Crispus Allen was a man who dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice. For over forty years he worked as a police officer in Metropolis. Jim Gordon offered him a role in Gotham as part of the Major Crimes Unit. Cris moved with his wife Dore, as well as sons Jake and Malcolm to Gotham City. There he was partnered up with Renee Montoya.
Cris didn't exactly fit the Gotham mold. He dressed in suits when on duty to present himself well and earned the nickname Peacock. He didn't trust Batman and considered him nothing more than a necessary evil in a city as corrupt as Gotham. On top of that he personally made it his mission to reveal dirty cops in GCPD. Eventually this would lead to his death.
Before his death Cris became one of the most recognizable police officers in the city. During a confrontation his partner Renee was taken out by Black Spider. Cris managed to track them down and fire a shot that killed Black Spider. As procedure for GCPD after a shooting Cris was placed on leave and relieved of his gun. However, Jim Corrigan (no connection to the other Spectre past name) a corrupt crime scene technician stole evidence including the bullet that killed Black Spider with intentions of framing Cris.
Despite Cris having enemies in the GCPD due to his exposing corruption, he had supporters as well. Internal Affairs informed Renee, Jim Gordan and even Harvey Bullock that Corrigan had stolen evidence. They just needed to get the proof. Renee found Corrigan first and beat him until he told her where the bullet was. After she recovered it Cris was able to go back to work, however since she beat up Jim Corrigan he was able to go back to work as well.
Cris was disappointed that she put him before the job, stating he would have been okay. Cris continued investigating Corrigan behind the scenes. Corrigan was able to figure out who was giving Cris information and beat the informant to death. He then lured Cris to a meeting where the body was displayed. Cris was then shot in the back several times until he was dead. Corrigan then staged the crime scene and destroyed the evidence linking him to Cris' death despite everyone knowing that he did it. This caused Renee to lose faith in the justice system so she quit GCPD and started hanging out with The Question.
Meanwhile Cris was dead and in the morgue. However, he wouldn't be finished working just because he was dead. The Presence (DC's version of God) took the spirit of Aztar (The Spectre's true self, needs to be bonded with a human to be The Spectre) and bound it to Cris. Making Cris rise again as The Spectre and The Spirit of Vengeance. Almost immediately Cris was dragged to Stonehenge by The Spectre who had been summoned by a group of magic users where he killed a Star Sapphire named Remoni-Notra for her past crimes such as working with the Secret Society of Super Villains.
Cris wanted nothing to do with this and went to his own funeral as a ghost. Aztar appeared and told him to become the host and Cris said "no." Cris was one of the first people to refuse and was given one year to decided. For a year Cris haunted Gotham as a ghost learning everything he ever wanted to know and more about people including that Bruce Wayne was Batman. After the year was up Cris agreed to becoming the next host.
The first test was the hardest thing Cris ever had to do. In life Cris had been agnostic and in death he came to accept God as real and hate God as well. Cris wanted revenge for his murder and as The Spectre that was his job, the get vengeance for those who were murdered. But, Cris didn't get to kill Corrigan. Instead he had to watch as his son Malcolm approached Corrigan in an alley and murdered him. God then demanded that Cris provide him with vengeance. Cris hugged his son Malcolm and murdered him, sending him to judgement as The Spectre had done for centuries. When asked if he had just sent his son to Hell, Aztar responded he only sends people to judgement not Heaven or Hell.
Cris was next seen battling against Eclipso who had also accepted a new host. The Spectre and Eclipso battled but it was Cris who saved the day. Eclipso can do anything, but his host has to want to do it. Cris convinced the host that he didn't want to be evil and that stopped the violence. Cris wanted to stay and help Eclipso's host but was pulled away by The Spectre to their next meeting.
During Final Crisis Cris went rogue. When Martian Manhunter was murdered Cris went after all the villains responsible. Dr. Light got the worst punishment, and he deserved it, he was turned into a candle and burned to death in a lantern. When he attacked Libra the actual murderer his powers didn't work for some reason. The Spectre spirit teleported them away to God. He told God that he would no longer be a pawn in his games. God simply told him to know his role and to go Kill Renee, his old partner, for leading a cult called the Order of The Stone.
When Cris arrives Renee is fighting with The Order for possession of The Spear of Destiny. Cris ended all that by effortlessly teleporting Rene to the roof of GCPD. He told her what was going on, and told her he could allow her to go see Kate Kane, her girlfriend and also Batwoman. When he's finally ready to do the task The Radiant, God's Spirit of Mercy, appeared and said God had decided to spare Renee.
To put it simply, this pissed Cris all the way off. He lashed out and attacked The Radiant begging to know where God's mercy was when he had to murder his own son. The Radiant literally turns the other cheek and shrugs off his attacks breaking Cris to the point that Spectre breaks their bond leaving Cris as just a ghost again as he cries out on the ground. The Radiant lead a prayer circle and Bible study with the two until they were attacked by people controlled with the Anti-Life Equation. Cris turns into a minimally powered version of The Spectre but it didn't help. He assumed God had abandoned him.
The three took shelter in a church sealed by The Radiant. Rene took the time to explain The Crime Bible an the mission of The Order of Stone. She explained they wanted to resurrect Cain, the first murderer guilty of murdering his brother Abel. Cain would be armed with The Spear of Destiny and wouldn't be stopped. They remained in the church until Darkseid was defeated.
Meanwhile, The Order of Stone had taken The Spear of Destiney to Vandal Savage and stabbed him with it. This revived memories of being Cain that Vandal had forgotten. Cain was seeking vengeance on The Spectre for branding him centuries ago for his crime and with The Spear of Destiny he would be able to kill The Spectre.
Still weak Cris and Rene attempted to battle them. However, Cris was stabbed in the back by the spear and had to flee the battle. He was still weak and asked God repeatedly how he could let it happen. But, Renee isn't a punk and she continued the fight. She managed to grab the spear although it gave her a serious wound that could have led to hear death.
Rene used the spear to heal Cris' heart instead of her wounds. To heal Cris' heart she brought his son Malcolm back to life. With Cris' heart healed he now had the full power of The Spectre and the spirit on his side again. He easily took out The Order and punished Vandal by forcing everyone who would to turn away from him in disgust for eternity. This was the point where Cris finally accepted his role as The Spectre fully. He recognized he wasn't the Spirit of Vengeance but God's Mighty Fist and thanked Renee for finally teaching him something instead of the other way around.
Abilities and Powers
- Crispus
- Trained shooter
- MMA training mostly boxing
- 44 years of experience as a detective
- Aztar
- Centuries of history knowledge
- Expert of multiple religions
- Knowledge of the occult
- Together as The Spectre
- Almost invulnerable
- Near omnipotent
- Divine Wrath
- Reality Warping
- Shape shifting
- Change height - once was so large eyes were 40 light years apart
- Infinite mass
- Direct connection to God
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Black Superheroes
Excellent post. I enjoyed it much.
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