Cloak
Cloak is a comic book character that first appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man #64
Cloak is the personification of Darkness itself. He is the Yin to his partner Dagger's Yang. A mutant superhero of the streets, he waged a war against drugs and drug related crimes. He and Dagger have since joined the world's mutants in their exodus.
Origin
Before there was Cloak and Dagger, there was just Tyrone.Tyrone Johnson was a young African-American boy with a severe stuttering problem living in a rough neighborhood in South Boston. He was raised in a poor area and life was never easy for him; though with the support of his best friend Billy, he would handle life as it came to him. Ty’s stuttering got in the way and he couldn't stop his friend from being shot by a policeman who mistook him for a thief.
Having had enough of his life, Tyrone decided to run away from home. He made his way to New York City and then to Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal. When Ty left he brought nothing; no money, no food, nothing at all. Due to this, he would consider robbing someone for some cash. While searching for the perfect person he found a girl by the name of Tandy Brown. Incidentally she was a rich girl who had also run away from home. Tandy had been neglected by her rich mother and had decided to leave her home, never to return. As fate would have it, instead of Ty robbing the young girl, he witnessed someone else try to rob her. Not thinking, Ty chased and tackled Tandy's purse thief. Once he retrieved the purse he returned it immediately. From this chance encounter, both of these runaway teens became fast friends and began supporting one another.
Despite their different backgrounds, the two became close friends. Having no place to stay, the two were given a place by some men working for an evil chemist named Simon Marshall. Marshall worked for the Maggia, a local crime family. He was developing a new addictive drug and tested his work on captured teenage runaways. Tandy and Tyrone would be the most recent in a long line of unsuccessful experiments.
The drug had killed all of the other test subjects, but had a different effect on Tyrone and Tandy. The drug had activated both their latent mutant abilities. Defeating Marshall, the two became a crime-fighting duo determined to save kids and teenagers from the evils of the streets.
History
See: Cloak and Dagger
Beginnings
Cloak & Dagger started out as merciless vigilantes, killing Marshall despite the interference of Spider-Man, who saw the duo as misguided innocents and gradually became their friend. After ill-fated assassination attempts on the crimelords Silvermane and Kingpin, Dagger became less ruthless and tried to steer Cloak in a similar direction; however, since his power compelled him to consume living beings, Cloak found it more difficult to follow this gentler path, even though Dagger's light could satisfy his hunger temporarily.Cloak & Dagger befriended the super-powered preteens Power Pack and twice aided the New Mutants, junior trainees of the X-Men. The duo eventually learned they were mutants themselves, and that Marshall's drug had awakened their latent powers. Though they tend to target ordinary street criminals, they have faced such diverse foes as Doctor Doom, the Beyonder, Vermin, the Zapper, the Disciplinarian, the Warlord of Kampuchea, Set, Mephisto, Thanos, the Assembly of Evil, Firebrand and Lightmaster.
Cloak & Dagger found sanctuary at the Holy Ghost Church with the sympathetic Father Francis Delgado; but over time, Delgado became romantically obsessed with Tandy. Regarding Cloak as a demonic influence, Delgado tried and failed to split up the duo, going mad in the process. After Delgado was institutionalized, Cloak & Dagger found a new mentor in Tandy's uncle, Father Michael Bowen. Tandy's father, meanwhile, had become a cult leader as the Lord of Light in India. A "light vampire" who fed on others' life force, he clashed with Cloak and Dagger until he realized what he had become and tried to atone by hurling himself into Cloak's ebony abyss.
Police detective Brigid O'Reilly regarded the duo as a menace until they helped her capture serial poisoner Duane Hellman and told her of their origins. Later, when O'Reilly was betrayed and left for dead by corrupt cops, Cloak & Dagger used their powers to save her life, but the experience mutated Brigid's body and warped her mind. She became the vicious superhuman vigilante Mayhem, often fighting crime alongside Cloak & Dagger. O'Reilly's former partner, police detective Rebecca "Rusty" Nales, would become an ally to Cloak & Dagger as well.
Predator
Cloak continued to struggle with his power, and with the hungry Predator within his darkness. During a period when Cloak swore off consuming living beings, the Predator released the spirit of legendary killer Jack the Ripper to torment Cloak; however, when Jack betrayed the Predator in search of personal power, Cloak absorbed the madman and the Predator consumed Jack again. The drug-dealing crime boss Ecstasy (Renee Deladier) twice stole Cloak's powers for herself, largely because the Predator preferred the more ruthless Deladier as a host body. Cloak regained his powers both times, thanks in part to Doctor Strange. When the dream-demon Nightmare targeted Cloak, Tyrone prevailed with the aid of Dr. Strange and Dagger, who even managed to nullify Cloak's darkness altogether for a time; however, Tyrone feared that Dagger could only relate to him as Cloak, and he was soon manipulated into reclaiming his dark powers by the malevolent mystic Mister Jip. Tyrone's willing resumption of his Cloak form estranged Dagger, who briefly worked with the Black Cat before going back to Cloak, who had tried and failed to find a new partner in Dazzler. By this time, Jip was trying to usurp Cloak's body with the aid of his agents, Night and Day. Dagger defeated them all with the aid of the Predator, and the partners were reunited. Jip would continue to hound them, striking Dagger blind for a time, using the mad Delgado as a pawn, temporarily corrupting Dagger through the power of Night, and killing both Delgado and Father Bowen by mystically usurping their bodies. Cloak and Dagger would thwart Jip's plots again and again.D'Spayre
Though Cloak & Dagger once rescued homeless youth Anna Johnson from cultists, only Anna herself was aware of the fact that she is Tyrone's long-lost sister. Tandy did stay in touch with her stepfather Philip, who persisted in offering Tandy moral and financial support. He even moved to New York City to be near her, caring for her during her temporary blindness, and the two gradually developed a real father-daughter relationship. Sadly, he was killed by an overdose of the designer drug D'Lite, a creation of the demonic D'Spayre, who feeds on human misery. D'Spayre revealed that he had helped create Cloak & Dagger, whose powers would have been quite different had they developed normally. Apparently, their powers would have activated naturally through contact between Tandy and Tyrone; but D'Spayre inhibited this reaction, allowing Marshall's drug to trigger their powers instead. D'Spayre also secretly placed two aspects of his own power--one light, one dark--within the teens, reshaping their mutant powers. These dark and light forms were meant to act as storage batteries for D'Spayre, accumulating pain and suffering he could tap for future use. He had selected Tyrone and Tandy as host bodies since he thought mutants were especially prone to suffering. When D'Spayre tried to reclaim the light and dark forms for himself, Cloak & Dagger resisted, and D'Spayre was seemingly destroyed. In the process, Cloak's and Dagger's powers were altered, though their original abilities reasserted themselves over time.
Team-Ups
Cloak & Dagger are devoted to each other, but the lonely Dagger often wants more from life. While on an international case, Tandy performed with Eurocirque as Lady Light and shared a romance with supposed FBI agent Bill Clayton, who was exposed as a criminal but ultimately sacrificed himself to save Cloak & Dagger. Tandy found new friends in the New Warriors, who teamed with Cloak, Dagger and other heroes to defeat the shadow-lunatic Darkling. Around the same time, Cloak & Dagger teamed with Spider-Man and others to halt a murderous super-villain rampage led by metahuman serial killer Carnage; later, Dagger helped rescue the New Warriors from the supremely powerful Sphinx. She accepted an offer of New Warriors membership, though Cloak declined to join. Serving as a Warriors reservist, Dagger also undertook a single mission with the informal Secret Defenders group.Punisher & Marvel Knights
Bloodthirsty fellow vigilante the Punisher has been both an ally and an enemy to Cloak & Dagger over the years. When Cloak went missing recently, Dagger helped form the unofficial "Marvel Knights" alliance with the Punisher and other vigilantes, and joined most of the other Knights in hunting the rogue Punisher after he left. Meanwhile, a Nightmare-manipulated Cloak embarked on a mad quest to consume all lawbreakers, absorbing the Punisher and many others until Dagger teamed with Dr. Strange to purge Cloak's corrupting darkness and rescue his victims. In the process, Cloak reverted to his human form as Tyrone Johnson, though this condition would prove temporary. Shortly thereafter, the Marvel Knights disbanded.
Runaways
The secret criminal group known as The Pride tricked Cloak & Dagger into trying to retrieve their super-powered children. An encounter with these young Runaways soon convinced Cloak & Dagger of The Pride's true nature, but before they could act on this knowledge, the Pride's telepathic members, the Hayes, erased the duo's memories of The Pride. Cloak & Dagger continued to roam the mean streets, bringing the light of hope to the innocent and dark justice to the guilty.More recently, orderly Reginald Mantz managed to replicate Cloak's powers with drug Mutant Growth Hormone. He then beat Dagger and left her hospitalized. The Runaways and the New Avengers found evidence of "Cloak" acting this way and confronted them; however, they eventually discovered the truth.
Civil War
Cloak and Dagger were later revealed to have been members of Captain America's team of heroes who apposed the Superhuman Registration Act. Cloak was shot down by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents when trying to teleport a large number of heroes a chemical plant. Once at the chemical plant, Iron Man was waiting with the heroes who registered with the Superhuman Registration Act, where Dagger was hit by a bolt of lightning dispatched from a clone of Thor. Cloak and Dagger were later jailed in the Negative Zone , and then freed by Hulkling, disguised as Hank Pym. This then leads them to a brawl between Pro-Registration and Anti-Registration.Secret Invasion
In Secret Invasion #1, Luke Cage calls Cloak, who drops the New Avengers at the top of Stark Tower to steal one of Tony Stark's quinjets. When Cage offers to take him with them to find the downed Skrull ship, Cloak refuses, and vanishes.
Dark Reign
Cloak and Dagger, after another drug-elimination sortie, was approached by Norman Osborn, who offered them a deal to have their criminal record cleared if they would join his special mutant peacekeeping force.The two accepted, and became part of Osborn's personal team of X-Men. The normally reclusive Cloak thus became part of a greater team assigned to keep the peace in San Francisco after a series of pro and anti-mutant riots. Donning a new costume, and now keeping his face unhooded, Cloak realized that he and Dagger could no longer hold themselves apart from the world at large. When Dagger expressed the idea of running again, Cloak stopped her, saying that if they ran away again, they would be on the run forever.
They kept true to their heroic ideals even when mixed with the more distasteful members of their team. Thus, when Emma and Namor betrayed Osborn as part of Scott Summers' ploy, both Cloak and Dagger were invited to join the true X-Men in their exodus from San Francisco.
Tandy and Ty accepted, and the two runaways became part of a different team, and among their own kind.
Powers
Cloak's mutant abilities, activated by the unknown drug, are all derived from his connection to the Darkforce Dimension. As Cloak, Tyrone is often described as a "living shadow." He has a psychological connection to the cloak he wears (just an ordinary piece of cloth he found after his powers manifested) and can use his powers through the cloak as an extension of his body. As an avatar to the Darkforce Dimension he has a number of superhuman abilities:- Darkforce Conduit: Cloak's body is a portal to the "Darkforce Dimension," a world of strange ebony energy. Cloak is linked to a pocket realm of that dimension dominated by the Predator, which compels Cloak to absorb the life forces of other beings; but Dagger's light can temporarily satisfy this craving.
- Darkforce Channeling: Cloak can channel Darkforce to create a field of darkness in his general vicinity, usually using his cloak as a focal point to manipulate this darkness, though it can spread well beyond the confines of his cloak. People enveloped by Cloak's darkness feel numbing cold and crippling fear, sometimes seeing disturbing visions. Overlong exposure to the darkness can drive people insane. Dagger's light renders her largely immune to Cloak's darkness, and she can extend her light to protect others within Cloak's darkness if need be. Unprotected victims trapped in Cloak's dark realm are gradually drained of their life force, and presumably die unless Cloak releases them.
- Darkforce Teleportation: Cloak can teleport by entering the Darkforce dimension, moving a short distance within it and emerging back on Earth a great distance from his point of origin. A span of miles on Earth can be traversed in only a few steps via shortcuts through the Darkforce. Cloak can teleport other persons or objects along with himself in this fashion, too, a feat usually reserved for Dagger since most beings cannot safely traverse the Darkforce.
- Darkforce Intangibility: As Cloak, Tyrone is usually intangible, though he can solidify through an act of will, or by absorbing enough "light" to saturate his form temporarily. On the rare occasions when he resumes human form, he usually reverts to his old stutter, which vanishes when he becomes Cloak. Tyrone also seems to be physically stronger as Cloak. Tyrone's link to the Darkforce has been severed on several occasions, but he seems drawn to the darkness and vice versa, and he always regains his Cloak form eventually.
- Psychological Benefits: Cloak's powers appear to directly correlate to his self-confidence. His initial physical transformation into Cloak changed his self-image. Tyrone Johnson stutters, but Cloak does not, which is actually an aspect of his powers. He has deeper vocal qualities, an enhanced vocabulary, he appears to grow in height, his skin becomes vaguely similar to petrified wood (or at least it used to; he used to be drawn to look more inhuman), and he is apparently immortal, or at least unhindered by death from "natural causes."
Limitation:
If over saturated with pure light energies, Cloak will transform back to his human persona. During this time he has no access to his powers.Status
Known Relatives: Mr & Mrs Johnson (parents), Anna Johnson (twin sister), Otis Johnson (brother) & Smokin' Joe (uncle)Citizenship: Citizen of the United States; with a criminal record.
Place of Birth: South Boston, Massachusetts
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Vigilante & Adventurer (Formerly: runaway)
Education: High School Dropout
Gender: Male
Height: Variable, normally 5'9"
Weight: Variable, normally 155 lbs (70 kg)
Eyes: Brown. White when in Cloak persona
Hair: Black. No hair when in Cloak persona.
Unique Characteristic: While in Cloak persona, all that is seen is his face.
Alternate Realities
Earth-295Age of Apocalypse
The Age of Apocalypse versions of Cloak and Dagger were members of Sinister's Six. They were mentally manipulated into working with Sinister on his team. Once under his control he would use them to attack the X-Men. Cloak would be one of the few survivors of the battle. His mental control would be psionically broken by the telepathic ninja, Psylocke.
Earth-58163
House of M
In the House of M reality, Cloak is a member of Luke Cage's Underground resistance.
Earth-9200
In this reality, Cloak was quickly killed during Maestro's initial attack. His cloak is saved as a remembrance by his one time partner, Dagger.
Earth-1610
Ultimate Universe
In the Ultimate Universe; Cloak has only made one, very brief, appearance. He is clearly a female in this universe.
Earth-8311
Spider-Ham Universe
In this reality, Cloak is called Croak and has the appearance of a frog.
Creators
Cloak was created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan.
| Super Name: | Cloak |
| Real Name: | Tyrone Johnson |
| Aliases: |
Ty Demon of Darkness Tyrone Johnson |
| Publisher: | Marvel Publishing |
| Gender: | Male |
| Character Type: | Mutant |
| 1st Appearance: | The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 |
| Appears in: | 239 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
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