User blog:Manofgod/Comic Battle: John Constantine vs Jack Horner



Its the battle between the prep master tricksters!!

John Constantine, the Hellblazer occult magician and con man from Hellblazer!

vs

Jack Horner, Fable trickster and money scamming artist from Fables!

Both are two of the most famous con man who has tricked Devils like its tuesday. Both are blonde, both are assholes, and both are 4th wall-breaking anti-heroes here to do battle, comic book STYLE! WHO IS DEADLIEST??

John Constantine
John Constantine was born in Liverpool but has spent most of his life growing up in London, from the sixties onward. He first left his father's house to live in a London squat aged fifteen. He is a natural born thrill seeker with hints of morality. Despite living in England for most of his childhood, Constantine has moved around the world on several occasions, following occult and mysticism all across the planet. He was born a twin, which he happened to strangle in the womb. His mother died in labour and his father blamed John for the death of his mother and that was the root of the friction between them. When not running away from home, Constantine was raised by his older sister Cheryl Masters.

Constantine is a chain smoker and has been from the very start of his character's introduction, his brand of choice is Silk Cut, though he has been seen smoking Marlboro or Camel’s from time to time, presumably when out of the country or when Silk Cut are unavailable. Despite being a chain smoker himself, Constantine does not take any other drugs, and once called his friend a “Dirty lowlife bastard” when he found a needle with a nondescript drug in it. John eventually moved in with roommate Chas Chandler, the two became best friends. Around this time John began following occult circles around London, and eventually became the magic using, demon tricking con artist he is today.

Powers and Abilities
Most of Constantine's powers come from his assortment use of magic. Examples of John Constantine magic include:


 * Cursing: John can put a curse on his enemies, some relatively harmless, while others are dangerous. Like the time where he cursed a bunch of cold inmates into a catatonic state. Or making his father wither and waste away. His curses are strong enough to affect demons.
 * Spells: John knows a variety of spells he can use to get him out of tight situations. He has spells that can seal or destroy demons, elementals, gods and other magical creatures.
 * Spirit Ward Creation: Use sigils to make him undetectable by supernatural means, and sigils that he can use to ward off demons and other supernatural creatures.
 * Magic circles: Powerful defensive circles which he writes in a wall or the floor that protects him both from supernatural attacks.
 * Realm travel: Constantine can open portals to places like Heaven, Hell, Limbo, or the Green. Constantine can even open a portal through time that allows him to time travel. He can also send his enemies to Hell.
 * Evocation: John can summon ghosts, the undead, or demons. He can summon soulstorms or a flock of crows to attack his foes.
 * Illusions: Conjure illusions to trick and confuse his opponents.
 * Mind Control: Constantine's mind magic involves hypnotism, occlumency, and brainwashing. Like erasing someone's memories, or like when he brainwashed a whole maximum state prison to riot just for them to bring him a ciggarette.
 * Invisibility: Using magic to make him invisible and undetectable.
 * Stage Magic Skills: John is exhibited considerable mastery in stage magic like slight of hand, pickpocketing, hypnotism, and escapology.
 * Sychronicity Wave Travelling: A natural born magic in every Laughing Magician. It allows John to make his own luck, jinx his opponents, protect him from danger and harm, track down people, enemy attacks to miss, and reshape the battle to his own accord.

Weapons

 * Trenchcoat: John's trenchcoat protects him and is durable enough to withstand his battles. It is also sentient and contains its own demonic powers, and can perform tasks like strangling people, mind controlling its victims to become violent, and cursing those who wore it aside from Constantine and his friends.
 * Magical Knife: Weapon laced with magic that he use to kill demons.
 * Demon blood: Blood transfused to his veins by the demon god Nergal. Demon blood has healing properties that John can use. It is dangerous when consumed by the victim as it is highly poisonous and corrosive dangerous even to supernatural creatures such as the King of the Vampires.

Feats

 * Outwitted the Devil multiple times.
 * Fought and bested minor gods such as the Rainbow Serpent, Kali, Mictlantecuhtli, the Three Fates, Jallakuntilliokan and of course Nergal.
 * Manage to threaten and blackmail the Judeo-Christian God into saving his soul.
 * Defeated the Beast of the Bible.
 * Manage to be look badass when he confronted both Batman and Superman.

Jack Horner
Jack Horner, also known as the Jack of Tales or popularly as the legendary Jack of Fables is a major character in the Fables comic book series and The Wolf Among Us video game adaptation. He is the Literal personification of all tricksters in fiction. The character is based on various nursery rhymes and fables with characters named Jack including Little Jack Horner, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Jack Be Nimble, Jack Frost, Jack O'Lantern, and Jack the Giant Killer and others

As a con artist, he is always looking for quick ways to make a buck. However, Jack also displays a complete disregard for human life or the feelings of those around him, traits most often seen in those with sociopathy. Despite his scheming and reckless personality, he is a devoted foe of the Adversary and a capable combatant in his own right, due to his years of experience fighting giants. He can also have true feelings for others (he asks Beast about Snow White and her cubs, he mourns his wife's death and he considered putting his own safety at risk to protect Gary when the Librarians had captured them and were having a car accident). In the series, Jack creates a film trilogy of his adventures to increase his popularity in the Mundy world making him "nigh-immortal". In his devoted spin-off series "Jack Of Fables", his nigh-immortality seems to be reinforced by other causes as well : he is the son of a literal woman and one of the most popular male Fables (making him a "part-Literal", which is equivalent to a demigod), and he has made countless deals with many devils during his Jack O' Lantern days. Jack is often presented as believing himself to be far smarter than he truly is and for a man who has lived a long time, has little regard for history (at one point, he compares himself to Sam Bowie and Hector and how "like them, I will be victorious."). The common thread is how Jack honestly believes he is the most important person around and only his needs and desires matter.

Powers and Abilities
As one of the most famous Fables around (a feat he earned by making films about himself), he has been gifted with powers that Fables have and then some.
 * Healing Factor: While Jack Horner is made out of flesh and bone and can be wounded like anyone else, his nature as one of the most popular story book character around gives him invulnerability in the form of a powerful healing factor. Almost nothing from physical to magical attacks can kill him, and he can heal from any wounds such as being shot multiple times, stabbed in his vital organs, and even being frozen in ice.
 * Superhuman Physicality: Besides durability, Jack Horner is also gifted with superhuman strength and speed. He can lift quite a ton and punch harder than any normal human(he can send grown men flying with a punch or a swipe of his arm). He is pretty fast too, once managing to draw and shoot Bigby Wolf multiple times during their first meeting.
 * Immortality: Due to his popularity as a character, he is virtually immortal. But even before that, Jack's Literal nature meant that he was unaging from the start since he was a personification of all trickster archetypes in the world.
 * Swordsmanship: Jack knows how to use a sword during his time as a giant-slayer and in the Civil War.
 * Marksmanship: Jack is a superb marksman during his time as an Old West gunslinger. He is very accurate with pistols and fast on the draw.
 * Reality-Bending Powers: As a half-literal being (basically a demigod in the Fable Universe), Jack has inherited some form of ability to warp reality. At first he had no knowledge and control over it, with Jack Horner seeing its effects but just letting it do what it does as he goes on with his adventures, which sometimes helps him and sometimes causes him problems. Examples of these include the time Jack Horner distorted Mr. Revise's own powerful magic, the time he created a suitcase that can store unlimited amounts of object, or that time he became a fire breathing winged dragon. By the end of the series, he has gotten control over his powers, even managing to resurrect the godlike Gary the Pathetic Fallacy with ease.
 * Dragon Form: Jack's dragon form consist of a large four-legged lizard with horns and skin that can block bullets. He also has wings and can breath fire, but his main forms of attack is his claws and jaws lined with teeth. The dragon also has limited form of precognition that allows Jack to know enemies that would be coming after him.

Weapons

 * Colt Revolver and Cavalry Saber: Weapons that he used during his Civil War and Wild West days.
 * Other firearms: Jack has used several firearms in his lifetime from semi-automatic pistols, shotgun to even dual-weilded tommy guns.

Feats

 * Outwitted not one, but multiple versions of the Devil across all mythology in his lifetime from Nick Slick, Chernabog, Pan, Lucifer etc.
 * Once trapped and captured the Grim Reaper himself.
 * Defeated Mr. Revise and the Bookburner, two powerful godlike beings called Literals who have basically the power to shape reality.
 * Outwitted Lady Luck, a Fable who literally has the power to control luck.

X-Factors
Cunning

These two are some of the greatest con man in comics history, having outwitted gods like they were nothing. Constantine has been noted to have an IQ while Horner is known as a trickster in the Fable Community. These characters rely more on their wits than brute force. Heck, one can argue that Vertigo made these two as deconstructions of the same superpowered characters who solve problems by punching them (these characters are the opposite if that, they are literally pussies). Using the feats above, it is up to you who you think is smart.

Fighting

Constantine is a capable fighter who’s physical prowess varies from writer to writer. Most if the time he relies more on his wits and tend to get his ass kicked by better fighters with martial history. Horner may not be the best fighter in Fables, but he’s capable of taking care of himself even when he is outnumbered, like that time he fought three Wooden soldiers and won.

Brutality

Both are assholes, but while Constantine is happy to sacrifice anyone for the greater good, he still has a heart and cares for those who are close to him and those who are innocent. Horner on the other hand is a sociopath who has little to no care with anyone besides him and Gary. He even had a brief stint as a mass murdering Jack Frost and gunslinger Jack Horner. He does show some compassion to a few people, but for the most part he’s a selfish deucebag.