Whatever they're looking at, there's only one proper response: "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."
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
, and Selma Blair 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 Alternate Continuity rather than an adaptation.
Hellboy (2004)
In the final days of World War II, the Nazis and Grigori Rasputin open a portal to the Void, attempting to summon the 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 fish-man with Psychic Powers) and Liz Sherman (a pyrokinetic who vacillates between wanting to be on the B.P.R.D. and wanting to be a normal human). They're joined by Naïve Newcomer 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 dragon Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. The villainous trio frees the hellhound 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) Reassigned to Antarctica. Hellboy and Liz are an Official Couple, but their relationship is going through a rough patch. Hellboy, chafing under the bureaucratic leadership of Tom Manning, decides to break the Masquerade and reveals himself to the public—but 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 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 war on humanity. He plans to reawaken the 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, our heroes can't help but feel a little sympathy for the genocidal Jerk Ass. And as if this wasn't enough, Liz finds out she's pregnant, which...worries her.A third film is reportedly in the conceptual stage.
These films provide examples of:
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Hellboy
Adaptation Distillation: 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. 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.
Adaptation Expansion: Professor Bruttenholm's relationship with Hellboy (as father-son) gets a lot more focus here than in the comics.
Affably Evil: Rasputin allows 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 the professor was terminally ill, it may even have counted as a Mercy Kill. Their little theology discussion beforehand, while decidedly antagonistic, was still very civilized.
And I Must Scream: Kroenen wasn't killed by being impaled in the gear pit. Hellboy had to throw in a giant gear to finish him off.
Art Imitates Art: A brief video clip of Hellboy copies the famous film footage of Bigfoot.
Ascended Extra: Bruttenholm and Kroenen get much larger roles here than in the original comics.
Asteroids Monster / Explosive Breeder: 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.
Big Eater: Hellboy, if the massive plates of food brought into his room six times a day are any indication.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Grigori Rasputin as master mystic. Granted, even many of his contemporaries thought there was something weird about him. Also, 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 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?"
Bodybag Trick: Used by Kroenen to infiltrate B.P.R.D. headquarters.
Book Ends: The first movie begins and ends with a monologue asking "What defines a man?"
Came Back Wrong: Rasputin returns from the Void with An Eldritch Abomination in his stomach. Although it's not technically "wrong" as far as his side is concerned.
Cosmic Horror Story / Lovecraft Lite: 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.
Couldn't Find a Lighter: Hellboy's first fight with Sammael leaves his right hand on fire. He lights a cigar with it before putting the fire out.
Deadpan Snarker: 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.
Deal with the Devil: Inverted: 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).
Description Cut: 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.
Dual Tonfas: The bladed version is Kroenen's weapon of choice.
Dull Surprise: Selma Blair'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.
Engaging Chevrons: Invoked and played with. In the first movie, a guy with a high-tech flamethrower backpack goes through a long, drawn-out start-up sequence, only to be eaten by the thing he's trying to kill before he can use it.
Even Evil Has Standards: Kinda. 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.
Good Hurts Evil: When Hellboy regrows his horns and is briefly evil, the crucifix from his rosary leaves a burn mark on his hand.
Happily Adopted: He may have had rows with the Professor in the movie but its obvious Hellboy loved him like any son would.
Heart In The Wrong Place: 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.
Historical Villain Upgrade: Rasputin, obviously, though his villainy didn't start until after his historical death.
Hit Me Dammit: When Liz is still having problems accessing her powers, she goads Meyers with this.
Ignore the Disability: Clay warns Myers not to stare at Hellboy's filed horns. With predictable result.
I Just Want to Be Normal: 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.
I Know Your True Name: 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.*
It means "And upon his brow is set a crown of fire."
Knife Nut: Kroenen. Not only does he love his Dual Tonfas, but when he's shown without his trenchcoat, he's got several knives strapped to his arms and legs.
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."
Love Triangle: 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.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Kroenen is a Nazi clockwork zombie cyborg assassin who can sprout blades from his wrists sleeves.
One-Liner: "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.
Out Of The Frying Pan: 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.
Power Incontinence: Liz's pyrokinesis blew up an entire city block when she was eight years old. Later in life 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.
Product Placement: For Baby Ruth bars in the first one, but, as in Back to the Future, the wrapper on Prof. Broom's bar is from the right era.
Rasputinian Death: Rasputin, obviously. And he's still not technically dead.
Removing The Earpiece: Done twice by HB in the first movie. The second time, it leads to several redshirts getting killed while he couldn't be reached.
Screw Destiny: Hellboy was born to bring about the Apocalypse. After Myers reminds Hellboy that he has a choice, Hellboy tells Rasputin what he thinks of his destiny by ripping off his own horns and stabbing Rasputin in the gut with them.
Tastes Like Friendship: Baby Ruth bars in the first movie. Also, milk and cookies from a nine-year-old kid.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: 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.
Art Shift: 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.
Bigger on the Inside: Fairy cities (Troll Market, Bethmoora) seem to operate exclusively on this principle.
Binding Ancient Treaty: Prince Nuada bases his war plans on humanity's breach of one of these.
Bittersweet Ending: The ending of the second movie. Nuala kills herself to stop her brother from stabbing Hellboy in the back. Regardless of whether you interpreted her sacrifice as heroic or pointless, it was still pretty bitter.
Broken Masquerade: 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 nochantly replies "Guess we're out."
But I Can't Be Pregnant!: Liz gets hit with this hard, as apparently no one had any idea it could happen. Given that it's been several years since she and Hellboy became romantically involved, it apparently took a while for the genetics to match up right.
Hellboy: — Hey! genius! There are over 2000 bridges in New York.
Johann: — (but research) indicates a location under the eastern end of the Brooklyn bridge!"
The Cast Showoff: Ron Perlman and Doug Jones both actually have decent singing voices, which makes their hilarious, slightly off-key duet fall squarely under Stylistic Suck.
Chekhov's Gun: The legend of the Golden Army. It describes how whomever wears the crown has the power to command the Golden Army, 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.
Color-Coded Characters: 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.
Convenient Color Change: 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? Also a bit of Fridge Brilliance: Krauss is a disembodied spirit, and in folklore blue fire caused by the combustion of gases released by decomposition was believed to be ghosts, so it makes sense that the soldier's internal fire turned into a Will o' the Wisp.
Costume Porn: The elves and the trolls in the Golden Army. Especially Nuada and Nuala.
Exact Words: 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.
Fantastic Racism: Hellboy experiences hatred and prejudice. He also takes an immediate dislike towards Krauss in The Golden Army, which he claims is because Germans make him "nervous". Given how he first came to this dimension and 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.
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.
Foreign Cuss Word: 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 Hellyboy, 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 Getting Crap Past the Radar. In the German dub the word "Schwanzstück" is used, which sounds REALLY awkward, but stylistically correct. This was probably a del Toro Shout Out to Young Frankenstein.
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.)
Fragile Speedster: Prince Nuada, especially in comparison to Hellboy.
Funny Background Event: Check out the monster-wrangling in the background when Abe and Manning are walking down the hall.
Glamour Failure: The Spectacles in The Golden Army cause this, allowing the person wearing them to see the "true nature of things".
Gratuitous German: Johann Krauss, whenever he feels like insulting someone. Seth Macfarlane, who played Johann, actually speaks decent German.
Half-Identical Twins: Nuada and Nuala are both very pretty with the same white hair.
Hat of Power: The crown which allows its wearer to control the Golden Army.
Healing Factor: The Golden Army's soldiers are virtually indestructible due to their ability to reassemble themselves completely despite being broken up into a thousand pieces.
Hot Mom: Liz will be, sometime after the movie ends.
Hostage For Macguffin: In The Golden Army. Abe Sapien, you Genre Blind fool. The fact that said hostage and the Big Bad had a Synchronization makes an especially dumb move. He can't actually hurt the hostage without hurting himself. And if he were willing to do so, he could do it from the other side of the planet by hurting himself directly. However, the heroes didn't know this, and had no way of knowing that Nuada was probably bluffing.
Humans Are Bastards: Pretty much every normal human outside the B.P.R.D. treats Hellboy and his group like unstable monsters. 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 the truth that he really does exist was simply too much for people to handle. And Nuada's Freudian Excuse revolves around his (not entirely untrue) belief that humans are this.
Krauss: Poor creature. Starved, bought and sold on the black market—
Hellboy: Yeah, right. He bit off part of my tail!
Last of His Kind: A bit of a plot point with the faerie creatures. Nuada and Nuala, being psychically linked, certainly seem to be the last prince(ss)es of the Elves. Then there's the Plant Elemental.
Nature Spirit / Physical God: The plant elemental. And The Golden Army, due their Healing Factor. Downplayed with Johann Kraus. He is invulnerable whenever he assumes his intangible form, but he can't stay like this perpetually, needing to return to his suit.
The Other Darrin: In The Golden Army, Abe is now voiced by his actor, Doug Jones, rather than David Hyde Pierce. Unlike other versions of this trope, it apparently wasn't due to scheduling differences, but the fact that Pierce felt Jones' performance was strong enough that there was simply no need to hire a separate voice actor. He may have been right, some people didn't really notice the change or it never bothered them if they did.
Our Elves Are Better: Elves rule a secret kingdom of The Fair Folk and all appear albino with somewhat cracked-looking skin. Twins are linked psychically and if one dies the other dies too. They also turn into stone upon dying for some reason.
Pet the Dog: 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 Dragon is killed. Justified by the fact that his big problem is with humans overrunning the planet and pushing out other species. Hellboy loves cats.
Real-Life Relative: Blake Perlman (Ron's daughter) can be seen in the sequel as the reporter in the gray sweater interviewing Hellboy outside the auction house.
Reassigned to Antarctica: 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 ''not''help...
Hellboy: He said he liked the cold!
Red Oni, Blue Oni: In The Golden Army notably, Hellboy's brashness and emotional volatility contrasts with Abe's apprehensive thoughtfulness.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Nuada prefers to do everything personally. This might have something to do with the fact that literally everyone else refuses to do anything.
Sequel Non-Entity: Myers' absence from the second movie is explained by his reassignment to Antarctica. His story in general counts as a Shaggy Dog Story, since he was supposed to look after Hellboy once Bruttenholm died and Red himself had him reassigned.
Shower of Angst: Hellboy has a short one in the sequel after Liz tells him she's leaving for a while.
Sympathy for the Devil: 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.
True Blue Femininity: Princess Nuala. Her main color is blue (with gold accents and a gold dress later).
Turn In Your Badge: HB and pals hand in their belts and (most of) their guns to announce their resignation from the B.P.R.D.
Twin Telepathy: Prince Nuada and Princess Nuala. Exaggerated, since this is constantly active, leading Nuada right to Nuala.
Ungrateful Bastard: 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. Infant Immortality or not, can you say, "shaken baby syndrome?"
What Could Have Been: The Golden Army originally ended with a Sequel Hook involving Roderick Zinco (from the comics) obtaining Kroenen's severed head, traveling to a secret Nazi safehouse in the Arctic, attaching it to a massive robot body, and Rasputin's ghost manifesting before them. It was included as a motion comic on the Golden Army DVD.
Alternate Continuity: 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.
Always Save the Girl: Averted in the first film (Hellboy saves the world instead of Liz, then saves Liz anyway through sheer badassery); justified with Liz in the second (given how well Hellboy's been able to Screw Destiny so far, Liz's decision to save him—even though he's prophesied to end the world—makes sense) but 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.
Author Appeal: 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 Guillermo Del Toro's input, especially in terms of the Troll Market's inhabitants.
Awesome, Dear Boy: Ron Perlman signed up because he loved the idea of doing a Beast and Beauty love story again, and he would get to kiss a beautiful woman half his age in the process.
Badass Longcoat: Hellboy in the standard-issue B.P.R.D. trenchcoats. Kroenen in his black leather Nazi trenchcoat. Also Rasputin in his intricately embroidered coat.
Berserk Button: 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.
Bloodless Carnage: During the fight scenes, Guillermo del Toro 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.
Bond One-Liner: Hellboy is fond of these. "I'm fireproof... you're not."
Brains and Brawn: Abe and Hellboy, especially in the first movie.
Burning with Anger: Liz, when she's angry at Hellboy. Or about to go whup some ass. Either or.
Chekhov's Gunman: 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.
Channel Hop: A rare film example; switched from Sony Pictures to Universal.
Covert Group With Mundane Front: B.P.R.D.'s headquarters are disguised as a waste disposal facility; the transports for HB and Abe are disguised as garbage trucks.
Crazy Cat Demon-man: Hellboy has dozens of cats, it's one of the things he and Liz fight about in the second movie.
Crossover Cosmology: Much like the original comics. Devils, Lovecraftian horrors, fairy-tale creatures, and God is implied to exist as well.
Cute Kitten: 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.
Dark Is Not Evil: 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.
Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Specially-made bullets with holy water, garlic, white oak, silver shavings..."the works."
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Hellboy's standard M.O. Also, given Hellboy's true name and nature, this probably applies whenever someone punches him out.
The Dragon: Kroenen to Rasputin. Mr. Wink to Nuada. He dies rather quickly for a Dragon, though.
Mr. 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.
Executive Meddling: Executives originally wanted to cast Vin Diesel as Hellboy and make him a human who can transform into a demon, a la The Incredible Hulk. Putting aside the fact that this would most likely have gotten them sued by Marvel Comics, del Toro and Mignola did not like this, and they had both independently decided that Ron Perlman was the only casting choice for the part that either of them would support. Hellboy remained a big red guy in a coat, and Perlman was cast. The film took a significant budget cut as a result, though given del Toro's talented directing, it's hard to tell.
Extranormal Institute: The B.P.R.D.'s offices. Taken to a ludicrous level in the first act of The Golden Army.
Goggles Do Nothing: Subverted, as Abe's goggles protect his aquatic eyes
Hand Cannon: 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.
Implausible Fencing Powers: Kroenen is capable of deflecting bullets at his attackers and Diagonal Cutting stone statues. Prince Nuada is shown bisecting water droplets in midair.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: At least in the movies. This can be a more supernatural version of a character keeping a dog, since cats are more mysterious and occult. Hellboy also goes well out of his way to save some kittens during his fight Sammael.
Lightning Bruiser: 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 Fragile Speedster (compared to the Behemoth,) or a Mighty Glacier (compared to Nuada).
Muggles: Every supernatural entity's opinion of ordinary humans, including B.P.R.D. agents.
Names to Run Away From Really Fast: 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).
Oh Crap: HB's had so many of these moments that this is literally a Catch Phrase. However, his best one is an unspoken one, at the end of The Golden Army where Liz reveals she's carrying twins, his face is PRICELESS.
Promoted to Love Interest: 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.
Psychic Powers: Abe is telepathic and able to read the past of objects and places, probably to allow them to do an Info Dump for the audience without it seeming too awkward.
Rule Of Cool: 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.
Scenery Porn: The Troll Market in the second film.
Shout Out: The scene of Bruttenholm befriending "baby Hellboy" is very reminiscent of the Baby Ruth scene from The Goonies — 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 Total Recall (1990). There are also quite a few nods to Looney Tunes. And some Elder Things show up in the Troll Market.
Shown Their Work: 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 Fantasy Kitchen Sink, so...
Smoking Is Cool: 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 Actor Allusion as Ron Perlman is an avid cigar afficionado.
Snowy Screen of Death: 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.
The Southpaw: Hellboy is left-handed, most likely due to his big, cumbersome Right Hand of Doom. Quite convenient, really, since Ron Perlman is left-handed(He's actually functionally ambidextrous).
What Could Have Been: The Golden Army originally ended with a Sequel Hook involving Roderick Zinco (from the comics) obtaining Kroenen's severed head, traveling to a secret Nazi safehouse in the Arctic, attaching it to a massive robot body, and Rasputin's ghost manifesting before them. It was included as a motion comic on the Golden Army DVD.
What Measure Is A Non Super: While there are significant Badass Normal 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 Redshirt Army 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.
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