Moon Knight - Marc Spector

MOONSTRUCK
Born to a respectable family, but eschewing its history and beliefs Marc Spector cut his own path through life by becoming a boxer, a Marine, and finally a CIA operative. Disgusted by the organizations practices and hurt by his own brother Randall’s betrayal, Spector ejected whatever morals he still possessed and fell into mercenary work around the globe. During this dark time, he made friends with Jean-Paul “Frenchie” DuChamp, one of the only bright spots in the violent profession of a hired gun.

Tiring of overthrowing governments and assassinations, Spector entered into the orbit of an extreme terrorist named Bushman who turned on him and left him to die in the harsh Egyptian desert. Somehow, the mercenary made it to a nearby ancient tomb and into the hands of Marlene Alaurune, the daughter of an archaeologist murdered by Bushman. Near dead, Spector rose up to find a statue of the Egyptian deity Khonshu looming over him and believed it to have saved his life. He proceeded to smash Bushman’s operations with Frenchie’s help and later realized he’d gained a new outlook on life.

Spector returned to the United States with his friends and set about creating not only a costumed identity he dubbed Moon Knight, but two other personalities to aid him in his war on crime, millionaire Steven Grant and cab driver Jake Lockley. With Frenchie as his pilot, Moon Knight began to make an impression on the rest of New York City’s heroes.

MOONSCAPE
Marc Spector’s CIA career and mercenary work added to his boxing skills to endow him with not only strength and endurance, but also with a high degree of tactical and strategic skills, as well as combat and weapons expertise. Beyond boxing, he knows several martial arts, is a talented athlete and gymnast, and can speak several languages. Unfortunately, these abilities are balanced by an uneven mental state that manifests itself in bouts of depression and multiple identity disorder.

Over his years as Moon Knight, Spector has also exhibited periodic demonstrations of supernatural powers such as enhanced strength during nights with full moons, prophetic visions and dreams, and the ability to drain another person’s life energies through physical contact.

MOONFLOWERS
Though Marc Spector’s often-erratic behavior and struggles with multiple identities has caused much friction between him and his associates, he’s managed to form a few close relationships that have stood the test of time.

Jean-Paul DuChamp became Spector’s almost-constant companion after they met in Africa, and it was Spector who nicknamed the French-born mercenary “Frenchie.” DuChamp was instrumental in helping Moon Knight in his early days as a costumed champion as the pilot of the Mooncopter and a man-at-arms for Spector’s various missions. Though driven away at times by his friend’s mental issues, Frenchie usually returns to provide support and friendship when Spector needs it the most.

Despite her father’s brutal death and the upturning of her entire life, Marlene Alaurune decided to follow Marc Spector on his path and become not only his lover but a stable base for his occasional unhinged psychological state. Like Frenchie, Marlene has broken her ties with Spector from time to time, but realizes the pressures he endures and returns to see them through with him as a confidant and ally.

MOONEYES
The enmity in Spector’s life began early with the great chasm that grew between him and his brother Randall. During their time together in the CIA, Randall’s double-dealing with foreign powers exploded into outright war between the brothers, resulting in Randall murdering Spector’s then-girlfriend and receiving a beating so brutal as to psychologically scar him for life. Randall has returned at various times to cause more grief for his brother, mostly as the villainous Shadowknight.

Moon Knight’s other defining opponents include the terrorist Raoul Bushman, the corrupt politician who posed as Black Spectre, and the Egyptian deity Seth. In addition, the deity Khonshu himself stands as a polarizing figure in Spector’s life, providing resurrection and new life, but also perhaps a chief component in Moon Knight’s mental disorders.

MOONSHINES
One of Moon Knight’s first missions involved infiltrating the mysterious criminal organization called the Committee and accepting their assignment to capture the werewolf Jack Russell. Armed with special silver weapons provided by the group, Spector brought Russell in by force, but later freed him to bring the Committee members to ruin. Following that, Moon Knight aided various heroes such as Spider-Man, the Thing, and the Defenders, and also squared off against his brother Randall again and left believing he’d killed him.

More missions brought more adversaries for Spector, including rematches with Jack Russell and Bushman, who attempted to take the Khonshu statue Moon Knight brought to New York from Egypt. When the terrorist apparently destroyed the statue, Spector suffered one of his first real mental breakdowns until Marlene revealed she possessed the real one. Spector’s sanity continued to deteriorate through encounters with a villain called Black Spectre and the theft of his father’s corpse by a former student of Elias Spector, and when he debated abandoning all his alternate identities to preserve his mental balance, priests of Khonshu arrived in the city to convince Spector of his status as an avatar of the deity. Now with enhanced strength during full moons, Moon Knight flew off to help the West Coast Avengers on a time-travel mission to ancient Egypt and fell deeper under the power of Khonshu.

The deity’s overwhelming influence led to Spector accepting Avengers membership against his will, but despite a romantic fling with fellow member Tigra, he left the team over a disagreement with the Avengers’ code against killing. Later, the so-called “Son of Satan” Daimon Hellstrom used his arcane abilities to drive Khonshu from Moon Knight’s body and mind. Returning to New York City, he renewed his relationship with Marlene and met Midnight, a young hero who wanted to become Spector’s partner. After a mission to the country of Bosqueverde with the mercenary Silver Sable, Spector returned to discover Midnight’s adopting of his Moon Knight persona in a battle with the Secret Empire organization. The group transformed the young man into a murderous cyborg, forcing Spector to team up with various heroes to crush them.

Still alive, Randall Spector reappeared as Shadowknight to challenge his brother again, a clash that ended in Moon Knight’s second turn at fratricide. Wanting to start his entire life anew, he created a business called Spectorcorp and adopted new adamantium armor, weapons, and a harder edge to his crimefighting. The Avengers placed Moon Knight on trial for supposedly abusing membership privileges, leading Spector to cut all ties with the team. Soon after, in a fight with the demonic Hellbent and their leader, Moon Knight exhibited the new power to drain others’ lifeforce by simply touching them. Unfortunately, the Hellbent’s computer virus forced Spector to destroy his own headquarters and himself with it to stop the virus’ spread and endangering of lives.

Denied the comfort of the grave, Marc Spector returned to life through the power of Khonshu and with Marlene and Frenchie again at his side he revived his Moon Knight persona to enter into war with Seth, an Egyptian deity in direct opposition of Khonshu. Later, Spector financed operations for a group of heroes who sought the Punisher and together they clashed with villains both low and high. In the end, Spector lost much of his fortune in the deal when the team’s headquarters was destroyed, forcing Moon Knight’s retirement from active crimefighting.

Perhaps sadly for Marc Spector, the costumed life called again, but at the expense of serious bodily injury due to a battle with Bushman. With his legs crippled and his mental state once again unbalanced, he forced Marlene and Frenchie away from him as he struggled with visions of Khonshu assailing him. When a new Committee hired Taskmaster to assassinate Moon Knight, Spector regained the use of his legs to beat them. Now even more violent and prone to maim villains in addition to defeating them, Moon Knight came under the scrutiny of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the then-recently enacted Superhuman Registration Act. Spector accepted registration and a role with the super hero Initiative, but when framed for murder by Black Spectre he lost his license was ordered to retire once more.

Never taking the SHRA seriously, Spector returned to costumed activity almost immediately to hunt down Black Spectre and very publicly kill him. Later, as fugitive from the law, he faked his own death and took up his Jake Lockley identity again, as well as mercenary work. When he later brought Moon Knight back to New York City and completely rejected Khonshu, Captain America invited Spector to join the Secret Avengers.

Randall Spector returned from the afterlife once more to disrupt his brother’s life by beating Marlene to the extent of ending her pregnancy. Moon Knight accepted Khonshu again to gain the power to beat Randall with the mystical Sapphire Crescent artifact and re-adopted his own Marc Spector persona following yet another mental breakdown. His new path took him far away to Los Angeles where he created not only a Moon Knight television series, but new personas resembling Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. He teamed with the vigilante Echo to clash with Count Nefaria posing as the criminal Kingpin, but when Echo died in the battle, Spector took on an Echo-like persona to wreak terrible vengeance on his enemies.

Back in New York City in the aftermath, Spector divided his crimefighting time between handling more extreme and often supernatural cases as Moon Knight with a more debonair, police-friendly role as Mr. Knight. Further mental instability drove him into an institution, a renewed relationship with Khonshu, and yet another break-up with Marlene. During a fight with Bushman and the deity Ra posing as the Sun King, Spector recently discovered he’d fathered a child with Marlene while under his Lockley persona, a situation that came as a complete surprise to him.