Line #17 WesternAnimation/ConstantineCityOfDemons


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03840_constantine_city_of_demons_poster_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:He's back!]]
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4	''Constantine: City of Demons'' is an animated reboot of Creator/{{NBC}}'s cult show ''Series/Constantine2014''[[note]]which itself is an adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}''[[/note]] for CW Seed.
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6	Ever since John had his [[Recap/ArrowS4E5Haunted guest appearance]] on ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', after his show's premature cancellation, there have been constant rumors that Creator/TheCW would revive the NBC series; however this seemed unlikely due to legal complications that forbade Constantine from appearing again after his episode on ''Arrow''; for one reason or another, those restrictions were later lifted.
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8	The new show has a format similar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Vixen}}'' with five or six episodes that are ten minutes long. It premiered on March 24th, 2018 with Creator/MattRyan once again voicing the character.
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10	Contrary to initial reports, it is ''not'' in the [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} same continuity]] as the live-action show, but rather the ''ComicBook/New52''-based [[WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse direct-to-DVD universe]], in which Constantine debuted in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark''.
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12	It was later released as a full-length movie with extra footage on October 9, 2018 (before the other installments had even been released online). The first half was broadcast on the CW on October 15 under the title, ''Constantine: The Legend Continues'' as a special to promote Constantine being a main character on Season 4 on ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''.
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14	!!Tropes:
15	* AdaptationAmalgamation: The film is mostly an adaptation of the graphic novel ''All His Engines'' but it also includes Astra's abduction from issue #11 of the main run of Hellblazer.
16	* AdaptedOut: John's cohorts in Newcastle, Ritchie Simpson, Gary Lester, and Anne-Marie Flynn are nowhere to be seen. [[spoiler:Although Ritchie ''does'' has a good excuse for not being around, having been offed in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark''.]]
17	* AdaptationalDumbass: In the original comics John summons Nergal not to fight Alex Logue, Astra's father, but rather because Astra herself summoned a powerful demon to defend her from her father's constant abuse. He had no other means of even trying to beat the demon at the time and made a desperate mistake. Here, he jumped straight to lord of hell against a half-witted magician just to show off. As Renee puts it, "He could've just called the cops!"
18	* AdvertisedExtra: See those creepy demons behind John in that poster up there? Besides the Chernobog-looking guy in the back, every one of them dies in ''the first footage from the show we ever saw.''
19	* AlternateContinuity: Rather than being set in the Series/{{Arrowverse}}, it's instead set in the WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse. For starters, the Newcastle Crew is adapted out and Chas is made to be a fellow Brit instead of American and is clean-shaven.
20	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In the first episode, John and Chas meet in a bar, with the former leisurely smoking cigarettes in the booth. As of 2007, smoking has been banned in all enclosed spaces in the United Kingdom, including bars.
21	* BigBad: The demon Beroul who abducted Chas' daughter to compel Constantine into killing his demonic competitors. [[spoiler:He also happens to be Nergal, the demon who sent Astra to hell.]]
22	* BittersweetEnding: Constantine succeeds in [[spoiler:saving Trish and defeats Nergal for good]] but [[spoiler:the spell he used to do it costs the love between Chas and his wife as well as his own friendship with Chas. He also fails to save Astra.]]
23	* BloodierAndGorier: Than the NBC series, by a massive degree.
24	* CanonForeigner: Angela doesn't seem to have any counterpart in the original comics canon nor the NBC TV show.
25	* CastAsAMask: [[spoiler:Creator/JimMeskimen voices Beroul while Creator/RobinAtkinDownes voices Nergal, his true form.]]
26	* CompositeCharacter: [[spoiler:Nergal and Beroul are one and the same here]] but are distinct demons in the comic.
27	* DarkerAndEdgier: Unlike the NBC series, CW Seed doesn't have to worry about FCC or network guidelines. Amongst other things John is free to smoke as much as he wants, and there's more swearing, violence, and gore. John can also interact with actual demons (which would've been infeasible on a broadcast budget).
28	* DarkIsNotEvil: Asa, who looks like she should be a villain just by her dark colors and [[SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains the way she dresses]], but might actually be one of the ''most'' good characters in the story.
29	* DealWithTheDevil: Averted, [[spoiler: Nergal tries to save himself in the end by offering to bring John into Hell so he can save Astra even if it means Trish dies. Luckily Constantine doesn't take the bait.]]
30	* DeathByAdaptation: John kills [[spoiler:Mictlantecuhtli once he served his purpose.]] In the comic, [[spoiler:John makes him leave by threatening to kill his host Trish.]]
31	* DerivativeDifferentiation: Astra's damnation to Hell is quite different from the live-action show; in the show, Constantine and his Newcastle Crew were trying to exorcise a demon from her that went horribly wrong when he summoned a powerful demon, Nergal, to banish it and instead it took Astra to hell. Here she was being used as a conduit in dark magic rituals by her abusive father. Constantine, thoroughly disgusted by it, summoned Nergal to teach her dad and his cultists a lesson, but since Constantine failed to place a binding seal on Nergal, the demon went rampant. John didn't have any help from his crew, instead it was just him and Chas.
32	* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Angela [[spoiler:the spirit of Los Angeles]] pulls John into a bathroom and has sex with him. John is afraid of Angela, and not exactly consenting, but the whole thing is never addressed.
33	* DoubleStandardRapeSciFi: Also, [[spoiler:Angela may be possessing an unwilling host]].
34	* EvilVsEvil: Beroul blackmails Constantine into his service to kill five other high ranking demons for him, as they're trying to move in on his new "franchise" in the mortal world.
35	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Very early on in the show, John warns Chas that there's always a price to pay with magic, but Chas says he willingly to pay it to save Trish. [[spoiler:He's none too happy when he learns that Trish nor Rene will remember him because of the spell he used to save her.]]
36	* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: An Aztec death god manages to survive off the deaths of animals in a slaughterhouse.
37	* HorribleHollywood: Exploited, as Beroul believes it to be the perfect place for an enterprising demon to set up shop.
38	* IHaveManyNames: Beroul introduces himself with this trope. [[spoiler:This foreshadows that he's also known as Nergal.]]
39	* InkSuitActor: As is the norm for the CW Seed animated series. Notably, Constantine's design is the same one from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark''.
40	* LaserGuidedAmnesia:
41	** After forcing Renee to tell her the backstory on Constantine, the Nightmare Nurse erases her memory of the conversation to spare her the pain of retelling it.
42	** [[spoiler:The curse Constantine used to kill Nergal had the price of Renee and Trish's love for their respective husband and father, as well as the friendship between Constantine and Chas. Renee and Trish lose all of their love, and thus their memories, of Chas. And Chas forgets the decades-long friendship he had with John.]]
43	* MsFanservice: Asa the Nightmare Nurse is a buxom woman in heels with long legs, and alternates between multiple, very sexy nurse-themed outfits.
44	* MythologyGag:
45	** After Beroul painfully releases Asa from his possession, she exclaims "If I was human, I'd be toast now." That's exactly what happened to Fennel in the comic.
46	** A painting in Beroul's mansion is actually a panel from ''All His Engines'' comic depicting Beroul's torture chamber which is portrayed differently in this movie.
47	* NextSundayAD: A newspaper from the third episode depicts the series as taking place in late October 2018; the first season was released in late March 2018. However, the rest of the series was released in October.
48	* ThePowerOfLove: Constantine [[spoiler:kills Nergal with a spell fueled by Chas and Renee's love for each others and for their daughter. It turns out later that he also used his own friendship with Chas and the spell literally consumed the memories of it.]]
49	* {{Prequel}}: According to WordOfGod this film is set before ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark'', and given this film ends with John in Los Angeles it might explain why he chose to leave England for America.
50	* RemovedFromThePicture: The RippleEffectIndicator version occurs at the end when [[spoiler:Renee and Trish disappear from Chas' family picture.]]
51	* TheReveal: Beroul is [[spoiler:none other than Nergal, the demon who abducted Astra.]]
52	* SequelHook: [[spoiler:Nergal reveals that Astra is still alive in Hell, setting up a storyline for John to rescue her.]]
53	* SummonBiggerFish: Essentially, John's logic to summon Nergal in this continuity.
54	* TrailersAlwaysLie: The press release made it sound like the animated show would be in the same continuity of the the live-action one. In reality it's in the continuity of WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse.
55	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The very first released footage occurs very late in the show and reveals how [[spoiler:Constantine defeats Beroul's enemies.]]
56	* TruerToTheText: Taking advantage of the lack of FFC regulations, the show is more in-line with the original comics. For starters Astra's situation being a victim of her abusive dad is much closer to the comics (albeit in a different way; here she's being used as unwitting victim for her dad's magic rituals, in the comics he was sexually assaulting her by forcing her to be part of orgies with his friends), than in the live-action show where she was just a little girl who had the misfortune to be possessed by a demon and John chose the wrong time to be a show off.

Context WesternAnimation / ConstantineCityOfDemons