I Exist, I Guess?

Let me highlight this does not apply only to Charlie. There are several characters that on paper are stronger than others. However, they fail to successfully use that power in battle.

Adam is more powerful than Alastor. However, Alastor is the better fighter to the point that if the Radio Demon were less prideful he could have defeated Adam in their early exchange. What fucks Alastor up is really his convinction he does not need an angelic weapon to face Adam.

Emily is a Seraphim, so she could potentially kill Vox with the snap of her fingers. However, Emily is a child (just like Charlie) and has never had to fight in her life. She is not a violent person and can't imagine to use her powers violently.

Abel is an archangel, which means he could one-shot Vox, like Adam did with Alastor. However, he is unsure of his abilities, so instead of proudly going into battle, he is left trembling and hiding.

Finally, an example from Helluva Boss. Andrealphus is a Goetia, which means he should be able to defeat the imps easily. However, he sucks at fighting, while Blitz's group has been making a living on their fighting abilities. So, they are able to embarrass him by kicking his ass.

2- Charlie has power, but she obviously struggles to tap into it. Once again, season 1 finale makes it obvious:

She is overpowered by Adam in their one on one, but when Adam attacks Lucifer, she is able to stop his attack with one fist. The implication is that Charlie has enough power to break Adam with one hand (which is precisely what Lucifer then proceeds to do). However, Charlie can't manifest this power at will (it is not that she CONSCIOUSLY loses her fight against Adam). She struggles to access it.

Why is that so? Well, it is part of her arc.

Charlie's powers are basically her jungian shadow aka the dark part of herself she is repressing. She usually manifests them when she is angry or grieving. In other words, until Charlie won't face all the complicated and ugly emotions she has been ignoring, she will never be able to fully manifest her potential. This struggle is once again set up in season 1:

Vaggie: Well, I mean... You're the princess of Hell. Charlie: So? Vaggie: So, you don't really use the power that comes with that, which I love about you, but maybe you can... I don't know, command a little more... Authority? Charlie: [Whines] But that's so mean...! Vaggie: It's not mean, exactly. It's... uh, aggressive kindness. Charlie: Okay... I could be so aggressively kind to Angel's boss... That I convince him to let Angel spend more time at the hotel! Vaggie: Sure, whatever gets you there, babe.

Here, Vaggi is right. Charlie needs to tap into her aggressivity and authority to succeed. The problem is that Charlie has a childish understanding of good and evil, so politeness =good and conflict = bad. It is very simplistic and detrimental to Charlie's success and growth. In short, Charlie's understanding of violence is set up to be challenged in the future.

All of this is well and good, but the examples I made are all about season 1. What about season 2?

There is one criticism that I think is fair, which is that season 2 does not explore the conflict between Charlie and violence. It kinda leaves it in the background, which is precisely why people are frustrated by Charlie not solving problems with violence. It seems like the story is ignoring that there is this pretty simple solution and is not addressing why Charlie would not consider it. At the same time, Charlie gaining a deeper understanding of her powers is part of her arc, but in season 2 she makes no progress.

That said, I think things should be watched at in context. I said several times now that season 2 is a season where the main plot and the main characters' arcs are put on hold. It is a season where a B plot (Vox) becomes an A plot. The writers used this season to expand on major supporting characters, the worldbuilding, the themes. In this way, they set-up the main characters for future development, but did not give it to them this season (Charlie, Vaggi, Angel, Lucifer and Alastor aka the main 5 are all set up to develop in the upcoming two seasons). I think this choice works for the story, but it is natural it would create frustration in some viewers 'cause we don't have the whole thing, but are consuming the story season after season.

That said, I think this flaw does not justify the majority of the criticism, which imo is in bad faith. After all, season 2 does make clear enough why violence can't be a solution.

SEASON 2 THEMES

The whole point of season 2 is to avoid a war between Heaven and Hell. The story also does a decent job at showing both that war can't be a solution, but also that the sinners' anger is understandable. The people of Hell are being subjected to a genocide for years, so it is no surprise they wish to feel vindicated, even if rationally this would only bring more pain to them, as well (Heaven would have most likely won the war).

In short, Charlie's problem is not really to defeat Vox, but to convince the people of Hell to give up war and to embrace her redemption ideology. Politically, she is presenting herself as a pacifist and a champion of sinners. How do you think public opinion would have reacted if Charlie just went and attacked Vox?

We don't even have to guess because the story gives us two examples:

Both Lucifer and Sera try to threaten Vox with their powers and Vox just takes these attempts and uses them to his advantage. He gets more power from angels trying to kill "the voice of the people". Sure, you could argue that killing Vox would have solved the problem. Would have, though? Sinners' anger would have grown even more and sooner or later someone else would have emerged to take Vox's place as the leader of the people.

It is also not what Charlie personally wants. To kill Vox simply goes against her ideals. Charlie's fixation on ideas is both her strength and weaknesses. To explore this contradiction is the root of her story. So, I don't see a scenario where she would have just gone and killed Vox. It would have made the character incoherent.

On this, I would add that people are acting as if Vox just goes and violently attacks Charlie the whole time... Well, he doesn't. He slanders her reputation, but he is VERY careful not to threaten her or her loved ones violently up until the last arc (the scene with Angel in ep. 2X3 is played for laughs; moreover, after Vox passes a line there Charlie does tell him to leave). Sure, Vox catches Alastor, but it is Alastor himself who goes to fight him. Moreover, everyone at the Hazbin Hotel knows Alastor is in the middle of his machinations and just trusts him enough not to intervene (it is stated so by Vaggi).

Vox becomes openly violent to Charlie's loved ones in the final episodes, when he kidnaps Lucifer and Angel. However, Charlie is not there to see it happen. She suspects something has happened to them, but is unsure and does not know the details.

With all this considered, it is really not surprising Charlie would not attack Vox violently. We are talking about the girl who is unable to go all out against the man who has just killed one of her friends. She is able to fully manifest her true power only to defend a loved one that is under attack right in front of her. This is just how sick violence makes Charlie.

CHARLIE IS A COHERENT CHARACTER

Season 2 may not go deeper nor solve Charlie's complicated relationship with violence and ideals. However, it is VERY clear about this conflict still being relevant for her character. Here comes 4 examples:

1-

Charlie: For my reckonin' (Hotel Visitors: For my reckonin') I'll never turn to violence (Hotel Visitors: I'll never turn to violence)

This lyrics in Hazbin Guarantee is meant to be taken critically. Charlie has just won a fight and survived thanks to violence. Still, she is telling the Sinners they should NEVER use violence. It is clearly a point of view which is too rigid and a little bit hypocritical.

2-

Charlie: He ruined everything is what happened. The angels were here to set things right, but thanks to him— and, apparently, you— Vox was able to spin it, again!

In the climax of her spiral Charlie blames Lucifer and Vaggi for Vox's declaration of war. This showcases once again her white and black thinking and hypocrisy. She blames them 'cause their plan was about using violence to threaten Vox. So, it is OBVIOUSLY bad. Charlie and the angels' plan was instead about apologizing, hence OBVIOUSLY good. However, Vox's declaration of war is made possible not by Vaggi and Lucifer's intervention, but by Charlie bringing Sera at the rally. In the end, Sera even does exactly what Lucifer did. However, for Charlie Sera is innocent, while Lucifer is guilty. Here, our girl is clearly projecting some unsolved issues outside.

3-

Vox: And with Carmilla's aid, we can finally fulfill Lilith's dream. She started this resistance to take back our power by force. She wanted blood, now let's spill some blood. Resist! Charlie: My mom never wanted violence. She empowered sinners. Peaceful protest. There was no blood!

Charlie gets angry at the idea Lilith might have endorsed violence. I am sure Lilith is not the blood-thirsty dictator Vox frames her up to be. However, I am not sure she was such a pacifist as Charlie remembers her. Once again no violence = good in Charlie's mind.

4-

Charlie: And now Vox is declaring a war, and Carmilla's right, I started it, and I'm a hypocrite and my dreams are gonna die!!!

Charlie is so disturbed by her inner violence that she genuinely sees her being forced to use it in season 1 finale as a personal defeat. She is so scared by the destructive results of violence she truly thinks deep down SHE is the one who started the war.

CHARLIE IS TRAUMATIZED

The whole point of Charlie in season 2 is that she is not fine. The final fight of season 1 clearly re-enacted her trauma:

Sir Pentious dies = her mom leaves

The Hazbin Hotel gets destroyed = her family is destroyed

Not only that, but Charlie internalizes it is all her fault.

Her mom abandons her because she is not good:

Charlie: Look, this hotel was my way of finishing what she started, and I think I've been trying so hard to hold on to it because if I can make it work, maybe she'd be… proud of me. And maybe she'd come back and tell me what I did to make her leave.

Her hotel gets destroyed because she made mistakes:

Charlie: This bloodshed could have been avoided If I convinced Heaven to work together I took a hotel and I destroyed it I know I could have done better Better, instead of letting you down

It's not Lilith who is a bad mom for leaving. It is Charlie, who is a bad daughter. The proof that she is so bad is that now Hell is on the verge of war 'cause Charlie dared to use violence ONCE in self-defense!

Charlie's unsolved grief and trauma is why she is so ineffective in the finale btw. She literally goes into a panic attack the moment war seems unavoidable after Vox's Might of Lilith hit. She is overwhelmed by fear, shame and guilt. That is because in her mind EVERYTHING IS HER FAULT. Obviously this is itself a pretty childish and self-centered understanding of reality :P But here's the point. Charlie is a child who needs to grow-up. If she did so in one arc (which season 1 and 2 are), there would be no story.

In short, Charlie is terrified of violence and of the idea of being "bad". She is also clearly set-up to eventually discard this understanding of the world. I mean... her two biggest helpers are Alastor and Vaggi LOL

In particular, Charlie is DEEPLY in love with Vaggi, miss I love fighting and I collect weapons. This is not accidental. It is because the two girls need to integrate their complementary visions of the world. Just like they start doing in 1x7.

Vaggi discovers she needs to fight for love. It means she needs to fight to protect others and herself, rather than to hurt enemies and to sacrifice herself. Out For Love is about her integrating Charlie's vision of the world. Hence why she embraces "dancing" aka her art for the first time. She learns her body is not there only to kill (fight), but also to crete beauty (dance).

Charlie discovers she needs to accept violence to protect the ones she loves. Ready For This is about Charlie accepting this necessity. This is why she sings a recruitment song where she asks people to march and dance (=fight) for her. She even uses a lot of military jargon, which is Vaggi's default language.

Basically the point of 1.6 is that the two girls integrate with each other, even if they are separate.

VOX AND ANGEL

Since you asked about them specifically, here are some quick thoughts on their situations.

Vox

Charlie saying on TV Vox is the strongest sinner ties with the themes of the season. Charlie would have never given up to Vox, but is forced to say so because of her deal with Alastor. And what happens once she basically loses the fight of communication against Vox? She wins the war.

That is because Charlie is SO obsessed about being a GREAT AND INSPIRING COMMUNICATOR just like Lilith was, that she misses that:

A- You can't win a battle of communication against the embodyment of medias

B- It's not important what you say, but you do. Charlie says she is giving up on TV, but then doesn't and fights for the Sinners. This wins her the Kingdom back

Angel

People blaming Angel's loved ones for his situation are missing the point of Angel's character and story imo.

"Charlie does not care about Angel 'cause she is so fixated on being non-violent, she would not even try ot save him from Valentino!"

Charlie is literally ready to throw hands with Val five minutes after meeting him :''') It is ANGEL, who stops her from doing so. He does it to protect her, but he acts as if he is angry with her.

"Angel's loved ones do not care about him, 'cause they do not try to forcefully save him from Valentino"

They literally forcefully save him from Valenino in the season 2 finale. They even risk their well-being to do so and do not blame Angel for attacking them. After all that, Angel himself chooses to step back into his abusive relationship.

Angel's arc is meant to explore the difficulty of freeing one-self from an abusive situation and so far I think it does a good job at that. It is childish to think that it is easy to save a person in an abusive relationship. It isn't or there would not be so many tragedies all around us.

Angel's loved ones are people aka they are flawed. They don't have the whole picture of what Angel is going through and they face a person, who insists on pushing them away and refusing their help. They themselves need to grow to help Angel. At the same time, Angel needs to grow himself and to let them help him. That is the point of his story.

LOSERS

Finally, it is funny to me that people make it sound as if Charlie is the ONLY ONE who fails ridiculously. I mean, the whole point of the Hellaverse is that everyone is a loser:

Husk- He tells Angel to give Charlie's disastrous redemption plan a chance and then gets angry when Angel saves his life

Vaggi - She keeps her identity hidden for three years, thinking she can somehow pull it off in the long run; she is also unable to come up with a convincing excuse not to go to Heaven, which OBVIOUSLY leads to her secret coming out :''')

Lucifer - Have you seen the man? Let's just say he ends up being a power-source and he kiiiiinda deserves it, you know?

Alastor - He can't use angelic weapons 'cause he is too cool for them. Then, he makes the fact that he lost literally everyone's problem and spends the entirety of season 2 throwing a temper tantrum

Vox - He comes up with this overly complicated plan to gain power through popularity. He does all that and finally becomes THE STRONGEST sinner... and he is barely more powerful than Alastor, still gets his ass handed to him 'cause he is a less efficient fighter and loses it all. Let me also point out that for all of Vox's struggle he is still Overlord- level. Forget Charlie, cinnamon-roll Abel can one-shot him :P

I think I made my point. Everyone in the series is flawed and lame, which is why they are all so compelling. This is also why I find the whole "frauds" discourse so pointless and funny... "This character is a fraud!", "No, this character is a fraud"... Hello? They are all frauds, it's kinda the point. They are all trying to appear better than they are, which is why the narrative humiliates them.

CONCLUSION

Let's go back to Charlie and say I think people are simply reading her wrong. She is not meant to be a hero. She is meant to be a traumatized person trying her best, which makes her far more inspiring. She isn't the genius-princess that conquers everyone with her charm and quirkiness. She is a realistic portrayal of a neglected child, who becomes a young adult without fully growing up.

It's something the story makes crystal clear. Charlie's first scene is her reading a fairy tale about her family after a highly violent event (the exterminations). She is sad and scared and has no family with her because both of her parents have been neglecting her. So, Charlie is left with their idealized version in a picture book and the childish dream to fix her family.

I will point out another layer I never see people discuss. I will say I don't know if we will truly go as deep into the exploration of Charlie. Still, it is an element, which is worth considering. Charlie's parents neglect her not because they are bad people or do not love her. They neglect her because they too are two deeply traumatized people. They had this big dream which became a nightmare and broke the world.

I think both Lucifer and Lilith have both been twisted by whatever went down in Eden and are clearly projecting their traumas in different ways on Charlie. In short, Charlie is the victim of this HUGE inter-generational trauma. Her parents broke the world and have been struggling with this. As their daughter, Charlie has been struggling with this legacy, as well. She wants to fix the world because her parents broke it. So, if she can amend their mistakes they can finally be a normal family.