Hellboy II: The Golden ArmySave

The film opens with a 1955 flashback — young Hellboy (Montse Ribé) being told a bedtime story by his adoptive father Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (John Hurt). The story explains the Golden Army myth: thousands of years ago, the elven King Balor created a mechanical army of 4,900 indestructible soldiers to defend the elven kingdom from human encroachment. The army's power threatened to overrun humanity; King Balor, recognisizing the danger, signed a peace treaty granting humans dominion over cities and elves dominion over forests. The Golden Army was deactivated and the crown that controlled it was broken into three pieces.

In the present day, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) — King Balor's exiled son — has decided to break the treaty and reactivate the Golden Army. Nuada believes that humans have proven themselves unworthy of their dominion; the treaty was a betrayal of elven sovereignty. Nuada steals the first piece of the broken crown from a New York auction house, killing multiple humans in the process. The BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) is called in to investigate; Hellboy (Ron Perlman), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) lead the investigation.

The BPRD is now joined by Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane in his only major film role at the time) — a German ectoplasmic field-agent who lives inside a robotic containment suit. Krauss is the franchise's first BPRD member who has been imposed on the team by the federal government; his personality clashes with Hellboy's anti-authoritarian temperament throughout the film. Krauss's containment-suit form provides multiple practical effects sequences as he occasionally exits the suit to investigate spirit-realm threats.

Liz Sherman, in a subplot established early in the film, is pregnant with Hellboy's twin children — though she has been hiding the pregnancy from Hellboy due to concerns about how he might react. Their relationship dynamic — established in Hellboy (2004) — has continued to develop; the pregnancy is the film's primary emotional thread. Hellboy's eventual discovery of the pregnancy and his reaction to becoming a father provides the film's character-development arc. Selma Blair's performance is widely cited as the film's strongest dramatic anchor.

Nuada acquires the second piece of the crown from a goblin marketplace beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Hellboy and the BPRD pursue Nuada into the marketplace; the resulting chase sequence features extensive practical creature effects work, with Hellboy fighting through dozens of fantasy-creature antagonists. The sequence concludes with Nuada escaping but Hellboy and Abe acquiring a critically wounded creature — Nuada's twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) — who joins the BPRD team and provides crucial intelligence about Nuada's plans.

Princess Nuala and Abe Sapien develop a romantic subplot during her time with the BPRD — Abe's nascent feelings for Nuala provide additional emotional weight to the film's conclusion. Liz, meanwhile, accidentally reveals her pregnancy to Hellboy during a quiet moment; Hellboy's response is unexpectedly tender. The middle act of the film consists of multiple character-development sequences that establish the emotional stakes for the third-act confrontation; these sequences are widely cited as del Toro's most-effective character work in any of his major films.

Nuada acquires the final piece of the crown by killing his own father, King Balor (Roy Dotrice, in a brief but striking appearance), and tracking down the third piece. He reactivates the Golden Army in a final confrontation in a mythical underground temple. The Golden Army — depicted as approximately 4,900 indestructible mechanical soldiers — emerges from its dormant state and prepares to march on the human world. Hellboy, Liz, Abe, Krauss, and Princess Nuala arrive to confront Nuada and the Army.

Hellboy's confrontation with Nuada is the film's climactic battle. Princess Nuala intervenes by stabbing herself with a small dagger — because of their telepathic connection, the wound transfers to Nuada, who collapses dying. The Golden Army is deactivated. Princess Nuala dies, and Abe Sapien is left grieving. The film's epilogue shows the BPRD team — Hellboy and Liz expecting their twin children, Abe mourning, Krauss continuing his federal-agent work — at a quiet moment of contemplation. The franchise's third film, planned to address the apocalyptic-fate-of-Hellboy prophecy from the first film, was never produced.