John Constantine

John Constantine is a fast talking, magic-using hustler who always seems to be in the right wrong place at the right wrong time.

Background
John Constantine was born in Liverpool, England on May 10, XXXX. His mother, Mary Anne, died giving birth to John and his stillborn twin brother because an earlier abortion—forced on her by John's father, Thomas—had weakened her womb. Because he was unable to accept responsibility for his wife's death, Thomas blamed John and the pair grew up with a deep dislike for one another. Whilst in the womb, John strangled his twin brother with his own umbilical cord; in a parallel universe, the twin survives to become the well-loved and well-adjusted magician that John never was.

In their childhood, John and his older sister Cheryl lived briefly with their aunt and uncle in Northampton to escape from their father's alcoholism and subsequent imprisonment for stealing a female neighbour's underwear. They moved back to Liverpool when their father was released. John's bloodline and ancestry were known as the Laughing Magicians, legendary mages who have the power over synchronicity and were infamous for bluffing and tricking gods. This ancestry later drives John Constantine to partake in his lineage and practice magic. One of John's first acts of magic, as a child, was to hide all of his childhood innocence and vulnerability in a box to rid himself of it. Later, a teenage John ran away from home, but not before a botched curse caused his father to become withered and frail. John eventually made his permanent home in London, rooming with Francis "Chas" Chandler, a young man who has since gone on to become John's closest—and longest surviving—friend.

John became involved in occult circles in London. He traveled other countries and visited San Francisco, where he met, and subsequently began a relationship with, the female magician Zatanna Zatara. He also became enamored of punk rock; after seeing the Sex Pistols at the Roxy Club in London, John cut his long hair and formed his own band, Mucous Membrane, whose members included Chandler (as a roadie), a drummer named Beano and fellow Liverpudlian Gary Lester. They later released an album called Venus of the Hardsell. John also performed as a famous stage magician, where he became famous for predicting President Reagan's assassination attempt.

John's first venture into occult "heroism" was a disaster. On tour with Mucous Membrane at the Casa Nova Club in Newcastle, he found the aftermath of a magical orgy gone horribly wrong: an abused child, Astra, had conjured a hideous monster that took revenge on the adults who were tormenting her, and the monster refused to leave. With typical recklessness, John convinced some members of the band, along with several occultist friends, to try destroying the creature by summoning a demon of their own. Unfortunately, this demon was not under their control and after it had destroyed the child's monster, it tormented Constantine's friends and took the child to Hell. John suffered a nervous breakdown after this incident, and was committed to a mental institution, which he drifted in and out of over the years.

The guilt of Astra hung over him for many years until, in his mid-forties, he used some magic and con-artistry to free not only her, but also the souls of all the other children trapped in Hell. As for the rest of the "Newcastle Crew", the incident left the group both physically and psychologically scarred. However after helping Dream retrieve his sands, Dream in turn relieves Constantine of the nightmares that had plagued him since the incident.

John is later freed from Ravenscar by London gangsters, threatening him to resurrect a mob boss' dead son whilst his sister's family pays the price. John organizes a group and manages to resurrect the boy. Years later, John was able to persuade the same group to help with his investigation of the Brujería cult. However, the cult murdered most of them, including John's then-lover, Emma. These people, and others who have died due to John's carelessness, have continued to appear to him as silent, reproachful ghosts. Chas is the most prominent one of very few human friends to have survived a long-term association with John.

John first met Swamp Thing after being interested with the creature. John later acts as the Swamp Thing's protector, guide, and voice of omen, even teaching the Thing to amplify his powers. Both would have further adventure with each other, such as John introducing the Thing to the Parliament of Trees, Thing using John's body to make love to his wife and father a child named Tefe, and fighting off the Damnation Army from summoning the Anti-Christ. Both carries a dull, but nevertheless fruitful friendship with each other. Constantine even invites Swamp Thing to his 40th birthday and assures the Thing he'll try not to bother him again. While in his late thirties, John contracted terminal lung cancer. During this time, he sought the help of a dying friend, Brendan, who had sold his soul to the First of the Fallen, the most powerful lord of Hell. When the First came to collect the soul, John tricked him into drinking holy water, which rendered him helpless and prevented him from collecting the friend's soul at the appointed time.

For this, the First promised to make John suffer unprecedented torment in Hell when he dies. Slowly dying from cancer, John hatched a plan to save himself from eternal torment. He secretly sold his soul to the other two Lords of Hell. When they discovered Constantine's actions they realized that they could not allow him to die, or else they would be forced to go to all-out war over his soul — a war whose only winner would be "the Lord of the Hosts" (i.e. God) and his angels. However, they were also far too stubborn and proud to enter anything resembling an alliance. As a result, they were forced to cure John of his cancer. This led to the First plotting a grand revenge on Constantine, who manipulated the demon via his ally Ellie (a succubus) into coming into a trap; the plan only barely succeeded, and while the First was temporarily defeated many of John's friends were killed.

Constantine then went on to have a series of adventures and misadventures playing the role of puppet and puppeteer with his signature style and profane sarcasm. He managed to free Astra and every other child in Hell, but at the cost of the First returning to power; also, as part of the scheme, John's worst attributes were given separate existence as "Demon Constantine" which meant he himself could not go to Hell. As part of an attempt to regain his nastier edge, he used Ellie, and this led to her taking out a revenge scheme that forced him to turn to the First for help; Ellie ended up in Hell and several of John's oldest friends left him. John, being tired of all this, contacted God. God appears and the two converse in a campfire. John then tells him his reason for contacting Him. He warns God that if his soul is ever sent to Hell, he would easily take over, and do nasty things such as unleashing the demons and locking away Hell so that the damned cannot enter and have no resting place. John blackmails God to do his bidding, and that's to keep his soul away from Hell. God, knowing of John's abilities, does so. But warns him of what will come next.

On return to Britain and after reconciling with his sister (who believed he was dead), he went on to be involved in a magic war in London and was horrified to find his niece Gemma—whom he'd wanted to keep out of this life—had become a witch. He soon ended up organising a counterstrike against a creature known as the Shadow Dog, having been warned of its coming and believing it was an entity that brought death and madness; instead, it was a guardian against the true enemy, the Beast, who was manipulating John into giving it free access to humanity. In the process, he was rendered an amnesiac, leaving him vulnerable to the schemes of the demon Rosacarnis. To get his memories back, he had to spend a day in her service, in which she had him father three demonic children, who went on to massacre anyone who knew Constantine, from friends to enemies to people who'd only briefly met him. Among them was his sister Cheryl; one of his sons had exploited her husband's religious fanaticism to make him see his wife as a witch — and thus a person to be killed. This forced Constantine to go on journey to Hell in the hopes to return his sister's soul. Accompanying him was Nergal, the demon he thought he had killed by sending him to the border of Heaven.

While in Hell, John and Nergal met the demon Constantine, who tried to kill the original one. John was forced to let Nergal enter his body in order to finish him. Later they also encountered Ellie, who seemed to have quite pardoned John for him selling her out to the First. She was not subject to any torture or punishment, either. The couple finally arrived at Rosacarnis's hall, where there was a feast with all three of Constantine's children, the First, and many demons from all Hell. Because of Nergal's earlier possession of his body, any damage done to John would be mirrored on Nergal. Nergal, however, calls the bluff, showing that the effect goes both ways by clawing at his chest slightly. John begs Rosacarnis to kill him to save his sister, but just as she's about to, the First of the Fallen intervenes and immediately kills Rosacarnis, since Constantine's soul is his by "right of insult" and will only be taken when he deems fit. The First also kills Rosacarnis' two sons, but spares the daughter, who had been dealing with issues of identity and had doubts about whether she wanted to continue to exist.

Following this, The First commands Nergal to release the soul he's holding. Cheryl's soul is pure and innocent and does not belong in Hell, but The First offers her a truly devilish deal. Informing her that her husband, Constantine's brother-in-law Tony, has killed himself with her blood still staining his hands, thus making him twice damned, and offering to fairly divide her husband's punishment between the two of them if she stays of her own free will. Constantine attempts in vain to argue that Tony murdered her and does not deserve that mercy. Despite all that has happened, Cheryl still loves her husband enough to accept The First's deal and decides to stay. Constantine can do nothing as The First gloats over his victory and then sends him back home. Unable to look at his niece Gemma's tear-filled eyes because of his failure, Constantine runs barefoot down the stairs and into the Liverpool night.

During the merging of worlds, John calls himself out of the self-imposed retirement to use his magical abilities to first fight the merge, but when he realizes he cannot, then trying to assist it on a magical level to try and make the transition as smooth as possible and to cause as little damage to humanity as could manage. The strain overwhelms him after the worlds are merged, and he spends time back in Ravenscar coping with the aftermath, with nothing but the ghosts of his friends for company.

Eventually released on his own recognizance, John begins to wander the world again.

Personality
Dick -- Constantine isn't the nicest guy. Sure, he can be passingly tolerable when absolutely necessary, but in general, he's an asshole. Even to people he's trying to help. Actually, especially to people he's helping.

Addict -- John is a chain-smoker, an alcoholic, and an adrenaline junkie. He is never far from a pack of his smokes, a flask, and a confrontation with something eons older and significantly more powerful than he is.

Cynical -- Seeing as much as he's seen, John is pretty cynical about the motives of others.

Humanist -- He believes in humanity's ability to care for and drive itself to greatness-- as long as the creepy things that go bump in the night stay out of it and leave them alone. To him, angels and demons are no different, just a bunch of whinging gits who interfere too much in humankind's evolution and chances to be who they are. He will put himself on the line, body and soul, time and time again to defend humanity as a whole.

Cruel sense of humor -- Constantine is a bit of a sadist when it comes to dealing with people and creatures that he puts himself up against.

Confident -- Constantine is many things, but lacking in self-confidence isn't one of them. He knows he's one of the most powerful magicians in the world. He's faced down gods and demons. He can out-think, out-snark, out-wit, and out-blast anything, human or not, that throws itself against him. The only thing that makes him flinch is the face he sees in the mirror.

Liar -- Truth is an asset only when it's an asset. Otherwise it's a liability. John is capable and more than willing to look someone in the face, even a friend, and bald-faced lie to them if he feels its for the greater good.

Emotionally Distant -- John doesn't bother getting close to people. As he's pointed out before, being his friend tends to be a terminal condition.

Trickster -- Unlike most magicians, Constantine rarely uses magical spells, unless he has to, especially in combat. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning, quick-thinking during fights, vast knowledge of the occult, manipulation of opponents and allies, and an extensive list of contacts.