Constantine’s reference is the Exorcist from the John Constantine fictional universe John Constantine (/ˈkɒnstənˌtaɪn/) is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Constantine first appeared in The Saga of Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985) and was created by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben. The titular Hellblazer, Constantine is a working-class warlock, occult detective, and con man from Liverpool who is stationed in London. He is known for his endless cynicism, deadpan snarking, ruthless cunning, and constant chain-smoking, but he is also a passionate humanitarian driven by a heartfelt desire to do some good in his life. Exorcism (from Greek ἐξορκισμός, exorkismós, "binding by oath") is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be done by causing the entity to swear an oath, performing an elaborate ritual, or simply commanding it to depart in the name of a higher power. The practice is ancient and part of the belief system of many cultures and religions. Requested and performed exorcisms began to decline in the United States by the 18th century and occurred rarely until the latter half of the 20th century when the public saw a sharp rise due to the media attention exorcisms were getting. There was "a 50% increase in the number of exorcisms performed between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s".