Good Samaritan (comics)

The Good Samaritan is a fictional weapon from Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" comics (although it is only named as such in the film version). Utilized by the title character, the Samaritan was given to Hellboy by the Torch of Liberty when Hellboy was twelve. The weapon is named for the Good Samaritan, a man who did kindness to strangers without expectation of gratitude. The Catholic-raised Hellboy was familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. Although The Samaritan is the weapon most commonly associated with Hellboy, in the comics and other media he has been known to use other guns.

Weapon specification

The Samaritan is an oversized, uniquely large caliber four-round revolver. It fires its custom-made bullets with adequate power to easily penetrate virtually any material. The gun itself has unearthly resistance to almost all forms of attack, and includes grips carved from fragments of the True Cross. The metal of the gun is forged from a combination of Irish church bells, cold iron from crucifixes, blessed silver, and other mystic metals.

The Samaritan only holds four of its oversized rounds, and is difficult to load with the large fingers on the Right Hand of Doom. As a result, Hellboy usually tries to load with his left hand when possible. He is only able to fire the Samaritan with his left hand, again due to the size of the fingers on his right hand.

pecial rounds

Creature Killer rounds

Creature Killer rounds are tipped with explosive shells that contain white oak, holy water, garlic, silver and cold iron shavings. These ingredients, each bearing a folkloric power to impede evil and/or specific monsters (e.g. vampires, werewolves, witches, etc.), have the potential to injure many of the foes Hellboy may face.

Tracker rounds

Tracker rounds contain a phosphorescent green liquid that will drip from the wound they open on a target, allowing the target's path to be easily followed in low-light situations.

Other weapons

In the second volume of the "Hellboy" series he used a large semi-automatic pistol (developed by the sinister Zinco company) that quickly explodes in his hand, presumably due to sabotage. In "The Wolves of St. August" he is seen carrying a bizzarre looking gun of unknown specifications. In the short stories and novels he sometimes wields a weapon described as a small mortar cannon. The new film, supplements the Samaritan with a new weapon, a six-barreled monstrosity known as "The Big Baby".

External links

* [http://www.indymogul.com/episode/BFX_20080707#comments/ DIY Good Samaritan]

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