Marc Spector (Earth-616)

Early Life[]

Marc Spector was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a rabbi who as a child had managed to escape Nazi prosecution after Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. Marc grew up on the poor side of the city, where his father Elias was the target of discrimination; Marc couldn't understand why his father would never fight back against persecution.^[55] He grew up with his younger brother Randall. His father would walk his kids to school everyday, but him being a Rabbi caused Randall to be bullied, but Marc was there to defend him.^[56] His father was disappointed with his boys violent nature and their obsession with war, he believed that should concentrate on their education but his wife dismissed this as boy being boys.^[57]

During the last years of his childhood, Marc discovered by chance that a close friend of his family, Rabbi Yitz Perlman, was in reality a Nazi deserter and secretly a serial killer of Jews named Ernst. Marc's fighting instinct kicked off for the first time when he fended off against Perlman to escape his grasp. Perlman later disappeared without a trace. This traumatic event also caused Marc to develop a Dissociative identity disorder.^[58] The first alters developed by Marc were Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. Shortly before Elias decided to intern Marc at the Putnam Psychiatric Hospital, Marc was approached for the first time by the Egyptian deity Khonshu, claiming to be Marc's true progenitor.^[59] After his father's death, Marc was allowed to leave the hospital temporarily to attend the funeral and a late luncheon, but, after hearing Khonshu's voice, he ran away. After his death Marc resented his father, believing that Elias was embarrassed by him.^[35]

Knightly Origins[]

Marc enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served for three years. On his second tour in Iraq, his superiors caught notice of Marc's bizarre behavior. After his past was dug up, Marc was dishonorably discharged.^[35] He later joined the CIA, and worked with several people who would later interact with Moon Knight, including William Cross, Amos Lardner, and his own brother, Randall Spector. Randall killed Spector's girlfriend Lisa with a hatchet to keep her from exposing a gun-running scheme; Spector retaliated with a grenade and assumed Randall was dead.^[60]

Once he left the CIA, Spector enrolled in illegal fights, where he befriended "Frenchie" Duchamp and both became soldiers-for-hire.^[61] They took on several assignments, mainly in Africa and South America. Spector later went to trial for assassinating the president of Bosqueverde, a South American country.^[62][35]

During this time, Spector and Frenchie sometimes did missions as part of the Karnak Cowboys, and Spector eventually became romantically involved with their colleague Layla El-Faouly. After an escape gone wrong, however, Layla apparently lost her life, a loss that eventually led Spector to meet Raoul Bushman,^[53] in Egypt.^[61] Together, they travelled to North Sudan, near the Egyptian border,^[63][29] for a raid on an archaeological site. When Bushman killed the lead archaeologist, Peter Alraune, to find an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, Spector punched Bushman to protect Alraune's daughter, Marlene. Furious, Bushman mortally wounded him in the desert, killing everyone in the place except for Marlene, Frenchie and a villager willing to tell him the secrets of the tomb. Spector managed to reach the tomb before he collapsed, and Marlene and the crew laid him beneath an idol of Khonshu. His spirit had an encounter with Khonshu, who promised to save his life in exchange for his service. Spector agreed, although he later considered this encounter a hallucination. Restored to life, he punished Bushman's men, while Bushman himself escaped.^[18][64]

Phases of the Moon[]

Having finally found a purpose in life, Spector applied himself fully. He moved to New York with Frenchie and Marlene (now his lover), and developed the costume, equipment, and persona of Moon Knight. With a fortune made from gambling, in addition to support his new career of fighting crime, he began using his Steven Grant persona as a financier and Jake Lockley as a cab driver whose purpose was to gather information at street level. His original persona, with its multiple facets, faded into the background. Still, leading four separate lives put great mental stress on Spector. Lockley developed a network of informants, including the homeless Bertrand Crawley, diner owner Gena Landers, and her two sons, Ricky and Ray.^[36][65]

Werewolf by Night[]

Since the criminal fraternity had yet to hear of Moon Knight, Spector used his anonymity to spy on the Los Angeles-based crime cartel known as the Committee. Frenchie, as "Monsieur LeBlanc," infiltrated the group to investigate their underworld financial dealings. When the Committee became interested in capturing the werewolf Jack Russell, Frenchie, a French industrialist, recommended they hire Spector for his mercenary skills. He outfitted Spector as Moon Knight, an identity "LeBlanc" falsely claimed to have devised, with a silver battle suit resembling Khonshu's statue.^[66] Posing as a villain, Spector was asked to prove his loyalty by capturing the so-called Werewolf by Night. Armed with silver weapons, Moon Knight fought the Werewolf for hours^[2][67][68] until dawn transformed him into the more easily defeated Jack. Moon Knight brought Russell, his lover Topaz, and his sister Lissa to the Committee. A sympathetic Spector ultimately betrayed the Committee by freeing Russell and rescuing Topaz and Lissa when he realized Jack's humanity and learned the Committee intended to turn Russell into an assassin under their control and hoped Lissa would become a werewolf as well. Russell's ferocious alter ego helped Moon Knight destroy the Committee and brought a temporary halt to the Committee's operations.^[1]

Continued Work[]

Spector faced Conquer-Lord on his own^[69] before briefly joining the Defenders to battle a Life Model Decoy version of the Zodiac.^[70] The first skeleton from Spector's closet to bedevil Moon Knight was William Cross (now the villain Crossfire), from whom Spector rescued the Thing.^[71] He met Spider-Man for the first time when they teamed up against the Masked Marauder, who at the time called himself "Big M" and employed the original Cyclone.^[72]

Moon Knight had reached the big time and encountered super-villains with more frequency. Very early on, he had to face a serial killer dubbed the Hatchet-Man, who claimed to be his brother Randall.^[73] Later on, Spector investigated the death of Amos Lardner when his body arrived in a crate on Spector's doorstep. He learned that Amos' brother James had become a test subject in a CIA experiment (one that Spector himself had participated in), and when Amos investigated, he was forced to undergo the same treatment and committed suicide as a result.^[74]

Spector faced other menaces: some super-powered, some insane, some simply ambitious, but all dangerous. He confronted the Slasher, a man slaying homeless people in a effort to find his father. He tracked down Bushman and sent him to jail,^[18] but Bushman struck back by having Midnight Man (a more recent foe)^[75] destroy Spector's idol of Khonshu. By this time Spector was convinced that Khonshu had given him his powers, as well as a focus in life. His precarious self-control broke down until Marlene produced another idol, which she claimed was the original.^[76]

Moon Knight's next major foe, Morpheus, turned out to be a patient of Doctor Peter Alraune, Marlene's brother.^[77] The idol of Khonshu sustained Spector again when he first encountered the Black Spectre, who tried to terrorize people into supporting his bid for mayor. Nobody, including Dr. Alraune, believed Spector when he claimed that Knowles was the Black Spectre, but Khonshu gave him the strength to prevail.^[78]

A battle with the Fly left Spector unable to walk, but he quickly recovered.^[79] To stop an ancient Egyptian curse, Spector briefly hosted the spirit of a priest of Khonshu, which helped to integrate his personalities,^[80] but later Spector suffered another serious mental breakdown and decided to abandon all of his alternate identities to settle down with Marlene; by reconciling with his father's legacy, though, he found a measure of peace and decided to retire from crime-fighting.^[81]

As part of his new life, Spector gave up his Grant identity and sold the idol at a gallery in Paris. He had a vision, however, telling him that "the image is delivered up to evil." Called back to action as Moon Knight, he learned that Marlene could no longer tolerate his schizophrenic behavior, and she left him. In the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, Spector met three ancient priests of Khonshu, who told him that Khonshu had chosen him as an earthly champion and gave him new weapons. Only later did Spector realize that Khonshu himself was influencing him subconsciously.^[15]

West Coast Avengers[]

Spector joined the West Coast Avengers for a time after rescuing some of their members who had been time-shifted to Pharaonic Egypt. Hawkeye got help from Khonshu, in exchange for designing Moon Knight's new weaponry. Khonshu alerted Spector in the present day, who helped the Avengers return home safely.^[37]

While an Avenger, Spector became romantically involved with Tigra,^[82][83], who he'd met some time before on a visit to the Avengers Mansion.^[84] After a while, there was a controversy amongst the team upon the discovery that Hawkeye's wife Mockingbird had allowed the Phantom Rider (who had sexually assaulted her) to die while cast away in time. Spector, Tigra, and Mockingbird left the team as a splinter group. Together with Bill Foster they daunted the High Evolutionary, and they also fought the Night Shift. When they consulted with Hellstorm about Phantom Rider's ghost haunting Mockingbird, Spector learned of Khonshu's presence in his own psyche, and Hellstorm convinced the moon god to depart.^[85]

New Warriors[]

Back in New York, Spector reunited with Marlene and went back to less-cosmic crime-fighting.^[86] He soon learned that Jeff Wilde, the son of his old foe Midnight Man, had tried to take his place during his time on the West Coast and now wanted to become an ally as Midnight. The new Midnight fought crime for some time together with Spector, until Midnight was seemingly disintegrated during battle with the Secret Empire. Wilde had survived, however, and was turned into a cyborg soldier by the Secret Empire, told that Moon Knight had been responsible for his father's death. These difficulties with the Empire drew Spector (as well as Darkhawk, New Warriors Night Thrasher and Nova, the Punisher, and Spider-Man) into a near war.^[87] At the end of the climactic battle, Wilde again seemingly perished, this time crushed by debris when the Empire's headquarters collapsed around him.^{[citation needed]}

Shadowknight[]

Spector underwent another near-death experience.^[31] He then found that his brother, Randall had survived, and in addition had been trying to take his place as Khonshu's champion. Randall (as Shadowknight) succeeded in usurping Spector's powers temporarily. With the Punisher's help, Spector defeated Shadowknight.^[88] The power levels of his foes kept increasing, so Spector continually upgraded his own equipment. He retooled his Kevlar armor and steel crescent darts with Adamantium and his public persona with a firm named SpectorCorp.^{[citation needed]}

Infinity War and Infinity Crusade[]

During the Infinity War, Spector had to contend with Moon Shade, an evil twin of himself created by the Magus (himself an evil twin of Adam Warlock). Luckily, Moon Shade suffered from the same blunted focus caused by Spector's multiple personalities, while Moon Shade's threat had the effect of sharpening Spector's own focus. Moon Shade also had an Achilles' heel: the adamantium in Spector's new weapons.^[89][90] During another cosmic event, the Infinity Crusade, the Goddess (another aspect of Warlock) selected Spector as one of the most spiritual beings on Earth, thanks to his near-death experiences and his devotion to Khonshu.^[91][92][93]

The Final Phase[]

Seth Phalkon attacked SpectorCorp with a computer virus. Rather than let it destroy the entire conglomerate and his employees, Spector quarantined it in his own building, Shadowkeep, along with himself. He died in the ensuing meltdown.^[32]

Resurrection War[]

Khonshu resurrected Spector again to counter another plot by Seth, who had recruited Spector's old foes Bushman, the Black Spectre, and Morpheus. Using an idol of Seth, they tried to break up a peace conference at the UN Spector foiled the plot by destroying the idol.^[94]

Marvel Knights[]

Despite his mistrust of teams, Spector joined a group that tried to bring in the Punisher for his excessive vigilantism, and he put up the funds for a headquarters. Zaran wounded Spector severely, and the team's building exploded in the same attack. Drained of money, health, and enthusiasm, Spector retired again.^[95]

The Bottom[]

Spector finally exorcised one of his demons after a brutal rooftop battle, when he killed Bushman and used the sharp end of his crescent dart to carve off Bushman's face, unaware that the battle had been set up by a new generation of the Committee.^[96] Moon Knight survived, albeit with damaged knees. Crippled and despondent, he turned to pills and alcohol for a time after pushing away his loved ones and keeping himself isolated.^[14] After Frenchie was severely beaten right after meeting with Marc and coming out of the closet to him, Marc tracked down his assailant and then returned to his role as Moon Knight.^[97] These events forced Spector to shake off his lethargy, at the price of some of his psychological stability.^{[citation needed]}

Mark still believed that he was Khonshu's champion, but in his mind Khonshu wore the mutilated face of Bushman as well as appearing as others from Spector's past.^[98] The Committee sent Taskmaster to kill Spector but was shot out of a window instead with help from Marlene and Samuels. After returning home Spector had his wounds bandaged and, despite his injuries, dressed in his costume and flew one of his Moon-copters into their Manhattan office building and resumed his fight with Taskmaster.^[99] After defeating a terrified Taskmaster he left the destroyed office with the Committee's file on him and cleaned up his life including going to physical therapy. Despite this he didn't feel ready to fully act as Moon Knight again and in an argument with the Bushman hallucination, Khonshu revealed that he had planted the seeds of vengeance in the minds of the New Committee and subtly manipulated them so Marc would pray to him, believe in him more and become more vengeful.^[100]

Civil War and Midnight Sun[]

The Civil War mostly passed him by, although Captain America told him to stay on the sidelines because he thought Spector belonged in a straitjacket,^[101] and Tony Stark approached him shortly before the final battle in the Superhuman Registration Act conflict, knowing that Captain America had contacted him and requested that he tell him if he heard from him again.^[102]

Around this time he also went up against the new Midnight who was obsessed with him and wanted to be his arch enemy, killing people to get his attention until Moon Knight ultimately killed him after being freed by Lynn Church who believed Midnight was going too far after he began trying to remove Moon Knights vertebra from his back with a pair of pliers instead of allowing him to kill them as they actually wanted.^[103]

Soon after, with the Civil War now over, Marc made the decision to register with the government to ensure that no one would be trying to arrest him while he was 'working'. He used information gathered by Profile on the Doctor who was going to perform his interview to frighten, intimidate and essentially blackmail him into passing his application, as he knew the authorities would initially try to arrest and or commit him otherwise. Spector was registered as an independent with little oversight as he had aimed for.^[21]

Moon Knight had to fake his own death when Osborn sent his Thunderbolts to kill him. After that, he fled to Mexico using the name Jake Lockley for a while.^[104] He eventually met up with the Punisher and the Zapata Brothers to help save Carmen Alcantara from her father's drug cartel.^[105]

Shock and Awe[]

Sometime after, Moon Knight returned to New York with the intention of being a hero but still struggled against his violent nature and was hounded by a small imaginary Khonshu. While trying to walk the path of good, he made a bold return by stopping a bank robbery without killing any of the robbers.^[106] Much to Norman Osborn's disdain, Moon Knight was now a hero and not a murderous vigilante, so he summoned the Hood and Profile to take care of him.^[107] The Hood supernaturally revived Bushman and recruited him as part of his force to combat Moon Knight.^[56] When investigating a warehouse at the docks, Moon Knight was ambushed and shot by Bushman. The two engaged in a violent fight and Bushman ended up impaled by a machine gun. As Moon Knight was about to carve off Bushman's face once more, a vision of Khonshu appeared, yelling at Moon Knight to obey him. Bushman then pleaded for Moon Knight not to take his face off, and Moon Knight reluctantly did not.^[108]

Secret Avengers[]

When Steve Rogers took the reins of America's superhuman infrastructure from the disgraced Norman Osborn, he set to rebuilding the Avengers.^[109] Moon Knight's renewed integrity won him membership in Rogers's Secret Avengers espionage squad.^[110] Rogers sent Nova to investigate a Roxxon drilling facility on Mars controlled by the sinister Shadow Council, a subversive organization allied with the Dark Children and led by rogue Nick Fury Life Model Decoy Max Fury, an experimental self-aware LMD,^[38] and super-durable super-soldier John Steele, a former comrade of Rogers' during World War II; this group sought to free the Dark Children and their unidentified father from a side reality prison, presumably to gain power.^[111] When Nova encountered the Crown of Thorns and was possessed by it,^[38] Rogers led the rest of the Secret Avengers to Mars to rescue Nova and stop Roxxon's drilling.^[112] There they were aided by the Archon, an ancient alien guardian of the crowns, and the collective Xandarian Worldmind,^[111] which empowered Rogers with the Nova Force to enable him to defeat Nova. The Secret Avengers freed Nova, who subsequently received a deep-space distress signal and departed.^[113] Their efforts exposed Max's continued existence to Nick Fury, who explained to Rogers what Max was.^[114]

Shadowland[]

When Daredevil took leadership of the Hand,^[115] he became corrupted by the clan's patron demon, the Beast, erecting Shadowland, a fortress in Hell's Kitchen.^[116] Anticipating Moon Knight would become a threat, Daredevil recruited the Profile to find Spector's brother, Randall, and convince him Khonshu had chosen Randall as his new avatar. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers recruited Spector to infiltrate Shadowland as a civilian prisoner.^[57][117] Marlene had recently become pregnant, but Randall, again intent on supplanting Marc, returned and beat Marlene, killing her fetus.^[57] Fellow heroes confronted Daredevil in Shadowland, hoping to persuade him to turn back from his dark path, but the encounter descended into open conflict. ^[117][118] Elsewhere, the Kingpin summoned forth the Ghost Rider, freeing Shadowland's prisoners, including Moon Knight,^[117] who joined the fray.^[119] To overcome Randall, Moon Knight agreed to serve Khonshu again. Khonshu directed him to the Sapphire Crescent, an artifact capable of slaying the Beast.^[120] He tracked it to New Orleans and purchased it, but Randall had followed him. To prevent Randall from killing hundreds with a suicide bomb, Moon Knight killed him with the Crescent, losing both body and artifact in the Gulf of Mexico. Again reconciled to Khonshu, Moon Knight resumed his Marc Spector persona.^[121]

The One-Man Avenger[]

Following his brief stint as a member of Steve Rogers's Secret Avengers, Moon Knight relocated to California and became a TV producer, establishing a new base of operations in Los Angeles; his multiple personalities also changed, developing three new personalities based on the forms of Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America. For a time, Jake Lockey had been the hero's dominant personality, but Marc Spector was now back in control. He appeared confident and self-assured, riding high after producing a TV show called "Legend of Khonshu." Spector still suffered from a dissociative identity disorder, but he now used it to his advantage, leveraging his multiple personalities to help Moon Knight fight crime.^[122] While the assassin Daken was helping FBI agent Donna Kiel investigate a case of someone with claws murdering young stars around L.A., the two were separated, and Daken was attacked by Moon Knight, who believed Daken was in fact the Claws Killer.^[123] Moon Knight and Donna Kiel worked together to discover if Daken had really been the killer all along until Marcus Roston, the real murderer,^[124] manipulated Donna into convincing Moon Knight to abandon his search.^[125] Later, convinced he was Spider-Man, Marc confronted a nightclub operated by Snapdragon.

Snapdragon, employed by Los Angeles' new kingpin of crime, was running a blackmailing operation with strippers. Marc attempted to shut the operation down but got knocked out. Fortunately, he was saved by the deaf hero Echo, who was working undercover and had traveled to the West Coast to investigate a mysterious new Kingpin of Crime. In retaliation, Snapdragon put together a team to take out the adventurers with her employer's permission.^[13] The Shift were hired by Snapdragon to capture Moon Knight,^[12] but the vigilante defeated them.^[126] For their failure, the super-powered Count Nefaria, revealed to be the secret crime Kingpin of Los Angeles, incinerated them, burning Tatterdemalion and his allies to ashes.^[127] The Count's reign of evil was eventually brought to an end when he was taken down by the Avengers and a half-crazed Moon Knight who used the strategies of his personas to successfully defeat him after they discovered his identity^[128]—but, tragically, not before the Count killed Echo with an optic blast, vaporizing her heart.^[129] Once again, jail beckoned for Nefaria. The Ultron head they had been fighting over was given to Tony Stark before Spector returned to New York. Three months later, "Legend of Khonshu" was canceled.^[128]

From the Dead[]

After leaving the West Coast, Marc Spector returned to New York with a stack of laundered cash, plus new technology and weapons. Rededicated to being the protector of night travelers, he adopted an enhanced costume and high-tech equipment. But the troubled hero's persona remained fractured, and when a homicidal slasher began terrorizing the city, he investigated the case as the mysterious Mister Knight. Clad in a white suit and hood, Mister Knight learned details about the attack from Detective Flint of the NYPD's Freak Beat Task Force. Using his detective skills, Knight entered the city's tunnel and tracked his quarry to an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. base. The killer turned out to be a psychotic former agent who had been injured in a bomb blast and was using body parts from his victims to improve himself. Knight injured the murderer before killing him in self-defense as he was fired upon. As he returned to his rundown mansion, Spector reflected on recent developments in his life. In the past, he'd felt that his multiple personalities stemmed from Dissociative Identity Disorder. However, he'd recently learned that this was untrue. In fact, on first becoming Moon Knight, his brain had been colonized by Khonshu—Egyptian God of Vengeance. Despite this, his psychologist had concluded that Spector was actually suffering from brain damage, and his ongoing multiple personality issues were diagnosed as his mind struggling to reconcile the recently revealed and shifting states of Khonshu's four different aspects: Pathfinder, Embracer, Defender, and Watcher of Overnight Travelers.^[3]

Spector tackled his next cases as Moon Knight: tracking a sniper killing former special operations agents turned Wall Street financiers,^[130] attempting to tackle the ghosts of a street gang,^[131] and revealing a dead body producing spores when called in by Doctor Skelton.^[132] After saving a little girl from kidnappers,^[133] Spector faced a more traditional adversary: Officer Ryan Trent, a colleague of Detective Flint turned Black Spectre, whose plan was to defeat Moon Knight and then reveal his true identity in the hope of gaining recognition. As Moon Knight confronted him, Trent was blown up by one of his own devices. The vigilante explained to the badly wounded Trent that his mistake was in wanting people to love him—whereas Moon Knight always triumphed because he had no such need.^[134] When General Aliman Lor, a rebel leader from Akima, came to America to address the United Nations, a hitman tracked him, but Mister Knight intercepted him. As Lor fled, the hitman activated a drone EMP, blacking out the city. Marc subdued him, only to discover that his psychologist, Dr. Elisa Warsame, had orchestrated the hit.^[135] A hostage crisis subsequently unfolded at the World Trade Center. Moon Knight, summoned by Detective Flint, disarmed the bomb-wielding terrorist, but a leaked video caused controversy, leading to Flint's dismissal.^[136] Warsame hypnotized her patient and convinced Khonshu to leave Spector. Losing his powers and multiple personalities,^[137] Marc was captured after thwarting another attack^[138] but escaped custody.^[139] Khonshu ultimately returned, helping him stop Warsame from assassinating Lor.^[140]

In the nocturnal shadows of his rundown mansion, ghosts materialized around Marc Spector. Khonshu commanded him to forget his personal demons and to let the anguished souls guide him to the source of their sorrow. Following a trail of bloody footprints to a disused slaughterhouse, Moon Knight observed a gang using enhanced gloves to entrap ghosts as golden trophies. He launched a merciless assault, releasing the spirits from their orbs but rejected their thanks, declaring that they should disappear before dawn.^[141] That very night a high‐class restaurant was overrun by a pack of dogs and, as the wealthy diners cowered in shock, the canines leapt at them, eager to tear at their flesh. Although badly injured, Moon Knight managed to follow the dogs to a scrapyard. Its owner grudgingly confessed to loathing the city's moneyed elite and to training the animals to attack them.^[142] Defying Khonshu's instructions, Moon Knight battled a bogeyman terrorizing children. He obliterated the supernatural beast, whose stammering last words puzzlingly indicated Khonshu was its god too.^[143] Manhattan fell prey to another evil when residents began to be plucked from the streets by flyers ferrying them aloft. Using his Angel Wing glider, Moon Knight found a cult worshiping the goddess Raptor and freed their prisoners.^[144] Infiltrating a sect, he was shown human sacrifices to Khonshu. Their leader claimed they were pledged to serve Khonshu together. Rejecting her belief, a violent battle ensued. One perished and one survived—Moon Knight. He and his god had made their peace.^[145]

Lunatic[]

Not long afterward, Khonshu then trapped Spector in a mental hospital inside his mind as a way to liberate Spector from his insanity. When Marc Spector woke to find himself in a sanatorium, he had no recollection of how he had got there.^[146] All of it had been Khonshu's doing to inhabit Spector's body so he could be born into his new world as its ruler. Spector refused and leapt from the pyramid in an apparent act of suicide. The next thing he knew, he was waking up as Steven Grant. And as he looked out of the window, he saw that New York was back to normal. But was this real life or just another fantasy?^[147] In reality, everything that had happened took place in Marc's head or as an abstraction.^[148] It forced him to question his sanity, but the hospital and his experience there was an illusion to cure him. After a confrontation with his alternate identities, in which they seemed to disappear for good, Marc realized that, to become whole again, he must kill Khonshu.^[149] After returning to the hospital, he crushed an illusory Khonshu's head^[150] and thus reconciled his illness, leaving Marc able to reappropriate Khonsu.^[148]

Crazy Runs in the Family[]

Marc reappropriated Khonshu and resumed his normal life as well as his Moon Knight persona, but, unbeknownst to him, Sun King (the avatar of Amon Ra) and Bushman had joined efforts and were planning to kill him.^[151] To accomplish this, they went to Marlene's house to use her as leverage, but ended up discovering she and Marc had a daughter together named Diatrice. They forced Marlene to get Marc to her house, where they revealed Diatrice's existence.^[152] After a fight, the villains escaped with Marlene. After taking Diatrice to safety, Marc was contacted by the villains and forced to follow them to their base of operations, Isla Ra.^[68] Once welcomed to Isla Ra, Marc engaged Sun King in a spiritual battle during which Sun King successfully made Marc doubt everything he knew, and consider that Khonshu was wrong.^[153] However, during ritual combat against Sun King, Marc caught a second wind by believing in Diatrice. Marc's strength manifested in a berserker rage he used to defeat Sun King and break his spirit. Following Sun King's admission of defeat, Moon Knight took his followers for himself.^[154]

Shortly afterwards, Moon Knight infiltrated a gathering of the cultist Société des Sadiques after learning that their leader was Ernst. When Marc confronted him, Ernst revealed he had pulled the strings behind their reunion, and intended Marc to join him.^[155] After overcoming the Société's physical trials,^[156] Marc's beliefs were attacked in a personal confrontation with Ernst. Spector managed to reject Ernst and killed him.^[157] Afterwards, Moon Knight joined forces with Sun King to take down the remaining acolytes of the Société before they could kill Diatrice in revenge.^[158]

Contagion[]

When a disease from K'un-Lun infected Manhattan,^[159] Marc was pivotal in helping to contain the contagion.^[160] A deadly fungus escaped from K'un-Lun and wound up in the subway tunnels beneath Yancy Street, home of the Fantastic Four. The fungus—called the Urchin—infected a young girl named Ruby and her friend Anton. Using Ruby as its host, the Urchin began to consume Manhattan.^[161] The city's heroes fought back, but nearly all of them—including the Avengers and three of the Fantastic Four—fell victim to the fungus. The Urchin absorbed the heroes' powers, making itself stronger and leaving them in comatose states.^[159] After a week of failed attempts to stop the Urchin, only a handful of heroes remained: Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Moon Knight, the Thing, Sparrow, Señor Mágico, Pei, and Piledriver. Moon Knight came up with a plan—one so crazy it just might work. The plan? Let the Urchin infect him so he can get inside the monster's head and free the victims' minds. Out of time and out of options, the heroes returned to the street.^[162] By infecting himself with the virus, it allowed him to free other heroes like Pei who then liberated the other victims.^[163]

Serpent War[]

Marc then investigated a prophetic dream by order of Khonshu. Across time, Marc Spector, the Moon Knight; Solomon Kane, the Paladin; Agnes, the Fighter; and Conan, the Adventurer, were observed by James Allison, a dying, bedridden man invalid with the unique ability to see his past heroic lives. James, guided by a mysterious and powerful force, transported Agnes to Conan's side in the Karpash Mountains in the ancient Hyborian Age and Moon Knight, avatar of the Moon God Khonshu, to Solomon Kane in 1500s Europe.^[164] They were then tasked with destroying relics of magical power in an effort to weaken the serpent god Set. As the heroes faced off against Set's fanatical followers, including the priestess Satyne, little did they realize that they and James were being manipulated by the Wyrm, an evil entity with a secret agenda all its own and making its own bid for power.^[165] As the truth began to dawn, Moon Knight and Conan were transported to an unearthly realm where Khonshu and Set were locked in battle.^[166] The four warriors all realized they were being manipulated by Wyrm the whole time and fought him. Khonshu then gave Marc the ability to return to his time.^[167]

The Age of Khonshu[]

Marc's next battle occurred after he had visions about a world-ending event caused by Mephisto. After the Egyptian moon god Khonshu had a terrifying vision of a future ruled by Mephisto,^[16] his avatar Moon Knight set out to prevent it from occurring—at all costs. Moon Knight attacked his former comrades, the Avengers, stealing their powers and weaponry^[168] and using them to slay Mephisto and reshape the world with Khonshu as its ruler.^[16] Branded as fugitives under the twisted new world order, the Avengers fought back while also protecting an infant empowered by the Starbrand from Khonshu.^[169] But just as Black Panther managed to overcome him, Moon Knight reached out to an even higher power and summoned the fiery cosmic force known as the Phoenix—becoming its host.^[6] Allying once more with the Avengers, he used his new power to betray Khonshu and free the world. The Phoenix Force departed in search of a new host, while Moon Knight remained convinced that the threat of Mephisto was never truly over.^[170] Black Panther invited him to join the Avengers to avoid the prophesized future, but he refused since they had intervened when he tried to stop Mephisto in the first place.^[171]

The Midnight Mission[]

Following his rejection of Khonshu as an object of worship, Spector appropriated his former master's mission, that of protecting night travelers. Remaining in Manhattan, he claimed a portion of the city as his territory and brutally protected anybody within it. He also established a congregation named the Midnight Mission whose doors were open to anybody who needed his help.^[29]

In this neighborhood, young Reese and other locals were forcedly turned into vampires by the Structure, a vampiric pyramid scheme cult. Moon Knight killed their "recruiters", but spared Reese and the others when she explained they had been turned against their will. Reese then became his first recruit, beginning to work at the Midnight Mission as a receptionist.^[29]

This attracted the attention of Badr, a fellow Fist of Khonshu who called himself Hunter's Moon. Before long, he confronted Moon Knight, chastising him for taking in enemies of Khonshu, and being determined to "correct" him. Badr beat Moon Knight and invaded the Midnight Mission to kill Reese and other vampires, but Spector recovered and knocked him unconscious after attacking him from behind. Dragging Badr outside his building, Moon Knight warned him about crossing him again.^[40]

When Zodiac moved against Moon Knight,^[42] Reese reached Hunter's Moon and begged him to help Spector. Impressed by her bravery in approaching him, Badr realized Spector couldn't be such a bad person if he could inspire such loyalty and decided to help him.^[172]

Then, Tigra, who had visited Marc occasionally to keep an eye on him on behalf of the Black Panther,^[173] found herself growing increasingly closer to him over time, finally deciding to flip on the Avengers for him. Eventually, the two started dating.^[11]

The Last Days of Moon Knight[]

Going after the new Black Spectre, Moon Knight and Hunter's Moon learned from Vibro's mind that Spectre was working with Sarnak to transform Manhattan's underground into a gigantic resonator, which they sought to use in maddening all of the citizens.^[174] Having uncovered Black Spectre's plan, Moon Knight and the Midnight Mission broke inside his base, fighting through Black Spectre's forces, only for Moon Knight to be left alone wounded.^[175]

As the Midnight Mission fought the villain's forces, Moon Knight confronted the one he thought to be the Black Spectre. After defeating Ryan Trent, Moon Knight was met with the actual Black Spectre, his former ally Robert Plesko who fatally shot him and left him to die.^[176] Despite nearing his death, Moon Knight gathered up all of his remaining strength to make his way towards the "killsound" broadcaster, intending to blow it up. Before setting it to explode, Moon Knight recited the Shema. He then sacrificed himself and destroyed the resonator, thwarting Plesko's evil plan and saving Manhattan.^[33]

Weeks passed until Hunter's Moon and Tigra got to put their plan in motion to resurrect Spector. During Varnae's vampiric takeover of the Earth, they got Clea to send them to Asgard, where Khonshu was imprisoned, to get his help in the fight. With the aid of the Wrecker, they freed Khonshu from his prison and, with the god free, Tigra patiently waiting for Spector's resurrection, dreading the possibility he would return a zombie. But Khonshu reassured her he would not fail his son, and soon Spector and Tigra were reunited, sharing a loving kiss. Then, each of them led a cadre of warriors to battle the vampiric army.^[34][177]

With the war over, Khonshu forced Marc into paying off a debt - having saved Reese earlier, Khonshu wanted Marc to kill the Shroud, who had taken up the guise of Moon Knight in Marc's absence and went on a rampage. Marc confronted the Shroud and forced him to a fight to the death, which Marc won, temporarily stopping his heart before getting him revived, settling the debt through a loophole. To fully mark his return, he approached the Bar with No Name and hung up Shroud's Moon Knight costume as a warning that he's back and all previous agreements were active again.^[178]

Moon Knight can be best characterized by his relationship with Khonshu, and whether that is derived from his own mental illness or from actual divine inspiration. When Marc Spector first awakened at the foot of Khonshu's statue, it was ambiguous whether his survival was truly Khonshu's doing or if Spector merely attributed it to the Moon God.^[18] Later stories introduced Khonshu as an undeniably real god, employing Moon Knight as his agent.^[15][179] Subsequent takes on Moon Knight would attempt to "walk back" the revelation that Khonshu was real, once again questioning whether the drive to be "the moon's knight of vengeance" was all in Spector's head.^[180][181]

Presently, it seems as if Marc Spector is both mentally ill and an agent of a higher power. Khonshu does exist, and has chosen Marc as his avatar, but Marc's mental illness sometimes causes him to experience conversations with a Khonshu that is only in his mind, not with the actual god. There are also discrepancies over whether Marc Spector was already schizophrenic or dissociative from an early age (making him a convenient host for Khonshu)^[59] or if Khonshu imposed this mental condition upon Marc.^[3] Khonshu is a god of multiple facets, and Marc Spector has taken on multiple identities in the past in order to properly represent all aspects of his god. This includes his original alter egos of Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and Moon Knight,^[18] the representations of Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man communicating with him,^[122] or his recent set of identities and attire like Mr. Knight.^[3]

Unlike most superheroes, Moon Knight is willing to brutally hurt and maim his opponents, and sometimes has even killed his enemies, as is seen by his ripping the face off Raoul Bushman,^[14] or carving crescents on his victims' foreheads.^[182]

Enhanced Brain Function: After being brought back to life by the moon god Khonshu, Marc's brain structure was fundamentally changed, due to being in brain-to-brain contact with him.^[29] He states that his brain was "rebuilt as a god's weapon". While the full extent of the changes to Marc's mind are unknown, he has displayed a mental resistance to telepathic attacks. When Hawley entered Moon Knight's mind, he was instantly overwhelmed due to its supernatural nature. Moon Knight had complete control over his mindscape and was able to attack and smother Hawley, leaving him catatonic in the real world.^[41]

Immortality: Marc Spector's pact with Khonshu comes with the advantages of retroactive eternal life. Moon Knight has died and been brought back to life by Khonshu on numerous occasions, three to be precise.^[29] Fatal wounds that would end any other mortal superhero are restored by his patron divinity to full health, allowing Mark to continue his vengeful spree.^[183]

Over the course of his life as a boxer, U.S. Marine, mercenary, and costumed superhero, Marc Spector has become an expert at hand-to-hand combat techniques and various martial arts. He is an Olympic-level athlete and a skilled acrobat and gymnast, and excels as a combat strategist.^[186]

Expert Pilot: He is an excellent pilot and aviator due to his years as a U.S. Marine and a mercenary.^[183][185]

Expert Detective: Spector is a good detective/private investigator with broad skills, knowledge, and understanding of the criminal underworld. He also knows many of the streets of New York very well due to being a cab driver in the alias of Jake Lockley.^[183]

Interrogation Expert: He is an expert at interrogation often employing military secret police methods of torture.^[183]

Master Marksman: He is capable of hurling all types of projectiles with great aim and pin point accuracy as well as an excellent sharpshooter/marksman. He is able to slice a bullet in half with a crescent disc.^[130]

Weapons Master: Spector is adept with nearly every weapon ever invented ranging from many types swords, combat knives, batons, chains, brass knuckles, thrown projectiles such as shuriken, longbows, bolos, boomerangs to use of all types of firearms such as pistols, sniper rifles, automatic assault rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, grenade launchers, anti-tank bazooka, and even electronic remote firing stations such as 20/30mm anti-aircraft full auto chain guns, Gatling cannons, mechanized mortars, missile launchers, etc.^[183]

Master Martial Artist: Spector is a former heavyweight boxing champion who underwent intense training as a commando, intelligence operative and mercenary. He is skilled in armed and unarmed combat with training in Boxing, Judo, Krav Maga, Silat, Dambe, Savate, Escrima, Karate, Muay Thai, and Kung Fu; his knowledge is extensive enough that it has been shown that he can use pressure points against his opponents, striking nerve clusters to stun or even instantly incapacitate. On more than one occasion without powers, he has fought the Punisher to a stand still.^[183]

Multilingual: In addition to English, Spector is fluent in Symkarian^[187] and Arabic.^[188]

Pain Resistance: Insanity, torture, spiritually gifted, or simply numb from all the years of damage to his body, Moon Knight has an incredibly high tolerance and strong threshold for pain.^[189]

Telepathic Resistance: Spector's multiple personalities give him some protection against certain psychic powers such as possession or mental control.^[190][191]

Dissociative Identity Disorder: It has been stated that Marc suffers from "a madness so powerful it can only be described as magic".^[77] While it was initially believed Marc suffered from dissociative identity disorder, it was determined that the different personas he has developed throughout his life are a consequence of having become Khonshu's avatar. Khonshu is said to have four aspects; Pathfinder, Embracer, Defender, and the Watcher of overnight travelers. Spector cycles through these aspects, and his brain applies identities to them in order to explain them. In essence, Marc's mind has been "colonized" by Khonshu, and the different personalities Marc displays are a way to cope with the damage.^[3] Despite this, Marc has also been shown to have experienced dissociative episodes from a young age.^[59]

Moon Knight's Suit: Spector's original costume included Kevlar armor. It had a built-in two-way radio system so that Spector could summon du Champ, who typically provided backup in a helicopter. Spector later upgraded the Kevlar to Adamantium, and du Champ added dart launchers to the gauntlets.^[192] More recently, he added a flashlight so he could explore dark places, like the subway.^[151]

• Glider Cloak: Although Spector cannot fly, he can spread his cloak and slow his descent from great heights. To a slight extent he can steer his fall. Because it must be flexible, the cloak is not armored. Duchamp created the cloak.^[183]
• Carbonadium Armored Vestment: Before he moved to the West Coast to operate there, he was wearing a costume that was made of carbonadium which he claimed was almost as tough as adamantium but more flexible. The suit had several features identified: Crescent Dart Launchers in his wrist, Crescent Cable line used for swinging or for grappling, jump jets, laser cutting torch, and a few other features.^[183]

Although he has mastered almost every weapon ever invented, Moon Knight displays an obvious fondness for certain moon-themed objects referred to as his toys. These include throwing darts, nunchaku, and a truncheon.^[186]

Crescent Darts: Most likely his favorite weapon, these symmetrical throwing blades function as "calling cards" as well as weapons. Spector keeps a dozen of them in protective holsters spaced around his belt.^{[citation needed]}

Truncheon: This ingenious device functions as a simple club, nunchaku, and a grappling hook. By itself, it can be wielded as a blunt instrument or thrown. It separates into two shorter clubs (linked by a chain) to entangle a weapon or limb, or to lengthen the club's arc of travel and thus its force. The hook springs forth from one end and, with a cable attached, allows Moon Knight to climb to, descend from, or swing around a fixed point. It weighs 12 pounds (5.5 kg) and is 12 inches (30 cm) long. When not in use, it fits into a holster on his left calf. Later improvements include upgrading the stainless steel to adamantium, incorporating the cable with the hook, and adding the option to extend to 8 feet (242 cm) long.^{[citation needed]}

Crescent Launcher Pistols: He also used 2 pistols which fired crescent darts with cables that allowed him to grapple, trip or pin his enemies to surfaces. These had enough force to push a man back into a wall and pin him there.^{[citation needed]}

Energy Shield: Buck Lime built him an energy shield similar to Captain America's Vibranium shield.^{[citation needed]}

Web-Shooters/Wolverine's Claws: Buck Lime created a pair of bracers which can be used as Web-Shooters (like Spider-Man's) or metal claws (like Wolverine's).^{[citation needed]}

Silver Cestus: On his first mission as Moon Knight (bringing in the Werewolf By Night for the Committee), Spector wore two silver cesti on his arms.^{[citation needed]}

During his time as the Fist of Khonshu, Spector used another set of weapons, keeping them in a leather pouch or on his person.^[185]

Ankhs: This Egyptian symbol made of gold lit up in the face of imminent danger. Like the truncheon above, it could serve as a thrown or hand-held club. It weighed 12 pounds (5.5 kg) and was 12 inches (30 cm) long.^[15] Moon Knight then used some Divine Ankhs which allowed Moon Knight to absorb the heroes mystical powers and containing them in individual ankhs.^[168]

Other Weapons: Moon Knight also used other weapons such as scarab darts, an ivory boomerang, grappling hook and lariat, bola, san-setsu-kon (three-piece staff), and a truncheon with built-in taser.^[15]

Flying drone (As Moon Knight), Modified limousine (As Mr. Knight); formerly Moon Knight's Helicopter, Avengers Quinjet, Angel Wing

• The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004 #1 erroneously lists Moon Knight's West Coast Avengers debut as West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #21. The Official F.A.Q. of the Marvel Universe Handbooks (21st century editions) and the OHOTMU:Data Corrections Avengers 2004 later corrected this, confirming that his true first appearance with the team indeed occurred in West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #33.^[193][194]
• The Trading Card Variant Cover of Moon Knight #188 claims that Marc was a member of the Marvel Knights from Marvel Knights #5-15. However, he actually joined the group at the end of issue #4 and left after retiring in issue #14.
• During Damnation, Moon Knight was seemingly able to lift Mjolnir before Thor called it back.^[195] Co-writer Donny Cates later cleared the confusion on Twitter by clarifying that Moon Knight wasn't worthy of Mjolnir, and the hammer was already lifting in preparation to fly back to Thor.^[196]

• According to Warren Ellis, he invented the "Declan look" of Moon Knight with artist Michael Lark on an issue of Secret Avengers, which he later redeveloped into the "Mr. Knight" persona with a look evolved by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire on their 2016 Moon Knight run. Incidentally, on that run, Bellaire took all the color off Moon Knight himself.^[197]
• In a Reddit Q&A, when asked about Moon Knight's more humorous depiction in the Damnation miniseries compared to his more serious characterization in previous runs, Donny Cates confirmed that his portrayal of Mister Knight was intended to reflect the tone of Max Bemis's then-current Moon Knight series, rather than reinterpret another writer's character, and he wanted it to look and sound like Bemis's book.^[198]