Name

Current Alias

Aliases

Into the Heart of Darkness[]

Max Coleridge was born in a wealthy and happy family, his refined father and his caring mother provided him with all the necessary support and care. Tragedy struck when his parents were gunned down right by robbers before his eyes as they returned from a concert. The young and orphaned Max Coleridge was raised by his family's attorney,Justin Meagher.^[1] His parents' murder fractured his soul and inspired him to dedicate his life to fighting crime. He became a scholar of criminology, studying to use science against evil and perfecting his body to combat it. However, as he became an adult, the rise of super heroes incited him to go beyond human limits. He then journeyed toNepal in search for the enigmaticCult of Kali, which worshippeda diabolical goddess of darkness.^[8] In order to hide from Meagher, Coleridge forged his own death to abandon his civilian life.^[1] Coleridge was tutored by the cult leaderBalinor. He also forged a connection with Balinor's daughter, Dalindra.^[9] By embracing the shadows after years of intense training, Coleridge received a mark of success for his graduation. The celebration ritual had him branded on the face with the "Kiss of Kali," a red-hot iron emblem of the deity. Following a period of intense pain and confusion, he realized that the ritual had his eyesight replaced by a mystic extrasensory perception.^[8] His despair caused the cultists to reject Coleridge, who drifted by himself after the experience.^[10] In reality, Balinor wished to protect Coleridge from being corrupted by destruction incited by the Cult of Kali and chose to cut contact with him.^[11]

Using his newfound abilities, Coleridge was able to travel back to America, where he adopted the identity of theShroud as a dark and brutal vigilante. As his first mission, the Shroud decided to kill the super villainDoctor Doom in a delusional plan to become the world's most renowned hero.^[8] To accomplish that, the Shroud spied on Doom's main enemies, theFantastic Four. He was identified by theHuman Torch, but managed to best him in combat.^[2] He followed the Fantastic Four toLatveria, the country Doctor Doom ruled.^[12] Although the Fantastic Four was legally prohibited from acting against Doom as part of a peace treaty, the Shroud did not care for such a restriction. By directly confronting Doctor Doom, the Shroud was seemingly able to execute the evil monarch.^[8] As his first act, he releasedNamor, who had been kept hostage by Doctor Doom in hiscastle.^[8] They tried to escape the country, but found the Shroud's airplane destroyed by Latverians loyal to Doom. In their escape, they counted with theCircus of Crime to get cover, until learning Doctor Doom was, in fact, alive.^[13]

Betrayed by the Circus of Crime, they were captured by Doom, who revealed himself to bePrince Rudolfo, the former heir to the throne. The Shroud chose to support Rudolfo in his attempt to bring revolution to Latveria.^[14] However, during their war for freedom, the Shroud witnessed Rudolfo be defeated by theRed Skull, who had taken control over Doom's throne.^[15] The Shroud was also subdued by the Red Skull, who then met opposition in Namor, the real Doctor Doom, andCaptain America. The Red Skull teleported to theMoon, from where he intended to deploy theHypno-Ray to brainwash the world's population under his rule.^[16] Ironically, the Shroud accompanied Doctor Doom in a space journey to stop the Red Skull's plan. As Doom battled the Skull, the Shroud attempted to sabotage the device, but inadvertently prompted its activation. In desperation, he chose to protect Earth from its effects, being subjected to the ray himself. Captain America was able to rescue the Shroud, who lost his sanity due to effects of the brain-numbing effects of the Hypno-Ray and was hospitalized.^[17]

Upon recovery, the Shroud gained the ability to summon up absolutedarkness at will.^[18] InNew York City, the Shroud finally stumbled upon the Cultists of Kali again, who now engaged in murder. Wishing to get answers,^[10] the Shroud followed them toLos Angeles, where they established themselves in theHatros Institute. He did not anticipate that the institution's receptionist was secretly the vigilanteSpider-Woman, who intercepted him during his mission. When fighting the cultists, the Shroud vanished,^[18] but chose to amicably introduce himself to Spider-Woman and recruit her for his investigation. Together, they infiltrated aS.H.I.E.L.D. base to collect intelligence. The Shroud found proof the murderers had no connection to the real Cult of Kali and enlisted Spider-Woman to raid their secret temple. The murderers were defeated, but their leaderNekra managed to escape.^[10]

Lord of Crime[]

The Shroud remained in the West Coast to test an unconventional approach by pretending to be a villain to reach criminal operations. In one of his adventures, he approached the crime master known as theCrooked Man to join his gang of burglars. Their master plan involved profiting from a gallery of art. After kidnapping a renowned artist and his works, the Crooked Man sent the Shroud, alongsideCat andMouse, to confuse authorities and collect the bribe. In fact, the Crooked Man had orchestrated the Shroud's end by reporting him to the police. Sympathizing with the Shroud, Cat and Mouse decided to help him trick the Crooked Man instead. Using his powers, the Shroud was able to get the Crooked Man arrested and usurp his operations. Pretending to be a crime-lord, the Shroud started a secret war against the underworld to be waged from within.^[5]

In his shadowy duty, the Shroud observed the activities of the gangs in Los Angeles to gain influence. He turned his attention to the eccentricDansen Macabre, a devotee ofShiva. In a nightclub, he witnessedSpider-Man andWerewolf by Night confront Dansen Macabre's agentTatterdemalion, but chose not to have Cat and Mouse act to expose his rival. However, she was able to anticipate his plan and mesmerize Spider-Man to act on her behalf. Having fallen to Spider-Man, the Shroud was taken to Dansen Macabre, who wished to destroy him for considering him to be a heretic worshipper of Kali. In fact, the Shroud had Cat impersonate him so he could find Dansen Macabre. With Spider-Man resisting her influence, the Shroud was able to defeat her. However, he was forced to flee from Spider-Man, who saw him as a villain as well.^[19]

As part of a plan to imprison Spider-Woman and other super-humans she had had contact with, the mischievousLocksmith also caged the Shroud, using deafening sound effects to disorient him. Spider-Woman was unable to release the Shroud from his torment. Eventually, Spider-Woman was able to liberate all the captive super-humans. Tragically, this was followed by Spider-Woman's apparent demise at the hands ofMorgan Le Fay.^[20] The Shroud and the were-womanTigra vigilantly guarded Spider-Woman's lifeless body at the hospital, until they started to experience ghost-like appearances of their comatose ally. Tigra contacted her allies in theAvengers for help, who in turn summonedDoctor Strange to restore Spider-Woman's soul. Morgan took the opportunity to craft a revenge attack.^[21] The heroes thrived and eliminated Morgan's threat, fully restoring Spider-Woman to life.^[22]

Back to their usual adventures, Spider-Woman and the Shroud remained close.^[23] She asked the Shroud to keep an eye on Tigra as she joined a secret group. The Shroud followed her to theWest Coast AvengersCompound. Initially mistaken for a villain, he was attacked by the new team of West Coast Avengers Tigra had joined. She interrupted the fight and vouched for his allegations of being a hero. After explaining his situation, the Shroud was offered a position in the West Coast Avengers by team leaderHawkeye, but refused in order not to destroy his criminal façade.^[24] At some point, while the Shroud investigated the Avengers, Cat and Mouse were attacked by theGaleno gang. The West Coast Avengers offered to join the Shroud in solving the crisis. Together, they searched for Galeno, only to find the criminalBlank behind the organization. As a fight ensued, Blank's superior revealed himself to be all-powerfulGraviton, who easily disposed of the Shroud and the Avengers to consolidate his power over the crime scene on the West Coast.^[25] As the Shroud recovered, the Avengers managed to trick Graviton and put an end to his threat.^[26]

The Shroud's operation grew to the point of becoming a super-villain group named theNight Shift, which were manipulated into doing good deeds. They crossed paths with Captain America when he foughtDr. Malus and the victims of his macabre experiments. In order to preserve his credibility, the Shroud revealed his secret to Captain America and asked him to go along with the charade. The Night Shift joined Captain America in hunting thePower Broker.^[27] After Captain America was able to dissolvePower Broker, Inc., the Shroud rescued the victims of its experimentations for treatment.^[28]

The lunatic vigilanteMoon Knight invaded the Shroud'sTower of Shadows in search for information about theZodiac's leaderTaurus. In a violent display of capabilities, the two dark anti-heroes fought each other. The Shroud ceased fighting and offered Moon Knight to lead Night Shift, arguing they shared their mission, but he refused.^[29] Instead, the Shroud lured Taurus to invite him to the Zodiac as his new Pisces. This allowed Moon Knight to tackle his target. As the Moon Knight brutally assaulted Taurus, the Shroud contacted the West Coast Avengers to brief them about their teammate's activities.^[30] Soon after, he interacted with the West Coast Avengers again. When out in business in San Francisco, the Shroud could not keep discipline of his Night Shift, who performed robberies without his supervision. The West Coast Avengers intervened, with Moon Knight, Tigra, andMockingbird even infiltrating the Tower of Shadows. With discretion, the Shroud arranged a meeting with Hawkeye to keep the two groups from fighting each other. However, this crisis weakened the previous sense of camaraderie the teams shared.^[4] Eventually,Hangman exposed to Shroud's minions his secret and seized control of the Night Shift to transform it into a real criminal gang.^[31]

Shadows that Lead Home[]

Even without his team of villains, the Shroud kept his obscure vigilantism by himself. When another hater of Kali,Firefly, emerged, he was intrigued by his opponent's motivations. He ultimately protected her fromKrago Ksang, a vicious member of the Cult of Kali. In a tragic result, the Shroud was unable to prevent Firefly and Krago from murdering each other due to their blind devotion to their causes.^[32] He also watched the rise of theDeacon, a fanatic demagogue with light powers capable of dissipating the Shroud's darkness. The Deacon established a reign of terror in Los Angeles by hunting gangsters to blackmail them and gain profit. In a last stand, the Deacon targeted his ex-wife and crime lordKathryn Cinnibar. The Shroud intervened and proved his darkness could destroy the Deacon, who succumbed to his own madness.^[33] Using brute force, the Shroud maintained his dominance in Los Angeles. He attacked a gang of robbers led by a criminal named Manny, who targeted the elderly, which enraged the Shroud. He avenged one of their victims by destroying their gang without mercy.^[34] Alongside many other wielders of the darkforce energies, the Shroud was corrupted and incapacitated by the vileDarkling, who ended up being defeated by theNew Warriors.^[35][36]

Eventually, the Shroud moved his mission to New York City in order to run after and get revenge at the gunrunnerJoey Gregson. Although successful in defeating Gregson and his lackeys, the Shroud was attacked by Spider-Man, who believed him to be a crime lord. During the ensuing fight, the Screaming Masks ofCyttorak were freed from the ruins of theSanctum Sanctorum and empowered Gregson and his men.^[37] The dire situation forced Spider-Man and the Shroud to team up to fight the threat. The masks consumed their hosts and threatened the city by corrupting Spider-Man. As Spider-Man resisted the possession, the Shroud locked the masks and vanished without providing explanations.^[38] After that, the Shroud kept targeting the mobs in New York City with Cat and Mouse. Their first mission involved dismantling a money-laundering operation executed byGarrick King, who had connections to a mystery involving the Cult of Kali. The Shroud blackmailed King into joining his mission, but King was hunted by theScorpion. This caused the Shroud to cross paths with Spider-Man once again.^[39] The Shroud ultimately knocked the Scorpion out and, before Spider-Man could intervene, he vanished.^[9]

The Scorpion acted on orders fromLassiter, a Kali cultist. When searching for him, the Shroud found a replica of the Temple of Kali, years after of his banishment. There, he met with his old master, Balinor, who informed him how the Cult of Kali had fallen into darkness underYannroth, who forged an alliance with Lassiter to bring destruction.^[9] The Shroud was attacked by Lassister's assassins, but managed to escape. He then contacted Garrick King's wifeAmara, who was in fact an undercoverCIA agent. Thanks to her intel, he was able to locate King and Lassiter conversing on a ferry. However, Lassiter was prepared not only with Scorpion, but also withKali, who was Yannroth's prime assassin.^[40] Soon, the Shroud realized that Kali was his former partner in the Cult of Kali, Dalindra. As he orchestrated his counterattack, Cat warned Spider-Man to get help. As Spider-Man took care of the Scorpion, the Shroud was able to subdue Dalindra. In the end, the connection between the New York City mobs and the Cult of Kali was destroyed. The Shroud and Spider-Man called a truce after the Shroud argued that public reputation could lead to unfair judgement.^[11]

Having relocated to an abandoned asylum inRoosevelt Island, the Shroud succumbed to glumness for reminiscing his infancy. Cat and Mouse worried about their boss, but were repelled by him. Succumbing to insanity, the Shroud patrolled the streets by employing extreme violence. When visiting his parents' grave, he stumbled upon his former caretaker Meagher. Ultimately deciding to re-established himself inManhattan, Max Coleridge hired Meagher once again in order to reacquire his family's vast inheritance.^[1]

Superhuman Registration Act[]

Using his wealth, Coleridge ran a company and used its resources for his mission against crime however he could. He took interest inJulia Carpenter, the former member of the West Coast Avengers previously known as Spider-Woman. She had lost her powers and the use of her legs. Coleridge's company's labs were able to replicate the process that gave Carpenter powers. After intensive therapy, she fully recovered. Coleridge got close to her and to her daughterRachel. Eventually, their relationship blossomed into a romance.^[41] Soon after, theSuperhuman Registration Act was enacted, forcing unregistered heroes to submit to the government or face prison. The Shroud fought against it and openly destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D.units tasked with capturing vigilantes. Julia Carpenter, adopting the name Arachne, wished to help him and made herself be recruited byTony Stark to act as a mole in the operation.^[42]

Arachne provided Stark with false intel about the Shroud's location. However, she was immediately identified as a double agent, allowing S.H.I.E.L.D. to pinpoint both outlaws.^[42] Hunted byMs. Marvel andWonder Man, the Shroud let himself be arrested to cover Arachne and give her a chance to reunite with her daughter.^[43] Unfortunately, despite his intent, she failed and was also captured.^[41] The Shroud was taken toPrison 42, being released when Captain America orchestrated a prison break to oppose the authoritarian act. The Shroud was among the many heroes who joined the opposition,^[44] with no success.^[45] As Arachne was forced to serve inOmega Flight,^[46] the Shroud remained underground and kept close contact with her under the radar, collecting information about Stark to resist the registration.^[47]

Shadowland[]

Shroud resurfaced in the midst ofShadowland; whenDaredevil ordered ninja clanThe Hand to dispense justice on New York's streets. When the bodies of mobsters and suspected child-pornographers were discovered brutally murdered baring the Hand insignia, Shroud investigated the deaths as strange and vicious beyond that which Daredevil would decree.^[48] Alongside private investigatorMisty Knight, mercenary-for-hirePaladin, andSymkarian bounty hunterSilver Sable, Shroud determined that the murders were in fact committed by furious, embittered policemen posing as Hand ninja.^[49] It was presumed that Shroud continued to aid the other New-York based superheroes in the redemption ofHell's Kitchen from Shadowland.^[50]

In the wake of Shadowland, Misty reformedHeroes For Hire, this time taking a withdrawn role and directing other heroes. After being kidnapped and held prisoner byPuppet Master,^[51] Shroud was forced to act as a liaison for a new, loose-knit Heroes for Hire. They fought theWorthy,^[52] as well asPurple Man in theRaft.^[53]

Returning to San Francisco[]

Having returned toSan Francisco, Maximillian fell into a depressive state and let himself go. His aggressive vigilantism and uncooperative behavior made him an annoyance for the commissioner of police.^[54] While acting on a death wish,^[55] the Shroud started building a reputation as a criminal as part of a plan to target San Francisco's kingpin, theOwl, kidnapping capos and burning marks on their top lieutenants.^[56] When Daredevil returned to San Francisco, having made his identity public, the Shroud became jealous of him.^[54] As part of his plan to establish himself as a credible threat in the city to attract the Owl's attention and earn an audience with him,^[56] Max lured Daredevil to a trap and tried to take him down.^[54] After subduing the Shroud, Daredevil convinced him to follow a different plan to personally confront the Owl. However, when the two vigilantes had the Owl cornered, the crime lord promised to help Max reunite with his ex-girlfriend Julia.^[56] The Shroud escaped with the Owl, and the crime boss manipulated Max into helping him gain access to a cutting-edge piece of technology from a fiber optics company that delivered data directly into a person's brain, turning them virtually omniscient. Daredevil intercepted both of them, but not before the Owl entered in contact with this device. After leaving the Owl to the police, Daredevil tried to talk some sense into the Shroud, but to no avail.^[55]

In order to find Julia, the Shroud abducted the Owl from prison and used him inhumanly as the heart of a surveillance supercomputer he set up inAlcatraz.^[57] When Daredevil and the Owl's daughterJubula Pride found him, the Shroud broadcasted malefic footage of Daredevil's personal and professional life to prevent further interference.^[58] Later, the Shroud managed to find Julia aboard a plane about to layover in San Francisco, and stopped her at the airport, but Daredevil intervened. The appearance of Jubula Pride resulted in a scuffle during which Julia was kidnapped by henchmen sent by theKingpin, who intended to use her as leverage to put Max under his thumb.

After learning of Julia's location from one of Fisk's goons, the Shroud interrupted a deathmatch between Daredevil and the Kingpin's assassinIkari. The Shroud killed Ikari, unwittingly dooming one of Matt's loved ones, since Kingpin had also capturedKirsten McDuffie andFoggy Nelson, and planned to kill either of them if Daredevil beat Ikari.^[59] While Daredevil impersonated Ikari to meet up with Kingpin and stall for time, the Shroud returned to the Owl and used the surveillance system to reveal all of Fisk's illicit operations. After the Kingpin's fall, the Shroud liberated the Owl. Later, Daredevil and Julia set up a trap to capture Max. On the pretense that she wanted to reconcile with him, Julia met with Max and kissed him. However, she had covered her lips with a tranquilizer, knocking him out almost instantly so he could be apprehended.^[60] Max was subsequently locked up, and Julia put his surveillance system to use in order to investigateNew U Technologies.^[61]

All-New Moon Knight[]

After the death of Marc Spector, the originalMoon Knight,^[62] Shroud stepped forward to take up the mantle.^[3] Shroud believed he was the only one worthy of continuing his friend's legacy and wished to make Marc proud by fighting in his stead, secretly wanting to prove everyone he could be a true hero.^[63] He was hostile to the tenants of theMidnight Mission, demanding them to leave theirbase to let him take over.^[64] The Midnight Mission's building denied him entry,^[65] and soon two of Marc's closest friends, Tigra andHunter's Moon went after him.^[66]

The duo managed to track him down and corner him, uncovering his true identity as the Shroud.^[3] Before Tigra and Hunter's Moon could properly confront him,^[67] theStructure transformed Shroud and other Darkforce users into portals which proceeded to cover the entire Earth in preparation for the upcoming vampire uprising. With sunlight blocked from reaching Earth, the vampires were free to spread worldwide and prey on the human population,^[68] while all of the Darkforce users, including the Shroud, were left trapped in theDarkforce Dimension.^[69]

• Psychic Perception: The Shroud possesses a mystical sense of perception enabling him to "see" even through his own mantle of darkness despite his physical blindness. This mystical sense gives him psychic impressions of his environment within a radius of about 100 feet of him.^[8][72] UnlikeDaredevil, the Shroud can receive non-visual sensory impressions through solid objects. Thus, he can perceive people and objects in the room next to him with the ease that he can perceive the contents of the room he is in.

• Darkforce Manipulation The Shroud possesses the mystical ability to summonDarkforce by opening a mystical portal into theDarkforce Dimension and drawing its thick, inky atmosphere in various quantities into Earth's dimension. This darkness is not simply the absence of light, but the negation of it. No illumination can penetrate it. It is unknown how much of this darkness the Shroud can summon at once. He can blanket a small auditorium in darkness within several seconds. The darkness he projects does not fill a volume instantly: it is possible to see its hazy boundary move like thick, black smoke in the air. There appears to be no limit to the length of time the Shroud can maintain the darkness. However, if the Shroud is rendered unconscious the darkness seems to be naturally drawn through the portal from whence it came.^[72] UnlikeDarkstar's Darkforce, the darkness possesses no mass, and unlikeCloak, the Shroud is unable to travel into or out of the dimension from which he draws his darkness.
  • Darkforce Constructs Creation: The Shroud has control over the darkness so as to create hazy-edged, featureless black shapes with it, the complexity of which is limited only by his imagination. He frequently forms the darkness into his own shadow in order to serve as a decoy. His control over the Darkforce seems to have increased as he is now able to create solid constructs like wings and tentacles.^[67]
  • Energy Projection: The Shroud can expel the Darkforce from his body as concussive blasts.^[67]

• Peak Human Conditioning: The Shroud is an Olympic level athlete with peak human reflexes and agility.^[73]
• Master Martial Artist: The Shroud has extensive training in several styles of Asian martial arts^[72] and he could keep up in a fight against experienced fighters likeTigra andHunter's Moon at the same time.^[74]
• Acrobatics: The Shroud is adept at acrobatics.^[73]
• Criminology: The Shroud has great knowledge of infiltration and criminology.^[8]
• Law: The Shroud has a degree in law and criminology.^[73]

• Insanity: The Shroud became a suicidal sociopath who tried to take on supervillains with a death wish while fixated on Julia Carpenter.^[75]

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