[edit] HISTORY OF HELLBOY
There are very few stories as interesting as that of Hellboy. Much of his story, the part before he was conjured from his original home, may never be known with any certainty. The history you are about to read, starts when the baby Hellboy appeared on a rain-soaked Scottish island surprising Professor Trevor Broom and a group of American GI’s. The story that follows will cast what you know about the second half of the 20th century in a different light. Since his arrival, Hellboy has worked behind the scenes, battling forces that few people are even aware exist.
[edit] HISTORY OF HELLBOY
OVERVIEW
The history of HELLBOY's earthly existence started with a meeting that included Adolph Hitler and a group of top Nazi occultists. Then it moved to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a new U.S. government agency dedicated to fighting a looming occult menace. The file vaults of the BPRD read like a secret history of the modern era. The BPRD has grown from the vision of Professor Trevor Broom, who saw an occult threat rising from the remnants of WWII, into a huge but invisible agency using secret technology, mysterious powers and a network of operatives who trace their origins to the far side of this world and beyond. The history of HELLBOY, the BPRD, and numerous shadowy European occultists are inextricably linked. The growth and development of HELLBOY parallels the formation of the BPRD and this super-secret arm of the government depends on him. HELLBOY's ability to handle the threats from the supernatural is the key to the success of the BPRD’s primary mission. The contemporary history of HELLBOY began with the entrance on the world stage of HELLBOY's arch nemesis Grigori Rasputin. The legendary Russian mad monk who, as the story goes, could not be killed. It was Rasputin who brought a demon named Anung Un Rama to Earth to win the war for Hitler. Rescued by Allied forces, and raised in the United States, HELLBOY, under the tutelage of Professor Broom, grew up to be the primary agent for the BPRD, battling the forces of darkness, when and wherever the need arose.
[edit] PROJECT RAGNAROK THE BEGINNING OF THE END
In early 1941 a top Nazi named Heinrich Himmler recruited the resurrected Grigori Rasputin to head up a top-secret operation called "Project RAGNAROK." In turn, Rasputin recruited a top Nazi occultist named Kroenen. Kroenen, like Rasputin, had made a deal with the dark side, and existed beyond the pale of death. His loyal assistant, the Nazi-witch Ilsa Haupstein, then joined the evil Kroenen, and together they devise a plot to summon a demon from the other side to turn the course of WWII in Hitler’s favor.
[edit] FIGHTING BACK
THE BUREAU FOR PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE
After insistent petitioning from Professor Trevor Broom, the United States under President Franklin Roosevelt, created the ad-hoc Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) in 1943. Broom was put in charge of this organization devoted to understanding, and stopping, the Nazi Occult threat. At this time little was known of the large-scale threat the BPRD would soon face from the armies of darkness that were bent on enslaving mankind with their evil will.
[edit] FROM HELLBOY’S WORLD TO OURS
OCCURANCE ON A SCOTTISH ISLAND
On a dark and rainy night in 1944, The RAGNAROK group led by Grigori Rasputin and Kroenen set up a magical ritual on Tarmagant, a small Scottish Island. Fusing high technology with occult powers, they attempted to bring hell to the earth's surface. Their goal was to conjure a demon named Anung Un Rama, and use him to turn the tide of war in favor of the Nazi’s. Alerted to the threat, a small allied Navy force under special command of Professor Trevor Broom intervened, effectively stopping Rasputin's ritual. Although the mission was too late to stop a rift from opening between the dark world and earth -- and a small red devil child was born. Broom named the creature HELLBOY, and adopted him as a son. Professor Broom then brings HELLBOY back to the U.S., to a secret army base in New Mexico, and soon had him begin working for the BPRD. The defeated Grigori Rasputin now waited in the darkness, for a sign, and a chance to finish his task, the next time, the world will bend to his power.
[edit] THE BPRD
OFFICIALLY, IT DOES NOT EXIST
In late 1945, with the war ending, the US Government decided to install the BPRD as a permanent organization. Funding was granted, and a secret headquarters location was created in Trenton, New Jersey. The BPRD building is officially listed as the SQUEAKY CLEAN WASTE MANAGEMENT CO. The existence of the BPRD is completely disavowed by the United States government, and officially no such agency exists. Shortly after the creation of the BPRD, HELLBOY was released into Professor Broom’s full-time custody, and moved into the BPRD headquarters. The government requested that Professor Broom not reveal HELLBOY’s existence to the world under any circumstances.
[edit] THE BPRD ON THE OFFENSIVE
THE OCCULT WAR HEATS UP
The 1950's proved particularly active for the BPRD as Adolf Hitler waged his secret war with the US from South America. During this period HELLBOY proved his enormous talent as an agent in the field. He feels that beating a Cybernetic Hitler with his own mechanical leg may have proven to be one of his greatest triumphs. At the end of the decade, the BPRD moved into its permanent headquarters. The building that presently houses the Bureau was created in the 1940's, and was intended by the federal government as one of their COLD WAR strategic bunker-shelters, designed to lodge all branches of Government in case of nuclear attack. HELLBOY was given his own room deep within the BPRD complex where he gets all the pancakes he can eat, plays with this cats, reads comic books, and watches television. An intense regime of weightlifting has given him enormous muscles and awesome strength. At the end of the decade Professor Broom revealed to HELLBOY the nature of his origins. Jolted, HELLBOY vows never to probe into the subject.
[edit] HELLBOY’S SECRET WEAPON
THE RIGHT HAND OF DOOM
By mid 1965, HELLBOY was actively operating as a BPRD field agent, using his massive size and strength, his "left hand of doom," and his big gun, in a relentless battle against an endless variety of occult threats. HELLBOY's right hand, referred to as the "Right Hand of Doom", consists of a large forearm and a hand that is made from red stone. The Hand is effectively invulnerable, and feels no pain. It acts much like a sledgehammer when used to punch an enemy. HELLBOY has come to learn the hand is a key to create and bind the dark dragon Ogdru Jahad, and that it is a catalyst that could someday bring about Armageddon. HELLBOY denies this version of his destiny, and refuses to be controlled
[edit] A MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY
ABE SAPIEN
Sometime in late 1977, BPRD field agents discover a mysterious "fish man" encased in a sealed laboratory in the basement of St. Trinian’s hospital in Washington D.C. He was named Abe Sapien by the agents, and he is revived and kept under surveillance at the BPRD headquarters. Abe’s name came from his container; on it was a label with the date Abraham Lincoln was killed, 14 April 1865 (hence Abe). This is the presumed date of Abraham Sapien's birth, while the container itself had a note attached that said he was a “Ichthyo Sapien.” An avid reader of books, Abe also loves to eat rotten eggs, and although he has highly developed psychic powers, he doesn’t consider himself much of a problem solver. Abe learned quickly, and by 1978 officially joined the BPRD,and became a key member of HELLBOY’s team. Although HELLBOY and Abe started their friendship on the wrong foot, they soon learned to work together, becoming great friends.
[edit] LIZ SHERMAN JOINS THE BPRD
HELLBOY FALLS IN LOVE
Elizabeth Sherman was born in Kansas City, Kansas, on April 15, 1974. Liz was a normal child, until her pyrokinetic abilities began to manifest themselves around her eleventh birthday. An enormous eruption of flame took the lives of her family, and destroyed an entire city block. The local media put the final loss of life at 32 confirmed casualties, including three firefighters. Liz was the sole survivor, yet she remembered nothing about the incident. Liz's voluminous hospital file stated that her last uncontrolled manifestation was on July 4, 1984. At age 17 she met Professor Trevor Broom and was persuaded to join the BPRD. The agency attempted to control her powers, and heal her emotional trauma. She quit the bureau and was wooed back a dozen times, becoming the star of the show. For HELLBOY, it was love at first sight. From the moment he met her, HELLBOY, the invulnerable, came to know the meaning of pain. Liz found solace in HELLBOY, and together they shared a love of silent movies and old cartoons.
[edit] HELLBOY MEDIA MADNESS
TOM MANNING TO THE RESCUE
Through the 1980’s and 90’s the existence of HELLBOY remained a secret, although urban legends concerning the 6’ 9” red bruiser abound. Tabloid articles and fans of crackpot culture wove a web of exciting half–truths, and all-out lies. There were comic books about HELLBOY that even HELLBOY himself enjoyed reading. Professor Broom knew that he could not keep such a big secret under wraps forever. Towards that end, he recruited Thomas Manning to be the human front man for the BPRD. Manning’s ability to be insincere but earnest made him perfect for such a demanding task. Manning had the vague feeling that the BPRD was morally wrong, but in spite of that, he has headed up the organization for the last 24 years. Meanwhile, HELLBOY and the rest of the strange BPRD crew have continued to bump back against the things that go bump in the night.
[edit] GRIGORI RASPUTIN RETURNS ARMAGEDDON TIME
Approximately 60 years after their original encounter, the mad monk Grigori Rasputin resurfaced, with the help of Kroenen and Ilsa Haupstein. Rasputin’s mission this time was designed to bring about an apocalyptic end to earth, and to drag HELLBOY back to the forces of darkness, so that evil might finally rule the world. Just about this time a young FBI agent named John Myers was sent from the FBI headquarters Quantico, Virginia to inject some new life into the BPRD, and he was immediately thrust into this new crisis. Liz Sherman, just recently released from the hospital, after a particularly devastating pyrokinetic dream, she quickly rejoins the BPRD. Rasputin wasted no time in unleashing a savage attack, using a demonic creature called Sammael, who was able to reproduce hundreds of replicas of himself. Hellboy, with the aid of Abe, Liz, and John Myers, went into action, defending the city. They battled the Sammaels through alleys, streets, and the subway, all while trying to protect ordinary citizens from the devastating attacks. HELLBOY was eventually pushed over the edge when Rasputin had Kroenen kill Professor Broom. Determined to bring an end to Rasputin, HELLBOY, joined by Tom Manning, and the other members of the BPRD, fly to Russia for a final showdown. HELLBOY and the BPRD emerge triumphant, effectively destroying Rasputin, and Ilsa Haupstein. Before he was destroyed, the mad Russian mystic forces HELLBOY to view a possibly very terrible future that lies in store for him.
[edit] THE BPRD GETS A NEW AGENT
JOHANN KRAUSS JOINS FORCES WITH HELLBOY’S TEAM
HELLBOY, one of the government’s best, (or worst), kept secrets was suddenly revealed to the world during a BPRD operation. The media had a field day, and HELLBOY himself enjoyed the attention, especially after all the years of hiding in the shadows with no recognition. The government was not happy with the sight of HELLBOY signing autographs, and appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show. They felt that the situation was getting out of control for Tom Manning, and that he needed to be replaced. With a huge new supernatural threat looming on the horizon a new agent was sent in to straighten things out. The agent named Johann Krauss arrived, and his initial impact was unsettling for the rest of the team. Standing 6’ tall, and clad in a thick canvas containment suit, crisscrossed with tubes, and bristling with taps, his physical presence was unusual, to say the least. The most striking thing about Johann though was his head, which was a clear glass bubble, full of gas! In spite of his looks, Johann was charming and proved to be an effective member of the team, and as a protoplasmic mystic he found a fast friend in the aquatic empathy, Abe Sapien.
[edit] RISE OF THE GOLDEN ARMY
HELLBOY’S GREATEST THREAT
The most recent case for HELLBOY and the BPRD team, which now consists of Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, Johann Krauss, and HELLBOY himself, is possibly the most challenging they have ever had to face. After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on earth is ready to erupt. A ruthless leader named Prince Nuada, Silverlance, Son of King Balor, defies his father, and his bloodline, by awakening an unstoppable army of robot creatures. Prince Nuada treads the world above and the one below. It is an unseen magical world, where creatures of fantasy become corporeal. In a case that once again takes them across the globe in pursuit of the latest supernatural threat, HELLBOY and the other members of the BPRD bravely battle the merciless dictator Prince Nuada and his evil marauders. And HELLBOY, a creature of two worlds, who’s accepted by neither, must once again make a choice between the life he knows and an unknown destiny that continues to beckon him.