John Constantine

## Background

### 1982 - 2001: John Constantine

John Constantine was born in Liverpool, England to Thomas & Mary Anne Constantine. His parents had twins before him but only the girl survived labor. Unfortunately, his mother did not survive childbirth, causing his father to develop a deep resentment towards John & referring to him as "killer" his whole life. Whenever Tommy came home from drinking, which John stated was "every night," he would physically abuse his son, reminding him that Mary Anne died because of him. He also regularly put out cigarettes by burning them on John's arms.

As a child, he first began to experiment with magic when somebody told him about a spell that would make him a powerful magician. However, the person didn't tell him that the spell required a sacrifice & while performing it, his family home caught fire & killed his father. John ran away from home, becoming more in touch with the occult world. He then began reading every book he could find on the occult, learning how to conjure dead beings in the hopes of one day conjuring his mother.

As a young man, he had a knack for being a conman but continued to dabble in magic from his childhood, showing interest in anything of the occult but never getting serious enough for it to be anything more than a hobby. He eventually met & became friends with Chas Chandler, with two eventually becoming roommates.

Constantine & Chas, along with Gary Lester, formed a mystical-themed punk band named "Mucous Membrane." The three of them lived a rock-star lifestyle for a while. They later added Veronica Delacroix as a back-up singer & Constantine started seeing her despite Veronica dating Georgiana Snow (who Constantine also began sleeping with). The band began getting more serious with magic until everything hit the fan when an exorcism went wrong, leading to Veronica slowly losing her connection to the mortal world & a young girl being dragged to Hell by a demon. The band fell apart & Constantine became more determined to focus on his skills.

### 2001 - 2004: John Constantine

With his stint as a rock star over, John had been learning all he could of the occult & magical in Europe. He soon met Zatanna Zatara, a magician from the states. When John first laid eyes on her, he fell in love too. Things between them excelled pretty fast, with Zatanna falling pregnant with their child. The two of them returned to her home Shadowcrest so she could give birth away from the public. After their son was born, Zatanna returned as a star magician, taking the place of her father while John continued to study occult threats.

As Zatanna was prospering her life, John began to lose his ways & became quite obsessed with his occult studies. Zatanna soon ended their relationship, leading to Constantine falling in a downward spiral of drugs. She attempted to keep a cordial relationship but John's drug use made it quite difficult. She forced him to check himself into rehab center if he wanted to see her or their son anymore.

### 2004 - Present: John Constantine

John checked himself into Ravenscar Secure Hospital in Maine to get a handle on his drug habits. He was soon seduced by another psychiatric inmate, Rosa but was unaware she was in face the demon succubus Rosacarnis. After almost a year at the hospital, John was released with a clean bill of health. While he reconnected with his child, Zatanna made it clear she did not want to reconcile their romantic relationship. He was somewhat able to distract himself with meaningless flings (even gaining a spiritual wife) & the adoption of his niece following the death of his sister, Cheryl.

In 2012, Constantine & Zatanna came together to form the Justice League Dark, a team that would specifically combat mystical threats. The team was filled with magically power beings & experts of occultism to tackle the supernatural threats that the League wasn't specifically skilled with. Not too long after the forming of the team, Zatanna & John found their spark again. John soon moved back into Shadowcrest with his niece, becoming as normal as a family as they could.

Although he maintained an open relationship with Zatanna, they suffered a setback when his former lover Rosa showed on the doorstep of Shadowcrest with three young children. She not only revealed they were all John's children but that she was also the demon succubus Rosacarnis & the daughter of the demon Negral. Zatanna shunned him for some time, disgusted that he not only slept with a demon but that wasn't able to sense her heritage. John & Zatanna took in the three children due tot he internal battle currently happening in Hell. John was eventually able to make it up to Zatanna, now raising five children under their roof while maintaining a membership with various teams.

## Romantic Relationships

* Natalie Logue: Girlfriend (1998 - 1999)
* Veronica Delacroix: Lover (2000)
* Georgiana Snow: Lover (2000)
* Rosacarnis: One Night Stand (2004)
* Kit Ryan: Lover (2010)
* Helena Bertinelli: Fling (2011)
* Sara Lance: Fling (2012)
* Nicolas Nolan: Lover (2016)
* Epiphany Greaves: Spiritual Wife (2009 - )
* Gary Green: Lover (2018 - )
* Zatanna Zatara: Girlfriend (2002 - 2004); On & Off (2013 - )

## Powers & Abilities

* **Homo Magi Physiology:** John is a highly skilled sorcerer, having been practicing magic since he was a teen. He is skilled in various forms of magic, most notably Black Magic, a dangerous & malevolent sort of magic that is known to come at a high cost to its practitioner.
	+ ***Astral Projection***: John is able to create astral projections of himself.
	+ ***Demon Summoning***: John is capable of summoning demonic entities through various spells.
	+ ***Elemental Control*:** Constantine has showcased the abilities of chlorokinesis, electrokinesis, pyrokinesis.
	+ ***Energy Construct Creation***: He can use magic to form solid energy constructs, such as shields or bridges.
	+ ***Energy Projection***: Constantine is able to use magic to project multiple forms of energy. He was able to create a small sun capable of incapacitating a powerful vampire.
	+ ***Exorcism***: John is able to forcibly remove possessing entities such as demonic spirits from the body they are possessing.
	+ ***Necromancy***: He once raised a group of murder victims as ghosts to attack their murderer.
	+ ***Telekinesis***: John is able to telekinetically freeze & restrain people.
	+ ***Teleportation***: John is able to teleport himself, others, & items, to various locations & even across dimensions. This does drain a lot of his energy & take some time for him to do.
* **Tainted Blood**:Constantine's blood is demonically tainted, initially by a blood transfusion from the demon Nergal & later by sex with a succubus. This allows him to channel magic & cast spells without facing the cost of it.
* **Alchemy:** He is proficient in creating potent enchanted potions that allow for magical effects to happen.
* **Deception**: John Constantine is an excellent con artist and negotiator. These skills are often more useful than his magical ones. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning. Even with pressure, lack of time and preparation, Constantine can think of a strategy to defeat his enemies in a fight, letting him outwit both Heaven and Hell while striking fear into them.
* **Escapology:** John has shown that he can effortlessly break free from handcuffs.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** Constantine is a poor physical fighter. However, he has occasionally won fights, either by using magical weapons, fighting dirty or by quick-thinking.
* **Investigation**: John is a highly skilled occult detective.
* **Multilingualism**: In addition to English, he speaks some amount of French. He can also perform spells in Latin, Italian, Assyrian & Hebrew so it can be presumed that he knows some of the language.
* **Occultism:** While referring to himself as merely an "*occasional dabbler*" after his failed exorcism, John is a master of the occult & mystic arts. Since his teenage years, John has accumulated vast knowledge & skill of magic, mysticism & the supernatural.
* **Prestidigitation:** Constantine has also exhibited considerable mastery in "stage magic skills."
* **Possession Resistance**: With the use of his magical knowledge, Constantine can resist many psychic attacks such as telepathy, soul and body possession, and powerful mind controls.
* **Singing**: Before Constantine became an experienced magician, he was the lead singer in the punk-grunge band Mucous Membrane.
* **Tactical Analysis**: John is a master tactician & strategist and he can plan a strategy on the go. Although his IQ has yet to be confirmed he is known to possess great intellect. Constantine has fought against many of the most powerful, gods & great intellectual minds alike.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strength:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Speed:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Occult:** 7 - Master / Elite
* **Weapons:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Range:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Strategy:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Combat:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **TOTAL:** 119 - Threat Level 3 / General Threat

## Trivia

* John isn't a terrible father, he just isn't the most capable.
* He doesn't know how to ride a bicycle.
* John HATES the word "moist". He'll do anything to avoid saying it.
* He doesn't like the band Coldplay as he considers their music to be "for bed wetters".
* Mick Rory has given him the nickname Trench Coat.
* He has shown to greatly care for Zatanna, stating that he rather die than live without her.
* Despite John being a master sorcerer in his own right, he is shown to be wary of fighting Damien Darhk.
* He can sense the presence of magic.
* He attempted to ask his teammate Zari out but she turned him down after she found he was already involved with three other people at the time.
* His favorite brand of cigarettes are Silk Cut.
* Following the disbandment of Mucous Membrane, John spent some time in psychiatric hospitals.
* Veronica & Georgiana were a couple when Constantine met them. He started an affair with both of them. When Veronica begins losing her connection to the mortal world & their affairs are revealed, both women stopped sleeping with John & ended their relationship as well.
* He describes the cloaking spell as an "elementary spell."
* Black Alice has borrowed his powers.
* In 2008, he asks Georgiana Snow for her help in killing the ghost eating monster that he encountered. Georgie succeeds but Constantine reveals that the monster was Veronica Delacroix. Georgie tells Constantine to stay away & severs all ties with him.

## Notes

* Trying to date Zari is a nod to their relationship on *Legends of Tomorrow.*
* John stating that he rather die than live without Zatanna is a nod to the movie, *Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.*
* Ambrose Bierce is an occultist that has a similar appearance to & is often mistaken for John Constantine. The creation of the character was because Constantine could not be used by Phil Foglio.

## Links & References

* Character Gallery: John Constantine
* Love Interests of John Constantine