Violator (comics)
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Violator is the true form of the Clown, an antagonist in Todd McFarlane's Spawn comic book series. A demon from the eighth sphere of Hell, Violator possesses supernatural strength, agility, and cunning. Much like Spawn, he can also perform Hell-powered magic.
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[edit] Background
The Violator/Clown is probably Spawn's most recognizeable villain. He serves as Malebolgia's henchman and lackey. His purpose is to guide Hellspawn towards fulfilling Malebolgia's desire: to cultivate evil souls on Earth for Hell's army. He's been Hell's guide for multiple Hellspawn, his latest charge being the current Spawn, Al Simmons. Violator is the oldest of five hell-born demons known as the Phlebiac brothers. He views humanity as weak, and so asserts that demons should lead the armies of Hell, not humans. Accordingly, much of his terrestrial activities, sanctioned by Hell or not, are aimed at proving his superiority to his master. The Violator's current disguise is that of The Clown.
The Violator is not a demon to be taken lightly: he has shown many times that he is more than a match for a young Hellspawn. His hands are tied by his role, though, as he cannot kill a Spawn without an order from his superiors. His role is not to kill the Hellspawn, but to weaken them and cause them to waste their powers in wreaking havoc. His chief purpose is to groom and prepare the young Hellspawn for their service in Hell's army.
He has been killed multiple times, each time to be returned to Hell and reanimated by his master.
[edit] Entry in the Spawn Bible
He is a being built of necroplasm, ego and lies. If there were an "older-child syndrome" he'd have it in spades. He is one of the five "famous" Phlebiac brothers, demons all, servants of the Malebolgia. His purpose is to guide Hellspawn towards fulfilling their master's desire: to cultivate evil souls on Earth. But, because of jealousy, the Violator is doomed to fail. This is his own particular torment. He claims to have been born from the magic of John Dee in the 16th century, and yet he has dealt with a Hellspawn in the Middle Ages, four hundred years earlier. His true origin is lost in the mists of time and the fumes of Hell. He brags that he could destroy a Hellspawn, to its very face, and then whines when the battle turns against him. His fighting is vicious, born of a dog-eat-dog Hell, but not strong enough to overcome his master's pets. The Violator is a contradiction both in form and substance. For eons he has been a poisonous, dripping-fanged, spindly, terrifying, spiked demon with a weakness for the taste of human hearts, and it's gone to his head. He has been granted immense powers by his lord, and he simply abuses it, through ignorance and apathy. Sometimes he appears in his Clown form, which was a joke he's long forgotten. However, he is now stuck in that configuration. The Malebolgia took away his shape shifting powers to punish him for his over-zealous approach to training Al Simmons. The Violator is dangerous nonetheless. He is a yapping Chihuahua with shark's teeth, a tiger with the brain of a squirrel, a chimp with a gun.
He believes that one day his service to the Malebolgia will be rewarded. He believes that he'll get to become a Hellspawn, as have so many men, and women, since before he was created. All he has to do is teach the Spawn how to use their powers and goad them into succumbing to the dark evil in their dead bodies... and do it without telling them directly, the better to add to their confusion. But who will instruct the Violator, to end his own confusion? His methods are base, mean and cruel. And wrong. He has yet to come close to his master's expectations, always foiling the best laid plans. But he has to prove himself, must prove to the Malebolgia that he is better than mere humans, a better choice to be a Spawn. One day, he tells himself often, he'll get up the courage to tell "the boss" what he feels.
One day real soon... He's been saying that for fifteen hundred years.
[edit] Current status
After suffering a humiliating defeat in Hell during Spawn's return to claim the throne of the 8th sphere, the Clown reappeared on Earth on the order of Mammon to wreak havok in Spawn's life as part of the larger plan to give Nyx an opportunity to betray Al. He was a "mental advisor" to Jason Wynn, his former contact and partner in the deal that cost Al Simmons his life. He helped Wynn regain his sanity and return to the NSA, but had other plan than being charitable. He was assumed the dominant role in Wynn's psyche and when Wynn was vulnerable, hanging from a steel girder many stories up, he caused him to fall to his apparent death. Clown then took over Wynn's body and used it as his new vessel. He turned Wynn's body into a fanged, bloated parody of his former self. The Clown then began to attack and 'mark' citizens of New York, turning them all into blue face-painted Clowns. It was revealed that the Violator was possessing hundreds of civilians and forcing them to run amok, committing acts of violence and vandalism, all with a smile on their faces. After their attacks brought Spawn to the brink of death, leaving him bleeding and broken on the streets of New York in his Al Simmons persona, the Clowns vanished. The Violator has not been seen since, but has revealed that he has been turned loose on Earth with no strings attached, and it is only a matter of time before he returns to plague Spawn anew.
[edit] Appearances in other media
- In the HBO miniseries Todd McFarlane's Spawn, Clown was voiced by Michael Nicolosi.
- In the 1997 live-action film, Clown was portrayed by John Leguizamo.
