| “ | Who made you God, little man? Not that gun. Not that uniform. Nothing. You wanna scare people, fine. I need a scarecrow. You're gonna be my personal message board. I want everyone to see what happens when they come here uninvited. | „ |
| ~ Spawn. |
Albert "Al" Francis Simmons, now known as Spawn, was a mercenary and assassin turn Hellspawn that took part in both the beginning as well as the end of the Apocalypse.
Overview[]
Spawn is one of the most powerful beings on Earth and is more than capable of rivaling some of the mightiest entities to walk the planet. Give his background as a highly-adept military officer and intensely skilled assassin, he is both dangerously powerful in the physical and supernatural department.
Spawn is rather unique amongst the ranks of other Hellspawn in where he was actually the first ever Hellspawn that rebelled against its masters. Normally, Hellspawns would lose every bit of trace of their humanity but Al held onto his own humanity in order to not forget who he once was. He is revealed to be the Man of Sin that is mentioned in the Book of Revelations where he kills those who commit transgressions against God and devours the sins of others simply to replenish his Hellish powers. These acts only have him add his victims to the legions of Hell to be used during the Apocalypse.
History[]
Background[]
He was born in Detroit, Michigan as the second of three brothers (Marc, Al and Richard) to Esther and Bernard Simmons. Simmons was a very gifted officer of the United States Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He later joined the United States Secret Service, which led to his transfer to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the CIA, Simmons was recruited by Director Jason Wynn into a special top-secret covert ops division known as the Task Force 141, an elite strike team with jurisdiction in all domestic and foreign situations.
Al became a professional assassin who earned the nickname "The Boogeyman" for his unparalleled hyper-lethality. His reputation for peerless efficiency and reliability earned him considerable respect and fear within the criminal underworld, ultimately making him an almost legendary figure, known to the leaders of virtually all criminal organizations as someone never to be crossed.
However, Simmons was unknowingly set up by Jason Wynn, who was in league with the Illuminati, when he sent him and his team to acquire what was known to them only as a powerful biological agent. Simmons and the squad ended up in Hope, Idaho where the experiments concerning the biological weapon was being run. It was not until Simmons and his team realized were lead into a trap where they were attacked and apprehended by agents of the Global Occult Coalition. Instead of incarcerating them the agents executed Al and his team.
Condemned to Hell[]
Simmons was condemned to Hell because of his life as an assassin as a result, filled with fury and vengeance against what transpired. He desired to exact his revenge against the agents responsible for his murder but above all he wished to see his wife Wanda Blake one last time. So, he had arranged a deal with the King of Hell himself, Satan, where Simmons agrees to become a newly formed Hellspawn under his control in exchange should he ever wish to see his wife again.
Surprisingly, the Devil made good on his word and Simmons was allowed to visit Wanda one final time after he had completed a set of tasks set out for him by Beelzebub, after which he will return to serve the Prince of Darkness. During the days he was performing these tasks, Simmons was beginning to grow uncomplacent as he was burning for vengeance against those who murdered him and would not go through with the tasks he was given. Despite promising that he will take his vengeance, Simmons was not satisfied. This resulted in Basileus resorting to use the Xra'mban spell where he would be fully controlled while also being feral in the process. Tragically, as Basileus controlled Simmons to finish his tasks he killed Neyka's parents during his rampage.
Basileus released him from the spell's clutches, having no memory of the things he did under it but was surprised to realize that he had completed his tasks and was allowed to visit his former wife one final time. During his "final visit" to Wanda, he discovers that Wanda has since married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald. Al shapeshifts his body, but chooses to take the form of Terry and makes love to her. With that done, Al sets out to exact his vengeance against the agents of the GOC who murdered him.
Vengeance and Meeting Old Friends[]
During his time on Earth, Al seeks out the agents of the Global Occult Coalition responsible for his death and the more he seeks out his murderers the more he began to uncover a dark and terrible conspiracy that lay behind the walls of the Coalition. It was not just seeking out his killers but also brutally killing anyone that has committed a terrible sin or crime as he has actively warred with and destroyed many criminal organizations which some had a connection to the truth behind his murder.
His killing spree led him to New Jersey where he reunited with two of his former combat partners, Worick Arcangelo and Nicolas Brown, currently the founders of a small agency known as Benriya and aided them in killing a crime family and saving a former prostitute by the name of Alex Benedetto. Initially, Al had no interest in working with his two former partners and was hostile towards them for having not used what resources they had in finding his killers though they confessed that whatever Al was a part of is far bigger than them and was dangerous territory even for two former CIA operatives. Displeased, Al went on his way to continue searching for answers.
New Allies[]
His search eventually led him to a confrontation with the Ghost Rider, who was following the string of murders made by Spawn and ambushed the latter, resulting in a battle that nearly cost Al his life. Spawn, still inexperienced with his powers, attempted to flee from the Rider who viciously assaulted him whenever he caught up to the Hellspawn. Spawn was able to lead the Rider through a long narrow alleyway as he outran him across the rooftops, all while evading the Rider's attacks. When the Ghost Rider conjured a massive sphere of Hellfire and launched it towards Al, he quickly halted the attack using his Necroplasm, struggling at first before redirecting it back at the Rider which created a powerful explosion that knocked both Al and the Rider away.
Al was barely able to evade the Rider, using the explosion as a distraction and means of escape where he retreated to the sewers. Knowing that the Ghost Rider is now after him, Simmons decided to lay low for a while only to pass out from the wounds the Rider inflicted on him. He found himself again with Worick, Nicolas, and Alex whom managed to rescue him and attempt to treat his wounds. Moreover, they also were met with Mei Chang, Fuu, and Mugen of the Sun Moth, who were following their own leads and traced it to America, believing that the string of strange events that have been occurring is connected with what Simmons is trying to uncover. Not too thrilled at the prospect of having company, Simmons eventually heeded the advice once given to him by Alex in that he would not need to face his demons alone and so his old crew with the Sun Moth began helping him.
Personality[]
Before he lost his life, Al Simmons had a joyful life. His relationship with Wanda was close and loving and had a healthy relationship with his best friend Terry Fitzgerald. On the one side, however, due to his harsh training during his career in the Marines, and later a CIA operative and high-profile assassin, Simmons was a very serious and stoic individual who rarely speaks more than necessary (preferring actions over words and being described as someone who never wastes words) with a strong sense of obligation.
While infamous in his own right within the criminal underworld, his reputation of being an assassin led to rifts in his relationship with Wanda as the latter was vehemently against Al's tasks of killing others for profit. Despite this, he has a strong moral code as well as honor which is unique among his colleagues according to Worick as Al never willingly drags innocent people to his job or threatens them during it although he would resort to intimidating innocents mainly to have them back off. It is shown that when he does take an innocent life, accidentally in the line of fire, the experience haunts and traumatizes Al to the point where he becomes an entirely different person according to Terry.
Upon his death, and later resurrection as a Hellspawn, Simmons became a changed man: he grew to be quite grim, rude, brooding, cynical and impatient—a dark shadow of his earlier personality. Simmons's goals rarely or even convincingly exceed his own personal desires to destroy those responsible for his death and protect his loved ones. He became antisocial and much preferred to be alone, more often than not lashing out angrily in response to those who simply want to help him. He was almost completely consumed by hatred towards those who destroyed his life. This escalates into a monomaniac hatred of sinners or, in his words, "motherfuckers that're always trying to ice-skate uphill", to the point he even targets those that are associated but not part of the Global Occult Coalition, such as Nero and several others who were simply aiding them in finding Al.
However, unlike most other Hellspawn, he does occasionally take civilian cost into account, with one example is him observing in disgust as a Mafia gang forced a group of civilians into a chamber, where they would be killed and consumed by the Marked Ones minutes later. Moreover, Al is said to be the first Hellspawn that held onto its humanity. It is due to this that he is able to experience emotions humans would normally feel whereas a regular Hellspawn is only ever interested in the task at hand given to them by their masters. His humanity shines through as he displays loyalty to those who would go out of their way to help him, to the extent that he slaughtered Jason Wynn's men for attempting to kill Father Guerra after Wynn figured out that Guerra was talking to Simmons. He also reacted with immense rage when he found Father Guerra and several of his friends in Benriya were murdered.
Initially, Al preferred to do things on his own and was very slow to trust anyone, pushing away those extended their aid. Although slowly but surely he began to allow very few into his circle to help him with his investigations. As time went on, he even began to form loose partnerships with individuals in law enforcement agencies but only ones he can truly trust like Twitch Williams and eventually the Nightstalkers despite being one of their most wanted fugitives. His former life's kinder nature would occasionally seep through, as he is also shown to be reasonably wise and a skilled rhetorician, though his misguided thirst for vengeance clouds his greater judgment and leads his arguments in circles. This exhibition of his former life also extends to his extreme guilt over taking an innocent, and nowhere is that more palpable than when he broke down upon realizing that he was the one who blindly killed Neyka's parents, unaware that he was under the influence of the Xra'mban spell, during his first few days as a Hellspawn.
Powers and Abilities[]
Prior to his death and becoming a Hellspawn, Simmons was highly competent and skilled in battle as a former Marine and hitman. He is very proficient with the majority of military weapons, being both a trained assassin as well as a former Marine and war veteran, it is safe to say that Simmons knows his way around a variety of pistols, rifles, and shotguns as well as being able to precisely eliminate targets from a long distance. Through his training in the US Marines, Simmons is highly skilled in the use of knives and other melee weapons.
After his death and resurrection as a Hellspawn, Al Simmons consequently became one of the most powerful supernatural beings on Earth. As a Hellspawn he has access to a wide variety of powers and abilities which he can use to compete against, if not defeat, some of the most powerful entities in Hell and on Earth. Some of these powers included phasing, flight, shapeshifting, soul manipulation, necromancy, telekinesis, telepathy, and a few others. However, Spawn was initially inexperienced with his newly bestowed powers and could thus not properly use them. This also led to his defeat at the hands of the Ghost Rider and the Salvatore Brothers for they were not only more experienced and initially stronger than Spawn but the latter was still learning how to hone his power.
Spawn has vast magical powers. Earlier before, Spawn had a limited power supply or "9999", and each time he used his energy, the counter would drain. Because of this, he relied primarily on his suit's natural abilities in fights. Spawn's symboitic suit has granted him the ability to shapeshift, allowing him to alter his appearance and fashion his body into weapons, much like an alpha Shapeshifter, but with some differences in appearance. An example would be the resemblance of his blade to a giant combat knife and his demonic flesh possessing a more reddish hue with a green tint. These demonic bio-weapons he can transmute from his own being are entirely up to Spawn's imagination, although it depends on how much sin he has consumed, as he can conjure black flesh-like tendrils, a bladed whip, can concentrate his necroplasmic mass into his hands to create hammer-like fists, and much more. His state of being a Hellspawn did not impede his skills as a war veteran and assassin, and added with his beyond human capabilities, he could engage against highly skilled and powerful individuals like Nero, Hellboy, even Dante.
Spawn's suit houses an energy called Necroplasm, which is said to be energy that flows through Hell itself. Using this Necroplasm, Spawn is capable of performing devastating and powerful attacks, some of which has been shown to harm beings like the Ghost Rider himself. And while he was unable to defeat the Salvatore Brothers before, his later competent usages and then mastery over his Necroplasm powers allowed him to evenly go toe-to-toe with Dominic and Jakob Salvatore, the two most violent and savage of the brothers, with Roan Salvatore believing that Spawn could more than likely overcome his brothers should he continue to master his abilities. When he was under the influence of the Xra'mban trigger words, he unleashed a powerful blast of necroplasmic energy that severely damaged the GOC helicarrier and later evenly fought against Johnny Blaze, with Riza Colton stating that their fight would tear the base apart. However, the more Spawn uses his Necroplasm, the more the meter drains and would consequently return him to Hell. The only method of replenishing his power is by devouring wicked souls or sinners.
Spawn also has a powerful healing factor, which is said to be on par with Alucard's regeneration itself, however, Spawn could only truly be killed by weapons forged in Heaven and holy weaponry on Earth could harm him but not outright kill him. Spawn is also susceptible to an incantation specifically used to control a Hellspawn that deters from their main goals. The incantation is interpreted as a string of code phrases, and after hearing these phrases spoken in Xra'mban, Spawn becomes completely feral and returns to his basic and primal instincts as a Hellspawn. This was shown during his eventual capture by the Global Occult Coalition, Harley Citrabon, a member of the Illuminati and posing as a GOC agent, was able to "rewire" his mind by reciting the incantation to him. Spawn could only break the influence of the spell by being knocked out from a sufficiently powerful attack.
