History ComicBook / TheSpectre

* Irony: The man who killed Crispus Allen, thus paving the way for him to become the third Spectre, shared his name with the original, Jim Corrigan.

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 Franchise/DCUniverse since she convinced him that "magic goes against God's will". (This turned out to be part of a larger GambitRoulette to recreate the DC Multiverse, as seen in ComicBook/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.)

* AbusiveParents: John Corrigan's father was a fire-and-brimstone preacher who beat Corrigan savagely as a child, with the excuse that it would "beat the sin out of him". He also had an illegitimate child with their black housekeeper and had both of them thrown out of the house so he wouldnt have to deal with his own sin staring back at him (this eventually led to the boys death during a storm). The end of the 1992 series revealed that Corrigan Sr was himself abused by his mother in the exact same way, twisting him into the monster he became.

* CreepyGood: The other heroes regard him as this, or just a uber-judgmental and supremely dangerous WildCard, even during his time fused with Hal Jordan. They also heavily disapprove of his murderous way of justice, but there's little they can do to stop him.

The Spectre received [[WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseTheSpectre a twelve-minute animated short]] as a bonus on the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' DVD. A pre-Spectre Jim Corrigan made an appearance on ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' with a quick vision indicating his grim future.

* GodIsEvil: A nightmarish example is shown at the end of the 1992 series, where The Spectre comes looking for guidance after he begins to notice himself becoming more extreme in his behavior, only to discover Heaven completely empty. After searching Hell and various other spiritual realms to no avail, he is eventually led to search inside himself, where he comes upon a dying ArchangelMichael... who is being devoured by God (drawn just like the Goya painting ''Saturn Devouring His Sons''). God reveals that He's eaten every last being in Heaven, the angels, the souls, all of them, and scoffs at the Spectre's rage at this enormous cruelty, claiming that Creation is his work, and is His to do what he wants with. [[spoiler: Ultimatley averted when it turns out this isn't God at all, it's the personification of Jim Corrigan's anger against his abusive father, which has colored his perception of God his entire life. Heaven was never really empty, it was part of a journey Corrigan had to undergo to move on to the afterlife and leave the Spectre and Earth behind.]]

* DramaPreservingHandicap: For a character as powerful as the Spectre he sure has a lot of problems.

* EvilCounterpart: It's been revealed that the supervillain Eclipso is actually this to the Spectre, as he was once the personification of God's Wrath until he became corrupted. If you think the Spectre is overzealous, it's nothing compared to what Eclipso did (and does).

* GodIsEvil: A nightmarish example is shown at the end of the 1992 series, where The Spectre comes looking for guidance after he begins to notice himself becoming more extreme in his behavior, only to discover Heaven completely empty. After searching Hell and various other spiritual realms to no avail, he is eventually led to search inside himself, where he comes upon a dying Archangel Michael... who is being devoured by God (drawn just like the Goya painting ''Saturn Devouring His Sons''). God reveals that he's eaten every last being in Heaven, the angels, the souls, all of them, and scoffs at the Spectres rage at this enormous cruelty, claiming that Creation is his work, and is His to do what he wants with. [[spoiler: Ultimatley averted when it turns out this isnt God at all, it's the personification of Jim Corrigans anger against his abusive father, which has colored his perception of God his entire life. Heaven was never really empty, it was part of a journey Corrigan had to undergo to move on to the afterlife and leave the Spectre and Earth behind.]]

* TheGoodShepherd: Father Craemer from the Ostrander series. Despite his controversial views (by "controversial" we mean he doesnt slavishly follow Catholic doctrine) which eventually gets him defrocked, he's shown to be a wise, loving and faithful man, also serving as a conscience of sorts for the Spectre when he needs advice on his role. It's telling that even ''Amanda Waller'' sticks up for him (he was once the prison chaplain at Belle Reeve where the Suicide Squad recruited). At the end of the run, he's the one who officiates [[spoiler: Jim Corrigan's funeral]].

* TragicAIDSStory: Amy Beitermann, the Spectre's most recent love interest, has one of these as the topic of AIDs is a significant plot point.[[spoiler: To sum it up, she was cheated on by her philandering ex-husband and in grief went around whoring herself with so many men she couldn't even remember the number to find a replacement and failed. She later found out she contracted Aids from her cheating husband's affairs and almost every man she slept with died from the disease she spread except for her, leaving her isolated and alone for much of her life as others were afraid to go near her. One of her past lovers would eventually murder her in revenge for giving him the disease.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:If you're a criminal, and you meet this guy, you're screwed.]]

* TragicAIDSStory: Amy Beitermann, the Spectre's most recent love interest, has one of these as the topic of AIDs is a significant plot point.[[spoiler alert: To sum it up, she was cheated on by her philandering ex-husband and in grief went around whoring herself with so many men she couldn't even remember the number to find a replacement and failed. She later found out she contracted Aids from her cheating husband's affairs and almost every man she slept with died from the disease she spread except for her, leaving isolated and alone for much of her life as others were afraid to go near her. One of her past lovers would eventually murder her in revenge for giving him the disease.]]

* RefusingParadise - Done as a SadisticChoice 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.

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* CreepyGood: The other heroes regard him as this, even during his time fused with Hal Jordan. They also heavily disapprove of his murderous way of justice, but there's little they can do to stop him.

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

* NoSell: Despite being virtually omnipotent, there has been a handful of people who he's been unable to kill. Most notably, his powers were useless against Nekron, who, being devoid of a soul, could not be judged. However, he was also unable to kill the Phantom Stranger and Madame Xanadu during his rampage against magic. He still managed to turn the Stranger into a mouse and seared Xanadu's eyes to block her from using her divination.

* WeaksauceWeakness: As nigh-omnipotent as he is, he's completely powerless against any opponent that does not possess ''both'' a.) a soul and b.) free will. This stipulation on his powers [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum prevented him from ending]] both ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'' and ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'' instantly.

* ExaltedTorturer: He's technically on the side of the heroes, but never shies from using deadly force even for offense that can be barely construed as such.