Facts about John Constantine:
John Constantine was an instant hit and he became one of the most popular and the coolest DC superhero in no time. His morality is ambiguous, which makes the character more interesting. Constantine has an amazing backstory and he is DC’s link to the magical realm of Supernatural entities.
#1: Origin and Debut
John Constantine made his first appearance in The Saga of Swamp Thing #37 in June 1985 and was created by Alan Moore, Ricky Veitch, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, Jamie Delano and John Ridgway. They created him as a working-class warlock stationed in London. He became popular for his cynicism, deadpan snarking, and ruthlessness. His morality was questionable in early appearances and his look was based on the musician Sting.
#2: History and Origin
John’s mother died when she was giving birth to him, and John’s father blamed it on John. The pair grew with a deep disdain for each other. It was later revealed that John’s bloodline and ancestry were known as the laughing Magicians, the legendary magicians who had the power over synchronicity and they were infamous for bluffing and tricking Gods. John started to practice magic at a young age due to his lineage.
#3: He is a Master-Class Magician
Constantine possesses the full knowledge of the occult and he has many magical abilities like telekinesis, necromancy, pyrokinesis, illusion projection and teleportation. He has a Genius level intellect and he can manipulate anyone with his expert tactics. Apart from all this, he is also a skilled detective, with resistance to telepathy, possessions and mind control. He ages slowly and, in some versions, he is also an expert in hand to hand combat.
#4: He Contracted Terminal Lung Cancer
When Constantine was in his late thirties, he contracted terminal Lung Cancer, and to save himself he hatched a plan. He sold his soul to two lords of Hell at the same time by tricking them. When they discovered this, they realized that they cannot allow him to die, or else they would be forced to go to an all-out war over his soul, a war whose only winner would be God. As a result, they were forced to cure his cancer.
#5: He once had a Chat with God
In Hellblazer issue #97, Constantine did something pretty amazing, he had a chat with God himself. He explained to God that if he dies and goes to hell, he’ll take over the joint and inflict a nasty punishment on the world. God knew that Constantine was right so he took it upon himself to protect his soul. It is a pretty amazing feat, right?
#6: Leader of Justice League Dark
In the New 52 storyline, Constantine appeared as one of the leading characters in Justice League Dark. He was also the leader of the group for a while and the group consisted of the biggest supernatural heroes of DC like Deadman, Shade, The Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, and Zatanna. The team was formed to handle situations deemed outside the scope of the traditional Justice League.
#7: Inspiration for many other Comics and Shows
Constantine became popular very quickly due to his snarky nature and dark subject matter. He made the occult detective fiction genre very popular and was the primary inspiration for many other comics and shows in this genre, such as, Hellboy, Supernatural, Grimm, The Originals, and The Dresden Files. Constantine is bigger than all of you think.
#8: Constantine rarely needs magic
John Constantine is a Superior magician, but most of the time he doesn’t even require it. He only uses magic when he needs to. He mostly relies on his cunning and quick-thinking during fights. As he has a vast knowledge of the occult, he easily manipulates his opponents, and in the comics, he has even managed to manipulate Superman and Batman.
#9: He knows all the routes to Heaven, Hell, and Afterlife
The most useful and crucial knowledge that Constantine possesses is about all the routes to Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife. He uses this knowledge to escape and teleport without the danger of chased by enemies. In the graphic novel named Pandemonium, he once purposefully allowed himself to be killed by the enemy. He later resurrected himself by exiting the afterlife. This practically means he is an Immortal right?
#10: His Blood is demonically tainted
Constantine’s blood is demonically tainted, initially by a blood transfusion from the demon Nergal, and later due to having sex with a succubus. Thanks to this, his blood gained fast healing properties and gave him an age-managing effect. It also acted as a defense mechanism when he was attacked by the King of Vampires himself.
