Crispus Allen

The Spirit of Vengeance

One night Allen and his partner, Renee Montoya, spot gang members apparently preparing for some sort of violent action. Following the gang into a deserted building, the detectives find several murdered men as well as two large gang members. Allen tails the suspects while Montoya scouts the rest of the building. The Black Spider suddenly appears at the crime scene, firing upon Montoya. Allen shoots and kills the villain before he can kill Montoya.^[3]

Allen is killed by corrupt officer Jim Corrigan (unrelated to the original incarnation of Spectre), who steals evidence from the scene of Black Spider's death. As a lost wandering soul unable to interact with the living, Allen is selected to be the Spectre's new host. While he initially refused, Allen reconsidered once frustrated with countless crimes going unpunished. Undergoing a trial of sorts to make his bond with Aztar permanent, Allen is conflicted in simply punishing the guilty only after a they committed a sin and in his final test Allen is forced to punish his young son when he kills Corrigan in revenge. Allen learns that the Spectre's role merely sends beings to the afterlife to be judged, but is granted a moment with his son by Aztar and fully accepts the responsibilities.^[4]

The Spectre is one of the main characters in the miniseries Final Crisis: Revelations. The Spectre kills Doctor Light for his crimes against humanity, then goes to enact vengeance on Libra for the death of Martian Manhunter. Libra is unaffected by the Spectre's powers and nearly kills him, but the Spectre manages to escape. Afterward, Allen swears that he would no longer do as God said, attempting to revoke his status as the Spectre, but is instead called by God to enact vengeance on Renee Montoya for her sins.^[5] He is stopped in his judgment by Radiant, the Spirit of Mercy, another loyal servant of the Presence tasked with granting God's mercy to repentant beings or those forced to act against their pure intentions. The Radiant admonishes Allen about using his powers in a more responsible way, changing the world as the former host of the Spectre did instead of enacting retribution over one soul at time. Radiant's forgiveness causes Allen to suffer a crisis of faith, demanding to know why Montoya was forgiven whereas he was forced to kill his own son.

The Cult of the Stone, a religious sect devoted to the adoration of Cain, uses the Spear of Destiny to resurrect Cain in the body of Vandal Savage. Cain agrees to lead his forces against the Spectre in retaliation for his curse.^[6] Using the Spear of Destiny, Cain stabs the Spectre, separating him from Allen and placing the Spectre under Cain's control.^[7] Montoya manages to retrieve the spear from Cain and purify it, freeing the Spectre. Allen willingly returns to his role as the Spectre after Montoya uses the spear to resurrect his son.^[8] In Blackest Night, Allen's original body is temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern.^[9]

Dawn of DC

In DC Power 2024, Allen's version of Spectre teams up with the Question (Renee Montoya), who acts as a voice of reason. Reminded of the importance of deductive ability, Allen punishes a therapist who uses therapeutic hypnosis to control a patient's power to manifest a monstrous creature and targets those whom she believed personally wronged her.^[2]