History Film / Hellboy

* ''Film/{{Hellboy|2019}}'': the 2019 reboot directed by Neil Marshall and starring Creator/DavidHarbour.

''Hellboy'' may refer to:

* ''Film/{{Hellboy|2019}}'': the 2019 reboot directed by Creator/NeilMarshall and starring Creator/DavidHarbour.

'''Hellboy''' may refer to:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellboy_1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Whatever they're looking at, there's only one proper response: [[OhCrap "Oh, crap."]]]]

->''"As you entered the lobby, there was an inscription: 'In the absence of light, darkness prevails.' There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back."''
-->-- '''Dr. Trevor Bruttenholm'''

Creator/GuillermoDelToro's films based on [[ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} Mike Mignola's comicbook series]], starring Creator/RonPerlman as the big red guy, Creator/DougJones and Creator/DavidHydePierce as Abe Sapien[[note]]Jones physically plays Abe in both films, while Pierce provided his voice for the first one; he refused to be credited out of respect for Jones' performance, and decided not to return for the second film, so Jones does Abe's voice in that one[[/note]], and Creator/SelmaBlair as Liz Sherman. They take a lot of liberties with the source material (which Mignola himself was perfectly fine with), to the point where it's better to think of them as an AlternateContinuity rather than an adaptation.

For the 2019 ContinuityReboot film, see [[Film/Hellboy2019 here]].
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!!''Hellboy'' (2004)

In the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the Nazis and [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] open a portal to the Void, attempting to summon the [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru Jahad]] to destroy the world. Allied soldiers, with the help of occult expert Trevor Bruttenholm, destroy the portal, but not before something comes through: A baby demon. Bruttenholm adopts him and the soldiers of the unit name him "Hellboy."

Sixty years later, Hellboy is one of the best agents in the US government's top-secret Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, alongside Abe Sapien (a [[FishPeople fish-man]] with PsychicPowers) and Liz Sherman (a [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] who vacillates between wanting to be on the B.P.R.D. and [[IJustWantToBeNormal wanting to be a normal human]]). They're joined by NaiveNewcomer FBI agent John Myers, who was chosen specifically by Professor Bruttenholm to provide the moral support for Hellboy to become a man.

And Hellboy will need all the support he can get: Rasputin has been resurrected by his lover Ilsa Haupstein and his [[TheDragon personal assassin]] Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. The villainous trio frees the {{hellhound}} [[EldritchAbomination Sammael]], as the first step in a plan to force Hellboy to fulfill his destiny and destroy the world.

!!''Hellboy II: The Golden Army'' (2008)

It's been a few years since the last movie. Myers has been (literally) ReassignedToAntarctica. Hellboy and Liz are an OfficialCouple, but their relationship is going through a rough patch. Hellboy, chafing under the bureaucratic leadership of Tom Manning, decides to [[TheUnmasquedWorld break the Masquerade and reveals himself to the public]]--but [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the public's reaction]] is far less pleasant than he expects. To rein Hellboy in, the B.P.R.D. upper brass sends Johann Krauss (a [[ISeeDeadPeople spirit medium]] who's been reduced to ectoplasm) to take leadership of the team.

Meanwhile, Abe meets a nice elf girl, Princess Nuala of Bethmoora, and they hit off quite well. Unfortunately, her twin brother Prince Nuada has declared [[KillAllHumans war on humanity]]. He plans to reawaken the [[KeystoneArmy Golden Army]]--invincible automatons that nearly drove humanity to extinction the first time they were used--and he kills just about everyone who stands between him and the crown that would allow him to control the Army.

It falls to Hellboy and his pals to stop Nuada, but given the way humanity's been treating them lately and after hearing Nuada's side of the story, our heroes can't help but feel a little sympathy for the genocidal JerkAss. And as if this wasn't enough, Liz [[ButICantBePregnant finds out she's pregnant]], which... worries her.

A third film was reportedly in the conceptual stage, but after a long period of DevelopmentHell, [[https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/834057572550324227 Del Toro confirmed it will not be happening.]]

Instead, [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hellboy-reboot-works-stranger-things-star-david-harbour-1001462 a reboot of the series]], with the working title ''Rise of The Blood Queen'', is currently in the planning stages; the reboot is said to be R-Rated, indicating it may take a DarkerAndEdgier approach to the material than the more fantastical style of Del Toro's duology. Creator/DavidHarbour is set to star in the titular role while [[Film/TheDescent Neil]] [[Series/GameOfThrones Marshall]] is attached to direct. Mignola will also be taking a more hands-on role this time around by writing the script.
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!!These films provide examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Both Films]]
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Inverted. Abraham Sapien went from [[https://d2lzb5v10mb0lj.cloudfront.net/darkhorse/downloads/desktops/abesosw/abesosw_lg.jpg reasonably handsome]] (if fishy) in the comics and animated movies to a much more [[http://www.filmmakingreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/abe-sapien2.jpg inhuman, fish-like appearance]] in the films.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Liz has black hair in the films instead of auburn like the comics and animated movies.
* AllMythsAreTrue: The premise of the series.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: "Hey, Hellboy! You ugly!"
* AlternateContinuity: Mignola said in one of his interviews that he felt that the way he did Hellboy was just one interpretation, and he didn't want the movie to be a rehash of that, so he let del Toro interpret the franchise his own way for the movies.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Averted in the first film (Hellboy saves the world instead of Liz, [[TakeAThirdOption then saves Liz anyway through sheer badassery]]); justified with Liz in the second (given how well Hellboy's been able to ScrewDestiny so far, Liz's decision to save him--even though he's prophesied to end the world--makes sense) but [[spoiler:Abe does it in standard fashion. Hellboy immediately calls him on it, and Abe promptly retorts that he would do the same for Liz. They seem on pretty good terms when they're done]].
* TheAntichrist: Hellboy, though he's not too keen on the idea and becomes an AntiAntiChrist.
* AuthorAppeal: The first film has a strong influence from Mike Mignola, with Nazis, eldritch abominations and a very dark, Gothic tone. The second film is more fantastical, owing to director Creator/GuillermoDelToro's input, especially in terms of the Troll Market's inhabitants. Sharp-eyed viewers will also be able to spot del Toro's beloved "creepy things in jars" in a few backgrounds.
* BadassBoast: Hellboy threatens hell itself in plain and matter-of-fact language: [[spoiler:I said, "Hey, you, on the other side - let her go. Because for her I will cross over, and then you'll be sorry!"]]
* BadassBookworm: Abe
* BadassLongcoat: Hellboy in the standard-issue B.P.R.D. trenchcoats. Kroenen in his [[HellBentForLeather black leather]] Nazi trenchcoat. Also Rasputin in his intricately embroidered coat.
* BeleagueredBoss: The head of the BPRD is doing his best to keep the Bureau's existence (and the rest of TheMasquerade) a secret from the public, [[OvertOperative and is constantly thwarted by Hellboy's grasp of public relations]]:
-->'''Tom Manning:''' "Undercover." Can't he get the meaning of the word? I mean, we are still government-funded, we are still a secret, although a dirty secret, if you ask me. Officially, we-do-not-exist. So, you see, that's the problem when we get these.
-->[shows Abe a series of photos]
-->'''Tom Manning:''' Subway... highway... ah, park.
-->[holds up one, showing Hellboy giving a "peace" sign with his stone hand]
-->'''Tom Manning:''' And he posed for this one, and gave an autograph. I suppress each photo, cell phone videos, they cost me a fortune, and then they show up on Youtube... God, I hate Youtube!
* BerserkButton: Lets just say that Hellboy catching you trying to eat a cat is not going to end well.
* {{BFG}}: The Big Baby in ''The Golden Army''. The Samaritan in the first movie. Its bullets are large enough that they hardly even qualify as 'bullets' anymore, being more akin to small artillery shells.
* BloodlessCarnage: During the fight scenes, Creator/GuillermoDelToro uses everything ''but'' blood: sweat, Sammael spittle, slime, gumballs, and coins from a pay-phone are just a few examples. The only bloodshed that occurs in either of the two movies is symbolic.
* BondOneLiner: Hellboy is fond of these. "I'm fireproof... you're not."
* BrainsAndBrawn: Abe and Hellboy, especially in the first movie.
* BurningWithAnger: Liz, when she's angry at Hellboy. Or about to go whup some ass. Either or.
* ChekhovsGunman: In the first two movies, Roger the Homunculus is visible in a display case in the B.P.R.D. hallways. Rumor has it, he'll be an important character in ''Hellboy III''.
* CivilizationDestroyer: Hellboy is apparently the BeastOfTheApocalypse and is fated to destroy human civilization on Earth, which is what Rasputin wants in the first movie. It is also prophecied by the [[TheGrimReaper Angel Of Death]] in the sequel though, as a third movie was cancelled, [[LeftHanging we will never know]].
* ClockPunk: So, so much, to the point that the second film's finale is fought on giant gears.
* ClockworkCreature: Kroenen is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot clockwork Nazi]]. Also, the Golden Army is {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le because they are made of giant [[WindUpKey wind-up gears]] and can piece themselves together.
* ComicBooksAreReal: In the first film, Hellboy is only known to the outside world as an urban myth and the star of a series of comic books. When John Myers meets the real HB, he complains that the comics never get his eyes right.
* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: B.P.R.D.'s headquarters are disguised as a waste disposal facility; the transports for HB and Abe are disguised as garbage trucks.
* CrossoverCosmology: Much like the original comics. Devils, Lovecraftian horrors, fairy-tale creatures, and {{God}} is implied to exist as well.
* CuteKitten: Hellboy loves kittens. There's even a scene in the first movie where he goes out of his way to save a box of kittens from falling to their deaths during a fight with Sammael. Reprised in the second movie where he's supposed to be spying on a troll, but disobeys orders and breaks cover to prevent her from eating a kitten.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Hellboy himself, though the villains try to convince him that he ''should'' be evil. A few other things like the Angel of Death also count. Lampshaded by the tagline for the second film, "Believe it or not, he's the good guy."
* DemonSlaying
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Specially-made bullets with holy water, garlic, white oak, silver shavings... "the works."
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Hellboy's standard M.O. Also, given Hellboy's true name and nature, this probably applies whenever someone punches ''him'' out.
* DowntimeDowngrade
* TheDragon: Kroenen and Ilsa to Rasputin. Mr. Wink to Nuada. [[spoiler:He dies rather quickly for a Dragon, though.]]
* EmergingFromTheShadows
* ExtranormalInstitute: The B.P.R.D.'s offices. Taken to a ludicrous level in the first act of ''The Golden Army''.
* {{Fanservice}}: Perlman mentions that all the female [=TAs=] were "smitten" with Hellboy, and suspects that many were crestfallen upon seeing him out of makeup and costume for the first time.
** Abe Sapien spends the majority of time in both movies shirtless and is ''very'' fit. But Jusitified in that he mostly lives in a big tank of water.
** In the movie, Liz apparently burnt all her clothes off before fallling unconscious, so Rasputin kindly gives her a big blanket (and nothing else). On the [[CoversAlwaysLie movie case]], she's also wearing a clingy black dress never seen in the film.
** Prince Nuada likes to fight with his shirt off and has gained a large fandom because of it.
* FantasyKitchenSink
* FeedItABomb: [[spoiler:The death of the Behemoth.]]
* FishPeople: Abe
* FourFingeredHands: Hellboy's stone hand has only four fingers.
* {{Geek}}: Abe. "Ooh, goggles! Yay! I ''must'' try them on."
* GentleGiant: Hellboy loves cats.
* GilliganCut: In the beginning, when Tom Manning is interviewed on TV.
-->'''Manning:''' -- I want to tell you and I want to tell the American public one thing. This Bureau for... umm...
-->'''TV Anchor:''' -- ...Paranormal Research and Defence.
-->'''Manning:''' -- (looks towards camera) There is... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis No. Such. Thing.]]
-->''[cut to properly subtitled facility of B.P.R.D]''
* GogglesDoNothing: Subverted, as Abe's goggles protect his aquatic eyes while also, as expected, [[RuleOfCool looking really cool]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: The Ogdru Jahad, a team of EldritchAbomination aliens worshiped by Rasputin whom tries to lay the world to waste in the first film by using Hellboy as a way of summoning them. While they don't appear in the second film, [[spoiler: the Angel of Death reveals that while Hellboy is alive, their arrival on Earth is not only still possible, but imminent.]]
* HappilyAdopted: Hellboy's fond memories of his surrogate father and his supportive childhood is a fundamental reason of why he keeps trying his best to the right thing, hard as it is.
* HandCannon: Hellboy's not a very good shot, but The Samaritan uses really big bullets. The Big Baby is a giant pepperbox pistol with six barrels. Or maybe a pepperbox grenade launcher, firing what look like 40mm rifle grenades in oversized shotgun shells.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Hellboy and Liz.
* ICallItVera: Hellboy's HandCannon is named the Samaritan, and his {{BFG}} is named Big Baby.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Kroenen is capable of deflecting bullets at his attackers and {{Diagonal Cut}}ting stone statues. Prince Nuada is shown bisecting water droplets in midair.
* InterspeciesRomance: Hellboy (demon) and Liz (human). And in the second film, Abe (ichthyosapien) and Nuala (elf) as well.
* KillItWithFire: Liz uses this a lot, obviously. Sometimes she becomes a WomanOnFire [[IncendiaryExponent for that extra boost of awesome]].
* KindheartedCatLover: Hellboy's soft side is established early when he's introduced in a bedroom filled with pet cats. Hellboy also goes well out of his way to save some kittens during his fight Sammael. Hellboy's many cats complicate the living conditions between him and Liz in the second film.
* LightningBruiser: By human standards Hellboy is definitely this, but since his actual fights tend to be against various supernatural creatures, he can be anything from a FragileSpeedster (compared to the Behemoth,) or a MightyGlacier (compared to Nuada).
%%* LivingLabyrinth: Two, one at the end of each film.
* MobileFishbowl: Abe sometimes wears water goggles and water tanks when he is out of his tank. Based on the comics this is more to keep him from drying out than to help him breathe; he has both lungs and gills.
* {{Muggles}}: Every supernatural entity's opinion of ordinary humans, including B.P.R.D. agents.
* MrFanservice: Abe and Hellboy are both quite muscular and both spend a ''lot'' of time shirtless.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, the Ogdru Jahad, Anung Un Rama (the last a subversion...although it being a subversion depends entirely on whose side you're on).
* NiceGuy: Myers.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Hellboy, on several occasions.
* NighInvulnerability
* OhCrap: HB's had so many of these moments that this is literally a CatchPhrase. However, his best one [[spoiler:is an unspoken one]], at the end of ''The Golden Army'' where [[spoiler:Liz reveals she's carrying twins, his face is PRICELESS]].
* PowerTrio: Hellboy, Liz and Abe.
* PracticalEffects: Used extensively and very effectively throughout, as is Del Toro's tradition. Basically any monster that's not running or fighting is a suit or animatronics rather than CGI. Even the Sammael had an actual physical suit built (complete with motorized tendrils!)
* PretentiousLatinMotto: The motto of the BRPD is "In absentia luci, tenebrae vicunt." Or, "[[DarkIsEvil In the absence of light, darkness prevails.]]"
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Liz Sherman; she's more like a little sister to Hellboy in the comics. Played with in the first movie, when Liz tells Myers that she's known Hellboy all her life.
* ProtagonistTitle
* PsychicPowers: Abe is telepathic and able to read the past of objects and places, probably to allow them to do an InfoDump for the audience without it seeming too awkward.
* RedShirt: Just about any non-main character who has the gall to tag along with the main characters on their missions isn't coming back.
* RockThemeNaming: The various B.P.R.D. redshirts are all named for minerals.
* TheRightHandOfDoom: Of course.
* RuleOfCool: Many of the supernatural and magical elements are poorly explained, if an explanation is offered at all, and actually analyzing the plots reveals holes. However, both films are still ''very'' cool to watch.
* SceneryPorn: The Troll Market in the second film.
* ShoutOut:
** The scene of Bruttenholm befriending "baby Hellboy" is very reminiscent of the Baby Ruth scene from ''Film/TheGoonies'' -- including the yummy-sounds.
** There are shoutouts to Mike Mignola scattered about - in Liz's flashback sequence, one of the buildings is called "Mignola Plaza", and one of the headstones in the Russian cemetery is inscribed with Mike Mignola's name in Russian.
** The "I'm not a baby, I'm a tumour" scene in the second film is possibly a shout out to ''Film/TotalRecall1990''.
** Quite a few nods to ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''.
** Some [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Elder Things]] show up in the Troll Market.
** Hellboy lives on the [[Area51 51st floor]] of the BPRD HQ.
* ShownTheirWork: With Mignola and Del Toro co-producing, it wasn't hard to squeeze in all kinds of obscure mythological references. Of course, it's a FantasyKitchenSink, so...
* SmokingIsCool: Hellboy is constantly smoking cigars; the second film even included a disclaimer that the smoking was for artistic effect and not an endorsement of smoking. It may double as a real-life ActorAllusion as Ron Perlman is an avid cigar afficionado.
* SnowyScreenOfDeath: When Liz has her pyrokinesis fit in the psychiatric institution, the CCTV cameras go full of static as the fire wave destroys them. And again in the auction hall in ''TGA'', along with the lights blacking out.
* TheSouthpaw: Hellboy is left-handed, most likely due to his big, cumbersome [[TheRightHandOfDoom Right Hand of Doom]]. Quite convenient, really, since Ron Perlman is left-handed, and functionally ambidextrous.
* SpinToDeflectStuff: Kroenen uses his blade-tonfas to [[ImplausibleFencingPowers block bullets]] and ''[[ImprobableAimingSkills shoot them back at people]]''.
* SpyCatsuit: Abe's wetsuit is effectively this.
* TheStinger: Halfway through the credits of the first film, there's the punchline of a BrickJoke.
* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Rasputin gives a vision of Hellboy causing the end of the world.
* StylisticSuck[=/=]InTheStyleOf: Hellboy reads a Creator/JackKirby-styled ''Hellboy'' comic book at one point in the first movie. He considers it a GuiltyPleasure.
* TheTeamNormal: John Myers, in the films. And then he gets [[spoiler:[[PutOnABus transferred to Antarctica in the second movie!]]]]
%% * TechnologyPorn
%% * ThisIsGonnaSuck
* TouchTelepathy: Abe Sapien can learn about objects or people by touching them. For example, he can touch a weapon left behind at a crime scene and see exactly how the crime happened—or he can touch a superior's hand and realize the man is dying of cancer. On a more positive note, when he touched Liz[[spoiler:'s belly]], he detected, that she [[spoiler:is pregnant with twins]].
* UrbanLegend: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., until he goes public.
* VerbThis: "Name this."
* WhatMeasureIsANonSuper: While there are significant BadassNormal characters in the first movie, by the sequel the entire non-superpowered roster of Hellboy's unit consist of one commander whom everyone treats like dirt and a RedshirtArmy who die fast, often, and completely unmourned by any of the superpowered members. Hellboy was more shocked over the death of the rampaging tree-monster than over any of his human allies.
* WifeHusbandry: Hellboy & Liz.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Hellboy'']]
* AdaptationDistillation: ''Hellboy'' is a rough condensation of the plots of ''Seed of Destruction'', ''The Right Hand of Doom'', and ''Box Full of Evil'', with a sprinkle of ''Wake the Devil''. Hellboy's character design was also slightly modified, as in the comics he has cloven hooves instead of feet.[[note]] Though he still has cloven hooved feet, visible when John Myers first meets him, though its difficult to see[[/note]] The producers also worried about having to change the Right Hand of Doom to a ''Left'' Hand of Doom before casting Perlman, who is ambidextrous.
* AdaptationExpansion: Professor Bruttenholm's relationship with Hellboy (as father-son) gets a lot more focus here than in the comics.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the graphic novels, Kroenen was just a [[GasMaskMooks gas-masked Nazi]] with a MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate. The first movie turned him into a Surgery Addicted {{Clockwork|Creature}} [[StupidJetpackHitler Nazi]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Cyborg Assassin]] with a taste for [[BladeBelowTheShoulder arm blades]]...''and'' a Morally Ambiguous Doctorate.
* AffablyEvil: Rasputin allows [[spoiler:Professor Bruttenholm]] a moment to prepare for his death and assures him that it will be quick. And it is. Kroenen generally preferred efficiency over sadism anyway, but still. Considering that [[spoiler:the professor]] was terminally ill, it may even have counted as a MercyKill. Their little theology discussion beforehand, while decidedly antagonistic, was still very civilized.
* AndIMustScream: Kroenen wasn't killed by being impaled in the gear pit. Hellboy had to throw in a giant gear to finish him off.
* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: Hellboy's devilishness and the Lovecraftian elements are obvious; angels don't appear directly, but their dried tears kept Sammael's essence restrained until his release and religious icons possess holy power.
* ArtImitatesArt: A brief video clip of Hellboy copies the famous film footage of Bigfoot.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Look closely at the soldiers in Professor Bruttenholm's taskforce as they take the picture at the start of the film; one is black, at a time when the forces were still segregated (although it ''was'' a very special taskforce...).
* AscendedExtra: Bruttenholm and Kroenen get ''much'' larger roles here than in the original comics.
* AssholeVictim: The little kids who taunted and threw rocks at Liz when she was a child, triggering the self-defense explosion that killed them. True they were little kids... but they were little kids ''throwing rocks at another kid''. Little kids or not you really don't feel bad for them.
* AsteroidsMonster / ExplosiveBreeder: Sammael. It lays a ''lot'' of eggs, and every time it gets killed, two of those eggs hatch and immediately grow to adulthood. Nothing short of firebombing all the adults ''and'' all the eggs simultaneously can stop them.
* AudienceSurrogate: Myers. Most viewers agreed that one was not necessary, hence [[PutOnABus his absence]] from the second film.
* BadassBystander: The aggressive security guard on the train, who made the unfortunate (albeit fairly understandable) [[WrongGenreSavvy mistake]] of thinking that [[BigRedDevil Hellboy]] [[DarkIsNotEvil was a bad guy.]]
* BadMoonRising: After Rasputin [[spoiler:forces Hellboy to use his giant right hand to unlock the Tunguska door by sucking out Liz's soul]], the door sends some kind of energy ray to the moon, which turns into [[spoiler:a portal to let the Ogdru Jahad enter the world]].
* BedtimeBrainwashing: The villain did this to Liz, resulting in Liz burning the entire asylum.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy:
** Grigori Rasputin as master mystic. Granted, even many of his contemporaries thought there was something weird about him.
** Adolf Hitler as an accomplished mystic. Early in the movie, Bruttenholm briefs Myers on the Occult Wars which happened with the Nazis acquired mystical artifacts (such as [[TheLanceOfLonginus the Spear of Longinus]]) and ended when Hitler finally died in 1958. Myers corrects him, saying Hitler died in 1945; Bruttenholm simply gives an amused "Did he now?"
* BigBad: UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin, who spends the film trying to summon world-destroying {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
* BiggerOnTheInside: Rasputin's Tomb.
* BigEater: Hellboy, if the massive plates of food brought into his room six times a day are any indication.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Kroenen's preferred weapon.
* BodyHorror: Sammael. The very first one we're introduced to, after it escaped the train Sammael fell onto the tracks. You can hear the sickening cracks of its bones and you get a nice visual of its legs and spine ''literally twisting around'' instead of it just simply rolling over to get up.
* BodybagTrick: Used by Kroenen to infiltrate B.P.R.D. headquarters.
* BookEnds: The first movie begins and ends with a monologue asking "What defines a man?"
* BullyingADragon: Yeah, throw rocks at the pre-teen pyrokinetic. Real smart, kids.
* CameBackWrong: Rasputin returns from the Void with [[spoiler: An EldritchAbomination in his stomach]]. Although it's not technically "wrong" as far as his side is concerned.
-->[[spoiler:Every time I died, a [[BodyHorror little more of the master came back with me.]]]]
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Sammael is called a hellhound. He does not resemble a dog in any way (except his [[DoubleEntendre canine teeth.]])
* ColorCodedCharacters: Hellboy has a red light on his communicator, Abe has blue. Those colors are also their B.P.R.D. callsigns.
* CombatTentacles: Behemoth uses them in its fight with Hellboy.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Sammael.
* CosmicHorrorStory / LovecraftLite: If anything, the movies are even more upfront with the Lovecraft influence: Mignola's Ogdru Jahad were reptilian, while del Toro's are betentacled crustaceans.
* CouldntFindALighter: Hellboy's first fight with Sammael leaves his right hand on fire. He lights a cigar with it before putting the fire out.
* CoveredWithScars: Kroenen
* CrystalPrison: The Ogdru Jahad's prison.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Hellboy's dialogue is laced with some of the snarkiest deadpanning of any film in the 21st century thus far. Professor Bruttenholm gets a pretty good one in 1944, so apparently that's where he got it from.
** Liz also has rather snarky moments, and given her depressing background, this makes sense.
* DealWithTheDevil: Inverted: [[spoiler:Hellboy briefly submits to his true form in order to get the love of his life's soul back (long story short, Grigori Rasputin steals her soul, stating that he can only get her soul back to her if he opens the gate).]]
* DescriptionCut: Tom Manning states on TV that the B.P.R.D. does not exist. There's then an immediate cut to an establishing shot of B.P.R.D. headquarters.
* DualTonfas: The bladed version is Kroenen's weapon of choice.
* DullSurprise: Creator/SelmaBlair's portrayal of Liz Sherman. Justified, as she's supposed to be depressed and heavily medicated due to her tragic past, and she gets ''much'' better in the second film, after she finally comes to terms with her emotions and powers.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Rasputin's crazy ClockPunk mausoleum.
* EldritchAbomination: The Ogdru Jahad, Sammael, and Behemoth ([[spoiler:[[AllThereInTheManual that thing that crawled out of Rasputin's stomach]]]]).
* ExploitedImmunity: The title character's immunity to fire comes up a [[ChekhovsSkill few times]]:
** Hellboy defeats a demon by grabbing a live subway rail. He's fine (because he's fireproof), but the demon is less fortunate.
** When Hellboy is fighting swarms of Sammaels, Liz the pyrokinetic releases a fire blast that took all the Sammaels down while leaving Hellboy intact.
* ExtraEyes: Sammael has three eyes, two on the right side of its head, and one slightly larger on the left.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Kinda. [[spoiler:After revealing his plan to the Professor as well as the knowledge that they would kill him afterwards, Rasputin assures him that his death will be quick and painless. Seconds later, Kroenen swiftly stabs him through the back of his neck, at the top of the spinal cord, killing him instantly.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Professor Bruttenholm, when Rasputin and Kroenen come for him, doesn't struggle, knowing that there's nothing he can do to escape them and nothing more he can do to foil their plans than he has already done.]]
* {{Foil}}: Rasputin is this to Hellboy. The latter is a demon who chooses to defend humanity, and prefers brute force and assorted guns to get the job done; meanwhile, the former is a human who willingly chose to side with an EldritchAbomination and is more skilled in the occult, relying on his underlings to do the dirty work. His final scenes show that he cares little for humanity, telling Hellboy that Earth's destruction will go unmourned by the rest of the universe.
* FoldSpindleMutilation: Rasputin is sucked belly-first into the portal during the opening sequence, his already-liquefying body bending in half backwards (urk!).
* FriendshipMoment: After Manning spends most of the movie complaining that Hellboy is an insubordinate menace, [[spoiler:Hellboy saves his life from a death trap and then they team up to defeat Kroenen]]. Afterward, they have a friendly moment, which because it's Manning takes the form of him being a curmudgeon about the way Hellboy lights his victory cigar and teaching him how to do it ''properly''.
* GasMaskLongcoat: Kroenen
* {{Ghostapo}} / StupidJetpackHitler: The first movie doesn't even start to show off the Nazis' capabilities with a ''{{Clock|Punk}}work [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Nazi assassin]]''. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was simply the public face of the decades-long "Occult Wars" which began shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and lasted until the Allies finally killed Hitler ''in 1958''. Only Mignola knows how [[AmericaSavesTheDay America Saved the Day]].
* GoodHurtsEvil: When Hellboy regrows his horns and is briefly evil, the crucifix from his rosary leaves a burn mark on his hand.
* GroinAttack: When the Professor is recalling the history of Rasputin he mentions that when Rasputin died the first time he was castrated as part of his death by HumiliationConga.
* HandCannon: Hellboy's customized "Samaritan" revolver.
* HappilyAdopted: He may have had rows with the Professor in the movie but its obvious Hellboy loved him like any son would.
* HeartInTheWrongPlace: Kroenen doesn't seem to ''have'' a working heart or blood in the film adaptation, but the clockwork device that keeps his body going ... somehow ... is in the upper left side of his chest.
* {{Hellgate}}: Rasputin's portal to the Void.
* {{Hellhound}}: Sammael. Though he looks more like a cross between a [[Film/{{Avatar}} Thanator]] and a [[Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem Predalien]] than an actual dog.
* HighVoltageDeath: DoubleSubverted when Hellboy is battling Sammael the first time. Hellboy grabs the third rail of a subway. He just gets a little jolted, but Sammael gets barbecued. Hellboy then lights a cigar off a flaming bit of Sammael stuck to his stone hand.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Rasputin, obviously, though his villainy didn't start until after his historical death.
* HitMeDammit: When Liz is still having problems accessing her powers, she goads Meyers with this.
* IJustWantToBeNormal:
** Liz.
** Hellboy too, to an extent. He sands his horns to fit in and generally likes to pal around with the other B.P.R.D. agents when he's not working.
* IKnowYourTrueName: Invoked and played with, as Rasputin knows Hellboy's real name, Professor Bruttenholm most likely knows but refuses to say it, and the viewer is left wondering if Hellboy himself knows right up until his final confrotation with Rasputin. Turns out, Hellboy ''does'' know his demonic name: Anung Un Rama.[[note]] It means "And upon his brow is set a crown of fire."[[/note]]
* IgnoreTheDisability: Clay warns Myers not to stare at Hellboy's filed horns. With predictable result.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Myers.
-->'''Professor:''' In medieval stories, there is often a young knight who is inexperienced, but pure of heart.\\
'''Myers:''' Oh, come on. I am not pure of heart.\\
'''Abe:''' Yes, you are.
* InSeriesNickname: Hellboy has two: "HB" and "Red".
* InvoluntaryGroupSplit: When the agents enter Rasputin's ElaborateUndergroundBase, they're split into two groups by rising walls.
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: During Professor Bruttenholm's funeral.
* JerkAssHasAPoint: Manning, regarding Hellboy's irresponsibility as a commanding officer. Such a good point, in fact, that the movie has him immediately follow it up with a bigoted rant so we don't stop thinking of him as a jerkass.
* KissOfDeath: Rasputin gives it to Liz. It's not death for her, but for all the other inmates of the looney bin she's in, cause it makes her [[PlayingWithFire fire power]] go haywire and [[StuffBlowingUp blow up the whole building]].
* KissOfLife: Hellboy to Liz.
* KnifeNut: Kroenen. Not only does he love his DualTonfas, but when he's shown without his trenchcoat, he's got several knives strapped to his arms and legs.
* LoveTriangle: Between Liz, Hellboy and Myers (who seems to vacillate between trying to reconcile Liz and Hellboy and falling for Liz himself).
* {{Masquerade}}: Hellboy, the B.P.R.D., and the occult are all kept secret from the public, and one of Tom Manning's jobs is to appear on TV and deny that they exist.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Kroenen's LivingLabyrinth (actually [[BiggerOnTheInside Rasputin's Tomb]]) comes complete with SpikesOfDoom and SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom.
* NaiveNewcomer: Myers.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Kroenen is a Nazi clockwork zombie cyborg assassin who can sprout blades from his [[strike:[[BladeBelowTheShoulder wrists]]]] sleeves.
* NurtureOverNature: The core of Hellboy's character, as he was created to herald the return of various {{Eldritch Abomination}}s but was raised by a good man.
* OneLiner: "I'm fireproof. You're not." And "I'm gonna be sore in the morning..." Made all the better because this was the last line Ron Perlman recited while working on the film. The cast and crew gave him a standing ovation.
* OutOfTheFryingPan: [[spoiler:After resisting Rasputin's temptation to summon an eldritch abomination to Earth, Hellboy kills Rasputin--which allows ''another'' abomination, hiding inside Ras'--to begin wreaking havoc.]]
* PedestrianCrushesCar: Hellboy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kA0tg8hudw punches an oncoming car with his stone fist]] to save Myers who is lying on the road, causing it to flip over them both.
* PiggybackingOnHitler: Rasputin.
* PowerIncontinence: Liz's pyrokinesis blew up an entire city block when she was eight years old. Later in life [[spoiler: Rasputin uses that memory to have Liz destroy the mental institution she was living in while she was asleep]]. It's the biggest reason she's afraid of her power.
* ProductPlacement: For Baby Ruth bars in the first one, but, as in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', the wrapper on Prof. Broom's bar is from the right era.
* RasputinianDeath: Rasputin, obviously. And he's still not technically dead.
* RedShirt: Apart from Manning and Myers, the ordinary human BPRD agents are in the movie mainly to get picked off by the bad guys at dramatically appropriate moments.
* RemovingTheEarpiece: Done twice by HB in the first movie. The second time, it leads to several redshirts getting killed while he couldn't be reached.
* ScrewDestiny: Hellboy was born to bring about the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalypse]]. After Myers reminds Hellboy that he has a choice, Hellboy tells Rasputin what he thinks of his destiny [[spoiler:by ripping off his own horns and stabbing Rasputin in the gut with them]].
* SelfHarm: Kroenen severely mutilates himself and he survives it only thanks to some kind of black magic.
* StockScream: As an unnamed Nazi scientist is thrown against the portal in the beginning and reduced to a skeleton before disappearing, a classic Wilhelm scream is heard.
* StoppedReadingTooSoon: A variation; Abe Sapien reads off the description for the {{Hellhound}} from a book to Hellboy. Hellboy supposedly kills the hellhound before Abe finishes, after which he mentions the last few sentences about resurrection.
* SupernormalBindings: Rasputin binds Hellboy in stocks and chains inscribed with [[IKnowYourTrueName Hellboy's true name]]. The only way for Hellboy to break these bindings is to say his name, [[YouCantFightFate tacitly submitting to his destiny]] as Prince of Hell and bringer of the apocalypse. Of course, making Hellboy fulfill this destiny is Rasputin's entire goal.
* TastesLikeFriendship: Baby Ruth bars in the first movie. Also, milk and cookies from a nine-year-old kid.
* TemptingFate: "We'll be all right as long as we don't separate." Cue sliding walls rising up from the floor and splitting the group in two.
* ThoseWackyNazis: Ilsa, Kroenen and von Klempt.
* ToHellAndBack: Hellboy threatened it when he saves Liz.
-->'''Hellboy''': I said "Hey, you on the other side; let her go. 'Cause for--[chokes back a sob]--for her I'll cross over...and then you'll be sorry."
* TheTunguskaEvent: Rasputin's giant rock, sent to Earth by the Ogdru Jahad, was the cause of the Tunguska explosion.
* UnderlingWithAnFInPR: Hellboy is a BigRedDevil who's part of a secret government agency charged with eliminating supernatural threats before the public gets wind of them. Hellboy apparently didn't get the memo on that last part, because he enjoys having his picture taken with people, [[BeleagueredBoss much to the director's chagrin]]. Note that in the comics, his existence is in no way a secret, and in fact nobody ever bats an eye at his appearance.
* UnfazedEveryman: Myers. Once he adjusts, he's pretty much unfazed by the rest of the movie.
* TheUnintelligible: Ivan, the desiccated half-corpse Hellboy resurrects during the final act, talks with a fittingly dry, raspy voice ''and'' in (presumably) some form of Russian, which makes everything he says largely impossible to understand for the average western viewer. Hellboy and his team seem to understand him quite fine, though, if Liz' snickering when Ivan insults Hellboy is any indication.
* VillainTeleportation: Used by Rasputin.
* WelcomedToTheMasquerade: The movie begins with Agent Myers being brought in to the BPRD, a paranormal investigation unit. Downplayed in that his FBI skills don't do him any good against the various monsters and ancient evils they meet up with. He was only brought in to keep tabs on the title character.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never do find out if Clay survived his stabbing (but it's strongly implied that he wouldn't).
* WithMyDyingBreathISummonYou: [[spoiler:Rasputin summons the Ogdru Jahad this way]] - if it wasn't a case of [[spoiler:Ogdru Jahad simply being released by Rasputin's death]], in which case NiceJobBreakingItHero.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Hellboy ''almost'' became this after Rasputin killed Liz in front of him and sent her soul into the Ogdru Jahad realm in order for him to force him to become the beast of the apocalypse and unlock the portal. The only reason he didn't is because Myers managed to get him to snap out of it by reminding him of what he once was.]]
* YawnAndReach: {{Lampshaded}}
--> '''Kid:''' Look! He's yawning! He's ''bored!
--> '''Hellboy''': Yeah, yeah, the ol' "stretch and yawn trick." Watch and learn, kid.
* YouAreWorthHell
-->'''Ilsa:''' ''(to Rasputin, seconds before death)'' Hell will hold no surprises for us, my love.
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler:Hellboy to Kroenen, after Kroenen kills Professor Bruttenholm. "You killed my father! [[BondOneLiner Your ass is mine!]]" ]]
* YourCostumeNeedsWork: A little BitingTheHandHumor on Hellboy's part during his first adult appearence.
--> '''Hellboy:''' I hate those comic books, they never get the eyes right.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Hellboy II: The Golden Army'']]
* AdaptationNameChange: Johann ''Kraus'' in the comics becomes Johann ''Krauss'' in the film, [[RuleOfFunny purely so Hellboy can make that "SS, right" crack.]]
* AdrenalineMakeover: Liz in a big way.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: The trip to the Troll Market in the second movie illustrates this point magnificently. They're all different from each other.
* AliensInCardiff: In their search for the Golden Army, a force that can conquer the Earth, the protagonists end up in... ''[[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland County Antrim.]]''; given the leaning more toward mythology and fables as with the later Mignola stories - particularly Celtic - this does make a lot of sense as the UK is dense with lore.
* AntiVillain: Nuada. He's spent centuries, possibly millennia, watching the mythical creatures that once ruled the world fade into the background as humans expanded, and the royal family has been reduced to ruling from sewers. He wants to take the planet back from the humans in the name of the fey beings before their kind dies out completely.
* ArtShift: The opening exposition is depicted as a massive war between carved puppets, illustrating how young Hellboy's imagination pictures the human/Fair Folk conflict his foster father describes. This allows the actual appearance of the various fey races to be dramatically revealed later in the movie.
* AstralProjection: Johann Krauss's ability...or, rather, nature.
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Dr. Krauss in ''The Golden Army''.
* BazaarOfTheBizarre: Troll Market.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Hellboy finds out the hard way that being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be.
* BiggerOnTheInside: Fairy cities (Troll Market, Bethmoora) seem to operate exclusively on this principle.
* BindingAncientTreaty: Prince Nuada bases his war plans on humanity's breach of one of these.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Nuala kills herself to stop her brother from stabbing Hellboy in the back. Regardless of whether you interpreted her sacrifice as {{heroic|Sacrifice}} or pointless, it was still pretty bitter.]]
* BladeOnAStick: Nuada's preferred weapon.
* BrokenAngel: The dying plant elemental.
* BrokenMasquerade: A frustrated Hellboy deliberately sets himself up to get blasted out of a building...and lands right in front of camera crews from what appear to be every TV station in New York state. When a horrified Manning asks what he's done, Hellboy nonchantly replies "Guess we're out."
* BulletsDoNotWorkThatWay: Apparently the shots from Hellboy's {{BFG}} disintegrate after hitting one target, because when the last surviving tooth fairy escapes and flies towards a packed crowd of reporters, Hellboy, who is facing ''directly towards the crowd'', manages to blast it with one shot from his gun without killing anyone but the tooth fairy.
* ButICantBePregnant: [[spoiler: Liz]] gets hit with this ''hard'', as apparently no one had any idea it could happen. Given that it's been several years [[spoiler: since she and Hellboy became romantically involved]], it apparently took a while for the genetics to match up right.
* ByTheBookCop: Johann Krauss is the "paranormal investigator" version, who naturally clashes hard with Hellboy's CowboyCop.
* CaptainObvious: "The Troll Market! As you may know, ''[[AllMythsAreTrue trolls live under bridges]]'' --"
-->'''Hellboy:''' Hey! genius! There are over 2000 bridges in New York.\\
'''Abe:''' -- (but research) indicates a location under the eastern end of the ''Brooklyn'' bridge!"
* CatchPhrase: Hellboy's tendency to exclaim "Oh Crap".
* TheCastShowoff: [[invoked]] Creator/RonPerlman and Doug Jones both actually have decent singing voices, which makes their hilarious, slightly off-key duet fall squarely under StylisticSuck.
* ChekhovsGun: The legend of the Golden Army. It describes how whomever wears the crown has the power to command the Golden Army, [[spoiler:''if unchallenged''. Near the end of the movie, when all seems hopeless for the heroes, Hellboy remembers the legend and challenges Nuada for the right to wear the crown, forcing the Army to temporarily halt while setting the stage for the final battle between them.]]
* ColorCodedCharacters: Like in the first film, Hellboy has a red light on his communicator, Abe has blue. Liz has a gold/yellow one, and Krauss has white.
* ConvenientColorChange: [[spoiler:The Golden Army glows red once they are activated by Prince Nuada. When Johann takes control of one soldier, it glows blue. How else would you know it's him and he's good?]]
* CostumePorn: The elves and the trolls in the Golden Army. Especially Nuada and Nuala.
* CurbStompBattle: Nuada vs. the guards [[spoiler:(both his father's royal guards and the guards at the gate of B.R.P.D headquarters)]] and his first encounter with Hellboy. Justified in that Hellboy had been pretty hammered in the first fight, having been drinking heavily after Liz wanted to separate, and was barely able to walk down stairs without stumbling. The second fight is much more closely matched.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Hellboy outing himself in the hopes of becoming a celebrity of some sort. It doesn't work out for him.
* DrowningOurRomanticSorrows: "You're in love. Have a beer."
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Though [[WellIntentionedExtremist his methods are extreme]], it's clear that Prince Nuada's crusade against the human race is driven by his desire to protect his people from mankind. He's clearly devastated [[spoiler: after killing his father]], and he loves his sister deeply - perhaps a little ''[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything too]]'' [[IncestSubtext deeply.]]
* EvilAlbino: Prince Nuada.
* TheEvilPrince: Nuada again.
* EyelessFace / EyesDoNotBelongThere: The Angel of Death: [[spoiler:eyes on its wings instead of its face]].
* ExactWords: [[spoiler:Only a "prince" may challenge Nuada for control of the Golden Army. When Hellboy challenges him, he snubs it off because he is not "royalty". Then his sister reminds him that Hellboy is the son of the King of Darkness, the "Fallen One" and is technically royalty, meaning that he must accept Hellboy's challenge at the climax of the film.]]
** Hellboy promises not to kill Nuada, as he knows it would kill his sister, who his friend Abe is in love with. However he didn't say anything about not kicking his ass, which he does with glee.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Prince Nuada's War against Humanity doesn't survive past one night. He begins his attack shortly before Midnight and by around Nine O'Clock the next morning he's dead and his army is defeated.
* FairFolk: The Elf world and troll world are explicitly thus. Prince Nuada of [[ShownTheirWork Bethmoora]] is specifically the prince of the [[Myth/CelticMythology Tuatha De Danaan]]. And [[KillerRabbit the tooth fairies]].
* FakeCrossover: A series of TV ads for ''The Golden Army'' showed Hellboy interacting with James Lipton, Series/{{Chuck}}, and the Series/GhostHunters, and appearing in ''Series/AmericanGladiators'' and a [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle PSA]].
* FantasticFragility: Destroy or disassemble the Golden Crown, and the Golden Army [[KeystoneArmy becomes inert]].
* FantasticRacism: Hellboy experiences hatred and prejudice. He also takes an immediate dislike towards Krauss, which he claims is because Germans make him "nervous". Given [[ThoseWackyNazis how he first came to this dimension]] and [[YouKilledMyFather Kroenen]] in the previous film, is there any wonder why? And Prince Nuada doesn't view humans in a favorable light because of their wanton destruction of the environment.
* FertileBlood: When the plant elemental is killed, its blood blankets the city and sprouts moss, grass, and flowers.
* {{Flanderization}}: Tom Manning. In the first movie, while not a very good field leader, he was still a competent bureaucrat; he and Hellboy butted heads but ultimately gained a bit of respect for each other, and bonded over cigars. The second movie made him almost completely incompetent, and reduced him to bribing Hellboy with cigars to keep him in line. Maybe justified by the fact that, without the professor, there is ''no one'' who can truly keep Hellboy from doing something ''stupid''.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Mr. Wink.
* ForeignCussWord: Kraus, after reprimanding him about radio silence during a covert operation, said in an undertone "schmutziger Affe", which is German for "dirty ape" (Stylistically more correct would be "dreckiger Affe", but compared to the butchering of German in other films, its more or less OK). And at the end of the film, when [[spoiler: Hellboy, Liz, Abe and Krauss decided to leave the B.P.R.D., ]] Krauss told Manning to "suck my ectoplasmic schwanzstucker". The word "Schwanzstucker" doesn't exist in German, but it contains the German word "Schwanz", which is "tail" and a mildly obscene word for the penis. Could also double as GettingCrapPastTheRadar. In the German dub the word "Schwanzstück" is used, which sounds REALLY awkward, but stylistically correct. This was probably a del Toro ShoutOut to ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''.
* FourElementEnsemble: In Hellboy 2, we have...
** Air: Krauss
** Water: Abe
** Fire: Liz
** Earth: Hellboy (the loosest association, mostly because he has the rocky Right Hand of Doom. He is also rational and down to earth character, much more than strict but capricious Krauss.)
%%* FragileSpeedster: Prince Nuada, especially in comparison to Hellboy.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Check out the monster-wrangling in the background when Abe and Manning are walking down the hall.
** After Hellboy and Liz are walking away from the large stone statue-portal at the end, it curiously ''turns its head to watch them go.''
* GlamourFailure: The Spectacles cause this, allowing the person wearing them to see the "true nature of things".
* GoryDiscretionShot: The only way the [[StrippedToTheBone tooth fairy kills]] squeak by with a PG-13 rating is because the hapless BPRD redshirts are either 1) mostly offscreen when they're being disemboweled or 2) so covered up in tooth fairies that we can't actually ''see'' their flesh being shredded off.
* GratuitousGerman: Johann Krauss, whenever he feels like insulting someone. Creator/SethMacFarlane, who played Johann, actually speaks decent German.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Nuada and Nuala are both very pretty with the same white hair.
* HatOfPower: The crown which allows its wearer to control the Golden Army.
* HealingFactor: The Golden Army's soldiers are virtually indestructible due to their ability to reassemble themselves completely despite being broken up into a thousand pieces.
* HeroicSuicide: The elf princess kills herself to save Hellboy from her brother, since given their {{psychic link}} this kills him as well via {{synchronization}}.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Mr. Wink dies this way.]]
* HostageForMacGuffin: Abe does it
* HumansAreBastards: Pretty much every normal human outside the B.P.R.D. treats Hellboy and his group like unstable monsters. [[spoiler:This is probably why they end up quitting.]] Which is strange, given that a lot of people were quite enthusiastic about Hellboy in the first. A possible explanation is while they enjoyed the urban legends about Hellboy, even making an in-universe comic-book about him, being confronted by [[BrokenMasquerade the truth]] that he really ''does'' exist was simply too much for people to handle. And Nuada's FreudianExcuse revolves around his (not entirely untrue) belief that humans are this.
* HumansAreFlawed: The main [[HumansAreBastards reason we're bastards]] is because we were created with a void in our hearts causing an endless greed.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: Hellboy gets guilt-tripped over this here.
* IncestSubtext: Nuada and Nuala. And just ''barely'' subtext, at that.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: FBI Director Tom Manning is trying to perform a GasLeakCoverup of the events in the auction house when, the next floor up, Hellboy's [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] girlfriend/partner Liz sets off an explosion that blows Hellboy out a window and into plain view of the reporters.
* IntangibleMan: Krauss outside of his suit. [[RuleOfFunny Used for an amusing sequence]] [[CurbStompBattle when he beats up Hellboy]] [[ImprobableWeaponUser using locker doors]].
* IResembleThatRemark: How does Hellboy respond to Krauss saying he CantTakeCriticism and has a temper problem? By punching him right where his face would be, naturally.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Hellboy tends to overdo it, throwing his witnesses across the room before he's gotten any information.
-->'''Hellboy:''' Feeling a bit chattier ''now?''\\
'''Baby-Like Tumour:''' We'll ''never'' talk.\\
'''Troll:''' Oh! Yes, we will! Only, don't hit me, anymore!\\
'''Baby-Like Tumour:''' ''Chick-en!''
* JerkAssHasAPoint: During the fight with the elemental, Hellboy takes the baby with him in a dangerous situation and one point throws the baby high into the air, but we're supposed to see the bystanders as entirely in the wrong for verbally attacking Hellboy after the fight.
* TheJuggernaut: The Golden Army, due to their ability to reassemble themselves.
* KeystoneArmy: The Golden Army, with Nuada's crown as the keystone.
* KillAllHumans: Nuada's goal.
* KillerRabbit: The tooth fairies.
--> '''Krauss:''' Poor creature. Starved, bought and sold on the black market-- \\
'''Hellboy:''' Yeah, right. He bit off part of my tail!
* LastOfHisKind: A bit of a plot point with the faerie creatures. Nuada and Nuala, being [[{{Synchronization}} psychically linked]], certainly seem to be the last prince(ss)es of the Elves. Then there's the [[UniquenessValue Plant Elemental]].
* LeftStuckAfterAttack: Hellboy ducks under Mr.Wink's [[RocketPunch fist on a chain]] and it lands in some kind of ore grinder, eventually pulling Wink himself in.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: The elves die this way.
* MalevolentArchitecture: The throne room of Bethmoora and that giant grinder machine in the troll market.
* {{Masquerade}}: The FairFolk and other supernatural elements walk around unseen protected by an aura of glamour. Hellboy is not, as poor [[ButtMonkey Manning]] [[BrokenMasquerade soon finds out.]]
* MechaMooks: The Golden Army, though unlike your normal {{Mooks}}, they're all [[ImplacableMan Implacable Bots]] and NighInvulnerable.
* MorphWeapon: Nuada's BladeOnAStick magically grows longer during his duel with Hellboy, nearly spearing his opponent by surprise.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** In the backstory, King Balor had this reaction when he realised how monstrous the Golden Army was, prompting him to sue for peace with the humans.
** Nuada is implied to feel this after killing his father to retrieve his portion of the crown.
-->'''Nuada:''' I always loved you, Father...
** The goblin blacksmith who created the Golden Army now feels this way about them.
-->'''Goblin:''' Sometimes I wish I'd never created them.
* NatureSpirit / PhysicalGod: The plant elemental that Nuada sics on Hellboy.
* NoOSHACompliance: The furnaces of Bethmoora. Also: just what exactly was the purpose of that giant, totally unprotected ''grinding machine'' right in the middle of the Troll Market?
* NoShirtLongJacket: Hellboy, moreso here than the first movie.
* NotSoDifferent: Hellboy's similarity to the Plant Elemental, as well as to Nuada himself, is brought up several times.
* OhCrap: A literal example. Hellboy loves to say those two exact words when things don't go his way.
* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: Only in the meta sense. Ron Perlman was 58 at the time of the movie's release, while Luke Goss was 40. Hellboy was born in the 40s, but Nuada is presumably [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld hundreds]] if not thousands of years old.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Not as out-there as the ones from the comics, Angel of Death borrows from Arabic myth and has [[spoiler:[[EyesDoNotBelongThere its eyes on its six wings instead of its face]]]]. This, incidentally, is [[ShownTheirWork much closer to the way]] [[AluminumChristmasTrees angels are actually described]] in the Book of Revelation, compared to the FluffyCloudHeaven version.
* OurElvesAreBetter: Elves rule a secret kingdom of TheFairFolk and all appear albino with somewhat cracked-looking skin. Twins are linked psychically and if one dies the other dies too. They also [[TakenForGranite turn into stone]] upon dying for some reason.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: They're mostly either TheFairFolk or FluffyTheTerrible.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: And they are, being a FantasyKitchenSink world.
* PerpetualMotionMonster: The Golden Army.
* PetTheDog: In several instances Prince Nuada was kind to members of species other than the humans he despises, including a dog. He also seems genuinely upset when his [[TheDragon Dragon]] is killed. {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact that his big problem is with humans overrunning the planet and pushing out other species. Hellboy loves {{c|uteKitten}}ats.
* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Hellboy and Mr. Wink. Also, Hellboy and Krauss against the Golden Army.
* PullingThemselvesTogether: The Golden Army.
* PutOnABus: Hellboy has Myers [[ReassignedToAntarctica shipped to Antarctica]] before the start of the film.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: Prince Nuada.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: ''Literally''. Poor, poor John Myers. The cynical way to look at this is that Hellboy removed any impediment to his and Liz's relationship; a more idealistic one is that he was trying to keep Myers safe. Of course, given the Lovecraftian overtones of this franchise, being sent to Antarctica might ''[[Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness not]]'' [[Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness help]]...
-->'''Hellboy:''' He said he liked the cold!
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''The Golden Army'' notably, Hellboy's brashness and emotional volatility contrasts with Abe's apprehensive thoughtfulness.
* RocketPunch: Mr. Wink. Crosses over with ArtificialLimbs.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Nuada prefers to do ''everything'' personally. This might have something to do with the fact that literally everyone else refuses to do ''anything''.
* SequelNonEntity: Myers' absence from the second movie is explained by his [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassignment to Antarctica]]. His story in general counts as a ShaggyDogStory, since he was supposed to look after Hellboy once Bruttenholm died and Red himself had him reassigned.
* ShoutOut: In a shout out to John Landis, a movie marquee ''See You Next Wednesday''.
* ShowerOfAngst: Hellboy has a short one in the sequel after Liz tells him she's leaving for a while.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: A feature of the elves in the film.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Hellboy and the audience come to see that Prince Nuada has some legitimate grievances against humanity. He's still a sadistic dick in how he responds.
* {{Synchronization}}: Prince Nuada and Princess Nuala.
* TaeKwonDoor: When Hellboy and Johann have a locker room disagreement, Johann, being a formless ectoplasmic being and thus [[NighInvulnerability Made of Air]], travels inside the lockers and begins slamming them open, one at a time in Hellboy's face - and every other part of him - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSDqDOLupNc repeatedly]].
* TakenForGranite: When they die, Elves turn into orange stone.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Liz isn't particularly tomboyish in the first film, but with her [[SnarkKnight snarky]] attitude and combat boots becomes the tomboy to [[TrueBlueFemininity regal]], [[ProperLady demure]] [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess]] Nuala.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Hellboy spends the first half of the film being rather unkind to those around him, even his best friend (Abe Sapien) and girlfriend (Liz). Even compared to the first film he seemed to be tripping on an ItsAllAboutMe phase. This eventually blows up in his face when making his existence known to the world doesn't work out as well as he thought it would, which humbles him considerably.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Princess Nuala. Her main color is blue (with gold accents and a gold dress later).
* TurnInYourBadge: [[spoiler:HB and pals hand in their belts and (most of) their guns to announce their resignation from the B.P.R.D.]]
* TwinTelepathy: Prince Nuada and Princess Nuala. Exaggerated, since this is constantly active, leading Nuada right to Nuala.
* {{Twincest}}: [[WordOfGod Del Toro's DVD commentary]] as well as the actor that plays Nuada say that Nuada and Nuala had something going on, and the library scene had [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything rather]] ''interesting'' implications.
* TheUnfettered: The Golden Army itself and one of the reasons it was sealed away. The problem with the Golden Army is that they cannot distinguish between combatants and non-combatants so if you tell them "Kill the humans!" and point to a human army, they will do it, as well as ignore pleas of mercy from soldiers who have given up, the soldiers who are too injured to fight back, and any innocent women and children who might be behind said human army. In essence, sicking the Golden Army on someone is like sending a tornado to handle a few people you don't like.
* UngratefulBastard: In the second movie, most bystanders immediately go accuse the B.P.R.D. as freaks after ''just having been saved from a plant elemental!'' Then again, Hellboy was jumping around and scaling buildings to fight that thing ''while juggling an infant'', and not always very carefully, either. InfantImmortality or not, can you say, "shaken baby syndrome?"
* UniquenessValue: The plant elemental in ''The Golden Army''.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: In the second movie, Hellboy reveals himself, which causes Tom Manning no end of grief.
* VillainHasAPoint: Nuada is correct that the humans [[UngratefulBastard squandered Balor's mercy and broke the treaty that saved them]], and that humans in their current state are killing the fey creatures. It might not quite justify [[KillAllHumans genocide]], though.
* VillainousFriendship: Prince Nuada is genuinely fond of [[TheDragon Mr. Wink]]. In fact, when he goes to confront Hellboy about the latter's death, all he says is, "You'll pay for what you did to my friend back there."
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Nuada.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Nuada, [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery sort of]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: Hellboy loses his first fight with Nuada due in no small part to the fact that he's ''completely hammered'', and even then, he holds his own until he's distracted. During the rematch, sober Hellboy holds his own until he can grab Nuada.
* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: Inverted; Nuada never actually ''says'' he'll let them go. Even then, only Abe's surprised.
--> [[spoiler:'''Abe:''' You'd do the [[NotSoDifferent exact same for Liz!]]]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Nuada:''' Kill them!]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Abe:''' But... he ''lied'' to us!]]
* Website/YouTube: A constant pain in Manning's ass, since, before the reveal, people first take money from him to suppress the video, then post it on [=YouTube=] anyway.
[[/folder]]

Creator/GuillermoDelToro's films based on [[ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} Mike Mignola's comicbook series]], starring Creator/RonPerlman as the big red guy, Creator/DougJones and [[Series/{{Frasier}} David Hyde Pierce]] as Abe Sapien[[note]] Jones physically plays Abe in both films, while Pierce provided his voice for the first one; he refused to be credited out of respect for Jones' performance, and decided not to return for the second film, so Jones does Abe's voice in that one[[/note]], and Creator/SelmaBlair as Liz Sherman. They take a lot of liberties with the source material (which Mignola himself was perfectly fine with), to the point where it's better to think of them as an AlternateContinuity rather than an adaptation.

For the 2019 ContinuityReboot film see [[Film/Hellboy2019 here]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Ogdru Jahad, a team of EldritchAbomination monsters worshiped by Rasputin whom he tries to summon to lay the world to waste in the first film. While they don't appear in the second film, [[spoiler: the Angel of Death reveals that while Red is alive, their arrival on Earth is not only still possible, but imminent.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Ogdru Jahad, an EldritchAbomination worshipped by Rasputin whom he tries to summon to lay the world to waste in the first film. While they don't appear in the second film, [[spoiler: the Angel of Death makes it clear that while Red is alive, their arrival on Earth is not only still possible, but imminent.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Ogdru Jahad, an EldritchAbomination worshipped by Rasputin whom he tries to summon in the climax to lay the world to waste. While they don't appear in the second film [[spoiler: the Angel of Death makes it clear that while Red is alive, their arrival on Earth is not only still possible, but imminent.]]