D'Spayre
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D'Spayre (sometimes D'spayre) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a demon, and was one of the Fear Lords. He has been opposed by Spider-Man, Man-Thing, Cyclops, Doctor Strange, and Cloak & Dagger. He first appeared in Marvel Team-Up v1 #68 (April 1978). He was created by writer Chris Claremont and penciler John Byrne.
[edit] Fictional character biography
D'Spayre is a creation of the Dweller-in-Darkness, a powerful demon who created D'Spayre to act as his agent on Earth, while the Dweller himself is banished from Earth. D'Spayre's first action is to kill the sorceress Zhered-Na, who was the one to banish his creator. To do this, D'Spayre manipulates a barbarian into killing Zhered-Na. Over the next millennia, D'Spayre repeatedly fights Zhered-Na's student, Dakimh the Enchanter. (Doctor Strange vol. 3 #32)
D'Spayre tends to prey on victims who are depressed, using their fear and despair to strengthen himself. He terrorizes Scott Summers and Lee Forrester after Lee's father committed suicide, but is defeated by Summers, who resists D'Spayre's illusions and finds resolve in the memory of his dead girlfriend Phoenix. This resolve fuels the creature known as Man-Thing who attacks D'Spayre and D'Spayre flees. He then attacks Doctor Strange when Strange is feeling distraught over separation from his girlfriend Clea, but Strange defeats D'Spayre as well, the first of many battles between the two of them. (Uncanny X-Men #144, Doctor Strange vol. 2 #32, 37)
Over the years, D'Spayre has tried to bring many heroes to despair, but all of them defeat D'Spayre. D'Spayre then comes up with perhaps his most successful plan. He manipulates the Fear Lords, powerful demons and gods who feed upon humanity's fears into creating the Great Fear. With their powers combined, the Fear Lords (except for the Straw Man, who opposes their plan) believe that they can plunge humanity into a permanent state of terror. Most Fear Lords are defeated by Doctor Strange, but Nightmare and D'Spayre's creator, the Dweller-in-Darkness, manage to create the Great Fear. They then discover that D'Spayre has been manipulating them, the Great Fear causes so much terror in humans that they stop fearing and start to despair, feeding D'Spayre, who becomes more powerful than the two of them. Doctor Strange manages to stop D'Spayre, while the Fear Lords flee. (Doctor Strange vol. 3 #38-40)
Following these events, D'Spayre returns to his usual modus operandi with limited success.
