- "I am still the shining one - while you remain no more than the banished sickly boy grown old in grotesque parody of my righteous life."
- ―The Golden Boy
- "It isn't you who's right or me who's injured. We're two halves of the problem—symptoms of the same disease."
- ―John about his brother
John Constantine's mirror twin brother. He was born together his identical twin brother, being the more perfect twin who died in the womb. He was ostensibly meant to be the greatest magus who would live, uniting Britain in an age of magi, but apparently died before being born. There were two explanation surrounding the infant's death; one was that the father Thomas Costantine attempted to get rid of it using a botched abortion, and two is that the other twin infant John Constantine unknowingly strangled him to death with their own umbilical cord. It later turns out that his spirit had been manipulating the events in John's life, including his cancer during Garth Ennis' Dangerous Habits, and his memory loss during Mike Carey'sStations of the Cross arc.
He apparently lives in an alternate universe where he survived while John was the one who perished. That universe itself lives in an almost perfect world with him as its ruler. His looks appears to be of similar of John, but is more beautiful and healthy, and sports longer, more golden hair due to not suffering the excesses and temptations of life like John has endured.
First Appearance in Hellblazer issue 35.
History[]
At birth, due to a previous abortion caused by father, John came into the world almost lifeless, surprising everyone with his initial weakness but managing to survive. The mother was completely disfigured inside; they hadn't expected twins. The doctors were shocked to find another hidden baby, this time a perfectly healthy child, very different from the previous one. This led the doctors to express their regret, considering it one of the twists of fate. John, the fragile and small boy who survived, grew up facing difficulties without the love of a father, who blamed him for the death of his mother and twin, while the perfect boy died in the womb. Hellblazer issue 39
In another reality, however, the Golden Boy lived a blessed life. Raised by a loving father, he experienced the affection and opportunities that were always beyond the reach of his counterpart, John. In that dimension, he was recognized as a special child, and his future was filled with hope and promise. He would become the father of all, the greatest magician, even managing to save many of his friends that John couldn't Hellblazer issue 40.
On an important day at his mother's grave, the Golden Boy encounters the weak boy, the other side of himself, who survived in place of his perfection. Feeling compassion, he desires to embrace and console him, but is met with a malicious and resentful gaze that pushes him away. At that instant, he rejects that part of himself, unable to fully comprehend the complexity of his dual existence.
In a moment of revelation, the Golden Boy meets his twin brother, John, and they immediately share a connection as if they had always known each other. Intrigued by the inexplicable bond between them, they decide to explore the possibility of merging their souls. However, the fusion of souls does not occur as planned due to John's reluctance and selfishness.
Later, through a ritual involving mirrors, John encounters his brother again, drawn by his influence. John awakens in Golden Boy's perfect world, a place of green pastures that smells like cow dung, according to John. There, he convinces them to reunite their souls due to the previous rupture, with Golden Boy attempting to open John's mind, suggesting that it would be better for everyone if he were to be reborn in the world that was made for him, not for John. John refuses to admit that he was accidentally occupying the role of his perfect brother.
Golden Boy tries to persuade them to merge again, encouraging John to see through his brother's eyes so that they can fulfill their purpose together. The true intentions of Golden Boy emerge, and it becomes evident that he saw John as an obstacle, manipulating his brother throughout the process to weaken him, even causing the cancer, as he desired to exploit John's Synchronicity, the birthright of primogeniture, "The Laughing Magicians," viewing his brother as unworthy. Recognizing the truth, John decides to sever this connection and cut the ties that bound them with a metaphorical scalpel. Hellblazer issue 249.
New 52[]
In Constantine's story arc Earth's End, John meets another version of himself in Earth 2 that is reminescent of the Golden Boy. Like his Hellblazer counterpart, this John was a good man with a perfect family and friends who love him. And like in Hellblazer, John also ends up killing this version for his own gains.
The Golden Boy was finally reintergrated into the DC Universe when he was mentioned by a demon in The Hellblazer: Rebirth.
Powers[]
In the universe where the Golden Boy survived, he is named the most powerful magician. His powers largely involves his total dominion over the Synchronicity Wave Travelling, which he can even use in John's own universe to control his life. This involves putting John to all sorts of vile predicaments that the latter was suppose to die in, this includes John's lung cancer and his memory loss, but John managed to survive all of this with his traditional guile and trickery. The Golden Boy's powers over the Synchronicity Wave allows him to omnipotently use The First of the Fallen and even God in his plans.
Trivia[]
- Golden Boy seems more mature, often referring to John as his "little brother" during their first encounter. Ironically, he's the younger twin, with John being the elder, (which might be why John inherited the Laughing Magician and he didn't), as revealed in Hellblazer #39, where he was born after John.
[[Category:Characters]tegory:Magicians]]