ooc: misc

[fishstick]

Personal characterization notes:
Abe is, for how unusual he looks, very, very human. In fact, he never grows to feel totally comfortable with his skin-- he just grows to accept that he's part of the 'image' of the Bureau, and that cheesy costumes don't help much. But even more 'human' than that is the culmination of all his little flaws. None of them are so blatant as to turn him into a caricature. Instead, it's small details: someone who wrongs him who he doesn't know well will instantly get onto and stay on his shit list. Meanwhile, his friends can be leopard demons in disguise and no fucks are given. He's careful and calculative, but can still be pressed into recklessness. He gets jealous of his friends. For a long while, he pities himself. He's cold and can come off as stuck-up because he doesn't know how to act around someone who's not a 'freak.'

The major factor about Abe is that he grows. We see his flaws, and he moves past them eventually, gaining new conflicts along the way.

Another big detail to remember is that Abe has seen a lot. Vampires, werewolves, fae, djinn, necromancers, zombies, dead Norse gods, demons, ghosts, dukes of hell, shapeshifters, tentacle abominations, the embodiment of the ocean (????), a totally corrupt soul, etc. By current canon, he's watched major cities burn down as their populations turn into monsters, and is pretty regularly around piles of corpses and people being killed. It takes a shitton to faze him.

One thing I feel like I may not have gotten across well is that Abe doesn't try to forget about his problems. He does ignore them on a superficial level; he doesn't like talking about his feeeelings, his personality overall can be aloof and avoidant, and he navigates around conflict where he can. Like one of columns said, Abe doesn't deal with his problems through anger (until later i guess.....). But he's not stupid or dense, and he's painfully self-aware: what this leads to is a lot of internalization. He wants to know what he is. He wants to know that he's not a monster-- but it scares him that he might not get both. His image bothers him, first because of self-consciousness (which probably doesn't go away in its entirety, because hell if he likes the way he looks, but he deals) and then because of the underlying issues of man and monster, and the mystery of what he is. Long story short, I don't think Abe ignores his problems or destiny. If anything, it's the opposite: his internal conflict is that he's almost consumed in it.

Notes from here and there in the Companion book:
Abe came out of his tank healthy if disoriented, and quickly responded to human contact, with Hellboy in particular. Despite no memory of a previous life, Abe was soon able to speak fluent English, apparently remembering the language rather than learning it. Though he was able to stay out of water for up to a week at a time, if he did not soak periodically, his skin would become itchy and rough after a day or two.

Although Abe's existence was never officially top secret, his discovery in that basement was never revealed, and he never became a public figure, whereas Hellboy had grown up in the public eye. Nervous about his appearance, Abe insisted on wearing a simple disguise consisting of a trench coat, a hat, gloves, and sometimes sunglasses and a false beard. Hellboy didn't like disguises, due to his own self-image as a normal working stiff, and average Joe. "Let them stare," he'd say to Abe, "they'll get used to you." But Hellboy had the advantage of a personality that always won him acceptance, despite his appearance. Abe was never comfortable with the attention, which contributed to even some of his fellow agents considering him cold and aloof, if perhaps better mannered than Hellboy. Hellboy's theory for why people have been able to accept a seven-foot-tall red man with horns and a tail more easily than a fish-man was simply that "Everybody's seen the weird stuff that lives in the ocean. They know that stuff is real-- it scares them. The whole hell and the devil thing is a bit more abstract."

Liz and Abe developed a brother-and-sister relationship based on their mutual "freak" status as wards of the BPRD; Director Bruttenholm stood in as a father figure, although Abe's relationship to him was one of respect and gratitude than actual warmth.

In 1980, Liz was made a full field agent, leaving Abe alone at headquarters as she began to travel on assignment. Abe grew jealous of Liz's freedom-- she was able to become a part of the world in ways Abe felt he never would. Still, Liz spent as much time as possible with Abe between missions.

Things soon got worse when Hellboy quit the Bureau. Though Abe continued to work as a field agent, he began to feel more and more isolated, and considered leaving the BPRD himself, although he couldn't imagine where he'd go.

Afterward, Liz decided to return to the Bureau, and a new spirit of teamwork developed among the crew, with Abe and Liz's brother-sister team as its foundation. For the following two years, they worked together in investigations around the globe.

Abe returned to the BPRD's new Colorado hq more haunted and distant than ever, sharing only a few details of his experience-- and those only with Kate Corrigan [...] but even she wasn't privy to his thoughts about what he'd experienced, and his behavior grew erratic. He withdrew from his friends and coworkers-- including new team leader Benjamin Daimio-- but made strange attempts to act more like the man he once was, including trying to wear conventional clothing over his very unconventional body. His speech patterns changed, in an either deliberate or subconscious attempt to sound like a man of a hundred years ago-- a man he still couldn't remember, and only knew from the bits and pieces he learned in his strange investigations.

Script stuff:
"He's got few reasons to give a crap about anything or anybody. But he does anyway, so I guess that counts for something."
Leave him alone! Wilson, don't listen to him!
Deal with me now! Whatever you're doing has to stop!

Guess you shouldn't have... yelled at him.
Guess not.
You sounded a little like Hellboy there... for a minute.
Really...? Is that good?
Great, Liz, great. Now rein it in.
Abe...
Yeah. Nice job. You okay?
Sure.
Shut up.
No! Hellboy... Kate... Liz... I'm sorry...
Bloodthirsty tyrant to bones on a rope... it was a bad day for Yegor Kurya.
Oh. (wow good reactions there abe)
I'm sorry. I don't. I'm not the man you take me for.
We are what we've become. I can't do this. I can't live in a dream.
But it was your life.
But I don't remember it.
Edith, pull off this cover. This place, this existence... it's a lie. You're trapped in a lie. You must face it. Then you'll be free.
Langdon, stay with me?
I'm sorry... I can't. Forgive me.
Liz? Liz, it's Abe.
She has moved out of her room. Now she sleeps in Roger's room.
She didn't tell me.
You are her friend, but they have a connection we don't understand. Abraham, about what I said--
If you mean to apologize, don't. You were right. I haven't lived up to my oath to the bureau. I've been hiding in this place, leaving field work to you, and Liz... and Roger. He's dead more because of me than anyone else.
Perimeter, this is bravo-foxtrot-lima. The latest infrared thermal imaging of the target shows larger than expected numbers below ground. Prepare for abnormal scattering of hostiles. Over.
So, you're not dead.
Not this time. Where are the others.
Apologize? It's not necessary, captain. Roger lost a role model when Hellboy left the bureau. He was a blank slate. He lost his identity. That changed when you showed up. You filled that void for him. Roger liked you, and looked up to you. You gave his life direction.
Exactly? She did it all, Kate. The whole thing. I don't know how. She doesn't either.
'Archie Stanton'
It's more than a little sad that Roger's own name doesn't appear on his headstone. Yeah, but you know the bureau is just trying to throw potential body-snatchers off the trail.
But really, Liz, here? Three thousand feet above sea level?
blahblah liz
The lady, she makes her point. (apparently this is weird because liz reacts funny?)
Abe, what happened to you out there? In Rhode Island, I mean. I figured eventually you'd tell me, when you wanted to, but you haven't.
It's something that goes back a great deal further than my trip out to RI, Liz. It goes back, in fact, to a time before there even was a "me." Of all the things I've seen and felt in recent months, I'm unsure how much of it I believe-- how much I WANT to believe. Does that sound mad to you?
Do you think those bombs will really make any difference? A.C.E. tells me it will take over a billion tons of material to fill that pit. It beggars (???) the imagination.
Another lugubrious day in Colorado. Somewhere, I am almost certain, the sun shines, but not here. I have no more heart for my work this evening than I had yesterday, and the weather is not entirely to blame. Nor, I find, is the death of Roger. (IGNORES CALL FROM LIZ) If my difficulties sleeping persist, I think I shall seek pharmaceutical assistance. (is this how he writes or is this the influence of trying to be caul)
excuse me, liz. you were calling me?
I don't know... no. But if what you want is a sad ghost story...
But no eyewitness account? Just the strange, loud howling noises everybody reported?
Right, the boy. Maybe we should talk to him. What do you think?
'Without me...?' That's for the best, don't you think?
We're sorry. We really are.
(abe volunteers to be traded for kate)
have you suffered a demotion to laborer?
Really? I thought all the files down there were destroyed when dr. eiss was killed.
quite a bit, it would seem, if you require this vehicle to transport it.
forgive my bluntness, johann, but i find myself very disinclined to play the substitute for a forklift.
i'm certain of that. nevertheless...
you don't have to be here, captain. 'what!??! you asked me to come with you, pal!'
that's was because I thought of you as a man's man-- a man who kept his own company well, and respected the privacy of others.
(EVENTUALLY) Captain. Would you care for a cigar?
So, whoever it was that sent this to me, we can assume, knows that i was once caul. And, it seems more than a little likely that this person knows something about caul's life-- something more than can be extracted from public records.
i'm not sure. perhaps both. in any event, i knew i had to come here. the real mystery is why i feel compelled to stay down by these docks. why am i not combing the whole city for "clues," for lack of a better term.
it might serve you well to find some distraction. they have a healthy eco-tourism trade here. you could see the orangutans in the wild.
How do you know me? Who ARE you? That doesn't mean anything to me!
Look, you sent that little girl to get me. She gave me your note, this island's coordinates, the boat. I felt as if I had to come, for some reason, but now I want some answers.
Stop! Stop!! Who are you people?
Hey, enough of that. I told you, I have questions. Wait. What did you just call me?
I may find a moment later on to be interested in your methods. Now, however, I wanto know who you are and why I am here.
(OPIATES!) So that's why I'm feeling so... strange.
"Spiritual reservoirs." How ambitious. By laying waste to this corner of the globe, you ultimately save the mortal souls of millions, and the world as a whole lives on.
We were friends, you say, but upstairs, I saw some pictures taken in 1865. Are you the same men making rather merry as I change from man to fish-creature?
Okay, think this through. Those monstrosities they're growing aren't yet ready, and with luck, I may just have destroyed one. So they can't set off those tremors right away. If I can make it to the boat before--
'He would be right beside us!' Then thank god he's dead!
When Hellboy and Liz leave the Bureau, so does a great deal of this behavior.
Good morning, Captain. My new friend told me you'd be arriving. (blahblah daimio blah) It wouldn't surprise me.
As I understand it, you've been doing great things without me.
I met some men here, Captain, and they all know Langdon Caul. Knew him very well, as it turns out. But they didn't know me.
Hello, Ben. Sorry I was late, but I just came by to tell you our new tenant is arriving early.
You men were supposed to sedate him for the journey.
After all these years I doubt very much there is anything left of Daryl's mind still in there. I... I just don't remember his being so robust.
to: tom manning, bureau director
dear tom,
thank you. not only for letting me bring panya in as a consultant, but for the faith implicit in that decision. leadership of this task force has become a mutable thing. it shifts with each new mission, each situation. when one considers how often things change here, one realizes-- each and every one of us must be prepared to lead at a moment's notice. that makes each member vital, indispensable. there is no room for error when all of us must depend upon every single agent for our safety and our lives. you've been very patient with me these past few months, tom, in case you thought i hadn't noticed. bat i am back for full duty, and i will not disappoint you in your trust. you have my word. respectfully, abe sapien, b.p.r.d. headquarters, colorado.
i'm not "saying" anything. we'll learn more about the wendigo once i get this camera installed. observations will be much easier.
ben, this is the third time this week i've found you down here. your company is welcome, but what so provokes your interest in this creature.
yes, you've been nervous, and edgy lately, moreso than usual. This doesn't have anything to do with your grandmother's war crimes, does it?
yes, kate? -- I'm afraid not. You might want to check the fitness center.
I said Kate and I have been looking everywhere for you! Well, come on. There is trouble. I had every reason to believe this cell was secure enough to hold the wendigo. I knew he looked stronger than before.
well, this means that daryl's spirit is freed-- and the wendigo's new 'prisoner' is probably still rational enough to talk to.

Well, friend, Hellboy says your name is Roger and that you're okay. All I know is that if it wasn't for you, Liz Sherman would be dead and buried now... at the very least we owe you for that. So let's see. Disengage breakers... reroute power... I hope that's right. This isn't really what I do.

It's open.
Abe. Thanks for the loan, but I thought I'd bring this one back. Couldn't get into it.
You didn't like it?
It just seemed kind of implausible.
Implausible? That's almost funny. Dr. Manning sent you down?
How'd you know?
We're friends, Kate. I'm going to miss you. But we're not so close that you make it a habit of dropping by my quarters unless it's business. I saw the new guy in the hall earlier. What's his story?
There's nothing for me here anymore, Kate. I miss Liz. After she left, it started to feel too much liek a corporation around here. And now with Hellboy gone... no offense, but Roger and I, we feel alone. I used to be afraid to go out into the world on my own, Kate. Now I'm afraid to stay here.
...And then she said I had to come get her. But I don't even know where to start looking.
And nobody ever thought to mention that to the rest of us?
You want to know what I want out? That's it right there. I don't need anyone telling me my friends are too volatile to have around.
Fine by me. But don't think you're going to change my mind.
Kate! Over here! Liz. Come on, Liz. Open your eyes.
What the hell's wrong with her, Johann? Is she dead or not?
How? Maybe it was these guys.
Her skin is... hot. None of this makes any sense to me, Kate.
We need to know more about what went on here. We can't just jump in with no clue as to what we're facing and if it's going to help Liz.
I guess that explains everything.
You understood that?
No. I was being sarcastic.
Oh. (oh roger i love you)
This isn't working too well. I hate to ask, Roger, but since Johann has captured this thing's spirit, and spirit is a kind of energy, and you're able to suck up energy...
No, it's not. But someone's got to watchdog all of this, make sure we come back, and be there to do something about it if we don't. For better or worse, that's what your title means, Kate.
(Don't do anything stupid.) Too late.
So what do you think of your second day on the job, Johann? Is it everything you thought it would be?
Looks like your ghost-compass is working, Roger. I'd say we're headed in the right direction.
(Has it been difficult with your friend departed?) Difficult? I don't know. But it does feel like the end of something. He was the reason we all stayed. He was raised there. It was home to him. And as long as it was, he made it feel like home for us. The first memories of I have of the bureau are terrifying. I still have nightmares. (This isn't right.) Weird that a guy who looked like that would tbe the one thing that didn't frighten me.
(And now that he is gone, you are the leader of the unit.) I am? Where'd you get that idea?
I'm going to say it one last-- well okay then.
Imagine that. The junkyard at the center of the earth.
I'm starting to think all those legends about the Earth being hollow are true. It's just one big parking garage.
What the hell? I don't think these guys are going to scare as easy as those caveman types we ran into before. (oh my god abe no one needs your oneliners)
We didn't come this far to stop now. But this fight is a waste of time. Get ready to run.
(Abraham! Schnell! 'Yes! Schnell!') Great. The homunculus speaks German now.
Wow. Oh lord...
That's a lot of ifs. What do you think?
note: he checks up on everyone, asks for everyones opinions, etc.
Hang on, everybody! Johann! Hang on!
You're coming back with us? (I have to. I'm pretty much naked.) Yeah, but are you going to stay? (I spent the last two years in a monastery. I could use a little fun... and you guys sure know how to show a girl a good time. Thanks, Abe. Thanks for coming to get me.) No problem. No problem at all. (aww they're holding hands)
(Good morning, Abraham, did you sleep well?) Uhh. Bad dream. You?
It's just that it's early, Johann. (Everything's a little disturbing before the first cup of coffee.)
You sleep all right?
Sounds like a job for the police.
(Abe. You okay?) Sorry... (Rough night?) Bad dream.
Yeah, that's a bad one. But I think mine was worse. (whatajerk)
I don't think... (Abe? Shake off that dream.) It's not my dream... (Yeah?) It's Roger. I'm worried about him. (Why? Because he was grown in a jar and left in a Romanian basement for five hundred years...? etc etc. I guess the only guy whose story we don't know is you. What are you dreaming about, Abe?) -no response-
Shhh. I heard something.
(Abe, he's one of the--) No.
Son of a--
This is bad.
And this accounts for the transformation from men to...
I've seen creatures like this before.
Cavendish Hall... The three Cavendish brothers. I saw two of them in the basement with their dead mother... we assume they were killed when they house was destroyed.
Hellboy... (Liz and Abe seem okay, Roger misses him the most.)
You okay? -- You sure you know what you're doing? I was just thinking about what happened in New Jersey.
I've got you.
(even after he's stabbed he still asks why and questions the antagonists)
More BPRD agents are on their way. They'll round up your creatures.
liz on being an agent: he said i never invited this stuff into my life. and he's right. i didn't ask for it. but the professor did-- he chose to make a career out of it. so did vaughn. you and me though-- what else are we gonna do? you see me getting an office job, abe? but we're not superheroes. we're just dealing with this stuff as best we can, so this is what happens. we'll always take a beating. but it's guys like vaughn who are always gonna get hurt.

(Hey, Abe. See anything yet?) I doubt I'd see anything from up here.
You've only been in the UK division a few months. Trust me, you'll see--
Burgonet. Melchiorre's burgonet. Ugo Melchiorre was a captain in Pope Clement VII's League of Cognac, formed to defeat the holy Roman Empire. He commanded an army at the battle of Modena, where his troops were hopelessly outnumbered. It should have been a crushing defeat, but Melchiorre's ferocity in battle initiated a miraculous rally. etc etc basically he remembers like every name and every place and every date because he's good at this
No. Not the living dead. Just dead. I'm not disappointed. I'd rather not fight any zombies down here. Still, when you _are_ in the middle of something like that, you feel a lot like a soldier with a good cause. But that's not what this is. It's a mausoleum. So today I feel like-- an intruder, I suppose. No, worse than that. A ghoul.
I'm sorry. You had a job, I know. That's why you were back here, locked away with this crate. It couldn't have been comfortable, and look where it got you. I don't always like my job either. Anyway, I hope you didn't suffer much. I hope you found peace.
(This it?) It must be.
(blah blah) If you say so. Just get us out of here.
(But magic? Really think so?) Hitler did. The Russians too, obviously.
I'll reserve my judgment until I get it to O'Donnell at headquarters.
What the hell is he doing!?
Captain Sullivan, I told you I wanted to get underway.
No, _absolutely not_! Look, the Bureau paid you for a job--
Let the Captain make his own arguments.
It's... it's you.
I want to observe him for a moment, and he's obviously not hostile.
(JASDFKJasduifyisudf) You're overreacting, Sal. Why wouldn't you? It's your first time, but not mine.
But he's _not_ roaming the ship. _This_ is where he wants to go. You're in the Bureau for Paranormal _Research_ and Defense. Research is important, too.
Listen to me. He was down there in the sub, locked in the same cabin where I found the Burgonet, all by himself. Just as dead as any of the others-- and yet here he is.
(CRACKPOT THEORY) ....maybe.
Okay, slow down for a second, Sal. Hear me out.
Hello, Captain. I was beginning to think your idea of running a ship was to run around on it.
That was before. Right now, I want to stay put until I can figure out what's going on.
No. I don't think that's it at all.
There's a bigger picture here-- or maybe a smaller one. If you'll just give me a few minutes.
Dammit, Captain! Are you _really_ going to make me say this!? You're under contract with the United States Federal Government. Do you _know_ what that means? It means I've heard _enough_ about how this is _your_ boat!
All right. Let's get moving.
I'll take care of him. Just raise the anchor.
Look at him. He didn't sink his teeth into any of us. Never took so much as a swing at you, even after you shot him.
I'm saying look! Look at him. What is he doing? He's doing his job. By some miracle, after decades of being dead and rotting, he's alive again. And what's the first thing he does? He picks up right where he left off.
Guarding the burgonet, obviously. He's still guarding it. It's still important to him. Even now. Why?
(Jesus! Jesus, you're giving it back? But the Russians--) --Will probably chase us as soon as they find it's missing. And in a cruiser, they'll catch us too.
(Look, I know you felt you had to do it, but the way you yelled at him, what you said... he's just a poor captain on an old rust bucket. You take that away from him, what does he have?) Not a lot, I suppose. But then again, we didn't come away with much either.
I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sal. I radioed the Vatican with all the details. Trust me, the Pope will humiliate the Kremlin into handing it over in no time. The special sciences service, I expect, will take the brunt of that, but until then-- I say we just let them do their jobs.

Some insight from the forums:
One really significant point about New World that I found interesting (and that I haven’t really seen anyone discuss) is the fact that Abe kept his knowledge of Ben’s whereabouts a total secret from the BPRD. He tracked him down, found him, met with him more than once, but lied about everything to the BPRD. To me that highlights a huge shift Abe’s perspective regarding this kind of situation: years before when they first found him, Daryl was coherent, remorseful, frightened, but still a monster. At that time Abe fully understood that he needed to be brought back to the BPRD to make sure he never hurt anyone, regardless of how Daryl felt about it and regardless of the fact that none of it was his fault.

Why didn’t Abe do the same with Ben? He knew Ben was a monster. He had no reason to believe Ben had any control over the jaguar demon and no reason to trust that he wouldn’t kill again. But he kept the secret of his location rather than sharing that information with the BPRD and mounting a formal search and retrieval mission. His irresponsible actions indirectly endangered (and if we’re completely frank—doomed) the lives of several innocent people.

I always interpreted this massive departure from his normal behavior as a sign that he’d begun to lose his grip on his duties, not to mention his trust in the BPRD, after the end of King of Fear. A sign that he’s losing his place there, or that he no longer feels a part of the Bureau. I think it’s more than likely that Abe saw something of himself in Ben, too. He wanted so much to believe that Ben could overcome the monster inside of him—thus proving that he could do it too—that he did something completely reckless and stupid that got people killed.

It’s only tangentially related to your point, Pimpernel, but that’s actually where I find value in the New World story. Not Ben’s reappearance, but how that reappearance shed light on how much Abe has been changed by the things he’s learned about himself, and how those changes have come to affect him so drastically that maybe everyone’s fears of him are slowly becoming justified.

If it really was one purpose of New World to explore Abe’s character more thoroughly then I think lumping it and The Long Death together would have done a disservice to both. Abe and Johann both undergo quite a bit of development over the course of those stories, and I think it’s good that they had the room to do so. Ben’s development is a lot less prominent—we’re mostly left to our speculations to fill in the blanks of his life in the wild—but I’m glad there was room enough for that as well.

Partly off-topic, but it’s really so interesting to see how things in the BPRD have progressed to the point where everyone is keeping huge and life-altering secrets from each other and nobody really trusts anyone else anymore. It’s so hostile and impersonal now. They used to be afamily. :(

Allie in an interview:
He’s a great reflection of Hellboy. Hellboy’s a cross between a demon and a man, and he doesn’t like to think too much about the demon part of him, and goes about with great purpose ignoring it. Abe is a cross between a fish and a man, and he’s put a lot of work into figuring things out, and it’s shaken his purpose, at times, in being a member of the B.P.R.D. He wants the truth, but sometimes he can’t handle it.

Mignola in an interview
Abe really grows out of or is tied into the kind of Lovecraftian mythology I created. He's not specific to any culture. He's more the culmination of that weird thing I did. When we did the first Abe mini series, 'The Drowning,' we saw this big jellyfish kind of thing which was also in Abe's origin story in the first B.P.R.D. story I wrote myself. We saw these big Lovecraftian things and an underwater temple. So while the character has the whole Victorian thing going on, he's also tapping into the Lovecraftian supernatural thing that I am fascinated with. It's the world history stuff that I've made up. This new story is about the foot he's got in that world and how he reconciles that with his Victorian past, which he doesn't remember much of, and the fact that he's been living like a regular dude for a bunch of years now."


Unlike his long-gestating "Hellboy In Hell" series, however, the future of Abe will not be a story of a man who is trying to escape his past. "The difference between Hellboy and Abe is that Hellboy never wanted to look at his origins at all, and Abe I think is much more adult about that. He's not quite as quick to say, 'I just won't think about it.' He's much more fascinated by what he is, and now that he's evolving into something else, I think that it behooves him to look into what he is and all this stuff means.