The world of Helluva Boss is far more intricate and interconnected than the show’s goofy, gratuitously violent, and often outrageously raunchy tone would let on. Based roughly on a modernized version of Dante’s Inferno, Helluva Boss‘ setting is composed of seven “Rings of Hell”, with each ring corresponding to one of the modern Seven Deadly Sins— Sloth, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, and finally Pride, the highest ring, where the vast majority of Helluva Boss‘ Hell-based plots take place (as well as the vast majority of Helluva Boss‘ sister show Hazbin Hotel). Each ring is a truly unique world in itself, with a thoughtfully constructed climate, biome, aesthetic, architectural style and even ring-specific economies, all inhabited by distinct species of demon whose designs often reflect the rings they inhabit. In an even more impressive feat of worldbuilding, the respective economies, social orders, and population demographics of each ring intermix in Helluva Boss‘ background. Fans with sharp eye and some skill in keeping track of lore have been able to gain an in-depth look into the economy, transit routes, and power structures of Hell. While Pride is the show’s most common location due to it being the location of I.M.P, i.e. the Immediate Murder Professionals— the contract-killing company run by Blitzo, the show’s titular Boss— the show’s two-and-a-half seasons have taken the I.M.P crew across all of the other rings… except one.
The Envy Ring, the second-lowest among Hell’s Rings, has remained a mystery throughout the show’s run, with our only hints to the ring’s nature being that it seems to be inhabited entirely by fishlike demons and seemed to possess an overall fishy or nautical aesthetic. It was assumed based on this that Envy is, in a unique occurrence among Hell’s rings, entirely underwater— but that was all we had to go on. However, with Season 3 episode 4 of Helluva Boss, that has changed and we now have quite a good look at the Ring of Envy.
Season 3 episode 4, entitled “A Trial of Errors” Sees Blitzo and his team at I.M.P making the trip down to the set of a Judge Judy-esuqe reality court show in Envy to settle, of all things, a copyright-law case against notorious hellish huckster Wally Wackford, who has ripped off I.M.P’s name and logo to brand his new dating service. While the majority of the episode does not offer much information about the enigmatic ring— being set inside the courthouse and focusing on the dominating personality of Wally Wackford, Blitzo and Stolas’ unknowingly public relationship breakdown, and a perpetually disdainful one-liner-cracking judge resembling a demonic octopus— but what we did see gave us some important worldbuilding details.
First and foremost, we see that while at least some parts of Envy are indeed fully underwater, major buildings and their surrounding areas are surrounded by massive— in some cases visibly reinforced— bubbles, inside of which there is breathable air for non-aquatic demons. Between the bubbles, roadways are enclosed in tubes to allow for travel in terrestrial vehicles, and tall thin water weeds grow in cultivated beds along the bubbles’ edges. The entire ring seems perpetually lit by the glow of aqua blue, hot pink, and lime green neons, creating an effect somewhere between deep-sea bioluminescence and a luxe venue circa 2013.
Inside the bubbles, beds of zoanthid, brain, and red corals and various anemones intersperse with beds of shifting silt dotted with the spires of massive underwater skyscrapers— it is currently unclear if these visible structures comprise the entirety of the buildings or if they continue below the bubble’s bottom surface. The courthouse itself is an impressive building, with artfully placed glass-pane windows giving it the appearance of a massive anglerfish. While all this alone is far more than we’ve ever seen of the Envy ring so far and gives us at least a basic idea of how the ring works, the real reveal here comes from comparing this footage with one of the Helluva Shorts minisode that aired in the interim between Helluva Boss‘ second and third seasons.
The music-video minisode “Shark Boy Summer”, features the sharklike Fausil demon Chaz— loser ex-boyfriend to both Moxxie and Millie— singing boastfully about his prowess in bed against backdrops of various oceanic and marshy scenes. Revisiting the minisode after “A Trial of Errors”, we can now tell that this music video is set in Envy. The opening shot shows the same lighting, architectural conventions, and general aesthetics as the courthouse area shown in “A Trial of Errors”— however, there are some major differences. Rather than being fully submerged, this area is on dry land, situated on a coastal area bordering the massive, dark sea that is likely the one the courthouse is located within.
The buildings, while they maintain many of the same spiky and fishlike motifs as their submarine counterparts, are much more organic in nature, seemingly made of living corals, jellies, anemones, and gigantic shells. Interestingly, industrial smokestacks can be seen dotting the area and producing constant plumes of dark smog— a fact that, coupled with oily slicks on the water’s surface, suggests that Envy’s otherwise luxurious undersea nature does not fully exempt it from the economic and industrial forces that effect much of Hell. On land, fields of scruffy grass and strange, twisted tree-like structures take up the space between buildings. Even aside from the organic construction materials, interior and exterior decoration alike are aggressively ocean-themed, with starfish door signs, disco-tiled shark skeletons, windows styled like sharp-toothed mouths, and surfboard decorations all being seen over the course of the video. Interior surfaces seeming to be damp and drippy by default.
“Shark Boy Summer” also takes us to some other locations around Envy, as we see that the Ring does have uncovered roads and cars in its above-water regions, as well as stretches of dark and gloomy shallow-water swamps dotted with more strange, spindly organisms resembling earth’s swamp-dwelling carnivorous plants (one can only wonder if Stolas, with his love of exotic plants, would enjoy caring for one of these things). Additionally, in perhaps the most intriguing detail, we see more and closer-up shots of the smokestacks, which actually seem to exist in large clusters across the Ring’s above-water regions and produce a constant smoky haze.
This, combined with a sequence where Chaz dances in a radiation-green landscape where small red and boulder corals are interspersed with dented industrial barrels spilling sickly green ooze, raises an unexpected possibility about the Ring of Envy. Being among the lower rings of Hell alongside the sleepy, safe medical district of Sloth and the glitzy, NSFW nightlife playground of Lust, it was assumed by fans that Envy was a similarly polished, luxurious and overall well-off region. However, the confirmation that “Shark Boy Summer” was indeed set in Envy points strongly to the idea that this marine ring, and its inhabitants, may have just as much in common with their two-rings-lower neighbors in the crime-wracked industrial hellscape of the Greed Ring as they do with the more posh rings immediately adjacent to them. This possibility creates the chance for some very interesting interactions between the denizens of Envy and those of the other rings, in ways not previously considered— so suffice to say, we’re all still on the edges of our seats to learn more about Hell’s most enigmatic, and fishy, Ring. Hopefully we dive down for another visit soon.
