Shadow Knight (Randall Spector) is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are of ...

appearing in

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s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

, commonly as an adversary of his brother, the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in '' Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a r ...

. A young Randall makes his

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

debut in the

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television

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'', played by Claudio Fabian Contreras.

Publication history

Randall Spector was introduced in the "backup feature" of ''Hulk! Magazine'' #17 in October 1979 as a mysterious

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

known as the Hatchet-Man who murders nurses around

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attempts to stop the murders and eventually deduces that the killer is his estranged brother Randall. In #18, Moon Knight confronts his brother in

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and a fight ensues in which Randall is killed. This was later

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by writer

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Mackie ...

to be an impostor, and in ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'' #33 and #35–38, Randall returns. During the '' Shadowland'' crossover, writer

Gregg Hurwitz Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book '' Orphan X'', a TV adaptation of Joby Warri ...

and artist

Ron Garney Ron Garney is an American comic book writer/artist, known for his work on books such as '' JLA'', ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Silver Surfer'', ''Hulk'', ''Daredevil'' and ''Captain America''. Career Garney has worked on '' JLA'', ''The Amazin ...

wrote a three issue limited series where Moon Knight deals with his brother in a final confrontation. This is also the first time Randall is referred to as Marc's younger brother; in all previous appearances, it has been clearly stated that Randall is the older sibling.

Fictional character biography

Randall Spector was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and is the son of Elias Spector, a

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who survived

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persecution. Randall and Marc are brothers, and at times both have been cast as the avatars of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Randall Spector grew up with his brother Marc, playing army games with him. He followed his brother into the Marine Corps, and eventually they both became mercenaries in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was later discovered that Randall killed Marc's then-nurse girlfriend. Marc chased his brother until there was a confrontation. Marc threw a grenade at Randall's sniper position, thinking he killed him, but then Randall returns to New York on a murder spree focused on killing nurses with a

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side. Hatchets may also be use ...

. Moon Knight uses his girlfriend Marlene as bait, but he can't stop being stabbed. He swears revenge but cannot kill his brother. Randall then jumps at Marc, but he dodges; however, Randall impales himself in a tree branch. It is later revealed that the person killed was not Randall but an impostor with implanted memories. Randall is actually a member of the Cult of Khonshu, having been mystically enhanced with impenetrable skin and superhuman strength by Princess Nephthys. During the '' Shadowland'' storyline, Randall mysteriously re-emerged as the Shadow Knight, convinced by

The Profile The Profile is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character was created by writer Charlie Huston and penciler David Finch (comics), David Finch, and first appeared in ''Mo ...

that he is the next Khonshu

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

on Earth. Sharing essentially all of the Moon Knight's powers, except that he can emit a radioactive blast from his eyes, the two are almost evenly matched. Randall attacks Moon Knight's pregnant girlfriend, Marlene. The two eventually meet up in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

following the mysterious Sapphire Crescent. Randall ends up using a hostage as a shield with a bomb, and Moon Knight is out of throwing crescents; however, Moon Knight launches the Sapphire Crescent and kills his brother. The Shadow Knight made his return in Strange #4 as a revenant, under the direction of the Blasphemy Cartel, enemies of Clea Strange. His body was taken over by rebellious dead souls that reanimated it and fought Clea Strange and her mother, the warlord Umar.

Powers and abilities

Nepthys' "lunar treatments" granted him superhuman strength and external durability, although his internal organs were like those of a normal human's. Randall Spector possessed extensive training in espionage and military combat tactics. However, he was barely able to access these skills after becoming insane.

Equipment

As the Hatchet-Man, he used an off-the-shelf Halloween mask to hide his face. As Shadow Knight, he wore Kevlar body armor for further protection.

Weapons

Wooden-handled hatchet.

In other media

A young Randall Spector appears in flashbacks in the

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miniseries ''

'' episode "

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

", portrayed by Claudio Fabian Contreras. This version died in a flooded cave that he and his older brother

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

found. As the latter survived, their embittered mother Wendy blamed him for Randall's death, which caused her to become abusive towards Marc, who consequently developed

dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

and created

Steven Grant Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper. Biography Comic books Grant has ...

to protect himself from her.

References

External links

Randall Spector
at Marvel Wiki {{Moon Knight Characters created by Bill Sienkiewicz Characters created by Doug Moench Comics characters introduced in 1979 Fictional American Jews in comics Fictional characters from Chicago Fictional mercenaries in comics Fictional serial killers Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics military personnel Marvel Comics supervillains