First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #33 in 1977 and was created by Rich Buckler and David Kraft. Eric Simon Payne was a marine who became a hit man after being discharged, but stopped after realizing that he had killed the wife and child of an innocent child and joined the Demon Cult, who gave him the Shadow Cloak and helped him unlock his telepathic and psychokinetic powers. After learning that the demons planned to wipe out mankind, Devil-Slayer betrayed the cult and joined the Defenders.