Ogdru Jahad
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The Ogdru Jahad are seven ancient beings who threaten to destroy Earth in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic. They are the Dragon of Revelation, and are destined to bring about the end-times. They were imprisoned in their Golden Cocoons by the Right Hand of Doom shortly after the creation of Earth, but not before they spawned 369 children, known as the Ogdru Hem.
The Ogdru Jahad await the downfall of man. They want to destroy the universe, and the only way to do that is to destroy man. However, there is dissent as to what the Ogdru Jahad truly intend.
Professor Herman von Klempt believes that once man has been destroyed by the Conqueror Worm, the three hundred and sixty-nine Ogdru Hem will rise up from their prisons, free the Ogdru Jahad and burn the Earth to ashes. Similarly, the Bog Roosh was plagued with dreams in which Hellboy's hand is taken and used to free the Ogdru Jahad, who then burn the earth to cinders; this motivated her decision to try and kill him and send his hand to the bottom of the ocean.
Rasputin, on the other hand, seems convinced that the desire of the Ogdru Jahad is to create a new, perfect world out of the ashes of the old one, where the final race of man can live under the subjugation of the Dragon. He tells Inger von Klempt that her grandfather was unable to see beyond the destruction of the human race, and that a new Eden does indeed await the final race of man. Hecate also strongly implies that there will be a "new world to come" during a conversation with Rasputin in the Conqueror Worm epilogue, but mentions that she cannot see that far ahead, and that death could await them just as easily. In The Third Wish, the Daoine Sidh explicitly state that it is prophesised that a new world shall rise from the old due to the Right Hand of Doom.
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[edit] The Ogdru Jahad's mortal agents
After being imprisoned in the void, the Ogdru Jahad turned their considerable forces toward finding a way to escape their confinement and exact their revenge on the world. Since they are trapped in deep space, their contact with humanity is sparse at best. However, since the Ogdru Jahad are supremely powerful psychic entities, they have been able to establish contact with mortals on Earth in order to coerce them into doing their bidding. Thus far, it appears as though many of these individuals were misled as to the true intentions of the Ogdru Jahad.
In order to contact the Ogdru Jahad, it appears as though the Nazis utilized the skulls of individuals from the past who had been able to receive communications from the Ogdru Jahad, including St. Jerome (the translator of the Vulgate Bible), St. Dominic de Guzman (founder of the Dominican Order), Abbot Hugh of Cluny, St. Ambrose (bishop of Milan), and Edward the Confessor (king of England).
[edit] Herman von Klempt
In Austria in 1939, the Nazis attempted to open relations with space-borne monsters by sending them the corpse of one of their greatest scientists, Dr. Ernst Oeming, in the hopes that the creatures would use it as a vessel and return to Earth. On March 20, 1939, even though the mission, which took place at Hunte Castle, was interrupted by the arrival of Lobster Johnson and several American troops, the launch went ahead as planned. The castle, however, was left in ruins, and all parties were killed except for Herman von Klempt. The creatures received the spacecraft, and responded by placing one of their own inside Oeming's lifeless body.
After the events of Wake the Devil, Herman von Klempt is provided with the truth about the Oeming mission and the details of the return of the capsule. The invisible space monsters showed von Klempt the destruction that would result from releasing the worm they had planted within Oeming's body. Once the world had been overtaken by the worm, the Ogdru Hem would be released from their prisons, and they would, in turn, release the Ogdru Jahad, who will reduce the world to ashes. Despairing over the failures of his best laid plans, and inspired by Rasputin posing as the angel of death, von Klempt returned to Hunte Castle and set to work.
Von Klempt succeeded in bringing Oeming's capsule back to Earth, and from it rose a massive juggernaut known as the Conqueror Worm. Spewing forth a noxious gas, the worm turned von Klempt's human agents into frog-men, then devoured them immediately to feed its insatiable hunger. Only quick intervention by Hellboy and Roger the Homunculus, aided by the ghost of Lobster Johnson and a mysterious alien, managed to halt the worm's feasting march. Herman von Klempt watched in dismay as his plans were foiled, only to be grabbed by Roger and heaved off a cliff to his final death.
[edit] Rasputin
After being poisoned, shot, and hurled into the icy waters of the Neva, Rasputin was contacted by the Ogdru Jahad. They sent him visions explaining their nature and what they wanted from him, namely, to release them from their prison, help bring about the end of the world, and make way for a new world. After the visions in the river, however, Rasputin waited to be contacted again.
Eventually, after years of silence and waiting, Rasputin was approached by Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler's SS. Recognizing this as an opportunity to acquire the resources needed to establish a stronger connection to the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin joined forces with the Nazis and soon assembled a team of Nazi occultists, comprised primarily of Ilsa Haupstein, Leopold Kurtz, and Prof. Doktor Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. This team was known as Project Ragna Rok On December 23, 1944, Rasputin and his colleagues opened a doorway into the void, and Hellboy was brought forth, albeit unbeknownst to the Nazis (but not to Rasputin). After this apparent failure, the Allies won World War II and Rasputin and his allies scattered. Rasputin himself travelled to a hidden temple in the distant Arctic dedicated to the Ogdru Jahad. Inside, he sat at the foot of a statue of Sadu Hem for almost fifty years until he was disturbed by Professor Bruttenholm, providing a catalyst for his, and Sadu Hem's, sudden re-awakenings. Ilsa, Kroenen and Kurtz relocated to the frigid north of Norway and cryogenically froze themselves until Rasputin's return, though they did not revive themselves until after Rasputin's failure at Cavendish Hall.
In Wake the Devil, while trying to strike back at Hellboy by using Ilsa's connection to a Romanian vampire, Rasputin brings Hellboy into the clutches of the Hecate (yet another twisted version of the Holy Trinity). Hecate threatens Hellboy with his destiny, and in the end Hellboy prevails. Retreating to the abode of his grandmother, Baba Yaga, Rasputin tries to come to terms with the fact that the Ogdru Jahad manipulated him. He realizes that the Ogdru Jahad were behind his latest venture, though he alone is responsible for the failure. He also must deal with the fact that rather than saving Ilsa, he instead sacrificed her to Hecate, who would use Ilsa's corpse (and the Iron Maiden which contained it) as her new body.
Moreover, in Conqueror Worm, Hecate tells Rasputin that he had no hope in trying to awake the Dragon in the events of Seed of Destruction - the only power that can free the Ogdru Jahad is Hellboy's right hand, and Rasputin is nothing more than a tool with which to manipulate and manoeuver Hellboy. Upon hearing this, Rasputin loses control and attacks Hecate, who virtually destroys him, leaving nothing more than a tiny shard of his soul for the Baba Yaga to preserve in an acorn shell.
[edit] The role of the "Frogmen"
As the Ogdru Jahad advance their plans on Earth, it becomes evident that they intend to introduce a new "final" race of man, in the form of the frog-monsters seen in Seed of Destruction. A version of these monsters return in Conqueror Worm when the contaminated space capsule triggers the soldiers to transform into frogmen, and again in A Plague of Frogs when a resurrected Sadu Hem transforms an entire town into frog-monsters. The monsters are extremely powerful, both psychically and physically. A single creature was able to overpower Hellboy below Cavendish Hall, and in A Plague of Frogs, it is revealed that the frogmen are able to shift between their human and frog forms, allowing them to pass unnoticed in populated areas. Moreover, the frogmen can exert a degree of telepathic influence over their victims, confusing them with illusions and mind-tricks.
The frogmen are linked to the Ogdru Jahad, and are being employed to free the Ogdru Hem who were imprisoned by the Watchers at the beginning of time. Once the Ogdru Hem are free, the Ogdru Jahad will follow. Currently, due to the events in B.P.R.D.: A Plague of Frogs, numerous frogmen have escaped the clutches of the B.P.R.D. and are moving across the North American countryside. These nests seem constructed around the purpose of praying to the Ogdru Hem, and in certain locations relics and items have been found which spawn vicious and lethal Ogdru-Hem-like creatures. Moreover, the frogs have transcended their human limitations and have developed the ability to convert their bodies to biological factories, producing thousands of tadpoles which become frog monsters.
After the events of B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame, it would appear that the frog monsters have been dealt a major setback. Whether or not their invasion has been halted by the destruction of Katha Hem remains to be seen.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Film
In the 2004 film Hellboy, the Ogdru Jahad were mentioned by name only once by Rasputin. They were portrayed as indistinct, tentacular creatures encased in crystal shells.
At the conclusion of the film, their prisons were shattered and the Ogdru Jahad began their assault on earth. Before the final lock could be released by Hellboy, he regained his senses and the Ogdru Jahad disappeared.
Sammael, a demon in the film, was referred to as the "son of Nergal"; Nergal-Jahad was one of the Ogdru Jahad. The giant Bemethoth which appears at the end of the film resembles Sadu-Hem, one of the Ogdru Hem (also offspring of the Ogdru Jahad).
[edit] Animated
In Hellboy: Sword of Storms, the Ogdru Jahad (or possibly Ogdru Hem) made a cameo as the brothers of Thunder and Lightning. Though not mentioned by name, they were referred to as the "Dragons".
[edit] See also
- Demons
- The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets perform a song titled "Ogdru Jahad," a tribute to the Ogdru Jahad and the Hellboy comic.
- Deep One
