History ComicBook / Hellboy

* '''''BPRD: Vampire''''' - A [[SpinOff spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff]] starring Simon Anders, a B.P.R.D. agent bent on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against vampires. A showcase series for [[Comicbook/{{Daytripper}} Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.]]

* '''''The Visitor: How And Why He Stayed''''' - The story of the mysterious alien watcher who witnessed Hellboy's birth in 1944, and met him again in Hunte Castle in 2001, where he died. This is what he did in between. Written and drawn by [[Comicbook/JackStaff Paul Grist]].

* CrossOver: With ''ComicBook/TheGoon'', ''ComicBook/NextMen'', ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden'', and ''ComicBook/TheSavageDragon'', as well as a memorable three-way crossover with Franchise/{{Batman}} and James Robinson's Comicbook/{{Starman}}.

* {{Ghostapo}}[=/=]StupidJetpackHitler: {{Jet Pack}}s, LegoGenetics, {{Hollywood Cyborg}}s, [[BrainInAJar living heads in jars]], the [[TheLanceOfLonginus Spear of Longinus]], and quality occult advice from ''UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk''; you name it, the Nazis had it. Mignola's Hitler had [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys more toys]] than Franchise/{{Batman}}.

** Hellboy acted as one after the war. In the non-canon ''Comicbook/SavageDragon'' crossover he even killed Hitler himself.

* HandCannon: Hellboy uses a whole series of handguns from a single-shot pistol of some very large caliber given to him by The Torch of Liberty (a WWII-era superhero), through a more modern (though ultimately unreliable) autoloader that would make the Desert Eagle wet itself in awe, to a plain old antique Colt M1911A1 to replace his custom sidearm when it went MIA.

* HandCannon: Hellboy uses a whole series of handguns from a single-shot pistol of some very large caliber given to him by The Torch of Liberty (a WWII-era superhero), through a more modern (though ultimately unreliable) autoloader that would make the Desert Eagle wet itself in awe, to a plain old antique [[CoolGuns Colt M1911A1]] to replace his custom sidearm when it went MIA.

** [[spoiler:He's definitely permanently dead in the physical world, but still exists as an entity within hell, which he will apparently spend the rest of eternity exploring in a WidgetSeries spinoff.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: At one point early in development, ''Hellboy'', ''ComicBook/DangerUnlimited'' / ''ComicBook/NextMen'', and ''[[ComicBook/MonkeymanAndOBrien Monkeyman and O'Brien]]'' were part of a SharedUniverse. This detail was soon dropped when all three creators of their respective comics agreed that it would be too complicated to coordinate. However, some references still made it into ''Hellboy''[='=]s pages, most notably the superhero "The Torch of Liberty" from ''Danger Unlimited'' being present when Hellboy arrived on Earth. The Torch of Liberty was never mentioned again in later issues, and superheroes in-general were absent entirely from ''Hellboy''[='=]s worldbuilding.

** Hilariously subverted when Captain Daimio meets Roger, is flabbergasted by the (literal) block of wood and ring on his groin, and tells him to put some pants on. When it becomes apparent that Roger's groin-block is so large that pants do absolutely nothing to hide them and make him a walking prince-albert joke, Daimio quickly tells him to, on second thought, lose the pants.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: While not outright ''evil'', it seems that the head of Research for the [=B.P.R.D.=], Dr. Roddel (And to a lesser extent his associate Dr. Cobb) is not a particularly compassionate man. He had to be talked into the procedure that woke Abe from his [[RipVanWinkle Magical Sleep]], and refused to do the procedure that revived Roger after he was first brought back (Abe had to sneak into the lab and do it himself). Abe describes his first few days awake in the [=B.P.R.D.=] research labs as "Terrifying", and we see him in a tank with attached electrodes surrounded by dead fish (Presumably that they had thrown into the tank to feed him and never cleaned up after). Hellboy agrees, stating from his own experience that the lab boys will keep going, finding new things to experiment towards until told to stop. Hellboy says this as he charges into an experiment-in-progress, pulls Abe from the tank he's in and takes him to the cafeteria for a sandwich.

* CrossoverCosmology: Deities and monsters of classical mythology make regular appearances, while {{God}} was responsible for the creation of the (originally non-evil) cosmic entities mentioned above.

* NighInvulnerability: Hellboy of course. After he and Liz leave the Bureau, Johann's status as a [[IncrediblyLamePun ghost in a shell]] means he's currently the B.P.R.D.'s ace in the hole during combat missions. He simply switches bodies/suits if he takes damage. It takes an Ogdru Hem's psychic assault to even slow him down.

Instead of being killed because, well, he's a demon, Hellboy is whisked away by the United States and raised under the auspices of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a government organization devoted to… well, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Over the years, Hellboy becomes one of the B.P.R.D.'s top paranormal investigators and forms a deep relationship with his colleagues, who include:

The first spinoff series, '''''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}''''', details the adventures of the organization in Hellboy's absence. New members are recruited, including:

ComicBook/{{BPRD}} has its own page. Please put tropes for that comic and its spinoffs on that page.

Despite their titles, this series has no connection to ''Anime/HellGirl''.