Origin

The Birth Of Vengeance

When the angel Raphael/Aztar, who rebelled with Lucifer, repented of his sins, The Presence had the angel stripped of his memories prior and become the incarnation of His wrath, set to deliver Divine Justice and Vengeance for the murdered dead and those who sin against God. The Spectre was created to replace the being of Eclipso who was no longer suitable to be the Wrath. The Spectre is the one who is "responsible" for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the ten plagues of Egypt, splitting the Red Sea, and tumbling the walls of Jericho.

When The Godhead took human form, it was determined that Compassion and Redemption (that which Jesus represented) could not walk the Earth at the same time as Wrath and Vengeance, and The Spectre entity was cast into limbo where remained until the crucifixion of Jesus. Following that, The Spectre burst forth in an event dubbed "Dies Irae" by the Phantom Stranger and ripped through the world, casting divine vengeance on many people until the Archangel Michael informed the entity of the new "rules", and The Spectre must be bound with a human soul to walk the earth again.

Carak

Following "Dies Irae", and the creation of the new "rules" as dictated by The Presence, The Archangel Michael took the form of a Hindu deity and acquired the soul of a man named Carak to be the first soul bound to The Spectre (a Christian was not chosen because Michael felt it would be too soon).

Carak found trouble in being The Spectre, as he had disrupted the natural cycle of things and caused his family (who had gone through various stages of reincarnation) grief. In the end, Carak separated from The Spectre, and merged with Sekuba, to become Azmodus.

Jim Corrigan

In 1940, New York City cop, Jim Corrigan, was attacked by mobster Gats Benson following a sabotage on the part of his "stoolie" Louis Snipe. Jim was shoved into a barrel filled with cement where he was then thrown into the river, where he later choked on liquid cement and died.

Corrigan, unable to come to terms with his death while the people who killed him remained free ("I have seen damn little of God's justice, mine I know exists.") God decided to have Corrigan merge with the Spectre entity and become the newest incarnation of the Spirit of Vengeance. Corrigan quickly used his abilities once he returned to Earth to exact punishment on Gats and the present mobsters, who has also kidnapped Jim's then-fiancé, Clarice Winston. In the fight, Clarice was fatally wounded, but Jim tied part of his spirit to her, so that she would always be alive.

Of course, following this, Jim called of the engagement to Clarice.

The Spectre was encouraged to use his power for good by Percival Poplanski (also known as "Percival Pop, The Super Cop"), a patrol man who witnessed both Corrigan's and Benson's demise. Percival was a friend to Corrigan in that he was much more human than the other police officers, something that Jim felt he needed. Jim, however, quickly became associates with other "minutemen" and joined with Dr. Fate and others on multiple occasions until finally joining The Justice Society of America during World War II.

After World War II, the Spectre fought the demon Azomdus, who trapped the him in Corrigan's undead frame for nearly two decades. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Spectre traveled back in time and used his powers to preserve creation while the multiverses' heroes battled the Anti-Monitor. Unable to defeat the Anti-Monitor, The Spectre was left in a comatose state for the duration of the Crisis, only to be recreated afterward with his powers greatly diminished for several years.

During the years with his powers lessened by The Presence, The Spectre and, thus, Jim Corrigan, worked as a "Psychic Detective" with Madame Xanadu, who had taken a portion of The Spectre's power and manipulated it to give the illusion that Corrigan and The Spectre were separate entities. This power was also used to create several additional employees, who gave the impression of the organization being more than it was.

Following this, and various revelations relating to it, Corrigan left the agency and wandered the Earth only to return to New York where he met Amy Beiterman (who becomes his love interest). Along the way, his powers returned as Madame Xanadu released what powers she held, following a brief stint as The Spectre. During this period, Azmodus returns, and Amy is killed by a serial murderer going by the name "Reaver", which sends The Spectre into a fury.

Following Amy's death, Jim becomes emotionally distraught and lashes out at various people, even going so far as to destroy the country Vlatava, finding that its sins are too deep to simply wash away.

The Phantom Stranger, worried that The Spectre might end up destroying the earth, pools together the team of Madame Xanadu, Zatanna Zatarra, Etrigan, and Dr. Fate in an attempt to possibly curb the obviously hostile spirit. During this battle, Eclipso returns, and manages to take control over The Spectre.

After Jim retakes control of The Spectre, he forces Eclipso back into his crystal and sends him out into orbit. Jim then decides to take Reverend Richard Craemer as his spiritual adviser.

Jim also played a large part in Michael Holt becoming the second Mr. Terrific, telling the distraught man of the original Mr. Terrific and his untimely death.

During the events of Final Night, The Spectre bound himself to Gaea, the spirit of the Earth, to keep her replenished until such a time that the sun was restored.

The Spectre also played a major part in the event "The Haunting of America", wherein The Spectre sought pieces of an item called The American Talisman all the while attempting to remove them from the wrong hands. The combination of this event, as well as Final Night, prompted Jim/The Spectre to take periodic residence in the body of Nate Kane, a New York detective and former friend of Amy.

It was during this time that Jim noticed himself distancing from The Spectre, ultimately deciding it was in his best interest to remove himself from the power and find his peace with Amy.

Hal Jordan

Hal Jordan, as the villain Parallax, died reigniting Earth's Sun. His spirit was consigned to Purgatory for his sins. The demons Neron and Asmodel, along with Hal Jordan, merged and did battle inside of The Spectre for control of the entity. Each of the three were asked by the entity. Hal declared that he was not worthy, for the crimes he had done. The Spectre, to punish Hal and to cleanse the spirit of Hal from Parallax, merged with this spirit. Unwilling to accept a mission of vengeance and wrath, Hal manipulated the entity of The Spectre to redeem himself--something that the spirit itself was against at times.

Hal attempted to redeem other fallen souls during his time as The Spectre, such as Harvey Dent--only to learn that Harvey needed both sides of his life. He also attempted to overthrow Darkseid of Apokolips, but learned that he was part of the natural order. Similar missions also took place, with Hal being guided by the spirit of Abin Sur, who was damned by giving Hal Jordan the ring.

The Spectre entity, however, was becoming affected by Parallax, and the creature of fear was making twisted variations of the judgments made by The Spectre. Eventually, Hal was freed from Parallax, and The Spectre, his job done, left the ghost to be resurrected.

Day of Vengeance

The Spectre is seen first fighting Blackbriar Thorn. Before fighting Blackbriar Thorn Spectre killed over 700 sorcerers. And destroyed 6 Atlantean sorcery schools. After killing Blackbriar Thorn he set the Mist forest on fire which gave that entire dimension it's magic source. When killing the 700 sorcerers he says he will stop when all magic is destroyed and only then will evil wither on a vine. Spectre then goes throughout the world killing people who did anything bad. such as killing a person who stole 6 dollars from his mothers purse, a woman who cheated on her husband, a girl who spoke rudely to her father and a man who cheated on his taxes. He is flying when he hears a voice in his head, he makes her appear and it is Eclipse. Spectre starts out by getting rid of the big guns in the magic community. He turns Phantom Stranger into a mouse, teleports Dr.Fate into his helmet and blinds Madame Xanadu. He then started destroying places where magical types gather. Spectre is then seen fighting Captain Marvel. He fights Captain Marvel adn is winning until Enchantress gives Captain Marvel extra power which he use to fight Spectre. Spectre then tells Eclipso to fly them out before anyone sees them. Spectre tells Eclipso when he destroys all magic he will then kill himself being a being of almost pure magic. He comes to an island and start to fight shadowpact only to get his powers taken away by Blak Alice. Spectre then gets his power back and teleports to Wizard's place. Shazam tries to stop him but Spectre just cuts the stream of magic he gets his from. Spectre then fights Wizard and kills him.

Crispus Allen

Having been forced into his new role as The Spectre, Crisps finds it one of the least enjoyable things he's been a part of--especially The Spectre's notably morbid sense of humor in delivering judgment against people. Until a meeting with The Phantom Stranger, Crispus felt that he was, essentially, a worthless carry-on to the Spectre--though he has recently learned that he has the ability to manipulate the power of the entity whenever Spectre cannot, and has even begun to develop other abilities--such as the ability to touch.

Powers

Intangibility

Flight--fly at any speed

Invisibility

Teleportation

Fear Projection--can project fear into the heart and souls of adversaries

Inanimate Possession--inhabit and animate inanimate objects

Illusion Casting--ability to project realistic illusions

Magic Mastery--various mastery over virtually all forms of magic

Discern Motivation--can sense the intentions of people

Cosmic Awareness--knows many secrets of the universe

Precognition--sometimes gets glimpses into the future

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Stamina

Superhuman Speed

Invulnerability

Weaknesses

The Spectre can be injured or slain by sufficient force of magic--such as the Spear of Destiny. When the human host dies, the current Spectre will be no more, and the human spirit and the Divine Wrath will separate.