Gruagach (Hellboy)
Gruagach is a fictional character, created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. He first appeared as the main antagonist in the short story Hellboy: The Corpse, and then reappeared in Hellboy: Strange Places, developing into a major antagonist similar to Prince Nuada, the antagonist of the film Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Gruagach was once a powerful warrior with shape-changing abilities, who was esteemed highly enough that he rode with the princes of the Daoine Sidhe, a race of fairy folk similar to elves into battle against the giants. However, he fell in love with a mortal woman who wished to see his most terrible form, a request he almost did not grant because if she screamed, he would be lost. He did, however, grant her request. Ironically, she did not scream when he turned into a monster, but to warn him of the presence of a cat when he turned into a songbird to soothe her. In that fashion, he was lost, transported to a netherwordly spirit realm.
After the passage of centuries, he was able to summon enough of his old powers to allow him to impersonate a baby kidnapped by the Daoine Sidhe in order to repopulate their dying race, and takes delight in tormenting the infant's parents with glimpses of his true nature. Since the authorities refuse to believe that their baby has been taken, the parents call on the B.P.R.D., who send Hellboy to investigate, exposing Gruagach by seizing him with iron tongs which burn him and reveal his true form.
Hellboy makes a deal with the Daoine Sidhe: if he inters the corpse of a recently deceased human friend of theirs in an acceptable churchyard, they will return the baby. Furious over his humiliation, Gruagach defies the King of the Daoine Sidhe and tries to stop Hellboy, giving Jenny Greenteeth the key to release Grom, a demon wild boar. However, once released, Grom snatches Gruagach out of the air and eats him. Hellboy uses an amulet on Grom to shrink him, allowing him to defeat the demon.
Gruagach survived in a fashion, eventually managing to force Grom's spirit out of his body. Fuelled by his obsession for revenge, Gruagach refuses to let their people gradually go extinct as a result of encroachment by the mortal world, and declares war on humanity. He assassinates the King, Dagda and then recruits others of his people to release the incredibly powerful Queen Of Blood in order to gain his previous form and restore his people.
He soon finds out, however, that the Queen of Blood has killed Queen Mab, essentially dooming his people. He is then cursed with immortality by Merlin, to see the events Gruagach set in motion until the end of the world.[1]
References
- ↑ Hellboy: The Storm #2
External links
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