Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin is a fictional character in the Hellboy universe but he is based on the actual person. Rasputin (1869 - 1916) was the advisor to Alexandra, the Tsarina of Russia for a decade; he called himself a mystic but many people in the Tsar’s court thought he was a fraud and a dangerous influence. He was murdered on December 30, 1916 by a group of aristocrats (he was shot, stabbed, poisoned and thrown off a bridge). Mignola takes this historic figure and turns him into one of Hellboy's greatest enemies. In Mignola's version Rasputin is given immortality in 1895 by Baba Yaga (an angry, controversial old woman in Russian folklore). After the attempt on Rasputin's life in 1916, he fakes his death and goes into hiding. Lost and unsure of his purpose, Rasputin turns to the church but it does not provide him with what he craves, which is power. Consequently Rasputin turns away from the church and discovers the Ogdru Jahad, which is Mignola's adaptation of the final beast in Revelation. Rasputin, having being promised power by this trapped beast, dedicates himself to serving evil and bringing forth the apocalypse. This terrible goal leads Rasputin to work for the Nazis' occult science team, with which he initiates Project Ragnarok ( the name, borrowed from old Norse myth, represents the end of the world). To bring this evil plan to fruition he summons a creature from hell, which results in the appearance of Hellboy on earth. As explained in the "Hellboy as Christ" blog, Hellboy appears in the wrong location and is raised in a Christian household; he actually becomes a defender of the Earth. But Rasputin does not give up. Instead, he puts his team into suspended animation and sets in motion a series of events to bring Hellboy back to him. This devious plan fails at first. In the initial volume of Hellboy, Rasputin's first scheme is shown to fail, and ends in his death at the hands of Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Hellboy, Of course this setback does not stop Rasputin, because he has become a ghost like figure. Rasputin is the embodiment of the Evil Worshippers. He is a satanic cult leader whose two goals are to bring about the end of the world and receive all the power that he can. With this plot device Mignola shows that it isn't just different religious beliefs that set people apart. Rasputin's selfishness and manipulation of others separates him from the heroes of the B.P.R.D. At different points in their origin stories they strayed away from religion or had an evil upbringing, but these figures were redeemed because they weren't self-centered. They believed in their ability to change and were receptive to all positive and godly influences. Mignola makes it clear to readers that Rasputin is irredeemable. And that is the reason that he is the worst villain Hellboy has to face.