Many challenges and problems confront us throughout our lives. These barriers can be large enough to have a life-changing effect on people and compel them to reconsider their lives. The Freak, for example, was an apparently average person who became a psychotic psychopath after his life took a turn owing to family problems.
The Freak, created by Todd McFarlane, was a violent villain who caused a lot of difficulty for Spawn in the ‘Spawn Comics.’ He became one of the craziest characters in the universe because he had nothing left to lose. Let us have a peek at his background and some of his misadventures.
The first comic book appearance explored:
The Freak was first introduced as just a background character in issue 33 of the Spawn Comics. Here, when Spawn engages in a fight with Violator, the Freak is a silent spectator who watches from the darkness. The Violator is a demonic supervillain who occurs throughout the series and is considered to be Spawn’s arch-nemesis.
While the two go against each other, they end up at the bottom of sewage tunnels, where they continue to fight. The Freak observes from afar and later helps the Violator regain his balance and saves him from drowning. Later on, he appeared as the main antagonist in the comics and established himself as one of the most dangerous villains in the Spawn Universe.
The descent into becoming a psychopath:
Earlier, The Freak was just a regular guy named Bryan Kulbiczi, who lived with his wife. After learning that his wife did not wish to have children, Bryan slowly began his descent into a state of madness and unleashed his psychopathic tendencies. He also started experiencing early symptoms of delirium, which caused him to act quite disoriented and lose control over his reality.
He was admitted to an asylum, where he received treatment under Dr. DeLorean. However, he soon escaped and took on the identity of ‘The Freak’, an alternate persona that appears to be much more disoriented and unhinged than his past self. He settled down in New York City’s sewers, where he made a home for himself. Here, he was once cornered by the evil that lurks all over the city when Spawn intervened and rescued him.
The Freak shares a moment with Spawn as he narrates his life story to the antihero. He mentions a ‘Doctor Delirium’, who had apparently killed off his family. The Freak mentions that he once attempted to get revenge on the Doctor, but he was captured and then used as a human subject for his experiments. The Freak launches into elaborate stories about these experiments and the torture that he was allegedly subjected to, and Spawn ends up pitying the crazed villain.
Spawn offers his help to defeat the Doctor, and the Freak leads him to Delirium’s underground office, where they end up in a clash with the Doctor’s guards. They create quite a scene, and the Freak eventually corners the Doctor himself. With some help from Spawn, the crazed villain kills Delirium while the police appear at the scene.
As the Freak walks away with Spawn, the authorities contact Freak’s ex-wife, who wonders why they had not reached out to his Doctor,’ DeLorean’. Meanwhile, Spawn relays the day’s events as he tries to make sense of Freak’s behavior. As the story comes to an end, Spawn wonders if he had just aided the murder of an innocent civilian and fallen prey to the crazed psychopath’s elaborate plans.
His death and resurrection in Hell!
Looking to stir up more trouble, the Freak had ordered ‘John Leekley’, one of the bums in the Spawn Universe, to cause chaos around the place. However, Leekley could not go too far without being caught by Spawn, as the antihero finds out about his plans.
They end up fighting, and Leekley manages to corner Spawn in the Dead Zone, a place that had been abandoned by both heaven and hell. Since Spawn’s powers did not work in this zone, Leekley and his fellow bums killed the antihero without much difficulty. Leekley even gathered some of Spawn’s bodily fluid known as ‘neoplasm’ to prove that he had indeed killed him.
However, as soon as Freak learned about Spawn’s death, he murdered Leekley himself for not following his orders. In the meantime, the neoplasm from Spawn’s body resurrected itself to create a new entity known as ‘The Heap.’ Moreover, when Spawn’s acquaintances dragged his body out of the ‘Dead Zone,’ Spawn managed to revive himself with some help from insects and various creatures of the night.
He goes on a mission to locate the Freak, and eventually, a fight breaks out between the Freak and Spawn. Though some bums side with Spawn, many of them did not want Spawn lurking in their alleys and decided to group with the Freak. As the two groups break into a full-scale battle, Spawn goes up against the Freak and uses his powers to extract Freak’s inner evils.
These evils assume the form of insects and worms, and they try to return to their host body. The Freak struggles to get rid of them while the insects attack his body. He withers in excruciating pain as he fails to fight them off. The insects consume his entire being, and Freak’s body finally turns into a cloud of darkness, and he ceases to exist.
However, this was not the end for this crazed villain, and he reappeared in the comic’s 100th issue when Spawn visits Hell. While Spawn’s acquaintance ‘Cogliostro’ is handed a box by the evil ‘Mammon,’ the Freak wanders around in hell and comes across the box himself. He takes a peek at its contents and then asks the anti-spawn known as ‘Redeemer’ to take the box out of his sight.
The Freak was also possessed by the demon Malebolgia, who used his body to fight off Spawn. However, Malebolgia could not succeed against Spawn and was soon defeated. The Freak then stayed out of the picture until he reappeared in all his glory in the #289th issue of the comic. We learn that he has been resurrected by Al Simmons, who has revived an army of villains to go against Spawn. Though Simmons controlled his mind, the Freak was once again at his physical peak and ready to wreak havoc.
What makes him such a deadly opponent?
The Freak obtained many demonic powers after being possessed by the demon ‘Malebolgia’ and displayed superhuman speed and strength while fighting against his opponents. He could also take control of their bodies and possess them. Moreover, The Freak could now also absorb or deplete others of their energy, as he had once done with Spawn.
He was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and had sharp claws that served as a means to injure his opponents. After being possessed by Malebolgia, The Freak also had the ability to teleport, among other things. Despite all his powers, he suffered from Delirium, a mental illness that caused him to lose awareness of his surroundings and led to a confused state of mind. Nonetheless, The Freak is quite a deadly opponent, and it is advisable to stay out of his path.
Conclusion
The Freak has had quite a tough life and is one of the most badass villains in the Spawn universe. Though he struggles with his Delirium, The Freak is an absolutely unhinged creature and his actions are quite unpredictable. There is no saying what he might do next, or who he may go after, and it is best to stay out of his way!