The Phlebiac Brothers are

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

'' comic book series.

Background

Dubbed the "true denizens of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

", the Phlebiac brothers are five powerful demonic beings, servants of

Malebolgia Malebolgia (also referred to at times as the Malebolgia ) is a supervillain appearing as the original main antagonist in comic books featuring the superhero Spawn and reprised the role in the later issues. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlan ...

. The Violator claims they were born of human mothers, but sired by a full-blooded demon from Hell, apparently for a project of

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

; and that he, the eldest son, later killed their father. They each possess inhuman strength and invulnerability, as well as

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

, regenerative,

possessive A possessive or ktetic form (Glossing abbreviation, abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession (linguistics), possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a numbe ...

, and

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

abilities. * Violator (also known as The Clown), the eldest of the brothers and the most prominently featured in the comics. He has blue-gray skin, a slender frame (in contrast to his more rotund figure as a clown), and large red

compound eyes A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distin ...

, with two horns protruding from the sides of his face, along with a single large horn on his back. He is initially sent to Earth by Malebolgia to train the newly reborn

Al Simmons Aloysius Harry Simmons (born Alois Szymanski; May 22, 1902 – May 26, 1956) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he had his best years with Connie Mack ...

, but quickly comes to resent this role, as he considers himself to be superior to all Hellspawn and later to have designed the suits and powers for every hellspawn after the first. He acts as Spawn's archnemesis throughout the series. * Vindicator, the second most featured in the comics. He has green-gray skin, slender frame, large red eyes with prominent

eyebrow An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the Supraorbital ridge, brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, human communication, communication thro ...

s, and a large horn protruding from his back. He is a taskmaster who subjugates newly arrived souls in the Eighth Circle of Hell. * Vandalizer, the most dominant of the brothers, he often takes a leadership role amongst the group. He has brown-gray skin, small yellow eyes, and is substantially more muscular than his other brothers, with two small horns protruding from the sides of his face, and a large horn on his back. * Vaporizer, the largest of the brothers. Though not as muscle-bound as Vandalizer, he has a much larger frame than his other brothers. He has lavender-gray skin and a notably

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

-like visage, with six green eyes (three on either side of his face) and intimidating maw. He has two large horns protruding from each side of his face, as well as two more on his back. * Vacillator, the smallest and weakest of the brothers. He is very similar in appearance to Vindicator, the most notable differences being his diminutive size and pink, segmented eye. As his name would suggest, Vacillator can be extremely indecisive.

Other members

*Dakota, the daughter of Violator, debuting in Gunslinger Spawn #3 *Viscerator, the sister of Violator, debuting in Scorched 25

Alternate versions

In an alternate future of the year 2015, the brothers are corrupt police officers and henchman of Spawn, who has become a murderous dictator."Spawn/WildC.A.T.S." #1–4 (1996)

In other media

The Phlebiac Brothers appears in the video game '' Spawn: In the Demon's Hand'' as playable characters and as cameos in Spawn's ending in ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...

''.

References

Characters created by Alan Moore Comics characters who use magic Demon characters in comics Fictional demons Fictional characters with body or mind control abilities Fictional families Fictional telepaths Image Comics shapeshifters Image Comics characters with accelerated healing Image Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Image Comics characters with superhuman strength Image Comics supervillains Spawn characters {{Image-char-stub es:Violator (cómic)