1941: Hitler's obsession with the dark power of the occult fuelled his creation of a secret nation. A nation ruled by Nazi occult scientist worked tirelessly to fuse the powers of Alchemy, the technologies of witchcraft, and the fury of Hell itself. Hitler's demonic scientists gave brith to an unholy combination of horrofic ancient lore and devastating cutting edge futurism.

Hitler's agents of chaos plowed the depths of the hollow earth, flew saucers through the air with anti-matter energy, discover the Spear of Longinus which pierced the side of Christ, transplanted brains from man to beast, sought the Holy Grail, and amassed a vast arsenal of once mythical artifacts. These obsessions nearly met their apocalyptic ultimatum on that October evening in 1944. The location was the Island of Skye, off the coast of Scotland.

In the darkness of night, an Allied submarine emerged from blood-warm sea to behold the craggy island infested with Nazi soldiers and the occult scientists of the Reich laboring under a massive Romanesque ruin.

Normal US soldiers would have been unable to comprehend the nightmarish visions they beheld. But this small battalion boasted a secret weapon : Trevor Bruttenholm.

An expert in the mysteries of the occult, Broom headed up the BUREAU FOR PARANORAMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE (BPRD), a secret organization created by Roosevelt in 1943 to combat the Nazi occult threat.

Through the thick sulphuric smoke of a demonic ceremony, Broom peered down at the Abbey Ruins and witnessed a ghastly sight.

The mad monk Rasputin, long thought dead, stood in the center of the scene with bizarre mechanical glove. Wiring from the glove coiled like snakes to a bank of hi-tech occult devices.

The beautiful Ilsa and the ghastly living cadaver Kroenen furiously worked the inhuman gears of a steal and gold summoning machine.

Broom was shocked to near insanity by what he recognized. It seemed impossible that anyone would seek to perform rituals of such evil devastation. Rasputin's goal was worse than even his befuddled master Hitler may have expected. He sought RAGNAROK: the opening of "The Gate of the Dragon", through which he would invite Hell onto earth. Apocalypse itself was truly at hand!

A gruesome battle erupted. Guns, grenades, and knives tore the flesh of both Nazis and Allied soldiers while the insane Rasputin shrieked an alien code. Just as the Allies claimed a victory, a bubbling infernal rift broke open in the ground. Below was the very realm of cosmic evil, too monstrous even to behold, but Rasputin had dissapeared.

But although Hell itself did not pour through to our defenseless world, something came through the gate ...

Broom was delighted to find the living discharge of hell. A horned red devil baby lay alone among the brimstone. Newborn, it looked at Bruttenholm and smiled; Bruttenholm smiled back, hoisted it into the air, and called it HELLBOY. A photograph is said to exist still to this day, commemorating the Allied soldiers and their new friend.

Trevor Bruttenholm : "He was born a demon ... we must do our best to make him a man."