Hellboy

Fictional character biography

Hellboy, or Anung Un Rama as he was called, was conceived on October 5, 1617, the day his birth-mother Sarah Hughes was on her deathbed. In life, Sarah was a witch who gained her powers from being a consort of the demon Azzael, a duke of Hell who is also Hellboy's biological father. Taking Sarah's body to Hell when she attempted to repent on her death bed within a church in East Bromwich, England, Azzael burned her away so their child would be born and chopped the newborn's right hand off to replace it with the Right Hand of Doom, a relic tied to the Ogdru Jahad. When the other princes of Hell learned of his actions, Azzael sent his half-demon child away while he was stripped of his powers and imprisoned in ice.

The child is eventually summoned to Earth in the final months of World War II by Grigori Rasputin on Tarmagant Island, off the coast of Scotland, having been commissioned by the Nazis to change the tide of war ("Project Ragna Rok"). As a direct result of this ritual, the child appears on Earth in a fireball at what remained of the ruined Bromwich Church on December 23, 1944. Proving not to be a devil, in the traditional sense, but a devil-like creature, the child was dubbed "Hellboy" by Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm.

Taken by the United States armed forces to an Air Force base in New Mexico, Hellboy is raised by Professor Bruttenholm and the United States Army where the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), a private organization dedicated to combating occult threats, begins. Due to the success of his first mission in 1952, Hellboy was granted "honorary human" status by the United Nations and becomes a member of the BPRD as the "world's greatest paranormal investigator". As such, Hellboy interacts regularly with humans, primarily law enforcement officials, the military, and various "scholars of the weird", most of whom are not presented as overtly reacting to his strange appearance.

As an adult, having matured physically within years and aging slowly while having a teenaged mind, Hellboy becomes the primary agent for the BPRD, alongside other human and quasi-human agents that include Kate Corrigan, a professor of folklore at New York University; Abe Sapien, an amphibian humanoid (Ichthyo sapiens); and Liz Sherman, a young female pyrokinetic. But things changed for Hellboy during the events of Seed of Destruction when he found Professor Bruttenholm after he disappeared in an expedition in the Arctic, witnessing his adopted father killed by a frog monster. The search takes Hellboy, Abe and Liz to the Cavendish Hall mansion, which was a trap established by Rasputin to have Hellboy embrace his destiny with the assistance of Sadu-Hem, one of the spawn of the Ogdru Jahad. Controlled by the spirit of one of the ancestral Cavendish men, Abe impaled Rasputin. Liz's firestorm incinerated Rasputin's body alongside Sadu-Hem's, and destroyed Cavendish Hall. Soon after, during a visit to Bromwich Church, Hellboy gets a glimpse of his conception 300 years ago and learns he had two human half siblings: a nun and a priest whose spirits haunt the church after they died attempting to stop Azzael from claiming Sarah.

During the events of Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy's journey of self-discovery led him to Romania to investigate the theft of an ancient box containing the corpse of Vladimir Giurescu, a Napoleonic officer who was in fact a vampire before his assumed death at order of a fearful Adolf Hitler. The culprit of the theft is revealed to be Ilsa Haupstein, one of the surviving members of Project Ragna Rok who was revived from suspended animation and aids in Giurescu’s resurrection. Finding Castle Giurescu after splitting up with the other search groups, Hellboy learns that the source of Giurescu's rebirth is the ancient goddess Hecate. Though Hellboy destroyed Hecate's original body, he faces her again after Rasputin unintentionally provided her with Ilsa's iron-maiden encased body. Hecate swallows Hellboy, but he returns to his reality after he denounces the dark purpose he was born to perform.

Hellboy later learns that Liz is dying after losing her powers when she accidentally revived a homunculus while searching another location for Giurescu, finding Roger in the events of Hellboy: Almost Colossus as he convinces the homunculus to save Liz's life. Following the events of the Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom, gaining insight about his stone hand and being referenced as a harbinger of the Apocalypse, Hellboy is accompanied by Abe to hunt down the warlock Igor Bromhead in Box Full of Evil. But it turned out to be a trap conducted by Bromhead and the demon Ualac to capture Hellboy so that the latter can claim Hellboy's normally invisible Crown of the Apocalypse. But this act allows Hellboy to no longer be controlled by his true name as he kills Ualac's mortal body before the demon and the crown are taken to Hell by the demon Astaroth, who is later revealed to be Hellboy's paternal uncle.

In the aftermath of Hellboy: Conqueror Worm, assisted by the ghost of Lobster Johnson, Roger, and Abe, a disillusioned Hellboy resigns from the Bureau before it later gains new agents in Johann Kraus, the spirit of a German medium kept in a containment suit; and Captain Ben Daimio, a special operations soldier that became an Olmec were-jaguar. From there, Hellboy decides to find out the truth of his existence once and for all. But, as revealed in Hellboy: Strange Places, Hellboy ends up being stranded on an island where he inadvertently resurrected an ancient mystic who gained knowledge of the secret history of the creation of Ogdru Jahad and the Right Hand of Doom.

Six years later, as Hellboy: Darkness Calls opens, Hellboy's search takes him to England where he finds himself in the middle of a power vacuum caused by Bromhead incapacitating Hecate in Italy. Refusing to serve the witches as their king, Hellboy ends up in the dimension of Baba Yaga, a witch whom he encountered in the past and happens to be an ally of Rasputin's. Managing to defeat Baba Yaga's champion Koshchei, Hellboy returns to his reality and is led to Bromhead after he became monstrous and in agony from his attempt to take Hecate's powers for his own. Hellboy gives Bromhead a merciful death before returning to England during the events of Hellboy: The Wild Hunt where he encounters Alice Monaghan, a young woman he saved as a baby from a fairy named Gruagach who has revived the lunatic sorceress Nimue to fill the void left by Hecate.

During that time, Hellboy encounters the spirit of Morgana le Fay who reveals to Hellboy both the names of his parents and that Sarah Hughes was her descendant, which names Hellboy as the last living heir to Arthur Pendragon and the rightful king of England. But as he also learns from Astaroth that he is destined to kill Satan and become the new king of Hell, Hellboy is reluctant to wield Excalibur and the army of undead British nobility amassed to face Nimue's army. Therefore, enlisting Baba Yaga's assistance with his eye as payment for the injury he did to her in their first meeting, Hellboy decides to face Nimue one-on-one in the events of Hellboy: The Storm and the Fury. But in the aftermath of his battle with Nimue, who was possessed by Ogdru Jahad at the time, Hellboy is killed by the witch in her final moments. As revealed in Hellboy in Hell, Hellboy ends up trapped in Hell, where he encounters what's left of his demonic kin and the souls of the damned, and ultimately comes to terms with the destiny he's been shrugging off his whole life.

Powers and abilities

Afforded by his demonic heritage as well as extensive physical training and bodybuilding, Hellboy possess superhuman strength that exceeds the 1 ton base limit, endurance, a degree of resistance to injury, and a healing factor that allows him to heal quickly from virtually all bodily injuries as well as renders him immune to all diseases. He also has the innate ability to comprehend ancient and magical languages. The extent of his strength is unclear, but he has torn down a large tree and hurled it at an opponent and has lifted massive stones. He has also picked up and thrown opponents weighing at least four to five hundred pounds. Hellboy has a high degree of resilience to injury. He can withstand powerful blows that would severely injure or kill a human. He survived being shot many times in the chest with an MG 42 machine gun before destroying it. He has survived being impaled through the chest with a sword, severe werewolf mauling, being beaten unconscious with heavy iron tongs, falling from extreme heights, being crushed by boulders, and more. In the film version it is stated that Hellboy is immune to all forms of fire and burns, including Liz Sherman's flames, and electrocution. Despite his ability to quickly recover from seemingly mortal wounds, he is far from invulnerable, and can be injured or bloodied by conventional weapons. It is revealed to Baba Yaga by the dead Russian nobility that Hellboy may not be slain even through supernatural means and that he appears to be as deathless as her warrior, Koschei the Deathless. In the films, Hellboy has shown skill in necromancy, animating a man's dead body so that it could give him directions.

Hellboy ages very differently from humans. In the story Pancakes he is two years old but appears to be somewhere between 6 and 10 human years old. In Nature of the Beast, set in 1954, the ten-year-old Hellboy appears fully grown. His rapid physical maturation is in contrast to his actual rate of aging however, which seems to be much slower than humans. Throughout the sixty-year span of time depicted in the comics, he does not age beyond the plateau of physical maturity. This mystical aging process is similar to the other demons and supernatural beings that populate Hellboy's world. The lifespan of a Demon, or Half-demon as Hellboy's mother was human, are left undefined within the comics and seem to range from decades to many thousands of years. In the movies, Hellboy's aging process is described by BRPD as "reverse dog years".

In addition to his natural physical abilities, Hellboy carries a variety of items in his utility belt and jacket that can be used against various supernatural forces. He has been known to carry holy relics, horseshoes, various herbs, and hand grenades. Though he commonly carries an oversized revolver, Hellboy freely admits to being a lousy shot and often fights hand-to-hand, preferring to use short-ranged physical weapons like swords, spears, and his massive stone fist over firearms. Hellboy's lack of formal combat training and education is compensated for by his decades of experience as a paranormal investigator, though encounters with unfamiliar threats have often forced him to resort to improvisation and using his wits.

Right Hand of Doom

As revealed in Strange Places, Hellboy's right hand was originally the right hand of Anum, one of the "greater spirits" that watched over the burgeoning Earth and created the Ogdru Jahad. After sealing the Ogdru Jahad away, Anum was destroyed by his fellow spirits. Only his right hand remained intact as it was kept and preserved by many races throughout history, including the first race of man. The Right Hand of Doom eventually ended up in the possession of Azzael before he grafted it onto the newborn Hellboy.

As the hand which created and bound the Ogdru Jahad, it is also the key which will "loose and command" them; in other words, it is a catalyst that will bring about Ragnarok. The comic books themselves never mention how the Right Hand of Doom would actually perform these tasks; it is only ever announced that this is the case and that someone or something intends to do it with or without Hellboy's consent. The film shows it working like a key: being turned twice in a special obelisk secured by Rasputin would release the Ogdru Jahad. It is made clear that it is not necessary for the arm to be attached to Hellboy to perform its duties. It has been suggested that if Hellboy dies while the Hand is attached to him, it would become useless. He has therefore concluded that the only way to prevent its falling into the wrong hands is to keep and protect it.

Concept and creation

Hellboy originated with a drawing Mike Mignola did at a comic book convention of a demon with the name "Hellboy" written on his belt. The demon itself bears virtually no resemblance to Hellboy, and Mignola had no intention of doing anything serious with the concept, but later decided he liked the name.

Later, Mignola became interested in doing a creator-owned comic, as he felt it made more sense to create his own characters for the stories he wanted to tell, rather than trying to shoehorn existing characters into these stories. Mignola elaborated, "The kinds of stories I wanted to do I had in mind before I created Hellboy. It’s not like I created Hellboy and said, 'Hey, now what does this guy do?' I knew the kinds of stories I wanted to do, but just needed a main guy." He initially created Hellboy as part of a team of five, but scrapped this idea when he realized he could not think of any team names that he liked.

Much like other American comic book superheroes such as Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, and Spawn, Hellboy is constantly tormented by the knowledge of his past. One example being in Wake the Devil where he describes his mindset since the aftermath of Seed of Destruction by saying, "I like not knowing. I've gotten by for fifty-two years without knowing. I sleep good not knowing."

Publication history

Before Hellboy was published independently at Dark Horse Comics, the concept was initially pitched to a board of directors for DC Comics, who loved it, but did not like the idea of it involving "Hell".

The early stories were conceived and drawn by Mignola with a script written by John Byrne and some later stories have been crafted by creators other than Mignola, including Christopher Golden, Guy Davis, Ryan Sook, and Duncan Fegredo. The increasing commitments from the Hellboy franchise meant that the 2008 one-shot In the Chapel of Moloch was the first Hellboy comic Mignola had provided the script and art for since The Island in 2005.

Issues

Hellboy has an internal numbering on the inside cover of its issues. Below are the stories listed by their internal numbering for the comics.

Issues: Hellboy in Hell

Hellboy in Hell is a finished series with its own numbering.

Issues: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. is an ongoing series of miniseries.

Original Graphic Novels: Hellboy

Special stories were created for hardcover original graphic novels.

Trade Paperbacks: Hellboy

All in-continuity Hellboy comics are collected in trade paperbacks.

Trade Paperbacks: Hellboy in Hell

All Hellboy in Hell comics are collected in trade paperbacks.

Trade Paperbacks: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

All Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. comics are collected in trade paperbacks.

Library editions

These editions collect the stories in the size they were originally drawn.

Other trade paperbacks

Other appearances

Beyond the Hellboy comic and its associated spin-offs, Hellboy has made appearances in other publications:

Great Salt Lake Comic-Con pamphlet

The character name "Hell Boy" was included in a drawing by Mike Mignola of a demon character in a black and white illustration, with the later recognized name appearing on the demon's belt buckle. This image, accompanied by a short biography of Mike Mignola and his latest creation, appeared in the pamphlet in 1991. It is the first published mention of the later recognized name. This image was reprinted in The Art of Hellboy.

Dime Press

A prototype incarnation of Hellboy appeared on the cover of Dime Press #4 (Glamour International Production, 1993), an obscure Italian fanzine, with "Hellboy©Mignola 93" written at the bottom of the cover. The cover, illustrated by Mignola and by the Italian artist Nicola Mari, show Hellboy in the act of attacking a "diabolic" version of the Italian SF comic book character Nathan Never (with bat wings and pointed tail). Mari at the time was one of the artists that worked on Nathan Never, and the first two years of life of this comic were the main topic of the fanzine. With the exception of the cover, there is no other mention of Hellboy within the fanzine. The character shown was still in a draft stage, and although close to the final design of Hellboy, it had gray skin and an outfit not common to the character.

San Diego Comic-Con Comics

Mike Mignola's Hellboy by Mike Mignola and John Byrne featured the character's first full appearance, and was a four-page black-and-white story that had an approximately 1,500 book print run. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (August 1993) for distribution at the San Diego Comic-Con convention held in San Diego, California.

Hellboy travels to an American ghost town, where he encounters a mangy mutt that transforms into Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian god of mummification.

The story was collected in the trade paperback Hellboy: Seed of Destruction.

Next Men

Hellboy makes a guest appearance in John Byrne's Next Men #21; this is the first American appearance in a full color cameo.

Comics Buyer's Guide

Mike Mignola's Hellboy: World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator by Mike Mignola and John Byrne featured the character's next solo appearance. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in a special four-page mini-comic for distribution in Comics Buyer's Guide #1,070 (May 20, 1994).

In the story Hellboy battles with the disembodied head of Nazi scientist Herman von Klempt and his puppet henchman Brutus the Gorilla to rescue a captive girl from the doctor's transference of nutrient fluids process.

The story was collected in the trade paperback Hellboy: Seed of Destruction.

Celebrate Diversity

Hi, My Name is Hellboy by Mike Mignola was a one-page panel ad that related the characters fictional origins. It was published by Diamond Comic Distributors in catalog supplement Celebrate Diversity collector's edition (October 1994). The ad was collected in the trade paperback The Art of Hellboy.

Hellboy: The First 20 Years was published 1 April 2014.

Hellboy

Guillermo del Toro co-wrote and directed a Hellboy feature film in 2004, sharing the credit with the original screenwriter Peter Briggs following Writers Guild of America arbitration. Del Toro, a fan of Mike Mignola's work, had previously written the preface to Hellboy: Conqueror Worm.

The film starred Ron Perlman as Hellboy (the favorite of both del Toro and Mignola for the role), Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, Rupert Evans as FBI Special Agent John Myers (a character created for the film), John Hurt as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (voiced by an uncredited David Hyde Pierce), Karel Roden as Grigori Rasputin, and Jeffrey Tambor as FBI Senior Special Agent Tom Manning. The film depicts Hellboy as living at the BPRD with a dozen cats and limited access to the outside world, and considered an urban legend by the general populace.

The film received generally positive reviews, and a fair performance at the box office. However, the film debuted in theaters while The Passion of the Christ was still playing, and, according to del Toro's DVD commentary, some theaters would re-title the film on their signs, or outright refuse to play it to avoid running a "devil" movie against Passion.

Yvonne Navarro wrote the novelization for the Hellboy movie which was published by Pocket Star Books in 2004.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

A sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, was shot in Budapest by Guillermo del Toro and released in 2008, featuring the returning talents of Perlman and Blair. Jones also returned not only in the role as Abe Sapien (undubbed this time), but in two other roles: The Angel of Death and The Chamberlain. Revolution Studios had planned on making the film (which Columbia Pictures was to distribute), but the studio went out of business before filming. Universal Studios then picked it up. The plot is a shift to more folklore rather than action, with heavy European overtones. The character of Johann Krauss was added to the team, voiced by Seth MacFarlane. The character Roger the Homunculus was not, but he was written into the plot as a very prominent character in early drafts of the script (Roger can be seen as a lifeless statue in the background BPRD hallway shot in both the first and second films). The character of Agent Myers from the first film does not return, his absence being explained by Liz remarking that Hellboy had him transferred to Antarctica out of jealousy. Hellboy also reveals himself to the outside world in this film, and Liz is revealed to be pregnant with his children, twins. On November 11, 2008, Hellboy II: The Golden Army was released on DVD.

Hellboy III: Dark Worlds

A sequel for Hellboy: The Golden Army was in development on 2009, entitled Hellboy III: Dark Worlds, with Guillermo del Toro slated to return as the film's director and writer as well as Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Seth McFarlane, Selma Blair and Jeffrey Tambor were set to reprise their roles. In the planned sequel for the film, it was planned that Hellboy will live his normal life as a father for his two newborn twins from Liz Sherman but has to face against an extremely powerful enemy who wishes to bring the darkness upon Earth and rule it. However, in 2017 it was annonunced that the future sequel is ultimately cancelled.

Animation

On November 9, 2005, IDT Entertainment issued a press release announcing that the company had licensed the rights to develop "animated content for television and home entertainment" based on the Hellboy comic. Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and John Hurt (Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm) have all voiced their respective characters. Actress Peri Gilpin joined the cast as Professor Kate Corrigan.

The first two 75-minute animated movies, Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, were aired on Cartoon Network before being released on DVD. The first one aired October 28, 2006, and the second aired March 17, 2007.

Both stories have much more in common with the comic book Hellboy rather than the film — Abe Sapien is not psychic, for example, and the artwork and color palette is derived more closely to Mignola's original artwork. The DVD of Sword of Storms was released on February 6, 2007; it contains documentary material commentary and a Hellboy comic, "Phantom Limbs". Blood and Iron similarly contains a comic called "The Yearning".

After the initial release, some stores included exclusive giveaways with copies of the Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron DVD:

A "Hellboy 2 Pak" limited edition DVD set was released July 1, 2008, that contained both films and a 7" figure.

A third animated Hellboy film, The Phantom Claw, has been put on hold. Tad Stones, director and writer of the direct-to-video movies, says the film will star Lobster Johnson and will have some familiar characters, but Abe and Liz will not be in the film (at least not as main characters).

Novels and anthologies

Christopher Golden has written several novels about the character, the first two of which, The Lost Army and The Bones of Giants, are part of the official Hellboy story canon. The events of both these novels are listed in the comic's official timeline featured in Hellboy: The Companion. In particular, the Golden-penned character of Anastasia Bransfield was also described in the companion, despite having never actually appeared in a comic.

Video games

A Hellboy video game called Hellboy: Dogs of the Night, Hellboy: Asylum Seeker was released for the PC and the PlayStation, by Cryo Interactive/DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. It has no relation to the movie series.

On April 6, 2005, Hellboy movie director Guillermo del Toro announced on his official site that he had made a deal with developer Konami to create a new Hellboy videogame based on the movie version of the character and his world, featuring new monsters, new villains, and a new storyline. Herman von Klempt and his war ape Kriegaffe #10 are slated to make appearances.

On May 9, 2006, it was revealed that the Hellboy game would appear in the summer of 2007, on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable. The game was released in North America on June 24, 2008 with the name Hellboy: The Science of Evil. It is developed by Krome Studios, and published by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. As well as single player campaign where the player gets to play as Hellboy the game also features co-op play, featuring the characters Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and Lobster Johnson.

A Hellboy video game called Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Tooth Fairy Terror was released for the iPhone by Tuesday Creative on January 14, 2009.

Appearances in popular culture

Awards

The miniseries Hellboy: Conqueror Worm won a 2002 Eisner Award for "Best Limited Series", while The Art of Hellboy won an Eisner in 2004 for "Best Comics-Related Book". Mignola won a 2000 Harvey Award for "Best Artist", based on Hellboy: Box Full of Evil. Hellboy: Darkness Calls won a 2007 Eagle Award for "Favourite Colour Comicbook — American".

The character Hellboy was nominated for "Favourite Comics Character" at the 2004 and 2005 Eagle Awards. Other Eagle Award nominations include "Favourite Comics Story published during 2007" for Hellboy: Darkness Calls, and "Favourite Comics Hero".

Acclaimed comics writer Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen) listed Hellboy on his recommendations page, particularly Wake the Devil (Vol. 2), calling it "the skillful cutting and the setting of the stone that we can see Mignola's sharp contemporary sensibilities at work".

In March 2009, the Dark Horse Comics character, Hellboy, won two categories in the fan voted Project Fanboy Awards for 2008: "Best Indy Hero" and "Best Indy Character".