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Moon Knight is a fictional character, an Egyptian-themed comic book superhero owned and published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975).
Moon Knight was originally Marc Spector, an American rabbi's wayward son who had become a mercenary. As a mercenary he became a skilled combatant, and befriended the French pilot Jean-Paul DuChamp, who he came to call "Frenchie". While the pair were working for the African mercenary Raoul Bushman in Egypt, he stumbled upon an archaeologic dig whose crew included Dr. Peter Alraune and his daughter Marlene. The dig had uncovered an ancient temple whose artifacts included a statue of the Egyptian god Khonshu. Bushman stated his intent to loot the dig; this provoked Dr. Alraune to attack Bushman, a decision that cost him his life. In response to Alraune's murder, Spector challenged Bushman to personal combat; he was beaten nearly to death and left to die in the sub-zero temperatures of the desert night.
Spector was found by nearby Egyptians who worshipped the ancient Egyptian gods and was carried to their temple. His heart stopped, but he did not die. Khonshu appeared to him in a vision, offering Spector his life if he would serve the god on Earth. Spector was returned to life in a haze. He concealed himself within the white shroud that covered Khonshu's statue and again confronted Bushman. Spector found his strength to be greatly enhanced under the light of the full moon. He defeated Bushman and returned to America with Marlene Alraune, Frenchie, and the statue of Khonshu that had seemingly empowered him. With no further communication from Khonshu, he determined that he had hallucinated the encounter; nevertheless, he decided to become a crimefighter. He created an all-white cloaked costume, based on the appearance of the shroud he had worn while battling Bushman, and became the Moon Knight.
On his first outing as the Moon Knight, he battled the werewolf Jack Russell, better known as the Werewolf by Night. After this encounter he laid low for a time; during this period the money that he had accumulated as a mercenary had grown into a small fortune, thanks to wise investments on Spector's part. To distance himself from his mercenary past he created the identity of the millionaire Steven Grant, using this identity to purchase a specious estate; to remain in contact with the common man he also created the identity of taxicab driver Jake Lockley. Resuming his activities as Moon Knight, he battled a number of criminals and supervillains of a bizarre and mystical nature. However, the stress of maintaining four separate identities began to take its toll on his psyche. Marlene convinced him to retire the Grant and Lockley aliases, to sell the statue of Khonshu, and to retire as Moon Knight.
However, he was soon telepathically summoned to Egypt by the cult of Khonshu who had saved his life. They gave him a small arsenal of moon-themed projectile weaponry, such as throwing discs and crescent-shaped blades. Khonshu himself then appeared to him and entered his body, giving Spector superhuman strength. As the direct agent of Khonshu he recovered the stature of Khonshu and joined the West Coast Avengers, but at the cost of alienating Marlene and Frenchie. Khonshu was eventually forcibly expelled from his body by Daimon Hellstrom. Reuniting with his friends, Moon Knight began his career of adventuring anew. He died in battle, only to be once again resurrected by the statue of Khonshu.
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