History Comicbook / MoonKnight

Later incarnations have given him dissacociative identity disorder (DID) [[SplitPersonality which made Jake and Steven seperate alters rather than secret identities]], though Steven and Jake being writen as seperate people has been a thing since his first run. Other identities of his have also been treated as alters. He's commonly seen as a CaptainErsatz of Franchise/{{Batman}}, due to the "millionaire playboy" Steven Grant and cape-wearing, overly-thematic nighttime vigilantism. Strictly speaking, he has a lot more in common with Radio/TheShadow, also the chief inspiration for Batman, but writers have often used him for a sideways commentary and {{deconstruction}} of DC's greatest [[TheCowl Cowl]], usually as a contrast -- people may ask if Batman is as troubled as the villains he fights, but Moon Knight ''definitely'' is.

** [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Of another "knight",]] but with DivergentCharacterEvolution leading to some heavy shades of {{Deconstruction}} and {{Foil}}. Both are [[TerrorHero Terror Heroes]], but Batman fights from darkness, while Moon Knight wears white so people see him coming. While Batman has his entire (Bat-)family, as well as his [[TrueCompanions friends]] in the Justice League, Moon Knight is a perennial D-lister with no friends, and a third-string Avenger. And while ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation most]]) writers portray Batman to be (in the context of his weird universe) actually entirely sane and rational, Moon Knight is the cape-wearing vigilante if his sanity were ''legitimately'' unstable.

%Moon Knight was first canonized as Jewish in the same issue his father was introduced- issues 37 and 38 of 1980. keeping because i dont want to delete others work but this may need a rewrite or delete?%

* AxCrazy: On his worst days, or when Khonshu is especially pushy. Especially in Moon Knight 2014 and Moon Knight 2006. A modern development, he wasn't nearly as violent in his 80s and 90s comics.

* BeardOfSorrow: Grew one while in a wheelchair after his pivotal fight with Bushman in Moon Knight 2006.

* BlackComedy: The Warren Ellis run has a lot of this, as well as the Mackay run.

* CrazyPrepared: Literally in Issue 3 of Volume 5. When Spector encountered a gang of punk ghosts that were terrorizing a neighborhood, he got his ass kicked because they could hit him while his blows passed harmlessly through them. After stumbling back home, he has a little pep talk with Khonshu who tells Spector that he doesn't need any help. Over the years, Spector had been collecting Egyptian armour and artifacts without understanding why or even remembering that he did so. Some of those old Egyptian items have the power to affect ghosts. So cue round 2 and Moon Knight all decked out...
** The "ghost armor" reappears in Moon Knight: Black White and Blood.
* CrimeFightingWithCash: Spector is a rich man, but he has found that he is "cash poor," as in a lot of his wealth is in assets that are hard to liquidate quickly into cash. Most of Moon Knight's money was aquired by (and owned by, as much as you can when you share a body) Steven Grant.

* DemonicPossession: The interpretation of [[SplitPersonality Jake, Steven, and Marc being seperate people]] in the 2014 ongoing. It's stated that the three alters represent different facets of Khonshu.

* TheDreaded: To a variety of villains, to the point where a hardened merc like The Taskmaster refuses to take contracts out on him, because he's too dangerous and unpredictable to be worth it.

** The three alters who live in Moon Knight's body also have Marc as the ego and the one who fronts the most; Jake, as the id, appreciates material pleasures and can be brutal and violent at times; and Steven is what a superego would be as a real person: without worries, friendly, charitable, but not too deep.

* HollywoodHealing: The fight with Bushman where he carved off his face left Spector in a wheelchair with his legs all but shattered. With the proper motivation from Khonshu and a little help in the SuperToughness department, he finally stood back up and got back to it.
** This is also shown in issues 34 and 35 of Moon Knight 1980.

* MultilayerFacade: Often Moon Knight- especially Marc- struggles with who he is "truly," especially in Moon Knight 1980.

* RevisitingTheRoots: Max Bemis's run (part of ''ComicBook/MarvelLegacy'') quietly dispenses with Warren Ellis and Jeff Lemire's status quo shake ups to return the character to his traditional superhero adventures. This results in [[spoiler:Khonshu being revived without explanation]], the Moon Knight 2014 status quo being forgotten in favor of going back to his 80s roots, and the introduction of more fantastical elements such as a pyrokinetic nemesis for Moon Knight. This is also exemplified by the decision to ditch Declan Shalvey's redesign for a return to the original all-white costume.

** In Fist of Khonshu #6, Moon Knight quotes [[Radio/TheShadow his chief inspiration]], with a little twist at the end:

* SplitPersonality: DependingOnTheWriter, Marc has DID and his system has two other alters- millionare Steven Grant and cabbie Jake Lockley. Moon Knight and Mr. Knight are also occasionally treated as seperate alters.

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:The entirety of Jeff Lemire's run builds up to and ends with Marc and his alters killing Khonshu, freeing themselves of his negative influence ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane don't worry about whether he's an actual Egyptian god or a representation of Marc's mental illness for now]]). Max Bemis's run inexplicably revives him with little to no explanation as to why he's back and serving as the ringleader of the system again. Or why he's benevolent once more. According to Jed [=MacKay's=] run, the benevolence was because Marc's system had put Khonshu in his place for a while, but how he came back remains unexplained]]
* UnreliableNarrator: It's never clear if what we are seeing is what's actually happening or just hallucinated by Moon Knight. His powers, Khonshu's existence, etc. are mostly left to the reader to decide if it's all real or not.

* VillainProtagonist: The final issue of Warren Ellis's run revolves around Ryan Trent, the new Black Spectre.

As Spector lay dying, Khonshu appeared to him in a vision and offered to bring him back to life if he became the god's avatar on Earth. He did. After repaying his new ArchEnemy Bushman, he went back to America with Frenchie and the late Dr. Alraune's daughter, Marlene. Deciding to become a crime-fighter, Spector created a silver-cloaked costume and became the Moon Knight. Ashamed of his mercenary past, he invested the money he acquired from those jobs, developed a small fortune, and created the identity of Steven Grant, as well as the ''other'' identity of common taxicab driver Jake Lockley.

Later incarnations have had him lose his grip on reality and treat each of these personae [[SplitPersonality as different people]], among other identities crafted to suit his needs. He's commonly seen as a CaptainErsatz of Franchise/{{Batman}}, due to the "millionaire playboy" Steven Grant personality and cape-wearing, overly-thematic nighttime vigilantism. Strictly speaking, he has a lot more in common with Radio/TheShadow, also the chief inspiration for Batman, but writers have often used him for a sideways commentary and {{deconstruction}} of DC's greatest [[TheCowl Cowl]], usually as a contrast -- people may ask if Batman is as crazy as the villains he fights, but Moon Knight ''definitely'' is.

* AntiHero: He is TheCowl, but mentally unstable (and his patron god wants him to be a BloodKnight).

* TheAtoner: In the series ''Vengeance of the Moon Knight'', he genuinely tries to become a true hero, who doesn't kill, cripple or mutilate his opponents.
* AxCrazy: On his worst days, or when Khonshu is especially pushy.

* BeardOfSorrow: Grew one while crippled after his pivotal fight with Bushman.

* BlackComedy: The Warren Ellis run has a lot of this.

* ChestInsignia: In most incarnations, a crescent moon.

* ConfusionFu: In the Bendis series, his additional personalities (namely, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine) cause Moon Knight to start using their respective weapons in a fight. To say that this is unexpected by his opponents is an understatement. When Spider-Man catches wind of Moon Knight dressing and fighting like him, he's baffled.

** The reveal that Jake Lockley had gotten Marlene pregnant is either this or CanonWelding with huge retcons. The last time Marlene was in the picture was during the 'Vengeance of the Moon Knight' era, where Jake Lockley had taken control and had opted to become a more heroic figure, due to being free of Marc's sociopathy. So, for Marlene to have been surprised by Jake 'sneaking behind Marc's back' to have an affair with her, only for her to find it loveless because he 'lacked Marc's warmth', either means that Marlene completely forgot the time she was happily dating 'Jake' (who, again, was a NiceGuy compared to Marc), ''or'' that this ''was'' the time Jake 'was sneaking behind Marc's back', and that what we saw at the time was just Jake's perspective of him being a more heroic figure with a warm relationship with Marlene. It still doesn't account for the fact Jake and Marc swapped personalities, though.

* CrimeFightingWithCash: Spector is a rich man, but he has found that he is "cash poor," as in a lot of his wealth is in assets that are hard to liquidate quickly into cash.
* CuckooNest: The storyline "Welcome to New Egypt" opens with Marc Spector in a mental institution, and told that the only part of his past adventures that was real was the dissociative identity disorder. He doesn't accept it, at least in part because the hospital being a BedlamHouse made it just too obvious that this was the nightmare.

** His series has grown DarkerAndEdgier since the mid-2010s, and unlike some other examples this has been an improvement as a side-effect has been that his stories have been more tightly written and there's a more cinematic film-noir quality to them, while his transformation into a cold-blooded killer is fitting. This contrasts with his previous treatment in the Marvel Universe where he's been seen as little more than a [[ButtMonkey schizophrenic loser]] and CListFodder.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Usually viewed as one to TheCowl archetype heroes. As it turns out, spending almost every waking hour beating up criminals, pushing your mind and body to its limits, and getting into life or death scrapes with superhumans ''really'' does a number on your psyche - though Moon Knight's was broken to begin with, and his stories often make note that the only way anyone could go through with this kind of lifestyle is by being unstable to begin with. Ol' Moonie has no interests outside of crime fighting, with his split personalities often being viewed as ''entirely separate characters'' rather than extensions of the core Moon Knight personality, in the same way Batman and Bruce Wayne are viewed as being but taken to literal extremes. In essence, Moon Knight is every joke about the mental instability of Batman, Daredevil, The Phantom and Spawn played dead straight. [[HorrifyingHero And it sure]] [[MindScrew as hell]] [[NightmareFuel isn't funny.]]
* DemonicPossession: The interpretation of Spector's SplitPersonality in the 2014 ongoing.

** In the 2021 ongoing, the interpetation is that he had DemonicPossession ''and'' SplitPersonality.

* DoubleConsciousness: SplitPersonality problems do not help.

* {{Expy}}: While he is commonly referred to as a Batman-expy, he has far more in common with Batman's own inspiration, Radio/TheShadow. Both are darker vigilantes with varying degrees of brutality depending on the adaptation, driven partially by a desire to atone for their pasts, related to mystical concepts that can be explained psychologically, varying degrees of super abilities, and who may or may not be paladins of higher mystical entities, depending on the version. Moon Knight, like The Shadow, relies on a close network of agents (outright referred to as the "Shadow Cabinet"), some of which include close friends and people aware of his secret identity, and a complicated relationship with a romantic interest. Additionally, Moon Knight also employs multiple identities in his missions via his different personalities.

* {{Flanderization}}: Due to many unfamiliar writers knowing nothing about Moon Knight besides his insanity, many of his brief appearances where he doesn't play much of a role result in him being shown as an almost complete joke whose mental illness turns him into a goofy {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. ''Doctor Strange: Damnation'' for instance has him acting suspiciously more like ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} than anything.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Subverted. He has a scar over his left eye, but he's a good guy.

** Often Subverted. Despite his loner identity and typically taking on most of the hard work on missions, Moon Knight openly relies on his partner Frenchie. He even adopts a sidekick at one point. In Marvel Knights he practically begs Daredevil to let him on the team.

** PlayedWith; for a while, 'Marc Spector' is dead, and the Jake Lockley persona is running around as the dominant alter. After some brief heroics in Mexico he returned to New York and became a ''different'' kind of Moon Knight, one who uses more gadgets (including PowerArmor that looks like an all-white version of the Nolanverse Batman suit), and pistols that fire UnusualAmmo, and makes an effort to both be a much more heroic figure and also a more respectable one too. It has much of the trappings of being a Legacy Character (Jake had a very different personality and used a new costume, and Jake even looked younger), except it was the ''same person'' (physically, at least).

** DependingOnTheWriter, Moon Knight is either a magically enhanced Avatar of an Egyptian Moon God, or he's a lunatic who thinks he is. Regardless, he's always an AxCrazy Badass with multiple identities, but the main thing that changes is if he's a BadassNormal or not. YMMV on which is the more interesting interpretation.

** Spector means "face". Marc is the identity who fronts the most in the system.

* MindScrew: Marc Spector is a mentally unwell man and his perception of reality is...dodgy to say the least. Using him as a lens into the Marvel universe leads to very outlandish, bizzare, and vivid imagery.

* MultilayerFacade: As part of his dissociative identity disorder, sometimes even he didn't know who the "real" person was under all the double- and triple-personalities.

* NoHeroToHisValet: His various companions and allies eventually leave him in disgust (if they don't die first) due to a mixture of his insanity, churlishness, and the wretched irony of funding a war on crime with a nigh-limitless supply of paramilitary blood money.

* RealLife: In the All New All Different run, it appears that the Steven Grant personality now resides here, overseeing a hypothetical [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel Studios]] Moon Knight film.

* RetCon: Marc's mental illness goes through this back and forth between Warren Ellis' revamp and later Jeff Lemire's relaunch. Ellis openly disliked Marc apparently 'catching' DID by pretending to be other people and so explained this as the result of Khonshu's influence. Lemire, who found the mental illness aspect interesting, brought it back, explaining that Marc had been suffering DID ''before'' he became Khonshu's avatar, with 'Stephen Grant' first emerging while he was in school (thus, ''not'' the result of him 'catching' it ''or'' the result of Khonshu). It's not quite reached ArmedWithCanon yet, though.
* RevisitingTheRoots: Max Bemis's run (part of ''ComicBook/MarvelLegacy'') quietly dispenses with Warren Ellis and Jeff Lemire's status quo shake ups to return the character to his traditional superhero adventures. This results in [[spoiler:Khonshu being revived without explanation]], the Mr. Knight persona seemingly forgotten in favor of the original identities of Spector, Grant, and Lockley, and the introduction of more fantastical elements such as a pyrokinetic nemesis for Moon Knight. This is also exemplified by the decision to ditch Declan Shalvey's redesign for a return to the original all-white costume.
* RoguesGallery: Not a terribly interesting one, though, but it's getting better.

* SplitPersonality: DependingOnTheWriter, Marc will have alternate identities living in his head. The most common being millionaire Steven Grant and cab-driver Jake Lockley.
** In ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'', Moon Knight has 5 different personalities, including a little girl. With no eyes.

*** [[spoiler:When Echo is killed]], Wolverine destroys the other two and drives Marc into UnstoppableRage. Eventually Wolverine, Echo, and Iron Man become Marc's new alternate selves.

*** Through flashbacks in the Lemire run, [[UnreliableNarrator which should be taken with a grain of salt]], it's revealed that Marc has had the separate personalities of Steven Grant and Jake Lockley for most of his life, dating back to even when he was a boy.

** [[spoiler:Maybe not a complete takeover, but in the Bendis series, when Echo is killed, Spector's Wolverine personality actually destroys the Captain America and Spider-Man personalities and drives Marc into an UnstoppableRage.]]

* StraightGay: Frenchie, so much so that Moon Knight ''didn't even know he was gay''.

* {{Thememobile}}: While Moon Knight's Jake Lockley persona ''is'' a cab driver, Moon Knight typically travels by way of a ''moon-shaped helicopter''.

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:The entirety of Jeff Lemire's run builds up to and ends with Marc and his personas killing Khonshu, freeing themselves of his negative influence ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane don't worry about whether he's an actual Egyptian god or a representation of Marc's mental illness for now]]). Max Bemis's run inexplicably revives him with little to no explanation as to why he's back and serving as the ringleader of Marc's personalities again. Or why he's benevolent once more. According to Jed [=MacKay's=] run, the benevolence was because Marc's system had put Khonshu in his place for a while, but how he came back remains unexplained]]
* UnreliableNarrator: It's never clear if what we are seeing is what's actually happening or just the consequences of Moon Knight's mental illness. His powers, Khonshu's existence, etc. are mostly left to the reader to decide if it's all real or not.
* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler:When Echo is killed by Count Nefaria, Moon Knight's Wolverine personality drives him into a rage, causing him to seriously injure the Count. Nefaria (a villain on the power level of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]) is actually forced into a stunned retreat to recover, and Moon Knight wakes up later chained to a hospital bed.]]

* WalkingArmory: His arsenal is pretty unstable, having used a spiked gauntlet, a bow, guns that fire bolas, and a whole bunch of other weapons. His main weapons, however, are a truncheon that can become a grappling hook or nunchuks, and "crescent darts", shuriken shaped like a crescent moon. In the Secret Avengers, he uses a gun that shoots crescent shocktoxin darts. At one point in the Secret Avengers he uses an [[Comicbook/CaptainAmerica energy shield]], [[ComicBook/SpiderMan web-shooters]], and [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} metal claws]].

** Issue 9 of the Bendis run; [[spoiler:Count Nefaria kills Echo, causing Marc to absolutely lose it with his aggressive personality outright ''destroying'' his other personality aspects.]]

** Issue 5 of the All-New All Different series. [[spoiler:It appears that the Marc Spector personality has committed suicide, paving the way for the Khonshu aspect to completely take over his body and trap Steven Grant and Jake Lockley elsewhere.]]

* ''Ms. Marvel & Moon Knight'' vol 1 (2022) #1 (part of a CrossThrough featuring Kamala Khan teaming up with various Marvel [[AntiHero anti-heroes]])

As Spector lay dying, Khonshu appeared to him in a vision and offered to bring him back to life if he became the god's avatar on Earth. He did. After repaying his new ArchEnemy Bushman, he went back to America with Frenchie and the late Dr. Alraune's daughter, Marlene. Deciding to become a crime-fighter, Spector created a silver-cloaked costume and became the Moon Knight. Ashamed of his mercenary past, he invested the money he acquired from those jobs, developed a small fortune, and created the identity of [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob Steven Grant]], as well as the ''other'' identity of common taxicab driver Jake Lockley.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Moon Knight's "Steven Grant" identity.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: When Spector is undergoing a HeroicBSOD during ''God & Country'', Crawley gives him one to snap him out of it. Then he gives him another two, for good measure.

* WeaponOfChoice: His arsenal is pretty unstable, having used a spiked gauntlet, a bow, guns that fire bolas, and a whole bunch of other weapons. His main weapons, however, are a truncheon that can become a grappling hook or nunchuks, and "crescent darts", shuriken shaped like a crescent moon. In the Secret Avengers, he uses a gun that shoots crescent shocktoxin darts. At one point in the Secret Avengers he uses an [[Comicbook/CaptainAmerica energy shield]], [[ComicBook/SpiderMan web-shooters]], and [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} metal claws]].

* CommutingOnABus: Moon Knight's supporting characters were largely confirmed to have been phased out in Ellis's run, explained as them having grown sick of Marc's instability and moving on with their lives. This doesn't stop Jeff Lemire and Max Bemis from bringing back the likes of Marlene or Frenchie for more adventures with him, though Lemire's usage of them is [[MindScrew extremely ambiguous]].

* ContinuitySnarl: The reveal that Jake Lockley had gotten Marlene pregnant is either this or CanonWelding with huge retcons. The last time Marlene was in the picture was during the 'Vengeance of the Moon Knight' era, where Jake Lockley had taken control and had opted to become a more heroic figure, due to being free of Marc's sociopathy. So, for Marlene to have been surprised by Jake 'sneaking behind Marc's back' to have an affair with her, only for her to find it loveless because he 'lacked Marc's warmth', either means that Marlene completely forgot the time she was happily dating 'Jake' (who, again, was a NiceGuy compared to Marc), ''or'' that this ''was'' the time Jake 'was sneaking behind Marc's back', and that what we saw at the time was just Jake's perspective of him being a more heroic figure with a warm relationship with Marlene. It still doesn't account for the fact Jake and Marc swapped personalities, though.

-->'''Mr. Knight''': I've died before. It was boring so I stood up.

* {{Flanderization}}: Due to many unfamiliar writers knowing nothing about Moon Knight besides his insanity, many of his brief appearances where he doesn't play much of a role results in him being shown as an almost complete joke whose mental illness turns him into a goofy {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. ''Doctor Strange: Damnation'' for instance has him acting suspiciously more like ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} than anything.

** Marc has three aspects: himself, the ego; the violent Moon Knight, the id; the kind and helpful Mr. Knight, the superego.
** The three alters who live in Moon Knight's body also have Marc as the ego and the one who fronts the most, while Jake is the violent and brutal id who deals with their worst memories, and superego Steven, who is what a superego would be as a real person: without worries, friendly, charitable, but not too deep.

** Come [=MacLay's=] run, he gets a vampire secretary, Reese.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: DependingOnTheWriter, Moon Knight is either a magically enhanced Avatar of an Egyptian Moon God, or he's a lunatic who thinks he is. Regardless, he's always an AxCrazy Badass with multiple identities, but the main thing that changes is if he's a BadassNormal or not. YMMV on which is the more interesting interpretation.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: PlayedForDrama. After being put in danger too many times and seeing how unstable Spector had become, Marlene walked out on him. Frenchie, after losing his legs, left not long after. Though they both occasionally came back, these relapses became less frequent, and as of 2021 have completely closed off that part of their lives, and Spector is content to leave it that way.

** In the 2014 series, Marc switches to having Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and Khonshu himself in his head.
** The 2016 run only had Khonshu and Marc, although [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness considering]] [[BedlamHouse the]] [[ElectricTorture circumstances...]]
*** Through flashbacks, [[UnreliableNarrator which should be taken with a grain of salt]], it's revealed that Marc has had the separate personalities of Steven Grant and Jake Lockley for most of his life, dating back to even when he was a boy.
** The 2021 run focuses on Marc solo, with Steven and Jake being mentioned as [[PutOnABus surfacing occasionally for short periods off-screen]].

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:The entirety of Jeff Lemire's run built up to and ended with Marc and his personas killing Khonshu, freeing themselves of his negative influence ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane don't worry about whether he's an actual Egyptian god or a representation of Marc's mental illness for now]]). Max Bemis's run inexplicably revives him with little to no explanation as to why he's back and serving as the ringleader of Marc's personalities again. Or why he's benevolent once more.]]

* WeaponOfChoice: His arsenal is pretty unstable, having used a spiked gauntlet, a bow, guns that fire bolas, and a whole bunch of other weapons. His main weapons, however, are are a truncheon that can become a grappling hook or nunchuks, and "crescent darts", shuriken shaped like a crescent moon. In the Secret Avengers, he uses a gun that shoots crescent shocktoxin darts. At one point in the Secret Avengers he uses an [[Comicbook/CaptainAmerica energy shield]], [[ComicBook/SpiderMan web-shooters]], and [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} metal claws]].

* ''Moon Knight'' vol 2 (1985) #1-6

* ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'' (1989) #1-60

The character made his live-action debut in the Creator/DisneyPlus series ''Series/{{Moon Knight|2022}}'', which was released in March 2022, with Jeremy Slater (''Series/TheExorcist'', ''Series/{{The Umbrella Academy|2019}}'') as showrunner. It is part of Phase 4 of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse with Creator/OscarIsaac playing the character, with May Calamawy, Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/GaspardUlliel and Lucy Thackeray in other roles.

* ''ComicBook/Contagion2019'' (one of the main characters)

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: During the Bendis run he had high-tech bracers made for himself so he could mimic the fighting styles of several different superheroes. When he asks whether the retractable claws in the bracers are made of unbreakable adamantium like with Wolverine, the answer he gets that would be pointless, as even with claws made of regular high tensile steel his arm would break well before the claws do.

* ''ComicBook/{{Contagion}}'' (2019) (one of the main characters)

* ''Moon Knight'' vol 6 (2011) #1-12

* DeathIsCheap: Marc Spector has died something like three times in continuity, and has been resurrected by Khonshu each time, often within the same story arc. When asked about this in the [=MacCay=] run, he's not sure he ''can'' die anymore.

* LegacyCharacter: PlayedWith; for a while, 'Marc Spector' is dead, and the Jake Lockley persona is running around as the dominant alter. After some brief heroics in Mexico he returned to New York and became a ''different'' kind of Moon Knight, one who uses more gadgets (including PowerArmor that looks like an all-white version of the Nolanverse Batman suit), and pistols that fire UnusualAmmo, and makes an effort to both be a much more heroic figure and also a more respectable one too. It has much of the trappings of being a Legacy Character (Jake had a very different personality and used a new costume, and Jake even looked younger), except it was the ''same person'' (physically, at least).

* CuckooNest: The storyline "Welcome to New Egypt" opens with Marc Spector in a mental institution, and told that the only part of his past adventures that was real was the multiple personality disorder. He doesn't accept it, at least in part because the hospital being a BedlamHouse made it just too obvious that this was the nightmare.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: DependingOnTheWriter, Moon Knight is either a magically enhanced Avatar of an Egyptian Moon God, or he's a lunatic who thinks he is. Regardless, he's always an AxCrazy Badass with multiple personalities, but the main thing that changes is if he's a BadassNormal or not. YMMV on which is the more interesting interpretation.

* MultilayerFacade: As part of his multiple personality disorder, sometimes even he didn't know who the "real" person was under all the double- and triple-personalities.

* CuckooNest: The storyline "Welcome to New Egypt" opens with Marc Spector in a mental institution, and told that the only part of his past adventures that was real was the multiple personality disorder. He doesn't accept it, at least in part because the hospital being a BedlamHouse made it just too obvious that this was the nightmare.

** His series has grown DarkerAndEdgier since the mid-2010s, and unlike some other examples this has been an improvement as a side-effect has been that his stories have been more tightly written and there's a more cinematic film-noir quality to it, while his transformation into a cold-blooded killer is fitting. This contrasts with his previous treatment in the Marvel Universe where he's been seen as little more than a [[ButtMonkey schizophrenic loser]] and CListFodder.

* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: Frenchie often told Spector he loved him. Spector never put two and two together and assumed it was just UndyingLoyalty. He never found out Frenchie was gay at all until after Frenchie had moved on with his life and found a boyfriend.

** Thia is furthered in Brian Wood's run when Khonshu is willing to [[spoiler:abandon Moon Knight as his avatar for the Doctor instead because she is willing to be more bloodthirsty. It doesn't last for long, but the God sways long enough to make things difficult for "his son"]].

* UnreliableNarrator: It's never clear if what we are seeing is what's actually happening or just the consequences of Moon Knight's mental illness. His powers, Khonshu's existence, etc. are mostly left to the reader to decide if it's all real or not.

* CarnivalOfKillers: In issue #4 of his first series, Moon Knight is targeted by the Committee, a crime syndicate who feel MK double crossed them. They send out five assassins: [[ColdSniper Ice]], [[TheBrute Bull]], [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Dragon]], [[KnifeNut Razor]], and [[MadBomber Boom Boom]].

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: During the Bendis run he had high-tech bracers made for himself so he could mimic the fighting styles of several different superheroes. When he asks whether the retractable claws in the bracers are made of adamantium like with Wolverine, the answer he gets that would be pointless, as even with claws made of regular high tensile steel his arm would break well before the claws do.

A Creator/DisneyPlus ''Series/{{Moon Knight|2022}}'' series was released in March 2022, with Jeremy Slater (''Series/TheExorcist'', ''Series/{{The Umbrella Academy|2019}}'') as showrunner. It is part of Phase 4 of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse with Creator/OscarIsaac playing the character, with May Calamawy, Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/GaspardUlliel and Lucy Thackeray in other roles.

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Marc asks his tech guy to make him a bracelet with Wolverine-like retractable claws. Once it is finished, he asks if the claws are made of adamantium. The tech guy replies that would be pointless, since even with just regular high-tensile steel his arm would break well before the claws do.