Hey guys!
Welcome back to Top 10 Nerd, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
The Spectre is one of the coolest, oldest, and most underrated superheroes in all of
DC comics.
I’d wager that most of you had heard of him, but most casual comic fans don’t know
a heck of a lot about him.
Hell, some avid comic fans don’t know much about him.
That’s the thing with comics; there are so damn many it’s hard to keep up!
But never fear, Ron is here to catch you up on some pretty crazy facts about God’s spirit
of vengeance!
If you finish this and want more, check out our video on the Top 10 facts about Rocket
Raccoon next!
But first, get ready, it’s time for the Top 10 Shocking Facts about Spectre!
Number 10: Spectre is an angel.
This is something I should probably get out of the way early so non-fans know what the
heck is going on.
Spectre isn’t a dude who got powers, he’s actually the angelic source of power for a
couple different dudes.
Originally known as Aztar, he was among the angels who rebelled against the Presence,
who is the DC universe’s version of the Abrahamic God of our world.
However, after repenting, he had his memories erased and began acting as the Vengeance of
the Presence, known as the Spectre.
Number 9: He was busy long before he met his first host.
The Spectre did an awful lot in his primal form in biblical times, before needing a host.
It was he who punished Cain for murdering his brother Abel.
It was he who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and killed the first-born of Egypt.
Yep, apparently the old testament was very much a true story in the DC universe.
He only stopped once Jesus was born, and Spectre was sent into limbo since Compassion and Redemption,
in the form of Jesus, couldn’t walk the Earth at the same time as Wrath and Vengeance,
in the form of Spectre.
Once Jesus died, Spectre was brought back from limbo, but with a new set of rules.
Speaking of which…
Number 8: Da rules.
Yep, turns out Cosmo and Wanda aren’t the only powerful beings with a rulebook.
After the death of Christ, Spectre was forbidden to walk the mortal plane without a human host,
to limit the way he uses his power.
The host both limits the extent of his abilities, and helps him to make the right judgments.
He’s not allowed to harm certain beings, like Nekron, Darkseid,, or Cain, whose death
was forbidden by The Presence.
His powers are also greatly affected by his host’s psyche, with weakness in the host
often translating to a dampening in Spectre’s abilities.
Number 7: He was one of DC’s first superheroes.
While Spectre has taken on pretty much every role out there, from murderous vigilante to
a bringer of God’s Wrath, the first host we saw was a police detective named Jim Corrigan.
First introduced in More Fun Comics #52 in 1940, Jim was killed by criminals.
In the afterlife, he expressed a desire to exact justice on those who had killed him,
and his wish was granted.
He was returned to Earth in ghost form, now merged with Spectre, gaining powerful abilities,
which he used to fight crime.
As time went on, he went through a variety of forms, and came to show more and more power.
And boy, did he have power.
Speaking of which…
Number 6: He’s one of the most powerful characters in the DC universe.
Spectre is often overlooked in terms of power, just because he isn’t too well-known, but
surprise surprise, this divinely-empowered being is pretty darn strong.
Originally, his powers were mostly ghost-related stuff like invisibility and walking through
walls, but as the comics went on he showed more and more power.
His abilities are usually kept in check by the Presence, because unchecked he could potentially
destroy whole universes.
It’s hard to actually give a list of his powers because it would be essentially endless,
so I’ll just say hey, you want to do something?
He could probably do it.
Number 5: Jim Corrigan wasn’t the Spectre’s first host.
That’s right, Spectre got his first host soon after Jesus was crucified, and Spectre
was once again released with his new set of rules.
The Archangel Michael bound the soul of a Hindu man named Caraka to The Spectre, making
him the first host.
Caraka didn’t take it too well, and ended up merging with Sekuba, a succubus, becoming
Azmodus, who would go on to become The Spectre’s nemesis.
The Spectre had a bunch of other hosts before coming to Jim Corrigan.
But Jim wasn’t his last host, and he had one particularly famous one…
Number 4: Hal Jordan was Spectre for a time.
As you probably know, Hal Jordan died at the end of his run as the villain Parallax, with
his spirit being sent to purgatory.
When Asmodel began a war on Heaven, Hell, and Earth, the world needed a new vessel for
the Spectre.
Only problem was, Jim Corrigan had found peace in heaven, and refused.
But as luck would have it, a quick trip to purgatory would bring them to Hal Jordan,
who was eager to redeem himself, and he became the new Spectre.
The Hal Jordan Spectre was very different from Corrigan’s, since Hal actually manipulated
the entity to help to redeem fallen souls like Harvey Dent in an attempt to redeem himself,
rather than going around exacting vengeance left and right.
Parallax remained inside him, but eventually Hal was freed of it, and Spectre left him,
his goal of cleansing Hal now achieved.
And as I’m sure you know, Hal went back to being a lantern.
Number 3: He went on a war against magic.
Soon after leaving Hal, a host-less Spectre ran into Jean Loring, who had become Eclipso.
Eclipso convinced him that since magic warps reality, and reality is God’s creation,
that magic is an affront to God.
This sent The Spectre on a quest to destroy all magic, killing countless practitioners
and destroying whole dimensions.
Eventually, The Presence had had enough, and said “No, stop it, go find a new host you
naughty boy!”
This led him to his next host, Gotham detective Crispus Allen, who had been killed by a different
Jim Corrigan, who was a corrupt officer.
Wish I could talk about him more, but no time!
Number 2: He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America.
Here’s but one proof of just how long Spectre has been around.
The Spectre was part of the original JSA, the first official superhero team in comics.
The JSA also included Doctor Fate, Hour-Man, The Sandman, The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern,
and Hawkman.
This was one of the few times the Spectre managed to stop killing bad guys long enough
to join a superhero team.
Didn’t last forever, but it was fun while it lasted.
Number 1: Even HE can’t keep track of all the reboots.
If you’re anything like me, the constant reboots and retcons coming from DC can be
a bit confusing.
Apparently the Spector has taken it upon himself to fix some of these issues, but even he has
trouble keeping track of what’s what.
In the hilarious Six Pack and Dog Welder: Hard-Travelin’ Heroz, Issue 2, he was trying
to find a certain demon named Baytor.
Only problem is, according to Spectre, (booming) ,, His likeness was lost in one of these fucking
re-shuffles.
The fifty-two infinites or the resurgent crisis or something,, So the whole issue revolves
around the fact that The Spectre doesn’t know what the heck this guy looks like because
everything’s been changed so much.
And my god can I relate.
That’s it for today!
Hope you guys enjoyed, if you did please smack that thumbs up button and subscribe to Top
10 Nerd for more videos!
Don’t want to miss another video?
Click the bell icon to join the notification squad so you know every time we upload a video!
And if you want a sweet playlist to watch so you can just relax and let the nerdiness
wash over you, check out our Top 10 Alternate Versions playlist on the channel!
Also, as a bonus fact for those of you who stuck with me, there’s actually an animated
short about the Spectre, where he’s voiced by Gary Cole.
It’s awesome, give it a watch.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 nerd.
Later nerds!