10 Worst Things The Spectre Has Ever Done
The Spirit of God's Vengeance has occasionally gone too far in the execution of his duties.
The Spectre was created by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Bernard Bailey for More Fun Comics #52, with a cover date of February 1940, and is the physical embodiment of the Wraith of the Presence, the DC Universe’s version of the Judeo-Christian God. It is his job to punish evil human beings and exact divine vengeance, which he often exacts in creative and ghoulish ways.
The Primal-Spectre exist seconds after the rebellion against Heaven and was charged with being the Wraith of God in the world of man. It was the Primal-Spectre who punished Cain and laid the mark upon him. He destroyed the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he blasted down the walls of Jericho and the ten plagues of Egypt.
After the death of Jesus, it was decided by God that the Spectre would be tempered by the presence of a human host. The Spectre fought this mightily, but, as it was God’s will, it was done. The Spectre was bound to the first of thousands of human hosts over the centuries. Despite this human connection, the Spectre has still done many horrible things that fall short of the divine nature and his more recent role as a hero.
Some of these things may have been done while punishing evil beings, but sometimes, the Spectre goes too far.
10. Spectre Became A Force For Evil During The Blackest Night
The villain Black Hand realized that he need to get the Spectre out of the way for his plans to succeed. He had his Black Lantern operative Pariah create more Black Lantern rings and attach themselves to the corpse of Crispus Allen, trapping the wraith inside his host and transforming him into a Black Lantern. Transforming to giant size, the transformed Vengeance entity demanded Hal Jordan come back as his host. The Phantom Stranger and Blue Devil were able to delay the Spirit but not stop him from his pursuit of Jordan.
Because the Spectre Force protected him from the emotional light that normally destroyed the Black Lanterns, Hal needed to take drastic measures. Knowing that the Spectre feared the Parallax entity, Jordan allowed himself to become reinfected with the fear entity in order to stop him. Hal was able to free the ghost from the influence of the Black Rings.
The power of the Spectre drew the immediate interest of Atrocitus, the leader of the Red Lantern Corps. He wanted to use the power in revenge against the Guardians of the Galaxy, and he warned Atrocitus that he was God’s rage and true rage like his was not to be trifled with. The Spirit of Vengeance confronted Nekron but, having no soul, the death entity was immune to Wraith’s powers. Nekron removed him from the battlefield to an unknown location.