HELLSPAWN

Real Name: unknown

Identity/Class: Extra-Dimensional (Dimension of Manifestations) doppelganger (from the Infinity War), magically enhanced

Occupation: ummm….doppelganger;
    he sought to ensure/complete his own existence

Group membership: Infinity War Doppelgangers

Affiliations: None; former agent of Calypso, Hogun, and the Magus;

Enemies: Calypso, Daredevil, Elektra, Erynys, John Garrett, Hogun, Eddie Pasim, Snakeroot, Zombie (Simon Garth);
anyone who gets in his way basically

Known Relatives: none

Aliases: Red Man;
Daredevil doppelganger (Sleepwalker#18); Matt Murdoch

Base of Operations: New York City

First Appearance: Daredevil I#310 (January, 1993)

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Like all natives of his realm, the being which became Hellspawn was initially a living fractal, able to shape himself in an infinite manner. He could assume a physical form for non-physical or abstract beings. These forms have access to the full power of the original being. He could also assume forms similar to other physical beings, duplicating their powers and abilities in the process. Any form he assumes would be allowed varying amounts of input and independent action depending on the wishes of the entity for which it is manifesting. It is not known if he would actually be harmed if one of his forms were injured or destroyed. It is likely that he could simply reform or reshape himself anew by returning to the Dimension of Manifestations.

Hellspawn was remade using a component of his M-Body and mystic power. He apparently has enhanced human strength. He possesses fangs, claws and a razor sharp devil tail. Yes, he bites. Like DD he has the super-senses and does not possess sight. He also is invisible to DD radar sense, but not to human sight. He is agile and can produce a spiked billy-club from his body. He has a long tongue too but that seems to serve little purpose.

History:
(Infinity War#1 (fb) - BTS) - The being that became Hellspawn was originally one of the creatures from the Dimension of Manifestations. During the events of the Infinity War, the Magus made a deal to hire/purchase/license a large amount of these beings to oppose and otherwise occupy the heroes of Earth to prevent them from interfering with his plans. Whether these beings were further mutated by the the Magus' arsenal of 30 Cosmic Containment Units (versions of the Cosmic Cube) is uncertain. At any rate, at least one of these beings became the doppelganger of Daredevil.

(Daredevil I#310) - At the time he is apparently hunting Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, However Calypso is also hunting the crimson crime-fighter and mistakes Hellspawn for DD. Just as Hellspawn is about to pounce on an unsuspecting Murdock, Calypso ensnares him around the throut. The two go at it and Matt never notices either of them (DD ends up fighting the Nameless One for the remainder of the issue). Calypso and Hellspawn exchange blows including neck biting and general punches. Calypso subdues Hellspawn with music from her magic drum and then bludgeons him senseless with a blunt object. Just as Calypso is about to collect Hellspawn’s blood he disappears. Calypso realizes she was fighting the wrong person and sets out after DD. Hellspawn appears one more time at the very end in the last panel. It is just a cool pin-up though.

 

 

(Daredevil Annual I#9/3) - Calypso resurrects the Zombie (Simon Garth) after killing a man who was his former friend. To amuse herself, she commands the zombie to perform feats of strength (uprooting a tree etc.) However, after growing tired of the feats she decides to summon an opponent for the zombie to fight, namely Hellspawn. Hellspawn shows up and immediately attacks Calypso. Calypso commands the Zombie to protect her. The two fight exchanging bites, punches and kicks, then Hellspawn delivers the decisive blow when he takes off the zombies jaw with his spiked billy club. Then Hellspawn turns to face Calypso. Calypso tries to beat him back with her spirit drum, but Hellspawn heaves a flaming torch at it, burning it up. After doing so, he flees.

(Daredevil I#319) - A Creole named Hogun (Hmmm...He's a hougan--a voodoo type sorcerer, I wonder if that's what they meant--Snood--grinning as he types this) summons Hellspawn. Hogun is trying to control Hellspawn for his own ends. He calls him soulless and mindless and proceeds to give him instructions regarding his plans with Hellspawn. Hellspawn actually speaks, which was something he lacked the ability to do originally though he seemed to possess a mind of his own, and says “I didn’t ask for a life being a slave”. After this he kills Hogun with a billy club he produces from his thigh. He proclaims himself free and is next seen on back of a truck heading for Manhattan.

(Daredevil I#320) - Pin-up shot of Hellspawn on the last page. We find he is after DD. (To add to this issue, You will hear me bring up a the About Face virus in the next issue here. The virus was lost in a subway system years ago and never recovered. This issue also tells us a little Eddie Passim history too. Eddie is a telepath who was almost caught in an explosion linked to this whole virus thing. His telepathy is what kept him from dying in that explosion.)

(Daredevil I#321) - We find Matt in his underwear sewing together a new (black) costume. Hellspawn is behind him watching. Matt cannot detect Hellspawn with his radar sense so Helly might as well just stand in front of him. Either way the next page shows the two (with DD in costume) fighting in a freefall. DD keeps trying to sense him but finds he cannot. DD hunts down Eddie, who appears to be a custodian. During questioning Hellspawn jumps through the window and attacks both Eddie and DD. DD falls victim to one of Hellspawn's spiked billy clubs. DD staggers to his feet to "see" Eddie being pulled up in the air by his collar by an invisible force. DD attacks the "invisible force" and hits Hellspawn. Hellspawn says he wants the virus that Eddie has in his possession. DD splashes some of his own blood on Hellspawn so he can locate Hellspawn by smell. DD's trick works and he manages a direct hit with a billy club. Then DD whips up a malatov cocktail and hurls it at the scent of his blood. The cocktail ignites Hellspawn. DD can easily "see" Hellspawn while he is burning and proceeds to beat Hellspawn mercilessly. Hellspawn flees through the window leaving Eddie and DD behind.

(Daredevil I#325) - The Hunt for the Virus is at its peek. Three men now want the virus. Lord Daito (of the Snakeroot) desires it to graft Elektra's darker aspects permanently to his agent, Erynys. Morbius wants the virus to cure him of his accursed vampire form. And last, but not least, our favorite, Hellspawn wants the virus to change himself from a voodoo base being to a reality based being.
DD is being tackled by Hellspawn into a sewer, Elektra is on Hellspawn's back, attempting to restrain him. Down in the sewer, Hellspawn dances around DD in a circle. Hellspawn makes several comments regarding DD's blindness as mentions that DD cannot sense where he is. DD says he doesn't need to pick up Hellspawn with his radar sense because he can hear him just fine. Hellspawn stops making noise and Elektra steps in for DD. Hellspawn flees the scene, ripping open some pipes for cloud cover. Later, Daito is looking for the virus, little does Daito know Hellspawn is watching him. Meanwhile DD and Elektra have found the virus. Just as DD and Elektra are about to flee, Daito appears with a army of men (many appearing to be evil rip-offs of certain DD related characters including a Punisher type-guy named Garret). A battle ensues. Hellspawn attempts to creep up on Daito, but before he gets his chance DD and Elektra double-team him. Elektra holds him back while DD force feeds him the virus. Hellspawn is granted life, however he does not realizes he has also been granted death. Just at his moment of freedom, Erynys (an evil Elektra) stabs him through the stomach. Hellspawn falls and morphs into a replica of Matt Murdock (sort of like a skrull, y'know how they morph back after you kill them). DD decides to bury Hellspawn (who now looks like Matt) in "Matt Murdock's" grave (the alternative would be burying himself there, which might no be fun). Thus Matt has successfully staged his own death and started the events which lead up to many grueling issues where he pretended to be Jack Batlin. Ug! Thanks a lot Hellspawn!

 

(Daredevil I#345) - Various mentions. We see his dead body silhouetted in Matt Murdock's grave.

Comments: Created by Glenn Alan Herdling and Scott McDaniel.

One other issue I never gave a summary to was Sleepwalker#18. Allow me to explain. Hellspawn looks exactly like another doppelganger named Daredevil. He was raising hell in NYC with doppelgangers of Beast and Firestar. Sleepwalker beat the group but it was never clear on whether he killed them, even though that would not have mattered. DD only difference from Hellspawn was he had a skin colored face. Aside from this they looked identical. Are they the same person? Probably not. Why do I say that? ‘Cause Hellspawn would have kicked Sleepwalker’s ass, that’s why.
Either way is possible. There were multiple doppelgangers of several heroes, including Daredevil. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, Daredevil doppelgangers also appeared in: Infinity War#1, 3, and 4, Alpha Flight I#111, and Moon Knight III#43. The one from Infinity War#1 may or may not have been Hellspawn, but the others were likely just other M-Bodies.

A few other Infinity War doppelgangers took on a life of their own and continued to be active long after the Magus' defeat. These include cleverly named Doppelganger (the counterpart of Spider-Man) and Malice, the counterpart of the Invisible Woman. These were all infused with either psychic or magical energy from other beings. Moonshade (the counterpart of Moon Knight) also had some unique qualities, although he was only around for the duration of the Infinity War.
My guess is that after the seeming death of the doppelgangers (or the conclusion of the Infinity War), the creatures from the Dimension of Manifestations returned to their own realm, leaving behind their ectoplasmic M-Bodies. Under certain circumstances, these could be reanimated with magical or psychic energy. Whether Hellspawn was possessed by a demon, or given the spirit of another person is unclear --Snood.

Also, that "Punisher rip-off" Garret is actually John Garrett, a cyborg agent of SHIELD who showed up in the Elektra: Assassin series. A great character and an excellent read--Snood.

For more information on the Dimension of Manifestations, see the profile on Anthropomorpho--it's one of my first!--Snood.

Profile by Fortmax

Clarifications:
No known connection to:

Magus, in this story, refers to the dark side of Adam Warlock, created @ Warlock and the Infinity Watch#1,
...who is considered to be essentially the same as the character as ..Adam Warlock's alternate future self, @ Strange Tales I#178.
He has no known connection to:

Appearances:
Daredevil I#310 (January, 1993) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil Annual I#9/3 (1993) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#319 (August, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Hector Collazo & Harry Candelario (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#320 (September, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Mike Avon Oeming (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#321 (October, 1993) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Hector Collazo (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#325 (February, 1994) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Scott McDaniel (pencils), Hector Collazo (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#345 (October, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Ron Wagner (pencils), Bill Reinhold (inks), James Felder (editor)

First Posted: 12/19/2002
Last updated: 06/21/2004

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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