In feudal Japan (1185–1868), a rōnin was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai becomes a rōnin upon the death of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or legal privilege.
Usagi Yojimbo is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit rōnin, Miyamoto Usagi, whom Sakai based partially on the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Usagi wanders the land on a musha shugyō, occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard.
Hellboy is a superhero created by Mike Mignola and appearing in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, and has since appeared in various miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers. The character has been adapted into four live-action films: Hellboy (2004) and its sequel The Golden Army (2008), a 2019 reboot film, and The Crooked Man, another reboot scheduled to release in 2024. The character also appeared in two straight-to-DVD animated films and three video games – Dogs of the Night (2000), The Science of Evil (2004) and Web of Wyrd (2023).
The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is a fictional organization in the comic book work of Mike Mignola. The B.P.R.D. originally appeared in the Hellboy comics and has since become a major part of its expanded universe, where it was supposedly founded by the United States and United Kingdom governments, and charged with researching the occult, paranormal and supernatural, and also defending against their dangers.
Abraham Sapien, born Langdon Everett Caul, is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Ichthyo sapien", the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date the Oannes Club abandoned Abe's body in a suspended animation tank beneath a Washington D.C. hospital, leaving only a cryptic note as explanation. He is occasionally referred to as an "amphibious man."
Elizabeth Anne "Liz" Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola. A firestarter, she becomes a ward of the B.P.R.D. at age 11 after burning her family to death in a traumatic accident. Sherman later hones her abilities and becomes a longtime field agent for the Bureau alongside Hellboy and Abe Sapien.
Johann Kraus is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He is featured in the comic book B.P.R.D., published by Dark Horse Comics. Kraus is a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit with psychic abilities, who inhabits a containment suit, without which his form would eventually dissipate and be lost forever.
Katherine Corrigan is a fictional character from the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics and created by Mike Mignola. Her appearance is based on Mignola's wife, Christine. Within the world of the comics, dubbed the "Mignola-verse", Corrigan acts as B.P.R.D. field leader to "enhanced" agents including Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Roger the Homunculus, Liz Sherman and Johann Kraus.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Dark Horse Comics character of the same name, created by Mike Mignola. Produced by Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin in association with Dark Horse Entertainment, and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is a sequel to Hellboy (2004) and is the second live-action film in the franchise. Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro from a story he co-wrote with Mignola, the film stars Ron Perlman as Hellboy, alongside Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Hurt. In the film, Hellboy and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense must battle a mythical prince who plans to reclaim the world for his magical kindred.
Hellboy is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Dark Horse Comics character of the same name, created by Mike Mignola. Produced by Revolution Studios, Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin Productions, and Dark Horse Entertainment, and distributed by Revolution and Sony Pictures Releasing's Columbia Pictures, it is the first live-action film in the Hellboy franchise. Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, the film stars Ron Perlman in the title role, alongside Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, and John Hurt. The film draws inspiration from the debut comic Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. In the film, a charismatic demon-turned-investigator named "Hellboy" works with the secretive Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense to suppress paranormal threats, but a resurrected sorcerer seeks to make Hellboy fulfill his destiny by triggering the apocalypse.
Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, known in Japan as Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, is a Japanese anime horror anthology television series produced by Toei Animation.
Hellboy: Blood and Iron is the second film in the Hellboy Animated series, written by Tad Stones and Mike Mignola. It first aired on March 10, 2007 on Cartoon Network, and aired again on July 19, 2008 to promote the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on June 12, 2007. The film's storyline is based in part upon the Hellboy: Wake the Devil storyline from the original comics.
Hellboy Animated is a straight-to-DVD anime-inspired superhero film series based upon the Hellboy comic books by Mike Mignola. Both films are anthologies and contain the full-length titles named Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, received the signature of Mike Mignola and Guillermo del Toro.
Edward T. "Tad" Stones is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, producer and director, best known for his work for The Walt Disney Company, where he worked from 1974 to 2003. His most notable credits for Disney include creating, writing and producing the animated series Darkwing Duck and producing Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Aladdin, Hercules, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He was a storyboard artist on Bob's Burgers when it premiered in January 2011.
Hellboy: Wake the Devil is a five-issue comic book mini-series in the Hellboy franchise, conceived and illustrated by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics. Various elements and sections of plot were later used in the animated film Hellboy: Blood and Iron.
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword is a 2009 American animated comedy mystery martial arts film, as well as the thirteenth entry in a series of direct-to-video animated films based on the Scooby-Doo franchise. In the United States, the DVD sold over 163,890 units in its first week and as of January 2014, it has sold approximately over 524,725 units.
The Right Hand of Doom is the fourth trade paperback collection in the Hellboy series created by Mike Mignola published by Dark Horse Comics on February 4, 2004 which collects various mini-series, one-shots and back-up features featuring fictional paranormal detective Hellboy.
Miyamoto Usagi is a fictional character, who appears in the American comic book Usagi Yojimbo, a Dark Horse Comics book created by Stan Sakai. Usagi is an anthropomorphic rabbit and a rōnin now walking the musha shugyō.
