The Phantom Stranger - Definition and Overview

The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics.

The Phantom Stranger is unique among his contemporary comic book characters in that neither his origin nor his exact nature have ever been revealed. DC released a special issue of Secret Origins that gave him four different possible origins. The most popular one, written by Alan Moore, is that he is a fallen angel that sided with neither Heaven nor Hell during Lucifer's rebellion and thus was condemned to walk the Earth alone for all time.

In his earliest appearances, the Phantom Stranger would prove supernatural events to be hoaxes. In later stories, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified superhuman powers to defeat them. He later appeared in various other DC Universe titles, sometimes as a major participant; in others, the Phantom Stranger just appears and gives advice or warning to the featured heroes.

The Phantom Stranger played a major part in Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic, taking protagonist Tim Hunter through time to show him the history and nature of magic. He has assisted the Justice League on numerous occasions, though each time he has been offered membership, he left before giving a reply.