History ComicBook / TheSpectre

* InvincibleHero: The Spectre is one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. Needless to say, he hasn't hung out with a bunch of mere mortals like the JSA much since TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. A memorable run on his comics side-stepped this by having his pass judgement on morally ambiguous situations and focusing his choices.

The Spectre also found himself becoming more and more powerful: in his fight against Shatan (a poorly disguised Satan stand-in) they hit each other with ''planets''. Spectre was eventually acknowledged as one of the mightiest beings in the DCUniverse, even more so than the SilverAge Superman. About the only beings stronger were ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger and God himself. This limited him to making appearances only when the universe was threatened by supernatural menaces, and usually [[DeusExMachina only long enough to fix some problem and then leave]].

The Spectre also found himself becoming more and more powerful: in his fight against Shatan (a poorly disguised Satan stand-in) they hit each other with ''planets''. Spectre was eventually acknowledged as one of the mightiest beings in the DCUniverse, even more so than the SilverAge Superman. About the only beings stronger were ThePhantomStranger and God himself. This limited him to making appearances only when the universe was threatened by supernatural menaces, and usually [[DeusExMachina only long enough to fix some problem and then leave]].

After the {{New 52}} reboot, [[LegacyImplosion the original Jim Corrigan]] is back as the Spectre once again, although under different circumstances this time, tying into the rebooted version of ThePhantomStranger as well.

* TheWorfEffect: Has a tendency to be defeated by whatever villain writers are favoring that week.

** Lampshaded by [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]] in ''BooksOfMagic'':

* AntiHero: Type IV, and more "anti" without a human host.

* KarmaHoudini: The Spectre's purpose is arguably to make sure murderers don't become these. He doesn't punish ''every'' murderer; only those who would otherwise escape justice.

'''The Spectre''' is a Creator/DCComics character. Basically, he's a superhero ghost, though in practice [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he has been everything]] from a supernatural serial killer (of criminals) to the Agent of {{God}}'s {{Wrath}} over the years.

PostCrisis, The Spectre was reinvented as the actual embodiment of God's Wrath. He had his own series again, [[FridgeLogic which explored the reasons for his existence]]. Ultimately it was revealed that the Spectre was actually [[spoiler: a fallen angel pardoned by God by being turned into his personal avenger]] and not just part of Corrigan's soul. Corrigan in fact was tired of living and willingly separated from The Spectre and went on to Heaven.

This left the Spectre without a host, which made it reckless; eventually he bonded with the then-dead [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]], who tried to twist the Spectre's mission from vengeance to redemption. This was later undone by Jordan's resurrection. Again left without a host, the Spectre was tricked by Eclipso (who ironically was once God's Avenger as well) into killing most of the magic-users in the DCUniverse since she convinced him that "magic goes against God's will". (This turned out to be part of a larger XanatosRoulette to recreate the DC Multiverse, as seen in InfiniteCrisis.) He was stopped only by being bonded (by God) to Crispus Allen, another recently-murdered cop. (DC teased the audience by having his killer also be named Jim Corrigan.)

The Spectre recently received a twelve-minute animated short as a bonus on the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' DVD.

* DeusExMachina: He's literally a walking DeusExMachina.
* DeusExitMachina: A frequent victim.

* FlatEarthAtheist: The current host of the Spectre ''was'' an atheist -- before God revived him as The Spectre.

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Makes Superman's climb look almost puny.

* RefusingParadise - Done as a bit of a Sadistic Choice early on to The Spectre; the Voice (implied to be God) says he's now earned the ability to pass on to Heaven, one time only offer... just as his love interest has a bullet speeding at her head.

* TheWorfEffect: Has a tendency to get defeated by whatever villain writers are favoring that week.

'''The Spectre''' is a DCComics character. Basically, he's a superhero ghost, though in practice [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he has been everything]] from a supernatural serial killer (of criminals) to the Agent of {{God}}'s {{Wrath}} over the years.

'''The Spectre''' is a DCComics character. Basically, he's a superhero ghost, though in practice [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he has been everything]] from a supernatural serial killer (of criminals) to the Agent of God's Wrath over the years.

The character first appeared in ''"More Fun Comics''" #52 (February, 1940), created by [[{{Superman}} Jerry Siegel]] and [[{{Hourman}} Bernard Baily]]. In his origin story, the Spectre was Jim Corrigan, a police detective who was murdered by criminals. In the afterlife, he decried the injustice of his murder, and an unseen voice (later interpreted as being {{God}}'s) granted his wish: he returned to life, but with supernatural powers that he soon used to kill his murderers.

* FlatEarthAtheist: The current host of the Spectre ''was'' an atheist- before God revived him as The Spectre.

* GoodIsNotNice: As cathartic as watching a child molester get eaten by his own doll collection is, it almost makes you wish that he was arrested and gone through the usual lax punishments inherent in the Human Justice System.

* LackOfEmpathy: There's a damn good reason why the Spectre needs a human host-he may want to inflict justice, but the host gives him enough compassion, and hence restraint, to prevent [[KnightTemplar going overboard.]]

* OurGhostsAreDifferent

The Spectre recently received a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome twelve-minute animated short]] as a bonus on the JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths DVD.

* ThrowAwayCountry: Vlatava, a minor European country, was ''completely slaughtered'' by the Spectre after passing judgment on it for war crimes, presumably even including the children. The sole survivors were two opposing politicians.

After the {{New 52}} reboot, [[LegacyImplosion Jim Corrigan]] is back as the Spectre once again, although under different circumstances this time, tying into the rebooted version of ThePhantomStranger as well.

This left the Spectre without a host, which made it reckless; eventually he bonded with the then-dead [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]], who tried to twist the Spectre's mission from vengeance to redemption. This was later undone by Jordan's resurrection. Again left without a host, the Spectre was tricked by Eclipso (who ironically was once God's Avenger as well) into killing most of the magic-users in the DCUniverse since she convinced him that "magic goes against God's will". (This turned out to be part of a larger XanatosRoulette to recreate the DC Multiverse, as seen in InfiniteCrisis.) He was stopped only by being bonded (by God) to Crispus Allen, another recently-murdered cop. (DC teased the audience by having his killer also be named Jim Corrigan.) He's still the current Spectre, who is trying to understand his role.

* ThrowAwayCountry: Vlatava, a minor European country, was ''completely slaughtered'' by the Spectre after passing judgment on it for war crimes, presumably even including the children. The sole survivors were two politicians, one from the opposed party of the other.

* BalefulPolymorph: An usual punishment meted out by Spectre.

The relationship between Corrigan and The Spectre varied over the years; at one point, they were actually separate characters, with The Spectre merely using Corrigan's body to "rest" when he needed to, much to the latter's chagrin.

The Spectre also found himself becoming more and more powerful: in his fight against Shatan (a poorly disguised Satan stand-in) they hit each other with ''planets''. Spectre was eventually acknowledged as one of the mightiest beings in the DCUniverse, even more so than the SilverAge Superman. About the only beings stronger were ThePhantomStranger and God himself. This limited him to making appearances only when the universe was threatened by supernatural menaces, and usually [[DeusExMachina only long enough to fix some problem and then leave]].

The Spectre recently received a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome twelve-minute animated short]] as a bonus on the JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths DVD.

* FlatEarthAtheist: The current host of the Spectre ''was'' an atheist- before God revived him as The Spectre.
* {{Foil}}: Reporter Earl Crawford in the Jim Aparo series. While the Spectre believed in punishing criminals beyond their crimes, Crawford believed that wrong doers deserved a fair trial and a chance to face up to their crimes.

* JokerImmunity: The Spectre once tried to pass Judgment on TheJoker; he failed, because for all his viciousness, the Joker is still crazy, and thus not responsible for his acts.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent
* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Makes Superman's climb look almost puny.

* RefusingParadise - Done as a bit of a Sadistic Choice early on to The Spectre; the Voice (implied to be God) says he's now earned the ability to pass on to Heaven, one time only offer... just as his love interest has a bullet speeding at her head.

* BoringInvincibleHero: The Spectre is one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. Needless to say, he hasn't hung out with a bunch of mere mortals like the JSA much since TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. A memorable run on his comics side-stepped this by having his pass judgement on morally ambiguous situations and focusing his choices.

* AntiHero

* RefusingParadise - Done as a bit of a Sadistic Choice early on to The Spectre; the Voice (implied to be God) says he's now earned the ability to pass on to Heaven, one time only offer...just as his love interest has a bullet speeding at her head.

* FridgeHorror: During TheInterregnum and early SilverAge, the Spectre was forbidden to actually ''kill'' anyone. The writers got around this by having him do things like turn criminals into [[AndIMustScream inanimate objects.]] Since the [[ComicsCode Comics Code Authority]] let him get away with it, they must not have realized exactly what they had done.

* AffirmativeActionLegacy: The current host of the Spectre is an African American. Not quite "Black" since the Spectre is always whiter then the moon.

** [[FridgeBrilliance What do you expected from]] ''the rage of GOD.''

The Spectre held his own series in ''"More Fun Comics''" until issue #101 (January, February, 1945). He was regularly featured with the Justice Society in ''"All-Star Comics''" #3-23 (Winter, 1940 - Winter, 1944). The character was then dropped for the following twenty years. He was revived in ''"Showcase''" #60-61 (January-April, 1966). He also appeared in #64 (September-October, 1966), before gaining his own magazine. ''"Spectre''" vol. 1 lasted for 10 issues, from December, 1967 to June, 1969. In the [[TheSeventies 1970s]], the Spectre was revamped, now being taken back to his original horror roots: he would track down murderers and then execute them [[NightmareFuel in some pretty twisted ways]] (for example, turning a hood to wood and then cutting him with a buzzsaw.)

* FridgeHorror: During TheInterregnum and early SilverAge, the Spectre was forbidden to actually ''kill'' anyone. The writers got around this by having him do things like turn criminals into [[AndIMustScream inanimate objects.]] Since the [[ComicsCode Comics Code Authority]] let him get away with it, they must not have realized [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel exactly what they had done]].