Spider-Man has faced quite a few powerful villains over the years who have nearly ended his superhero career, but there are a few stand-out non-powered villains that have managed to get under his skin, though none have done it quite like the Sin-Eater, who was recently resurrected by the mysterious villain known only as Kindred.
X-Factor Investigations have previously dealt with an unrelated demonic sin-eater, but everyone's focus is on the costumed character who has recently made his reappearance in the pages of Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley's Amazing Spider-Man, so fans might need a refresher course on the classic killer before the "Sins Rising" storyline arrives.
10 Killed Captain Jean DeWolff
Spider-Man didn't have many friends on the police force in his early days, but he slowly began to make a connection with Captain Jean DeWolff that would lead to a closer association with the NYPD and could have potentially turned into more between the two characters.
Unfortunately, Captain DeWolff was murdered in her bedroom by an unknown assailant that was soon revealed to be the Sin-Eater, who was only beginning his murder spree which would take four lives initially– and even more as the character returned over the years.
9 Erroneously Outed By Eddie Brock
Prior to his bonding with the alien symbiote that was Spider-Man's black costume, Eddie Brock was a reporter working for the Daily Globe who was covering the Sin-Eater story and was even the first to publish the killer's secret identity.
Brock outed a man named Emil Gregg as the Sin-Eater after he had attacked the Daily Bugle in a Sin-Eater costume and then confessed to the crimes, but when the real Sin-Eater was caught the truth was revealed and Eddie Brock's career was ruined. His vendetta against Spider-Man was ignited, which would result in his transformation into the lethal protector known as Venom.
8 Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Turned Criminal
When the Sin-Eater was finally caught by Spider-Man and Daredevil after he had claimed a few more high-profile victims, he was revealed to be Stan Carter, the detective in charge of the case and later revealed to be the former lover of Jean DeWolff.
Carter was also a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had joined the force after he left the international spy agency. However, after his partner was killed in the line of duty, Carter snapped and vowed to take out those he felt were sinners, starting with DeWolff.
7 Subject Of Government Experimentation
After Carter's identity as the Sin-Eater was revealed, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to fill in some important details about Carter's history, which involved being a test subject for an experimental drug therapy that was designed to enhance his performance.
The experiment was a failure and Carter became violently dangerous. Though S.H.I.E.L.D. purged the drugs from his system and he left to join the police force, the damage had been done and the seeds of his dark Sin-Eater persona had been planted.
6 Almost Pushed Spider-Man Over The Edge
After Sin-Eater threatened another close friend of Peter Parker's when he attempted to kill Betty Brant Leeds, Spider-Man arrived on the scene and made quick work of the non-powered villain, smashing his shotgun in two before he proceeded to beat Sin-Eater senseless.
Spider-Man lost himself in a blind fury after the death of his friend & Betty's close call, and he would have killed Sin-Eater with his own hands if it wasn't for the intervention of Daredevil– though he had to knock Spider-Man out to stop him.
5 Suicide By Cop
After Stan Carter was "cured" and released from prison, he found himself dealing not only with the consequences of his actions in the public eye, but was also literally haunted by the ghost of his deeds, which was represented by the Sin-Eater.
Carter continued to be mentally pushed by the Sin-Eater persona and persecuted by Spider-Man & members of the police after his release, and he decided to suit up one last time as the Sin-Eater, going out in a hail of bullets from the police. It was only after he was dead that the police realized he had never loaded his shotgun.
4 More Than One Sin-Eater
In Venom: Sinner Takes All, Michael Engelschwert was a Gulf War veteran who had been darkly influenced by Emil Gregg's mad ramblings to become a new Sin-Eater, which was how Gregg himself had been influenced after hearing Carter in the apartment next door to his years earlier.
Gregg would even allegedly return as the Sin-Eater a couple of times, with the most recent occurring prior to the Absolute Carnage event when he was resurrected by Knull to deliver a message to Eddie Brock, but instead became Sin-Eater and started kidnapping children.
3 Returned As A Supernatural Ghost
That wasn't the only time that Emil Gregg was alleged to have returned to life as the Sin-Eater, though the first time left quite a few questions about not only his role in the costume of Sin-Eater but also Stan Carter.
During the AXIS event, a temporarily "heroic" Carnage found himself facing off against a supernatural version of Sin-Eater who was believed to be the ghost of Emil Gregg. He also claimed that Stan Carter was an imposter, which might have been a revelation or yet another delusion from Gregg.
2 Actually Eats Sins
While the first two characters who used the name Sin-Eater had no abilities beyond their own training and warped sense of ideals, the paranormal version of the character who claimed to be Emil Gregg's ghost was actually able to eat sins.
Not much is known about this version of the Sin-Eater beyond the fact that it had a glowing green skull under its mask and it fed on the sins of its victims, "absolving" them. The inverted Carnage was able to finally defeat the supernatural Sin-Eater by overloading it with his own innumerable sins, causing it to explode.
1 Resurrected By Kindred
The latest volume of Amazing Spider-Man has been re-exploring Spider-Man's past with a back to basics approach after years of admittedly exciting development moved the character away from his usual friendly neighborhood status quo.
Unfortunately, the mysterious villain known as Kindred has appeared, and he has an unknown past with Spider-Man and a dark connection to Hell that has allowed him to resurrect characters like Mysterio. Recently he also resurrected what looks to be the Stan Carter version of Sin-Eater, who will feature heavily in the upcoming "Sins Rising" storyline.