The trailer for the Hellboy reboot dropped recently and, with it, the character is once again in the nerd community's mindset. Thus, we thought it would be a good idea to do something of a deep dive into the character, specifically, into all of the powers, abilities and skills that Hellboy has exhibited throughout his comics career. Hellboy has a rather interesting fighting style, often relying on grit and strength rather than his wide array of powers and abilities, but that doesn't mean he is just some brute. Beyond his preferred method of beating the snot out of monsters, Hellboy has quite a long list of powers and abilities under his B.P.R.D.-equipped belt.
Being a half demon is the main reason that Hellboy has so many powers, but since he isn't a fan of his demonic heritage, he tends to shy away from his darker abilities, though he definitely benefits from his physical abilities, like his strength, durability and slowed aging. Hellboy has had a long career of fighting monsters and he's come out victorious in most cases—though, not completely unscathed—and the thing that really gets him through those fights is his jaded determination and, of course, his advanced physiology, which has gotten him out of more situations than he'd probably like to count. Be it his strength, his skills, his training or some ability he didn't know about, Hellboy's powers help him come out on top. What are all of Hellboy's awesome powers? We've got the complete list for you right here.
20 HEALING FACTOR
Hellboy is definitely very durable and that helps him during the fight, but, afterward, what ensures his survival is his advanced healing. Though not on the same level as, say, Wolverine or Deadpool, Hellboy doesn't appear to need nearly the amount of time an ordinary person needs to heal.
In fact, Hellboy probably doesn't even need to have broken ribs set or anything like that to properly heal, at least as far as we can tell from the comics. Additionally, Hellboy is also a frequent smoker and his athleticism doesn't seem affected by the habit in any way, showing how well his body handles toxins.
19 DECELERATED AGING
Hellboy's aging is rather interesting. As a result of his half-demon physiology, his aging is somewhere between a demon's and a human's, giving him advanced longevity, but in kind of a weird way.
As a kid, Hellboy aged incredibly quick, appearing older when his maturity level was much younger, but as he has got older, he has appeared to stay in his prime for an undetermined number of years, since we don't see any difference in his appearance from one adventure to another in the comics. However Hellboy's aging works, we know he's stayed young and agile for a long, long time.
18 WIELDING EXCALIBUR
This next one isn't a power as much as it is a birthright, or whatever you want to call it, but we're still going to count it since this right is limited to a small number of people. At one point in the Hellboy comics, it was revealed that the character's mother is a descendant of King Arthur, which makes Hellboy the rightful king of England.
With this royal blood flowing through his veins, Hellboy has the power to wield Excalibur, the sacred sword of Arthurian legend. Additionally, this birthright means that Hellboy is two kinds of royalty, able to wear the crown of England and the fire crown of the apocalypse.
17 INNATE MULTILINGUALISM
One of Helboy's lesser-known powers, even to him, is his innate ability to understand a number of ancient, magic and demonic languages. Due to his demon heritage, he was born with the ability to read, comprehend and a number of languages of magical nature.
Additionally, Hellboy has also worked with the B.P.R.D. for a number of years, thus if there was a language he didn't know innately, there's no doubt he'd have come across it in his work. He might not be fluent in all of these languages, but he sure as heck has a good grasp on magical and demonic words.
16 ENHANCED SIGHT
Though this power was rather underutilized in the films and isn't often seen in the comics, Hellboy has been noted to have advanced sight, allowing him to see farther than average humans. Perhaps this also allows Hellboy to see better at night since he doesn't seem to have too much trouble seeing in the dark, though nothing can be confirmed from the comics.
Regardless, Hellboy's signature yellow eyes are more than just cool-looking, they also apparently give him fantastic vision, despite him not having any actual pupils. The extent of his sight ability seems to be limited to distance and perhaps they help in minimal-light situations, but it's still pretty useful.
15 DEMONIC SHAPESHIFTING
There are very few instances in which Hellboy fights using his more demonic-themed powers. He uses his strength, durability, and healing often, but when it comes to the real demonic stuff, Hellboy's powers are not always used to the fullest potential.
However, in some instances, Hellboy shapeshifts into a demonic form, which grants him a whole mess of additional powers that we'll get into a minute. This form on its own, however, can be considered a power, since it requires him to shapeshift in order to unlock it and thus it goes on the list of the character's abilities.
14 HELLFIRE MANIPULATION
While in his demonic form, Hellboy has the power to control fire, but not just any fire, the fires of Hell. With the power of Hellfire, Hellboy can create and manipulate massive infernos that obliterate anything in their path, a crazy sight to behold in the comics.
Hellboy has only used this power on a few occasions, but when he does use it, it results in his awesome fire crown, which ties into his original demon name—Anung Un Rama, which means "and upon his brow is set a crown of flame"—and it also gives him yet another superpower in his already impressive skill set.
13 FIRE IMMUNITY
With the power to control fire, Hellboy also has immunity to the effects of flames. This ties into his durability, but is taken to extremes since fire cannot affect him in any way, shape or form. This immunity also is not tied to his demonic form, as he cannot be harmed by fire in his normal form. This power was even shown in the first film when fire failed to burn Hellboy.
Additionally, with this immunity to fire, Hellboy appears to have an immunity to extreme temperatures, be it high heat or freezing cold environments, as the character has been seen surviving both tundras and high-temperature situations.
12 ELECTROKINESIS
In his demonic form, Hellboy is, in many ways, a god, or at least some kind of Demigod. As such, he has the power to command lightning from the sky and strike down whoever he wishes. This is most likely meant to be a weapon of his destiny to bring the apocalypse, but it's still a neat power he's used in his demon form.
As you can see above, this power also results in a really cool effect when used by his Right Hand of Doom, lighting up the stone fist as it holds lightning like a whip to be thrown around rather than a single bolt.
11 LIGHTNING IMMUNITY
As it was with Hellboy's fire manipulation powers, his lighting powers also grant him immunity to the effects of said lightning. This could either be a result of his power to control lightning or a side-power of his fire immunity, as both are forms of high-temperature energy.
Heck, maybe this power actually comes from his stone first acting as grounding for body? We don't know, we're not demon scientists. Regardless of where this immunity to electricity comes from, Hellboy has been shown to withstand the effects of lightning, allowing him to continue on in a fight even if he's been hit head on by it.
10 SIZE-SHIFTING
We mentioned earlier that Hellboy's transformation from his usual form to his demonic one means he has the power to shape-shift, but he also has another shifting-power that is activated by his transformation, size-shifting. Hellboy has been shown to increase his size in his demonic form, a power that he can activate at will.
With his size-shifting, Hellboy has been shown to increase his size to that of Leviathan or Behemoth, two giant demon beasts that the hero has faced in the past. Upon increasing his size, Hellboy becomes a much more threatening destructive force and. when combined with his already impressive power set in his demon form, he becomes almost unstoppable.
9 FLIGHT
The final power that Hellboy has in his demonic form is the power of flight. While transformed, Hellboy sprouts wings, part of his shape-shifting, which grant him the ability to fly. Though this is rarely used, Hellboy's demon wings are yet another power we can add to the list.
Funny enough, Hellboy originally had wings in the initial sketch that ended up forming the character, so it's fitting that he gets them back when he goes full demon. Who knows, maybe we'll see these awesome wings in the upcoming reboot, since we know Hellboy's horns and fire crown are set to make appearances.
8 MAGIC RITUALS
Hellboy's job is being a paranormal investigator for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a job that he thought was going to be much more glamorous than it turned out to be. In reality, Hellboy is a lot like a supernatural plumber, as he's called in to fix a problem, fixes it, and then leaves.
Though it might not be as cool as he originally thought, Hellboy has gained a number of skills throughout his time with the B.P.R.D., including learning all kinds of magical rituals and spells that are used in expelling evils spirits, demons or other supernatural beings. Thus, we can add magic to Hellboy's skill set.
7 BRINGER OF THE APOCALYPSE
Hellboy was conceived with the intent of bringing the apocalypse upon the world and, though he denies his heritage, it is still within his power to reign fire and destruction upon the world if he so wished to fulfill his evil destiny. In his Demonic form, Hellboy would have all that he needs to command the armies of Hell to destroy Earth.
As metal as this sounds, it's a good thing that Hellboy fights on the side of the angels since the actual apocalypse would be terrible for the world. So, while he may have the power of Armageddon, he chooses not to use it.
6 POSSIBLE IMMORTALITY
Last but not least, we have a power that may tie into Hellboy's destiny, his possible immortality. Though Hellboy is taken out in the comics, it's possible that he escaped passing so many times prior so that he could fulfill his duty as the bringer of the apocalypse.
This is more of a theory than a confirmed power, but we wanted to include it since, prior to his departure, Hellboy seemed to escape the big sleep at nearly every turn, leading Baba Yaga to assume that he was immortal in some way, shape or form. Of course, like we said, he was stopped at some point, but we can definitely say that he had the potential to be immortal.
5 SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH
Here we have one of Hellboy's most utilized powers, his super strength. Every time the character has faced a monster, his ability to beat the stuffing out of them is mostly dependent on his superior strength. Hellboy's superhuman strength seems to be a combination of two things, his actual muscle and his supernatural ability.
Hellboy has been shown to lift hundreds of pounds and more, and though his size suggests he might be able to do this on his own, it may also be possible that his demon heritage and physiology adds a little something to his physical strength, making him incredibly strong and capable of sending opponents flying.
4 RIGHT HAND OF DOOM
Another thing that really aids Hellboy in his battles is his Right Hand of Doom, which has its own fair share of abilities. On top of being the key to unlocking the apocalypse, the Right Hand of Doom is also virtually indestructible, which lets Hellboy use it like a sledgehammer against whatever opponent he's fighting.
The arm also feels no pain, making it the overall perfect blunt weapon for Hellboy's intense fighting style. Though the Right Hand of Doom cannot hold objects as well as his left hand, Hellboy makes a lot of use out of his mighty stone fist.
3 SUPERHUMAN STAMINA
Yet another factor that assists Hellboy in his battles is his superhuman stamina. There's no denying that he's gotten tired in a fight, so his stamina is certainly not limitless, but it has been shown to exceed that of normal humans, as well as highly athletic humans.
Hellboy's stamina is part of what keeps him going in a long battle, the thing that backs up his stubbornness as he refuses to go down. While this power is not ever explicitly stated in the comics or movies, there's no denying that Hellboy can keep going in a fight for quite some time.
2 HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT/MONSTER FIGHTING
We've mentioned a couple of times at this point how much Hellboy prefers to fight with his hands, be it because he is quick to lose his firearm, his aim is terrible or a gun is ineffective against whatever beast he is facing, Hellboy's battles tend to come down to him using some simple melee weapon or his bare fists.
As such, Hellboy has become quite the fighter over the years, be it against giant monsters or beasts around his size. He knows how to throw a punch, block and redirect his opponent's attacks rather well. He might not be a black belt or a Kung Fu master, but he can sure as hell handle himself.
1 SUPERHUMAN DURABILITY
Though Hellboy is a decent fighter, he still takes a lot of hits, and we do mean a lot. Hellboy's fighting tactics tend to be to hit the other guy harder then they're hitting him, and luckily he has the durability to take those hits. On top of his right fist being indestructible, the rest of Hellboy's body is incredibly durable.
Hellboy has taken hit after hit from the strongest supernatural beings and has stood up after even the worst falls. Hellboy's ability to get back up from any hit is due in no small part to his stubborn determination, but his high durability also plays a factor.