Al Simmons

Al Simmons is a fictional comic book antihero who is often referred to as "Spawn", which is short for Hellspawn. He is the creator-owned property of writer and artist Todd McFarlane, and first appeared in his own Spawn ongoing comic book series published by Image Comics. The character has also appeared in alternative media including the Spawn live-action feature film in 1997 where he was portrayed by Michael Jai White, and the Spawn: The Animated Series TV program on HBO, where he was voiced by actor Keith David.

Origin
Albert Francis "Al" Simmons, born in Detroit, Michigan, was a highly trained Force Recon Marine who was at his most successful point when he saved the President from an attempted assassination. He was promoted to a high level and recruited to a highly classified unit within the CIA devoted to black ops. Once there, he began to question the morality of what his agency was doing.[14]

Jason Wynn hired Bruce Stinson (codenamed Chapel), Simmons' friend and partner, to kill him. In a blazing inferno, Simmons was killed and his soul sent to Hell, because he had knowingly killed innocents while working for the CIA.

Simmons made a deal with an evil being known as Malebolgia: in exchange for his soul, he would get to see once again his wife, Wanda. However, when Simmons returned to the human world, five years had passed, and he had been transformed into a demonic creature with little memory of his former life. After regaining his memories, he sought out his wife, only to find she had moved on and married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald, and that they now had a daughter named Cyan.

After this event, the Violator appeared, and revealed to Simmons the purpose of his resurrection. They fought, but the battle was interrupted by Malebolgia.