Category:Samaritan

Hellboy's signature firearm

Technical Specifications

 * TYPE: Revolver
 * PURPOSE: Specialized Anti-Supernatural Firearm
 * HEIGHT:
 * LENGTH:
 * WIDTH:
 * BARREL LENGTH:
 * WEIGHT: 10 pounds (unloaded)

Design Features
The Samaritan is a customized firearm that was either built or acquired in the 1950's by the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense for Hellboy. The barrel and metal components are forged from a combination of Irish church bells, cold iron from crucifixes, and blessed silver. The wooden grip handle was furnished from the True Cross, the crucifixion cross of Jesus Christ which renders the Samaritan as a specially blessed weapon. The nature of its construction was presumably intended to render it as a holy weapon proof against dark and evil supernatural influences and to a lesser extent, protect the wielder and enhance the effectiveness of its fired rounds.

It is unknown of the effectiveness of these various blessings upon the Samaritan or Hellboy. However it was obvious that none of its supernatural enhancements improved his accuracy with the weapon due to his infamous tendency to miss his target.

The resulting weapon fired enormous .22 mm caliber projectiles of various types with an incredible muzzle velocity which could usually pierce any manmade material and even the most resilient supernatural entities as well. The recoil was said to be enormous and potentially arm shattering for any normal human.

Hellboy frequently carried rounds that he made himself as a hobby that he nicknamed as "Whoppers". These explosive-tipped shells were designed to explode with their contents which included Holy water infused with garlic cloves, white oak shavings, and silver shards which according to folklore are said to impede or injure many supernatural monsters and creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and witches. He also carried special tracker rounds that release a phosphorescent green fluid allowing Hellboy or others to track wounded hostile targets.

The Samaritan has an oversized forward tilt break-open action that would expose the massive four-bullet chambers. It also lacks an extraction star or rod which unfortunately forced Hellboy to manually remove each spent bullet casing after firing in order to reload which combined with his notorious inaccuracy with firearms meant that he had to frequently resort to using the Samaritan as a ill-designed bludgeon should things result in melee combat. Since the Samaritan weighs approximately 10 pounds even unloaded, it did make for a hefty weighted club.

The oversized design however allowed Hellboy to reload or shoot the Samaritan with either of his hands; his more normal sized left hand or the oversized Right Hand of Doom. For both speed and ease of handling, Hellboy preferred to use his left when reloading and shooting the oversized firearm compared to the sometimes clumsy digits of his right hand.

Films

 * Hellboy (2004)
 * Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Production Notes
The character of Hellboy frequently utilized guns in the comic books but while capable of injuring or wounding many supernatural entities, rarely inflicted mortal wounds. He most typically utilized a gun given to him by the WWII era superhero, the Torch of Liberty for sentimental reasons which the Samaritan was based on. Although never identified, it closely resembles an 1870 Gilon revolver which used enormous .600 caliber rounds in a four-chamber cylinder. This keepsake weapon was later lost which forced Hellboy to replace it with a more conventional 1941 US Army-issue M1911A1 .45 caliber pistol.

The Samaritan was created specifically for the Hellboy film itself.