Eclipso

Eclipso is the name of a fictional evil deity featured in comic books published by DC Comics. He was introduced in the second story in House of Secrets #61 (July-August, 1963), which was titled "Eclipso, the Genius Who Fought Himself". He continued as a back-up feature in that title until its conclusion with issue #80 in 1966, after which, he made sporadic appearances in issues of Green Lantern, Volume 2 as a foe of both Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Eclipso languished in obscurity for nearly two decades until he took the top-spot of villainy in a crossover event called "The Darkness Within", which was endcapped by the two-issue Eclipso: The Darkness Within limited series in 1992. This led into Eclipso receiving his own ongoing title, Eclipso later that year, which ran for eighteen issues until November, 1994. In the late 2000s, Eclipso became a major player in the "Countdown" crossover event, during which time, he merged with the character of Jean Loring, and appeared in issues of Countdown, Countdown to Mystery and Countdown to Final Crisis. In the continuity of the "New 52" setting, Eclipso is revealed to be a denizen of Gemworld and his actions tie-in with those of former WildStorm Productions characters like the members of Team-7 and warlord Kaizen Gamorra.

Overview
The being who would one day become known as Eclipso was once the Spirit of Wrath, dating back to biblical times. Stripped of his mantle, the Spirit of Wrath was confined to a large black crystal, which came to be known as the Heart of Darkness. This crystal remained inert for centuries, but was eventually split into 1,000 smaller diamond-shaped pieces, each one containing a fragment of Eclipso's evil. Those came into possession of a black diamond opened themselves to being possessed by him. By taking control of a person's body and actions, Eclipso was able to mete out his own personal sense of vengeance against the world. As a creature of darkness, Eclipso could only effectively function in a dark environment, or during an eclipse. Sunlight would dispel his corporeal form, and other forms of solar radiation greatly weakened him.

Scientist Bruce Gordon became intimately familiar with Eclipso and with his colleague Simon Bennett and girlfriend, Mona Bennett, began using solar-based technology to defeat Eclipso.

Eclipso made a massive attempt to destroy the world by using his powers to take possession of some of Earth's mightiest heroes, such as Captain Marvel. The world's superhero community banded together to stop him and it wasn't until Will Payton, aka Starman made a noble sacrifice that they were able to stop him.

Eclipso kept on going however and sunk his dark tendrils into the governing body of Parador, effectively taking control of the entire county. Bruce Gordon led a team of Shadow Fighters to stop him, which resulted in numerous deaths.

Eclipso continued to take control of various host forms, possessing Bruce Gordon on multiple occasions. He also took hold of the mentally unhinged Jean Loring, as well as Alex Montez.

Abilities

 * Possession: Eclipso can possess others, but only if they come into contact with one of his black diamonds.
 * Immortality: Eclipso is basically a demigod, or perhaps even a type of angel. Due to this heritage, he is an immortal being.
 * Size alteration: Using mystical power, Eclipso can increase his size and mass. It is unclear what, if any limitations there may be on this power.


 * Superhuman strength: As a deity, Eclipso possesses strength many times greater than the average human.

Hosts
The following individuals have been the host form for Eclipso's evil at some point in their lives.
 * Alexander Montez
 * Billy Batson
 * Bruce Gordon
 * Clark Kent
 * James Gordon
 * Jean Loring
 * Lois Lane