Hellboy

Hellboy, or "Anung Un Rama" as he was called, was conceived on October 5,[1] 1617, the day his birth-mother, Sarah Hughes, a human woman, was on her deathbed. In life, Sarah was a witch who gained her powers from being a consort of the archdemon, Azzael, an Archduke of Hell, and Hellboy's "biological" father. Taking Sarah's body to hell when she attempted to repent on her deathbed within a church in East Bromwich, England, Azzael burned her away so their child would be born, and chopped off the newborn's right hand 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 (like Lucifer in Dante's Divine Comedy).

The child is eventually summoned to Earth in the final months of World War II by the "Mad Monk" Grigori Rasputin on Tarmagant Island, off the coast of Scotland, having been commissioned by the Nazis to change the tide of a losing war ("Project Ragna Rok"). As a direct result of this ritual, the child appears on Earth in a fireball at what remains 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.[2]

Taken by the United States Armed Forces to an Air Force base in New Mexico, Hellboy is raised by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm in as normal a home environment as possible (and as a Catholic), 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 is granted "honorary human" status by the United Nations and becomes a member of the BPRD as the "world's greatest paranormal investigator".[3] 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 yet aging slowly with 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 pyrokinetic. Things change dramatically for Hellboy during the events of Seed of Destruction when he searches for Professor Bruttenholm after he disappears during an expedition in the Arctic. He finds his adopted father only to witness his death at the hands of a Lovecraftian frog monster. The search takes Hellboy, Abe, and Liz to the Cavendish Hall mansion, which is a trap established by Rasputin to lure Hellboy into an embrace of his own "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 impales Rasputin. Liz's firestorm then incinerates Rasputin's body alongside Sadu-Hem's and destroys Cavendish Hall. Soon after, during a visit to Bromwich Church, Hellboy gets a glimpse of his conception 300+ years ago and learns he has two human half-siblings; a nun and a priest whose spirits haunt the church after their deaths, attempting to stop Azzael from claiming Sarah.

During the events of Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy's journey of self-discovery leads 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 he was "killed" on the 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 then aided 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 destroys Hecate's original body, he faces her again after Rasputin unintentionally provides her with Ilsa's iron-maiden encased body. Hecate swallows Hellboy, but he returns to his own 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 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 to increase their power. But this act, however, proves to be counter-productive, as it allows Hellboy to no-longer be controlled by his true name, Anung Un Rama (as one of the translations of this name is, lit. "and upon his brow is set a crown of flame"; with the theft of his crown, the name is no longer accurate), and he kills Ualac's mortal body before the demon and the crown is taken to Hell by the archdemon, 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.

6 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.[4] 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 (which in his hands becomes a flaming sword) 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 has been shrugging off his whole life. Hellboy later returns in the mini-series BPRD: The Devil You Know, revived and joining Liz and Abe in the final arc of the series. After defeating Rasputin again, he and Hecate see the fall of the Ogdru Jahad and get back the Right Hand of Doom from the Osiris Club, killing them. Despite their efforts, however, Ragnarok is fulfilled and most of humanity is destroyed. In the end, Hellboy and Hecate fuse together to create a new world on Earth.

Afforded by his demonic heritage as well as extensive physical training and bodybuilding, Hellboy possesses 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.[5] 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.[6] In the films, Hellboy has shown skill in necromancy, animating a man's dead body so that it could give him directions. This also happened in the second hellboy movie in 2019 where once he gained his crown he raised the armies from the dead.

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, which in the Guillermo del Toro films was named the "Good Samaritan", and which was forged from the recycled iron from a church bell; Hellboy freely admits, however, to being a lousy shot with it, and often favors fighting 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.

Hellboy originated in 1991 with a drawing Mike Mignola did for a Great Salt Lake Comic-Con promotional pamphlet of a demon with the name "Hell Boy" written on his belt. Mignola had initially no intention of doing anything serious with the concept, but eventually decided he liked the name.[7]

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.[7]

Much like other American comic book superheroes such as Batman, Wolverine, Iron Man, 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."

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".[8]

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.[9]

• Hellboy Winter Special [10]
• Hellboy Winter Special 2017 [11]
• Hellboy Winter Special 2018 [12]
• Hellboy – Krampusnacht [13]
• Hellboy vs. Lobster Johnson – The Ring of Death [14]

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".

The comics writer Alan Moore 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".[46]

In March 2009, Hellboy won two categories in the fan voted Project Fanboy Awards for 2008: "Best Indy Hero" and "Best Indy Character".[47]

In 2011, Hellboy was ranked 25th of the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes by IGN.[48]

On May 22, 2017, Dark Horse Comics, XXX Distillery LLC and Prestige Imports LLC officially released Hellboy Hell Water Cinnamon Whiskey, a small batch, naturally-flavored whiskey.[49]

• The Amazing Screw-On Head, another comic book from Dark Horse written and drawn by Mike Mignola.

• Weiner, Steve; Victoria Blake; Jason Hall (December 2006). Hellboy: The Companion. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1-59307-655-9.
• Masters, Phil; Jonathan Woodward (August 2002). Hellboy Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game. Steve Jackson Games. ISBN 978-1-55634-654-5.
• Mignola on Hellboy's Extended Universe. Comic Book Resources. March 3, 2008.
• NYCC: Hellboy Dominates 2008

• Official website
• Hellboy Zone. Dark Horse Comics.
• Hellboy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia.
• Hellboy at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Hellboy videogame at the Konami website