Mictlantecuhtli: You forget yourself. I am no upstart demon, scrabbling in the dirt of the human soul. I am Mictlantecuhtli. I am a god.
John: Great stuff. I'm John — and I'm a bastard.
Late 30s and still lookin’ good, luv
Alias: Who needs a bloody alias?
Appearance: Standing at exactly six feet, blond hair and blue eyes, John Constantine is a Nazi’s Aryan dream. Or at least he would be, if his appearance wasn’t so disheveled and unkempt. He has an average build, with a permanent 5 o’clock shadow. His hair is kept short, but messy, and his eyes always have a look of rebellious contempt no matter to whom he may he speaking. He’s always seen wearing a plain brown trenchcoat, usually with a cigarette between his lips.
Skills/Abilities: - Brawler - Constantine isn’t a master hand to hand combatant, but he’s knocked over more than his fair share of sods in the pub. Rather than any form of martial arts, he’s more of a brawler and an opportunist, and he’s not afraid to fight as dirty as is needed. After all, he cares about winning, and the quickest, easiest way to win is to cheat.
- Prestidigitation - In addition to his real occult powers, Constantine is well versed in sleight of hand and stage show theatrics. In fact, he’s more likely to fall back on his natural trickery than real magic.
- Manipulation - Without question Constantine’s greatest asset does not lie in his spells, or fighting, or ancient demonic pacts, but with his natural cunning. Above all else, John Constantine is a conman, and a damn good one, able to outmaneuver and trick angels and demons.He once tricked multiple demons into buying his soul, effectively rendering him immortal as they had no way to sort out the problem of where exactly his soul would go (though that problem has since been rectified, so his immortality is no longer an issue). Somehow he gets his “friends” to continue working with him, even when they’ve sworn him off.
- Occultist - John Constantine is a practitioner of many magics from many cultures. He doesn’t have the most powerful spells in the world, but few can match the sheer variety that Constantine can offer in minor cantrips. He’s quite skilled in black magic curses, though, and has been known to inflict anything from herpes to rotting flesh on his victims, if they piss him off.
- Demon Summoning - The most potent and powerful of John Constantine’s magics is the ability to summon and bind demons to his service. He’s got the summon part down pat. It’s the bind portion that he’s got problems with. Since he has no way to actually control them, summoning a demon is pretty much the single last resort, and only in dire situations with consequences that stretch far beyond his own influence.
- Musical Talent - Constantine has a history of punk rock. His band was pretty terrible. Doesn’t mean he isn’t knowledgeable about music.
Weaknesses: - Doom Magnet - In a world with Etrigan the Demon, Doctor Fate, Morgan le Fey, Zatanna, and Klarion the Witch Boy, Constantine is associated with the most fearful reputation of all, despite his powers not being remotely within the same league as any of the above. How is this possible? It is almost as though fate itself conspires to doom everyone around him, for anyone that associates with Constantine either dies a horrifying death, or finds themselves suffering a fate even worse than dying.
- Rebel without a cause - Constantine is not a pleasant individual. In fact, one might call him a total jerk. Needless to say, this doesn’t make him very many friends, and he needlessly antagonizes people around him, especially authority figures.
- Addiction - John Constantine is a heavy drinker and smoker. He’s never seen without one of his trademark Silk Cut cigarettes. It’s done wonders for his health.
- Crosses the line - When Constantine decides that something need be done, he makes sure that it gets done. No matter the cost. While he normally is “on the side of the angels,” he’s far from their sense of morality. He habitually lies to everyone, including his closest friends, even when it’s not necessary. No sacrifice is too great.
History: "I'm the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarettes and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I've got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I'll drive your demons away. I'll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they're down and then I'll be gone back into darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone... who would walk with me?"John Constantine was born in Liverpool, England to Thomas and Mary Ann Constantine, younger brother of Cheryl. John was a twin, but Thomas did not want any more children, and so he forced his wife to commit abortion using a coat hanger. John’s twin died, but John successfully made it through, a true survivor from the beginning. Sadly, Mary Ann died during birth as a result of complications from her botched abortion. Old, bitter, and angry, Thomas blamed young John for the death of his wife. A drunken lout, he took to verbally and physically abusing his young son. Raised primarily by his older sister in such a toxic environment, John pretty quickly became a punk. He quickly took to his skills as a silver tongued little devil, developing the necessary traits of a conman.
Learning sleight of hand and other stage magician tricks was just another means to being a better street ruffian, but this path extended farther than he ever knew he’d get to go. From a young age, John Constantine began to learn real magic. The prospect fascinated him, but he never devoted himself to any single art, instead picking up different tricks here and there, dabbling like calling forth the spirits of the damned was some sort of hobby. Constantine focused the majority of his time on his punk rock band, Mucous Membrane, with his closest friends at the time. They too took to the magical arts, but they lacked restraint. They all lacked discipline, and soon suffered for it. After a botched spell, Veronica Delacroix lost her ties to the mortal world and faded. Distraught, John traveled to America.
In his travels Constantine learned from some of the greatest magicians and sorcerers around, but never stayed in one place long enough to really master anything. It was during this time that he had a romance with Zatanna, daughter of Zatarra, two of the most powerful magicians of the time. He instantly fell in love with the woman, and still does to this day, but like all good things in the life of a Constantine it just wasn’t meant to last. John always felt that she was too good for a bitter sod like him. She was distressed that his activities resulted in her father burning alive before their eyes. One might say the split up was decided to be mutually beneficial.
Regardless, Constantine has since been a detective of the occult, champion of the oppressed, and master of the dark arts (“I should really change my business cards to ‘petty dabbler’”). While he primarily operates throughout England, his travels take him anywhere a demon needs a good kick in the bollocks, or a snide cultist could do with a right arse kicking. Unfortunately when you wage war on the people that own the world, there tends to be a lot of collateral damage, and now that war has taken him to Gotham City where he has tracked a demonic cult intent on summoning horrors beyond mortal imagining.
1x Thank
