Abe Sapien
Abe Sapien is a male comic character who features in Hellboy.
Contents |
Biography
Langdon Everett Caul
In 1978, the comatose, amphibious man was found inside a water-filled capsule within a long-lost chamber beneath the St. Trinian's Hospital in a child's bedroom. Discovered by a group of plumbers, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense quickly intercepted the creature, and nicknamed it Abraham Sapien in reference to the scrap of paper written on his tube: April 14th 1865 - the date of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Unresponsive for weeks, it was not until B.P.R.D. scientists experimented with shocking him did he awake. However, it appears that Abe was at least somewhat aware of what was going on, as he has memories of overhearing one of the scientists debating whether or not to give up trying to revive him and just skip to dissection. Abe's experience in the Bureau was 'terrifying', and he still sometimes has nightmares of the event. Unsure what the creature in the tube was, he was held under scrutiny by the Bureau as scientists studied him. However, Hellboy felt sympathy for him, told the doctors to shut down the experiments, because as he said it was because they never stopped unless someone told them it was 'enough'. Abe came out of his tank healthy, if disoriented, and quickly responded to human contact. Despite no memory of a previous life, he was soon able to speak fluent English, apparently remembering the language rather than learning it.
Hellboy and other Bureau agents such as Liz Sherman were both particularly fond of Abe, and the three of them formed a lasting friendship. Hellboy quickly convinced B.P.R.D. director Trevor Bruttenholm to let Abe come along on minor field operations so that the fish-man could learn about the world outside the Bureau. Between April and June of 1979, Abe was Hellboy's constant companion. Although Abe's existence was never officially top secret, his discovery in the basement was never publicly revealed, and he didn't become the public figure that Hellboy had. Nervous about his appearance, Abe insisted on wearing a disguise when outside the Bureau consisting of a trench coat, a hat, gloves, and sometimes sunglasses and a fake beard. But by Hellboy's departure in 2001, Abe appears to have gained enough self-confidence that he no longer uses the disguise at all. In June 1979, a romance with archaeologist Anastasia Bransfield drew Hellboy away, leaving Abe largely stranded at headquarters. Liz and Abe developed a brother-sister relationship based on their mutual 'freak' status as wards of the B.P.R.D.. But in 1980, Liz was made a full field agent, leaving Abe alone again as she began to travel more and more under assignment. Abe grew jealous of Liz's freedom -- she was able to become part of the world in ways Abe felt he never would. In 1981, although still not an official agent, Abe joined a small group of agents on his first mission without Hellboy -- his first mission since Hellboy's departure in 1979. The seemingly simple assignment was to investigate a shipwreck off the coast of Spain, but the expedition was a disaster, resulting in three agents dead and many civilians before Abe was able to fend off the evil spirit that had emerged from the ship. But Abe proved himself in the eyes of Bruttenholm and was made a full field agent that March.
In May 1994, Abe Sapien accompanied Hellboy and Liz Sherman to the haunted and ancient Cavendish Hall, to investigate the mysterious death of Hellboy’s mentor, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, by an odd frog-like creature. They spoke with Mrs. Cavendish, who, unbeknownst to him and his companions, was being used as a pawn by the immortal monk Grigori Rasputin to lure Hellboy into fulfilling his original purpose as the harbinger of the apocalypse. After interrogating Mrs. Cavendish with not much success, Abe decided to investigate the surrounding area, now underwater due to centuries of the sinking of the land which the manor is built on. Abe dove out his guest bedroom window and into the murky, disgusting lake. After some time exploring, Abe came across the sight of two of the mutated Cavendish sons disappearing into the water with their deceased mother. He warily stepped backwards, despite feeling an odd sense of kinship with the creatures, and accidentally stumbled upon an old room containing the body of the long dead patriarch of the manor, Elihu Cavendish. Suddenly, Abe was possessed by the dead man’s spirit, guiding his actions in order to exact vengeance on Rasputin for his family’s suffering. Arriving in time to stop Rasputin from summoning the Seven Gods of Chaos and awakening the monstrous demonic entity Sadu-Hem, the possessed Abe harpooned Rasputin trough the chest, and dived into the air, snatching away the unleashed Liz, who began to utterly destroy the old ruins with her uncontrolled fire powers. Now back under his own mental self, Abe took Liz and helped her escape the ruins while Hellboy dealt with Rasputin personally. Afterwards, Abe and Liz shared their odd experiences during the time that Hellboy was fighting Rasputin and the magically transformed Cavendish children. When Abe asks Hellboy about what happened during his brief moment with the dying Rasputin before escaping the exploding ruins, Hellboy stays silent, a grim look of unease in his eyes.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Hellboy was responsible for rescuing Abe from the Bureau's experiments, and for his following training; as such, Abe and Hellboy have been good friends, and Abe misses him strongly after he leaves.
Powers and abilities
Abe was an extremely talented swimmer, with a natural affinity for water. He can breathe both air and water, but can only stay out of water for about a week; when travelling, he sleeps in hotel bathtubs to keep his skin from drying out. He was sensitive to the condition of water he swims in. When swimming in Venice, the water was so polluted that he had to stay in his tank for a long time afterwards to recover.
Notes
- Abe Sapien was created by Mike Mignola where he made his first appearance in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction v1 (1994).
In other media
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Hellboy:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
