Bio: Al Simmons was a ranking officer in the U.S. Army. Even
going so far as to take a bullet for the President of the United States,
Al was given top honors. He was sent on countless secret missions,
murdering hundreds of people. Thinking he was doing it for the good of
the country, Al never thought of the consequences.
Hell looked toward Al Simmons on the day that he murdered almost a dozen
officers, women and children after he was tortured and his friend,
Sykes, was tortured to death. After hearing his friend slowly drain of
blood for keeping information that Al later found out was bogus, Al
opened fire on the prisoners, killing every one of them.
Though his commander, Major Forsberg, pled with Al to not let the demons
get him, Al ignored Forsberg�s sage advice. Killing more and more as
time went on; Hell began harvesting all the souls he was sending to it
and Malebolgia began desiring his soul with increasing lust every day.
Al eventually even captured Major Forsberg for Jason Wynn, after
Forsberg fled from the NSC to a remote temple where he only wished to
pray. Killing every civilian in the temple, Al felt no remorse for his
actions and continued to feel that he was only �doing his job.�
Simmons met his end when his best friend, Jess Chapel, was given orders
by Jason Wynn to kill Simmons. Using a flame thrower, Chapel torched
Al�s body, putting Al into fits of screaming agony and pain as his flesh
slowly burnt off and he died.
Al was sent to Hell and signed a deal with Malebolgia for his soul. In
return, Al would be able to return to earth and say goodbye to his wife,
Wanda. In what seemed like nothing more than a split-second deal, Al
woke up on Earth in some kind of shroud, dangling chains and some kind
outfit and mask.
At first, Al didn�t remember who he was or why he was back on earth.
When he was sent back, he came with a clean slate and could only draw
from the skills he possessed when he was human. Wandering around with no
reason or purpose, Al slowly began to remember his former life through
vivid and violent dreams. Realizing that he came back for his wife,
Wanda, Al went to go find her.
When he arrived at their old house, Al saw Wanda kissing his best
friend, Terry Fitzgerald. Their child, Cyan, came running out shouting
�Daddy!�; to Al, this was a great blow, to see his wife in the arms of
his best friend and with a child that wasn�t his. He and Wanda were
never able to have a child, which he later found out was his �fault.�
After much self pity and anguish, Al finally learned the truth about his
new existence. It had been five years since he was last on Earth, his
body long since buried in a hero�s funeral and his wife moved on with
his best friend. Al Simmons was no longer in existence; instead he was a
Hellspawn, a leader of Hell�s growing army. Dubbed either �Hell�s Pawn�
or more often than not, simply �Spawn�, these creatures are wrapped in a
deep red shroud that enables them to do anything they wish. With this
shroud, Spawn is able to suffocate victims, grab them or even wrap
himself in it and allow him to change forms. Able to grant those he
wishes their greatest desires, the shroud comes at a terrible price: its
power is limited. His shape shifting will eventually wear off to the
point where he starts dripping the maggots and bugs that make up his
body.
Other powers that Spawn possesses are a limitless amount of chains that
can choke, strangle or snap the bones in its victims. Spawn�s body is
also regenerating; when shot, he will bleed necroplasm, a green
substance that is essentially Spawn�s �blood.� As long as Spawn remains
replenished, his body can regenerate. Using the bugs in the dirt, Spawn
can return to his grave and any wounds that his body is too weak to
repair will heal. In addition, Spawn is able to teleport, create green
orbs of what can only be described as �Hell-energy� and use this energy
to read the minds and see past memories of whoever he touches.
His powers do have their limits, however. Spawn�s time on Earth is
measured by a clock in Hell. During Spawn�s time on the surface, he is
to use it as a training ground for his powers, shroud, and chains and to
figure out his purpose. But Spawn doesn�t care what �purpose� that Hell
and Malebolgia want him to fill; Spawn feels cheated about this deal he
made with Malebolgia and isn�t going to accept his fate as the leader of
Hell�s army.
After taking all of this in, Spawn went on various missions to help
further his cause in this new life of his. When Jason Wynn and Tony
Twist sent Overkill after this mysterious man who was killing all of
Wynn�s best me, Spawn delivered Overkill back to Tony Twist in pieces.
Using stolen weapons and arms from Wynn�s stockpiles, Spawn set up the
alley he lived in for a trying time.
Spawn was alone in this new world. While a few of the bums, like Gareb,
tried to befriend him, Spawn would have none of it. Attempting to learn
why he was killed and by who, Spawn was plagued by the Hell-creature
known as Violator or his Earthly-form, �Clown.� Always egging Spawn on
to do the worst deeds he could, Clown was trying to get Spawn to be the
killing machine that Malebolgia wanted. Feeling spited that Spawn got
this chance to lead Hell�s army and not Clown, Clown eventually left
Spawn alone and allied himself with those who were trying to kill Spawn.
Although people wanted him dead, Spawn had no reason to worry. He quite
simply couldn�t die again and his will would force him to keep looking
for the answers to his questions.
Spawn confronted Jason Wynn about his attempts on Terry, Wanda and Cyan
and told him to stay away from the family. Quite simply nothing more
than scared, Wynn complied and called his men off of the Fitzgeralds.
Spawn attempted three times to talk to Wanda after he returned as a
Hellspawn. The attempts failed due to Wanda�s fear of Spawn�s
appearance.
Spawn was able to disguise himself as Terry Fitzgerald and make love to
Wanda one last time. Upon doing this, Spawn set in motion a chain of
events that would create the Seed of the Hellspawn, or quite simply a
Child of Hell. Spawn later found out that the child was what Malebolgia
wanted all along, not Simmons. The child would decide the outcome of
Armageddon.
Confronted also with the attack of Heaven-sent vampires and bounty
hunters, Spawn and one of the hunters, Jade, began to have feelings for
one another. Unfortunately for Jade, Heaven sent their own bounty
hunters after her for failing her mission to kill Spawn. Knowing that
she�d never have eternal piece unless she died while fighting Spawn, she
convinced Spawn to kill her. Spawn was barely able to do this, but in
the end he put her sword threw her chest. Spawn asked the Hunters to
kill him as well, but told Spawn that he wasn�t in their contract. After
walking away one of the Hunters called back �we�ll be back for the
child.�
Tired of these games that Heaven and Hell was playing with him, Spawn
began to seek a way to free himself from Hell�s grasp. With the help of
Cogliostro, a previous Hellspawn who only half-beat the curse of the
shroud, Spawn began his path to freeing himself from the shroud and
curse.
�I want my humanity back.� - Spawn |
