morpheus-markham-fear-mainMORPHEUS

Real Name: Robert Markham

Identity/Class: Human mutate;
    US citizen;
    identity known to authorities

Occupation: Would-be god, war-mongerer, chaos-fomenter;
    former electrical engineer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Black Spectre (Carson Knowles), Raoul Bushman, Seth, Sociétè des Sadiques;
    formerly Peter Alraune, a group of disciples (
"vixen," "big man," "general," "snake lady"), various mentally-controlled servants

Enemies: Marlene & Peter Alraune, Jean-Paul DuChamp (aka Frenchie), Det. Flint, Moon Knight (Marc Spector), New York Police Department, Seaview Research Hospital custodians, Stained Glass Scarlet (Scarlet Fasinera), nurses & security (including Ryzblat, Shtunky, and Freddie), unidentified (Central?) park zoo panther, unspecified United Nations pawns;
    possibly Simon Darkover

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Dream Demon, God of Dreams, God of Sleepless Nights, "the stuff of which nightmares are made"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Cairo, Egypt;
    formerly Ravencroft asylum;
    formerly Seaview Research Hospital, New York City, New York;
    formerly a Manhattan tenement, New York;
    born in New York City, New York

Education: BS in electrical engineering

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

morpheus-markham-transformPowers/Abilities: Morpheus' brain generates ebon psionic energy (possibly a manifestation of the darkforce). He can project destructive eyeblasts up to the equivalent of 200 lbs. of TNT, shattering doors, cars, masonry, etc. When striking a person, the energy has been described as "cold shock" and is energy-draining. He can form tendrils able to slip through small openings, manipulate and lift objects, and/or strangle or break the neck of others. Additionally, he can project a force field that protects him from physical injury up to at least close range gunfire; however, he must consciously project the field, as it is not always present; presumably it drains his reserves.

    He can also forge bonds with others, granting the linked ones telekinetic and/or hallucination-inducing powers. Initially, he could only do this to a single being who was sleeping/dreaming, perhaps telekinetically manipulating the norepinephrine in his or her brain to control his or her dreams. 

    He subsequently granted such abilities to a quartet of mental patients and later (when apparently further enhanced by Seth) could manipulate the awareness, memories, and wills of others, affecting their dreams and perceptions. These affects apparently lasted even across intercontinental distances.

    As Morpheus, he has "extremely high" blood pressure, "abnormal" respiration, and a "fast" pulse.morpheus-markham-blast

    Morpheus' abilities have an unspecified limit, which has increased over time; he can exhaust his abilities completely, though they will be fully recharged within a 24 hour period; he may recharge more quickly, as this time period was most relevent after he initially gained his powers. Each waking period he would normally have spent sleeping increases his stores until he is seething with energy.

    His powers and levels of consciousness are highly affected by neurotransmitter drugs, such as norepinephrine or enkephalin. Norepineprhine, normally a stimulant, was intended to cause him to dream in hopes of dispersing his psionic energies, but instead -- at lower doses -- strengthened his dreams, enabling him to link to the minds of others; at high doses, it awakened him from his sedated sleep. Enkephalin, which normally is a euphoria-inducing painkiller, could render him unconconscious.

morpheus-markham-face-energy

While serving Seth, he possessed an unrevealed degree of enhanced strength, likely enhanced human

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 195 lbs.; formerly 180 lbs.
Eyes: Red (sometimes light blue); original brown
Hair: None; originally brown
Unusual Features: Morpheus' overly large, lidless eyes are sometimes solid red, sometimes multi-faceted. He has scaly scar tissue projections about his forehead and wear he formerly had eyebrows, as well as enlarged, fang-like canine teeth, and talon-like claws on his digits.

History
(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) <May 23, thirty-three years before the main story (see comments)> - Robert Markham was born.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - Unbeknownst to Markham, he developed highly destructive psionic abilities, but these energies were dispersed through normal dreams.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - Markham suffered from a rare and "completely unknown" viral infection causing competitive inhibition (associated enzymes reacted to similarly shaped but inappropriate enzymes) and resultant uncontrolled breakdown of his chromosomal structure.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - In severe discomfort, Markham consulted with Dr. Peter Alraune, a specialist in genetic disorders.

(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> - A photograph was taken of Robert Markham by the medical facility prior to the start of the experiment.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) - The drug deprived Markham of the the ability to sleep and/or dream, which drove him mad.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry) - As he no longer dreamed to disperse his psionic energies, Markham developed a build-up of psychic energy that mutated him into an inhuman form and allowed him to project an ebon "sleep-energy" for a variety of effects.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) <June 5, the same year as the main story> - A photograph was taken of the mutated Robert Markham.

(Moon Knight I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Deprived of sleep and dreams but able to grant sleep to others, Markham likened himself to the Olympian god Morpheus.

(Moon Knight I#12 - BTS) - 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 locked building and then into his office, interrupting him before he could identify Markham as the missing person. Markham blamed Alraune, admitting he had signed up to be cured, but not to be forever cursed. Naming himself Morpheus, he considered making Alraune sleep forever; but approaching police sirens in combination with his having largely depleted his energy caused him to flee, although he first smashed Alraune into a wall. Morpheus then escaped out the window via an ebon tendril before the police arrived and called for an ambulance for Dr. Alraune.

    The next evening, after Peter Alraune lapsed into a coma, Morpheus assaulted the hospital in which Alraune was being treated, effortlessly fighting off police officers. Moon Knight (Marc Spector, the boyfriend of Alraune's sister, Marlene) kicked Morpheus from behind before being knocked to his knees via a cold blast. Moon Knight dodged a few further blasts and futilely hurled his truncheon (which bounced off Morpheus' field), but Morpheus then struck and subdued him with another blast that hurled him into a police car. Having again exhausted his energies, Morpheus fled under police gunfire, still protected by his shield and vowing vengeance.

(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) - Back at his tenement, Morpheus appreciated how his powers were drained and he was tranquil, but, as expected, his power and anxiety built to a breaking point by the next dawn. He then rushed out and -- seeing himself as a god, seeking to build a palace befitting him, and realizing he needed money to do so -- shattered the wall of Nation Bank. The explosion drew the helicopter-traveling Moon Knight's attention, and he swooped down and ambushed Morpheus, only to be blasted into a wall again. Morpheus then rushed into the <Central?> Park zoo and blasted open a cage, releasing a panther that attacked the pursuing Moon Knight. When Morpheus stopped running away and turned around, Moon Knight kicked the panther into the air, causing it to intercept Morpheus' eyeblast. When Morpheus offered him a free shot, Moon Knight ricocheted his truncheon to strike him from behind and then punch him down, but Morpheus released an explosive force from his entire body, smashing Moon Knight away. Finally, Moon Knight led Morpheus towards a generator and goaded him into firing a blast, which Moon Knight dodged, causing it to strike the generator. Electricity followed the ebon energy blast back to Morpheus, rendering him powerless, and Moon Knight then punched him out.

    Morpheus was hospitalized and kept on sedatives eight hours a night with the goal of forcing him to sleep and dream.

(Moon Knight I#12 - BTS) - Six days later, Peter Alraune awakened.

(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) - Feeling he should check on Morpheus, Moon Knight peeked in on him in the hospital and felt comforted upon finding Morpheus sleeping in his bed. A senior custodian then showed and explained Morpheus to a younger custodian, terrifying him.

    Meanwhile, as Morpheus dreamt, he sent a solid-black male figure 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.

(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - A stressed Peter Alraune told Marlene and "Steven Grant" (one of Moon Knight's civilian aliases/identities) of his recent experiences, and 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, holding a scalpel, approached from behind and slashed Moon Knight's arm. When Moon Knight kicked him back, the figure fled again.

morpheus-markham-full.jpg(Moon Knight I#22 - BTS) - Moon Knight fled, 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) - As the younger custodian entered the room, Morpheus awakened, broke his restrains, and then slew both custodians, seconds after the elder custodian had assured Moon Knight that Morpheus was still sleeping peacefully. Reviewing his progression, Morpheus plotted vengeance.

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

(Moon Knight I#23) - Peter started to dose 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 Moon Knight went with Frenchie to rig up the emergency generator so they might use it against Morpheus.

(Moon Knight I#23) - As Morpheus used his ebon energies to unlock and open the door, Peter drifted into sleep and bonded with Morpheus again. Hearing the door, Marlene slammed it shut, leading Morpheus to shatter the door with a force blast. When Morpheus confronted Marlene, however, the somnambulent Peter reached out and touched Morpheus, somehow temporarily neutralizing his powers. As Morpheus' powers began to return with contact severed, Morpheus instructed Peter to await him in the woods.

(Moon Knight I#23 (fb) - BTS) - Morpheus took control of Marlene and sent her to the basement.

(Moon Knight I#23 - BTS) - Marlene threw a lit match onto the generator, causing it to explode; Moon Knight pulled himself, Marlene, and Frenchie away to survive the explosion, but the basement was soon raging with fire. Snapping out of it, Marlene explained Morpheus' arrival and manipulation of her. Moon Knight took Marlene and Frenchie outside then went back in for Peter.

(Moon Knight I#23) - Morpheus confronted and blasted Moon Knight, who shielded himself with a mattress long enough to get one good punch in before Morpheus blasted him out the window.morpheus-markham-forcefield


(Moon Knight I#23 - BTS) - As he descended to the ground via his cape, 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. 

(Moon Knight I#23) - As Moon Knight reunited with Marlene and Frenchie, Morpheus blasted at him again and then tauntingly encouraged the trio to surrender to their exhaustion. Marlene fired her gun at Morpheus, the bullets of which bounced off his shield, and Moon Knight struck him from behind, only to be hurled away again. Morpheus fired on the trio as they fled and then split up. As Moon Knight rushed back into the mansion to grab a mirror, 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 Morpheus' control, Moon Knight used a mirror to cause Morpheus to fire on the reflection of the other three. Taking advantage of the distraction, Moon Knight leapt atop Morpheus before he could generate his force field, and then pummeled and choked him 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.

(Moon Knight II#3 (fb) - BTS) - Markham was kept sedated in a hospital bed at Seaview Research Hospital.morpheus-markham-human-bed

(Moon Knight II#3 (fb) - BTS) - When much of the regular staff went on strike, some of the fill-in nurses at the dispensary made mistakes in filling medicines. As a result, Markham began to mistakenly receive Digoxin instead of his regular medication.

morpheus-markham-strangling_nurse(Moon Knight II#3) - Just as a nurse realized the mistake, Markham transformed into Morpheus anew and broke her neck with a tendril of ebon energy. After Morpheus hurled her dead body down the hall, a trio of hospital security guards -- including Ryzblat, Shtunky, and Freddie (or possibly Freddie was one of the first two's first name) -- rushed to confront him; but Morpheus, at the peak of his powers, blasted them all away and collapsed a ceiling on them.

    Seeing himself as the Olympian god, Morpheus approached a quartet of patients in the mental ward, making them his priests and granting them powers to turn their own delusions into hallucinations for others. He further considered the hospital, or at least the mental ward, his temple.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Now training as a social worker and having been working with this very quartet of patients, Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Unable to wait for Moon Knight's arrival, Marlene rushed and tried to strike Morpheus from behind with a wooden stick, but one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy. Recognizing Marlene, Morpheus had his servants bind her, after which he mocked her pleas to keep her and free the mental patients, having them voice how they were bound to him body and soul. Hearing approaching sirens and sending his servants to patrol the corridors, Morpheus told Marlene that at midnight, she would be the first sacrifice on the ebony altar of his new temple.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - As Moon Knight arrived, Morpheus shattered a window to get the gathered police and crowd's attention, mocked any planned negotiations, and announced his planned sacrifice of Marlene.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - At 11:30, Morpheus carried the bound Marlene to the roof and laid her out for the planned sacrifice, Moon Knight faced the servants' hallucinations, ultimately using the tear gas to subdue them.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - As Flint's troops entered the hospital, Moon Knight had them sedate Morpheus' servants, and then he obtained a dose of Enkephalin-S from Morpheus' doctor, intended to subdue the villain. Moon Knight coated his crescent darts with the drug and began scaling the outside hospital wall.

(Moon Knight II#3) - As midnight arrived, Morpheus began lifting Marlene into the air on a cloud of ebon smoke, Moon Knight reached the top behind his back. Intending to strike Morpheus in the carotid artery, Moon Knight missed completely with one dart, and hit him towards the back of the neck with the other (Moon Knight had recently gained super-strength, and he had not yet completely adjusted). Turning, Morpheus blasted Moon Knight off the roof with a powerful blast that shattered the masonry. As Moon Knight struggled to pull himself back on the roof, the presumably intramuscular dose of drug finally took effect, and Morpheus collapsed.


(Moon Knight II#3 (fb) - BTS) - Morpheus was presumably restored to his sedated state.

(Moon Knight III#1 - BTS) - A statue of the Heliopolitan/Egyptian/Ennead god Seth (called Set in this series, and looking more like Anubis) was unearthed from the tomb of Pharaoh Seti III by Simon Darkover.


(Moon Knight III#2 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, (possibly with aid from Seth) Morpheus took control of at least one guard at Ravencroft, enabling him to escape, while the guard(s +/- other staff) still believed him to be in custody.


(Moon Knight III#1 - BTS) - As Moon Knight returned to life, Morpheus was among the visions/hallucinations he encountered.

    Simon Darkover, who was subsequently (apparently?) slain by the statue.

(Moon Knight III#3 (fb) - BTS) - Based in Cairo, Egypt, Morpheus contracted with Raoul Bushman, paying him to obtain a number of missiles, which were sent to him from Beirut. Bushman was paid by a half-dozen terrorist cells.

(Moon Knight III#3 (fb) - BTS) - Morpheus arranged an alliance with Black Spector (Carson Knowles), with the latter plotting to take over New York City.


(Moon Knight III#2 - BTS) - Stained Glass Scarlet slew a trio of contract killers employed by Black Spectre (Carson Knowles), whom she suspected served a "higher and darker power."

(Moon Knight III#2 (fb) - BTS) - Suspecting Morpheus' involvement in the visions he saw during his seeming resurrection, Moon Knight checked with the asylum, and he was informed that Morpheus was still in restrained and sedated custody.

(Moon Knight III#2 - BTS) - After Spector told Marlene he had confirmed that Morpheus was still in custody, a guard checked on Morpheus empty cell, talking to and apparently seeing actions of the absent Morpheus.

    Moon Knight suffered further nightmares (including his death at the hands of Black Spectre), and he was unsure whether Morpheus was the cause or not.

(Moon Knight III#3 - BTS) - Following another battle with Black Spectre, Moon Knight told Scarlet he suspected Morpheus to be the power behind Spectre.

(Moon Knight III#3) - Bushman met with Morpheus to learn with whom he was dealing, and why he was involved. Morpmorpheus-markham-snakeeyesheus clarified that his goal was "peace of maddened mind through chaos." He further explained the goal of putting Seth's statue near the United Nations building, where his power would fill the peace conference with hatred and chaos, leading to escalation of various conflicts into global war.

    Later, when Bushman doubted him, Morpheus explained and demonstrated how he could now make the madness of his dreams the reality for others and distort reality by projecting dreams into the waking minds of others. He then sent Bushman to steal Seth's statue.

(Moon Knight III#3 - BTS) - Bushman and his men stole the statue, and he sent them to bring it to Morpheus.

    Meanwhile, Khonshu apparently confirmed Moon Knight's suspicions of the involvement of Morpheus, noting that Moon Knight would face him and his evil servants.

    Marlene subsequently visited Ravencroft, where she discovered Morpheus' absence, although the guard still believed him to be there. Via visions of Khonshu and Professor Darkover, Moon Knight suspected Morpheus served Seth.

(Moon Knight III#4 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, via nightmares, Morpheus prepared two (at least) agents at the UN, making them know that a special gift (Seth's statue) was to be arriving soon, that it was to have automatic security clearance and was to be installed right outside the general assembly room. Both men had dreams of drowning in a river of burning blood if they failed to get the statue installed in time.

(Moon Knight III#3) - Nine days later, Morpheus again met with Bushman, as they plotted the assault on the UN in 12 more days. Morpheus told Bushman that Seth owned owned his and Black Spectre's souls.

(Moon Knight III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Morpheus arranged with Black Spectre to ensure they would not have interference at the New York airport with the arrival and transfer of Seth's statue.


(Moon Knight III#4) - Twelve days later, the Seth statue was loaded into Bushman's private jet. Though Bushman feared the expensive jet might be confiscated, but Morpheus told him not to worry and told him they would confiscate the world during the ensuing global conflict.


(Moon Knight III#4 - BTS) - A pair of Morpheus' agents prepared for the arrival of "the package"; though they could not recall details, they knew it was a special gift from perhaps the president of Egypt.

    With Moon Knight having regained his belief in (and thus his strength from) Khonshu, he defeated Black Spectre -- though not without aid from Stained Glass Scarlet -- at an airport (see comments) and turned him over to Lt. Flint. Black Spectre confirmed the involvement of Seth and revealed the involvement of Bushman.

    The black private jet containing Seth's statue arrived at the airport and taxied to Morpheus' black helicopter.

(Moon Knight III#4) - As the crate containing Seth's statue was was loaded into Morpheus' helicopter, Moon Knight arrived. Bushman engaged the hero and Morpheus took off in the helicopter, tracked by Frenchie in the Mooncopter (or jet, or whatever).

    After defeating Bushman, Moon Knight rode the Moon-vehicle's hanging ladder as Frenchie cut off Morpheus before he could reach the UN helipad, forcing him back along the East River. Moon Knight then boarded Morpheus' helicopter and tackled Morpheus, who blasted him away with his dark power and then seemingly (?) animated Seth's statue, which at least seemed to attack the hero. Ultimately, Moon Knight kicked the statue (which was seen in its original, immobile state) out the back of the helicopter to shatter on the ground. Dodging Morpheus' blasts, Moon Knight punched him back before diving to safety as the helicopter crashed into the waters just off Liberty Island.

(Moon Knight I#198) - Moon Knight's fourth trial to join the Sociétè des Sadiques was Morpheus using his powers on him. Morpheus had Moon Knight trapped in a nightmare for five hours, but couldn't break him due to his other personalities.

(X-Men Unlimited III#18 - BTS) - At an unrevealed point in time, the Warden of superhuman prison the Dungeon acquired a genetic sample of Morpheus which he later used amongst other samples to become the Human Adaptoid. The Human Adaptoid used Morpheus' abilities to lull the island of Krakoa to sleep so he could gain access.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.

    Morpheus' birthday is given as May 23, and he was 33 years old just prior to his mutation. His birth year was listed as 1948, but that is topical as the comic came out in 1981, and he was specifically 33 years old
    A picture taken shortly after his mutation had the date of June 5.

    The statue and the god in the 1998 Moon Knight mini-series is consistently referred to as Set. However, since they are clearly referring to the Egyptian/Heliopolitan/Ennead god, who is generally referred to as Seth in Reality-616 (although Set is indeed an alias), I'm calling him Seth throughout to avoid confusion with Set, the Elder God.

    I have no idea what in the world is going on in the most recent Moon Knight series...is it all in his head? Is any of it real? Maybe we'll learn at the end of the series. A few Moon Knight classic foes are in it...maybe Morpheus is, too...

    Morpheus has an entry in the original Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#7 and then again in Fear Itself: Fellowship of Fear.

    "Spider"-Mike Fichera was kind enough to point out, in regards to the airport in Moon Knight III#4: " ...if it was an international flight, it was JFK. LaGuardia doesn't have immigration / customs / passport control for international travel." And Anthony Cotilletta clarified, "Other than flights to Canada from LaGuardia..."

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Morpheus
should be distinguished from:


morpheus-markham-servantsdisciples/ servants/

    They were a quartet of mental patients at the Seaview Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Weinstein. Marlene Alraune also worked with them while she trained as a social worker.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Announcing himself as the God of Dream, Morpheus approached these four patients in the ward, telling them not to fear, but rather to come worship and serve at his shrine. He continued that they would become his priests, and that "this edifice" (the hospital) would be his temple of dreams, a palace befitting a god.
morpheus-markham-servants-dreamselves

    Morpheus then granted them each the ability to induce dreams in themselves and others; instructing them to gaze into his eyes' darkness, he encouraged them to dare to dream dreams no mortals had ever dreamed before.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Unable to wait for Moon Knight's arrival, Marlene rushed and tried to strike him from behind with a wooden stick, but one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy.
    Recognizing Marlene, Morpheus had his servants bind her, after which he mocked her pleas to keep her and free the mental patients, having them voice how they were bound to him body and soul. Hearing approaching sirens, Morpheus sent his servants to patrol the corridors.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Moon Knight faced the servants' hallucinations, ultimately using the tear gas to subdue them, after which Flint and his men arrived. The former servants were sedated pending Morpheus' defeat to prevent their using their powers against anyone else.

--Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3

Comments: From left to right, I have designated the characters for purpose of description/identification as "vixen," "big man," "general," and "snake lady."

morpheus-markham-servants-bigmanbig man

    Real name unrevealed

    He was one of a quartet of mental patients at the Seaview Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Weinstein, assisted by social worker-in-training Marlene Alraune.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Announcing himself as the God of Dream, Morpheus approached these four patients in the ward, telling them not to fear, but rather to come worship and serve at his shrine as his priests.

    Morpheus then granted them each the ability to induce dreams in themselves and others; instructing them to gaze into his eyes' darkness, he encouraged them to dare to dream dreams no mortals had ever dreamed before.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - When Marlene tried to strike Morpheus from behind with a wooden stick, one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy.
    Marlene pled to keep her and free the mental patients, but Morpheus kept them all and had his servant voice how they were bound to him body and soul.
    Hearing approaching sirens, Morpheus sent his servants to patrol the corridors.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - After the "vixen" dropped Moon Knight with a hammer to the head, the "big man" approached his normal form, noting how he thought the hero was dead and telling him to get up. When the stunned Moon Knight asked him to help him save Marlene before Morpheus sacrificed her at midnight, the patient transformed -- complete shredding his clothes as he seemingly grew to a massively muscled 12 - 15' form -- and started crushing Moon Knight in his hands despite the hero's enhanced strength, until the "snake lady" patient stopped him, stating the hero shouldn't die on an empty stomach. The "big man" dropped Moon Knight, complaining that he never got to have any fun.

    Ultimately, Moon Knight used the tear gas to subdue the mental patients while holding his breath, after which Flint and his men arrived. The former servants were sedated pending Morpheus' defeat to prevent their using their powers against anyone else.

--Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3

Comments: The "big man" is 2nd from the left in both of the above images of Morpheus' disciples.


morpheus-markham-servants-generalgeneral

    Real name unrevealed

    He was one of a quartet of mental patients at the Seaview Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Weinstein, assisted by social worker-in-training Marlene Alraune.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Announcing himself as the God of Dream, Morpheus approached these four patients in the ward, telling them not to fear, but rather to come worship and serve at his shrine as his priests.

    Morpheus then granted them each the ability to induce dreams in themselves and others; instructing them to gaze into his eyes' darkness, he encouraged them to dare to dream dreams no mortals had ever dreamed before. morpheus-markham-servants-general-landscape

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - When Marlene tried to strike Morpheus from behind with a wooden stick, one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy.
    Marlene pled to keep her and free the mental patients, but Morpheus kept them all and had his servant voice how they were bound to him body and soul.
    Hearing approaching sirens, Morpheus sent his servants to patrol the corridors.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - As Moon Knight entered the hospital, he first encountered the "general" in his normal form. Assuming him to be a hostage, Moon Knight planned to safely lower him to the ground, at which point he assumed his "general" form, inducing an hallucination of his massive army of troops on sandy and rocky ground. 

    As the troops fired on him, Moon Knight concentrated on appreciating that this wasn't real, and it started to fade from view...at which point he was confronted by the "vixen." After she knocked down with a hammer blow to the head, the "general" asked if he was dead.

    Ultimately, Moon Knight used the tear gas to subdue the mental patients while holding his breath, after which Flint and his men arrived. The former servants were sedated pending Morpheus' defeat to prevent their using their powers against anyone else.

--Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3

Comments: The "general" is 2nd from the right in both of the above images of Morpheus' disciples.


morpheus-markham-servants-snakeladysnake lady

    Real name unrevealed

    She was one of a quartet of mental patients at the Seaview Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Weinstein, assisted by social worker-in-training Marlene Alraune.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Announcing himself as the God of Dream, Morpheus approached these four patients in the ward, telling them not to fear, but rather to come worship and serve at his shrine as his priests.

    Morpheus then granted them each the ability to induce dreams in themselves and others; instructing them to gaze into his eyes' darkness, he encouraged them to dare to dream dreams no mortals had ever dreamed before.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - When Marlene tried to strike Morpheus from behind with a wooden stick, one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy.
    Marlene pled to keep her and free the mental patients, but Morpheus kept them all and had his servant voice how they were bound to him body and soul.
    Hearing approaching sirens, Morpheus sent his servants to patrol the corridors.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - As the "big men" crushed Moon Knight in his giant hands,  the "snake lady" patient stopped him, stating the hero shouldn't die on an empty stomach. The "big man" dropped Moon Knight, complaining that he never got to have any fun. She voiced a disgusted "feh!" at his idea of fun, and then pretended to comfort Moon Knight before unleashing her illusion of snakes or tentacles from a skull's eyes and mouth. As he seemed to be falling down a throat-like tunnel, Moon Knight used the tear gas to subdue the mental patients while holding his breath, after which Flint and his men arrived. The former servants were sedated pending Morpheus' defeat to prevent their using their powers against anyone else.

--Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3

Comments: The "snake lady" is on the far right in both of the above images of Morpheus' disciples.

morpheus-markham-servants-vixenvixen

    Real name unrevealed

    She was one of a quartet of mental patients at the Seaview Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Weinstein, assisted by social worker-in-training Marlene Alraune.

(Moon Knight II#3) - Announcing himself as the God of Dream, Morpheus approached these four patients in the ward, telling them not to fear, but rather to come worship and serve at his shrine as his priests.

    Morpheus then granted them each the ability to induce dreams in themselves and others; instructing them to gaze into his eyes' darkness, he encouraged them to dare to dream dreams no mortals had ever dreamed before.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Marlene contacted Moon Knight for help.

(Moon Knight II#3) - When Marlene tried to strike Morpheus from behind with a wooden stick, one of Morpheus servants called out a warning, allowing him to energize his force field and stun Marlene with his ebon energy.
    Marlene pled to keep her and free the mental patients, but Morpheus kept them all and had his servant voice how they were bound to him body and soul.
    Hearing approaching sirens, Morpheus sent his servants to patrol the corridors.

(Moon Knight II#3 - BTS) - Det. Flint armed Moon Knight with a canister of tear gas and allowed him to enter the hospital alone initially.

(Moon Knight II#3) - After the Moon Knight forced himself to escape the hallucinations induced by the "general," the "vixen" confronted him, summoning him to her and telling him they had cocktails waiting in the limo. Confused because she acted like his girlfriend but wasn't Marlene, Moon Knight approached her, and she instead offered him a "bloody mary" as she struck him in the head with the blunt end of a tradional curve-claw hammer. As he dropped to the ground, her illusion faded, and she told the others the master had said to kill the demon in the white cape.

    Ultimately, Moon Knight used the tear gas to subdue the mental patients while holding his breath, after which Flint and his men arrived. The former servants were sedated pending Morpheus' defeat to prevent their using their powers against anyone else.

--Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3

Comments: The "vixen" is on the far left in both of the above images of Morpheus' disciples.


images: (without ads)
Moon Knight I#12, pg. 1 panel 2 (pre-mutation Markham face) - colored and  refurbed for the Fear Itself:  Fellowship of Fear: Morpheus entry
        pg. 2, panel panel 7 (main image, Morpheus face) - refurbed for the Fear Itself:  Fellowship of Fear: Morpheus entry
    #23, pg. 21, panel 1 (full body, glowing black in the woods);
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7: Morpheus entry (full/main) - refurbed for the Fear Itself:  Fellowship of Fear: Morpheus entry
Moon Knight II#3, pg. 1, panel 1 (human self in bed);
        panel 2 (transforming);
        panel 4 (strangling nurse with ebon energy);
    pg. 3, panel 3 (face with hand extended & ebon energy);
        panel 4 (blasting guards);
    pg. 4, panel 3 (servants' faces);
        panel 4 (servants empowered);
    pg. 9, panel 2-5 (servants faces and self-images);
    pg. 13, panel 10 ("general" servant);
    pg. 14, panel 1 ("general" mindscape);
    pg. 15, panel 4 ("vixen" servant);
    pg. 17, panel 4 ("bigman" servant);
    pg. 18, panel 3-5 ("snake lady" servant);
Moon Knight III#3, pg. , panel  (snakes extending from eyes)


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)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7 (July, 1983) - Mark Gruenwald (head writer/designer/editor), Bill Sienkiewicz (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Peter Sanderson, Mark Lerer, Tom DeFalco (writers), Joanne Harras, Robert Simpson, Fred Baumann (researchers)
Moon Knight II (Fist of Khonshu) #3 (September, 1985) - Alan Zelentz (writer), Chris Warner (penciler), Eufronio Reyes Cruz (inker), Dennis O'Neil (editor)
Moon Knight III (or IV, if you consider Moon Knight: Spector as Moon Knight III) #1-4 (January-April, 1998) - Doug Moench (writer), Tommy Lee Edwards (penciler), Robert Campanella (inker), Mark Bernardo (editor)
Fear Itself: Fellowship of Fear (October, 2011) - Ronald Hugh Byrd Jr., Madison Carter, Jeff Christiansen, Kevin Garcia, Rob London, Mike O'Sullivan, Markus Raymond, Patrick Ryall, Stuart Vandal (writers), Mike O'Sullivan (head writer), Nelson Ribeiro, Alex Starbuck (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley, Jen Grunwald (editors, special projects), Jeff Youngquist (senior editor, special projects)
Moon Knight I#198 (October, 2018) - Max Bemis (writer), Jacen Burrows (pencils), Guillermo Ortega (inks), Jake Thomas (editor)
X-Men Unlimited III#18 (January, 2022) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Matt Horak (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)


First Posted: 10/10/2017
Last updated: 10/25/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters