Editing Spawn (character) (section)

==Fictional character biography==
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===Origin===
Born in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], '''Albert Francis''' "'''Al'''" '''Simmons''' is the second oldest of three siblings. His father, Bernard Simmons, is a traveling salesman, and his mother, Esther Simmons, is a devil worshipper. Al Simmons eventually becomes a highly decorated officer in the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]], attaining the rank of [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] while serving with [[United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance|Force Recon]]. He later joins the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]], becomes a high-ranking official, and is recruited by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. Simmons later joins the U.S. Security Group, an umbrella agency encompassing the CIA, [[NSA]], and [[United States National Security Council|NSC]], commanded by Director [[Jason Wynn]], and becomes a capable assassin.

During a mission in Botswana, Wynn grows tired of Simmons' increasing sense of morality. As a result of this, Simmons' friend and partner Bruce Stinson (codename [[Chapel (comics)|Chapel]]) is secretly hired to kill him. Simmons is burned to death and sent to [[Hell]].<ref name="Nelson2012">{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Victoria|title=Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeTmjxcT0g8C&pg=PT103|date=May 8, 2012|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=978-0-674-06540-6|pages=103–104}}</ref><ref name=booker>{{cite book|editor=M. Keith Booker|title=Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2J7DpUItEMC&pg=PA583|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35746-6|pages=583–585|year=2010}}</ref><ref name="Boyd2008">{{cite book|last=Boyd|first=Todd|author-link=Todd Boyd|title=African Americans and Popular Culture &#91;3 volumes&#93;|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Evxm9Wd6P6EC&pg=RA2-PA174|date=October 30, 2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-06408-1|page=174}}</ref> Making a deal with the devil [[Malebolgia]], Simmons agrees to become a Hellspawn. After swearing to serve Malebolgia, he is allowed to see his wife Wanda one last time. Malebolgia returns Simmons to the living realm with a severely burned body, and a demonic guardian named the [[Violator (comics)|Violator]].<ref name="DuncanSmith2013">{{cite book|last1=Duncan|first1=Randy|last2=Smith|first2=Matthew J.|title=Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GNaoeiY51EC&pg=PA503|date=January 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39923-7|page=503}}</ref>

Simmons, now a Hellspawn, returns to Earth with a lack of understanding of his previous identity. He wanders in a state of confusion with only vague memories of his former life, including his own name, his marriage to Wanda and the fact that he was once deceased. Spawn occasionally experiences painful flashbacks and eventually remembers his deal with Malebolgia. Using CIA files, he tracks down his wife and finds her married to his former best friend Terry, with whom she has a daughter named Cyan.<ref name=booker/> He realizes five years have passed since his death.

Spawn runs into a fellow Hellspawn, who informs him that his powers are fueled by Necroplasm and that once they are depleted, he will return to Hell. Not wanting to return to Hell, Spawn attempts to find a new purpose in life while using as little power as possible. Spawn is thrust into several antihero adventures, taking down street gangs and organized crime in [[New York City]]. Battling against various criminals, Spawn finds a new purpose in stopping evil.

===Early history===
In his early battles, Spawn faces street thugs and gangs, becoming a dark, sadistic antihero, and brutally murders the pedophile and child murderer [[Billy Kincaid]]. Spawn gains the attention of police detectives Sam Burke and Twitch Williams, and becomes "King of Rat City", a gathering of alleys populated by the city's homeless. There he meets [[Cogliostro]], who knows much about Spawn and becomes his mentor.

Spawn is hunted by the warrior angel [[Angela (comics)|Angela]], who hunts Hellspawns for sport,<ref name=booker/> and battles the cyborg mob enforcer [[Overt-Kill]]. He fights the angelic warrior [[Anti-Spawn]], also known as the Redeemer, who is really [[Jason Wynn]].<ref name=booker/>

====First metamorphosis====
Following a conflict with the Redeemer, Spawn's costume undergoes a significant upgrade. The upgraded suit features a new cape and chains, which are able to change shape. Additionally, the boots and gloves are replaced with spikes. After this transformation, the suit starts feeding off souls.

After this, Tony Twist sends a reprogrammed [[Overt-Kill]] after Terry, and Spawn is forced to reveal his identity while saving his friend. A well-placed shot from Twitch Williams brings down Overt-Kill. Spawn is part of Angela's trial and later travels to the South and encounters the KKK and an abusive father of two boys. After returning to New York, he is attacked by a new Redeemer, causing his costume to evolve once more. After another encounter with the Curse, the suit sends him to Hell. Malebolgia later sends him back with full control of the suit.

Spawn wears a living symbiotic costume, Leetha of the 7th House of K (also known as K7-Leetha). While wearing it, the host assumes a dominant role over the suit. His shroud, spikes, chains and skulls are all part of an organism bonded to his central nervous system that protects Spawn even if he is unconscious.<ref name=booker/>

===War of Heaven and Hell===
====Battle for life====
As Spawn struggles to find a way to regain control, he notices that the attacks are coming from both Heaven and Hell. Due to increasing attacks, Spawn begins to lose himself to evil. With help from the Heap, an emissary of the Greenworld, Spawn manages to regain his goal. Greenworld, a dimension whose power is equal to both Heaven and Hell, gives new powers to Spawn to better understand the world and its people.<ref name=booker/> These powers seem to give him control of all of the elements in the world.

Spawn is later attacked by [[Urizen]]. After recovering, Spawn learns the Greenworld has imbued him with a gift, which he uses to contain Urizen by splitting the ground and imprisoning him inside the earth.<ref name="booker" />

After his battle, Spawn learns Malebolgia had caused Urizen's release in an attempt to start Armageddon and conquer the forces of Heaven. Spawn and Angela journey to Hell to stop him. During the battle, Angela mortally wounds Malebolgia, who kills her in retaliation. Consumed with anger, Spawn takes Malebolgia's head.<ref name=booker/>

====King of Hell====
Upon killing Malebolgia, Spawn learns Hell's throne is rightfully his when it is offered to him by the demon Mammon. After initially refusing, Spawn deliberates with Cogliostro and decides to turn Hell into a new paradise. During this act, Cogliostrio reveals he is [[Cain]], who was the first person to go to Hell, having murdered his brother in envy. His true goal had always been to take over Hell using a Hellspawn. Having betrayed Spawn, Cogliostrio takes the throne but restores his former student's human form as a parting gift.<ref name=booker/>

On Earth, Spawn meets Nyx, a young Wiccan that helps him regain his suit. Using trickery, Mammon usurps Nyx's control over Spawn's union with his suit and removing all of Al's memories. Amnesiac, Spawn wanders the Earth. He releases a group of angels called the Forgotten and stays neutral in the war between Heaven and Hell. He discovers Mammon is a member of the Fallen who was sent to Hell.

====Spawn in Armageddon====
Spawn regains his memories thanks to the power of the Greenworld. His suit evolves once more and seems one with his body. However, as time progresses, he begins to hate himself. Having been rejected by Heaven and Hell, he now lives in an abandoned warehouse as maggots and other insects crawl inside his body. He returns to the Dead Zone, although a Hellspawn would not be welcomed there. Upon entering, Spawn is confronted by the Disciple, who tears his brain out, throws his heart into the Greenworld, and his body into Hell. Mammon captures and tortures Spawn to learn his secrets.<ref name=booker/>

When Spawn's heart falls to the Greenworld, a soul is freed. Chris meets with his mother and travels to Hell along with Sam Burke and Twitch Williams to rescue Spawn from Mammon. Spawn escapes and returns to Earth, where signs of Armageddon begin to appear. Looking for a way to stop it, Spawn discovers Wanda's twin children are responsible. He stops them from killing their entire family but cannot destroy them. Zera reveals Jake is God and Katie is Satan.

Due to their hatred of each other and constant fighting, the Mother removed their powers and positions and sent them to Earth. She tells him he cannot stop Armageddon. However, he has the potential to gain the power of a god and preserve the human race.

He has to eat a piece of [[Forbidden fruit|Forbidden Fruit]] from the [[Garden of Eden]] to gain such power. She tells Spawn he must fight against The Disciple. It is revealed there are 12 Disciples, each one representing one of Jesus. Spawn's power is also weakened because demons cannot enter the Garden. However, with guidance from Cyan, he defeats every Disciple but Judas, who Cyan tells Spawn not to kill. Judas then stabs Spawn in the heart but the Mother gives Spawn a piece of the fruit and resurrects him. He gains an angelic form and greater power.

Spawn returns to Earth, which has been destroyed by [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Four Horsemen]]; angels and demons are waiting to fight their final battle. After defeating Zera, Spawn finds dead warriors of Heaven, one of whom is Granny Blake, who is betrayed by her faith. Spawn battles the forces of Satan and God, destroying the forces of Heaven, Hell and humanity. He is then killed by the two, who then fight alone on Earth.

Spawn comes back and resurrects everyone with the knowledge of what happened. He leaves God and Satan to fight in their own little world and closes the doors to Heaven, Hell, and Earth. He asks to be turned into a human by the Mother but later asks to once again become a Hellspawn after remembering that, prior to his first death as Al Simmons, he had beaten Wanda and caused her to miscarry their child. This causes him to conclude he has always been a monster and does not deserve to be human again.

===Back in the mortal world===
====New Clown====
After a series of odd murders, Spawn finds the Clown has come back, possessing the body of mortal Barney Saunders, who is having an affair with a woman named Wilma Barbara. Spawn destroys and remakes the world. Saunders is rescued by the Clown so he can use his body. He then brings out the dark urges inside the tenants of an apartment building and uses this to form a doorway to Hell and bring back his brothers. However, before he can form a portal, Wilma shows up and his love for her allows Saunders to take back control. Intending to close the portal, he goes through it, and takes Wilma with him due to being angry over her leaving him in the chute.

Zera reappears as a [[Brain in a vat|head in a jar]]. Spawn is summoned by a voodoo priestess named Mambo Suzanne. Zera attempts to take over Nyx's body and fights Spawn. However, she is killed when Suzanne throws Zera's head into the street. Nyx is freed and she and Spawn become friends again.

Ab and Zab create a hell where visitors are forced to view their deepest fears, which are eaten by demons called sin-eaters. While confronting Ab and Zab, Spawn is faced with his own sin against Wanda and his unborn child. Unable to break free from the guilt, Spawn is parasitized by a sin eater. When Nyx interferes, he breaks the sin eater's illusion. Spawn breaks all the other's illusions and comes across Al Simmons' brother Richard.

Spawn decides to allow Richard to feel his sins. Mammon, as Mr. Malefick, had put an influence on Al and Richard Simmons. Only Marc Simmons saved himself from Mammon but was unable to help the others. Richard calls his brothers to help him save the drug dealer's life. Al, instead of calling an ambulance, pulls the knife from Weasel's body and kills him with it. Mammon appears, sending the brothers home while he hides the drug dealer's body.

Nyx and Spawn kill the last sin eater and Spawn discovers Richard cannot remember their parents due to a spell placed by Mammon. Wanting to know more about them, Spawn finds their home under a spell placed by Mammon. His mother planned with Mammon to create the strongest Hellspawn. Al is then given a journal by his father that reveals his ancestor came across a Hellspawn in the past known as the Gunslinger Spawn.

====Morana====
There, Spawn speaks with Wanda, who cannot forgive Al for the death of their child. However, she still loves the man inside Spawn. Trying to take out Cyan's knife, Spawn somehow suppresses the suit. Cyan and Nyx appear, and K7-Leetha appears and takes over Nyx. Now controlled by the K7, Nyx tries to kill Cyan and Wanda but is halted by Mammon. The entire group goes to a castle, where Mammon explains his plan to make a perfect Hellspawn. He wants the Rapture to occur so Satan, God, and Malebolgia will be gone. He  reveals his perfect Hellspawn is Al and Wanda's miscarried child, Morana.

After washing herself in virgin's blood, Morana bonds with the uniform and gets ready to consume her parents' souls. Cyan taps into her powers and goes to the future. She talks with an old woman who gives her a message for Al. Returning, she has Spawn summon the last twelve members of the Legion, who are beaten by Morana. Mammon insults Al and disowns Morana. Cyan tells Nyx a spell to trap Mammon and Morana. It works, both demons are sealed away, and the others return home. Al jumps into another dimension to be reborn as a weapon against both heaven and hell.

====Endgame====
Spawn is soon ready to enter the human dimension. Making his way to the alleys, he blows his head off. Meanwhile, Jim Downing, an amnesiac man healing at a hospital, wakes up. He seems to know Spawn. A janitor tries to make money off Jim's story and calls a lawyer, who later commits suicide. A thug is paid to capture Jim and attacks him with a flaming skull. In the ensuing fight, the hospital is set on fire and Jim transforms into Spawn. After killing his attacker, Jim escapes the burning building in human form, eventually being taken in by firefighters.

After being taken to another hospital, he leaves, reunites with his previous nurse Sara, and begins to transform. He calls Sara but leaves before she can see him. Meanwhile, a reporter begins to ask questions about the incident at the hospital. Wandering the city, Jim is attacked and kills his assailants. This draws the attention of Sam and Twitch, who recognize the chaos as Spawn's doings.

After reuniting with Sara and telling him about his transformation, Jim wanders off again and meets Wanda Blake, Al Simmons' ex-wife. She recognizes Jim as the form Al took when he originally returned to earth.

On Wanda's advice, Jim travels to Rat City and finds Spawn's throne and is met by an angel. Jim beats the angel in a fight and leaves. He finds out that a man working for Gilbert Sanchez has been asking questions about him.

The angel Spawn beat is later attacked by Clown, who removes her wings. When Spawn returns, she is powerless and insane and finds Freak and Violator. Despite Freak's warnings, Clown begins to deceive Jim and informs him his suit is a living being and then vanishes. Clown is arrested by Sam and Twitch and meets the leader of a vampire group to attempt to form a unity between the leader, Clown, and Spawn.

Mob members kill Gilbert Sanchez for his information on the new Spawn. Spawn attempts to learn more about Jim but is assaulted and uses his powers on his attacker. Jim later finds the man who had been asking Sara questions. He tracks him to his family's home, which is bombed, killing everyone inside but Spawn. Spawn finds more mob members, questions them further and kills them.

====Resurrection====
In Resurrection, Spawn is revived and is later told by God in dog form that Wanda has died and is now trapped in Hell, where Al must rescue her. He fights Satan and saves his wife. God and Satan are no longer twins because McFarlane lost the right to use the [[Man of Miracles (comics)|Man of Miracles]] character due to a copyright dispute with Marvel. Man of Miracles is [[Retroactive continuity|retconned]] out of existence, and God and Satan are based on the Abrahamic story of Creation. After saving Wanda from Satan, she goes to Heaven and Spawn continues to protect the people in Wanda's memory from the forces of both Heaven and Hell, as well as any supernatural threats.