<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Moon Knight
Gender	Male
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Origin	Chicago, Illinois
First Appearance	Werewolf by Night #32 (August, 1975)
Creator(s)	Doug Moench and Don Perlin
Alter ego	Marc Spector
Aliases	Steven Grant, Jake Lockley
Abilities	Excellent at combat and exotic weaponry. Strength increased to varying degrees when exposed to different phases of the moon.
Affiliations	Avengers, Defenders, Marvel Knights

Moon Knight is a fictional superhero comic book character owned by Marvel Comics. He has had several comic book mini-series and unlimited series. He currently has an ongoing series that started in April, 2006 and is written by Charlie Huston and drawn by David Finch.

Moon Knight believes himself to be the avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon, sometimes described as a “god of vengeance, and other times as a “god of justice”. He wears an all silver costume (like the “silvery moon”) and uses high tech devices and his own personal skills to fight crime. He was originally mercenary Marc Spector, who in a near death experience was saved by Khonshu in exchange for doing his work in the world. By doing good as a vigilante, Spector hopes to make up for his sinful and bloody past as a mercenary for hire.

Moon Knight, at first glance, reminds many comic book fans of Batman, also referred to as the “Dark Knight”. While there are some similarities, there are some important differences as well. Initially, Moon Knight had three secret identities. First, there was Steven Grant, millionaire recluse. Second, there was Jake Lockley, cab driver and friend to the common man. Third, there was Marc Spector, ex-mercenary, and the only identity with any reality to it. It became clear that, unlike Batman, Spector actually had a fractured mind, and often totally immersed himself so deeply in these characters, that he believed them all to be true at the time, and had different allies calling him “Steven”, “Jake” or “Marc”, depending on which “life” they were the most part of. It has been since accepted that Spector was a victim of "associative identity disorder", and that even his Moon Knight identity lived for him as a separate character. Spector also had his questionable spiritual connection with the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, whose aspect may or may not be an delusion of Spector’s diseased and fractured mind. Unlike Batman, who is motivated by his parent’s death, Marc Spector is driven by his own misdeeds, always hoping (and ultimately failing) to find true redemption as Moon Knight.

Origin

By the time we meet Marc Spector, he was already a “soldier of fortune” with an international reputation, an ex-prize fighter, former marine commando, former C.I.A. agent, a veteran of three African wars and five South American revolutions. He had left his life as a Rabbi’s son far behind him. He was now working for a man names Roald Bushman, who was a terrorist for hire who had his face tattooed as a death mask. He had developed a close relationship with his aid and future copter pilot Jean-Paul DuChamp, whom he called “Frenchie”. While fighting rebel forces with Spector and Bushman in the Sudan, Frenchie discovered that Bushman had plans to raid a nearby archeological dig for gold and treasures. Spector and Frenchie left Bushman’s employ that night, and headed for the dig. He saw Bushman almost get killed by an archaeologist protecting the dig, and Spector stepped in to prevent Bushman’s death, only to watch Bushman murder the archeologist savagely. He got the archaeologist’s daughter Marlene Alraune to safety, he went up against Bushman, who savagely beat Spector until he was near death.

Though blaming him for her father’s death, Marlene tried to take care of Spector, but instead witnessed his death (his heart stopped) for over a minute. When Spector came to, he attributed his “coming back from the dead” to the presence of the statue of Khonshu, and taking up the silver cloak which had been placed on the statue to preserve it, declared himself the avatar of Khonshu’s vengeance. Spector claims to have had an encounter with Khonshu on the spiritual plane, in which he had traded service to Khonshu for his life. As Moon Knight, Spector would destroy Bushman’s forces in that part of the world, and take Frenchie and Marlene back to America.

In America, Spector would invest his ill-gotten gains as a mercenary into a fortune. He developed a silver battle suit, and set up the identities of Steven Grant and Jake Lockley, hoping to distance himself from his former life. He would develop a silent “mooncopter” that was flown by Frenchie, and set up Marlene as Steven Grant’s lover and business manager, and would buy a mansion on Long Island to set up as the base of the crime fighter Moon Knight.

Powers and Methods

Spector is an Olympic level athlete and a highly trained soldier. He is a master of hand-to-hand combat, and seems to have an affinity for the cycles of the moon, sometimes explained by his relationship with Khonshu, other times by an experience he had with a werewolf early in his Moon Knight career. He has “crescent darts”, which he can throw with deadly accuracy and can slice through an aircraft control cable at about 30 feet if thrown just right. He also has a truncheon which converts to a nunchaku. In both forms, he can throw and use this weapon in a number of ways and with incredible accuracy. He also sometimes uses his silvery cape to glide on the wind. His chief mode of transportation is his “mooncopter” flown by the faithful Frenchie.

Current Series

After "crossing the line" by killing his arch nemesis, Bushman, Marc Spector has "lost himself". He is still recovering both from physical and psychological damage from that experience, and has begun seeing strange visions that seems to be Bushman's ghost, egging him on to become a cold-hearted killer. In addition, he has attained a registration card that allows him to operate within the bounds of the Superhuman Registration Act and Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sanction. He obtained the registration card through psychological manipulation of the government psychiatrist on whose approval the card was given to him. However, with his mental state seeming to deteriorate, and an old foe's attempt to frame him for murdering criminals, Tony Stark has placed him under "investigation" and taken away his right to continue to operate. But Marc Spector isn't exactly known for his respect for the law...