John Constantine (born May 10, 1953) is a fictional character, an occult detective in comic books published by Vertigo. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben. Constantine is the protagonist of the comic book Hellblazer.John Constantine was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in the 2005 film Constantine. The film used some elements from Garth Ennis' Dangerous Habits story arc (issues #41-46) and others such as the inclusion of Papa Midnight from the Original Sins trade paperback. However, the film changed several aspects of the source material, including a number of cosmetic changes to the lead character: Reeves played the role with his natural accent and hair colour and basing him in Los Angeles, although the director pointed out that the comic book wasn't exclusively set in London either.Other differences to the character were made, for example giving him a psychic ability to see half breeds as they truly are that caused him to attempt suicide: it was this that damned him to Hell, Constantine's exorcisms being motivated by a desire to redeem himself that is constantly doomed to failure as everything he has done has been fundamentally done for his own benefit. The resolution of the lung cancer plotline in the film was also amended, with Lucifer saving the redeemed Constantine to give him a second chance at falling after Constantine willingly sacrificed a chance to save his own life to ask Satan to send an innocent girl to Heaven, this selfless deed allowing Constantine to regain his place in Heaven.The novel Hellblazer: War Lord by John Shirley (author of the novelisation of the movie) features Constantine talking about another John Constantine in an alternate universe, [who] has black hair and lives most of his life in Los Angeles whilst giving a brief summary of the movie's plot. Show less «