| “ | I guess there's a plan for all of us. I had to die, twice, just to bloody figure that out. Like the Book says, "He works His work in mysterious ways." Some people like it...some people don't. My name is John Constantine. I am the one who steps on the shadows, all trench coat and arrogance. I'll drive your demons away, kick 'em in the bollocks, and spit on them when they're down, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone because, let's be honest...who would be crazy enough to walk it with me? | „ |
| — John, narrating in Constantine | ||
John Constantine (born May 10, 1982) is an exorcist, demonologist, and hedge magician, self-styled as "master of the dark arts", though he calls himself a mere petty occasional dabbler. An enigmatic and irreverent human being who is a con-man turned-reluctant supernatural detective, John has the ability to perceive the true visage of supernatural creatures on the mortal plain and is thrust into the role of defending ordinary people against dark paranormal forces from beyond. He is the leader of Team Constantine and an ally of the Order of the Church as well as Team Arrow.
Raised by an abusive father, who blamed him for the death of his wife, John's mother, in childbirth, John grew up highly cynical and cunning and developed an interest in the dark arts. In his teenage years, he was introduced into the occult world of magic by Anne Marie and learned various spells and witchcraft. Eventually, John became an exorcist with the hopes of one day using his powers to resurrect his mother and John became a respected legend among the dabblers of magic.
However, one night, John attempted an exorcism on a young girl named Astra by summoning the powerful demon Nergal to save Astra from another demon possessing her, only for the demon to instead kill Astra and drag her soul to Hell, damning her for eternity, an action which damned John's soul for Hell upon death and haunted him for life.
Overwhelmed with guilt John initially retired but after hearing that Heaven has plans for him and that he could be forgiven for his sins and not go to hell from the angel Manny, he returned to face this threat with Manny giving him hope that should he succeed his soul may be spared eternal damnation.
John has helped the Team on numerous occasions as a close and old friend of Rayne Van Helsing. After the Legends allowed Mallus to escape his prison in order to destroy the demon, it opened a door to other evils. Joined by Gary of the Time Bureau, Constantine confronted the Legends about their latest screw-up. Five months later, he would assist the Legends in capturing the escaped magical "fugitives", sending them to Hell. He initially refused to join the team, but after being pursued by a demon named Neron in 2018, John agreed to move into the Waverider, though he still insists that he's "not a bloody Legend".
Biography[]
Early History[]
| “ | When I was but a wee lad, I could see things. Things humans aren't supposed to see. Things you shouldn't have to see. My parents, however, were normal and they did what most parents would do: they made it worse. But...you think you're crazy long enough, you eventually find a way out. [...] I didn't try anything. I didn't even have to. Officially, I was dead for two minutes, give or take. But, you see, when you crossover...let's just say time stops. Take it from me, two minutes in Hell can feel like a literal lifetime. When I came back...I then knew...all the things I could see were all real. | „ |
| — Constantine, explaining his involvement in the supernatural world | ||
John Constantine was born on May 10th, 1982 in Liverpool, England. Born with the ability to perceive the true visage of supernatural creatures on the mortal plane, his visions haunted him from very early on in his life. Such simple things brought him glimpses of the supernatural; a bus ride, for instance.
John's mother died giving birth to him. John's abusive father blamed her death on him and gave him the nickname "killer." After every night in the pub, John's father would hit him in the head, saying the phrase "That's for what you did to your mother, Killer." He was also prone to putting cigarette's out on John's arms. After his sister moved out, John was so upset about being left alone with his father that he considered suicide.
Sometime during his adolescence, John became addicted to smoking cigarettes; he could polish off about 2 packs a day. His addiction to smoking eventually lead to his terminal lung cancer.
Suicide Attempt[]
After 15 years of dealing with the emotional traumas of his vision, John ultimately decided to commit suicide. Because of his actions, his soul was sentenced to damnation in Hell. Officially dead for a mere two minutes, Oracle managed to revive John. Despite being dead for two minutes, John later recalls that it felt like an entire lifetime had passed before being revived, as if time in Hell is different. Already armed with his visions and having witnessed Hell and demonology alike, John decided to become an exorcist.
Later Life[]
By later at 15, he was living in London and getting involved in the magic scene, with help from his friend Anne Marie. John eventually started a punk band with Gary Lester named Mucous Membrane. Bernie Reed, a friend of John, produced the band's first record. Delving deeper down the path of occultism, John would read everything he could about the magic. He taught himself spells, rituals and curses, and was able to conjure the dead, though not his mother.
After earning his reputation over the years, John starts to travel with a group of friends, including Ritchie Simpson, and Gary Lester.
Newcastle Incident[]
In Newcastle, England, John had a case involving a young girl that was possessed by a demon, called Astra. Astra was the daughter of John's friend.
John went ahead on his own and conjured up a more powerful demon to expel the lesser demon that was possessing Astra. This however, resulted in the demon ripping Astra apart. Astra was then damned to hell, along with John's soul.
BloodRayne and Mia the Vampire Slayer The Series[]
Season 2[]
Constantine[]
Pending...
Arrow[]
Season 4[]
Fighting Damien Darhk[]
With Damien Darhk having grown exponentially more powerful than ever, Oliver turns to John for aid, as Damien's magical powers had grown to the point his Light Magic was useless against him. John came up with an idea to channel power from several nexus points located in Star City as well as the celestial event of the Full Moon to allow him to match up to Damien.
As Oliver is easily defeated by Darhk, he confronts Darhk, now more powerful than he ever was before, and pushes him away before flying to a church and when Darhk found him there, John challenges him to another duel and Damien agrees. They both uses several tremendous spells, countering each other effectively, and destroys much of Star City with their magic before turning to their fists. Although John was slightly outclassed in hand-to-hand fighting, he was able to stall Damien long enough for the first spell he had cast, an enchantment that allowed him to synchronize with the Son of God continuously, to take effect, allowing him to remove Damien of his powers and he then proceeded to kill him.
Personality[]
Having witnessed the horrors of the world, John is very cynical and seemingly unconcerned with the value of human life, often deflecting his real feelings with sarcastic jokes even towards the possibility of his own death. Due to the number of people who have died around him, John prefers to work alone and anyone he does work with, he avoids attachment so he won't be as hurt if they get killed. He is also known for having a very dry sense of humor.
John is also noted for being brutally honest with people, even angels, and never being shy of his opinion of the women he encounters. It's been shown a few times he openly expresses an attraction to Zed and after meeting Team Arrow he openly refers to all the women of the team, Laurel, Felicity and Thea, as "pretty girls". This also causes Thea to develop an attraction to him calling him a "specific kind of yummy", much to Oliver's discomfort. He also has a sarcastic personality, telling Oliver he would have dropped by sooner if he had known Oliver knew so many pretty girls.
Despite his apart bleak view of the world and cynicism, John is a very honorable man, as he is always there for the few friends he has, helping Chas to retrieve his daughter from Felix Faust and helping Oliver Queen to restore Sara Lance's soul. He also did a protection spell on Oliver despite his refusal to have attachments to people when he saw Oliver had a pure heart. Overall, John's devotion to his friends is his most redeeming trait and exceeds his concern for his own live, as he is more than willing to risk his life for them. John said this is because he is tired of living after failing for years and would give up his live for those he cares for. He also would fight those he normally would preffer not going up against for them, evidenced when he did not hesitate to help Oliver fight Damien Darhk despite fearing him. His bravery was praised by even Lucifer, who appears to treat him on a higher extent than the other heroes due to this.
John tends to be a pessimistic realist as when Oliver thanked him for bringing Sara back he simply told Oliver he owed him only for Oliver to rebuttal that instead of that, they should always have each other's back when need be, not as business acquaintances, but friends.
Powers and Abilities[]
Although he is human, Constantine is nevertheless a powerful Magician in his own right, so much so that he has gained himself a reputation in the supernatural world. Additionally, John has shown to be willing and powerful enough to defeat the simplest of monsters, ghosts, demons, and even angels without much effort to even be skilled enough to fight against and defeat fellow extremely powerful Magicians, such as Papa Midnite, Felix Faust, and even match and catch Damien Darhk off guard, as well as battle even the most powerful of entities, the Greater Demons, Lucifer himself, and even beings of primordial power like Oracle, Amara, the Primordial Being of Darkness, although in the latter's case his spell did little effect.
John producing fire from his hands
- Magic: While referring to himself as merely an "occasional dabbler" after his failed exorcism, John is a master of the occult, mystic, and dark arts and a skilled exorcist. A talented magician, John is capable of casting a wide variety of spells for the purposes of attack, defense, surveillance, or transportation. Since his teenage years, John has accumulated vast knowledge and skill of magic, mysticism, and the supernatural. He is well-versed in various forms of sorcery, including dark magic. John knows words and phrases of multiple ancient languages, such as Latin, which he will usually chant while performing certain rituals or incantations. Many incantations give him the ability to affect physical forces, such as the inner workings of mechanisms, and the movements of others, allowing him to move objects and control their motion and momentum with the proper incantation. However, despite being a master magician in his own right, John finds the idea of facing Damien Darhk suicide; implying that Damien is far more powerful than the former. Additionally, his magical powers seem inferior to those of other magic-users, such as Felix Faust and Zatanna.
- Spell Casting: Constantine can hurl fireballs, levitate, exorcise spiritual entities, undo illusions, restrain others, view events happening far away, even compel others to do his bidding. He occasionally supplements his own abilities with magical artifacts. Many of his spells involve fire.
- Clairvoyance: Constantine can perceive spirits invisible to the human eye.
- Immunity to Forced Insanity: When facing off with Lucifer, Constantine remained unaffected by his magic, which drove even Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman mad with visions of demons.
- Magical Protection: John has shown that he is resistant too many supernatural attacks, seen where he was unaffected by Manny's chronokinesis. He also used a magical circle to protect him and Liv from a powerful demon, and conjured a spell to protect himself from a coblynau.
- Resistance to Possession: When allowing Deadman to possess him in a Trojan Horse play to kill Destiny, Constantine was able to retain control of his body.
- Dark Magic: John is known to be highly skilled in the Dark Arts, having studied black magic lore while still young. His knowledge of the Dark Arts is often used to dispel dark magic spells, with him even knowing on how to call upon God's magic power to dispel even the First of the Fallen's dark magic spells, as he did to banish an acetate containing the Devil's voice to Hell.
- Banishment: John is capable of banishing demonic and supernatural creatures to Hell through the use of various spells, as well as by opening portals to Hell.
- Fear Manipulation: With help from Neron, Constantine is now able to use fear to power his dark magic to the point he can open a portal to Hell that people can now come back from; previously, he'd only been able to open portals that could send people to hell, but not get through from the other side.
- Necromancy: John mentioned that he mastered necromancy during his teenage years. With the help of Papa Midnite, he was able to allow the spirits of the dead to move on to the afterlife. John is also capable of restoring a person's lost soul back into their body. He was able to restore Sara Lance's soul and mentioned he had restored a person's soul once before. He also performed a ritual to temporarily reanimate and speak with the dead at the Chicago morgue using the Hand of Glory artifact.
- Summoning: John can summon various entities, and even control them. He has summoned demons to fight other demons for him, and once summoned a demon into his body to protect himself from a Invunche.
- Exorcism: John can exorcise spirits that are demonic or ghostly in origin from their hosts by chanting incantations. In doing so, he sends them back to hell by casting numerous spells and holding traps against them. Exorcism is one of John's most prominent abilities.
- Light Magic: Although the full extent of his expertise is unknown, John is capable of using light magic and seems to be quite knowledgeable on how to use it, as he was able to give Oliver a magical tattoo to allow him to channel light magic to fight Darhk. He was proficient enough in light magic to be capable of subduing a demon as powerful as Neron when he was off-guard with ease.
- Love Manipulation: With help from the legends and all the other people John has learned to use love to power his light magic. As such, using the love the Legends had for Nate Heywood, he was able to generate enough magic to bring him back.
- Astral Projection: John is able to separate his soul from his body to travel through different dimensions.
- Binding: John is able to use his magic to bind people in magic.
- Cloaking Spell: John recognized and dispelled this magic at Felix Faust's hideout.
- Duplicity Spell: John used this spell to cover the location of Jasper Winters' millhouse.
- Glamour: John is able to use his magic to glamour his appearance to make him look like other people.
- Interdimensional travel: John, along with Ritchie Simpson, knew the Egyptian dream temple technique that would allow them to travel to the reality of Jacob Shaw. John also performed a ritual that transported himself, Oliver Queen, and Laurel Lance to the spirit world, to rescue the trapped soul of Sara Lance. He later used this technique to help Ava Sharpe and Gary Green to locate Sara Lance across time and space, and gaze into the spirit world of Mallus. He can also open a portal to Hell.
- Life-force transference: John was able to use a spell that allowed him to transfer a portion of his life-force energy into a child who had been drained of his own.
- Magic circles: John uses magic circles that can be used for rituals, as boundaries, or traps for certain creatures, such as when he used a magic circle to trap the powerful demon, Furcifer, so he could banish it back to hell.
- Protection Spells: John taught Chas Chandler the protective Eye of Horus Egyptian symbol technique to protect the apartment belonging to Liv Aberdine John also used a Brittonic spell to give Chas Chandler the ability to resurrect himself from the dead, but only a certain number of times. John also mentioned that he could hide Liv Aberdine from demons with a special spell.
- Pyromancy: One of John's offensive abilities where he creates fires or hellfires from his lighter. John possesses some power over fire, as shown when he was able to create a small ball of fire from his hand, as well as when ignited his hands with a lighter, and suffered no harmful effects from his hands being engulfed in flames. John was also capable of firing blasts of fire.
- Revealing Spells: John used a number of revealing spells and dispels.
- Sleep Spell: John used this spell to put Zed Martin to sleep.
- Telekinesis: John once telekinetically closed and locked a door. He also used this power on a manifestation of a League of Assassins member, freezing its motion and suspending it helplessly in mid-air before killing it with a sword.
- True Sight: A gift John was born with that allows him to perceive the true visage of supernatural creatures beneath their human guise.
- Spell Casting: Constantine can hurl fireballs, levitate, exorcise spiritual entities, undo illusions, restrain others, view events happening far away, even compel others to do his bidding. He occasionally supplements his own abilities with magical artifacts. Many of his spells involve fire.
Skills and Talents[]
- Occult Knowledge: Though he utilizes various tools and weapons in his fight against demons, John has acquired extensive knowledge of the supernatural occultism, allowing him to perform various rituals, spells, and magic. John is master of the dark arts and well versed in demonology. He has been studying the dark arts since his teenage years.
- Mystical Knowledge: John possesses advanced knowledge of the nature and workings of supernatural forces and artifacts.
- Alchemy: John is proficient in creating potent enchanted potions that allow for magical effects to happen. He was able to create a potion that was able to temporarily transform Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe into children.
- Skilled Detective: John is a capable detective, specializing in paranormal investigation.
- Expert con artist: John has a well-known reputation of being a con man.
- Expert escape artist: John has shown that he can effortlessly break free from handcuffs when being interrogated by Jim Corrigan.
- Entomology: John was able to immediately recognize Khapra beetles implying he knows insects and could tell them apart very well.
- Extra-sensory awareness: John had an uneasy feeling when he first arrived in Star City, which Oliver immediately claimed it was because of Damien Darhk.
- Leadership: Despite his claims otherwise, John is a gifted leader and strategist.
- Master Manipulator: Even without magic, John is very good at getting his allies and enemies to do as he wishes. For enemies, he prefers to tick them off so they make mistakes, leaving him able to make cold-headed choices. When conversing with allies, he tends to play on their consciences by reminding them of what's at stake, in order to get their help.
- Multilingualism: Aside from English, his mother tongue, John can perform spells in Italian, Assyrian, and Hebrew so it can be presumed he knows the languages fluently. It may also be presumed he knows Arabic and Sanskrit, due to being able to read text written in these languages.
- Skilled combatant: John possesses some proficiency in fighting, occasionally resorting to physical fighting when he can't use a spell. He was able to knock out two opponents, both strong miners, and he later landed a hit on Papa Midnite after a failed summoning. He later fended off ghouls while Zed Martin reclaimed Imogen's angel feather from Zachary, improvising a nearby piece of plywood as a striking weapon, which continued until he defended Zachary from the residual Ghouls breaking into a church, however, he was caught off-guard and was only saved from the restoration of Imogen's wings. He also managed to stab Lamashtu with his switchblade while she was attempting to drown him in a fountain in Mexico City and later fought off an Invunche even after Anne Marie Flynn put him in a weakened state by shooting him, long enough to let Pazuzu possess him to properly fight off the Invunche. In a Mexican prison, he fought off the leading brother of Santa Muerte, despite the latter wielding a knife. When Manny placed a bounty on John's head, he fought off a "voodoo zombie" controlled by Papa Midnite, but he was no match and had to be saved by a gun-toting Jim Corrigan. He later retaliated against Midnite when he snuck up behind him and knocked him down with a series of punches and knocked him out with two hits from the stock of the Ace of Winchester. Years before, he warned Oliver Queen himself that he has "a hell of a right hook".
- Skilled swordsman: During a spiritual adventure to save Sara Lance's soul, John demonstrated a degree of swordsmanship, able to hold his own against a manifestation of a League of Assassins member. However, he was quickly pressured enough that he had to resort to magic to defeat his opponent. He was also able to fight against his ancestor, Konstentyn, and ended the fight in a few moments before slicing his handoff.
Tools and Equipment[]
- Bag: John has a bag of items that he may need for his investigations. Some items he carries in the bag are: holy water, a police scanner, cemetery dirt, duct tape, and nails from the coffin of Saint Padua, which can be used as a tracking device.
- Business Cards: John carries business cards that read, "John Constantine; Exorcist, Demonologist, and Master of the dark arts".
- Driving License: John carries around his United Kingdom driving license.
- Lighter: John uses a specific lighter to which he lights a cigarette. This particular lighter bears an Ace of Spades, possibly to show that he faces his conflicts by himself.
- Magic Sword: To help John against Lucifer, Oracle created a sword imbued with a portion of his power and his blood, giving it extremely potent capabillities and able to harm even Lucifer. The sword is mainly used by John to channel his magical attacks, but at times he does use it as a melee weapon. The Sword's power was further augmented by God to the point of being able to injure Amara.
- Scry Map: John possesses a map in which he uses to find new supernatural events to investigate.
- Six of Diamonds magic card: John possesses a charmed card that is able to take on the appearance of whatever it's holder requires. John has used this card to imitate a credit card and health and human services i.d.
Weaknesses[]
Despite being a powerful magician in his own right, John Constantine is still human and is susceptible to the same human weaknesses, such as sickness, injuries, and death.
Relationships[]
Chas Chandler[]
Chas is John's oldest friend.
Zed Martin[]
Zed is a close friend to John as well as his protege. She helps him in his supernatural cases and he also helps her better understand her power.
Manny[]
Manny is an angelic ally of John Constantine, as well as his Guardian Angel. After being ordered by Heaven to watch over John, Manny has been working with John.
Oracle[]
Oracle was the one who brought John back from the Underworld.
Rayne[]
Rayne and John are old friends.
Michael[]
The two had not met at all directly but Michael said he saw John performing his magic when he came to Earth to patrol and was impressed by his skills. John does not respect the oldest Archangel at all, but Michael does not seem to mind this. Notably, Michael praised John for his display of great bravery and skill against Lucifer and didin't mind John's sarcasm, implying a level of respect for the sorcerer. They would interact on cordial terms when working together to fight Amara and seems to have build a friendship.
Lucifer[]
John hated Lucifer due to being the Ruler of Hell. Lucifer does not hate John but considers him a threat due to his skill with magic and even admits he would rather have him on his side. John's fearlessness around him seems to make Lucifer treat John on a more higher degree than his other opponents when he aided them. When they meet again, Lucifer healed John's lung cancer, having redeemed himself, and John thanked him, implying a potential friendship.
Damien Darhk[]
John and Damien Darhk met once and they had a duel in which John and Damien stalemated one another and John fell back. John was aware of Damien's cruelty and torture skills, having seen them in their confrontation, and he was unnerved by it, while Damien came to consider John a genuine threat due to being able to sense that John was somewhat not fighting to kill yet managed to escape their duel unharmed. John acknowledged Damien's power and skill in the mystic arts, admitting in terms of power and skill they were evenly matched, with the only thing offering John a slight edge being his versatility. However, any fear he had of Darhk was extinguished by his greater concern for his friend Oliver and after Damien became "super-charged", John drew on the power of hope provided by the Star City inhabitants and had Esrin bless the elemental sources of the City as well as even absorbing the power of a Nexus Point to the point of disabling it, granting him the sufficient power. He then battled Damien fearlessly, refusing to negotiate with or stop as the fight proved to be even until he finally gained the upper hand and killed Damien, although he was left severely wounded as well, nearly losing his life but survived due to the amount of magic he drew on refusing to let him die easily and granting him the vitality needed to heal. John expressed relief that Damien was stopped but didin't look too glad about it, implying he had no personal grudge with him. However, the consequences of the battle initially haunted John, as he was left with several wounds that hampered his efficiency until Lucifer healed it up fully.