I believed in you -- trusted you! That was my mistake! You used me -- and I don't like being used! 
- —Devil-Slayer[src]
History
Origin and early life
Eric Simon Payne was a former U.S. Marine and later soldier of fortune and one time member of a demon cult who turned on the cult after obtaining the mystical Shadow Cloak and unlocking his own latent psychic abilities.[citation needed]
Payne has served in the Vietnam War, he has served the mob, and he used to serve the Cult of Harvester of Eyes. Each time his service was rewarded with betrayal. He was sick of secret motives and unquestioned obedience.[citation needed]
The Defenders
He had already lost his wife, his innocence, and his idealism, before meeting with the Defenders.[citation needed] He hooked up with them while battling Vera Gemini[2] and eventually joined their ranks on a full time basis during their war with the Six-Fingered Hand.[citation needed]
Eric was, however, plagued by mental instability and guilt over his past actions and, after turning himself in for crimes committed during his time as a mercenary, eventually ended up in an asylum. He discovered a shard of the Nexus of All Realities and briefly became involved with the Man-Thing and with the woman named Sorrow (who became his partner and lover for a time).[citation needed]
The Initiative
After the Civil War, he was listed by Tony Stark as a potential recruit for the Initiative,[3] and was willing to join a new team of Defenders headed by Nighthawk. However, when Nighthawk suggested it to Initiative boss Tony Stark, Stark declined the offer. Instead, Eric became a member of the Hawaiian Initiative team, the Point Men, serving the team as their "Monster Hunter."[citation needed]
During the Skrull Invasion, when the new 3-D Man arrived in Hawaii, Devil-Slayer informed him that he had sensed portents of doom all day. When 3-D Man identified team member Magnitude as a Skrull impostor, the Skrull attacked and severely wounded the other Point Men, Star Sign and Paydirt. The Skrull was killed, and Devil-Slayer used his Shadow Cloak to teleport Delroy to Camp Hammond before taking Star Sign and Paydirt to a hospital. Devil-Slayer later appeared in Utah with the cyborg Jocasta to aid 3-D Man and the Skrull Kill Krew.[citation needed]
The Revengers
He joined Wonder Man's Revengers and successfully attacked the Avengers Mansion.[4] He was later in the day defeated by the Avengers and New Avengers combined forces, and while being interrogated, explain his participation by claiming that he had seen countless realities, and the wish of being among the winners in a world without Avengers.[5]
Attributes
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Powers
- Telepathy:[citation needed]
- Telepathic camouflage[citation needed]
- Psi-link: Allowing him to decipher languages.[citation needed]
- Hallucinations[citation needed]
- Mental Probe[citation needed]
- Psychokinesis: Telekinetic abilities included levitation and moving objects.[citation needed]
- Sixth Sense[citation needed]
Abilities
- Intimidation,[citation needed] Military,[citation needed] Occult Lore,[citation needed] Guns,[citation needed] Weaponsmaster,[citation needed] Marksman[citation needed]
- Fencing: Devil-Slayer has used swords in combat, and seems to be a competent swordsman [6]
Weaknesses
- Mental Illusion can only make things look normal.[citation needed]
- Telepathy is very limited with non-English-speaking targets.[citation needed]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Shadow Cloak: With the Shadow Cloak Payne could teleport to other dimensions and draw different weapons from across the ages.[citation needed]
- Dimension Travel[citation needed]
- Teleportation[citation needed]
- Summoning[citation needed]
Limitation: Warp cannot affect more than 1,000 pounds.[citation needed]
Weapons
Various medieval weapons[citation needed]
Notes
- Devil-Slayer was created by Rich Buckler, who had created a similar character in Demon Hunter (1975) for Atlas/Seaboard Comics and Bloodwing for his magazine Galaxia in 1980. Most of his early appearances and characterization were written by David Kraft.
Trivia
- Devil-Slayer is no longer considered one of the 'do-gooders',[citation needed] he is seemingly considered a criminal.[citation needed]
See Also
- 39 appearance(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 18 image(s) of Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Eric Payne (Earth-616)
- 3 item(s) used/owned by Eric Payne (Earth-616)
