History Monster / Spawn

''Franchise/{{Spawn}}'' is an incredibly dark comic from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, but still has [[CompleteMonster several monsters who stand out]].

* [[Film/Spawn1997 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family—including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]—when he's done.

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[[AC:Crossovers]]
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%% NOTE 2: A CompleteMonster is an individual character, not a collective. Therefore a faction cannot be listed as one.

->''"The master of pain...has delivered agony to '''billions''' of worlds and dimensions. There the threads of unchecked anguish stretch and weave without end."''
-->--'''God''', to Angela, about '''Malebolgia''', ''[[ComicBook/CurseOfTheSpawn Curse of the Spawn]]'' issue #10--"A Fall of Doves"

[[folder:Examples]]
* The Pre-Resurrection versions of [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks God and Satan]] are two sons of the Mother of Creation, who started their petty war against each other as soon as they were given their own planet to rule. Creating Angels and Demons to serve as foot soldiers in their war, God and Satan had them slaughter each other in an endless conflict. Eventually God created humanity as one of the resources for his war, but Satan gave humanity free will, resulting in God and Satan using humanity's souls instead, with both Heaven and Hell capturing any soul for themselves after each human died, no matter if person was evil or good. When the Mother of Creation removed them from their Seats of Power and trapped them in the bodies of Blake's twins to teach them humility, God and Satan almost immediately started to show off their destructive nature by messing with Wanda's mind several times and at one point trying to kill their own adoptive family. Regaining their memories, God and Satan resume their war, with God summoning thousands of souls of good people to forcefully transform them into his soldiers and Satan unleashing the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse upon the world, resulting in the deaths of billions. In the end, God and Satan's war resulted in the whole Earth being devoid of life, forcing Spawn to teleport to another dimension to recreate Earth and resurrect the billions of people who dies in their conflict, hoping that without God and Satan, a new Earth would have a better future.

* [[MonsterClown Clown]][=/=][[OurDemonsAreDifferent Violator]] is the oldest of the Phlebiac Brothers and one of the most hated foes of Spawn. Possessing a strong hatred towards all Hellspawn, Violator loves to hunt them down, at one point slaughtering whole villages while trying to track down Medieval Spawn. When he was sent by Malebolgia to train the most recent Spawn, Al Simmons, Violator decided to rip the hearts out of dozens of crime bosses to frame Spawn. Later on, Violator took control over Jason Wynn and has him hire prostitutes that looked like Wanda and then murder them. Violator eventually used his powers to turn random citizens into "clowns", which made them extremely homicidal, and has them go on a violent rampage, resulting in massive property damage and several deaths. Much later, Violator [[DemonicPossession possessed]] the body of Barney Saunders and used his powers to force the residents in Saunders's apartment complex to commit horrible crimes to empower himself, and then attempted to open a portal to Hell, which would allow his demon brothers to wreak havoc on Earth. Finding out that Jim Downing became the next Spawn after Simmons died, Violator started manipulating him to help himself accomplish his scheme of taking over Hell and then Earth.

[[folder:Examples]]

* ''[[ComicBook/CurseOfTheSpawn Curse of the Spawn]]'' issues #1-4 & ''[[ComicBook/SpawnBloodAndSalvation Blood and Salvation]]'', written by Alan [=McElroy=]:

* ''[[ComicBook/SpawnTheDarkAges The Dark Ages]]''' issue #22--"The Seeding": [[CardCarryingVillain Yagher Dien]] is a Hellspawn meant to become Covenant's successor. [[MisanthropeSupreme Despising humanity]] from birth and reveling in evil for its own sake, Yagher Dien [[SiblingMurder killed his own brother]] just so he could have more food for himself at the table. Later in life, Yagher Dien made a career out of raping, murdering, and stealing, eventually coming to rule over an Irish village where he [[EvilOverlord ruled as a despot]], killing thousands of villagers. After his brutal death at the hands of the villagers he reigned over, Yagher Dien became Malebolgia's perfect soldier, seeking to be released by Covenant to [[HellOnEarth turn the world into a wasteland]].
* ''[[ComicBook/TheAdventuresOfSpawn The Adventures of Spawn]]'', written by Jonathan Goff: {{Mammon}}, as reimagined in this LighterAndSofter work, is a powerful demon lord from the [[DarkIsEvil Forces of Darkness]], who constantly tries to bring chaos and destruction to the universe. Gathering his own [[LegionOfDoom team of villains]], Mammon created a plan to open the Gates of Limbo and release his master Malebolgia upon the cosmos. To this end he has Overtkill destroy a museum full of people; the Amazon Tiffany assassinate the whole angelic Council of Light; and Cy-Gor attack Al Simmons, aka Spawn X, and his family. Getting his hands on the Awakening Stone, Mammon plans to [[OmnicidalManiac end all life on Earth]] and tries to painfully strip Al Simmons from his symbiotic costume.
* ''[[ComicBook/SpawnGodslayer Godslayer]]'' issues #1-4--"The Winter King" arc, written by Brian Holguin: Urshrek, the Winter King, is a tyrannical god and ruler of the land of Uhmber who keeps the land in EndlessWinter. The only way the people can keep themselves alive is to worship him and give him {{human sacrifice}}s to satiate his hunger. One man dissents, as he was the father of one of Urshrek's sacrificed meals. Urshrek turns him into a [[AndIMustScream living skeleton that begs for death]]. After the Godslayer, Elyar, gives Urshrek a minor wound, the king devours him. Inside, Elyar discovers that Urshrek [[SoulEating devours the souls]] of his own sacrifices, keeping them as [[LivingBattery living batteries]] to fuel his powers. Worst of all, Urshrek is revealed to be Jorren the Summer King, and the promise of summer is a lie. Urshrek forces thousands of innocent people to continue to worship and performing human sacrifices to him under the pretense that he will one day give them better lives. He even admits to himself that he has no intention of ending the endless winter. Once the Godslayer defeats him, Urshrek then self-destructs as a last resort, setting off explosion which buried an entire country in snow and ice.

[[folder:Examples]]
* ''[[ComicBook/BatmanSpawnWarDevil Batman/Spawn: War Devil]]'', written by Creator/DougMoench, Creator/ChuckDixon & Alan Grant: [[BigBad Croatoan]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious demon]] in service to Satan who murders then assumes the identity of corporate leader Simon Vesper--supposedly killed by Spawn--for his own ambitions. Responsible for damning 100 lives of a [[UsefulNotes/TheLostColonyOfRoanoke Roanoke colony]] to Hell centuries ago, Croatoan attempts to do the same to one-hundred thousand more lives across [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], slaughtering his own human proxy before cutting out the power all across Gotham and arising the dead to slaughter as they will across Gotham. Croatoan's ultimate intention is to lead in the apocalypse using the souls of those he's damned as his army, all for his own corner of Hell to rule over as reward.
* ''[[ComicBook/MedievalSpawnWitchblade Medieval Spawn/Witchblade]]'' (1996), written by Creator/GarthEnnis: [[BigBad Lord Cardinale]] is a medieval wielder of "ComicBook/TheDarkness", and definitely the vilest. Using his power to take over a large chunk of territory, Cardinale rules like an EvilOverlord. After Matthew Royale told him about the power of Elven artifacts, Cardinale eagerly invaded the Elven homeland of Faerie, massacring thousands of Elves and destroying their homes. When the current wielder of ComicBook/{{Witchblade}} and Spawn were close to defeating him, he decided to power himself up by absorbing all Darkness essence from--in effect killing--all his servants, including his lover.
* ''[[ComicBook/MedievalSpawnAndWitchblade Medieval Spawn and Witchblade]]'' (2018), written by Brian Haberlin & Brian Holguin: [[BigBad The Trinity]] is a being from another dimension who managed to find his way to Earth. Splitting itself into three forms of the Mother, the Daughter, and the Unholy Spirit, The Trinity used its "Daughter" form to seduce both King Valon and his friend Leith and then convinced Leith to kill Valon. Revealing its true form to Leith, leading to him [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] and becoming Hellspawn, the Trinity began corrupting the lands, spreading the Blight and sending its monsters to attack and kill innocent people. Using its "Mother" form to kidnap the women of the tribe, which rebelled against her with newly arrived Spawn, it painfully killed them and tried to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a little girl]], who was the current wielder of ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}. Later trying to corrupt the wielder of Witchblade to its side, the Trinity attempted to consume the Earth by merging it with the Nightmare Realm.

[[folder:Examples]]

* Music/IcedEarth: ''[[Music/TheDarkSaga The Dark Saga]]'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuKH9JbTeo Dark Saga]]" & "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HPqm8MKQw The Last Laugh]]": [[BigBad Malebolgia]], the self-proclaimed "destroyer of the light", is the demon who is responsible for creating ComicBook/{{Spawn}}. Making a {{deal|With The Devil}} with the deceased CIA soldier Al Simmons, Malebolgia rigged the deal, resulting in Al's soul becoming corrupted and tormented, becoming the present Spawn. It was soon revealed that Malebolgia tries to manipulate Spawn for his own bidding in order to [[KillAllHumans destroy mankind]] and [[RageAgainstTheHeavens the heavens]].

* [[Film/Spawn1997 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

%% NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok here]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clown_2.jpg]]

-->--'''God''', to Angela, about '''Malebolgia''', ''Curse of the Spawn'' #10

[[AC:[[ComicBook/{{Spawn}} Comic Books]]]]

* Pre-Resurrection: [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks God and Satan]] are two sons of the Mother of Creation, who started their petty war against each other as soon as they were given their own planet to rule. Creating Angels and Demons to serve as foot soldiers in their war, God and Satan had them slaughter each other in an endless conflict. Eventually God created humanity as one of the resources for his war, but Satan gave humanity free will, resulting in God and Satan using humanity's souls instead, with both Heaven and Hell capturing any soul for themselves after each human died, no matter if person was evil or good. When the Mother of Creation removed them from their Seats of Power and trapped them in the bodies of Blake's twins to teach them humility, God and Satan almost immediately started to show off their destructive nature by messing with Wanda's mind several times and at one point trying to kill their own adoptive family. Regaining their memories, God and Satan resume their war, with God summoning thousands of souls of good people to forcefully transform them into his soldiers and Satan unleashing the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse upon the world, resulting in the deaths of billions. In the end, God and Satan's war resulted in the whole Earth being devoid of life, forcing Spawn to teleport to another dimension to recreate Earth and resurrect the billions of people who dies in their conflict, hoping that without God and Satan, a new Earth would have a better future.

* ''Blood Feud'': John [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sansker]] is an ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] who [[HunterOfMonsters hunts other monsters]] he deems [[TheSocialDarwinist inferior]] and as competition. Making himself known by torturing The Curse into giving him false information about Spawn, Sansker robs a blood bank; commits a series of mass murders in an apartment; pins the massacres on Spawn and turns everyone against him from the homeless people he protects to his CIA contacts; makes several attempts to kill him while {{gaslighting}} him into thinking that his costume is behind the killings. As Sam and Twitch catch onto Sansker, he brutally beats Twitch nearly to death and stuffs him in a locker and kills the cops accompanying Sam. Confronted by a newly invigorated Spawn, he expresses his goal to claim the title of leader of the vampires and take over Hong Kong, subjugating humanity to become cattle before he flees, satisfied with having destroyed Spawn's reputation.
* ''Curse of the Spawn'' issues #1-4 & ''Blood and Salvation'':
** [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Phlegethonyarre]] is an Archon of Hell's Twelfth Level and ruler of Hell in the far future, who possesses a strong hatred toward God and religion. At one point capturing the soul of the troubled Daniel Llano, to turn him into his own personal Hellspawn and brainwash him into leading his army to Earth, Phlegethonyarre laid waste to the planet, reducing humanity and all living things to a very small number, and has his demons torture and slaughter anyone they find or transform them into monstrous Nightmares. Turning Earth into an [[HellOnEarth unholy wasteland]], Phlegethonyarre desires to [[KillAllHumans erase humanity from the face of the Earth]], simply as spite against God and faith.
** [[SinisterMinister Anti-Pope]] is a [[TheDragon second-in-command]] of Phlegethonyarre's army, who organized the torture and slaughter of humanity. Creating his own city of Nu-Vatican, Anti-Pope tortures and transforms countless people into demonic zombie slaves in his chambers, while [[{{Sadist}} watching with joy]] at the suffering of humanity. Having his generals capture and turn many [[WouldHurtAChild children]] into monsters, Anti-Pope turns humanity's leader Abel into his servant, simply so he could capture the nephew of Daniel Llano, the current Hellspawn, and lure him into his tower made of human bones, so that his top general Abaddon could force Spawn into a SadisticChoice. After the death of Abaddon and part of his forces, Anti-Pope summons the horrifying Mumblers in his last attempt of wiping out the remains of humanity.
* ''Godslayer'': Urshrek, the Winter King, is a tyrannical god and ruler of the land of Uhmber who keeps the land in EndlessWinter. The only way the people can keep themselves alive is to worship him and give him {{human sacrifice}}s to satiate his hunger. One man dissents, as he was the father of one of Urshrek's sacrificed meals. Urshrek turns him into a [[AndIMustScream living skeleton that begs for death]]. After the Godslayer, Elyar, gives Urshrek a minor wound, the king devours him. Inside, Elyar discovers that Urshrek [[SoulEating devours the souls]] of his own sacrifices, keeping them as [[LivingBattery living batteries]] to fuel his powers. Worst of all, Urshrek is revealed to be Jorren the Summer King, and the promise of summer is a lie. Urshrek forces thousands of innocent people to continue to worship and performing human sacrifices to him under the pretense that he will one day give them better lives. He even admits to himself that he has no intention of ending the endless winter. Once the Godslayer defeats him, Urshrek then self-destructs as a last resort, setting off explosion which buried an entire country in snow and ice.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Spawn: War Devil'', by Doug Moench, Creator/ChuckDixon, Alan Grant, & Klaus Janson: [[BigBad Croatoan]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious demon]] in service to Satan who murders then assumes the identity of corporate leader Simon Vesper--supposedly killed by Spawn--for his own ambitions. Responsible for damning 100 lives of a [[UsefulNotes/TheLostColonyOfRoanoke Roanoke colony]] to Hell centuries ago, Croatoan attempts to do the same to one-hundred thousand more lives across [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], slaughtering his own human proxy before cutting out the power all across Gotham and arising the dead to slaughter as they will across Gotham. Croatoan's ultimate intention is to lead in the apocalypse using the souls of those he's damned as his army, all for his own corner of Hell to rule over as reward.
* ''Medieval Spawn/ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' (1996, by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.): [[BigBad Lord Cardinale]] is a medieval wielder of "ComicBook/TheDarkness", and definitely the vilest. Using his power to take over a large chunk of territory, Cardinale rules like an EvilOverlord. After Matthew Royale told him about the power of Elven artifacts, Cardinale eagerly invaded the Elven homeland of Faerie, massacring thousands of Elves and destroying their homes. When the current wielder of Witchblade and Spawn were close to defeating him, he decided to power himself up by absorbing all Darkness essence from--in effect killing--all his servants, including his lover.
* ''The Adventures of Spawn'': {{Mammon}}, as reimagined in this LighterAndSofter work, is a powerful demon lord from the [[DarkIsEvil Forces of Darkness]], who constantly tries to bring chaos and destruction to the universe. Gathering his own [[LegionOfDoom team of villains]], Mammon created a plan to open the Gates of Limbo and release his master Malebolgia upon the cosmos. To this end he has Overtkill destroy a museum full of people; the Amazon Tiffany assassinate the whole angelic Council of Light; and Cy-Gor attack Al Simmons, aka Spawn X, and his family. Getting his hands on the Awakening Stone, Mammon plans to [[OmnicidalManiac end all life on Earth]] and tries to painfully strip Al Simmons from his symbiotic costume.
* ''The Dark Ages''' issue #22 ("The Seeding"): [[CardCarryingVillain Yagher Dien]] is a Hellspawn meant to become Covenant's successor. [[MisanthropeSupreme Despising humanity]] from birth and reveling in evil for its own sake, Yagher Dien [[SiblingMurder killed his own brother]] just so he could have more food for himself at the table. Later in life, Yagher Dien made a career out of raping, murdering, and stealing, eventually coming to rule over an Irish village where he [[EvilOverlord ruled as a despot]], killing thousands of villagers. After his brutal death at the hands of the villagers he reigned over, Yagher Dien became Malebolgia's perfect soldier, seeking to be released by Covenant to [[HellOnEarth turn the world into a wasteland]].
* ''Medieval Spawn and ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' (2018, written by Brian Haberlin & Brian Holguin): [[BigBad The Trinity]] is a being from another dimension who managed to find his way to Earth. Splitting itself into three forms of the Mother, the Daughter, and the Unholy Spirit, The Trinity used its "Daughter" form to seduce both King Valon and his friend Leith and then convinced Leith to kill Valon. Revealing its true form to Leith, leading to him [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] and becoming Hellspawn, the Trinity began corrupting the lands, spreading the Blight and sending its monsters to attack and kill innocent people. Using its "Mother" form to kidnap the women of the tribe, which rebelled against her with newly arrived Spawn, it painfully killed them and tried to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a little girl]], who was the current wielder of Witchblade. Later trying to corrupt the wielder of Witchblade to its side, the Trinity attempted to consume the Earth by merging it with the Nightmare Realm.

[[AC:Other Media (by release date)]]

* [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] game: [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Malebolgia]], the demon who created Spawn, is once again presented as one of Spawn's most insidious foes. Malebolgia [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] an [[FallenAngel Angel]] with rumors of a weapon capable of destroying him. The Angel, quickly earning the name "The Mad One" among his peers, kidnaps 13 children and steals their souls, creating an orb of purity that is capable of destroying Malebolgia, but its use [[WouldHurtAChild will cost the children their lives]]. The Mad One opens a portal to Hell to confront Malebolgia. After Spawn defeats the Mad One in an effort to save the children, Malebolgia takes the orb, revealing that he manipulated the Mad One so he would bring him innocent souls. Malebolgia then bonds the souls to his neural parasites and creates a giant demon called the New Breed, which he sends to Earth to [[SoulEating feast on innocent souls]].
* Music/IcedEarth's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuKH9JbTeo Dark Saga]]" & "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HPqm8MKQw The Last Laugh]]": [[BigBad Malebolgia]], the self-proclaimed "destroyer of the light", is the demon who is responsible for creating ComicBook/{{Spawn}}. Making a {{deal|With The Devil}} with the deceased CIA soldier Al Simmons, Malebolgia rigged the deal, resulting in Al's soul becoming corrupted and tormented, becoming the present Spawn. It was soon revealed that Malebolgia tries to manipulate Spawn for his own bidding in order to [[KillAllHumans destroy mankind]] and [[RageAgainstTheHeavens the heavens]].
* [[WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn Animated series]]:
** [[DiabolicalMastermind Jason Wynn]] is the director of the NSC, who ordered the death of Al Simmons by having him burned alive. In exchange for favors from a corrupt Senator, he covers up the crimes of said Senator's son, child killer Billy Kincaid. Using his position to steal weapons from the U.S. Department of Defense, Wynn [[ArmsDealer sells them to various terrorists and dictators]] across the globe. When one of Wynn's employees, Terry Fitzgerald, discovers Wynn's crimes, Wynn [[FrameUp frames him for them]] and later orders a hit squad to kill Terry's wife Wanda and [[WouldHurtAChild his daughter Cyan]]. Wynn later has his former subordinate, Major Forsberg, thrown into a cell and starved when he tried to leave Wynn's services. Seeking the mask of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, which will give him the powers of Hell, Wynn tries to get answers from Forsberg by threatening to kill his family. When Terry tries to kill Wynn in revenge, Wynn has him dragged to an opium den and forcibly drugged, to make his death as slow as possible, while gloating about how he will sell his wife into forced prostitution.
** [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is a demon in service to Malebolgia whose job is to ensure that Spawn remains firmly on the side of evil, tormenting Spawn with images of Wanda while he was in Hell and [[TheCorrupter pushing him into increasingly violent acts]] so he can lead Hell in its conquest of Heaven and Earth without remorse. In his own time, he takes pleasure in the carnage left behind by Spawn and others, standing by while knowing that [[WouldHurtAChild Billy Kincaid]] is raping and murdering children on a whim, and helping him abduct Cyan Fitzgerald. He's also not above engaging in violence himself, abducting a deaf boy while disguised as an insane priest, [[CopKiller murdering cops]] in front of him, and attempting to blow him up with a bundle of grenades strapped to his chest along with a whole SWAT team. Once Spawn has Billy Kincaid cornered, he makes one last effort to goad him into killing him in cold blood before he goes down to finish him off himself.
* [[Film/Spawn1997 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Mammon]], a FallenAngel known as the lord of The Forgotten Ones, desired to create the perfect Hellspawn to assist him in ascending to rulership of all creation. To this end, Mammon haunted the bloodlines of Al Simmons and Wanda Blake, [[TheChessmaster sowing death and destruction]] to create more Hellspawn and always leaving corpses and ruined lives in his wake. Mammon proves himself to be Spawn's greatest, most intelligent and most dangerous enemy, condemning the souls Spawn would seek to protect to Hell to use them as leverage for their loved ones, and making [[DealWithTheDevil deals to consolidate his power]]. When {{Satan}} returns and is furious at Mammon for claiming the throne, Mammon gets back in his former master's good graces by proposing to detonate the San Andreas Fault to kill and add the souls of many mortals to Hell's legions. After Satan is removed, Mammon unveils his master stroke: With heaven and Hell sealed off from the world, Mammon sets about to conquer it from behind the scenes with Spawn's demonic daughter Morana, the product of his grand ambition.

* ''The Adventures of Spawn'': [[BigBad Mammon]], as reimagined in this LighterAndSofter work, is a powerful [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demon lord]] from the Forces of Darkness, who constantly tries to bring chaos and destruction to the universe. Gathering his own [[LegionOfDoom team of villains]], Mammon created a plan to open the Gates of Limbo and release his master Malebolgia upon the cosmos. To this end he has Overtkill destroy a museum full of people, the Amazon Tiffany assassinate the whole angelic Council of Light, and Cy-Gor attack Al Simmons, aka Spawn X, and his family. Getting his hands on the Awakening Stone, Mammon plans to [[OmnicidalManiac end all life on Earth]] and tries to painfully strip Al Simmons from his symbiotic costume.

* ''Blood Feud'': John [[NamesToRunAwayFrom Sansker]] is an ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] who [[HunterOfMonsters hunts other monsters]] he deems [[TheSocialDarwinist inferior]] and as competition. Making himself known by torturing The Curse into giving him false information about Spawn, Sansker robs a blood bank; commits a series of mass murders in an apartment; pins the massacres on Spawn and turns everyone against him from the homeless people he protects to his CIA contacts; makes several attempts to kill him while {{gaslighting}} him into thinking that his costume is behind the killings. As Sam and Twitch catch onto Sansker, he brutally beats Twitch nearly to death and stuffs him in a locker and kills the cops accompanying Sam. Confronted by a newly invigorated Spawn, he expresses his goal to claim the title of leader of the vampires and take over Hong Kong, subjugating humanity to become cattle before he flees, satisfied with having destroyed Spawn's reputation.

** [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is a demon in service to Malebolgia whose job is to ensure that Spawn remains firmly on the side of evil, [[TheCorrupter pushing him into increasingly violent acts]] so he can lead Hell in its conquest of Heaven and Earth without remorse. In his own time, he takes pleasure in the carnage left behind by Spawn and others, standing by while knowing that [[WouldHurtAChild Billy Kincaid]] is raping and murdering children on a whim, and helping him abduct Cyan Blake. He's also not above engaging in violence himself, abducting a deaf boy while disguised as an insane priest, [[CopKiller murdering cops]] in front of him, and attempting to blow him up with a bundle of grenades strapped to his chest along with a whole SWAT team. Once Spawn has Billy Kincaid cornered, he makes one last effort to goad him into killing him in cold blood before he goes down to finish him off himself.

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}} Animated series]]:

* [[Film/{{Spawn}} 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* ''Curse of the Spawn'' issues 1-4 & ''Blood and Salvation'':

* ''The Dark Ages'': [[CardCarryingVillain Yagher Dien]] is a Hellspawn meant to become Covenant's successor. [[MisanthropeSupreme Despising humanity]] from birth and reveling in evil for its own sake, Yagher Dien [[SiblingMurder killed his own brother]] just so he could have more food for himself at the table. Later in life, Yagher Dien made a career out of raping, murdering, and stealing, eventually coming to rule over an Irish village where he [[EvilOverlord ruled as a despot]], killing thousands of villagers. After his brutal death at the hands of the villagers he reigned over, Yagher Dien became Malebolgia's perfect soldier, seeking to be released by Covenant to [[HellOnEarth turn the world into a wasteland]].

''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' is an incredibly dark comic from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, but still has [[CompleteMonster several monsters who stand out]].

[[AC:Comic Books]]

* ''Spawn: Godslayer'': Urshrek, the Winter King, is a tyrannical god and ruler of the land of Uhmber who keeps the land in EndlessWinter. The only way the people can keep themselves alive is to worship him and give him {{human sacrifice}}s to satiate his hunger. One man dissents, as he was the father of one of Urshrek's sacrificed meals. Urshrek turns him into a [[AndIMustScream living skeleton that begs for death]]. After the Godslayer, Elyar, gives Urshrek a minor wound, the king devours him. Inside, Elyar discovers that Urshrek [[SoulEating devours the souls]] of his own sacrifices, keeping them as [[LivingBattery living batteries]] to fuel his powers. Worst of all, Urshrek is revealed to be Jorren the Summer King, and the promise of summer is a lie. Urshrek forces thousands of innocent people to continue to worship and performing human sacrifices to him under the pretense that he will one day give them better lives. He even admits to himself that he has no intention of ending the endless winter. Once the Godslayer defeats him, Urshrek then self-destructs as a last resort, setting off explosion which buried an entire country in snow and ice.

* [[Film/{{Spawn}} 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* Music/IcedEarth's ''The Dark Saga'':
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuKH9JbTeo Dark Saga]]": [[BigBad Malebolgia]], the self-proclaimed destroyer of light, is the demon who is responsible on creating Spawn. Making a {{deal|With The Devil}} with the deceased CIA soldier Al Simmons, Malebolgia rigged the deal, resulting in Al's soul becoming corrupted and tormented, becoming the present Spawn. It was soon revealed that Malebolgia tries to manipulate Spawn for his own bidding in order to [[KillAllHumans destroy mankind]] and the heavens.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTTm00wivv8 Vengeance is Mine]]": [[WouldHurtAChild Billy Kincaid]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil seemingly friendly man]] who is revealed to be far worse. Defined as "malignance personified", Kincaid is revealed to be the SerialKiller and molester of innocent children who has countless victims under his belt before being brutally murdered by Spawn himself.
* [[WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}} Animated series]]:

* [[Film/{{Spawn}} 1997 live-action film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}} Animated series]]: [[DiabolicalMastermind Jason Wynn]] is the director of the NSC, who ordered the death of Al Simmons by having him burned alive. In exchange for favors from a corrupt Senator, he covers up the crimes of said Senator's son, child killer Billy Kincaid. Using his position to steal weapons from the U.S. Department of Defense, Wynn [[ArmsDealer sells them to various terrorists and dictators]] across the globe. When one of Wynn's employees, Terry Fitzgerald, discovers Wynn's crimes, Wynn [[FrameUp frames him for them]] and later orders a hit squad to kill Terry's wife Wanda and [[WouldHurtAChild his daughter Cyan]]. Wynn later has his former subordinate, Major Forsberg, thrown into a cell and starved when he tried to leave Wynn's services. Seeking the mask of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, which will give him the powers of Hell, Wynn tries to get answers from Forsberg by threatening to kill his family. When Terry tries to kill Wynn in revenge, Wynn has him dragged to an opium den and forcibly drugged, to make his death as slow as possible, while gloating about how he will sell his wife into forced prostitution.

* [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] Game: [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Malebolgia]], the demon who created Spawn, is once again presented as one of Spawn's most insidious foes. Malebolgia [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] an [[FallenAngel Angel]] with rumors of a weapon capable of destroying him. The Angel, quickly earning the name "The Mad One" among his peers, kidnaps 13 children and steals their souls, creating an orb of purity that is capable of destroying Malebolgia, but its use [[WouldHurtAChild will cost the children their lives]]. The Mad One opens a portal to Hell to confront Malebolgia. After Spawn defeats the Mad One in an effort to save the children, Malebolgia takes the orb, revealing that he manipulated the Mad One so he would bring him innocent souls. Malebolgia then bonds the souls to his neural parasites and creates a giant demon called the New Breed, which he sends to Earth to [[SoulEating feast on innocent souls]].
* [[WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}} Animated Series]]: [[DiabolicalMastermind Jason Wynn]] is the director of the NSC, who ordered the death of Al Simmons by having him [[ManOnFire burned alive]]. In exchange for favors from a corrupt senator, he covers up the crimes of said senator's son, child killer Billy Kincaid. Using his position to steal weapons from the US Department of Defense, Wynn [[ArmsDealer sells them to various terrorists and dictators]] across the globe. When one of Wynn's employees, Terry Fitzgerald, discovers Wynn's crimes, Wynn [[FrameUp frames him for them]] and later orders a hit squad to kill Terry's wife Wanda and [[WouldHurtAChild his daughter Cyan]]. Wynn later has his former subordinate, Major Forsberg, thrown into a cell and starved when he tried to leave Wynn's services. Seeking the mask of Genghis Khan, which will give him the powers of Hell, Wynn tries to get answers from Forsberg by threatening to kill his family. When Terry tries to kill Wynn in revenge, Wynn has him dragged to an opium den and forcibly drugged, to make his death as slow as possible, while gloating about how he will sell his wife into forced prostitution.
* [[Film/{{Spawn}} Live-Action Film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil Malebolgia, who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of his family--including Spawn's [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Spawn: War Devil'', by Doug Moench, Creator/ChuckDixon, Alan Grant, & Klaus Janson: [[BigBad Croatoan]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious demon]] in service to Satan who murders then assumes the identity of corporate leader Simon Vesper--supposedly killed by Spawn--for his own ambitions. Responsible for damning 100 lives of a Roanoke colony to Hell centuries ago, Croatoan attempts to do the same to one-hundred thousand more lives across [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], slaughtering his own human proxy before cutting out the power all across Gotham and arising the dead to slaughter as they will across Gotham. Croatoan's ultimate intention is to lead in the apocalypse using the souls of those he's damned as his army, all for his own corner of Hell to rule over as reward.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Spawn: War Devil'', by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, & Klaus Janson: [[BigBad Croatoan]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious demon]] in service to Satan who murders then assumes the identity of corporate leader Simon Vesper--supposedly killed by Spawn--for his own ambitions. Responsible for damning 100 lives of a Roanoke colony to Hell centuries ago, Croatoan attempts to do the same to one-hundred thousand more lives across [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], slaughtering his own human proxy before cutting out the power all across Gotham and arising the dead to slaughter as they will across Gotham. Croatoan's ultimate intention is to lead in the apocalypse using the souls of those he's damned as his army, all for his own corner of Hell to rule over as reward.

[[caption-width-right:350:You should see his [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/3f/3d/b73f3d59653c96b32ad692004be99b5c.jpg true form]].]]

* ''Curse of Spawn'' issues 1-4 & ''Blood and Salvation'':
** [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Phlegethonyarre]] is an Archon of Hell's Twelfth Level and ruler of Hell in the far future, who possesses a strong hatred toward God and religion. At one point capturing the soul of the troubled Daniel Llano, to turn him into his own personal Hellspawn and brainwash him into leading his army to Earth, Phlegethonyarre laid waste to the planet, reducing humanity and all living things to a very small number, and has his demons torture and slaughter anyone they find or transform them into monstrous Nightmares. Turning Earth into an [[HellOnEarth unholy wasteland]], Phlegethonyarre desires to [[KillAllHumans erase humanity from the face of the Earth]], simply as spite against God and faith.
** [[SinisterMinister Anti-Pope]] is a [[TheDragon second-in-command]] of Phlegethonyarre's army, who organized the torture and slaughter of humanity. Creating his own city of Nu-Vatican, Anti-Pope tortures and transforms countless people into demonic zombie slaves in his chambers, while [[{{Sadist}} watching with joy]] at the suffering of humanity. Having his generals capture and turn many [[WouldHurtAChild children]] into monsters, Anti-Pope turns humanity's leader Abel into his servant, simply so he could capture the nephew of Daniel Llano, the current Hellspawn, and lure him into his tower made of human bones, so that his top general Abaddon could force Spawn into a SadisticChoice. After the death of Abaddon and part of his forces, Anti-Pope summons the horrifying Mumblers in his last attempt of wiping out the remains of humanity.

* [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OurDemonsAreDifferent Violator]], Spawn's EvilMentor, was sent by Malebolgia to train Spawn to be a soldier in Hell's army. However, rather than train Spawn, Violator had a tendency to commit horrible crimes, such as ripping the hearts out of random mob bosses, [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]]. Later, Violator kidnapped Cyan, the 3-year-old daughter of Spawn's widow Wanda. Violator [[FrameUp framed Spawn]] for the kidnapping and then [[WouldHurtAChild tried to kill Cyan]] by giving her a glass of poisoned milk. Spawn rescued Cyan and killed Violator in his clown form, sending him back to Hell. Violator later returned from Hell and [[DemonicPossession possessed]] Jason Wynn, turning the DiabolicalMastermind into a SerialKiller. Wynn, under Violator's influence, would hire prostitutes that looked like Wanda and then murder them. Violator eventually gained complete control over Wynn's body and used his powers to turn random citizens into "clowns," transforming them into BrainwashedAndCrazy psychopaths. Violator then ordered his clowns to go an violent rampage, resulting in massive property damage and several deaths. Violator later saved the life of a man of Barney Saunders, but this was no act of charity, as Violator needed a new body to possess and chose Saunders. After possessing Saunders's body, Violator uses his powers to force the residents in Saunders's apartment complex to commit horrible crimes, including murder. Violator was able to use the violence in the apartment complex to further empower himself and then attempted to open a portal to Hell, which would allow his demon brothers to wreak havoc on Earth.
* In life, [[FatBastard Billy Kincaid]] was a sadistic [[WouldHurtAChild child killer]]. After being freed from jail, he lured a small girl into his [[BadHumorTruck ice cream truck]] and then murdered her. He then proceeded to chop off the girl's fingers and glue them onto a board as a trophy. After Spawn discovered Kincaid's brutal crimes, he killed Kincaid, sending him to Hell. Dead, Kincaid became even worse than ever, given the task by Hell to [[YourSoulIsMine gather more souls for them]]. Kincaid did this by [[DemonicPossession possessing people]] and making them act out their worse impulses. This resulted in the murder of dozens of innocent people and the damnation of several more people to Hell, though Kincaid was having far too much fun to care. Kincaid also delighted in torturing the souls of children, especially one young boy part of the legion inside of Spawn himself.

!NOTE: ALL SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED

* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' is an incredibly dark comic from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, but still has [[CompleteMonster several monsters who stand out]].

* [[Film/{{Spawn}} Live-Action Film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The [[TheDragon chief lieutenant]] of the devil Malebolgia, who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of his family--including Spawn's [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* [[Film/{{Spawn}} Live-Action Film]]: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil Malebolgia, who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of his family-including Spawn's [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* ''Batman/Spawn: War Devil'', by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, & Klaus Janson: [[BigBad Croatoan]] is an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious demon]] in service to Satan who murders then assumes the identity of corporate leader Simon Vesper--supposedly killed by Spawn--for his own ambitions. Responsible for damning 100 lives of a Roanoke colony to Hell centuries ago, Croatoan attempts to do the same to one-hundred thousand more lives across [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], slaughtering his own human proxy before cutting out the power all across Gotham and arising the dead to slaughter as they will across Gotham. Croatoan's ultimate intention is to lead in the apocalypse using the souls of those he's damned as his army, all for his own corner of Hell to rule over as reward.