John Constantine

John Constantine: 1973 - Present
Descended from a long bloodline of great sorcerers the “Laughing Magicians” gifted with the power of synchronicity gives an instinctual magical ability which grants John uncanny luck. John had a rough childhood from birth, John's mother and twin brother did not survive childbirth and John's father became an abusive alcoholic as a result.

John's first act of magic was casting all of his youth's innocence and vulnerability into a lock-box to rid himself of them forever. As a teenager, John cast a spell directed to cure his father of his alcoholism, but botched the incantation and instead left his father a frail husk of what he once was. Unable to endure the constant reminder of what he had done, John ran away from his home in Liverpool and made a new life for himself in London with his new friend Chaz, eventually starting a seriously underrated punk rock band “Mucus Membrane” with Chaz and some other friends.

It was while on tour with this band that John Constantine came to accept his purpose as an occultist when he learned of a possessed child and recruited his bandmates and others to help him perform an exorcism. The first problem was that John was not a good exorcist at the time and instead tricked his friends into help him summon a demon of their own to deal with the demon inside the girl. Yeah, so... the fecal matter hit the turbines and the demon turned on those who summoned it, tormenting all of them before taking the girl with it back to hell.

John spent much of the nineties in and out of psychiatric hospitals, as well as experimenting in all kinds of narcotics, trying to find some means to live with himself. He apprenticed with Giovanni Zatara hoping to brush up on his parlor tricks, but promptly checked himself into treatment when Giovanni's daughter disappeared (John believed he had somehow caused that to happen).

Finally having come to terms with his past and his magical savvy, Constantine is a working class occult detective and member of “Dark Justice”. Despite his past, snark, cynical views, the cloud of smoke that seems to surround him at all times, and the tragic trail of dead friends and loved ones in his wake, John is still driven to do some good in his life.

Powers

 * Arcane Knowledge: Unlike most other actual sorcerers and true magicians, Constantine rarely uses magical spells unless he has to, especially in combat. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning, his vast knowledge of the occult, manipulation of opponents and allies, and an extensive list of contacts. When he does resort to spells, he favors the simplest and most reliable (because he tends to have poor luck). That said, he is a very skilled sorcerer and fully capable of casting spells far beyond those of a novice or journeymen spell caster's capability.
 * Astral Projection: Constantine can separate his soul from his body to travel through psyches and dimensions.
 * Divination: Using a pendulum and map, Constantine can usually find the location of a magical disturbance.
 * Demon Summoning: John is maybe a little too good at this one. John summoned the demon Nergal to destroy a monster for him, which it did (although John lost control, due to his inexperience at the time). John can also create his own minor demons through homunculogy (or in the case of three of his children, direct procreative activity with an infernal being).
 * Black Magic Curses: John's first magic mastery. John had placed a curse on his father that caused him to waste away. Other curses which John has shown himself adept at are casting a curse on a host for vengeance, putting a curse to a gang that put them into catatonic insanity, or using a spell that traps someone between the "gaps of time". Constantine's curses are strong enough to affect demons, and he even has a spell to kill a minor demon with a glance. John also has a defensive curse that allows him to transfer any body damage and pain to his enemy in some situations.
 * Exorcism: John's best known specialty. John's shown himself capable of incredible feats such as when he bound, immobilized, and sealed the Hindu goddess Kali. At other times, Constantine managed to summon and bind a demon by making it physical thus rendering it powerless and vulnerable, before blasting it apart with a "holy shotgun". John also knows spells which can destroy or cast out certain gods. Constantine can also bound, seal, and control powerful elementals such as Norfulthing. He has even been able to bind the Archangel Gabriel and the Guardian of Eden.
 * Warding: John knows how to ward essence-rich beings from entering locations, handling objects, or even being able to perceive a specific person. A more powerful version of this protection magic that John uses for defense against both supernatural and physical attacks are essence circles. His magical circles and sigils are strong enough to even block supremely powerful effects for a short duration.
 * Realm Shifting: John can open portals to realms within the Void.
 * Golemancy & Homunulogy: John knows the techniques for the creation of golems.
 * Oclumancy: John knows how to perform a variety of mind tricks on the weak-willed or emotionally unstable.
 * Necromancy: John doesn't use this often, but more than he probably should. He once raised a group of murder victims as ghosts to attack their murderer and can even raise a "soul-storm" to attack his enemies and wreak havoc.
 * Illusion: John is particularly good at making people think he's someone or something else or changing another person's image.
 * Pyromancy: John claims this is a mere parlor trick, but he can create "hellfires" from his cigarette or lighter to attack his enemies. He can also cause fire to appear in the palm of his hand with an incantation.
 * Synchronicity Wave Travelling: Constantine's signature magical trait. This allows him to make his own luck resembling probability manipulation. This is also one of the reasons how he survived for some time despite his rather poor track record and in spite of his horrible natural luck.


 * Tainted Blood: Constantine's blood is demonically tainted, initially by a blood transfusion from the demon Nergal, and later by sex with a succubus. His blood has been shown to have healing properties. It also acted as a defense mechanism when attacked by vampires.

Abilities

 * Stage Magic: Constantine has also exhibited considerable mastery in "stage magic skills" - hypnosis, sleight of hand and escapology.


 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: John has won his fair share of fights (and lost a few more than that). He likes using magical weapons or fighting dirty, but always prefers to use his wits.


 * Possession Resistance: With the use of his magical knowledge, Constantine can resist many psychic attacks such as telepathy, soul and body possession, and powerful mind controls. Constantine can even use sigils to give him even more resiliency to such things. Because he is a "Laughing Magician," John has some resistance against so-called omniscient beings.


 * Strategy: Even with pressure, lack of time and preparation, Constantine can think of a strategy to defeat his enemies in a fight, letting him outwit both Heaven and Hell while striking fear into them. He's a master tactician and strategist and he can plan a strategy on the go. Although John insists he possesses no great intellect, Constantine has fought against many of the most powerful gods and great intellectual minds and pulled off some incredible victories.


 * Investigation: John considers himself a detective, albeit more focused on the supernatural cases. He has great deduction powers, often using magic to get to the bottom of mysteries.


 * Endurance: Another one of his greatest asset aside from his cunning and arcane wisdom, Constantine can survive through numerous bodily harm, excruciating pain, and can even walk out after torture.


 * Marksmanship: Though not keen on using firearms, with the exception of his "holy shotgun", John is adept at using them and is a capable marksman. Aside from his shotgun, John owns a Scott Webley revolver.


 * Singing: John's got quite the pipes on him and knows how to carry a tune. Though all his smoking has strained his voice a bit, he's still got it, if you ask me.

Paraphernalia

 * Collection: John owns a profound collection of arcane and occult relics and tools. Most of this is kept inside a pocket dimension accessed through the Wheelhouse or through red doors with a specific sigil and incantation.

Trivia

 * John ran away from home off and on during 1987 to 1988.
 * John's favorite brand of cigarettes are Silk Cut.
 * Despite his past as a punk rock singer, John's favorite band is actually The Police. Funny enough, John sometimes he gets confused for that band's former lead singer instead of being the vocalist for the Mucous Membrane.
 * John's seriously out of date FaceSpace page only has one friend: Chaz Chandler.
 * John's last name is actually pronounced "Constant-TINE" and not "Constant-TEEN," but John's given up on correcting people and has been known to pronounce it that way himself.

Links and References

 * Appearances of John Constantine
 * Character Gallery: John Constantine