Massive Questions Meme of Massiveness
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? Seven feet tall, big and beefy-muscular up top, tapering down to skinny little legs and cloven-hooved feet.
2. How old is he? 65, give or take a few hundred years of lost time in Hell before his being summoned to Earth.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? Major sloucher. It probably doesn't help that his right hand is this big heavy stone thing that he doesn't necessarily always care to hold up properly, but either way he generally looks almost like he's got no real shoulders at all under that coat of his.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? He's in fantastic health for someone who smokes, drinks, and gets injured as much as he does. The healing factor his demon half provides helps a lot to keep his bad health decisions from causing him problems. He does, however, have a minor disability, in that he has to do anything even vaguely delicate effectively one-handed. (The Right Hand of Doom does not have a light touch.)
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? Like an only somewhat more graceful version of a bull in a china shop.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? His appearance is... rather unusual, and he knows it, but apparently some ladies kind of like that.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Bright red, not scarred but craggy.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Black hair. He's actually mostly bald, but he's got a fringe around the sides and back, that he keeps just long enough to tie back in a little samurai-like knot, big bushy sideburns (that Mignola has admitted are partially to keep from having to draw where Hellboy's jaw connects to the rest of his head), and a little tiny patch of beard on the tip of his chin.
9. What color are his eyes? Solid orange, with no visible pupils or irises.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Uh, yes. His forehead features the stumps of what would be a truly magnificent pair of horns, if he didn't keep them cut down. His right hand (and part of his forearm with it) is a large artifact of stone, albeit with a somewhat functional three-fingered hand. He has a long, semi-prehensile tail. His feet end in cloven hooves.
11. What are his chief tension centers? His shoulders and arms.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? He currently really only has one set of clothes at all: Tan toeless low-soled boots, black shorts, a couple of belts with pouches and holsters, and a tan canvas-and-leather duster with BPRD logo patches on the sleeves. He can dress more completely than that if he has to, but doesn't generally care to and hasn't had much reason to in years.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? The shorts and boots are pretty sleek. The coat's a little bulky, but on the upside its sleeves are big enough that he doesn't have trouble fitting the Right Hand of Doom down them. They're all pretty comfortable, though, given that he's been living in them for years on end.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? Unless circumstances dictate differently, like a fancy dinner or the like, yes, he generally dresses the same way all the time. Sometimes he'll put on a shirt. Very rarely will he put on full-length trousers. Neither shirt nor trousers are likely to go very long without getting ripped up in a fight, which is probably why he doesn't generally bother with them.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? Briefs, lest there be some sort of incident involving his shorts.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Deep, smooth, a little gravelly.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? He generally talks pretty easily, and is fairly even-toned, although he can also shout with the best of them when a fight's on.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? His accent's mostly pretty generic middle American, with the occasional British-ism. His most notable tics are that he tends to shout "BOOM!" and other similar onomatopoeia when he's fighting, and occasionally says kind of cheesy things that he picked up on from old pulp novels.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? English is his native language, as far as he's concerned. Aside from that, he's a world traveler and student of the occult, so he's learned a few others and is pretty fluent in them. The GURPS RPG write-up for him cites French, Spanish, German, Latin, the Infernal Tongue, and Old Lemurian. I'm inclined to add on Japanese, just because he's been shown visiting there more than a few times and some of them in situations where he wouldn't have expected to be catered to.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Not unless he's somewhere where they're talking a different language.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? He's pretty good with being impromptu.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Moderately eloquent, unless he's having a moment of pure cheeseball pulp.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? He's pretty bright, and reasonably book-learned, although he'd prefer to rely on his wits (can it really be called "street" smart if you don't spend a lot of time on city streets?).
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? On his dainty hoofed feet.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? He tries to think things through, but often finds himself having to fall back on instinct. He has his ideals (chief among them being "the world is great, don't destroy that, jeez"), but finds it increasingly difficult to maintain them, and has had to make some compromises.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Eclectic, not very formalized. Prof. Bruttenholm made sure he was well grounded in the basics and a deep understanding of their shared field. The grunts on the Army base helped him enjoy life, with movies and comics and such. Costumed adventurer the Torch of Liberty taught him how to shoot (or tried to, anyway), and probably also taught him some hand-to-hand moves. Richard Feynman taught him how to pick locks. He's traveled the world, and picked up all sorts of miscellaneous things here and there.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Mostly, his expertise is in the paranormal, the supernatural, the occult, and history/folklore, all of which are pretty tightly interconnected. I'm sure he'd love to learn how to live a life that doesn't have everyone hassling him about his destiny, but other than that, I don't think he's really had the mental bandwidth to seriously consider other sorts of actual career paths or even hobbies.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Very extroverted.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? He tries to be laid-back and even-tempered, but he's got a mighty temper and the circumstances of his life often makes him prone to fits of brooding.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? New situations are generally cause for suspicion and wariness, but he likes meeting new people.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? React, generally. He's tried to act more, recently, but things keep happening that put him on the back foot and he ends up having to react anyway.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? Fight fight fight!
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? He can appreciate jokes, but he himself most often tends towards sarcasm and low-key observational/gallows humor.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? No.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? His life's pretty packed with defining moments. I could be here all day with that. Still, a selected highlights reel:
* Appearing on Earth.
* Being officially adopted by Prof. Bruttenholm.
* Being officially given human status by the UN and joining the BPRD as an agent.
* Making friends with Liz and Abe.
* Falling in love with Stasia Bransfield and taking a leave from the Bureau.
* The Cavendish Hall case, meeting Rasputin, finding out about the Ogdru Jahad, etc.
* The Giurescu case, meeting Hecate.
* The Hunte Castle case, meeting The Lobster, meeting an alien who'd been watching him, quitting the Bureau.
* Learning the Secret History of the World.
* Being offered Kingship of the Witches, and turning their asses down.
* Finding out his ancestry on his mother's side and drawing Excalibur.
14. What does he fear? Himself, his destiny, the possibility that he'll have to do what it's said he will do.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? For the world to survive, for him to make it out the other side without having to do anything horrible, maybe to get back in touch with Alice and see if they really were heading towards a relationship like he thought.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? How close to his demon side he feels when he pops the cork on his temper.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. ha ha. Ha ha HA HA ha. Well, he got along pretty well with his adoptive dad, Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm. His "real" parents, though? Not so much. Technically, he's never even really met them outside of a dream vision of before he was born, but the expectations that were set for him about the whole Apocalypse thing doesn't incline him well to them.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? Technically, he had a half-brother and a half-sister, but they both died shortly before he was born.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? Again, ha ha ha. No. I mean, it's not really clear just what kind of familial relationships there are among the hierarchies of Hell, but Hellboy just generally doesn't have the time for any of those assholes. Actually, come to think of it, he's just recently had an okay heart-to-heart with great great many-greats grandma Morgan Le Fay, although he still suspects she has an ulterior motive.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? Liz, Abe, Kate, and Roger are probably close enough friends to count as family, but he wouldn't put it in so many words because of his issues with family.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? Probably Abe, who he saw getting poked and prodded by BPRD scientists and finally went in and made them stop.
6. Does he have other close friends? See question 4. Also a number of folks around the world from his past travels, even if some of them are ghosts.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? As long as you're not trying to get him to end the world, he's a pretty friendly guy who's easy to get to know.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? Given his family? Friends. Definitely friends.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Single, never married.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? He... almost, maybe is. He and Alice didn't really get a chance to work that out for sure before he started getting punted around the multiverse.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? His first was Anastasia Bransfield, an archaeologist he met back in 1979 and traveled with for a couple of years. His latest is Alice Monaghan, which is a little weird because he's known her for most of her life, but between his demon half and her associations with the fae, they're both older than they might look, so it could work out.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? Not being too weirded out by his appearance, for one thing. For another, they have to be able to keep up with his strange and often dangerous lifestyle.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? No children. Having kids is probably a little more future than he's really prepared to even consider.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? HAHAHAHAHAHA. Only the biggest and the best.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? Straight, Kinsey 0.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? It's nice and all, but his upbringing is old-fashioned enough that he considers it a part of at least some sort of relationship, rather than something to engage in casually.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? He's generally happy enough just to be getting to it, given how rarely the opportunity presents itself, that he hasn't really gotten too much into variations. ...Okay, danger is probably a bit of a turn-on.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? 23 December makes him a Capricorn. I don't really especially care to spend a lot of time on deciphering astrology meanings, but I was able to quickly find this profile, and it's... okay.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? He isn't personally religious, but as a BPRD agent, he's aware for a fact of the presence of divine and spiritual forces in the world, and has worked with them from time to time.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? Trevor Bruttenholm raised his Hellboy right, to be a good boy and a fine man who loves people and the world and considers it important to keep them safe. It'll take a lot to make him finally break and do what the infernal forces want of him, but depending what happens, things may eventually get so bad that putting the world out of its misery is the only reasonable thing to do. Who knows.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? He's tolerant and even curious, up until the point where those beliefs start hurting people.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? NAZIS. >:E With good reason, because Nazis, but he does go a little nuts when he sees one. He's also generally wary of vampires and other typically predatory supernatural types, unless it's plain that they're not actually hurting anyone.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? Back home, he probably has a pretty good nest egg built up from decades as a top paranormal investigator, but he hasn't had access to his accounts for years, thanks to losing his wallet on the bottom of the ocean. He has, thus, been effectively broke for a long time, living off the charity of old and mostly dead friends, but has gotten at least one paycheck from Hellsing since arriving in Bete Noire.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? He's been an internationally known public figure for most of his life, not necessarily famous but at least enough a part of the cultural unconscious that most folks know who he is when he shows up and he'll generally get cooperation because of his reputation with the BPRD. Most recently, of course, he's discovered that he's the Rightful King of England, but that's not a very well known fact just yet, and he's not really comfortable with it anyway. As a member of Hellsing, he's an acknowledged member of a city agency, which is a lot like his Bureau days and he likes that.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others? He currently has a room at the Le Gode Hostel. It's small and thus pretty cramped given his size, but he has it to himself and he keeps it fairly clean on the grounds that he only really sleeps there and hopes to have enough saved up soon to look for somewhere more spacious. He probably spends most of his non-sleeping time at Hell House.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? Not much yet, although he's rigged up a temporary scabbard for Excalibur out of a bath towel and clothesline, and would like to arrange for something nicer once he can afford it and a better place to live.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else? He's an agent for the Hellsing Organization, a paranormal research and defense agency similar to the BPRD back home. He's pretty good at his job, given how much past experience he had at it. It's a nice vacation of familiarity from the crazy stuff he's been involved in back home in recent years, and he's aware that he doesn't really have any other skillset to do anything else.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? He walks a lot. (These aren't necessarily Alucard-like "very enthusiastic walks through the woods", although that also happens sometimes. Mostly, though, is that he's been Wandering The World, like Caine in "Kung Fu.") He likes pulp novels and comics, and cheesy old monster movies. His travels have exposed him to a wide variety of foods... which see question 7. He hasn't had a lot of free time to indulge in hobbies, though, as wandering around alternately confronting and hiding from one's destiny is busy and wearying work.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? Hellboy's eating habits, at least in recent years, have been fairly sparse, because he's either been stranded without food or living in places where his only real companions are ghosts, who don't do a lot of eating. He has, however, been doing a lot of drinking, most commonly from the extensive cabinets and cellars of said dead friends. The word "alcoholic" hasn't been used outright in the comic yet, but he's at least on the borderline of it, and has recently decided to put the brakes on that as much as possible. Aside from that, at least back in the good old days, he's eaten food from all over the world, and has pretty broad tastes. While he's not a good enough cook to attempt any sort of alternate employment, he's picked up the occasional recipe here and there that he's learned to do for himself. (His pancakes, in particular, are excellent.)
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Red, like his skin, like his blood. Black, like the dark shadows of Mike Mignola's heavy inking style.
2. Smell? Cigarette smoke, probably slightly of brimstone.
3. Time of day? Pitch black night, the time of many Hellboy stories.
4. Season? Winter: he was born in December; at least a couple of stories have involved Christmas or other winter scenes; he recently had to fight Baba Yaga's forces up and down the snowy expanse of her realm beyond the world.
5. Book? Aside from his own books? The collected works of Lovecraft, maybe.
6. Music? He grew up in the 1940s and '50s. Crooners, swing and bebop, the blues, rockabilly. The sorts of stuff GIs on the Army base might've had playing on the radio.
7. Place? Britain in general. Even before the kingship thing, back in the BPRD days, he always liked wandering around there to unwind after rough cases.
8. Substance? Blood.
9. Plant? Lilies. They've grown where his blood hit the ground, once.
10. Animal? His slouching posture's gotten him compared to an ape or a monkey more than once.
END
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