John Constantine (Classic)

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==Summary==
Since before his birth, John Constantine was an unlucky man. The death of his would-be twin brother and mother during his birth caused his father to resent him, which led him to an unhappy childhood, and drove him down a dark path during his early teenage years, where he began to dabble in occult matters, initially with the goal of exacting petty vengeance upon his father.
Some years later, John also began to develop an interest in music, founding the punk band "Mucous Membrane", with its members joining a passion for the occult. While it was mildly successful, Mucuous Membrane's story would come to a sudden stop in Newcastle, in a place known as the Casanova Club, where they were hired for a gig. Picking up strange energies from the place, the group decided to investigate at a later time, where they found the owner's daughter in a trance, possessed by a demon. In his inexperience, John decided that the best way to handle this would be summoning a stronger demon, but botched the incantation, and allowed the powerful Nergal, who tore the girl to pieces and brought her soul to Hell.
Haunted by this and many more failures and dead friends, Constantine is a jaded, pragmatic man who seeks to do the right thing, but is often unable to due to the reality of his world, as well as his own many shortcomings, though he has certainly pulled off many amazing feats through his sheer wit and capacity to come up with ploys in the most desperate situation, using his magical abilities, his connections but most of all his bravado to outsmart his demonic foes time and time again.
Initially introduced during Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing, John would go on to receive his own series named Hellblazer, part of DC's new Vertigo imprint, meant for more mature stories. Hellblazer would go on to run for 300 issues and over 25 years, with John also making frequent appearances in other Swamp Thing comics and becoming one of Vertigo's most iconic and successful characters.
==Powers and Stats==
Tier: , up to with weapons, at least , possibly with Wishing Matches
Name: John Constantine, "Hellblazer", The Laughing Magician
Origin: DC Comics
Gender: Male
Age: Born in 1953. As Hellblazer advanced in real time, with John aging with the passing of the years in the real world, he is 32 years old in his first appearance, and 60 years old by the end of Hellblazer in 2013.
Classification: Human, magician, occultist
Powers and Abilities:
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|-|Physically=
Extrasensory Perception (Can sense ghosts and see entities from the Dreamtime,Hellblazer Ch 49Hellblazer Ch 89 which are invisible to most. The Demon Blood in John's veins senses evilHellblazer Ch 92), Poison Manipulation (Constantine's Demon Blood is lethal if drankHellblazer Ch 69), Precognition (Can sense incoming dangerous events by looking into the DreamtimeHellblazer Ch 91), Healing (John's Demon Blood can heal serious injuries with a transfusionHellblazer Ch 176), minor Longevity (John ages slowly thanks to his Demon BloodHellblazer Ch 236), minor Blood Manipulation (John's Demon Blood appears to subconsciously follow his wishes, coagulating to prevent the reattachment of his thumb after he cut it off in a crazed stateHellblazer Ch 268), Enhanced Senses (Can see invisible beingsHellblazer: City of Demons Issue 3Hellblazer: City of Demons Issue 2), Resistance to Illusion Creation (Noticed a house that had been made impossible to see by a ghost) and Possession (Resisted Anton Arcane's attempts at possessing himSwamp Thing Vol 2 138)
|-|Abilities & Techniques=
Genius Intelligence, Expert Brawler (While Constantine is by no means a skilled fighter,Hellblazer Ch 55 he is a very clever one, and can take out much stronger opponents with the right strategyJohn Constantine - Hellblazer: All His Engines or just by surprising themHellblazer Ch 217), Social Influencing (Sold his soul to the devil only to threaten The Presence into cancelling that deal, convincing it that he would be able to take over Hell, then wage and win war against Heaven.Hellblazer Ch 127 Tricked the First of the Fallen into drinking holy water to save the soul of a friend.Hellblazer Ch 42 By pretending to be eager to sell his soul,Hellblazer Ch 3 conned a demon into thinking the market on souls was about to crash so that in his rage he would get rid of his underlings, who were about to kill him. Has terrified peopleHellblazer Ch 48 into giving him information on various occasions.Hellblazer Ch 28 Scared off more than a hundred magicians,Books of Magic Vol 1 2 all more powerful than him, by using his reputation and possibly some unknown form of magic. Can sneak subliminal, hypnotic messaging in his speech.Hellblazer Ch 117 Routinely makes large sums of money in poker.Hellblazer Ch 214 Walked into a police investigation and convinced them into following his orders just through his attitude.Hellblazer Ch 235 After reading their memories, can make people go from threatening him to crying on the floor in a few sentences.Hellblazer Ch 266 Can cause mundane objects to become magical just by convincing others that they areHellblazer Ch 290), Preparation (When he was afflicted by lung cancer, to avoid dying and going to Hell, John summoned the three lords of Hell and sold his soul to each of them so that they would wage war over it if he were to die, forcing them to heal him.Hellblazer Ch 44Hellblazer Ch 45 Sold his soul to the devil only to threaten The Presence into cancelling that deal, convincing it that he would be able to take over Hell, then wage and win war against Heaven.Hellblazer Ch 128 Has access to a wide variety of spells he can only perform with the right setup. When in a situation where he was forced to sell his soul to save a friend's son,Hellblazer Ch 96 John bound the half of it that would be damned to Hell to a golem, then forced an Alchemist into fusing his soul with him to make up for him missing half and even adjusted things to manipulate his other, now amnesiac half and to guarantee it would have a relatively easy time in Hell. Convinced two magicians to partecipate to a seance by lying and telling them the other would partecipate, banking on the prediction that they both would.Swamp Thing Vol 2 49 Tricked a demon into thinking the market on souls was about to crash so that in his rage he would get rid of his underlings, who were about to kill him), Stealth Mastery (Tailed a couple without them noticing and can escape from people mid-conversation unnoticed.Hellblazer Ch 279 Knows how to escape straightjackets,Swamp Thing Vol 2 66 hotwire cars,Hellblazer Ch 26 pick locks,Hellblazer Ch 27 forge signaturesHellblazer Ch 71 and steal things without being noticed.Hellblazer Ch 268 Is a very skilled stage magicianHellblazer Ch 120 and can change his appearance fairly effectively.Hellblazer Ch 260 Made his way into the Batmobile without Nightwing noticingBrightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing Vol 1 1), Hypnosis and Memory Manipulation (Can hypnotize people with a snap and remove their memories.Hellblazer Ch 15 Put a girl to sleep, making her forget some traumatic events.Hellblazer Ch 11 Hypnotized a policeman into a catatonic state where he could still follow and understand the events arounds him, but not notice Constantine.Hellblazer Ch 103 This hypnosis is not magical in natureHellblazer Ch 87), Morality Manipulation (John knows a sort of hypnosis that can change people's morality for yearsHellblazer Annual 2), Breaking the Fourth Wall (Took the reader for a walk and displayed awareness of being a comic book character through the entirety of one issueHellblazer Ch 120), Information Analysis (Knew what weapons two people inside a car held and when they were about to pull them outSwamp Thing Vol 3 10), minor Dream Manipulation (John knows techniques to enter a lucid dreaming state,Hellblazer Ch 235 which he can also use in an astral projection), Resurrection (Can enter his own body again after dying to come back to life,Hellblazer Ch 275 though this is extremely difficult, and the time he died afterward he needed to rely on another person's actions to come back againHellblazer Ch 300), Body Control and minor Resistance to Pain Manipulation and Temperature Manipulation (Can use meditation to "convince" his body that it isn't in pain and delay the pain and injuries that would come from burnsHellblazer Ch 185), Supernatural Willpower and Resistance to Empathic Manipulation and Madness Manipulation (Powered through a psychic attack that made most other targets go insane with strong emotions.Hellblazer Ch 17 Endured Angel's power, which shows visions so horrible most take their lives afterwards.The Horrorist Ch 2 Resisted the effect of a room that caused those within it to go berserk and attempt to kill others.Hellblazer Ch 140 Was seemingly unaffected by Nergal's possession,Hellblazer Ch 211 which usually makes its targets far more bitter and aggressive.Hellblazer Ch 206 John's life has been so horrible that when Glasgow was hit by an empathy plague that made others read everyone else's minds, no one could even approach him.Hellblazer Ch 224 Immune to the effects of having sex with a succubusHellblazer Ch 273)
|-|With Magic= Magic, Soul Manipulation and Astral Projection (When his soul is ripped out of his body, John can turn it into an astral projection,Hellblazer Ch 10 and could force the Swamp Thing out of his body while in this state. Can dive through the Mindworld in an astral projectionHellblazer Ch 21), Telepathy (Sent Nergal a message from afar.Hellblazer Ch 12 Can read people's thoughts and memoriesHellblazer Ch 67Hellblazer Ch 266), Mind Manipulation (Can control people with magic), Perception Manipulation (Made a taxi driver unable to hear a conversation in the backseats or notice his presence at all.Hellblazer Ch 43 Caused the handlers of a casino to believe he had won a bet.Hellblazer Ch 232 Made a group of cops completely fail to notice him.Hellblazer Ch 258 Caused a man to hallucinate and feel hellish torture, eventually even burning from itHellblazer Ch 270), Illusion Creation (Made a man see him instead of another personHellblazer Ch 52 and caused a boy to hallucinate a green mamba on his crotch.Hellblazer Ch 144 Created an illusion that made him look like a bloated corpseHellblazer Ch 260), Empathic Manipulation (Made a man feel compelled to give him some of his moneyHellblazer Ch 71), Memory Manipulation (Can erase memories with a touchHellblazer Ch 107), Water Manipulation and Smoke Manipulation (Caused an image of a snake to appear in his beer and then his cigarette smoke.Hellblazer Ch 143 Controlled someone else's cigarette smoke to choke them a bitHellblazer Ch 282), Precognition and Extrasensory Perception (Can enter a state of passive scrying,Hellblazer Ch 176 which lets him sense things around him. Often wakes up with an awareness of incoming dangersSwamp Thing Vol 2 114), Necromancy (Can cause wrathful spirits to attack the person that hurt themHellblazer Ch 176), Purification (Removed Kali from a body she was possessing by reciting a few sentencesHellblazer Ch 180), Technology Manipulation (Can open locks with magicHellblazer Ch 237), Empowerment (Can draw power from great sources of belief, as shown when he snorted St. Nicholas' bones during Christmas timeHellblazer Ch 247), Curse Negation (Can cast protective chants to shield himself from cursesHellblazer Ch 251), Animal Manipulation (Made a dog begin to swallow his own tongue by flicking his cigarette at himHellblazer Ch 260), Subjective Reality (Can negate the damage he suffers by refusing to accept it, though this seemingly only works on supernatural creaturesHellblazer Ch 262Hellblazer Ch 264), Sealing (Can cast binding spells), Transmutation (Turned a piece of cloth into a feather), Body Puppetry and Paralysis Inducement (Took control of two people and forced them in a specific position for one hourHellblazer: City of Demons Issue 1), Illusion Negation (Can force magic beings to show their true form), Retrocognition (Can view a dead person's memories and enter them), limited Psychometry (Through he isn't particularly skilled in it, John can attempt psychometryHellblazer Ch 293), Death Manipulation (Gave an old woman a peaceful death with a touch), Sleep Manipulation (Put Alfred Pennyworth and a criminal to sleep), Pain Manipulation (Can cast protective circles around himself to hurt those who attempt to harm himBrightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing Vol 1 2), Dimensional Travel (Can transport himself and others to the GreenBrightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing Vol 1 3)
|-|With Preparation or Equipment=
Purification (Can perform exorcismsSwamp Thing Vol 2 46 and free tormented soulsHellblazer Ch 58), Sealing (Sealed a spirit inside a man's bodyHellblazer Ch 2 and a ghost in a tree.Hellblazer Ch 88 Can create protective circles to keep evil spirits awayHellblazer Ch 267Hellblazer Ch 11), Summoning (Can summon demonsHellblazer Ch 44 and spiritsHellblazer Ch 177), Clairvoyance (Can divineHellblazer Ch 4 a person's location,Hellblazer Ch 182 or the code to a safe,Hellblazer Ch 24 and call spirits to consult with themSwamp Thing Vol 2 84), Memory Manipulation (Can create memory-blocking seals.Hellblazer Ch 9 Sealed away his own childhood memoriesHellblazer/The Books of Magic Vol 1 1), Curse Manipulation, Biological Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation (Can cast curses on others, making them grow weaker and meekerHellblazer Ch 31), Retrocognition (Can look into his own past with card readingHellblazer Ch 39), Extrasensory Perception Negation (Can hide beings from Hell's forcesHellblazer Ch 60Hellblazer Ch 61), Non-Physical Interaction (Can etch spells into souls), Astral Projection (Can enter the Dreamtime realm by playing a songHellblazer Ch 89), Mind Manipulation (Can imbue his writing with imperceptible glamour charms,Hellblazer Ch 90 and carve sigils into demons to force them to obey him for a few yearsHellblazer Ch 130), Soul Manipulation and Life Manipulation (Removed the demonic part of his soul and placed into a mud body to create a temporary double,Hellblazer Ch 94 even choosing what parts of his emotions to hold on or give the double), Fusionism (Fused the remaining half of his soul with that of Aleister Crowley), Pain Manipulation (Caused several men to suddenly be injured and in extreme agony after burning cigarettes that they gave him.Hellblazer Ch 146 Owns trinkets that inflict pain to demons when pointed at themHellblazer Special: Chas Vol 1 1), Necromancy (Can create golems out of corpses or bind souls to themHellblazer Ch 167Swamp Thing Vol 4 1), Power Modification (Redirected a spellHellblazer Ch 216), BFR (Owns a dagger that banishes lesser demons back to HellHellblazer Ch 217), Magic and Possession Negation (Can nullify certain spellsHellblazer Ch 222 and prevent others from possessing him), Biological Manipulation (Prevented a body from decomposingHellblazer Ch 258), limited Time Travel (If both Constantine and a past version of him cast a certain spell, his current self can travel back to that point in timeHellblazer Ch 273), minor Fusionism (Fused another man's thumb to his stump with magicHellblazer Ch 278), minor Resurrection (Can temporarily resurrect the freshly deadHellblazer Ch 285), Sound Manipulation (With a magical tuning fork,Swamp Thing Vol 2 90 John blew up some cultists' heads and freed Swamp Thing from within a gemstone), Reality Warping (By lighting the Wishing Matches,Swamp Thing Vol 2 169 John can make a wish, as shown when he took away the power ofSwamp Thing Vol 2 170 God Swamp Thing if he so chooses), Resistance to Magic (John's trenchcoat shields him from magic)
|-|With Synchronicity Wave Traveling=
Probability Manipulation and Supernatural Luck (By traveling on the Synchronicity Wave, Constantine causes everything to shape in a way that advantages himHellblazer Ch 102 and his interests,Hellblazer: Papa Midnite Vol 1 3 causing unlikely events to happen so he can survive and thrive. In extreme circumstances, John can siphon the luck from those around him to protect himself), Perception Manipulation and Causality Manipulation (Synchronicity Wave Traveling can cause John and others to "skip forward" in time, passing unnoticed by everyone else, reaching the "results" that he wishes to get to without running into what might stop them), Quantum Manipulation (Synchronicity exists and can only be observed on a quantum scaleSwamp Thing Vol 2 75), Clairvoyance and Instinctive Reaction (Entering the Synchronicity Highway makes one enter a state where they gain a sort of partial, instinctual awareness of their destination.Hellblazer Ch 229 John can actively use this knowledge to find and follow leads to what he's seeking, despite not knowing too well how the Wave itself worksHellblazer Ch 240)
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Attack Potency: Human level (John has typicallyHellblazer Ch 57 beenHellblazer Ch 78 portrayedHellblazer Ch 132 as unimpressive in combat, even by his own admission, though he is effective at defeating enemies by sucker-punching them. Stated to not be very fit,Hellblazer Ch 298 at least in his later years), up to Street level with weapons (Knocked a man out with a fire extinguisher and another with a large lamp. Killed an incapacitated demon dog with a piece of trash.Hellblazer Ch 32 Has used guns on rare occasions.Hellblazer Ch 29 Smashed a zombie's head off with a shovel.Hellblazer Ch 62 Killed a wolf with a large metal baseTrenchcoat Brigade Vol 1 2), at least Low Complex Multiverse level, possibly Complex Multiverse level with Wishing Matches (Powerful enough to take away Swamp Thing's powers for an hour. Swamp Thing had not yet achieved communion with every single Parliament, but was still powerful enough to threaten The Word, The Spectre's older and stronger brother)
Speed: Average Human, higher in short bursts (Can reliably take out foes with the advantage of surprise)
Lifting Strength: Average Human (Carried a man above his shoulder. Caught a ledge after a fall.Hellblazer Ch 207 arm wrestled with a large man in his youth, though he needed a distraction to win. Stated to not be very fit in his later years)
Striking Strength: Human level
Durability: Human level (Can jump throughHellblazer Ch 250 windows without suffering much harm.Hellblazer Ch 23 Got slammed against a back bar and could get up and fight right afterHellblazer Ch 203)
Stamina: Likely Superhuman. Forced himself to hold onto a flaming hand in the middle of a ritual.Swamp Thing Vol 2 50 Could keep taunting and dealing with the three lord of Hell after slitting his wrist, also enduring the First of the Fallen's torture. Could travel and perform magic even after removing half of his soul, which caused his body to begin decaying.Hellblazer Ch 95 Can't derive pleasure from BDSM because of his insensitivity to pain.The Horrorist Ch 1 Can perfectly conceal his pain, even when in so much agony that he can't stand.Hellblazer: City of Demons Issue 5
Range: Standard Melee Range, Varies with magic, Universal+ with Synchronicity Wave Travelling (Works on a universal scale and across all of timeHellblazer Ch 119)
Standard Equipment: His trenchcoat, an excessive amount of Silk Cut cigarettes and a lighter.
*Optional Equipment: Wishing Matches, a medallion to perform hypnosis with,Hellblazer Ch 1 a dagger,Hellblazer Ch 6 various magical artifacts,Hellblazer Ch 259 guns, a magic dagger and likely far more
Intelligence: At least Genius. John is very knowledgeable in occult matters, and is expert in various kinds of magic, such as clairvoyance, summoning voodoo, necromancy and many others, and can even combine them in spells of his own creation. As better detailed in his Social Influencing and Preparation sections in his Powers & Abilities, John is an incredibly clever talker and planner, with his sheer ability to convince people bordering on the supernatural and his wit in coming up with ploys being second to no one, not to mention a skilled detective, as shown when he tracked down a criminal that had evaded the police for his whole life in seemingly less than a day.
Standard Tactics: Despite his breadth of magical techniques and knowledge, John has typically been portrayed as unimpressive in direct fights, preferring to attempt to defeat assailants in hand to hand combat over using any more supernatural ability.
Weaknesses: Unwilling or possibly unable to use most of his magic techniques in direct combat. John often ends up paying a toll for the magic he uses, often with the repercussions falling on his friends. Somewhat selfish and addicted to nicotine and alcohol.
Note: Before making any changes to this page, please read and follow the Power-scaling Rules for Marvel and DC Comics
==Notable Matchups==
Victories:
Keena Soga (Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou) Keena's Profile (Weaponless John and Act 1-8 Keena used, in-character and battle takes place in a Tokyo alleyway)
Losses:
Inconclusive:
==References==
Category:Characters
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Category:Clairvoyance Users
Category:Comic Book Characters
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Category:Detectives
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Category:Dream Users
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