Hellboy: Encyclopedia II - Hellboy - Character history

Hellboy - Character history

Hellboy is a creature summoned in the final months of World War II by a fictional version of Grigori Rasputin, on a small island just off the coast of Scotland ('Tarmagent Island'), having been commissioned by the Nazis to change the tide of war ("Project Ragna Rok"). Hellboy appeared in a fireball in a ruined church in East Bromwich, England, December 23, 1944. He proved not to be a devil, but a little boy-like creature (with red skin, horns, a tail, and a large stone right hand)—hence the name given by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (pronounced Broom).

Taken by the U.S. forces to an Air Force base somewhere in New Mexico, Hellboy was raised by the United States Army and by the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a U.S. agency dedicated to combating occult threats. He was granted honorary human status by the United Nations in 1952.

As an adult, Hellboy became the primary agent for the B.P.R.D., alongside several other human and quasi-human agents. His fellow agents include Abe Sapien, an amphibian humanoid ("icthyo sapien"); Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic; Roger, an unusually large homunculus; and Johann Kraus, a disembodied spiritualist.

Hellboy's adventures in the comics span the 1940s to the present day and involve elements such as sorcerers, Nazis, the Thule Society, hollow earth explorers, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and other oddities such as the Ogdru Jahad.

Several of the storylines deal with Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom and its purpose in initiating the Apocalypse.

Hellboy - The Right Hand of Doom

In Seed of Destruction, Hellboy is confronted by a fictional version of Rasputin and begins to find out what he is doing on Earth and who summoned him there. Hellboy's purpose will be to command the powers that Rasputin is about to unleash upon the world. Hellboy denies this version of his destiny and refuses to be controlled. Attempting to release the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin is killed, harpooned through the chest by Abe Sapien under the control of the ghost of Elihu Cavendish.

In Wake the Devil, Hellboy meets the Goddess Hecate. Hellboy, addressed as 'Anung Un Rama', is told that his arrival on Earth signals its end. At the climax of the story Hellboy is swallowed by Hecate in the form of an iron maiden and some kind of other-worldly conflict ensues, in which he is told that his right hand is a key to open the pit. Again Hellboy refuses, this time breaking off his newly regrown horns, revealing what those two circles on his forehead are.

In Box Full of Evil (collected in the The Right Hand of Doom tpb.), Igor Bromhead gains power over a demon, Ualac, by using that demon's name. Hellboy is also bound by his name, 'Anung Un Rama', and the Crown of the Apocalypse, which he wears but is invisible to him, is taken. In taking the crown, Ualac is changed into a much more powerful demon. Hellboy finds out what his name means: "Anung Un Rama, World Destroyer, The Great Beast…" "…and upon his brow is set a crown of fire…". This is not who he is, and so not his name any longer. Ualac is defeated. The crown is kept for Hellboy by Astaroth, in Pandemonium the capital city of Hell, in the House of the Fly, where a seat is reserved for him.

Hellboy - Hellboy's Missions

• 1952: Hellboy is granted honorary human status by the UN and becomes a field agent for the B.P.R.D.
• 1954, England: Hellboy is asked by the Osiris Club to slay the Saint Leonard Worm. Hellboy is successful, but the mission was a really a cover for the Club to discern Hellboy’s true allegiances. In the end, they remain undecided, although the lilies that grew from his blood spatters indicate that Hellboy would not confine himself to his destiny. Bruttenholm’s complicity in this test is unknown. (The Nature of the Beast)
• 1956, Norway: Bruttenholm sends Hellboy to help Professor Edmond Aickman (who worked with Bruttenholm in Burma and Chengdu) with the King Vold myth. Aickman is only interested in the potential reward, and manoeuvres Hellboy into completing Vold’s tasks for him. (King Vold)
• 1957 India: Hellboy works on a werewolf case.
• 1959 Ireland: To retrieve a baby, Hellboy must bear a corpse to his final resting place. The King of the Daoine Sidh oversees the matter personally. This is the first (but not the last time) he will take a personal interest in Hellboy. (The Corpse)
• 1959 New Guinea: Hellboy works on a werewolf case.
• 1959 Macapa: Hellboy stops von Klempt's experiments, but the severed head escapes.
• 1961 Ireland: Hellboy ensnares the Iron Shoes demon and hands him over to Father Mike. (Iron Shoes)
• 1961 Saybrook, Connecticut: Hellboy works with Father Edward Kelly on an unnamed mission.
• 1964 Bereznik, Russia: Hellboy tracks down the Baba Yaga, and in the ensuing encounter shoots out her left eye.
• 1967, Kyoto, Japan: Hellboy travels to China, and handles a case involving demonic floating heads. (Heads)
• 1969 Lockmaben, Scotland: Bruttenholm and Hellboy visit the castle which would later be purchased by Count Guarino. The Guarinos would turn out to be Satanists.
• 1979 Portland, Oregon: Mister Tod, a physical medium (much like Johann Kraus) whom Hellboy had met several years earlier, unwittingly opened an ectoplasmic door to an Ogdru-Jahad-like being. Hellboy managed to repulse the entity, but Mister Tod is destroyed in the process. There are implications that this being was much like the entities in space that The Nazis and Herman von Klempt were trying to contact in Conqueror Worm. (Goodbye Mister Tod)
• 1982 Yorkshire, England: Hellboy, after over seven years of searching, tracks down the body of the vampire Countess Ilona Kakosky. She attempts to trick him with an illusion, but he kills her. (The Varcolac)
• 1982 India: Hellboy works on a werewolf case,
• 1989 England: Hellboy investigates the disappearance of Ann Heath, who was lured underground by a demon. (A Christmas Underground)
• 1992 Lake Okanagan, British Columbia: Hellboy and Abe search for the Ogopogo Monster.
• 1994: The Cavendish Hall affair (Seed of Destruction)
• 1994 Griart, the Balkans: Hellboy and Kate visit a town decimated by werewolves. Father Kelly had been there before them to investigate, but he was murdered along with the rest of the town. (The Wolves of St. August)
• 1995: Hellboy returns to the ruined church where he appeared in the world, and has a dream-vision of his origin: His mother, as a young woman, had cavorted with a demon, and on Walpurgisnacht (a night of great significance to witches) conceived Hellboy as a result. Hellboy lay dormant within her, until the demon returned at the end of the woman’s life to claim her and his unborn son. During this dream, Hellboy believes that the demon turned to acknowledge him.
• 1997 Romania: The Giurescu affair (Wake the Devil)
• 1998 Lizarza, Spain: Hellboy meets up with the son of Malcolm Frost, Adrian Frost. Hellboy relates his life story to Frost, and the two realize that Hellboy’s right hand is the key to triggering the Apocalypse. Hellboy must keep the hand lest someone else retrieve it and use it. (The Right Hand of Doom)
• 1999 Druggan Hill, England/Lockmaben, Scotland: Igor Bromhead releases Ualac, a minor demon trapped in a box by St. Dunstan. Ualac tricks Bromhead into summoning the Crown of Apocalypse, which sits invisibly on Hellboy’s head. Ualac wanted Hellboy’s right hand, but Hellboy is spurred into action by a vision of the King of the Daoine Sidh and his two attendants, who reveal that his name no longer binds him now that the Crown has been taken from him. Bromhead prays to Astaroth for deliverance, but winds up being turned into a lizard. Ualac, too, is ensnared by Astaroth, who takes Hellboy’s crown to Hell where it waits for Hellboy to retrieve it. (Box Full of Evil)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Character history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki