John Constantine - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Unlike most comic book magicians, Constantine rarely uses magical spells, unless he has to, especially in combat. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning, his vast knowledge of the occult, manipulation of opponents and allies, tricking opponents to his whim, and an extensive list of contacts. These skills are often more useful than his magical ones. He is known to have deceived many of the most powerful beings in the underworld, such as The First of the Fallen and Archangel Gabriel. In the DC universe, John managed to recruit Batman and Superman through his own manipulation. In many stories, John earned the nickname "The Ultimate Con Man". Constantine is also one of a few people knowing all the routes to Heaven, Hell, and the afterlife, which he uses to escape and teleport without the danger of being chased by enemies. In the graphic novel Pandemonium, he once allowed himself to be killed, but later ressurects himself by exiting the afterlife.

Some examples of Constantine's magic:

• Divination — Used a pendulum and map to find and track the location of a magical disturbance. (Hellblazer #4 and #182)
• Demon summoning — Summoned the demon Nergal to destroy a monster for him, which it did (although John lost control, due to his inexperience). (Hellblazer #11) John later became adept at it overtime.

• Cursing — Placed a curse on his father that caused him to waste away. (Hellblazer #31) Constantine has immunity to curses, and has knowledge of how to undo curses. (Fear and Loathing arc)

• Magic circle — One of John's most signature magic whom he used often. He creates a magic circle by marking them to the floor or wall. Different circles have different uses and effects, but mostly acts as a shield to protect him or others from both physical and magical attacks (Justice League Dark #5), while others are used for offensive purposes.

• Exorcism — Summoned the demon Fuckpig and bound it to a boy's body to resurrect it. When the seals started breaking away he was forced to exorcise it and send it back to Hell. (Son of Man arc)

• Spirit ward creation — Placed a magical sigil on a succubus named Chantinelle that prevented the forces of Heaven and Hell from tracking her. (Hellblazer #60). As well as using sigils to hide himself from Satan (graphic novel collection Rake At The Gates Of Hell) Also placed various sigils on an abandoned caravan that he housed himself in to hide from the demon Nergal. (Hellblazer #12)

• Golemancy — Raised a powerful golem to murder a gang of occultists. (Hellblazer #167)

• Occlumancy — Erased a man's traumatic memories, (Hellblazer #217) or how he gate crashed a club by using a mind control technique. (Dangerous Habits arc)

• Necromancy — Raised a group of murdered victims as ghosts to attack their murderer (Hellblazer #230) and raises a soulstorm that blows a hole in a wall and kills a weapons tester.

• Vivimancy - Explained to his niece Gemma how to commune with his still living soul, after making himself braindead to avoid "The Beast" getting into his mind (Hellblazer hardback - Staring At The Wall).

• Illusion — Making people think he's someone or something else. Or using illusions to scare susceptible opponents into catatonic insanity (graphic novel collection Hard Time). Used also to make copies of himself for numerical advantage in battle.

• Synchronicity highway or synchronicity wave traveling — An instinctual supernatural ability to be in the right place at exactly the right time. This has led John to uncanny luck at games of chance, the ability to avoid and escape harm, and to meet the right kind of ally to help prevent or stop an apocalyptic event from happening (Jamie Delano's Hellblazer run).

• Pyrokinesis — Constantine uses magic to conjure and control flames and summon hellfire, often from his cigarette lighter. (Justice League Dark #10)

• Alchemy — Technique used to change one substance into another. Used transmutation to turn water into wine. (Dangerous Habits arc)

Constantine's blood is demonically tainted, initially by a blood transfusion from the demon Nergal, and later by sex with a succubus. His blood has been shown to have healing properties, and is noted to have an age-managing effect. It also acted as a defense mechanism when attacked by the King of the Vampires, and repulsed Deadman when he tried to possess Constantine. Although John has generally been shown to lose most fights against a superior combatant and generally avoids physical battles — he has been known to win fights, either by using a magical weapon,by fighting dirty, or by physical force.

Constantine has also exhibited considerable mastery in "stage magic skills" - hypnosis, sleight of hand, pick pocketing, and escapology. John also carries with him arsenal of powerful magical artifacts to aid him in battle, such as The House of Mystery which also serves as his transportation to different realms of the universe. Because of tricking the lords of hell into curing his lung cancer, he is perpetually in good health and physicality ever since.