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[center][i]My name's John Constantine, and here I stay: haunted by London. And London, haunted by me.[/i][/center]
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[color=a2d39c]| Identity |[/color]
John Constantine 
A.K.A  Hellblazer

[color=a2d39c]| Origin & Backstory |[/color]
[hider=Corn & Blem]
John "I'm A Bastard" Constantine was born in Liverpool, Merseyside on the tenth of May in the nineteen hundred and fifty third year of our lord. The youngest Constantine was the next in line to inherit the bloodline and legacy of his ancestors the so called [color=a2d39c]Laughing Magicians[/color], legendary mages who have the power over synchronicity and were infamous for bluffing and tricking gods. Straight out of the womb it seemed the world was already betting against him. His mother, [color=a2d39c]Mary Anne[/color] died giving birth to John and his stillborn twin brother ([i]whom John had choked to death with his own umbilical cord while still in the womb[/i])  because an earlier abortion ([i]forced on her by John's father, [color=a2d39c]Thomas[/color][/i]) 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. Thomas was a severe alcoholic, the drink making him a quote "total bastard" with a heavy inclination to either slack off from work or vent out all his pent up issues by hitting John. So in reality John's older sister [color=a2d39c]Cheryl[/color] became John's surrogate mother of sorts watching out for him and making sure that he didn't get into too many scraps as a young lad.

Thomas's alcoholism started to become more of a large problem as still in their childhoods John and Cheryl briefly lived with their aunt and uncle in Northampton after Thomas was arrested for stealing a female neighbor's underwear. This period in Northampton was generally considered by John to be the highpoint of his childhood for once in his life everything was almost normal. But, as it would become a running gag of sorts in life shitting upon John this normalcy was taken away when Thomas was released from prison and the pair went back to live with them. It was around this time that he began to prod and experiment with the ways of magic. John was a skilled mage even as a small child, as one of his first tricks was his very childhood innocence and vulnerability inside of an old box for he considered it only a "nuisance". John's issues with his father only continued as he began to age and as his sister Cheryl slowly became more distance. This all accumulated to a rapid and angry boiling point in the 1960s as a teenager on the night that John ran away from home. John having been fed up with Thomas for a long time at this point planned to make it out on his own, not before a misfired curse caused Thomas to become withered and frail. John would end up wandering the English countryside going from city to city as a conman and street magician until he found permanent residence in London in the year 1969 where he met his closest friend to this day [color=a2d39c]Francis "Chas" Chandler.[/color]

In the midst of the great pivot of change known as the seventies, Constantine took his first real steps into the world beyond our own by becoming involved with occult circles of London. Unsatisfied by their answers he began to travel the world and visit other countries. During this period of time John also became enamoured with another love of his life - punk rock music after he saw the Sex Pistols play in '77. In the aftermath of this John went through his "musician phase". Constantine grew his hair out and went by the name of Johnny Con-Job forming a band known as [color=a2d39c]Mucous Membrane[/color] made up of other interesting characters: Chandler, [color=a2d39c]Beano the drummer[/color], and [color=a2d39c]Gary Lester.[/color] After releasing a moderately successful album Venus of the Hardsell. Around the same time in 80s after famously predicting the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan John also became a rather okay stage magician using his real magic to supplement his acts.  

During this time John had his first real taste of being a hero battling the occult... only for it to stereotypically end horribly. On tour with the band at Casa Club Nova in Newcastle, John stumbled across the depravity that was the aftermath of a deprived magical orgy. The cause of it was a girl known as [color=a2d39c]Astra[/color] abused and used by those adults who were tormenting her she summoned a demon that now refused to leave. John thinking that he was still the hottest shit in the world since sliced bread decided to gather his bandmates and some other occult friends together to help the girl and banish the demon. John attempted this by summoning a large and powerful demon of his own, a demon that was not under his control when he summoned it. After the demon destroyed the lesser foe summoned by Astra it turned on them tormenting John's friends scarring many of them mentally and dragging Astra down to hell. John visibly shaken after this overcome with grief and guilt suffered a more than minor psychological breakdown. He was committed to [color=a2d39c]Ravenscar Psychiatric Hospital[/color] where he would become a frequent patient coming in and out over the years. 
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[Hider=A Swamp Thing and Messing With God]
John had another series of smaller adventures in the period before 1985 when he would meet [color=a2d39c]Swamp Thing[/color]. This included being strong armed by gangsters into resurrecting their leader's dead son under threat of them harming Cheryl and her family. John would meet this group years later to look into the illusive and dangerous [color=a2d39c]Brujería cult[/color] which ultimately resulted in disaster when everyone involved was killed- including John's then girlfriend Emma these ghosts among others still haunt John to this day continually looking upon him with judgemental eyes.

In '85 he first met the Swamp Thing after John became interested in rumors of the creature and swaught him out. John would end up having a close relationship with Swamp Thing acting as guide, protector, interpreter, teacher and yes friend. They go on many adventures together John introducing the Swamp Thing to [color=a2d39c]Parliament of Trees[/color] a group of planet emissaries that John met on his own travels, to helping Swamp Thing have a child with his wife to produce Swamp Thing's child [color=a2d39c]Tefe[/color] and even fighting off an army of the damned sent by the Antichrist to destroy the world. Their relationship was generally good with John even inviting Swamp Thing to his 40th birthday party years later. During this time John would contract terminal lung cancer which started a long and arduous quest to save himself and those he loved from torment. This included his friend [color=a2d39c]Brendan[/color] who in A bid for power sold his soul to the [color=a2d39c]First of the Fallen[/color] one of the greatest demon lords in hell and the first creature to be damned for eternity. John tricked the First of the Fallen to drink Holy Water rendering him weak for a time and unable to claim his friends soul but in the process he swore revenge for the transgressions against him.

The First promised John eternal suffering in hell when his cancer finally consumed him. Slowly dying Constantine had to figure out a way to cheat death again and to nobody's great surprise he found a way. Performing one the greatests cons of his life John sold his soul to two seprate lords of hell. Because of this the lords could not let him die or else they would be forced to fight over his soul and one of them would certainly die in the process meaning that the only winner would be [color=a2d39c]God[/color] himself. John was subsequently cured of his cancer. The First having heard of this become rather mad and hatched a scheme of revenge against the mage. While the First's plan did not succeed the aftermath was horrendous with many of John's closest friends dying in the process. 

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" in the process saving his own soul from eternal damnation. As part of an attempt to regain his nastier edge, he used [color=a2d39c]Ellie[/color] a demon and close ally of his, and this led to her taking out a revenge scheme in 1998 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. (And that was the time that John passed an intimidation check on God himself.)
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[Hider=21st Century Boy]
After spending several years traveling and going on miscellaneous adventuresand helping other heros of the world John returned back to England in 2003. He became acquainted with his sister Cheryl whom he had previously had thought to have been dead for all these years and became involved with a great magical war brewing in London. During this time he discovered that his niece [color=a2d39c]Gemma[/color] had become a witch... something that John was less than pleased about. He ended up having to fight a creature known as the [color=a2d39c]Shadow Dog[/color] whom he had originally presumed to be a creature of inherent madness, was actually serving as the barrier protecting our world from a far greater evil known as The Beast. The battle hard fought and in the end the  [color=a2d39c]Beast[/color] is defeated but at the cost of John's memories.

As a result of this John was forced to do what he does best make another deal with yet another devil. The devil
in this case was a seducing femme fatale known as [color=a2d39c]Rosacarnis[/color]. To regain his memories and continue his life would have to spend one day in the service of the demon. During this time John was more or less forced to father three demonic children who proceeded to massacre anybody that even knew the Name John Constantine. Among them was his sister Cheryl - her husband manipulated by one of these demon offspring into drawing out his religious fanaticism to kill her because she was a witch and filled with sin. John unable to live with this fact would end up going to hell once more to try and save his sister from damnation.  

John would not be alone in this journey accompanied by an old foe of his that he thought he killed long ago a demon by the name of [color=a2d39c]Nergal[/color]. John and Nergal are forced into an uneasy alliance as they enter Hell here they are forced to work together to fight John's darkside, John having to let Nergal enter his body to be able to summon the power to defeat the demon. Here John meets Ellie who had forgiven John for letting her be dragged to down to hell and helps guide him to confront Rosacarnis. At Rosacarnis hall many are in attendance including John's three demon children, the First of the Fallen and many other demons. John begged Rosacarnis to take his own soul in exchange for his sister's but before the killing blow can be dealt The First kills Rosacarnis in one swift blow and two of John's three demon children - leaving the girl alive because she was already in great mental torment and stuck in one hell of an existential crisis. 

The First explained to John that only he could kill him and commanded Nergal to release Cheryl's soul for she is innocent of any transgression. Though before any celebrations could occur the First explained a minor problem that had to be dealt with. John's brother in law still had blood on his hands, he was a murderer and would be damned to hell even if he was manipulated. The First then explained that he was a fair man and offered Cheryl a deal of sorts. She could stay in hell and her husband's sentence would be fairly divided between them. Despite her husband's actions she knew he was not himself when he struck her down and still loved him. So she accepted the deal presented and The First after all these years got the revenge he so long desired. John was sent back to the world of the living where unable to explain his failures to his niece, ran out into the night away from London and the world of magic. Nobody has seen him since.
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[color=a2d39c]| Attributes |[/color]
[list]
[*]High intelligence
[*] Tremendous cunning 
[*] Deep knowledge of the magical arts
[*] Strong magical prowess
[*] Demonic Blood slows down aging 

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[color=a2d39c]| Character Notes |[/color]
[Hider=London]
The London in the world of John Constantine is similar to our own in many ways. The people, the streets, the landmarks, and the history are nearly identical. Though there is something else there a dark undercurrent seen in the fog ridden streets, a fear that had been present in the city since Jack The Ripper haunted its streets. Constantine's London is dark and filled with grime, grit and a hundred different things that want to kill you. Though in many ways these are just reflections of our own society magnified and presented to their extreme. While magic exists things are still grounded in reality. 
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[Hider= Allies and Enemies]
[list]
[*][b]Francis "Chas" Chandler:[/b] One of the only people John can constantly count upon and the one that has made it through all of his adventures still intact through it all.
[*] [b]Ellie:[/b] A succubus and old friend of John, last seen spending her days in hell still has a soft spot for the aging mage.
[*] [b]Cheryl:[/b] John's older sister and one of his only friends growing up, currently in hell with her husband Tony after the events with Rosacarnis.
[*] [b]Gemma:[/b] John's niece and an up and coming Witch. Last time they spoke John ran out on her after failing to save her mother and father.
[*][b] The Trenchcoat Brigade:[/b] Consisting of Doctor Occult, Mister E, Phantom Stranger, and Rose Psychic along with Constantine. These group of occult heroes would occasionally get together to deal with problems that they would not be able to confront on their own.
[*] [b]Swamp Thing:[/b] John and Swamp Thing have a close if a tad dry relationship with another and are always willing to give one another a hand.
[*] [b]The First of the Fallen:[/b] The damn nearest thing John has to an archenemy of sorts. First lord of hell, very old and very powerful. Does not like John not one tiny little bit. 
[*] [b]Nergal:[/b] The two have had a complicated relationship ever since Nergal give John his first cigarette back when he was just a kid and John proceeded to steal the whole pack from him. They run into one another once in awhile.
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[color=a2d39c]| Character Goals |[/color]
First of all Vertigo totally counts as DC right? Since nowadays they all have been thrown into the DC unviese anyway and with all the crossovers and such. Anyway where do I begin with John Constantine expect for that the fact that while other kids were reading Batman and marvel comics I was reading Hellblazer. John Constantine is a fascinating character not just because of how fun he is to write in his snippy, sarcastic style or the complex jigsaw puzzles of story arcs that he goes through. The reason I think he is one of the best characters in print is because of how human he is in his actions. Despite being able to out debate God and swindle demons out of immortality, he is always at the end of the day reminded that he is human. He is haunted by his mistakes like any other person and can't catch a break. While everybody else gets closure and gets to move on with their life not John he has to keep on fighting, keep on getting dragged into whatever circumstance is thrown his way. 

I would like to examine that part of him a little bit more, there is this year gap upon which he just vanishes from the face of the Earth after the Rosacarnis arc. We presume he wanders and goes soul searching for a bit but we never really see what happens. I would like to explore that gap and maybe evolve the story a little bit more from there. The idea of showing how his guilt affects him and how he overcomes that and maybe helps some others along the way. Because in a world of supermen John Constantine is very much just a normal bloke who happens to be able to do some magic and that I find is pretty cool. So I think I'll be able to keep up with posting because exploring this character and seeing how everybody else explores their own characters, seems like one hell of a ride that I wouldn't mind hopping onto.  

[color=a2d39c]| References |[/color]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2721314] Sample 1[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2514510] Sample 2[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2992422] Sample 3[/url]