Over the years, Spawn has not only had to wage war against the demons of Hell, but also battle those within himself. Created by Todd McFarlane, the comic book character made his first appearance in 1992 and reached peak popularity with the release of the feature film in 1997. The long-running series followed Albert "Al" Simmons' descent into darkness when he is murdered and his soul is sent to Hell. After making a deal with the evil Malebolgia, Simmons returns as the vengeful antihero Spawn. During his early battles, Spawn encountered thugs and street gangs before having epic confrontations with the forces of Heaven and Hell. Through it all, he has struggled to understand his emerging powers and define the boundaries of his moral compass.

Along the way, he has made many allies who have gone on to receive their own comics in the form of Angela and Sam & Twitch. Aside from the film adaptation, Spawn was also been portrayed in an HBO animated series from 1997-1999. Since his initial release, fan support has wavered over the years but news of a darker, edgier film reboot for 2019 has many fans intrigued about the future of the tragic character. Regardless, Spawn remains one of the most deeply complex and incredibly powerful characters in comic book history. Below, CBR details 15 strange and significant facts about Spawn's body and his supernatural abilities.

15 READY FOR ANYTHING

Before his transformation into Spawn, Al Simmons was a highly trained Force Recon Marine who had saved the President from an assassination attempt. He was then promoted and eventually recruited by the CIA to be a part of its black ops division. Upon discovering corruption within the agency, he becomes a target and his employer tasks one of Simmons' closest partners to kill him. In Botswana, during a mission for the USSG's Operation Knightstrike, Simmons is set ablaze in a devastating inferno and his soul is sent to Hell where he is reborn as Spawn.

Having achieved the perfect physical condition during military training, Simmons still retained his athletic and acrobatic prowess after his death.

His time in the military has also made him a fierce opponent when it came to armed combat and, as Spawn, he prefers to rely on his weapons instead of his superhuman abilities. Aside from being an excellent marksman, he has proven skills in the area of swordsmanship. Master of over 13 forms of martial arts including Kung-Fu, Jujitsu, and Taekwondo, Simmons is also well-prepared for unarmed confrontations. As a world traveler, he's also fluent in 10 languages, ranging from Spanish and Chinese to Arabic and Russian.

14 450 POUNDS OF NECROPLASM

When Al Simmons returns to Earth after his time in Hell, he is a changed man. With little memory of his past life, he comes to realize that five years have passed since his death. He is informed that he has been given a suit, charged by Necroplasm and given access to supernatural powers. This otherworldly substance dramatically alters his physical appearance, making his eyes and blood glow a bright green, allowing his body to become a living weapon. Given enhanced durability, super strength and speed, he becomes a nearly unstoppable opponent in battle. He is also able to shoot Necroplasm blasts from his body but during the times he has used these, it has vastly drained him.

He is informed that the Necroplasm offers a  limited power supply, allowing for various means of defending himself. When created, Hellspawn are given 9,999 units, which gradually decreases with each use. Even with the restricted supply, his true limitation is his imagination when it comes to figuring out ways to use his new powers to his advantage. Not wanting to waste his supply too soon, which would result in his return to Hell, Spawn decides to rely on his suit's natural abilities and his knowledge of firearms.

13 A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP

Spawn's suit is a parasitic being known as K7-Leetha. The source for the name, in reference to the daughter of the seventh house of K, is revealed in Spawn: Blood Feud Issue #1. During a dream, the entity announces its presence, and through a newly resurrected Al Simmons, begins to slaughter everything around it. When he is woken up by some street bums in an alley, Spawn is told that his suit had been behaving strangely.  The suit appears to be the most advanced compared to other Hellspawn suits and feeds off the necroplasm within his body.

Linked to his central nervous system, it feeds off of what remains of Simmons' spinal fluid and neural chemicals in his brain.

The suit can thus anticipate the needs of its host based on the nervous system's automatic responses. The bond the suit makes with its host is made for life. The suit also possesses immense strength and durability, allowing Spawn to endure more painful attacks than the average being.  It also manifests its own weapons during battle, such as unbreakable chains and spikes and claws that can cut through flesh and bone. With every kill Spawn makes, the soul is sent straight to Hell to replenish Malebolgia's growing army.

12 WEAPONIZED CAPE

Attempting to become more adjusted to the suit and aware of its capabilities, Spawn battles both human foes and supernatural entities. During his first encounter with The Redeemer -- Simmons' murderer Jason Wynn in the form of a heavenly being sent to destroy Hellspawns -- Spawn narrowly misses defeat due to a distraction preventing The Redeemer from striking the fatal blow. After this confrontation, his suit alters itself and enhances Spawn's abilities. His once pristine cape is now shredded and his suit looses its reddish tone and becomes solid black and white.

While allowing Spawn the ability to glide at almost 100mph and move through the air with increased fluidity, his cape is capable of striking foes with extreme and lethal precision, severing limbs and disarming enemies. During a second confrontation with The Redeemer, this time in the form of Phil Timper, Spawn is able to easily defeat his foe by cutting off his hand. His cape also has the capability to shape-shift, enabling Spawn to conceal himself in plain sight, using the city's shadows and buildings as camouflage. It also has the ability to transport him to various locations when in need of a quick escape, as seen in Angela #2. The scarlet accessory remains one of Spawn's most prominent features and even received its own dramatic entrance scenes in the 1997 film and was one of the hardest to render.

11 THE EVIL WITHIN

Though his actions attempt to be heroic in nature, Spawn still remains a creation of Hell and therefore evil clings to him. Because of this, Spawn is able to channel the creatures of darkness using a specific pheromone to draw them to him. With the ability to summon wolves, bats and worms, he is able to use them as allies during battle, attacking creatures of light when necessary. Through a process called Black Energy Transferal, he can also use these animals that thrive in the darkness to rejuvenate himself without having to drain his Necroplasm resources.

Along with summoning evil, Spawn is able to absorb the sins of others and purify their souls.

He is also capable of telepathically sensing the torment and misery of others, drawing power from people's trauma and using it as a way to locate them to prevent a fatal attack. Certain areas of the cities that are hubs for sinful activity such as New York City, Detroit and Los Angeles also provide Spawn's necessary fuel. Both a blessing and a curse, this gift was given to him by The Keeper, an entity representing the Emerald Parliament of Greenworld, so Spawn will be able to experience "the anguish of all mankind."

10 AN ALMIGHTY POWER

Many of Spawn's powers were inspired by a Biblical figure. Similar to Jesus, he has the power of resurrection, curing the ill, and transmutation. In Spawn #27, he is able to bring his friend Bobby back to life after being shot by Chapel. Such a powerful feat dramatically reduces his power supply to 7,012. In Issue #50, readers discover Terry is going through a serious health crisis, causing him to blackout while he's driving. He is later diagnosed with having terminal brain cancer. After contemplating his friend's betrayal, Spawn realizes his former wife Wanda and daughter Cyan still deserve happiness and finally decides to cure Terry.

Still desperate to hold onto what is left of his human self, Spawn has retained his internal organs though they are only semi-functional. If damaged, they don't hinder him at all and will repair themselves when he needs to regenerate. In a painfully brutal battle with The Disciple, Heaven's mightiest warrior, Spawn's face is ripped off, his brains are scattered, and his heart is torn from his chest and tossed into the Greenworld. What little remains of him is then tortured by Mammon's demonic servants. With the help of a young child, as well as Sam and Twitch, Spawn is brought back more powerful than ever before.

9 MIND GAMES

As he attempts to learn more about his powers, Spawn comes into conflict with various enemies, putting those closest to him in danger. At one point, he takes a bullet for his friend Terry Fitzgerald who is being blamed for Spawn's crimes against the CIA and Violater's attacks on the mob. After defeating OverKill and saving his friend, Spawn reveals his identity to Terry. In Spawn #255, he displayed the ability to alter people's memory, erasing his existence from the mind of his best friend and children.

While in Limbo, Spawn is informed that Wanda has been killed in a car fire during a mob riot. As she was driving to a charity hospital event, she was caught in the cross-fire between police and protestors and found herself driving into a one-way street. Among the chaos and confusion, she becomes the target of an angry rebel's molotov cocktail bomb. Her soul now resides in Hell along with her unborn child. After Wanda's funeral, Spawn, in the form of Al Simmons, visits Terry to ask about his wife's whereabouts during her time of her death which leads to an emotional confrontation between them, both admitting their failure to keep the woman they love safe. Spawn then declares he will avenge Wanda and keep the family free from harm. He places a symbol on each member's foreheads and promises that in the morning, none of them will remember him.

8 A POWERFUL CONNECTION

Spawn has made many allies during his battle between the forces of good and evil. Among them are Sam Burke and Twitch Williams who work for the New York Police Department. After killing Billy Kincaid, a sadistic pedophile, Spawn's presence in the city is made aware by the officers. In Issue #64, while attempting to gather information about the mysterious Spawn from the street bums who see him as their protector, Sam and Twitch run into Spawn's mentor Cogliostro. He reveals after the incident with Kincaid, their fate is forever linked to Spawn who will use them to achieve a plan that has yet to be revealed. Spawn will use him as his messengers, enforcing his will through them. The more they try to unravel their new master's secrets, the men begin to realize in order to protect themselves, they have to protect Spawn.

Developing a psychic link between himself and his new allies, Spawn is able to call upon them whenever he's in need of assistance.

In Spawn #112, he summons them to use the police force to clear Central Park so he can absorb the city's sins and defeat an army of vampires attempting the purge the city of man's wrongdoings. It is with Twitch's help that Spawn discovers the extent of his powers when he comes into possession of Legion.

7 ALL THE TIME YOU NEED

Constantly weighed down by his indecision and uncertainty when it comes to his moral alignment, Spawn often feels the need to find an escape where he can properly think. In these moments, he turns to his mentor Cogliostro, a former Hellspawn who attempts to set Spawn on the right path. During their conversations, Spawn is able to freeze time so he can better concentrate. In Issue #116, Spawn reveals that he feels significant pressure to be the savior of the human race. Consumed by their anger and misery, he expresses a desire to rid both them and himself of this dreadful torment by creating a new paradise on Earth. As he is speaking, Cogliostro realizes that everything in the city, including the people, have suddenly stopped.

Spawn also has the ability to alter time. In Spawn #254, he is faced with one of the greatest historical dilemmas: save the Titanic or let it sink. At stake is his wife's soul, which a demon promises Spawn he can save. He and the demon are transported to the exact moment the ship crashes into the iceberg. The Angel Gabriel watches over a man and his son, who have jumped overboard, using them as bait to tempt Spawn into saving them and altering the established timeline. Realizing the cruel trick being played on him, Spawn reluctantly watches the pair drown, stating "I alter one person's life--anyone's life from the past--then everything, from that day forward, gets altered too."

6 A GREEN THUMB

Struggling to hold onto his humanity and avoid Hell's tightening grip on him, Spawn finds himself in The Greenworld. It is here where he meets The Keeper who informs him that his new role is to stop Armageddon. Becoming more aware of the earth's "pain", Spawn understands Greenworld's disinterest in the war between Heaven and Hell and devastation over man's destructive tendencies and need for both to be put to end.

In Spawn #93-97, Spawn discovers a group of elite society members attempting to perform a ritual that will unleash a powerful entity known as Urizan. Despite efforts to stop them, the creature is released and wreaks havoc on Earth. During their confrontation, Spawn realizes he is no match for Urizan, is impaled and left to die. Recognizing their fallen warrior, the earth embraces Spawn and tells him that he is the only one who can end the war that is to come. He becomes Mother Nature's savior and is given control over all the elements; able to raise forests and create massive tidal waves. In Spawn #98-99, the antihero confronts Urizan once again, summoning a wall of trees to trap him, pulling him down and imprisoning him deep within the Earth.

5 PUT A SPELL ON YOU

After he is betrayed by his mentor, Cogliostro, Spawn is sent back to earth in the form of Al Simmons and without his powers. Able to sense the presence of a soul that had been separated from its shadow, a young practitioner of Wiccan magic named Nyx is able to track Simmons down and reunite him with his suit. Using her Silver-White Moon Blade, she cuts through his chest and rebinds his suit to his heart using her Shadow Thread. However, she secretly keeps part of this thread for herself so she can control him without his knowledge.

At first, Simmons is furious that he has been restored to his Spawn form but is convinced by Nyx to accept it and relearns how to use his abilities. In Issue #133, they both sense an evil presence and Nyx becomes curious about Hell, asking Spawn what it's like. After he shows her, Nyx befriends Mammon who tempts her into saving the soul of her childhood friend in exchange for Spawn's powers. When Simmons is left in a coma due to saving New York City from Violator's army, Nyx sees her opportunity and steals Spawn's suit to save her friend. When she returns from Hell, she relinquishes her powers and control over Spawn to Mammon.

4 FEELING HEAVEN'S TOUCH

Being a creation of Hell has its drawbacks. When in the presence of Heaven or its safe-zones like Greenworld, Spawn's powers are significantly weakened. His symbiotic suit, in response to the divine energy, behaves erratically in an attempt to protect itself and Spawn. In Angela #2, when confronted by the angelic warrior, his suit reacts violently, creating sharp spikes and using defensive gestures. As one of Heaven's most accomplished Hellspawn slayers, Angela thoroughly enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Upon discovering Al Simmons has been resurrected as Spawn, she willingly accepts the challenge of tracking him down and killing him. When she is found guilty of treason by Heaven, she is aided in her escape by Spawn and the two develop both an emotional and physical relationship.

Spawn is also extremely vulnerable in the Deadzone, a patch of Earth controlled by Heaven.

If confronted by a celestial weapon, especially anything that can behead him since decapitation is the only way to truly kill a Hellspawn. Those who have been trained to hunt Hellspawn are taught, "a final blow-- clean and swift--voids the creature and its living shell from this plain of existence." In Issue #44, Spawn is impaled by Tiffany's, an angelic warrior, sword as she threatens to cut off his head as vengeance for "corrupting" Angela's divine innocence.

3 JUST PASSING THROUGH

In his dealings with Heaven and Hell, Spawn is able to travel to both places by creating portals. His ability to open these portals comes in handy during battles with supernatural entities, allowing him to banish them to either location. In Angela #2, Angela is unfairly put on trial for allegedly hunting Hellspawn without a permit. Spawn is summoned, in disguise, to provide testimony, but his suit begins to react violently in the presence of Heaven and its divine beings. Upon being revealed, the courts of Heaven send their guards after him. Seeing an opportunity for escape, Angela sides with Spawn and tells him to teleport them away from impending danger.

Surrounded by his cape, the pair teleport to a temporary hideout in Hell where they share an intimate moment.

He is also capable of locating his various allies and teleporting to where they are. In Spawn #156-7, he is forced to end his battle with Kali prematurely when he senses Wanda is in danger. He teleports himself from India back to Manhattan where he ends up scaring an unsuspecting Sam Burke. Burke reunites Spawn with Twitch who has been doing some research and informs him regarding the extent of his new powers.

2  WE ARE MANY

At one point in his vigilante career, Spawn became the host of the demonic presence known as Legion, a collection of 6,000 damned souls. In Issue #157, Detective Twitch theorizes these souls died at the same time Simmons did and were drawn to him upon the hour of death. When Spawn's heart was torn from his body, the soul of a young boy named Christopher Wellend is released. After encounters with Hell's demons who make him relive his traumatic childhood and eventually being rescued by Spawn's allies Sam and Twitch, the child finds his way back to Spawn. Reunited with his suit, Spawn is given the power of Legion and unleashes it upon Mammon and the forces of Hell.

This newfound power makes Spawn unresponsive to Malebolgia's control, allowing him to summon the souls to transform into Hellspawn to aid him in battle. Similar to K7-Leetha, Legion shares a symbiotic relationship with Spawn, allowing him to feel their emotions, relive their memories, and access their knowledge. Using Christopher as his guide, Spawn begins to learn more about these "voices in his head" who are searching for eternal rest. The souls aid Spawn is his mission to stop Armageddon, fighting alongside him against evil supernatural forces. During the Armageddon conflict, the souls are dramatically reduced to only a dozen. They are eventually allowed to cross over peacefully when Spawn undergoes a life-changing transformation.

1 EARNING HIS WINGS

Armageddon is in full swing in Spawn #161 with the forces of Heaven and Hell unleashing war upon each other. After a devastating defeat by Zera, God's favorite warrior, Spawn is left powerful and on the verge of death. Choosing him to be "the new savior" of the human race, the Man of Miracles, the one true creator, resurrects Spawn by feeding him a piece of fruit from The Tree of Life. When he awakens, he releases Legion, allowing the souls to be free and finally rest in peace.

In his resurrection, Spawn is given to powers that rival those of both Heaven and Hell and undergoes a dramatic transformation when he sprouts angelic wings.

Feeling reluctant to fully embrace this sudden change, he questions the Man of Miracles' motives, asking if there is a catch. It's revealed that unlike his deal with Malebolgia, this gift leaves him free to do as he pleases. However, the Man of Miracles stresses the fate of the human race now lies in Spawn's hands and if he does nothing, they will be permanently wiped from existence by the Apocalypse. Understanding the task that has been given to him, Spawn wages war with The Four Horsemen who have laid waste to Earth and its inhabitants.