Editing Phantom Stranger (section)

===Origin===
Unusually for a comic book character of such longevity, nothing in the way of personal data about the Phantom Stranger—his real name, his true nature, or his origins—has ever been revealed. In 1987, DC produced a special issue of ''[[Secret Origins]]'' (vol. 2, #10) that postulated four possible origins:
#In a variation of the [[Wandering Jew]] story, he was a man named Isaac whose family were killed during the [[Massacre of the Innocents]]. Afterward, he spends the next 30 years seeking revenge against [[Jesus Christ]], and is cursed to wander the world until the [[Second Coming]]. In the present day, God offers to lift the Stranger's curse, but he refuses.<ref>{{cite comic|writer= [[Mike W. Barr|Barr, Mike W.]]|penciller= Aparo, Jim|inker= Aparo, Jim|story= Tarry 'Till I Come Again|title= [[Secret Origins]]|volume= 2|issue= #10|date= January 1987}}</ref>
#The Stranger was a man in Biblical times who was spared God's wrath by an angel. Questioning God's actions, he commits suicide. An angel forbids his spirit from entering the afterlife, resurrects him with amnesia, and condemns him to wander the world and erase evil from others' souls.<ref>{{cite comic|writer= [[Paul Levitz|Levitz, Paul]]|penciller= [[José Luis García-López|García-López, José Luis]]|inker = García-López, José Luis|story= And Men Shall Call Him Stranger|title= Secret Origins|volume= 2|issue= #10|date= January 1987}}</ref>
#The Phantom Stranger is a being caught in a [[time loop]]. Near the end of the universe, he approaches several scientists who are trying to transfer energy from the [[Big Bang]] to extend the universe's lifespan and stops one of the scientists, who is an avatar of [[Anti-Life Equation|Anti-Life]] and attempting to destroy the universe. The story concludes with the Phantom Stranger passing a portion of himself to a scientist, who becomes his successor.<ref>{{cite comic|writer= [[Dan Mishkin|Mishkin, Dan]]|penciller= [[Ernie Colón|Colón, Ernie]]| inker= [[Pablo Marcos|Marcos, Pablo]]|story= Revelations|title= Secret Origins|volume= 2|issue= #10|date= January 1987}}</ref>
#The Phantom Stranger was a fallen angel who sided with neither Heaven nor Hell during [[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]]'s rebellion and thus was condemned to walk the Earth.<ref>{{cite comic|writer= [[Alan Moore|Moore, Alan]]|penciller= [[Joe Orlando|Orlando, Joe]]|inker= Orlando, Joe|story= Footsteps|title= Secret Origins|volume= 2|issue= #10|date= January 1987}}</ref> In the comic book miniseries ''The [[Trenchcoat Brigade]]'', [[John Constantine]] sees that the fourth origin story is essentially correct. ''Vertigo Visions: Phantom Stranger'' #1 by [[Alisa Kwitney]] and [[Guy Davis (comics)|Guy Davis]] builds upon [[Alan Moore]]'s fallen angel story from ''Secret Origins'' and adds the story of a woman called Naamah, who was condemned to Hell for loving an angel. This angel is implied to have become the Phantom Stranger.

Another possible origin was hinted at in ''[[The Kingdom (comic book)|The Kingdom]]'' (the sequel to ''[[Kingdom Come (comic book)|Kingdom Come]]'') in which it was implied that Jonathan Kent, the future son of [[Superman]] and Wonder Woman, might grow up to be the Phantom Stranger. This also tied some of his abilities into the [[Hypertime]] concept, giving him the innate ability to enter alternate timelines and to exist in the spaces between them. The story ultimately revealed this to be a [[Red herring (plot device)|red herring]]. The character in question had been deliberately drawn in shadows to suggest that he was the Stranger, but when Wonder Woman finally saw his face, she said that she now realized he was not the Stranger they knew.

His appearances in titles featuring [[Doctor Fate]] state that the Stranger was a servant of the [[Lords of Chaos and Order|Lords of Order]] during the Ninth Age of Magic (at least). This may be a later development unrelated to his actual origin.

The one-shot ''Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger'' (1993) written by Alisa Kwitney suggests another origin for the Stranger, drawing on Jewish Talmudic and Kabbalistic stories: that he was an angel who sinned by impregnating the demon [[Naamah (demon)|Naamah]]; their child was the demon [[Asmodeus]]. The story does appear to be in continuity with [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]]'s [[Sandman (DC Comics)|''Sandman'']] series, but the continuity status of the Vertigo line relative to the mainline DC Comics Universe was unclear and inconsistent in this era.

In ''Phantom Stranger'' (vol. 4) #0 (2012), the Phantom Stranger is [[Judas Iscariot]]. He is judged by the Circle of Eternity, who are implied to be proxies for a higher power. The Stranger is condemned to walk the Earth forever as an agent of God. He wears a necklace made of the 30 pieces of silver which he took as payment for betraying Jesus. When the Stranger facilitates the transformation of Jim Corrigan into the Spectre, one of the coins falls from the necklace and crumbles, bringing him one step closer to redemption.