Seth the Immortal (Moon Knight character)

Group Membership: Phalkoncorp (aka Phalkon Inc);
formerly the Knights Templar

Enemies: Marlene Alraune, Bloodline (Jean-Paul DuChamp), Cadre (Dementia, Shard, Vortex), Hellbent, Moon Knight (Marc Spector), Chloe Tran

Known Relatives: Marc Spector (Moon Knight) and Randall Spector (Shadowknight) - apparent descendents;
Various Hellbent (offspring and descendents);
possible common ancestry with some of the latter Bloodlines (see comments)

Base of Operations: Hellhole (a subterranean base located miles beneath a temple in the Brazilian Amazon);
formerly Phalkoncorp, Manhattan (nearby and towering over Spectorcorp);
Castle Chaudron, in the southern France hamlet of Rennes-le-Chateau

First Appearance: Marc Spector: Moon Knight#43 (October, 1992)
(identified) Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44 (November, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Seth is apparently immortal, and he may be thousands, if not tens to hundreds of thousands of years old. He can drain the life force of others on contact, though not from others of similar power or familial relation. He appears to have enhanced strength and durability, and is a skilled combatant.

Height: Approximately 6'2"
Weight: Approximately 225 lbs.
Eyes: Red (sometimes just red irises, but typically completely red when using his powers)
Hair: Brown
Note: Since he was supposed to be virtually identical to Marc Spector, I just used his stats as approximations (except eye color)

History:
(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - The Knights Templar existed, in one form or another, since civilization's dawn. By infiltrating all special interest groups -- through third-party agents with no traceable connection to their order -- all significant information filtered back to them. The Templars functioned as the genuine historians of humanity, cataloguing the true version of history, contradicting and threatening the ruling elite.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 - BTS) - Seth the Immortal was one of the founding members of the Order of Knights Templar. The source of his abilities is unrevealed.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5) - The Knights Templar (or their predecessors) claim they swore a dark promise to the Egyptian god Thoth long ago to protect the Hellbent in exchange for the powerful secrets of the god of wisdom and death -- secrets of wisdom, creation, and death, which were recognized by the Knights as being too powerful for frequent use, and they were hidden away, becoming the core of the Arcane Archives.
    The Archives were unknowingly guarded by the Hellbent.
    The Templars "sheltered" their Hellbent wards in a subterranean Hellhole for untold millennia because even they feared their own tainted legacy.
    Hellhole was established on an extremely fragile magma fault so that any threatening demonstration of the Hellbent's dangerous powers would seal their doom. The Templars secured their own escape options from Hellhole with key teleportals, or Hellgates.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - In times of trouble, the Knights Templar would break rank and retreat into decentralized sub-groups.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - The Templars tracked and protected one particular family lineage whose descendents shared a unique genotype (gene-trait) unknown to the majority of them, the house of the collective subconscious of all their ancestors. If catalyzed through a method known only to a few in the Templars, this genotype allowed generational heirs to become the ultimate personification of the Bloodline, with full access to the combined knowledge and singular specialties of their entire family tree. This knowledge included the ability to access the Arcane Archives.
The genotype was catalyzed by expression of a certain gland in the neck, followed by the Bloodline's recitation of a certain phrase, "Praeterit est parens ad futurum," which means "The past is parent to the future."

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to gain the power of the Arcane Archives for himself, Seth subtly manipulated his increasingly-prosperous descendents into relationships with the successive Bloodline heirs over the centuries.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - The earliest members of the Bloodline lineage swore eternal allegiance to the Knights Templar.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5 - BTS) - Intermingling between the Hellbent and humanity resulted in a growing element of racism amongst the Hellbent, as pure stock Hellbent Primes began to look down upon the half-breeds among them. This split was encouraged by Seth the Immortal.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 - BTS) - Seth secretly controlled the breeding of a small, powerful sect of Hellbent.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5 - BTS) - Seth made sure to keep the more powerful Hellbent Primes loyal to himself.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5 - BTS) - At various times, Seth bred with certain Hellbent, allowing his progeny to develop powers of their own.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57 (fb) - BTS) - Seth used the Templars to manipulate his heirs into relationships with the concurrent Bloodlines of every generation in hopes of eventually using them to gain access to the Archives.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking the Bloodline to access the Arcane Achives, Seth began using the Hellbent to stage a ruthless coup in the leaderless Templars.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 (fb) - BTS) - Seth gained loyalty from several of the Hellbent by promising to save free them from the Knights Templar's containment.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 - BTS) - Seth formed Phalkoncorp as his financial power-base, hoping to increase this significantly by usurping control of Spectorcorp from his descendent, Marc Spector.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 (fb) - BTS) - Seth claimed Castle Chaudron in the southern France hamlet of Rennes-le-Chateau, presumably slaying the Templars that had previously used it as a base. Establishing it as a base for his raids on the rest of the scattered Templars, he installed a modern telecommunications system

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 - BTS) - After Jean-Paul DuChamp, the Bloodline of the current era, was crippled, Seth decided to make his move. He led his Hellbent Primes to purge the other Knights Templar from the Hellhole.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#43) - Within the secret caverns beneath an ancient monastery (with modern self-defenses in place) in western Scotland, a quartet of the Knights Templar (Chretién, Demolay, Lamberton, Seth) met with the novice Templar Chloe Tran to discuss the Bloodline as well as the threat within their own organization.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44 (fb) - BTS) - Chloe was sent to bring Jean-Paul DuChamp into his Bloodline legacy.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44) - In the caverns beneath the ancient monastery in western Scotland, Chretién, Demolay, Lamberton, and Seth discussed the threat to their existence from a traitor from within and how they had entrusted a mere acolyte to retrieve the only weapon they could truly trust (the Bloodline). Seth then revealed himself to be the traitor, and two of the Hellbent, Agony and Basilisk, then appeared. Agony, Basilisk, and Seth each slew one of the other Templars, with Seth stating that they were no longer necessary as their sole purpose in life -- guarding the Bloodline -- was fulfilled.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47 - BTS) - Agony and Basilisk ambushed the Knights Templar acolyte Chloe Tran as she prepared to contact Jean-Paul DuChamp to bring him over into his Bloodline heritage. Chloe was surprised to learn from them that Seth was the traitor.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#48 - BTS) - Agony and Basilisk again ambushed Chloe and Jean-Paul.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49 - BTS) - An approaching police car distracted Agony and Basilisk, enabling Chloe and Jean-Paul to escape.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#49 / Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50 - BTS) - Agony and Basilisk caught up to Chloe and Jean-Paul, but Chloe killed Basilisk.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#56 (fb) - BTS) - Via his company, Phalkoncorp, Seth dealt with the lawyer Cass Brennan (aka Shark, of Moon Knight's Shadow Cabinet) and his employers.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#50) - Chloe revealed to Jean-Paul that she was the Templar, telling him of the Hellbent and the Bloodline agenda.
    Far beneath Castle Chaudron, many Hellbent watched as Seth announced his plans to obtain the Arcane Archives and then sent Bramble, Murmur, and Network to capture Jean-Paul before the Bloodline agenda could be fully consummated. As Network transported the trio to the New York command center, the remaining Hellbent excitedly noted they would soon be freed.
    Jean-Paul spoke the designated phrase, but the damage to his lower body prevented the process from circulating throughout his entire nervous system. The Hellbent trio then arrived and attacked Jean-Paul and Chloe, and the adrenaline catalyzed the Bloodline agenda.
    At Phalkoncorp, the newly completed command center for the business owned by Seth, Murmur was slain by Agony on Seth's command for his failure; he noted that Agony's previous failure was only tolerated due to her position as Seth's...personal bodyguard.
    Seth swiftly sent Agony away and then met had an appointment with Marlene Alraune, offering her the position of president of mergers and acquisitions for Phalkoncorp.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#52) - Marc Spector's agents informed him that newer companies, like Phalkon Inc., were cutting into Spectorcorp's holdings around the globe, piece by piece, for the last month.
At Phalkoncorp, Seth spoke Marlene Alraune regarding his plans for Spectorcorp, assuring her they were just one of his targets and that he hadn't hired her to take advantage of her personal history with Marc Spector.
Moon Knight encountered and drove off Glaze and Cubist in Central Park.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#53 (fb) - BTS) - Marc Spector promoted Raul Cruz to investigate Phalkoncorp.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#53) - Moon Knight, joined by Gambit and the Werewolf (Jack Russell), battled Glaze and Cubist, along with Fizzure, Gnash, Lowdown, Tailspin, TKO, and Triplex.
Cruz discussed his investigations of Phalkoncorp with security chief Nicholai Cray.
Monitoring Marlene from a distance, Agony warned Seth that she suspected something. Seth told her, "Only the truth...we are merely giving Marlene what she truly wants."

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#54) - Chloe watched from a distance as Jean-Paul scaled a ladder into her now abandoned apartment, and Seth sent Agony and Flare to eliminate Chloe Tran to prevent her from interfering with Seth's mission of obtaining the Bloodline. Even as the two Hellbent confronted Jean-Paul, Chloe departed, deciding that Jean-Paul must be able to save himself.

(Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (fb) - BTS) <The night before the main story> - Seth led a group of Hellbent into the upstate New York monastery where the Hellbent Cadre (as they would become known was raised) and slaughtered the Knights Templar stationed there.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5) - Seth plotted to kill and replace his alleged descendent Marc Spector/Moon Knight, the head of Spectorcorp, using their remarkable physical similarity.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#5) - Seth also recruited Spector's brother, Randall, into the Hellbent as Nightshadow.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#55 (fb) - BTS) - Despite suspecting that Seth was using her to get Spectorcorp, Marlene purchased controlling interests in Spectorcorp for Seth.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#55) - When Spectorcorp security agents Nicolai Cray & Raul Cruz attempted to investigate the goings-on at Phalkoncorp, Seth discovered them, slew Cray, and left Cruz a hysterical mess.
Mistaking Seth for his virtual look-alike, Marc Spector, Jean-Paul later uploaded information to Phalkoncorp, granting Seth access to Shadowkeeps's security codes.
Following up on Cray's death and Cruz's madness, Moon Knight broke into Phalkoncorp and was confronted by Seth; Moon Knight was shocked at how similar Seth's appearance was to his own (Marc Spector's).

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#56) - Seth attacked while Moon Knight was still shocked by Seth's resemblance to himself, and Moon Knight's mask was shredded, revealing him to be Spector to Seth. Surprised by this, Seth nonetheless revealed Spector to be his descendent, as his "great-grandfather...many, many times over." .After a short battle, Seth tried to absorb Moon Knight's life force, only to be blasted back by bio-feedback. Moon Knight and Seth separated as each recovered.
Learning that there was a pre-established link b/t Spectorcorp and Phalkoncorp, Spector investigated and found the connection to be Marlene.
Later, as Marlene finished transferring her Spectorcorp holdings to Phalkoncorp, Seth confronted Marlene, who mistook him for Marc and assumed he was confronting her over transferring his holdings to Phalkoncorp. Seth then assaulted Marlene (I can't really figure out why. I know he no longer needed her, but he talked about discovering what she was doing on the computer, when she was helping him...), but Moon Knight came to the rescue. While Seth overpowered Moon Knight and prepared to throw him off the roof, Marlene shot Seth with stinger missiles from Moon Knight's Angelwing ship. Moon Knight recovered, stunned Seth, and pinned him to a wall, but was then transported away by the Goddess to serve in her Infinity Crusade. The Hellbent Prime known as Hook then arrived, freed Seth, and escaped.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60 (fb) - BTS) - Marlene and Donna Kraft sold off the majority of Spectorcorp's subsidiaries to buy back the controlling blocks, which she then transferred from Seth's accounts to her own.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57 (fb) - BTS) - Stealing Moon Knight's Angelwing, Hook flew Seth towards the Hellhole.
Jean-Paul obtained the Hellhole's location from Agony, loaded her into a ship, and flew her in that location.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57) - With the info he had gained from Agony, Jean-Paul flew himself and Agony towards the Hellhole, but Agony caused him to crash while she escaped via parachute.
As Seth arrived at a "time-lost temple to long-abandoned Gods of Blood," he needed life force to heal himself. Hook volunteered himself, but Agony arrived and insisted that she should make the sacrifice to redeem her; Seth accepted and drained her entire life force, killing her. Seth and Hook then entered Seth's computer room, deactivated the holo-wall, and accessed the last gate to Hellhole.
Chloe convinced the Manx that the Cadre were not rogues like those serving Seth, and he joined them in taking the hunt to Hellhole.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58) - Sent to the Hellhole by the Space Gem at the conclusion of the Infinity Crusade, Moon Knight was confronted by an army of Hellbent who attacked him as an invader. Not wishing to hurt them, he fled deeper into Hellhole.
    Meanwhile, riding in his armored micro-tank, Jean-Paul DuChamp broke into the temple's antechamber and swiftly dispatched a trio of Hellbent Prime. His entrance was then used by the Cadre and Chloe to enter the temple as well. As he continued down the temple's tunnels, Jean-Paul next was confronted by Seth, alongside Arc, Bass, Belle, Crackdown, Dusk, Hook, Lava, and Spike. After some battle, Hook shattered the mini-tank's dome and pulled out Jean-Paul, who again turned into Pierre Latrec upon being confronted by Seth, as Seth had intended. As the Cadre and Chloe arrived and occupied the Hellbent Prime, Pierre followed his Bloodline directive, heading for the Arcane Archives. Hiding in the shadows via Dusk, Seth followed his trail. As Hook followed Seth, Chloe and the Cadre followed him; meanwhile the Hellbent Omegas took the arrival of a Templar (Chloe) as a sign that they could finally take back Hellhole.
    Moon Knight encountered Pierre, not knowing who he was, and sought answers, but the insane Latrec --his strength apparently enhanced by his proximity to the Archives -- attacked him, beating him savagely. Facing imminent death, Moon Knight desperately and unwittingly unleashed his own Hellbent power, draining Latrec's life force. Jean-Paul regained his true form, seemingly dead at Moon Knight's hands, though really only stunned by the loss of one of the Bloodline components.
    Seth was pleased with Spector's actions, noting "the boy is a chip off the old block, after all," and that with him having done his dirty work, the ultimate power of the arcane archives was finally within his grasp.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59) - While Moon Knight was devastated by having seemingly slain his old friend Jean-Paul, Seth believed that Moon Knight was theirs for the taking. Hook and Spike then arrived, closely pursued by the Cadre, Chloe Tran, and the Manx, and the two Hellbent forces fought.
    The Manx dove at Dusk, but Seth swatted him back, telling him that Dusk was, now and forevermore, the most special of his chosen. Naming Dementia's perceptual distortion powers as the most dangerous, Seth knocked her out next, then told Dusk to retreat to the shadows while he approached the Bloodline. As Chloe used the Bloodline nerve cluster to shut down the chemical relays between Latrec and Duchamp, saving the latter's life, Moon Knight attacked Seth, refusing his offer to ally with his family, and threatening to kill Seth.
    Seth made a break for the Arcane Archives, but Moon Knight caught up to him and followed him in, and the remaining Hellbent then rushed in. Chloe followed Jean-Paul, who was crawling towards the Arcane Archives; and Nightshadow instructed Dusk and Hook to follow him after them as well to find Seth.
    Seth was furious to find a giant mirror as the only evidence of the Arcane Archives, and Moon Knight used his distraction to attack him anew. As they fought, Jean-Paul reached the mirror, which he revealed to be a true looking lass straight into the core of the soul. It allowed him to focus on his full Bloodline potential, gaining the collected knowledge of his ancestors, each of whom had devoted the last years of his or her life memorizing the original documents. Jean-Paul noted that this cavern alone hid 36, 535 lost scrolls of Thoth containing the Egyptian legends of creation. Seth the grabbed Jean-Paul, preparing to drain his life force and gain his knowledge. Moon Knight pulled Seth off and, guided by Jean-Paul's advice that Seth truly could not die, bound Seth in Adamantium and cast him deep into the caverns.
    The violent battles within Hellhole had triggered the fragile magma faults below it, and Hellhole began to rumble. Jean-Paul guided Moon Knight, Chloe, and the Cadre through a Hellgate.
    Noting that the heroes would not escape them, Nightshadow joined Hook and Dusk in escaping, possibly via accessing one of the teleportals as well, though Hook noted that they could not leave Seth behind.
    The rest of the Hellbent lamented the departure of their saviors and the shattering of the Archives but were pleased with Seth being buried alive.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60 (fb) - BTS) - The explosive exit from Hellhole shattered the Hellgate into smaller teleportals accessing a myriad of other target locations around the world, offering last minute deliverance to any number of doomed and desperate Hellbent during the final collapse of their ancient lair.

(Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60) - Moon Knight, Chloe, and the Cadre emerged from the Hellgate, arriving in the Spectorcorp building. Marlene revealed how she had saved Spectorcorp from Phalkoncorp.
Dusk, Hook, and Nightshadow emerged as well, and Nightshadow commented that they had left Seth buried alive but insisted on first gaining vengeance on Moon Knight before returning to Hellhole. Hook noted that Seth lived on, in more ways than they could know.
When Moon Knight attempted to purge his computers of Seth's influence, he instead activated Zero Hour, an extremely contagious computer plague controlled by a simulacrum of Seth. It was designed to infect every key system Shadowkeep was networked to and then to all systems linked to them, and then self-destructing, destroying them all. With no way to deactivate the virus, Moon Knight cleared everyone else out from the room and then activated his Ground Zero contingency plan, which exploded the central computer bank and seemingly killed Moon Knight as well.

    I'm really not sure what the deal with the Hellbent Prime is. Nightshadow calls the regular Hellbent "half-bloods," but Nightshadow was supposed to have been Randall Spector, who was obviously the son of two seemingly human parents.
    As far as I can tell, pretty much all of the Hellbent known by name and serving Seth (with the exception of Slime (and possibly Misery, see below) are Hellbent Prime.
    However, the only ones 100% defined as Primes are Hook, Krunch, Nightshadow, Ripper, and Vault...and presumably Dawn & Dusk.
    Maybe the Hellbent Prime are those descended from Seth...that would make sense, b/c they have power like he does, rather than just being monstrous and deformed. I tried to ask Terry Kavanaugh about this, but he declined to answer any questions.

The Cadre, Ness, and probably the Knights Templar will get their own profiles as soon as I have a chance to get to them.

Seth has a mini-profile in Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58, and the Cadre and the Manx have similar profiles in #57, all taken from the notes of Chloe Tran.

Doesn't it seem odd that Marlene never noticed that Seth looks just like Marc Spector? Perhaps he can alter his form? It sure seemed like they were speaking face to face to me a few times, but maybe they hadn't actually met until the time he assaulted her.

"Hook noted that Seth lived on, in more ways than they could know." - whatever that means...I wonder if it will ever be touched on again. Probably not.
Perhaps he transferred his essence into Hook?

"Seth subtly manipulated his increasingly-prosperous descendents into relationships with the successive Bloodline heirs over the centuries."

Relationships doesn't necessarily mean marriages and offspring, but it would seem reasonably likely that at least one such relationship might have led to a marriage, and offspring. Which could mean that Marc Spector and Jean-Paul could share common ancestry.

Given Seth Phalkon was created by Terry Kavanagh, have you given consideration that he intended the character to draw his abilities from residue of the "Phalkon" power from X-Men Spotlight: Starjammers which he also wrote, which was revealed to be the Phoenix Force? Was the power his Knights Templar were originally protecting, perhaps the Phoenix force?
--James

Images:
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#44, p4, panel 4 (in Knights Templar garb)
    #56, p16, panel 2 (face)
            panel 3 (full body, slapping Marlene)
    #60, p11, panel 6 (Zero Hour computer program)

Appearances:
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#43-44 (October - November, 1992) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Gary Kwapisz (penciler), Jimmy Palmiotti (inker), Joey Cavalieri (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#47-50 (February-May, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), James Fry (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Joey Cavalieri (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#52-54 (July-September, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), James Fry (penciler), Chris Ivy (inker), Joey Cavalieri (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#55 (October, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Stephen Platt (penciler), Chris Ivy, Al Vey, & Scott Koblish (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Web of Spider-Man Annual#9 (1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Nelson Ortega (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Eric Fein (editor), Danny Fingeroth (group editor)
Web of Spider-Man Annual#9/2 (1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Vince Evans (penciler), Bill Anderson (inker), Eric Fein (editor), Danny Fingeroth (group editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#56 (November, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Stephen Platt (penciler), Scott Koblish (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#57 (December, 1993) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Stephen Platt (artist), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#58 (January, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Fred Haynes (penciler), Scott Koblish (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#59 (February, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Fred Haynes (penciler), Scott Koblish & Fred Haynes (inker), Sarra Mossoff (editor)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight#60 (March, 1994) - Terry Kavanaugh (writer), Stephen Platt (artist), Sarra Mossoff (editor)

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com