[CENTER][h1][color=slategray][b]H E L L B L A Z E R[/b][/color][/h1][hr][h3][sup][sup][color=silver]J O H N  C O N S T A N T I N E   [color=slategray]◼[/color]   A U G U S T ' 8 9   ( 3 0 )   [color=slategray]◼[/color]   M A L E[/color][/sup][/sup][/h3][sup][color=silver]"S'just the way of it son. We all sell our souls sooner or later."[/color][/sup]
[img]https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/1200x680/public/wire/legacy/matt_ryan_constantine2.jpg[/img][/CENTER]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ A P P E A R A N C E:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][CENTER][sup][color=silver]"Pretending to be charming is a skill like any other."[/color][/sup][/CENTER][INDENT][INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT][indent][b][color=CADETBLUE]//STATS:[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ HEIGHT |[/COLOR][/B] [i]5'11"[/i]

[B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ WEIGHT |[/COLOR][/B] [i]140lbs[/i]

[B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ BUILD |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Average build[/i]

[B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ HAIR COLOR |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Sandy blonde[/i]

[B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ EYE COLOR |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Dark brown[/i]

[B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ OTHER |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Several tattoos of runes and protective wards across his body. Burn and laceration scars on arms, legs, chest and back from his occupation.[/i][/indent]
[b][color=CADETBLUE]//DESCRIPTION:[/color][/b]
[indent][i]A written description of the character's appearance. Keep in mind that appearance isn't only limited to their physical make up, but the style of clothes they wear, they're body language and in general how they present themselves.[/i][/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ B I O G R A P H Y:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][CENTER][sup][color=silver]"In my line of work, there are a lot of days you want to forget forever."[/color][/sup][/CENTER][indent]John Constantine was born into the shit that would follow him for the rest of his life - and appropriately enough, he arrived in Liverpool, 1989. His twin asphyxiated in the womb on John's umbilical cord, and his mother, Mary-Anne Constantine, died giving birth to him and his stillborn brother because an earlier forced abortion had weakened her womb, causing it to rupture and bleed out. Thomas Constantine, John's father, and the man who had forced the abortion upon his wife, was incapable of accepting the responsibility of Mary-Anne's death, and instead blamed his surviving son, John - and they grew up harboring a deep dislike of one another. Thomas had little involvement in John's upbringing, and much of his care was left to his older sister, Cheryl Constantine. After their father descended into alcoholism and was imprisoned for petty theft and voyeurism, Cheryl and John moved to Northampton to live with their Aunt and Uncle for a brief time, before returning after Thomas' release. It was their return to both Liverpool and their father that set John off onto his journey into the magical and occult.

John had discovered his ancestry in Northampton, his blood belonging to a long family line known as the Laughing Magicians, legendary mages known for their power over Synchronicity and their uncanny ability to bluff and trick even gods. This discovery led him to delve into the practices of his lineage, and he began to partake in magic. His first act was to seal away his childhood innocence and vulnerability in a small wooden toy-box he once used, ridding himself of the burdens of virtues he'd lost long ago. Later on, in his teenage years, John botched a curse that left his father withered and frail and doomed to die - and subsequently ran from home, his sister, and Liverpool, heading to London and making a permanent home in an apartment with his roommate, Francis 'Chas' Kramer, who would go on to be John's oldest, closest, and longest surviving friend.​[/indent]
[center]~[/center]
[COLOR=SILVER][center][b] | [i]2008: Zatanna Zatara, Mucous Membrane, and Astra[/i] | [/b][/center][/color]
[indent]John soon got involved in the occult circles of London's population. He practiced his magics and learned more about the occult world lying behind the mortal one, and began to travel to other cities and countries to expand his knowledge. In New York, 2008, he met a talented female magician called Zatanna Zatara, and the two began a relationship. Together, they grew enamored with Punk Rock after attending several gigs, and John was inspired to put together his own punk band, a three-man piece called Mucous Membrane. They released an album, and it was on their first tour that John got his first taste of magical heroism, and the disasters it would rain down upon his life.

On tour with his band in Newcastle, John stumbled across the aftermath of a horrific magical incident: an abused child - a little girl called Astra - had taken revenge on her adult tormentors by tapping into her raw innate magical abilities, conjuring a vicious monster to slaughter them in the middle of an orgy - and now the monster refused to leave the mortal plane. With a recklessness that would soon enough become his MO, John convinced Zatanna, Chas, his bandmates, and several other occultist friends to pour their power into summoning a demon of their own to combat the monster. Sadly, while their abilities were enough to bring forth the creature, they were not enough to bind it to their will. The demon, Nergal, killed the monster, and then tormented Constantine's friends and snatched Astra away to Hell. John suffered a nervous breakdown, severing ties with everyone he knew, and eventually being committed to Ravenscar Psychiatric Hospital, only ever keeping regular contact with Chas Kramer.[/indent]
[center]~[/center]
[COLOR=SILVER][center][b] | [i] 2010: Lung Cancer, the Triumvirate of Hell, and Blackmailing God [/i] | [/b][/center][/color]
[indent]Constantine was released from Ravenscar in 2010 with a clean sign-off on his mental health - despite persisting nightmares - and several 'goodbyes' from inmates and keepers alike. Constantine had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer - brought on by his continuing smoking habit of nearly 30-a-day - and he'd been let out to enjoy his last days in freedom. The world had changed during his time in the ward, and was now filling up with extraordinary men and women, on all sides of the moral compass, and while Constantine knew that perhaps he was one of them, he refused his call. Instead, he traveled to Ireland to seek out a friend he once had who he believed could help cure him with magic and rituals.

He found Brendan dead, having drunk himself to death with rampant alcoholism and a suspiciously infinite supply of the best wines known to the world. It was at Brendan's funeral that Constantine had his first encounter with the entity that would become his greatest nemesis - the First of the Fallen, one of the three Triumvirate Rulers of Hell. Brendan had sold his soul to this being in exchange for an endless cellar of the finest wines in the cosmos, and the First had arrived to collect. Not wanting his old friend's soul to be eternally tormented in Hell, Constantine proposed a final toast to the mortal - spiking the First's wine with Holy Water, and tricking him into drinking it, rendering him helpless and unable to collect Brendan's soul. Unable to collect before midnight, Brendan's contract was declared null, and his soul ascended to Heaven. Wounded by the insult of being fooled by a mortal, the First declared Consantine's soul his by the 'right of insult', and swore to collect him upon his death and render unto him torment twofold, enough to make up for the soul he lost.

Slowly dying from cancer, Constantine created a plan. In secret, he summoned both the Second and Third of the Fallen - the others of the Triumvirate - separately and struck up deals with both, pledging his soul now three times over. Soon, the First, Second, and Third discovered Constantine's scheme, and realized that should he die, the Triumvirate would erupt into a war over ownership that would tear apart Hell and of which the only true winner would be [b]God[/b] and His angels. Too proud to form an alliance, they instead decided that their only option was to cure John of his cancer, and allow him to live. While doing this, however, they also took their power to create a counterpart to Constantine, a Demon formed of all his worst attributes and vices, but lacking none of his cunning or magical prowess. In doing this, they were assured that when Constantine's soul finally came to rest in Hell, it would be consumed by this Demon, whose power would be near unparalleled, and used for naught but evil and the destruction of Earth and Heaven. John knew this, and in cunning desperation, contacted God. His aspect appeared, and came to converse by campfire. John warned Him of the demonic power that would be released if his soul was to come into Hell, and that such a being would surely topple the Triumvirate and unleash countless Demons upon Earth and to assault Heaven, and shut the Gates of Hell so that the damned would have no rest, and be forced to rise again. Constantine blackmailed God into keeping his soul from Hell to prevent this. God knew that the events John described would come to pass, and agreed - but before His aspect disappeared from Earth, He warned John of great suffering that would soon visit itself upon his life.[/indent]
[center]~[/center]
[COLOR=SILVER][center][b] | [i]2013: The Magic War, Rosacarnis, The Return of the First, and Cheryl[/i] | [/b][/center][/color]
​[indent]John drifted for a time, travelling throughout and between England and the US, performing as a stage magician and learning more about magic and his abilities, and occasionally being drawn into occult business. He found himself in America for Sta'rro and the 'Dawn of Justice', aiding with his magic where he could, but soon left again, and came back to Britain to reconcile with his sister Cheryl, whom he'd thought dead. It was at that time that a Magic War erupted in London, and Constantine found himself thrust into the middle of it, his sister dragged in with him. He allied with an entity known as the Shadow Dog against a demonic being known as The Beast; the ensuing battle and eventual victory left him vulnerable, and he was ensnared by the demon Rosacarnis, under commands from the First, who bound him to her will for day. She had John father three demonic children, who then went on to slaughter anyone who had ever known Constantine - from family and friends to enemies and those who had met him only briefly as an ally in the Magic War. Cheryl's husband, a pious man, was whipped into religious fanaticism and pushed to see his wife as a witch - and she was duly slain by his hand. In grief, Constantine dove into Hell to retrieve her soul and resurrect her, accompanied by the demon Nergal.

It was not long through their journey that they encountered the one who barred Constantine's entrance into Hell; the demon created from his negative aspects. John was forced to allow Nergal possession of him to defeat the Demon Constantine, tainting his soul irreparably. Eventually, John and Nergal arrived at the hall of Rosacarnis, wherein a feast was being held with Rosacarnis, the First, and Constantine's three children in attendance. John baited Rosacarnis into attempting to slay him in return for Cheryl's release, but as she attempted to do so, the First intervened and immediately killed her as well as two of the three demon children she had forced John to sire, declaring that Constantine was his to collect when he deemed.

Alone with Constantine, the First summoned up Cheryl's soul. He deemed her pure and innocent, a soul that truly did not belong in Hell - but offered her a deal. Telling her that her husband killed himself after murdering her, and was therefore twice-damned, the First offered to fairly divide his punishment between him and Cheryl if she remained to be tormented in Hell of her own free will. Constantine argued and pleaded in vain against it, screaming that her husband had murdered her and was not deserving of such mercy at one's own suffering - but ultimately, Cheryl still loved her husband too much, and agreed to the deal, deciding to stay in Hell, and preventing Constantine from bringing his only remaining family back to Earth. The First gloated, and sent John back home, and in mad grief he ran into the night and fled to America, turning his back on Britain and the torment he suffered there, only Chas Kramer following him.[/indent]
[center]~[/center]
[indent]Now, it is 2019, and Constantine is 30 years old, a resident of Chicago who likes to holiday in Gotham, earning a living as a Private Investigator of both mundane and paranormal matters, as well as being drawn into occult conflicts and slowly growing into his role as a hero of Earth - as much as he hides from it. While cynical, disillusioned, and foul-mouthed, and still going strong with his smoking habit, Constantine is a compassionate Humanist at heart, and struggles to keep the forces of both Heaven and Hell in check within himself and in the world around him, seeking to keep humanity free from either influence.[/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ M O T I V A T I O N / O B J E C T I V E:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][CENTER][sup][color=silver]"Everyone who puts their trust in me winds up dead."[/color][/sup][/CENTER][indent][indent][i][/i]My Constantine's immediate goal is the retrieval of Astra's soul from Hell, a fate he indirectly inflicted on the girl, and something he considers his greatest failure that still haunts him today. Beyond that, Constantine defends the world from the influences of both Heaven and Hell, and works to solve crimes and mysteries of both mundane and occult natures. Hopefully, he will come to be friends with the major heroes of the DC universe, and go on to recruit Deadman, Zatanna, Black Orchid, and Andrew Bennet to form the Justice League Dark. He will also deal with the First and his activity, and resolve supernatural phenomenon that have been haunting him since his birth.
[/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][CENTER][sup][color=silver]"Knowledge marks you for life. But it doesn't change who you are."[/color][/sup][/CENTER][indent][b][color=CADETBLUE]//ABILITIES:[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ Magician |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Constantine's sorcery is a force to be reckoned with. With experience in Evocation (the calling of supernatural entities and forces), Illusion (the distortion and misdirection of the senses), and Necromancy (the summoning of, and communication with, the dead), John Constantine's magic spans many fields. He also has a wide range of protective magics at his command, shielding him from both physical and supernatural attacks, and well as protecting his mind from offenses such as telepathy, possession, and mind control. John is also capable of using sigils and runes to block omnipresence for a time, rendering his actions completely secret for a period of time, similar to when he dealt with the Second and Third of the Fallen to trick the First. John's offensive magic is less practiced than his defenses, but still capable of mild electrokinesis, telekinesis, pyrokinesis and immobilization. John's magic has also permanently granted him a form of Third Sight, allowing him to see Demons, Angels, and Half-Breed for their true selves constantly, regardless of what disguises and illusions they have thrown up to hide themselves among mortals, as well as allowing him to utilize magic to dispel camouflage.[/i][/indent]
[b][color=CADETBLUE]//SKILLS:[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ Con-Man |[/COLOR][/B] [i]While Constantine's magical prowess is most certainly not to be dismissed out-of-hand, he rarely relies on it, especially in the midst of combat. He faces his challenges instead armed with the cunning and quick-thinking that his family line is nearly legendary for, as well as his vast knowledge of the paranormal and occult, his skill at manipulating friend and foe alike, and his extensive list of contacts - which, combined, are often more useful than the spells, rituals, and curses at his command. John Constantine is considered by many to be the world's greatest con-man.
[/i][/indent][/indent]