wiping out all of demonkind.
In "The Deadly Ground", Charlie tells the hotel crew a story of an encounter she had with the Exterminators. On one Extermination Day, when Charlie was of pre-teenage, she was watching the Extermination from her window in her family's castle. She watched with sadness as the Exterminators massacred the populace, as well as anger from being unable to do anything about it. Her anger boiled until she was unable to control herself, and ran outside her parents' castle, attempting to defend a family that was under siege by a group of ten Exterminators. Charlie got in the way between an Exterminator and a male demon, but the Exterminator merely grabbed her by the neck and tossed her aside. When Charlie attempted to intervene once more, the Exterminator cut her across the cheek with its knife, sending her falling back in pain and shock. As Charlie laid in terror, witnessing her own blood for the first time, the Exterminators finished massacring the family, and set their sights on her.
Taking flight, the Exterminators surrounded Charlie like a flock of vultures, reveling in her fear, but just before one could attack the princess with its spear, the Exterminator was pierced through the chest by an angelic spear, causing it to drop to the ground, erased. The assailant was then revealed to be Lucifer, who promptly descended from the sky, landing next to Charlie, with his six angelic wings spread. The King of Hell, turning his back to the Exterminators, walked over to the fallen Exterminators corpse, pulling his spear out of its body before turning at the Exterminators with a look of tranquil fury. He reminded the Exterminators that the royal family is off-limits, before shouting at them to "get back to work", at the threat of facing the same fate as the fallen Exterminator. The nine Exterminators stared at Lucifer, before soon flying away to continue their carnage across the Pride Ring. Lucifer then took Charlie and flew her back to the castle.
Chapter 5[]
In "Enter Through the Narrow Gate", the Exorcists assemble before Azrael and Lute in Haven, awaiting Azrael's address. Azrael does a speech, emphasizing the Exorcists' divine purpose as creations of God meant to serve and worship Him. Azrael reminds them that they are fighting a neverending battle against Hell and the many demons within, particularly the Overlords and the Hazbin Hotel. Azrael tells his female underlings that they must appreciate the "luxury" of serving him, before summoning his angelic guitar, laughing maniacally as yellow lightning swirls around him.
In "A Simple Scouting Mission," a group of Exterminators, including new recruit Ebony, are sent on what they believe to be a routine scouting mission to retrieve angelic weapons from demons. However, it turns out to be a suicide mission orchestrated by Lute, who deems the squadron expendable. During their mission, Ebony tries to bond with her fellow Exterminators, who she regards as sisters, but is met with rejection until she connects with Sable, who she forms a sisterly bond with. During the mission, they are ambushed by the Insurgency and most of the squadron is killed due to being ill-equipped. Ebony, overwhelmed, tries to help but ultimately fails to save her comrades. She manages to rescue Sable from the battlefield, but Sable dies from her injuries, revealing the expendability of Exterminators to their superiors. Ebony returns to Haven defeated and is harshly berated by Lute. Despite the harsh reality revealed by Sable, Ebony chooses to remain an Exterminator, torn between loyalty to her comrades and her own morals. She faces the dilemma of either leaving, conforming to expectations, or risking death in battle.
In "What's Up, Heaven?", Azrael and Lute oversee the brutal, relentless training of the Exorcists before being informed that Manco and Charlie's Angels were in Hell. Azrael allows the Speaker of God to send Ophanim angels to bring them back and takes personal interest in indoctrinating them with his ideology.The children are greeted with an overly cheerful introduction to Heaven's rules and regulations by cherubs and Exorcist singers before Azrael himself appears, portraying Heaven as a perfect paradise while masking its flaws of conformity and rigidity. Afterward, Azrael has Ebony bring the children to their home, to which she closely bonds with the kids. Despite Lute's concerns, Azrael is confident he can "cleanse" the children's souls and assures a contingency plan if needed. Adina, the Divine Chieftess, entertains the idea of killing the children but decides to let Azrael proceed with his plan.
In "Remember Who the Enemy Is," Azrael showcases his control over Haven to the children, boasting about his authority and the Exterminators' role in maintaining order. He brags about his power over them, showing off his guitar which he uses to control their LED helmets, which can control the Exorcists when they are being defiant. Azrael dismisses the kids' concerns and insists on the inherent evil of all demons. However, tensions in the kingdom of Heaven rise as Azrael clashes with pro-redemption angels in Halo City, causing unrest. Disheartened by Heaven's actions and the chaos they unintentionally unleashed, the children request to return to the Hazbin Hotel. Azrael begrudgingly sends them back to Hell, but intentionally places them in danger, sending them to the Greed Ring rather than the Pride Ring. Ebony, witnessing their peril, resolves to protect them, despite being ignored by Lute and mistreated by other Exterminators. Determined, she heads to Hell to ensure the children's safety and return them to the hotel.
In "The Clock is Ticking," Azrael and Lute's chaotic preparations for Extermination Day are interrupted when they learn that Ebony has gone AWOL. In a comedic turn, he dramatically collapses upon realizing there's no Exorcistmobile, prompting Lute to take charge of the search before they both fly off in a panicked hurry.
Meanwhile, Ebony escorts Charlie's Angels to the Hazbin Hotel, where she is nearly attacked by the sinners of the hotel, who are frightened by her nature as an Exorcist. However, tensions die down when Ebony and Vaggie are revealed to be familiar with each other, leading to a heartfelt conversation in the hotel's library about their past encounters and the oppressive nature of the Exorcists under Azrael's rule. Vaggie shares her traumatic experiences with Ebony, revealing the misogyny and abuse she endured as an Exorcist, shattering Ebony's idealistic outlook on the zeitgeist of the Exorcists. Vaggie recounts her near-brainwashing ordeal and desperately warns Ebony of the dangers of associating with the Exorcists. Despite Vaggie's warnings, Ebony remains hopeful about redeeming her former comrades.
Meanwhile, Lute and Azrael discuss Ebony's disappearance, they conclude she's been influenced by Hell and must be exterminated. Azrael orders the Exorcists to kill Charlie's Angels, accusing them of corrupting Ebony. When an Exorcist suggests a more lenient approach, Azrael dismisses the idea and reinforces his aggressive stance, emphasizing the need to focus on their mission.
In "Extermination Day: Part 1," Azrael is deeply engaged in preparing the Exorcists for Extermination Day, even resorting to mind control to ensure their precision. However, his focus is interrupted when the Speaker of God informs him that the Seraphim sisters are engaged in diplomatic talks with Charlie Magne. Azrael, angered by this news, demands their return to Heaven. Later, he receives shocking news of Archangel Michael's return to Heaven, sending him into a state of terror.
Azrael flees from his office upon hearing the news, but is comforted by Lute before facing Michael. Their encounter reveals the strained relationship between the brothers, with Michael expressing regret for burdening Azrael with military responsibilities. Azrael, emboldened by Michael's apology, asserts his superiority before leaving with Lute.
Meanwhile, in Hell, the Hazbin Hotel prepares for Extermination Day, with Charlie determined to confront Azrael. Baxter and Sir Pentious unveil Anti-Exorcist armor they had crafted, planning to use it to give them immunity from the Exorcists' weapons. Ebony offers to join Charlie's cause, but Vaggie insists she stay safe. Fergus also points out the advantage they have over the Exorcists, with two former Exorcists on their side ready to give them strategy and insight on the Exorcists' tactics.
As the clocktower tolls, Azrael makes his grand entrance into Hell, initiating the terrifying ritual of Extermination with an electrifying rock performance. With millions of Exorcists flocking into Hell, the Exterminators enter Hell, and the cleanse begins.
In "Extermination Day Part 2: Live Fully, Laugh Forever," Azrael revels in the chaos of Extermination Day, using his electrifying rock tunes to lay waste to Hell. He gleefully commands the Exorcists to construct a grotesque throne from demon corpses as a monument to his success. Joined by Lute, they sing a duet mocking sinners while the slaughter continues.
Amidst the carnage, Azrael notices the arrival of I.M.P and orders the Exorcists to intercept them. He promises rewards for their success, but I.M.P narrowly escapes their attack. Despite the setback, Azrael continues his ruthless campaign, reveling in the destruction and death unleashed upon Hell.
In "Extermination Day: Part 3," Azrael and his forces continue their onslaught during the Extermination Day massacre, with Azrael even taking a moment to serenade Lute with a love ballad. However, their progress is halted when Charlie and all of her allies - including some of Hell's Overlords and a massive amount of sinners - confront them. Despite Charlie's attempts to talk things out, it leads in a massive war between both sides - the War in Hell had began.
In the beginning, Azrael and the Exorcists have the upper-hand over Hell. As the Exorcists slaughter their opposition in droves, Azrael remains in the sky and uses his electric guitar to rain destruction on the battlefield using blasts of holy light and lightning, not caring if his own soldiers are caught in the attack. However, the Exorcists begin suffering casualties as Carmilla Carmine and her private army aid Charlie's side in the war, using angelic firearms to snipe dozens of Exorcists out of the sky. Additionally, Baxter and Sir Pentious' anti-Exorcist armor proves effective, protecting those wearing it against the Exorcists' attacks
Amidst the chaos and death, Ebony and Vaggie realize Azrael is willingly allowing the Exorcists to be killed to ensure his own safety, effectively putting them in the path of Hell to die. Ebony makes the rash decision to intervene in the battle to save her former comrades, rushing into the battlefield to try and get to the Exorcists' side of the battle as Charlie, Vaggie, and Manco follow and protect her. Azrael arrogantly stays busy by using lightning to carve his name into the battlefield, Ebony makes it to the Exorcists, who immediately branded her a traitor and moved to attack. Desperate to convey her message of empowerment and self-worth to her sisters-in-arms, Ebony pleaded with them to listen. Ebony urged the Exorcists to see beyond their roles as pawns in Azrael's game, addressing them as her "sisters" and emphasizing their inherent value.
Azrael descended upon the crowd, cruelly dismissing everything Ebony says, and begins offering free tampons to any Exorcist that kills Ebony. However, as Ebony goes on, Azrael begins showing fear of losing control over the Exorcists as they consider Ebony's passionate words. Determined to silence Ebony, Azrael moved to fatally stab her with his guitar, but Vaggie intervened and saves Ebony, furiously blocking the attack with her spear. The Exorcists, witnessing Azrael's blatant attempt on Ebony's life, were filled with disbelief and anger, even those loyal to him. Their shock turned into determination, prompting them to stand in solidarity with Ebony, facing Azrael and Lute with drawn weapons. Despite Lute's furious orders for them to stand down, one brave Exorcist stepped protectively in front of Ebony, inspiring others to do the same.
With the tide of the battle shifting and allies rallying to Charlie's side, Azrael's desperation grows, leading to him using his guitar to take control of the rebelling Exorcists, forcing them to keep fighting for him. Azrael engages Charlie in battle, while Lute battles Vaggie and eventually the Exorcists as Manco begins freeing them from Azrael's control. After a battle of biblical proportions, Azrael and Lute are finally defeated and stripped of their powers, while the liberated Exorcists and Ebony are escorted back to Heaven. Azrael and Lute defiantly refuse to accept their punishment, singing about their supposed blessing in disguise as they ride off into the sunset.
Holy Hell[]
In "Exorcises in Redemption", the Exorcists have been allowed to travel into Heaven's higher rings and fraternize with the winners and Heavenborn, no longer barred in Haven. However, the Exorcists find themselves incompatible with Heavenly society due to their tendency towards violence and blood-lust. Serenity and Saint Peter take matters into their own hands, tasking themselves with reintegrating the Exorcists into heavenly society. Sera tells Serenity that she cannot reform the Exorcists in a week, she may have to banish the Exorcists to Hell before their attitudes ends with one of Heaven's denizens being killed.
The Exorcists are called into an assembly, where Serenity and Saint Peter reveal their plan to get the Exorcists' new positions in Heaven and that they cannot kill sinners anymore. This royally pisses off the Exorcists, who boo the two and hurl swears at them. Despite Serenity and Peter's attempts to assign them various roles, the Exorcists' ingrained violent instincts and crazy nature lead to comical failures, ending in the Exorcists assaulting other angels, causing chaos, or biting things with their teeth. Serenity and Saint Peter reluctantly conclude that extensive therapy is necessary to unravel their deep-seated psychological conditioning. In a musical ensemble, the Exorcists reveal feelings of worthlessness tied to their past as instruments of violence. Serenity, Ebony, and Saint Peter counter with encouragement, highlighting the beauty of their souls and conjuring visions of their happier past lives. However, their hope is shattered when Metatron announces that Adina has called for the Exorcists' return to Haven for training in anticipation for the next Extermination, leading to chaos and anarchy in the assembly as the Exorcists cheer at getting to kill sinners again, leaving Serenity enraged and Saint Peter collapsing from exhaustion at the idea that everything he and Serenity did was for nothing.
Description[]
- "No one here is your 'sister'. We're all cold-blooded killers; born to maintain angel supremacy and the order of Archangel Azrael. It's all we're good for. May God help those of us who forget that."
- — Destiny to Ebony.
During their annual reign, they were known for their ruthless efficiency and absolute loyalty, the Powers were the most deadly and bloodthirsty warriors in all of Heaven, trained in the art of combat, armed with the most powerful weapons in Heaven and granted divine authority to act as the fists of Azrael. The Exterminators were the embodiment of Azrael's will, feared and respected by all.
All Exterminators appear as monochrome-colored angels who possess two large, goat-like horns on their heads, above which sits a halo with a central gem and 3 smaller crystals on both sides. Exterminators possess two large wings on their backs that allow them to fly, and some have angelic armor on their arms and legs. Their faces were covered with an LED mask capable of conveying various expressions - presumably displaying what emotion they were feeling at that very moment - and being controlled and brainwashed whenever they disobeyed Azrael or Lute.
Despite being angels, the Exterminators are rather monstrous in appearance, in some ways being visually more horrifying than many of Hell's denizens. Calcifer, an ancient demon who has studied much of Hell's creatures and lore, describes them as "unholy nightmares", and Fergus, a fallen angel who has fought against them before, has stated that "words cannot describe their carnage."
They were armed with a vast array of angelic weaponry, including spears, swords, arrows, shields, and knives, all of which they used with precise and deadly efficiency. Their weapons are strong enough to easily slice sinners in half and reduce them to organs, and are capable of cutting down structures such as walls, household doors, and small buildings. They are also supernaturally fast, able to quickly fly through the air and dash around, appearing outright invisible to the eyes of sinners. During Exterminations, they erased indiscriminately and methodically, but did appear to enjoy the thrill they got from erasing, hunting, and chasing their targets.
In terms of their behavior, most Exterminators were murderous, psychotic, and immensely sadistic, displaying clear excitement while hunting sinners, and love nothing more than violently butchering their targets. While they did not speak during the Extermination, their masks often displayed large grins while they were erasing and hunting sinners, and one Exterminator even displayed a disappointed expression when another Exterminator erased one sinner before they could. They had a habit of toying with their sinful prey, often deliberately let them run in order to give them false hope that they could escape from being erased. They also tended to stalk vulnerable sinners while letting them aware of their presence, leaving the unfortunate sinners in complete and utter fear, unaware of when they would be erased.
The Exterminators did not seem to have any moral or ethical code while exterminating, and were apparently willing to erase Hellborn children and Overlords who govern over Pride. Exterminators were forbidden from sparing any demon that they came across. Failure to execute a demon when the opportunity to erase them presented itself would result in the soldier being punished/brutalized for their misstep or "corrected" via brainwashing. While exterminating, they tended to mostly target vulnerable sinners who are outside, but were also willing to erase sinners who were hiding inside of buildings, but only if they believed there isn't much risk, demonstrating that they weren't completely bloodthirsty and are rather intelligent and methodical.
The Exterminators were also mutilators, and their methods of erasing were extremely gruesome, often leaving the streets of Pride covered in blood and littered with corpses, nailing sinners' bodies to walls, as well as mutilating sinners to the point where their organs were spilling out of their corpses, or sometimes left their victims as nothing but a pile of guts.
Following the end of an Extermination, the Exterminators would not retrieve the bodies of injured or fallen Exterminations, since their deaths and injuries are viewed as signs of weaknesses by Lute and Azrael. In addition, the Exterminators displayed little care for their weapons, and often just left them embedded in their victims. Usually, once an Extermination came to an end, these weapons were often collected by Pride's denizens and manufactured into various weapons such as bullets, knives, swords, etc., and sold onto Hell's black market. This was a strategic decision so that demons would erase themselves with the angelic weapons they have made, in hopes of lowering the number of demons soldiers were required to erase every year.
Once the annual slaughter was over, Exterminators returned to their military base in Haven, where they performed military drills, minor expeditions and train vigorously with nearly no rest or sleep. Their commanders intentionally gave them little food to make them more ferocious and they were only given two rations per day.
After the cleanse was cancelled, the Exorcists were allowed to assimilate into heavenly society, no longer barred in Heaven. However, many of them seem deeply ingrained with a belief in violence as their purpose, leading to them being extremely aggressive towards Heaven's denizens, with the tendency to provoke unnecessary fights and fight any excuse to attack people. However, they some show signs of vulnerability and a desire to move on from a cycle of violence when confronted with their pasts.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Angelic Power: The Exterminators were nearly unstoppable angelic killers, possessing angelic powers that render them far more powerful than most sinners and demons. Over the centuries of their annual visits to the Pride Ring, the Exterminators had successfully erased billions of Hell's sinners, with some of their victims including Pride's powerful Overlords. However, while the Exterminator were virtually invincible to lower demons, they are less powerful than the standard warrior angels and other ordinary angels, with even the higher-tier cherubs possessing more power than them. In addition, the most powerful of demons, like Overlords or Hell's nobles, are capable of destroying an Exterminator individually.
- Cloudwalking: As angels, the Exterminators presumably have the ability to walk and travel on clouds.
- Enhanced Senses: All Exterminators have an enhanced sense of smell, sight, and hearing, and can instantly react to dangers, and can spot their prey from hundreds of meters away.
- Flight: The Exterminators possess large wings that grant them the ability to hover and fly through the air at astonishing speeds.
- Immortality: As angels, the Exterminators possess indefinite lifespans and cannot be erased by any ailments such as aging, as they have existed for at least several thousands of years, having been massacring Pride's population long before Charlie was born. They also cannot be harmed by standard weaponry, and only the strongest of demonic magic is capable of potentially injuring them.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Due to their angelic physiology, the Exterminators possess near complete invulnerability to the offensive attacks of other entities. Normal weapons are incapable of harming the Exterminators; by the end of most Exterminations, the Exterminators' wings usually have many knives, broken glass bottles, and various other weapons embedded into them - likely as the result of sinners who attempted to defend themselves - yet they are still able to fly without any hindrance. One Exterminator was shot in the head multiple times by a cowering sinner's handgun, and the bullets merely bounced off of the Exterminator's skin. When Fergus attempted to save his friend Brutus from being erased by an Exterminator, his sword shattered when he struck the angel with it. The only substances capable of erasing the Exterminators are holy weaponry and divine power, as displayed when Lucifer used an angelic spear to slay an Exterminator that attempted to erase Charlie.
- Interdimensional Travel: The Exterminators can travel to different dimensions as they are able to travel to Hell from Heaven and vice-versa every Extermination Day.
- Photokinesis: As angels, the Exterminators have a strong connection with holy light. If shined on sinners or demons, this light is capable of severely injuring demonic beings by melting their skin.
- Regeneration: If the Exterminators are somehow damaged, their angelic physiology will repair their vessels nearly instantly unless the wound was caused by angelic weaponry.
- Supernatural Speed: The Exterminators can both sprint and fly at supernaturally fast speeds, appearing completely invisible or as blurs when they ambush or attack their prey. Their speed is notably so great that one Exterminator was seen flying across all of Pentagram City in roughly three seconds, while at the same time dodging hundreds of buildings, showcasing great agility as well. The Exterminators could also dash very quickly, with one Exterminator lunging at and erasing ten sinners in seconds with a single swing of its sword.
- Supernatural Stamina: The Exterminators never tire, and they are capable of massacring sinners for an entire day without needing to rest, and can keep fighting even if they sustain wounds in the process.
- Supernatural Strength: All Exterminators have deceptive raw strength for their lean frame. This is shown by them being effortlessly able to use their weapons to cut through sinners and collapse small buildings as if they were made of paper.
Abilities[]
- Exterminator Call: While chasing or fighting prey, the Exterminators occasionally let out an extremely loud, high-pitched, robotic roar, possibly serving to disorient or frighten demons. At the end of each Extermination, the head Exterminators let out a particularly powerful roar that was heard across the entire Pride Ring, which served as a call to the other Exterminators to group up so that they may return to Heaven.
- "Freak Factor": Most Exorcists have what Azrael likes to call the "freak factor"; as the Archangel puts it, the Exorcists are freakishly, almost alien-like sort of things that don't operate the same as normal Angels. They're cold-blooded and their movements are, like, freaky. They're very fast, abrupt, unpredictable, and extremely scary because they don't have a soul like a warm-blooded angel would have.
- Intimidation: The Exterminators were one of, if not the, most feared creatures to Hell's society due to their psychotic, sadistic nature and lust for the death and blood of sinners and demons. Even Hell's Overlords, such as the Vees, are terrified of them, and often barricaded themselves in their strongholds like most other sinners during Extermination Day, not daring to face the Exterminators themselves.
- Master Combatants: The Exterminators have honed their angelic powers, turning them into the ultimate erasing machines. They had successfully massacred billions of demons and sinners over thousands of years while barely suffering any losses to their numbers. The Exterminators' immense skill made them untouchable to demons and sinners, as they are incredibly fast and have amazing combat and parkour skills which they use effectively to slaughter sinners quickly en mass. They can run extremely fast, quick enough to clear Pentagram City in seconds, and can casually dodge the bullets of defensive sinners. Even without their weapons, the Exterminators are skilled and effective in hand-to-hand combat.
- Weapon Mastery: The Exterminators possessed immense skill and knowledge with their own angelic weaponry, efficiently using swords, arrows, knives, and spears to erase their prey.
Equipment[]
- Exterminator Masks/Helmets: All Exterminators wore magical LED masks and helmets that were able to convey their emotions and move along with their actual faces. The masks also provided the Exorcists with a strategic advantage, allowing them to see demon more easily via a thermal image. The Exterminators' masks could also instantly analyze a demon target and give the wearer of the mask information on the targeted demon through a HUD. The helmets served a psychological purpose towards the Exterminators to make them feel like robotic killing machines and the helmets allowed Azrael to control and brainwash the Exorcists whenever they acted defiant. Additionally, the helms served to add an essence of intimidation and psychological warfare against their demon prey.
- Cloaking: Additionally, some Exorcist helms could magically cloak the wearer, allowing them to put on a "demon/sinner disguise".
Weapons[]
- Angelic Weaponry: The Exterminators' most dangerous offensive tools are their array of angelic weaponry, including swords, arrows, knives, crossbows, pikes, spears, axes, and butterfly swords. Their weaponry is extremely powerful, able to cut clean through solid objects and living organisms, being able to dismember sinners and demons easily, and even reduce them to nothing but a pile of organs and bones from a single swipe. The Exterminators' weapons were even shown to cut through walls, and make small buildings collapse from a single strike. All of the Exterminators' angelic weaponry is capable of permanently erasing the souls of sinners and demons, forever.
Trivia[]
- The Exterminators are based on the Powers/Authorities, a class of angels in Christianity who have dominion over malevolent souls and prevent them from doing harm.
- In the original draft of Journey to the Light, there was going to be a reveal that the Exorcists were secretly under Lucifer's command, serving as an army of fallen angels and devout followers which the King of Hell simply claimed are from Heaven. Additionally, instead of annihilating sinners' souls outright, their weapons actually absorbed these souls, and at the end of the Purge, the Exorcists ferried them to Purgatory to be consumed by Satan.
- The first battalion of Exorcists were all created by Azrael himself; the archangel took feathers from his wings and, through divine magic, transformed them into living beings. This made it easier for Adina and Azrael to execute the first Extermination, as well as brainwash and indoctrinate their soldiers.
- Most of the Exorcists are winners who use their positions as Exorcists to exact divine retribution on the sinners who tormented/killed them while they were alive.
- The Exorcists wear helmets that make them resemble demons as a way to pay tribute to Archangel Michael, who adopts a demonic form in battle to instill fear in his enemies, turning their own terror against them.
- No Exorcist (besides Lute) truly liked Azrael. Though some tolerated him for enabling their violent fantasies, most of them despised him for downplaying their worth as angels and/or for abusing them. This is why most of them turned on him so quickly during the War in Hell.
- According to Lute, it was a regulation that all Exterminators bow to Azrael and flash their breasts at him whenever they are in his presence. It was the Exterminators' version of saluting.
- As shown in their masks' interface, Exorcist masks have three settings; "Training", "Patrol", and "EXTERMINATE DEMON ASS".
- The Exterminators were initially mistaken as robots due to their LED masks, as well as Satan referring to them as "machines" in "Everything Changes". However, when Lucifer erased an Exterminator during the flashback of "The Deadly Ground", the fallen Exterminator bled red blood, confirming that the Exterminators are in fact organic. Further episodes exploring the Exterminators, such as "A Simple Scouting Mission", further confirm that they are organic beings.
- It was against the Exterminators' code to spare a demon - since doing so is seen as a sign of weakness -, and should an Exterminator do so, they will be brutalized or killed for their misstep.
- It was also against their code to take in prisoners, though Azrael and Lute found a roundabout to this rule, taking demons in as live practice dummies for the ranks, rather than prisoners.
- If any Exorcists have children, it was considered a sacred responsibility to teach their child the ways of an Exorcist and keep them inside Haven. This is so their offspring would have no frame of reference for a joyful, heavenly life and know only propaganda. This made it easier for the top brass to brainwash and indoctrinate them, giving the corps a steady supply of soldiers for generations to come.
- Many of the Exterminators have names that are based on shades of black or grey (e.g Ebony, Sable, Raven, Grey, and Silver) while others have names that are sexual puns such as Lute, Vaggie, Vajayay, Jizzabelle and Ustibella.
- The helmets worn by the Exterminators allowed Azrael to control them whenever they acted defiant.
- Because of his hardcore atheism, Baxter believes the Exorcists to be aliens.