Real Name: Tyrone Johnson
Occupation: Vigilante
Identity: Secret
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Former Aliases: None
Piece of Birth: South Boston, Massachusetts
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: (parents' full names unknown)
Group Affiliation: Partner of Dagger, Marvel Knights, formerly New Warrior
Base of Operations: The Holy Ghost Church, 42nd Street, New York City
First appearance: SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN #64

History: Tyrone Johnson was a 17-year-old high school student who lived in a lower income area in South Boston. He was successful in his studies despite the difficulties presented by his disability, a stammer that he sometimes found impossible to control. His best friend was a schoolmate named Billy, who encouraged him in his struggles. One day Tyrone and Billy were walking by a neighborhood store when two thieves burst out from it. A man working in the store pursued them to the doorway, only to be shot dead by one of the thieves. The thieves ran out of sight, and Billy told Tyrone they had better leave as well Billy began to run, but just then a policeman arrived and ordered him to stop. Tyrone tried to explain that Billy was innocent, but his nervous stammer prevented him from getting the words out. Billy continued to run, and the policeman, thinking he was the thief, fatally shot him. Johnson was overcome with guilt over his inability to prevent Billy's death, and feared that the police would come after him as well. So Johnson became a runaway, and boarded a bus for New York City.

Johnson arrived at Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal penniless. He spotted another teenage runaway, Tandy Bowen, and was about to rob her when another person snatched her purse. Johnson tackled the thief and returned Bowen's purse. In reward, Bowen bought Johnson some food at a nearby restaurant and they talked about why they had become runaways

Upon leaving the two teenagers were approached by men working for criminal pharmaceutical chemist Simon Marshall. The men offered the two runaways a place to stay. Johnson knew the men's offer was spurious, but went along to protect Bowen, who accepted their offer. At the Hudson River the thugs knocked Johnson out and then took him and Bowen by boat to Ellis Island, where Marshall had set up his secret laboratory.

Marshall was working for the Maggia to develop a new synthetic addictive narcotic drug which the mob hoped would be a cheaper substitute for imported heroin. Marshall experimented with the drug by injecting it into the bloodstreams of the runaways his men captured. Marshall injected it into Johnson and Bowen as well, all the other runaways who had been injected with the drug died, but Johnson and Bowen somehow survived. The two runaways escaped their cell, and, pursued by gunfire, were forced to dive into the river.

As they attempted to swim to Manhattan, Johnson found himself engulfed by total blackness. But then he saw Bowen, glowing with light. He went to her, and her light dispelled the blackness. They reached the shore, where Johnson began to feel a strange hunger. Seeing his reflection in a window, he realized he now looked like a living shadow. Terrified, he tried to hide his new condition by wrapping himself in yards of cloth, which became the first version of his cloak. Bowen and Johnson were then found by the thugs who had taken them to Marshall. Still feeling the hunger, and no longer stammering, Johnson began to swallow them up within the blackness within his cloak. When Bowen awoke from the delirium she had been in she struck them down with daggers of light.

The two runaways realized that the drug had transformed them into superhumanly powerful beings. Calling themselves Cloak and Dagger, they dedicated their lives to using their powers to save other children and teenagers from being harmed by drug dealers and other criminals.

Tandy has attempted to leave her life as Dagger, but always returns, convinced that only Cloak loves her. Even when Spider-Man sought to reunite Dagger with her stepfather, she stood steadfast by Cloak's side. Tyrone attempted to envelop the wall-crawler in his cloak, angered by his interference, but Dagger grabbed hold of Spider-Man to protect him from the garment's effects. Within the blackness, she showed the web-slinger the world as Cloak sees it: an amalgamation of auras and evil, where darkness of the soul shines through like an ebony beacon. This experience reassured Cloak that Dagger never would dessert him.

No longer able to keep the darkness at bay, Cloak embarked on a mad quest to consume any and all lawbreakers, from a healthy motorist who had parked his car in a handicapped space to the Punisher. A desperate Dagger sought the aid of a loose-knit band of urban-based adventurers: the Black Widow, super-spy turned super hero; Daredevil, fearless blind adventurer; Dr. Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme; Moon Knight, undead avenger of evil; and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. In an attempt to reason with Cloak, Strange transported Moon Knight, Daredevil and the Black Widow into the dimension of darkness, which had been transformed into a nightmarish reflection of New York City.

There, the heroes learned that Cloak had come under the control of the demonic entity known as Nightmare. Meanwhile, Dagger confronted Cloak on the mortal plane. Tyrone had been transformed by the hunger, leaving Tandy no choice but to unleash the full extent of her power against her crimefighting companion. Through her love for her best friend, Dagger cleansed Cloak of the darkness and transformed him back into the young man he had been prior to Simon Marshall's experiments. The darkness that once possessed him now resides in Dagger, balanced by her light

Height: 5 ft. 9 in.
Weight: 155 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Strength Level: As Cloak, Johnson appears to be stronger than he was when he was an ordinary human being, but there is no clear indication as yet that his strength reaches superhuman levels.

Known Superhuman Powers: Cloak possesses various superhuman powers derived from the unknown drug with which he was injected. It is net known why Marshall's drug endowed Johnson and Tandy Bowen with unusual powers rather than killing them as it did others. There is apparently some unknown factor in the bodies of Johnson and Bowen that is responsible for the effects that Marshall's drug had on them.

Cloak possesses the superhuman ability to mentally create an aperture into a dimension composed of an insubstantial, featureless, intense black material of unknown nature, with no visual cues Ss to its surface, even when it is viewed against the background of the Earth dimension. This unknown black material may be related to the black substances and energies manipulated by other superhuman beings. With the aperture opened, he can either project the gas-like substance of this dimension into Earth's atmosphere in controlled amounts, or he can dispatch his toes into the dimension of darkness itself. (This "dark dimension" is not to be confused with the Dark Dimension ruled by Clea.) Though the aperture could theoretically be formed anywhere within Cloak's field of vision, he generally uses his cloak to help him define the area of the aperture. Hence, the darkness seems to issue forth from under his cloak. The largest area Cloak has yet to shroud in darkness is a volume of approximately 4,000 square feet (an entire warehouse). There is no known limit to the number of people whom Cloak may dispatch into the dimension of darkness at the same time: once he caused an entire subway train full of passengers to travel in and out of the dimension.

Very little is known about Cloak's dimension of darkness. Since beings can exist there, but there is no propagation of light (unless Dagger journeys there and illuminates part of it), the dimension may be a void which is an interstitial region between two separate universes. The dimension of darkness is said by Cloak and others who have traveled there to be cold, but this may be only a subjective impression with no basis in physical reality

Cloak and others who have traveled into the dimension of darkness have also characterized it as "evil." Whether there is something truly "evil" about the dimension, or whether these people merely perceive it that way because of the effects it has on their minds is unknown. However, other than Cloak and Dagger themselves, those who journey into this dimension experience terrifying visions of their own greatest fears and nightmares. The experience is such that, unless the traveler is protected by Dagger's light, or unless he or she remains there only briefly, he or she will lose his or her sanity. Whether or not these visions have any physical reality in the dimension of darkness is as yet unknown. Those whom Cloak allows to return from the dimension of darkness who have not received Dagger's protection feel frozen and terrified even if they retain their sanity.

Cloak constantly feels a "hunger" which compels him to seek out living victims and project them into the dimension of darkness. It is his belief that the dimension somehow "feeds" on the life forces of his victims, which can manifest themselves as light. Hence, Cloak finds himself dependent on Dagger, who generates an unusual amount of life force "light." By absorbing some of Dagger's "light" into the dimension of darkness, Cloak can satisfy the "hunger" for a time without having to project other people into the dimension. Cloak justifies the times that he does "consume" other people by his role as a vigilante. He seeks out criminals and projects them into the dimension of darkness. Sometimes he allows them to reemerge after they have been drained of most of their "light." Other times he leaves his victims within the dimension of darkness permanently, presumably to perish once all their "light" has been drained. Dagger can protect people whom Cloak "consumes" by traveling with them through the dimension and shielding them with her own "light."

Cloak has a limited degree of mental control over his "hunger," but if he goes for too long without feeding it, it will cause him psychic and physical pain, enough, eventually, to drive him mad. Cloak's "hunger" and his struggles to control it are already affecting his sanity to some degree

Cloak is also able to "teleport" himself from one point to another on Earth's surface by entering the dimension of darkness himself, traversing a distance, and emerging back into Earth's dimension He can take along other people as he does so, or he can "teleport" other people or objects from one place to another by projecting them through the dimension while he himself remains in the Earth dimension. Cloak has teleported an entire subway train over a short distance by the latter method. Distances within the dimension of darkness differ from those on Earth: a mile on Earth might be only a matter of feet in the other dimension. Hence, Cloak could "teleport" himself through the dimension of darkness from one point on Earth to a point a quarter mile away in the time it would take to walk a far shorter distance if he remained on Earth the whole time. Cloak seems to be able to perceive the Earth dimension in some manner while he is in the dimension of darkness, as he suffers no disorientation upon re-emergence, even if he has "teleported'' himself a great distance. As yet, Cloak has not used the dimension of darkness to teleport himself more than half a mile

Usually Cloak is intangible. He can pass through objects and objects (such as bullets) pass harmlessly through him He appears as a shadow in human form; his facial features remain visible, perhaps through an act of will on his part. Cloak can regain tangible human form through a tremendous act of will. He also regains tangible form when he has absorbed an unusually great amount of "light," or when he has somehow managed to master his "hunger" for a time by other means, or occasionally at other times due to as yet unknown circumstances. When Cloak becomes tangible, he is vulnerable to injury like any other human being.