10 Comics Superheroes With The Best Motivations

5. Hellboy

Hellboy is incredible. His original series, the B.P.R.D. and its related spin-offs, Hellboy in Hell - all of it is wonderful, and something any discerning comics fan would do well to invest in if they love horror, comedy, and the aesthetic qualities of Mike Mignola's pencils.

For all that Mignola's pencils can be praised (seriously, I could do this all day), it's the creator's characterisation of Hellboy specifically that also deserves special attention. Anung Un Rama is sardonic, innocent, and fiercely independent. At the same time, he's also an occult specialist, an expert investigator, and a skilled fighter. He does all of this while threatened with a prophecy that claims he will bring an end to the Earth, and it's that constant battle against destiny - ostensibly - that drives him.

Put simply, Hellboy is a man who cannot sanction the idea that he's walking uncontrollably to the apocalypse. Neither can he abide being used by an organisation - the B.P.R.D. - that treats 'monsters' so carelessly, and so he leaves them in the nineties to embark on his own journey.

He's a hero that doesn't want to fight. A demon that loves the living. And a man who would be king. He's been to Hell and back, but all he wants to do is live his own life and help those in need, whether they're of the living or of the dead.

(And eat lots of pancakes.)