The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the B.P.R.D. or BPRD) is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

al organization in the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

work of

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lobster Johns ...

. The B.P.R.D. originally appeared in the ''

Hellboy 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 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various miniseries, one-shots ...

'' comics and has since become a major part of its

expanded universe The term expanded universe, sometimes called an extended universe, is generally used to denote the "extension" of a media franchise (like a television program or a series of feature films) with other media, generally comics and original novels. ...

, where it was supposedly founded by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

governments, and charged with researching the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

and

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

, and also defending against their dangers. In 2002,

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

launched the ''B.P.R.D.'' comic series, and in 2014 the '' Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.'' series.

Fictional organization history

In the ''Hellboy'' comics, the B.P.R.D. was founded in 1945 by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm to combat various

threats uncovered in operations against

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It initially had strong links to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and was based at a military airbase in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, but in 1947 later relocated to a custom built facility in Fairfield,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. It maintains strong links to various branches of the

US military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

to this day. It is a private organization that receives funding from several major governments (mostly the

and

, although other countries including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

have been mentioned). Professor Bruttenholm served as director until the late 1950s when he stepped down to return to field work. The current director is Dr. Thomas Manning. Over the years, the Bureau has added several agents with "enhanced skills" to its ranks including

in 1952,

Liz Sherman 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 accid ...

in 1980, and

Abe Sapien 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 ...

in 1981. The B.P.R.D. is a well known and respected organization that has excellent relations with most international governments and

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

agencies, with the exceptions of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

The ''Plague of Frogs'' Cycle

The Bureau was the United States' only defense against an onslaught of frog creatures (originally featured in ''Seed of Destruction''). Though the "frogs" began operating on the East Coast, they spread west on both sides of the US-Canada border. To cut costs, the Bureau moved from its traditional headquarters in Connecticut to an abandoned research facility in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. This facility was last used to house Nazi scientists who defected to America after World War II. As such, the facility contains vast quantities of secret files that the B.P.R.D. has yet to explore. The frog monster invasion reached its peak during the events of ''The Black Flame'' during which a

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

madman adopted the persona of the World War II era supervillain the Black Flame and insinuated himself as the leader of the frogs. Together they raised the gigantic Katha-Hem (one of the

Ogdru Hem 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 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various miniseries, one-shots, ...

, the 369 spawn of the

Ogdru Jahad 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 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various Limited series (comics) ...

) which ran rampant across the American heartland until Liz Sherman used an ancient artifact to amplify her

pyrokinetic Pyrokinesis is a psychic ability allowing a person to create and control fire with the mind. As with other parapsychological phenomena, there is no conclusive evidence in support of the actual existence of pyrokinesis. Many alleged cases are hoa ...

powers a thousandfold. After Katha-Hem was destroyed, the frog monsters dragged the Black Flame into a vast pit and the invasion appeared to come to an end. A series of incidents—featured in ''The Warning'', ''The Black Goddess'', and ''King of Fear''—saw the Bureau threatened by both an alliance of the frogs, the Black Flame, and creatures from the Hollow Earth, united to bring about an apocalypse and the birth of a new human race; and also the villain Memnan Saa, who abducted Liz in an attempt to use her powers to conquer the Earth so he could prevent the Apocalypse. This crisis saw half of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

destroyed, the Bureau discredited in the eyes of the American military, and Abe Sapien revealed to be an example of the next stage of the frog's evolution. Finally, Liz Sherman exhausted all of her powers in destroying the underworld alliance. This inadvertently caused massive volcanic disasters across the world, devastating

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and causing the destruction of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

(wiping out the nations of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

), and also causing the rise of a large, immobile monster in California, spewing out a gas across America and Mexico that mutates people. In the wake of this new crisis, the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

drafted the Bureau to work directly for them, with "blank cheque" funding. A vision of the future shown in ''King of Fear'' showed the apocalypse had triumphed over this larger, more heavily armed B.P.R.D.

The ''Hell on Earth'' Cycle

In the wake of the events of ''King of Fear'', the world enters an apocalyptic era as natural disasters and vicious monsters crawl out of the Earth. Society is pushed to the brink of madness as many new cults arise to worship the creatures, while other supernatural forces begin shifting their plans in response to the global chaos. The B.P.R.D. agents face their own struggles during this time - Johann claims revenge on Ben Daimio for the destruction of his new body, while Abe is shot in the head by a panicked psychic girl named Fenix. Fortunately for the B.P.R.D., they gain new allies as well in the form of the Russian Special Sciences Service (S.S.S.), with their director Iosif Nichayko. Unfortunately, Zinco and the last remnants of Project Ragnarok inadvertently resurrect a new and more powerful Black Flame, who proceeds to take control of New York and reawaken many slumbering Ogdru Hem all over the globe. Abe recovers from his near-fatal wound in time to see the world in an even worse state than last he saw, and he goes AWOL from the B.P.R.D. to go on a journey of self-discovery. Liz regains her powers and rejoins the B.P.R.D., while Johann transfers his spirit into the WWII Sledgehammer suit and together they fight the Ogdru Hem as they run rampant. Eventually they take on the new Black Flame in New York, but their victory only proves hollow as one of the seven

lands in Kansas, spawning an army of Ogdru Hem as it tears its way across the land. Johann ends up sacrificing himself to defeat the dragon, paralyzing all the Ogdru Hem around the world and giving the world a moment of peaceful respite.

B.P.R.D. Agents

Enhanced Talents Taskforce

* Hellboy / Anung Un Rama,

Cambion In European mythology and literature, a cambion () is the offspring produced from a human–demon sexual union, typically involving an incubus or a succubus. In the word's earliest known uses, it was interchangeable with changeling. Changelings ...

(a half-

Demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

) *

Abraham Sapien 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 binomial nomenclature, species designation chosen for him ...

, amphibious man * Elizabeth Sherman,

* Roger the Homunculus, artificial human (deceased) *

Johann Kraus 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 ectoplasm (parapsychology), ectoplasmic s ...

, ectoplasmic physical medium (deceased) * Captain Benjamin Daimio, were-jaguar (deceased) * Panya, ageless

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

(deceased) * Fenix Espejo, psychic * Ted Howards (Gall Dennar), warrior with a Hyperborean sword (deceased) * Susan Xiang, psychic * Josephine T. Gant, psychic * Garrett Omatta, psychic

Human Agents

* Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, former director (deceased) * Dr. Tom Manning, director (deceased) * Dr. Kate Corrigan, liaison to enhanced talents agents (deceased) * Dr. Howard Eaton, occult specialist, assistant to Prof. Bruttenholm (deceased) * Professor James Henry O'Donnell, occult specialist (deceased) * Andrew Devon, field agent (deceased) * Sal Tasso, field agent (deceased) * Carla Giarocco, field agent (deceased) * Ashley Strode, exorcist and field agent * Pauline Raskin, former field agent * Joseph Vaughn, field agent * Rebecca Gervesh, field agent * Agent Nichols, field agent * Agent Enos, field agent (deceased) * Rachel Turner, London field agent

Allies

* Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder, a witch hunter who had his own spin-off series *

Lobster Johnson Lobster Johnson (also known as The Lobster or The Claw) is a fictional character featured in the '' Hellboy'' and '' Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense'' comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He was created by Mike Mignola. Within ...

, a vigilante ghost * Michael Mathers, also known as The Visitor, an extraterrestrial assassin sent to Earth to kill Hellboy * Alice Monaghan, a young woman, who was kidnapped by fairies as a baby, then saved by Hellboy, retained some magical abilities and now works as a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

* Iosif Nichayko, a Russian zombie super soldier and Director of the Russian Special Sciences Service * Daryl Tynon, a human hunter who was turned into a

wendigo Wendigo () is a mythological creature or evil spirit originating from Algonquian folklore. The concept of the wendigo has been widely used in literature and other works of art, such as social commentary and horror fiction. The wendigo is of ...

* Varvara, a little girl possessed by a demon and former director of the Special Sciences Service

Publication history

The Bureau made its first appearance in the pages of the ''Hellboy'' miniseries '' Hellboy: Seed of Destruction'' (4 issues, March–June 1994) and was a major part of the comic until Hellboy leaves the B.P.R.D. at the end of '' Conqueror Worm''. At this point the ''B.P.R.D.'' series began, following the agents of the B.P.R.D. such as Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Roger and Johann Krauss. ''B.P.R.D.'' was once considered a "series of miniseries", with each story reading as a stand-alone story easily enough, but over time, an overarching story began to develop. When a new story cycle began, the series was retitled ''B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth,'' then two years later when the series hit its 100th issue, it was restructured as an ongoing monthly comic. This was done for many reasons, most notably to make the reading order simpler to the uninitiated.

In other media

Films

The Bureau appeared in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

film ''

'' and its

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

sequel '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army'', both directed by

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

, where it differs from the agency in the comics. *In the film it is a secret

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that s ...

, created by

Roosevelt Roosevelt most often refers to two American presidents: * Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919, president 1901–1909), 26th president of the United States * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945, president 1933–death), 32nd president of the United State ...

to combat Hitler's growing mastery of the occult, and strongly affiliated with the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. Professor Bruttenholm claims that the BPRD fought the Occult Wars that ended in 1958 with the death of Adolf Hitler. *Several personnel are federal agents, including

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

and new character

Special Agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...

John Myers whilst the director is still Professor Bruttenholm, who refers to the bureau as "the ones who bump back", in reference to "things that go bump in the night". *The BPRD uses the motto "In Absentia Luci, Tenebrae Vincunt",

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails"—though this motto is grammatically incorrect—Luci should read "Lucis" for the desired meaning. *In '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army'', the Bureau's existence is confirmed when Hellboy reveals himself to the media after battling vicious tooth-fairies. The film reveals there is a German branch where Johann was stationed until he became the new director of the US branch. * In the 2019 reboot, the Bureau is a public multinational agency. * In the 2024 reboot, the Bureau is referenced, but never shown *It is hinted that the base may be related to military base

Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, north-northwest of Las Vegas. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force B ...

as the number 51 appears on the walls.

Television

''The B.P.R.D. Declassified'' was a TV special that aired on the FX in 2004.

Roleplaying game

The B.P.R.D. appeared in the '' Hellboy Sourcebook and Role Playing Game''.

In popular culture

* In the film ''

Blade II ''Blade II'' is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by David S. Goyer. The sequel to ''Blade'' (1998), it is the second installment in the ''Blade'' franchise. T ...

'',

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

's young assistant, Scud, wears a shirt bearing the B.P.R.D. logo.

, who directed ''Blade II'', is a fan of Hellboy, and later he directed the film adaptation and its sequel. * In the comic shop in ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'', the B.P.R.D. comic is prominently and repeatedly featured. * In the show '' Hawaii 5-0'' a ''B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: New World'' poster is on the wall of Dr. Max Bergman's (played by

Masi Oka is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's '' Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, ...

) apartment.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bureau For Paranormal Research And Defense Hellboy Dark Horse Comics titles Horror comics 2002 comics debuts Characters created by Mike Mignola Fictional paranormal investigation agencies