Well I probably should put this in scraps, but I'm not going to.

Dave is a North American Bogeyman. He was not always a monster, he was turned by means of a digestive enzyme in the saliva of a creature that attacked him, that broke down his flesh into shadow matter. Usually victims of bogeyman attacks are just eaten but if they are bitten and get away there's a fair chance they will turn into a monster themselves.

The bogeymen for this project (a comic my boyfriend and I may or may not ever get around to working on) are shadow creatures. Light is generally not their friend. It can either burn or act like a physical force against them and throw them about.

Dave was unfortunate enough to have been around when a child was being attacked by a bogeyman. He tried to chase it off but ended up mauled for his effort.

...Dave is not a very dignified name for a giant shadow monster. He originated in a supernatural themed tabletop rpg. The idea behind him was to take a 'darkness powered superhero' and make him a normal guy instead of some ridiculous badass with a dark past. He wasn't an assassin, he wasn't a cop, he doesn't have combat training... he has a masters degree in English and taught at a middle school before he got turned into a monster.