John Constantine (DC Animated Film Universe)

John Constantine


Appeared in	Justice League Dark Constantine: City of Demons Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
Status	Alive
Actor	Matt Ryan

John Constantine is a purveyor of the dark arts and lifeline of last resort. While he wasn't born with a natural ability to create magic, Constantine has an affinity for it and the supernatural. He requires an artifact to cast most spells but can see spirits and demons. At some point, Constantine became master of the House of Mystery and began storing the most dangerous magical artifacts there.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

John Constantine grew up in Liverpool, England. He met Chas Chandler when they were 10 years old and were best friends ever since. They looked after each other in place of their parents. Chandler was attracted to Constantine's unpredictability and Constantine was drawn to Chandler's soft heart. Constantine studied the occult since he was a boy and claimed he had a natural gift for it. They furthered bonded over music and obsessed about it. They eventually formed a band and spent years performing at low rate venues for a percentage of the door but they always thought they were a day away from fame and fortune. The band ended up at the Casanova Club in Newcastle. The night club's owner, Alex Logue, fancied himself a sorcerer and conducted magical "convocations" in rooms underneath the club. Constantine also fancied himself a magician and Logue mentored him. Constantine found out Logue was using his own daughter, Astra, to draw dark magic down to the physical world.

Constantine decided to save Astra Logue but he only made things much worse. He decided to personally intervene rather than call the police. As he and Chandler went downstairs, Constantine bit a finger to draw blood then drew a pentagram onto his palm. Constantine came up with a foolish plan to summon something bigger to deal with Logue to scare him and force Astra's freedom. He encanted and opened a portal to Hell. The demon Nergal crossed over and slaughtered Logue's followers before decapitating him. Constantine and Chandler grabbed Astra and fled back upstairs. Constantine neglected to cast a binding spell on Nergal and couldn't control him. Nergal followed and butchered the concert goers packing the Casanova Club. Constantine learned his natural gift wasn't a gift enough. Once Nergal was done, he twirled his hand and made a portal then immobilized Constantine and Chandler. Nergal took Astra Logue from Chandler's arms then returned to Hell.

Constantine broke free but he couldn't watch as Nergal left with Astra. He was reduced to tears and ended up in rehab at Ravenscar Secure Facility. Chandler soldiered on and pretended everything was alright but the memory of that night haunted him. Constantine eventually left and attended Chandler's wedding but puked on the bride's aunt. A short time later, Chas and Renee Chandler had a daughter and named her Trisha. Constantine was sent an announcement but he never responded. John Constantine became a purveyor of the dark arts and lifeline of last resort. While he wasn't born with a natural ability to create magic, Constantine has an affinity for it and the supernatural. He requires an artifact to cast most spells but can see spirits and demons. At some point, Constantine became master of the House of Mystery and began storing the most dangerous magical artifacts there.

Constantine was infamous among the supernatural community for perfecting the bad idea. He supposedly garnered a resume of a hundred-plus failures like Newcastle that cost many souls to be lost. He struck up a relationship with Zatanna. During a stop in Sumatra, they got into trouble after she wanted to free some monkeys. Like most, he and Zatanna parted on bad terms. After another case, Constantine added to his reputation but his friend and colleague Rithie Simpson was infected with a supernatural form of terminal cancer. He also earned the hatred of Swamp Thing.

Justice League Dark[]

The Demons Three, Constantine, and Jason Blood played a game of poker at the Lucky Devil Casino in Las Vegas. Constantine called bollocks after his four of a kind failed to win a hand. With just a pair, Constantine went all in. The Demons opted to bust him out and clear the room in anticipation of their next group of "friends", including David Copperfield, due to arrive soon. Abnegazar cheated and changed his hand to a royal flush of spades with magic. He raised Constantine. Since Constantine didn't have the chips to call, Abnegazar declared victory. To his annoyance, Constantine raised him with the House of Mystery and all its contents. The Demons deliberated and decided to call. They brought forth their chest of relics. Constantine saw a chipped Dreamstone. Abnegazar promised a working Soul Catcher, Algid's Ice Spiker, and the Ghaurrazzi. Not one to be a poor sport, Constantine accepted his fair wager. He cheated and changed Abnegazar's hand back and won. Abnegazar slammed the table in anger and a fight broke out.

Constantine grabbed the Ice Spiker, shot Abnegazar in the face, and jumped behind the bar. After firing a few shots, he had to abandon it or risk freezing himself. Blood declined to help. Constantine crawled to a column and dodged Abnegazar's axe. He incanted and forced Blood to summon Etrigan despite the risk he would go on a killing spree. The gamble paid off and Etrigan dispatched the Demons Three. As the rolled into a portal, they promised Constantine a reckoning. He confiscated their relics and sent them into the House of Mystery outside. Blood returned and decked Constantine in anger. He chewed him out for never thinking or weighing the consequences. Constantine insisted he weighed it against being eaten alive and concluded it was totally worth it. He walked into the House as Blood called him a world class bastard. Five days later, Deadman wrote "Constantine" all over Bruce Wayne's master bedroom. Batman sought out Zatanna at the Gotham Square Gareden for any information she had on Constantine's current location.

Zatanna tried to tell Batman she didn't know anything, but Deadman possessed him and informed her it was important he and Constantine talked. He added she should come along, too. Zatanna changed her mind. On the way, Zatanna told Batman about how Deadman came to be. She also cast a locator spell on the Batmobile for the House of Mystery to find. Constantine opened the door and let them in with a demonic whirlwind on their heels. He asked Zatanna if she was all right. She asked him to get off her. Constantine kicked himself for not guessing the reason he wasn't in London drinking a pint was Zatanna. He admitted the House always liked her better. He found her and companions an odd trio and asked why they visited. Batman briefed him a global spike in homicides that might have a magical cause. Constantine refused to play telephone and incanted a spell so Batman was now aware of Deadman. Orchid suddenly appeared next to him and he was startled. He reminded Orchid to use a door. Zatanna asked how "new" she was. Constantine cleared up the confusion and revealed she was a manifestation of the House's magic.

Orchid noticed Zatanna was angry with Constantine, which she understood, but still had feelings for him. Constantine reviewed the incidents and agreed to look into it on his own. Deadman insisted Rama Kushna wanted them to work together. Constantine brought up how the Justice League was useless against dark magic. Deadman replied that was why he should be the leader. Constantine wasn't convinced of Rama Kushna's judgement. He asked Zatanna for her help but she only agreed to do it as a group. Constantine was irritated and likened the situation to Sumatra. They started arguing. Batman pointed out Deadman was already dead and he accepted the risks. Constantine had a team. The House dropped them off in Washington D.C. where Constantine wanted to get the Keshanti Key from an old colleague, Ritchie Simpson. He knew Simpson was still mad at him but had no idea he was dying. He knew it once he saw the Shrouds waiting outside his house. Their leader recognized Constantine and dissuaded him from trying to save Simpson.

Constantine fired off a spell and sent the Shrouds away. Simpson opened his door and was surprised to see everyone. Simpson thought Constantine finally came to apologize and forgave him. He soon realized that wasn't the case. Constantine explained he wanted the Keshanti Key and pointed out he wasn't going to need it anyway. Simpson used what strength he had to sock him. He refused to help. Batman got him to reconsider since innocent lives were at stake. He gave them the Key and told them to show themselves out. They went to the Metropolis Health Center and found Steve, one of the infected citizens. Instead of spending 20-odd hours incanting, Constantine placed the Keshanti Key on Steve's forehead and opened a portal to his mind. He went in with Zatanna to search his memories of the cause of the madness. He reminded Zatanna magic was all about control and offered to refresh her but she declined. Constantine mocked her for sitting out the war between good and evil and settling for entertaining mindless twits.

Zatanna asserted her magic brought happiness. Constantine countered it was the two drink minimum. She forgot what a pessemist he was. He touted himself as expecting the worst and preparing for the worst. They eventually found a memory of a shadowy figure wearing a ring reaching into Steve's mind. Destiny, through Felix Faust, sent a Golem after them. It captured Steve and dissolved his body. Constantine grabbed a piece of the memory and left with Zatanna. She discorporated the Golem. Neither Constantine nor Batman could identify the ring in the memory. They returned to Simpson's to see if he could but the Shrouds were back. Instead of helping Simpson, Contantine ran after Jason Blood. He chained and gagged Blood while Batman revived Simpson with a syringe. Blood and Simpson were taken back to the House of Mystery. He asked Orchid to show Simpson the ring image as soon as he woke up. Blood agreed not to try and summon Etrigan and was freed. He explained he was looking for a way into the House to steal the Dreamstone then revealed his own origins.

Constantine believed the Dreamstone was safe where it was in the House, out of phase. Batman still thought it was more than coincidence that the appearance of the Dreamstone and the surge in homicides happened around the same time. Simpson woke and identified the ring as Faust's. Constantine consulted some texts and cast a locator spell, but it failed. He decided to try Swamp Thing, who also hated him. He ordered Orchid to help Simpson in any and every way possible. The House dropped them off at a swamp. Constantine lit a match, turned a flame into a glyph and rode it forward. Swamp Thing told them to go away. Constantine threatened a patch of posies to draw him out. Zatanna dispersed the glyph and appealed to Swamp Thing. He took them to the outskirts of Faust's Observatory of the Cosmos. Constantine asked Swamp Thing to put aside their differences and join the fight. He declined and speculated Faust's plans would be a kind of justice against humanity for destroying so much of the Green. Etrigan, Zatanna, and Deadman led the assault.

Constantine threw fireballs and taunted Faust. In retaliation, Faust trapped him in a cube of water. Batman fired his grapnel and whipped Faust's book into the cube. The pages' contents faded. Constantine grabbed onto the line and Batman pulled him to safety. He admitted it was useful after all. Constantine pulled out a small black diamond and threw it just as Faust reduced the area to a crater. He later emerged from the crater in a large diamond unhurt. He watched in horror as Zatanna lost all control and sent a huge sword hurtling towards Faust. Constantine stepped in front of Faust and the blade barely stopped in time. He refused to move and pleaded with her to stop and her soul would stay in the clear. She turned the sword into a multitude of smaller blades. He reminded her about control. She regained her composure and the blades dissipated. She cried and clutched Constantine. He consoled her and stated even the best lost control then used himself as an example. They realized Simpson was playing them all along.

Constantine demanded Simpson to open the House. They were too late. Simpson was drawing power from the Dreamstone and proclaimed he was immortal. He refused to believe Constantine's claim he was being manipulated by Destiny, the stone's creator. Destiny took control of Simpson's body and rematerialized then blew up the House. Zatanna drew up a shield around them at her own expense. Constantine blamed himself. He took out a necklace and incanted. It enveloped Zatanna in a yellow dome. Everyone else followed after Destiny into the city. Deadman failed then Green Lantern fell prey to the madness. Blood summoned Etrigan. Constantine cut off Etrigan's rhyme and yelled at him to to hurry and top off Destiny. Etrigan called him a killjoy then leaped after Destiny. To their dismay, Destiny split Etrigan and Blood back into two individuals. With little alternative, Constantine incanted and lit a tree on fire. Luckily, Swamp Thing attacked Destiny instead. Destiny extracted Alec Holland's corpse and sent Swamp Thing away.

Constantine came up with a new plan. He threw a fireball at Destiny's force shield and insulted him without restraint. Destiny fell for it and pulled Constantine into the shield. Due to his experiences on various paranormal cases, Constantine easily resisted the madness. On his signal, Deadman emerged from his body and possessed Destiny. The force shield dissipated and Destiny fell to the streets. After Deadman was ejected, Blood impaled Etrigan's sword through Destiny's chest and dislodged the Dreamstone. Constantine cast pyromancy. The sword turned to fire and consumed Destiny. Batman destroyed the Dreamstone with an exploding Batarang. After Destiny was purged, the Shrouds arrived for Simpson's soul. Constantine refused to intervene on account there was the chance Destiny could still be manipulating him. The Shrouds pulled Simpson's soul to Hell. Constantine was relieved to see Zatanna. She felt like the morning after Brixton. He didn't believe it was that bad. Without Merlin's spell, Blood's fatal wound returned, but he welcomed death and passed on.

A few days later, Constantine chose to bury Blood near where his village once stood. Zatanna revealed Batman invited her to join the Justice League and she was considering it. To his surprise, she also revealed Batman wanted him to join. He thought it was a joke, like she predicted. Zatanna created a stage door and was about to leave but Constantine got second thoughts. He asked her to tell him more over a drink. They could also rechristen the House. Zatanna accepted but warned him it wasn't going to turn into a Manchester weekend. Constantine promised then proposed a Trewhiddle Tuesday. She laughed and turned him down. He marked it down as a "maybe". Orchid greeted them with two mugs of beer.

Constantine: City of Demons[]

A couple years after the Destiny incident, the demon Beroul set his sights on Constantine. Concluding Constantine needed a theatrical lure rife with danger to be prodded into complying, Beroul stole the soul of Trisha Chandler, the daughter of his best friend Chas Chandler, opened the door between Constantine's subconscious and conscious mind, then flooded his mind with a flurry of images of Los Angeles. Beroul knew Chandler was one of the few people he cared about and would refuse his plea for help. He kept Trisha Chandler's soul in his heart like a prison. Her body fell into a comatose state. The doctors at London Hospital had no idea what the cause or how to cure her. Chas Chandler could sense dark magic was involved and sought out his estranged friend. While Constantine slept off a drunken bender in his flat, his inner demons escaped his mind and took on physical form. After seeing the images of Los Angeles, Constantine heard a female voice say "Queen of Angels" then a high pitched ringing woke him up. He cracked himself up by saying he wouldn't go on another binge.

Constantine reached for his pack of cigarettes and noticed something hiding behind a beer bottle. A Constantine-demon popped out of his cigarette pack. Many appeared all around him. They jumped at him and one bit his right ear. Constantine realized he wasn't dreaming and threw one into a wall then it broke apart. He kicked one and grabbed another, demanding to know what there were. It claimed they were him. He didn't believe and squished it but realized they were materialized psyches and knew he had to take them back to stop them. He encanted and a flash melted the demons' physical forms into a green smoke. Constantine absorbed them all then collapsed onto the floor. He recalled that never happened before. There was suddenly someone pounding on his door. Constantine assumed it was a solicitator and told him to go away. He told Constantine to open the bloody door. He realized it was Chas Chandler. He grabbed a bent cigarette and opened the door. Chandler asked him if was a good time. Constantine remarked it never was and lit it.

They went to a pub to talk. Chandler told him he looked like shit. Constantine thanked him then asked how was doing these past nine or ten years. Chandler reminded him about his wedding then began to talk about his life falling apart. Constantine wanted to get to the point since he knew Chandler didn't want his marital advice nor because he missed him. Chander admitted he missed him a little. Chandler started to talk about Trisha, his daughter, but he couldn't finish. Chandler drove Constantine to the hospital and talked about the coma. Constantine warned him it was convienient to blame problems on some devil lurking the shadows when in reality, terrible things simply just happen. Chandler asked him to just have a look. Constantine agreed to check on Trisha and saw her aura was tainted. He fashioned a construct and tried to peer inside but it bounced around the room and nearly hit him. Then something possessed Trisha and spewed a swarm of bugs out of her mouth and left. He decided to get help and encanted.

Nightmare Nurse exited a portal and wasn't excited to see Constantine. She remarked his timing sucked because she was right in the middle of a threesome with a dryad and a slyph, both of whom she teased were better than him. Constantine retorted she was nothing to write home to either. Nightmare Nurse was amused and teased they both knew that wasn't true. She cut the small talk and asked what he wanted. She noticed Trisha Chandler. Her hands lit up purple and she reached into the girl. Constantine kept bugging her if it was possession. Nightmare Nurse told him to shut up and let her do her job. She learned Trisha's soul was gone. Constantine insisted something was just in here. Nightmare Nurse called forth the Rod of Asclepius and connected to Trisha's body. Trisha spoke through her and pleaded for help. She could only see she was in a cold cage and was alone except when the "nasty man" came. Beroul suddenly took over and taunted Constantine about who he was. He scorched "1247 Enstrom LA" into a window then immolated Nightmare Nurse.

Nightmare Nurse survived only because she was a demon then retook her human guise. She and Constantine looked at the message, exchanged looks, and time was restored. Constantine introduced her to Chas and Renee Chandler as a private nurse he hired to keep watch over Trisha while he went to Los Angeles. Nightmare Nurse cast the Shield of Airmed over Trisha's body to keep it safe in the meantime. During the flight, Constantine had the same vision of Los Angeles and ringing. He knew someone was messing with his head. Chandler suggested it could be early on-set dementia. A stewardess came on the p.a. and announced they were landing soon and for everyone to secure their seatbelts. Chandler looked out the window and remarked Los Angeles looked beautiful. Constantine chided him and reminded him it was a sightseeing tour. He wondered how Chandler talked him into taking him along. Chandler bragged it was his natural charm but got serious and reiterated it was about his daughter then insisted Constantine needed a driver.

Constantine claimed he could drive himself but Chandler found that hilarious and guessed he'd get into in accident within five minutes. He was startled by turbuelence. Constantine was impressed with his nerves of steel. Constantine warned they would be messing with deep, dark magic. Chandler asked if it was bigger than Newcastle. Constantine told him they can't change the past. Chandler countered he could change the present and showed him an old family photo. Constantine tried to warn him he might not be able to but Chandler stopped him and insisted he would and put the photo in his jacket pocket. Constantine mused there were no happy endings, just a price to pay. Chandler boasted there was no price too high when it came to his daughter. Constantine told him to tell him that again after the price was paid. While in the airport, Constantine got his baggage and found Chandler reading a newspaper with a headline about 23 new cases of a coma. They took the escalator down. Constantine noticed a woman going up staring at him strangely. Chander didn't and asked him if he thought it was a trap. Constantine insisted it was always a trap.

On the drive over, Constantine clued Chas Chandler in on the "Enstrom" in the address was an anagram for monster. They arrived at a mansion and a butler resembling an anthropomorphic pig answered. He was amused to tell them to enter freely and of their own free will then asked them to wait in the mezzaine. Constantine ignored the request and walked past a red curtain. He found an in-door swimming pool filled with liquefying corpses. Beroul appeared and countered that he liked the smell. Constantine presumed he was Beroul. Beroul noted he had to wait for the bodies to liquefy then the bones would be dredged out and the pool would be ready for his daily swims. Constantine remarked that was lovely. Beroul boasted a man had to stay in shape. Constantine contended he was no man. Beroul grabbed him, reminded to remember that, then tossed him. Constantine realized he knew who he was. Beroul asked why else would he go to the trouble to bring him to Los Angeles. Constantine deduced Trisha Chandler was used as a lure.

Beroul teased but Constantine wanted to know what he wanted. Beroul told Constantine about his plans to open a branch office of Hell in Los Angeles. He marveled over all the souls begging to be corrupted and consumed but revealed he was in competition with five other demons and wanted them eliminated. Constantine refused to do anything before he saw the girl. Beroul asked which one. Constantine specified he meant Trisha Chandler. Beroul sat and dipped his toes into the pool and revealed her soul was being kept prisoner in his heart for safe keeping. Chas Chandler heard and ran in with a knife. Constantine stopped him and warned an attack on Beroul was an attack on his daughter. Chandler wasn't so sure and rushed him. Beroul teleported him to a top of a dome at the Griffith Observatory on Mount Hollywood. Beroul asked Constantine if he was going to take the job. Constantine demanded a fat salary and swanky hotel. Beroul agreed to the terms and told him to leave because it was time for "The Young & The Restless."