Superhero Spotlight: Moon Knight

Jul 4, 2014

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2 (290x321)Name: Moon Knight (Marc Spector)

Height: 6’2” / 188 cm

Weight: 225 lbs / 101 kg

Description: Human with brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Occupation: Adventurer, entrepreneur, former prize fighter, spy, soldier, mercenary, cab driver

Known Residence: Formerly Spector Mansion, Long Island, New York City; Avengers Compound, California

Powers and Abilities: Expert in hand-to-hand combat techniques and various martial arts. Olympic-level athlete/gymnast, skilled in acrobatics and combat strategy. Employs the use of weapons like throwing darts, nunchaku, and a truncheon. Skilled with most weapons and an expert in throwing weapons. Skilled driver and pilot. Moon Knight’s superhuman powers include enhanced strength, endurance and reflexes depending on the phase of the moon. During a full moon his powers are at maximum power, but even 26 (427x640)during a new moon, he can still life several hundred pounds. Due to having multiple personalities, Moon Knight is resistant to some psychic attacks and can receive prophetic visions. Other weapons Moon Knight has used include, bolas, throwing crescent-darts, boomerangs, throwing irons, and a golden stick in the shape of an ankh. His body armor used to be made of adamantium along with several of his weapons. His gaunlets had the ability to shoot crescent darts, and had spikes on the knuckles. The newest version of Moon Knight wears an armor made of Carbonadium instead. He two aircraft, the Mooncopter and the Angelwing, that are equip with weapons to assist Moon Knight.

History: Born in Chicago, Illinois, Marc Spector was raised as a Rabbi’s son. As an adult he trained as a heavyweight boxer, U.S. Marine, and a mercenary. While on contract in Egypt, Spector and his group of mercenaries, stumble upon an archaeological dig that has uncovered an ancient temple with precious treasures in it, including a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. When Raoul Bushman (the man who hired Spector) murders the site’s dig crew with the intent on looting the site, the upset Spector challenges Bushman to personal combat but is beaten within inches of death and left to die in the desert.

A group of roaming Egyptians find Spector and bring him back to their temple to save him. Sadly they were too late, because shortly after placing him under a statue of Khonshu, Spector dies. Khonshu then appears in a vision, offering Spector a second chance at life if he accepts to become the god’s avatar on Earth. Spector agrees, waking up covering himself with the silver shroud that covered the statue of Khonshu, and goes off to confront Bushman again. Defeating Bushman, Spector takes the statue of Khonshu and heads back to America. After creating a silver cloaked costume, based on the silver shroud from the statue of Khonshu, Spector becomes the crimefighter Moon Knight!

15 (466x610)Moon Knight is hired by a criminal group called the Committee, and given weapons made from silver, so that he can take on the Werewolf, but in the end he lets Werewolf live and takes down the Committee himself. After teaming up with Spider-Man, Daredevil, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Moon Knight starts to really start becoming a hero.

When a cult of Khonshu telepathically summons Spector to Egypt, they supply him with a whole arsenal of moon-themed weapons, designed by a time-traveling Hawkeye.

Moon Knight aids the West Coast Avengers and starts a relationship with Tigra. While investigating the Phantom Rider with Daimon Hellstrom, Moon Knight and the Avengers are attacked by the forces of Seth, Khonshu’s rival. Khonshu takes back his power from Moon Knight to fight Seth. Powerless, Spector resigns from the Avengers. He ends up being killed shortly after, only to be resurrected by Khonshu once more.

Spector becomes Moon Knight once again, this time taking on a sidekick named “Midnight”. After some time Midnight gets turned into a cyborg by the Secret Empire and then later gets killed. After that, Moon Knight spent time fighting alongside Punisher and Spider-Man against the Secret Empire.

16 (421x640)Spector eventually ends up fighting with his brother Randal Spector over who is supposed to be Moon Knight and finds out that Khonshu isn’t the spirit of vengeance, but he’s the god of justice. After being infected by a possessed Hobgoblin, Moon Knight is forced to wear a suit of adamantium armor, to hold his body together. He learns with the help from Dr. Strange and Mr. Fantastic that the infection is really Demogoblin, trying to possess him. They are able to save Spector by removing the Demogoblin parasite. Even though he then quits the Avengers again, and Moon Knight ends up being violently killed.

Moon Knight ends up helping an injured Black Panther through the Kingdom of the Dead, resulting in his resurrection. He then joins the Marvel Knights non-team and teams up a few times with Spider-Man, Daredevil and Punisher. He returns to crime-fighting, once again having to fight Bushman, first being brutally beaten, and then finally beating Bushman by carving off his face with a crescent moon dart. Here you start to see how psychologically damaged Spector’s mind is. Dealing with multiple personality disorder, Moon Knight continues to fight crime, receiving guidance by Khonshu, who is taken the form of a faceless Bushman.

During the Superhero Civil War, Spector is investigating a string of murders made by his former sidekick Midnight, and ends with him killing Midnight. After squaring off against Captain America, Iron Man begins to investigate Moon Knight, and realizes how unstable his mental condition is. Moon Knight is one of the few superheroes who signed the Hero Registration Act. After signing the act he is subjected to a psychiatric exam, during which Tony Stark and his doctors discover Jake Lockley and Steven Grant, Marc Spector’s other personalities. As the doctor was about to turn Moon Knights registration down, Khonshu takes over and speaks to the doctor himself, convincing him to allow Spector to register.

29 (456x640)He finds trouble trying to fight crime under the new Hero Registration Act. The Thunderbolts (led by Norman Osborn) end up hunting Moon Knight down over a period of time, causing him to dawn an all-black costume, to shake his pursuers. The Thunderbolts end up catching Moon Knight anyways, but he escapes when SHIELD shows up. Bullseye is sent after the escaping Moon Knight, but Moon Knight leads him into a warehouse full of explosives, igniting the place, both men escape thinking the other had died. The Thunderbolts announce Moon Knights death the next day, but Moon Knight was really hiding in Mexico. It is revealed here that Marc Spector had died, and Jake Lockley had taken over Moon Knight’s body.

Moon Knight returns to New York City, fighting internally with Khonshu, who has taken the form of Moon Knight wearing a bird skull mask, trying to make him kill. Though he manages to hold off on killing the criminals he fights, Moon Knight begins to gain popularity with the citizens of New York.

Norman Osborn enlists the help of The Hood to take down Moon Knight, so The Hood finds the body of Bushman and resurrects him. After fighting, Moon Knight chases Bushman down, and even though Khonshu is screaming for Moon Knight to kill Bushman, he manages to defy Khonshu and spares Bushman’s life this time, sending Bushman to jail.

Moon Knight joins the Secret Avengers until the line-up got shuffled around by Hawkeye. He ends up fighting his brother Randall again. After Moon Knight defeats him, he regains the Marc Spector personality back.

12 (540x380)Moon Knight the character was relaunched in 2011 by Brian Michael Bendis, reinventing some aspects of the character, giving him three new personalities, those of Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America, and later gaining a fourth personality, that of Iron Man. During Avengers vs X-Men, Moon Knight aids Falcon and She-Hulk in guarding the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.

Currently Moon Knight is teamed up with Gamora and Winter Soldier investigating the death of the Watcher in Marvel’s Original Sin series.

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Where to find Moon Knight!

First Appearance: Werewolf by Night #32-33 (1975 Moench/Perlin) Marvel Spotlight #28-29 (First solo spot 1976 Moench/Perlin)

Recommended Comics: Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1 (2006 Various Authors/Artists) / Moon Knight: Divided We Fall (1992 Jones/Cowen) / Vengeance Of The Moon Knight, Vol. 1: Shock & Awe (2010 Hurwitz/Opena) / Essential Moon Knight, Vol. 2 (2007 Various Authors/Artists) / Moon Knight, Vol. 1 (2012 Bendis/Maleev)

Other Media: TV: Marc Spector was mentioned by name in Blade: The Series. Appears in Avengers Assemble (second season) Video Games: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 (next gen only), Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (appears), Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (appears), Marvel Pinball, Marvel Heroes, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Minecraft (Xbox 360 Marvel skin), Marvel Super Hero Squad Online

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