Hellboy

Karl Ruprecht Kroenen was born in Munich, Germany in 1897. So states the book Hellboy – The art of the movie, the fictional history also details that Kroenen was a musical prodigy who toured the capital cities of Europe before the onset of adulthood. As he grew, he developed a severe version of “Body Dismorphic Disorder” to which victims subject themselves to repeated unnecessary surgeries. Most graphically resulting in the removal of his own eyelids and lips. A more than competent mechanic, Kroenen also replaced various organs with clockwork replacements. Another consequence of his illness was the creation of filtering, air tight masks to keep germs away. In the movie it is these masks that are the signature for the character.

Kroenen became the focus of the villainy in Guillermo Del Torro’s 2004 movie Hellboy. He was almost impossible to kill and proved to be more than a match for “Big Red”. It was of course Kroenen, who was assisting Grigori Rasputin, who first conjured Hellboy into the world. In 1944 the two villains, as part of the evil “Project Ragna Rok” created the portal generator which opened the worlds and gave us Hellboy!

The mask worn by Czech actor Ladislav Beran as Kroenen changed as the movie progressed, he wears a different mask in each scene and you also get to see a number of alternate versions on his workbench. The mask in the Propstore collection can be seen as we first meet Kroenen dressed in his full Third Reich uniform. This costume is perhaps how the character is best remembered. The mask is made from fibreglass and is leather lined. The sides are richly detailed with pipes and sockets and the straps to the rear are made of rubber.