"Don't think it's really about what they want," he admits. It's easy to get bitter about the Foreigners' situation. Start blaming people like Evandau and the late Emperor. But that part of everything--the lanterns, Tu Vishan's magic keeping them alive--that's probably not entirely their fault. It's just a crappy consequence of people messing around with things that they shouldn't be messing with.

Hellboy takes a slow drag from his cigarette, then exhales with a sigh.

"Most of us aren't from this world. We were brought here by magic, and the people responsible have our souls tied up in lanterns back in the city. Stray too far for too long and bad things tend to happen."

Overall, he could be a lot more pissed about the situation than he is. But all of this is far from the weirdest thing he's had to put up with, and he's had some time to get used to it. At this point, they're just facts.