Hellboy

Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (Aug. 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers. The character has been adapted into two live-action feature films in 2004 and 2008 that starred Ron Perlman in the title role, and two straight-to-DVD animated films, as well as two video games – Asylum Seeker and The Science of Evil.

A well-meaning demon whose true name is Anung Un Rama ("and upon his brow is set a crown of flame"), Hellboy was summoned from Hell to Earth as an infant demon on December 23, 1944 (given as his birth date by Mike Mignola) by Nazi occultists (spawning his hatred for them). He was discovered by the Allied Forces; amongst them, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who formed the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). In time Hellboy grew to be a large, red-skinned man with a tail, horns (which he files off, leaving behind the signature circular stumps on his forehead), cloven hooves for feet, and an over-sized right hand made of stone. He has been described as smelling of dry-roasted peanuts. Although a bit gruff, he shows none of the malevolence thought to be intrinsic to demons, and has a strong sense of humor. This is said to be because of his upbringing under Professor Bruttenholm, who raised him as a normal boy.

Hellboy: Dogs of the Night

Hellboy: Dogs of the Night is a 2000 American video game for the PC, developed by Cryo Studios. It was ported to the PlayStation titled Hellboy: Asylum Seeker (also the title for the PC re-release), developed by Hoplite Research and released in 2004.

The Hellboy game is based on Dark Horse Comics' science fiction comic book series Hellboy, written and drawn by Mike Mignola.

Commercially, the game was a flop. Having spent four years in development, the graphics and game play were quite dated, and at the time of its release, Hellboy was still a mostly unknown independent comic book series, especially outside the United States. Other factors contributed to the game's commercial failure, as well: the PC version had numerous bugs, the PlayStation version was graphically inferior to most others at the time, and the control of both games was considered abysmal at best.

Both Cryo Studios and Cryo Interactive went out of business shortly after Hellboy's PC release.

The PC version has a score of 11.50% at GameRankings.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil

Hellboy: The Science of Evil is a video game adapted from the 2004 Hellboy film by Guillermo del Toro, based on the comic book character of the same name. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable on June 24, 2008 in North America, followed by an August 15 release in Europe and August 28 release in Australia.

All versions follow the same story line, however the PSP version of the game differs from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. There are 4 playable characters: Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Lobster Johnson (voiced by Bruce Campbell). Herman von Klempt (voiced by Jürgen Prochnow), the Nazi head-in-a-jar, who, unusually, is supplied with a full body in the video game, is the game's main villain, along with several of his 'kriegaffen'. The game has online and offline multiplayer co-op for up to 2 players.

The game was created under the creative direction of both the comic book's creator, Mike Mignola, and the film's director, Guillermo del Toro. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones reprise their roles from the film as Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien respectively, providing full voice-overs.