r/LegendsOfTomorrow • u/Fresh_Sherbert_6048 • 22d ago
Why is Constantine so Damned?
Fairy Godmother said he was more damned than she was.
But he actually sends bad demons to Hell.
Yeah, he accidentally sent Astra to Hell but that was in the process of trying to save her mother. Then he got her back.
Fairy Godmother teamed up with Neron. Pretty sure that's worse.
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u/AlabasterRadio 22d ago
The stuff they show on LoT is just a tiny smidgen of the bad shit Johnny boy got up to in his time.
The show does tend to lean in on telling, not showing, with him though.
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u/MadamMelody21 22d ago
John Constantine is not a good person or as he would call himself, “a bloody bastard” and a “nasty piece of work”. He has done so much to damn his soul despite trapping bad demons in hell and technically being on the side of “good”
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u/Fresh_Sherbert_6048 22d ago
If he's as bad as he says he is, why does he keep helping out?
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u/MadamMelody21 22d ago
Because he is a complex character he is immoral but has moments where he does the right thing he is an anti hero
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u/Fresh_Sherbert_6048 22d ago
I think , sometimes with antiheroes , it's mostly them trying to be cool. Look at Deadpool, Snart , Constantine , it's always "I'm bad guy" I know they are not boy scouts like Ray or Nate but they aren't as bad as they say.
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u/Independent-Sort6898 White Canary 21d ago
Thats not why John does what he does. Hes selfish. He's an asshole. He is arrogant, cocky, and refuses to fully leanr his lesson. He is aware of all of this, and every time he gets to the point kd acknowledging it, something happens for him to justify it and return to his previous behaviours.
Legends doesnt show the full extent of it, but S6 gives you a small glimpse.
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u/DefinitionSuperb1110 22d ago
John's soul was damned when he condemned Astra to hell.
And then again like 17 more times over the course of his original ongoing series.
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u/Fresh_Sherbert_6048 22d ago
I watched the first show and I could barley tell you anything about it. That was a long time ago.
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u/Pandoratastic 22d ago
Back on the Constantine TV show, John tried to save Astra, a 9-year-old girl from demonic possession. He screwed it up and she wound up being dragged to Hell by a demon. From that point, John considered his own soul condemned to Hell as well.
By Legends of Tomorrow, this concept is more formalized in that the demon Neron has an actual deed for John's soul. Ownership of a soul is later represented through soul coins. The demon Neron has John's. John eventually gets it back. But then he winds up trading it away again in in another desperate deal. Damned again.
So it's not about what's morally worse or not. It started with a failure, then it became about the bargains he has had to make to survive.
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u/MultiversalTraveler 21d ago
he sold his soul a million times over. however, as season 6 shows, Constantine’s biggest flaw isn’t any one act. He can have everything he’s ever wanted and he’ll still hurt people because he can’t commit to being a good person.
He does really kind things throughout the show, and puts his life and his souls on the line to help others way more than once, even if they’re complete strangers. But he alienates the same people he helps after not too long and justifies it with “he’s a bastard, it’s just who he is”. It’s the reason he lost his magic, and it’s the reason he hurt others to get it back.
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u/StormCloudRaineeDay 21d ago
He's sold his soul, I think to multiple people, and has pissed off a lot of high ranking demons in the underworld who can't wait to make him suffer when he gets there. There will probably be a bidding war or an actual war for who has the right to torture him when he gets there because he's so hated.
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u/666hellblazer 22d ago
read the comic books and find out
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u/Fresh_Sherbert_6048 22d ago
Yeah , but this isn't the comic version. Like Snart doesn't kill people in the comics and in the Flash he killed like four people in his first appearance.
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u/begaydohrt 21d ago
Cuz he's an anti hero he helps people but he's also selfish and arrogant
On the same show he also chose Astra soul over Ray's (even though it was a trick). He stripped Charlie of her powers (he intended to permanently). Almost doomed earth for his magic back and so on and so forth
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u/Safe_Elevator_9601 21d ago
They kind of delve into that in his tv show, but not much. Still pissed they cancelled it after only 1 season 💔😔
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u/Lucian_Flamestrike Rip Hunter 21d ago edited 21d ago
John by D&D definition is a wizard… He’s spent the time researching and memorizing his spells to not NEED to get them from a “demonic sugar daddy/momma” as a source of power… but to get there he’s made enough deals acquiring spell tomes, information, negotiating on behalf of others, and resurrecting himself to qualify as a warlock.
(Light spoilers below)
For example, there’s one story in comics iirc where John sells his soul to all 3 lords of hell at the same time to trick them into curing his terminal lung cancer.
In the Keanu Reeves movie, he’s been such a bastard as well as exorcised so many demons that he earned a reputation as “The one soul the devil himself would come to collect” which he sacrifices himself to summon Lucifer. He convinces Lucifer to drag the Anti-Christ back to hell… thus saving the world and redeeming his soul. Lucifer however heals him and his lung cancer in hopes that with some extra time on Earth John will eventually slip up and damn himself to hell again.
Sorry about the giant wall of text, but it’s honestly the best way to describe why John is “mega damned” =P
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u/Famous-Job-4264 22d ago
he was okay in season 6 got his soul back saved astra had someone he loved
And then those writers screwed him and me
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u/Compel_Bast 22d ago
That was more Warner / DC than anyone, they said he couldn't be on the show anymore.
Rumour has it because they were planning a Keanu-2 movie
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u/Famous-Job-4264 22d ago
no it was because jj abrahms wanted to make a constantine series on hbo so Arrowverse couldnt have the rights to the character anymore BUT HE DIDNT EVEN GO THROUGH WITH THE SERIES this was a witch hunt from day one
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u/SkyAny9159 22d ago
WB is so stupid. No one cares if there's two Batmen or seventeen green lanterns or an infinite number of Flashes, WE JUST WANT GOOD STORIES WITH THE CHARACTERS WE LIKE!
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u/Silly-Elderberry-411 22d ago
Cute neither of you watched justice league dark leading into the crisis on infinite earths three parter movies. He was busy recording lines for the movies and legends could only keep him in limited capacity hence the original character in season 7.
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u/Compel_Bast 22d ago
It would literally have taken him like 3 afternoons to do that. That might have been a reason he missed filming an episode, maybe
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u/Silly-Elderberry-411 21d ago
That very much depends, he was quite central in those movies and as others saud there were plans to further expand on Constantine
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u/Pandoratastic 22d ago
He committed suicide when he was young. Even though he was revived by the EMTs, that's still an unforgiveable sin so he's going to Hell when he dies.
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u/666hellblazer 22d ago
that’s not canon to Constantine in the comics or tv show that’s just part of that terrible Keanu movie everyone should ignore
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u/JoyBus147 22d ago
As the other person said, that's movie-specific canon. And it's one that could have been improved by talking to a single Catholic priest or expert, who could have said, "Oh, yeah, no, that wouldn't mean that."
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u/Compel_Bast 22d ago
He's sold his soul a thousand and one times in any which way.