Mammon

Mammon is a character and powerful entity from the comic book, Spawn. He is a former ally now turned enemy of Spawn, formerly the primary antagonist, having replaced Malebolgia in that role. After Mammon's defeat, Malebolgia again would take on the role.

History
Mammon is depicted as a handsome gentleman; suave and sophisticated. This demon is often seen making attractive deals with humans for their souls and is thought to be quite persuasive. A master schemer, he is the puppet-master behind most of the machinations facing Al Simmons, and is seeking the Throne of Creation so that he might remake the universe (galaxy) to his own whim.

Mammon's past is very much shrouded in mystery. It has been revealed that he was one of The Forgotten, a group of Muses that stayed loyal to God but refused to fight against their fellow Archangels in The Great Battle. For this he and his kind were banished from Heaven, but unlike the rest of The Forgotten, Mammon was not bound to The Tiend and instead appears to have been cast into Hell. He may be an evil demon, but it is unknown if he truly is or is not. He has transformed into a demonic entity on one occasion, on which he was assaulted by Spawn and scarred with three cuts from the Hellspawn's claws as a reminder that Spawn is a wildcard. Spawn can put an end to his evil scheme.

He is a high ranking Lord of Hell. It is unknown which sphere he controls, if he controls one at all, but he is obviously one of the most powerful beings in Hell. It has been stated that, while Malebolgia was the King of Hell and ruler of the 8th Sphere, Malebogia was but a flea in comparison to Mammon. It has also been said that he doesn't have the power to grant certain things; the only one who can is Satan. This places him between Malebolgia and Satan in the power structure of Hell. This is supported by Thamuz, who refers to Mammon as Lord, but to Satan as Master.

Thus far, Mammon has made Spawn's life a truly living Hell. He is probably the true brains behind the scheme to unleash Urizen which led to Spawn killing Malebolgia. Mammon was alive during the time Urizen was first contained, Malebolgia was only created slightly 70,000 years prior to his second coming. It's likely that Mammon planted the idea in Malebogia's head. Additionally, he orchestrated the plot to give Cog the means and opportunity to betray Spawn and seize control of the 8th Sphere of Hell. He was the stranger who told Eddie Frank of redemption, which led to Eddie become The Redeemer and beat Spawn badly enough that he could be dragged into Hell. He revealed the truth about Eddie's father to him to destroy his faith, weaken his powers and halt his attack while his minions captured Spawn. He sent Violator to Earth to take over the body of Jason Wynn in order to break Spawn physically and mentally. This was because Mammon personally took the soul of Nyx's friend Thea to use as leverage later on to make Nyx betray Spawn by stealing his costume and going into Hell. While he was incapacitated she donned the K7-Leetha. This was part of a larger plan to gain Nyx's powers of Spawn. He approached her prior to her betrayal and tried to bargain with her. He also told her about Thea's soul being in Hell. It is likely that he is responsible for Al's return to Earth and separation from his suit, so that Nyx would reunite him and his shadow. Nyx ended up trying to outsmart Mammon by making a deal with another minor Lord of Hell known as N'Zzezheaal, who turned out to be Mammon in disguise. In the end, he got her powers and used that to destroy Spawn's memories of Wanda and then send him on his way to break the Tiend and release The Forgotten so that they might begin the assault on Heaven. It is likely that the return of The Redeemer from Hell and defeat at the hands of Spawn was part of Mammon's plans as well, since he states that Eddie's part in this is done, for now.

During the reappearance of Satan in Hell during the Armaggedon arc, Mammon fell out of his place of power. Even his former servant Thamuz was ready to turn upon Mammon and destroy him at Satan's command. However, Mammon manages to save himself from Thamuz by offering Satan a way to increase the ranks of Hell's Army - namely triggering the San Andreas Fault.

Mammon has shown surprise only twice. The first was when Spawn was able to wield the Angelic Lance without being destroyed, and eventually scarred him. The second was when Spawn revealed that he contained The Legion and broke free from Thamuz' torture.

It has been stated that there is only one way to destroy Mammon and that Spawn does not possess that power. What exactly it is has not yet been revealed, but it has been hinted that his pride will be his undoing.

Mammon has recently returned along with a robed companion who tells him that Spawn defeated Clown and closed the Hell portal: just as Mammon had wanted him to. Mammon, in turn, calls Spawn "my good and faithful servant."

Mammon also apparently orchestrated the events that lead to Spawn and Nyx in issue 169, returning Nyx's powers in that very same issue.

In the arc "A tale of Three Brothers" and the arc "Gunslinger Spawn", 174-175 it is revealed that Mammon has been manipulating Spawn since before he was born and has been controlling his family for generations in preparation for his birth. Mammon under the guise of Malefick, had seduced the mother of Al Simmons to serve him in his schemes. Al Simmons' mother only married her husband because of Mammon's wishes and allowed Mammon to influence her children from a very young age, an action that lead to Al Simmons' becoming a Hellspawn. In the Gunslinger arc, it is revealed that Mammon had known many years beforehand that a descendant of Henry Simmons (Al Simmon's great-grandfather) would become a Hellspawn, predicting that this Hellspawn that would destroy and recreate the world, a prediction that was fulfilled when Al Simmons (Spawn) destroyed and recreated the world in the Armageddon arc.

In issue 182, more of Mammon's past is revealed. It is revealed that upon his fall from Heaven and into Hell after the failed uprising against God, he offered his services to Malebogia. For centuries, he then traveled the Earth learning alchemy, divination and sorcery, coming into the conclusion that the human race could be the greatest of creation. He then began collecting warriors for Hell's Legions, believing one day that there would be a warrior that would lead mankind against God and Satan. Some time after meeting Al Simmons' great-grandfather, Henry Simmons, Mammon decides to forgo a chance and breed such a Hellspawn. Though Al Simmons played a crucial part in the defeat of Malebogia and the exile of God and Satan (which were all planned by Mammon), Mammon reveals that Al Simmons is not the final product of a 'perfect' Hellspawn that Mammon was seeking. It is Morana, Wanda Blake and Al Simmon's child, whom Mammon took from her parents at the hospital when she was miscarried. Morana is the product of the merging of the Simmons and Blake bloodlines; two bloodlines which have great potential for making Hellspawn brought forth through centuries of Mammon's manipulation. Issue 182 also poses the possibility that Al Simmons' actions that caused the miscarriage may have been induced by Mammon's influence throughout Al Simmons' childhood.

In issue 182, it is also revealed that Mammon had influenced Al Simmons' K7 Leetha Symbiote Costume, prior to its bonding with Al Simmons, promising it great power in exchange for its services and convincing Malebogia that it was worthy to become "Hellspawn". It is also then revealed that Mammon plans to transfer the symbiote to Morana, believing that Al Simmons was "finished" after Armaggedon and that Morana was the one who will sit by his side and rule over the world. Mammon was sealed away alongside Morana using a spell cast by Nyx for an unknown amount of time.

Influence on Hellspawn
It is also revealed in several issues that Mammon acted as a representative to Malebogia in the past to recruit Hellspawn. In issue 165, Mammon came to recruit Chenglei to become the Mandarin Spawn, and in issue 174 he recruited Jeremy Winston to become the Gunslinger Spawn. In issue 179, it is shown that he recruited Thomas Coram to become War Spawn. Eventually even his work for Malebolgia is revealed as another ruse: by selecting and recruiting Hellspawns on his own, he seeks to create a perfect bloodline, reuniting under one final offspring the lines of his best subjects.

In other media

 * Mammon has appeared in only one comic title outside of the core Spawn comic, the French produced title Spawn: Simony.
 * Mammon's name was first revealed in a Spawn video game: Mammon appeared as an ally in Spawn: Armageddon, and the announcement for the game was the first time the character had been directly named. Prior to this announcement he was only known by the fan-created nickname, Mr. Hell, and was assumed to be Satan by many Spawn enthusiasts.
 * Mammon's action-figure debut was as the Collector's Club Exclusive for Spawn Series 30, slated for a Fall 2006 release which is tied to the web-comic The Adventures of Spawn in which Mammon is main antagonist and desires to release Malebolgia from the Limbo he is confined in.