Hellboy
Plot
At the end of World War II, Nazi officers Karl Ruprecht Kroenen and Ilsa Haupstein start an experiment to raise the forces of Hell trough Russian dark mystic Rasputin on a Scottish island, but it's interrupted by an allied commando guided by professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm. He prevents killing the human-demonic half-blood, which was accidentally created and raises this "Hellboy", while rising to head of a secret C.I.A.-linked U.S. agency Bureau of Paranormal Research, which secretly studies and uses the occult, including supernatural freaks. As "father" Broom is aging, he hand-picks brilliant, sensitive Agent John Myers as new minder-companion, as regular "warrior" Agent Clay can't empathize and lacks flexibility mental. Hellboy is quite a handful, regularly spotted by worried civilians on unauthorized excursions, especially to pyro-telekinetic freak friend in a mental asylum. Johnny, Hellboy, and Clay team up on missions against paranormal threats with aquatic-bionic freak Abe Sapien. Their task proves to be daunting, as monster Sammael multiplies every time it "dies", while Rasputin and the Nazis reemerge, armed for revenge.
Overall Series Review
Categorical Breakdown
The core of the narrative is Hellboy's struggle with his demonic heritage versus his adopted human identity, showcasing that merit is determined by choice and character, not immutable characteristics. The team is diverse in terms of 'freak' species (demon, fish-man, pyrokinetic), but their worth is based on their unique abilities to fight evil. There is no vilification of 'whiteness' and the primary antagonists are unequivocally evil Nazi occultists, a classic villain trope.
The American military and a secret US government agency, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), are established as the global bulwark against occult chaos and world destruction. The movie opens with Allied forces stopping the Nazi ritual and the American Professor Bruttenholm adopting Hellboy. Core Western institutions are viewed as the necessary shield against totalitarian/supernatural evil.
The main female character, Liz Sherman, possesses immense power but her arc involves learning to control it and accepting her emotional vulnerability, which prevents her from being a perfect 'Mary Sue.' She struggles with her abilities and the fear of harm. The romance between her and Hellboy is a key plot point, and their powers complement each other, embodying a traditional dynamic where the male protagonist’s fire-immunity allows him to embrace the female protagonist's fire-starter nature. Masculinity, though gruff in Hellboy, is protective, not emasculated.
The film focuses on the central, traditional male-female romantic pairing of Hellboy and Liz Sherman. Sexual identity is not a primary theme, nor is there any deconstruction or political lecturing regarding the nuclear family or gender theory. The structure is normative.
The movie operates on a clear, transcendent moral axis: the BPRD fights to prevent the literal apocalypse and the unleashing of the Chaos Gods, a battle of objective Good versus objective Evil. Hellboy's adopted father is a man of faith and reason who saves the demon's soul. Traditional religion (Christianity is referenced in the prologue) is not the source of evil but is aligned with the forces of good in the battle against dark magic.