Damned Souls not only died but were forced to live on in Hell-like dimensions; in essence they become akin to demons and/or ghosts but are distinct supernatural beings in their own rights known as unclean spirits.

Being a Damned Soul is considered the ultimate downfall and reserved for the truest of evildoers since only the most sinister individuals give audiences enough hatred that they see eternal damnation as suitable punishment. Pure Evil villains are also reserved for this and those who cross the Moral Event Horizon are susceptible as well. Damned Souls continue to plague the living after death becoming lesser demons or poltergeists.

Villains who are tragic can also end up damned if they were victims of demons and/or curses regardless of their moralities or actions in past lives (e.g. Kayako Saeki). In some works of fiction, all of the deceased may end up in damnation regardless of their moralities or actions.

If the damnation of the villain is particularly bad without them having really deserved it they may end up as a Scapegoat (i.e. Aiwei, Scorpion (Original Timeline), the Almighty Tallests, The Grand Inquisitor and Johnny Klebitz) though in many more cases the damnation is justified.

Sometimes the damnation does not have to be shown outright and can apply if villains are shown living and/or dying in a way symbolic of them being damned (i.e. Nefretiri, Herman Dietrich, Major Arnold Ernst Toht, René Belloq, Walter Donovan, Emperor Belos, Judge Claude Frollo, Dark Danny, Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin, Tortoise John and Eveline).

It should be noted that Damned Souls can also be characters who do not technically die but are condemned forever to unpleasant realms where they will not enjoy their time there, an infinite cycle of deaths or loops, a prison where they will stay alive forever with zero escape chances and/or locations equivalent to Hell (i.e. Zhao, Max Mordon, Diavolo, Darth Tenebrous, Rolo Haynes, William Afton, Bill Cipher, the Lord Commander, Kaecilius, Roland Voight and King Magnifico).

Saved Souls are the opposite of Damned Souls.

There are generally two distinct subtypes of Damned Souls:

1) The Condemned - these are characters who are seen being dragged into Hell or a similar state of eternal imprisonment on a spiritual level, they do not return and are considered for all intents and purposes completely and utterly tortured, since they will remain in such a state until either freed or the day of judgement, these characters are not seen again in most stories and are the traditional "dragged to Hell" style defeats.

2) The Damned - characters who live on after death as demonic beings, often they are spared some (but seldom all) of the eternal punishment that comes with being condemned but at the cost of humanity. Some particularly evil characters may actually exist quite happily as such creatures but they still must obey infernal superiors and if they fail to appease said superiors they are doomed to return to the hell-dimension, where they must remain until they are given another chance to be free. Unlike the condemned, many of the damned become regular antagonists despite their status as servants of infernal powers (good examples are beings like Freddy Krueger, Bathsheba Sherman, and Yuyuko Saigyouji).

Qualifications

Villains Who Qualify

• They must have started life as humans or members of other mortal races like sapient animals; if they were angels, demons, deities and/or spiritual entities from other dimensions they do not count.
• They must be imprisoned and/or linked to Hell dimensions unlike ghosts who wander between realms or be linked to their place of demise (also unlike ghosts they do not originate from mortals as ghosts are just the lifeforces of mortals refusing to pass on).
• Even if they gain demonic powers and such they are still bound to Hell in some fashion normally through the classic "dragged to Hell upon defeat" type.

Villains Who Do Not Qualify

1. Characters who are revived without turning unholy (e.g. Theo Galavan).
2. Beings that have always existed in Hell and/or Hell-like dimensions such as true demons (e.g. Valak, Annabelle the Doll, Mammon, Quan Chi, Red and Pazuzu); this is for beings that were once of a living world but have since become infernal due to spiritual corruption (e.g. Demons from Supernatural, Cenobites, Slade, Griffith, Alastor, TIO and Emperor Palpatine).
3. Villains whose souls used to be condemned but later had them saved and redeemed do not belong (e.g. Emma Swan, Kratos, Dean Winchester, Revenant Liu Kang, Hector Barbossa, Count Dracula (1992), the Sanderson Sisters and the Shadyside Killers).
4. The Undead (e.g. Frankenstein's Monster); the undead beings must have been related to Hell-like dimensions (e.g. Adolf Hitler (ZAT) and Zombie Redcoats) or condemned due to curses (e.g. Imhotep and Emperor Han).
5. Characters whose souls were wiped from existence becoming nothing thus having NO afterlives (e.g. Jonah King, Mal (Total Drama), the Fairy Godmother, Rex Dangervest, Adam (Hazbin Hotel), The Ink Demon, Turbo, Goku Black / Zamasu, Shang Tsung, the Green Goblin as well as the deceased Record of Ragnarok Villains). However, characters whose souls were wiped out but previously came back as demonic forces can count (e.g. Lord Farquaad, Scar and Zhan Tiri).
6. Characters who came back yet felt nothing afterwards (e.g. Chucky, Frieza and Protoboy).
7. Characters who just die because there is no way to know about the afterlife in the media they originate from due to a lack of indications.
8. Characters who swear to see protagonists in Hell, who are told to go to Hell, or tease others by saying so because much like in the aforementioned case they have no way of knowing about the beyond (e.g. The Trickster, Little Bill Daggett, Allen O' Neil, the Joker and Black Mask).
9. Characters whose damnations never actually happened or were imaginary (e.g. Tom the Cat).
10. If characters suffered transformations which led to their villainy or made their existences miserable and upon dying their spirits are released to thank others before moving on as their crimes are implied to have been expiated thus saving their souls (e.g. Morgan Moonscar, Constance Nebbercracker, Mor'du, Gus Turner, Broken Vessel and the Shadyside Killers).
11. Characters who die (or presumably die) in a hellish way, like falling into fire or an explosion, without having any kind of link to Hell (e.g. Shere Khan (2016), Dick Hardly and Albert Wesker).
12. Characters who get rejected by the dead and/or living, yet still reside in Heaven-like dimensions (e.g. Ernesto de la Cruz, Erik Killmonger, Tai Lung and Lord Shen).
13. Characters who, for comical purposes, die and somehow go to Heaven or are implied to go to a nice-looking afterlife regardless of their crimes (eg. all of the Toon Patrol {minus Smartass}, Dabura and Squirty).

Note: Do NOT create pages based on this category of heroes who briefly turned unholy (e.g. Kenny McCormick and Lucy/Wyldstyle). They do not count.