History Monster / Hellboy

%% NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated: Blood and Iron'': [[SerialKiller Erzsebet Ondrushko]] is an [[AristocratsAreEvil evil countess]] based on the infamous UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory. Consumed by her vanity and wishing to [[ImmortalityImmorality stay young and beautiful forever]], Ondrushko sold her soul to Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Witches. In return, Hecate transformed Ondrushko into [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a vampire]] and gave her the power to rejuvenate her body if she [[BloodBath bathes in the blood of young women]]; she is said to have murdered over a thousand people in her quest to remain young. Through a series of flashbacks, we see Ondrushko take over a dress shop, by murdering the shop owner and her [[WouldHurtAChild infant child]], to lure in and kidnap a young girl named Anna. Anna's fiancé gathers a rescue party, including a young Professor Broom, which goes to Ondrushko's castle, which is filled with torture devices and the bodies of young women. Finding Anna drained of blood, they [[MercyKill kill her to prevent her from becoming a vampire as well]]. Ondrushko kills most of the rescue party, but Bloom manages to kill her. Though her body died, her evil spirit remained. Sixty years later, the BPRD is sent to investigate a supposed haunted mansion, which is in fact haunted by the souls of Ondrushko's many victims. Ondrushko's minions resurrect her and she bathes in the blood in the mansion's owner to rejuvenate herself.

** [[OverarchingVillain Landis Pope]] is the [[LegacyCharacter second inheritor of the Black Flame mantle]] who starts out as the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral CEO]] of the Zinco Corporation, unearthing the Black Flame suit for his own ends. Pope begins with the capacity for remorse and horror over what tampering with the Kartha-Hem leads to, but loses it after his seeming DisneyVillainDeath following his murder of Liz Sherman's homunculus friend Roger and his entire squad. Fully bonding himself to the Black Flame suit, Pope is rescued by the King of Fear and his subterranean people, where Pope [[UngratefulBastard repays them]] by manipulating and eventually killing the King of Fear in his bid to harness the Ogdru Jahad and restart humanity through them. After his death and resurrection during ''Hell on Earth'', Pope sets himself up as a god among the survivors of New York, massacring everyone who stands up against him and shedding no tears even over the death of his loyal servant Marsten. Of all those in ''Hellboy'' who seek to use the Ogdru Jahad for [[WellIntentionedExtremist delusionally well-intentioned ends]], Pope stands out for [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist ultimately throwing aside his humanity]] in his bid to make the Ogdru Jahad his and have them [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate the entire planet]], wreaking horrific carnage on the world at large through them before his final death at Liz's hand.

* "The Chained Coffin" (debut): [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Azzael]] is the father of Anung un Rama, who would become Hellboy. A powerful figure in Hell, Azzael corrupted many mortals, being known as a lord of local witches in England. Marrying the witch Sarah Hughes, Azzael later returned for her, murdering her human children and taking her to Hell where he burnt her away to retrieve his true son. Cutting off his son's hand to fit it with TheRightHandOfDoom, Azzael intended on causing the apocalypse to control the [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru Jahad]] himself, and though [[SmallRoleBigImpact his presence in the series is minimal]], [[GreaterScopeVillain all the troubles in the series can be traced back to Azzael's monstrous nature]].
* "[[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator]]" (debut): [[StupidJetpackHitler Herman von Klempt]] is a [[HerrDoktor Nazi scientist]] with an inability to stay dead, even after having been reduced to little more than a [[BrainInAJar head in a jar]]. Herman von Klempt attempts to resurrect an old Nazi project to wipe out America with slaughterous vampires; tries to take out the spinal fluid of young peasant girls in his first meeting with Hellboy; and conducts terrifying experiments on hundreds in the depths of an old prison in Brazil. Herman von Klempt reaches his full streak of evil upon pledging his service to the Ogdru Jahad; von Klempt manipulates his granddaughter into unearthing an apocalyptic beast known as the Conqueror Worm to devour all humanity, first feeding all of her soldiers to the beast and wickedly transforming his own granddaughter into a misshapen beast to watch as he [[OmnicidalManiac reduces the Earth to a scorched tinder]] and hands it over to the Ogdru Jahad.
* Issue #38 (debut, but mentioned earlier): [[LadyOfBlackMagic Nimue]] is the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Blood]], and is also also known as Vivienne or Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake. Once a mighty sorceress who betrayed the great Wizard Merlin and imprisoned him [[AndIMustScream to live eternally in his own grave]], Nimue was imprisoned for 1,500 years by the witches of Britain. Upon her revival to lead the Wild Hunt, Nimue destroys the other witches of Britain and sets about marshaling an army of the Fae. When one ambassador comes to her to say his king will stand with her, Nimue forces him to murder his king, cut out his heart and forge her a new crown with it. Nimue launches vicious purges to ensure there is no threat to her rule, intending to exterminate humanity to the last man. When defeated and being dragged to hell by the witches she'd murdered, Nimue spitefully [[TakingYouWithMe tears out Hellboy's heart to ensure she won't face damnation alone]].
* ''The Crooked Man'' (issues #33-35): [[JackassGenie Jeremiah "Miser" Witkins]] was a [[WarForFunAndProfit war profiteer]] who helped to cause conflict between Natives and the colonists to line his own pockets. After being caught [[PlayingBothSides playing the British and colonists against one another]], he was hanged and returned worse. A soul collector who makes [[DealWithTheDevil dark bargains]] to [[YourSoulIsMine obtain the souls of his victims]], Witkins, as the titular Crooked Man, haunts the Appalachian Mountains, bargaining with Tom Ferrell to do evil as so many others have with his power. When Tom refuses to use his power for wickedness, Witkins has Tom's father turned into a horse and ridden to death, murdering the kind girl Cora Fisher who became a witch by sheer misfortune and lays siege to the local church with his slaves. Killing and corrupting countless innocents in the backwoods, Witkins stops at nothing to claim the souls he feels he has been owed, keeping them as hellbound slaves or gold coins he refuses to ever part with.
* ''The Sleeping and the Dead'' (issues #51-52): [[VampireMonarch The Vampire Lord]] is a powerful vampire who helped to concoct the scheme to set most European vampires to secrecy, plotting to build their numbers and raise them centuries hence when mankind has forgotten them, allowing them to slaughter millions and [[TakeOverTheWorld take over the planet]]. The Vampire Lord [[TheCorrupter corrupts]] a woman named Katherine into his vampire slave, taking [[WouldHurtAChild her younger sister Mary]] as a plaything before turning her into a horrific monster imprisoned in her old house. The Vampire Lord and Katherine then prey on dozens of innocents, slowly murdering them before he attempts to raise his victims in a fury to slaughter Hellboy and the other BPRD agents.

** "The Soul of Venice" (issue #4): [[TheHedonist Romulus Diovanni]] was a [[AristocratsAreEvil depraved Venetian nobleman]] whose debaucherous parties attracted the attention of a vampire whom Diovanni befriended. Diovanni's [[EvilerThanThou evil exceeded even the vampire's own]], and when the vampire denied Diovanni immortality, Diovanni tortured his former friend for years on end before eating him, becoming a vampire, and slaughtering hundreds. Unsatisfied with even this power, Diovanni hunts for 600 years to capture the soul of Venice's goddess Cloacina and hand her over to Shax for the power to command Shax's forces to come upon all humanity.
** Issue #19 (debut): [[OverarchingVillain Landis Pope]] is the [[LegacyCharacter second inheritor of the Black Flame mantle]] who starts out as the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral CEO]] of the Zinco Corporation, unearthing the Black Flame suit for his own ends. Pope begins with the capacity for remorse and horror over what tampering with the Kartha-Hem leads to, but loses it after his seeming DisneyVillainDeath following his murder of Liz Sherman's homunculus friend Roger and his entire squad. Fully bonding himself to the Black Flame suit, Pope is rescued by the King of Fear and his subterranean people, where Pope [[UngratefulBastard repays them]] by manipulating and eventually killing the King of Fear in his bid to harness the Ogdru Jahad and restart humanity through them. After his death and resurrection during ''Hell on Earth'', Pope sets himself up as a god among the survivors of New York, massacring everyone who stands up against him and shedding no tears even over the death of his loyal servant Marsten. Of all those in ''Hellboy'' who seek to use the Ogdru Jahad for [[WellIntentionedExtremist delusionally well-intentioned ends]], Pope stands out for [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist ultimately throwing aside his humanity]] in his bid to make the Ogdru Jahad his and have them [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate the entire planet]], wreaking horrific carnage on the world at large through them before his final death at Liz's hand.

* [[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) second]] ''[[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) Hellboy]]'' [[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) story]] (debut): [[StupidJetpackHitler Herman von Klempt]] is a [[HerrDoktor Nazi scientist]] with an inability to stay dead, even after having been reduced to little more than a [[BrainInAJar head in a jar]]. Herman von Klempt attempts to resurrect an old Nazi project to wipe out America with slaughterous vampires; tries to take out the spinal fluid of young peasant girls in his first meeting with Hellboy; and conducts terrifying experiments on hundreds in the depths of an old prison in Brazil. Herman von Klempt reaches his full streak of evil upon pledging his service to the Ogdru Jahad; von Klempt manipulates his granddaughter into unearthing an apocalyptic beast known as the Conqueror Worm to devour all humanity, first feeding all of her soldiers to the beast and wickedly transforming his own granddaughter into a misshapen beast to watch as he [[OmnicidalManiac reduces the Earth to a scorched tinder]] and hands it over to the Ogdru Jahad.

* ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated: Blood and Iron'': [[SerialKiller Erzsebet Ondrushko]] is an [[AristocratsAreEvil evil countess]] based on the infamous UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory. Consumed by her vanity and wishing to [[ImmortalityImmorality stay young and beautiful forever]], Ondrushko sold her soul to Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Witches. In return, Hecate transformed Ondrushko into [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a vampire]] and gave her the power to rejuvenate her body if she [[BloodBath bathes in the blood of young women]]; she is said to have murdered over a thousand people in her quest to remain young. Through a series of flashbacks, we see Ondrushko take over a dress shop, by murdering the shop owner and her [[WouldHurtAChild infant child]], to lure in and kidnap a young girl named Anna. Anna's fiancé gathers a rescue party, including a young Professor Broom, which goes to Ondrushko's castle, which is filled with torture devices and the bodies of young women. Finding Anna drained of blood, they [[MercyKill kill her to prevent her from becoming a vampire as well]]. Ondrushko kills most of the rescue party, but Bloom manages to kill her. Though her body died, her evil spirit remained. Sixty years later, the BPRD is sent to investigate a supposed haunted mansion, which is in fact haunted by the souls of Ondrushko's many victims. Ondrushko's minions resurrect her and she bathes in the blood in the mansion's owner to rejuvenate herself.

* [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Azzael]], debuting in 1995's "The Chained Coffin", is the father of Anung un Rama, who would become Hellboy. A powerful figure in Hell, Azzael corrupted many mortals, being known as a lord of local witches in England. Marrying the witch Sarah Hughes, Azzael later returned for her, murdering her human children and taking her to Hell where he burnt her away to retrieve his true son. Cutting off his son's hand to fit it with TheRightHandOfDoom, Azzael intended on causing the apocalypse to control the [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru Jahad]] himself, and though [[SmallRoleBigImpact his presence in the series is minimal]], [[GreaterScopeVillain all the troubles in the series can be traced back to Azzael's monstrous nature]].
* [[StupidJetpackHitler Herman von Klempt]], debuting in the [[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) second]] ''[[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) Hellboy]]'' [[https://hellboy.fandom.com/wiki/World%27s_Greatest_Paranormal_Investigator_(CBG) story]], is a [[HerrDoktor Nazi scientist]] with an inability to stay dead, even after having been reduced to little more than a [[BrainInAJar head in a jar]]. Herman von Klempt attempts to resurrect an old Nazi project to wipe out America with slaughterous vampires; tries to take out the spinal fluid of young peasant girls in his first meeting with Hellboy; and conducts terrifying experiments on hundreds in the depths of an old prison in Brazil. Herman von Klempt reaches his full streak of evil upon pledging his service to the Ogdru Jahad; von Klempt manipulates his daughter into unearthing an apocalyptic beast known as the Conqueror Worm to devour all humanity, first feeding all of her soldiers to the beast and wickedly transforming his own granddaughter into a misshapen beast to watch as he [[OmnicidalManiac reduces the Earth to a scorched tinder]] and hands it over to the Ogdru Jahad.
* [[LadyOfBlackMagic Nimue]], debuting in issue #38 but mentioned earlier, is the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Blood]], and is also also known as Vivienne or Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake. Once a mighty sorceress who betrayed the great Wizard Merlin and imprisoned him [[AndIMustScream to live eternally in his own grave]], Nimue was imprisoned for 1,500 years by the witches of Britain. Upon her revival to lead the Wild Hunt, Nimue destroys the other witches of Britain and sets about marshaling an army of the Fae. When one ambassador comes to her to say his king will stand with her, Nimue forces him to murder his king, cut out his heart and forge her a new crown with it. Nimue launches vicious purges to ensure there is no threat to her rule, intending to exterminate humanity to the last man. When defeated and being dragged to hell by the witches she'd murdered, Nimue spitefully [[TakingYouWithMe tears out Hellboy's heart to ensure she won't face damnation alone]].

** [[OverarchingVillain Landis Pope]], debuting in issue #19, is the [[LegacyCharacter second inheritor of the Black Flame mantle]] who starts out as the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral CEO]] of the Zinco Corporation, unearthing the Black Flame suit for his own ends. Pope begins with the capacity for remorse and horror over what tampering with the Kartha-Hem leads to, but loses it after his seeming DisneyVillainDeath following his murder of Liz Sherman's homunculus friend Roger and his entire squad. Fully bonding himself to the Black Flame suit, Pope is rescued by the King of Fear and his subterranean people, where Pope [[UngratefulBastard repays them]] by manipulating and eventually killing the King of Fear in his bid to harness the Ogdru Jahad and restart humanity through them. After his death and resurrection during ''Hell on Earth'', Pope sets himself up as a god among the survivors of New York, massacring everyone who stands up against him and shedding no tears even over the death of his loyal servant Marsten. Of all those in ''Hellboy'' who seek to use the Ogdru Jahad for [[WellIntentionedExtremist delusionally well-intentioned ends]], Pope stands out for [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist ultimately throwing aside his humanity]] in his bid to make the Ogdru Jahad his and have them [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate the entire planet]], wreaking horrific carnage on the world at large through them before his final death at Liz's hand.

** The aforementioned [[TheDragon Matthias Herzog]] is a [[EvilSorcerer wicked occultist]] and the leader of Der Horn Ordern. [[DealWithTheDevil Allying himself with the demon Moloch]] in exchange for immortality and power, Herzog erects a murderous cult of Moloch devotees and revives Moloch's old ways. Fathering many children himself on women desperate for money, Herzog has them sell the babies to his cult under false pretense, [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificing them to Moloch]] by burning them alive. After many of these sacrifices, Herzog, knowing full well that his master intends on torturing and slaughtering countless innocents, attempts to sell the world out to Moloch, [[ItsAllAboutMe all for the sake of his own selfishness]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated: Blood and Iron'': [[SerialKiller Erzsebet Ondrushko]] is an [[AristocratsAreEvil evil countess]] based on the infamous UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory. Consumed by her vanity and wishing to [[ImmortalityImmorality stay young and beautiful forever]], Ondrushko sold her soul to Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Witches. In return, Hecate transformed Ondrushko into [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a vampire]] and gave her the power to rejuvenate her body if she [[BloodBath bathes in the blood of young women]]; she is said to have murdered over a thousand people in her quest to remain young. Through a series of flashbacks, we see Ondrushko take over a dress shop, by murdering the shop owner and her [[WouldHurtAChild infant child]], to lure in and kidnap a young girl named Anna. Anna's fiancé gathers a rescue party, including a young Professor Broom, which goes to Ondrushko's castle, which is filled with torture devices and the bodies of young women. Finding Anna drained of blood, they [[MercyKill kill her to prevent her from becoming a vampire as well]]. Ondrushko kills most of the rescue party, but Bloom manages to kill her. Though her body died, her evil spirit remained. Sixty years later, the BPRD is sent to investigate a supposed haunted mansion, which is in fact haunted by the souls of Ondrushko's many victims. Ondrushko's minions resurrect her and she bathes in the blood in the mansion's owner to rejuvenate herself.

* [[StupidJetpackHitler Herman von Klempt]], debuting in the second ''Hellboy'' story, is a [[HerrDoktor Nazi scientist]] with [[JokerImmunity an inability to stay dead]], even after having been reduced to little more than a [[BrainInAJar head in a jar]]. Herman von Klempt attempts to resurrect an old Nazi project to wipe out America with slaughterous vampires; tries to take out the spinal fluid of young peasant girls in his first meeting with Hellboy; and conducts terrifying experiments on hundreds in the depths of an old prison in Brazil. Herman von Klempt reaches his full streak of evil upon pledging his service to the Ogdru Jahad; von Klempt manipulates his daughter into unearthing an apocalyptic beast known as the Conqueror Worm to devour all humanity, first feeding all of her soldiers to the beast and wickedly transforming his own granddaughter into a misshapen beast to watch as he [[OmnicidalManiac reduces the Earth to a scorched tinder]] and hands it over to the Ogdru Jahad.

* [[LadyOfBlackMagic Nimue]], debuting in issue #38 but mentioned earlier, is the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Blood]], and is also also known as Vivienne or TheLadyOfTheLake. Once a mighty sorceress who betrayed the great Wizard Merlin and imprisoned him [[AndIMustScream to live eternally in his own grave]], Nimue was imprisoned for 1,500 years by the witches of Britain. Upon her revival to lead the Wild Hunt, Nimue destroys the other witches of Britain and sets about marshaling an army of the Fae. When one ambassador comes to her to say his king will stand with her, Nimue forces him to murder his king, cut out his heart and forge her a new crown with it. Nimue launches vicious purges to ensure there is no threat to her rule, intending to exterminate humanity to the last man. When defeated and being dragged to hell by the witches she'd murdered, Nimue spitefully [[TakingYouWithMe tears out Hellboy's heart to ensure she won't face damnation alone]].

[[AC:[[ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} Comic Book]]]]

* [[LadyOfBlackMagic Nimue]] is the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Blood]], and is also also known as Vivienne or TheLadyOfTheLake. Once a mighty sorceress who betrayed the great Wizard Merlin and imprisoned him [[AndIMustScream to live eternally in his own grave]], Nimue was imprisoned for 1,500 years by the witches of Britain. Upon her revival to lead the Wild Hunt, Nimue destroys the other witches of Britain and sets about marshaling an army of the Fae. When one ambassador comes to her to say his king will stand with her, Nimue forces him to murder his king, cut out his heart and forge her a new crown with it. Nimue launches vicious purges to ensure there is no threat to her rule, intending to exterminate humanity to the last man. When defeated and being dragged to hell by the witches she'd murdered, Nimue spitefully [[TakingYouWithMe tears out Hellboy's heart to ensure she won't face damnation alone]].

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellboybloodandiron_erzsbetfeeds.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Erzsebet Ondrushko is as likely to drink blood as she is to [[BloodBath bathe in it]].]]

!Note: [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff All spoilers are unmarked.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

* (2019 film)

!NOTE: ALL SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED

[[AC:[[ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} Comic Book]]