Dr. Peter Alraune (Moon Knight character; Morpheus foe)

alraune-peter-upper PETER ALRAUNE

Real Name: Peter Alraune, Jr.

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Physician

Group Membership: Presumably a member of certain medical organizations

Affiliations: Marlene Alraune, Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp, Moon Knight (Marc Spector);
former pawn of Morpheus (Robert Markham), and former physician to Markham

Enemies: Morpheus;
formerly Moon Knight (Marc Spector)

Known Relatives: Peter Alraune, Sr. (father, deceased), Marlene Alraune (sister)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: An office at 52 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Moon Knight I#12 (October, 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Expert in genetic disorders. He has some degree of medical expertise

A smoker, he likely has decreased endurance and other health issues. alraune-peter-face-unobscurred

When bonded to Morpheus, Peter was plagued by night terrors but otherwise could not dream normally, and he was also apparently empowered by the resultant build-up of psychic energy.

        He could project illusions and/or cause hallucinations...victims frequently struggled against these visions, allowing themselves to be harmed by things around them in reality of which they were unaware; for example, Moon Knight was not aware that he was underwater and at risk for drowning. Sometimes these hallucinations were simple things, like a giant snake or monstrous figures; sometimes more complex scenarios played out, often relating to the subconscious of the victims, much like real dreams. He could apparently project an image of himself at least a short distance away from where he really was.
    He could apparently only cause these hallucinations while sleeping (and sometimes sleepwalking).
    Beings could overcome these dreams by forcing themselves back awake.

Also while bonded to Morpheus, sometimes donned a solid black costume, and he proved able to fight with great proficiency. He may have been sleepwalking in this state, in which he typically attacked Morpheus' enemies. He had no memory of these events when awake.

Height: Unrevealed; approximately 6'
Weight: Unrevealed; approximately 180 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red (with moustache)

History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - Dr. Peter Alraune became a specialist in genetic disorders.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - In severe discomfort, Robert Markham consulted with Dr. Alraune to treat his rare and "completely unknown" viral infection that was causing competitive inhibition (associated enzymes reacted to similarly shaped but inappropriate enzymes) and resultant uncontrolled breakdown of his chromosomal structure.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Alraune offered Markham an experimental, untested drug treatment. Desperate, Markham signed a release form in hopes of being cured.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) <April 21, the same year as the main story> - Peter may or may not have been present when a photograph was taken of Robert Markham by the medical facility prior to the start of the experiment.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - The drug deprived Markham of the the ability to sleep and/or dream, which both drove him mad and caused him to mutate due to an accumulation of psychic energy.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) <June 5, the same year as the main story> - Peter may or may not have been present when a photograph was taken of the mutated Robert Markham. alraune-peter-blasted

(Moon Knight I#12) - Peter Alraune reviewed Markham's file, still having a hard time believing Markham's degree of mutation, and considering himself responsible both for the mutation and his disappearance. He worried about Markham's misfortune and misery. Deciding this problem outweighed his professional ethics, Alraune called the police to report Markham as a missing person.

(Moon Knight I#12) - Now calling himself Morpheus, Markham broke into Dr. Alraune's office, interrupting him before he could identify Markham as the missing person. Markham blamed Alraune for his condition and considered making Alraune sleep forever; however, approaching police sirens caused Morpheus to flee, although he first smashed Alraune into a wall, incapacitating him. Morpheus then escaped before the police arrived and called for an ambulance for Dr. Alraune.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Peter was taken to a hospital and treated, and he was exhausted after being interviewed by the police.

(Moon Knight I#12) - The next everning, Peter's sister, Marlene, visited him alongside her boyfriend, Marc Spector (aka Moon Knight), but after briefly explaining what happened, Peter collapsed, lapsing into a coma.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Peter's doctor told Marlene he might remain in a coma for hours, days, or permanently. Soon after, Morpheus assaulted the hospital, seeking to finish off Alraune; ultimately he fled after exhausting his energies against Moon Knight and the police.

(Moon Knight I#12 - BTS) - Moon Knight visited Dr. Alraune's office where he encountered the investigating Det. Flint, who shared the information his office had collected on Morpheus.

(Moon Knight I#12) - Moon Knight incapacitated Morpheus after neutralizing/overloading his energies by causing him to blast a power generator.

(Moon Knight I#12) - Six days later, Peter Alraune awakened and received a hug from an ecstatic Marlene.

alraune-peter-nightmare (Moon Knight I#23 (fb) - BTS) - Every night, Morpheus dreamed of destroying Peter Alraune.

(Moon Knight I#22 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - Realizing they couldn't keep Morpheus sedated forever, the doctors at Seaview Research Hospital" started infusing him with norepinephrine in hopes of causing him to dream, both to keep him calm and ideally to reverse his mutation by diffusing his energies and mental waste via dreams.

(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - The norepinephrine strengthened Morpheus' dreams, through which Morpheus channeled his ebon energies until he could link up with the dreams of Peter Alraune. Morpheus' energies tainted Alraune, granting him the power to induce hallucinations in others

(Moon Knight I#22 (fb)) - In a twilight stage before waking and dreaming, Peter Alraune "hallucinated" Morpheus shattering his bedroom window with an eyeblast, and he awakened to find a shattered waterglass that had fallen from the windowsill despite there not being a draft; Peter wondered if it might have been telekinesis triggered by his dream.

(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - Suffering night terrors, Peter Alraune awakened, certain that Morpheus was coming to get him.

(Moon Knight I#22) - As Morpheus dreamt, he sent Peter (covered from head to toe in solid-black to assault Moon Knight and push him off a building by duping him with an illusion of Marlene falling over the edge; Moon Knight was stunned but otherwise unhurt, and the black figure fled. alraune-peter-black

(Moon Knight I#22) - A distraught Peter Alraune told Marlene and "Steven Grant" (one of Moon Knight's civilian aliases/identities) of his recent experiences, noting that being deprived of normal sleep and dreams was keeping him constantly on edge and raising his blood pressure.

After discussing dreams and relating his episode of seeming telekinesis, Steven had Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp drive Peter and Marlene to his house in Maine to relax.

(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - After touching Frenchie on the shoulder, Peter fell asleep en route, and then Frenchie had a(n) hallucination of a monstrous figure that caused him to swerve and crash into the side of the mouth of a tunnel.

(Moon Knight I#22 (fb) - BTS) - Peter Alraune was absent at the crash scene as paramedics arrived.

(Moon Knight I#22 (fb) - BTS) - Doctors doubled Morpheus' dose of norepinephrine.

(Moon Knight I#22) - Morpheus remained apparently sleeping as Moon Knight entered his room, but then the black figure (Peter), holding a scalpel, approached from behind and slashed Moon Knight's arm. When Moon Knight kicked him back, the figure fled again.

    Moon Knight followed, only to be lost in a nightmare/hallucination during which he unknowingly wandered in front of subway train. Returning to reality just in time to dodge the train, Moon Knight glimpsed, pursued, and tackled the black figure; however, he again lapsed into hallucination, seeing himself battling his other identities. The black figure drove Jake Lockley (another of Moon Knight's civilian identities)'s cab at Moon Knight, who regained awareness in time to narrowly dodge the vehicle.

    As the figure again confronted Moon Knight, the hero stabbed himself in the leg with one of his crescent darts to prevent himself from succuming to another hallucination, and then ultimately incapacitated the figure, whom he then unmasked as Peter Alraune.

(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - Morpheus awakened.

(Moon Knight I#23 (fb) - BTS) - Moon Knight took Peter and met up with Frenchie and Marlene, and they headed up to Grant's summer house in Wheatley Bay, Maine.

(Moon Knight I#23) - Driving the car, Moon Knight urged Frenchie and Marlene to keep Peter awake for their own protection.

    Peter started to doze off and mentally transmitted their destination to Morpheus, who severed contact just as Marlene slapped Peter awake.

(Moon Knight I#23 - BTS) - After they arrived and began drinking coffee, Peter theorized how Morpheus might be controlling him, after which MoonO Knight went with Frenchie to rig up the emergency generator so they might use it against Morpheus.

(Moon Knight I#23) - As Morpheus entered the house, Peter drifted into sleep and bonded with Morpheus again. When Morpheus confronted Marlene, however, the somnambulent Peter reached out and touched Morpheus, somehow temporarily neutralizing Morpheus' powers. As Morpheus' powers began to return with contact severed, Morpheus instructed Peter to await him in the woods.

(Moon Knight I#23 - BTS) - Controlled by Morpheus, Marlene threw a lit match onto the generator, causing it to explode. Moon Knight took Marlene and Frenchie outside then went back in for Peter. alraune-peter-death

(Moon Knight I#23) - After Morpheus blasted Moon Knight out of the building, Moon Knight observed Peter perched as if he might step off a cliff; but when he tried to pull Peter away, Peter (or perhaps an illusion) vanished, and then Peter pushed Moon Knight off the cliff. Hitting the water, Moon Knight was drawn into another hallucination, and he revived just in time to pull himself to the shore.

One of Morpheus' ebon tendrils snaked around Marlene's foot, and she fired on a figure in the shadows, unwittingly shooting Peter in the shoulder. With Peter shocked out of Morpheus' control, Moon Knight used a mirror to cause Morpheus to fire on the reflection of the other three. after which Moon Knight pummeled and choked Morpheus into unconsciousness.

Feeling responsible for Morpheus' existence and recalling how he had previously neutralized Morpheus' powers, Peter Alraune rushed forward and touched the fallen madman. Though pained as if holding a high-voltage wire, Peter maintained contact until the ebony glow faded from Morpheus. Though Morpheus was rendered normal, Peter's life energy had been exhausted in the process, leaving him dead

Comments: Created by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Peter Alraune should be distinguished from:

Alarune, Tara Sidth of the Hyborian era - served as host to Ovada--Conan the Savage#5
other characters with those letters in their names

images: (without ads)
Moon Knight I#12, pg. 3, panel 1 (upper body, in shadows);
            panel 2 (face, on the phone);
        pg. 5, panel 4 (blasted by Morpheus);
    #22, pg. 1 (night terrors; tormented by Morpheus);
        pg. 4, panel 6 (black suit);
        pg. 7, panel 8 (unobscurred face);
    #23, third from last page, panel 8 (death);

Appearances:
Moon Knight I#12 (October, 1981) - Doug Moench (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Moon Knight I#22-23 (August-September, 1982) - Doug Moench (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)

Last updated: 02/26/15

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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