Merge:Blade

The character Blade was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan and was a supporting character in the 1970s comic Tomb of Dracula. The 1998 movie Blade featured some of the characters of the comic book and starred Wesley Snipes; two sequels have followed so far. A Blade television series is currently airing on Spike TV.

Comic book
The man called Blade was born in a whorehouse, likely somewhere in Great Britain.

Blade's mother, a prostitute at Madame Vanity's brothel, experienced severe labor complications, and a doctor was summoned. The name of the "doctor" was Deacon Frost, in reality a bloodthirsty vampire. Frost feasted on Blade's mother during Blade's birth, killing her, and accidentally passed along certain enzymes in his own blood to the infant. This resulted in Blade's immunity to being turned; ability to "smell" supernatural creatures; greatly prolonged lifespan; and sensitivity to bright light.

Frost was driven off by Blade's mother's coworkers before he could kill the infant as well. They raised him until he was nine years old. Though he lacked superhuman physical prowess, he trained himself to become an Olympic-level athlete formidable hand-to-hand combatant. Most notably, he became an expert with edged weapons and especially knives and daggers.

Blade stood out amongst other comic heroes with his direct and at times, rude, way of speaking. His dialogue was also intended to reflect--to varying degrees of success--the street slang of the day. Of course, this outward gruffness contrasted against an inward nobility that even saw Blade go so far as to put his feud with vampires aside for the sake of saving the world on a few occasions.

Aside from the detail that their mothers were bitten by vampires while giving birth to them, there was little semblance between the movie and comic book version of Blade. However, due to the success of the film, efforts were made by Marvel to make the comic version resemble the film character more closely. This was achieved by having Blade be bit on the arm by Morbius. The injury resulted in Blade becoming a half-vampire, which gave him all of a vampire's strengths but none of their weaknesses. He had super strength, great agility, and immunity to sunlight.

Hunter's Teachings
Walking home from school, Blade saw an old man being attacked by three bandits. Blade fought off the hoodlums, who turned out to be vampires, and rescued the old man. He learned that the old man was Jamal Afari, jazz trumpeter and vampire hunter.

Afari moved into Madame Vanity's brothel and trained the young Blade in both music and combat. Blade was soon able to defeat many of the weak, younger vampires that he and Afari found in abundance.

However, Blade's victories made him cocky. He soon joined a street gang, the Bloodshadows, which was headed by a much older and more powerful vampire than any Blade had met before: Lamia. Blade barely defeated Lamia, and, in doing so, lost his girlfriend Glory, a loss which caused him not only to accept his destiny as an enemy of the undead but also to swear to it forever.

Afari himself later fell prey to the attack of the vampire Dracula, the first occurrence in an ongoing battle between him and Blade. Blade slew the vampire Afari and followed Dracula back to Europe.

Blade tracked Dracula throughout Europe and Asia Minor, then on into the far east, staking him many times, but never completely destroying him. In China, Blade joined Ogun Strong's vampire hunters (Azu, Orji, Musenda, and Ogun himself). Together, they staked Dracula again. Once more, Dracula survived, and taught Blade an object lesson by killing all of his new-found friends except Musenda (who eventually retired from vampire hunting). However, it should be noted that Orji created a lasting impression on Blade with his use of wooden daggers as a means to combat vampires. Sometime after Orji's death, Blade mastered the use of daggers and adopted the use of wooden daggers as his preferred method of combating vampires.

Consumed by grief, Blade resumed his quest alone. It was decades before he again allowed himself to endanger another human.

The Drac Pack
Blade eventually located Dracula in Paris, where he first encountered Quincy Harker and his vampire hunters, the Drac Pack. Blade had heard of Harker before, but had never met him.

Because of his mercurial temperament, Blade had a strained but steady relationship with Quincy Harker, Rachel Van Helsing, Taj Nital, and Frank Drake, vampire hunters dedicated to destroying Dracula. Blade never joined the Drac Pack, but served as their ally on several occasions.

After an unsuccessful battle with Dracula, Blade realized for the first time that he was immune to turning from a vampire's bite. Armed with this knowledge, he left the Drac Pack and began a quest to find the vampire that killed his mother and avenge her.

Blade's hunt for his mother's killer next led him to Boston, where he again encountered the Drac Pack and their new ally: Dracula. Blade spurned the alliance and berated Harker for it until he faced Doctor Sun, the common threat that drove these natural enemies together. During the battle with Sun, Blade met up with one of Sun's allies, whose face provoked a strange reaction in him, dredging up long-buried memories. The vampire escaped, and Blade again abandoned the Drac Pack, and set out on his own.

Blade eventually encountered Hannibal King, a private detective who had been turned into a vampire by Deacon Frost thirty years ago; however, to further gain Blade's trust, King lied about his age, saying it was only five. While initially distrusting King, Blade teamed up with him to track down Frost.

Blade and King fought together against Blade's evil doppelganger (created when Frost killed his mother), who absorbed the real Blade. King enlisted the help of Daimon Hellstrom, the so-called Son of Satan, who exorcised Blade from his doppelganger and killed it with King's help.

Blade and King eventually caught up with Frost who had created an army of vampiric doppelgangers, one for each of his victims. Together, they shut down Frost for good, forging a lasting friendship.

The Nightstalkers
In later years, Blade, along with King and Drake, became a frequent ally of Doctor Strange and assisted in the casting of the Montesi formula. This destroyed Dracula and, for a time, all vampires on Earth. Blade, King and Drake stayed together, and formed a private detective agency called Borderline Inc. The agency discontinued after Drake left and Blade was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a battle with a temporarily resurrected Dracula.

Doctor Strange later arranged the release of Blade so that he could join Drake and King in reforming Borderline Inc. as the Nightstalkers, members of Strange's new team: the Midnight Sons, at the core of which stood the Nine, humans and others chosen to defend Earth against mystical invasion. Together, unknowingly under Strange's manipulation, they battled various supernatural villains such as the Darkholders, Hydra's DOA, the Lilin (the children of Lilith, mother of demons), and Varnae, the Lord of Vampires. To ensure Blade's cooperation, Strange mystically transmuted Blade's hatred of vampires into an enmity against all things supernatural. But, even more dangerous games were afoot. Due to its gross over-use, the Montesi formula was weakening: King transformed back into a vampire, and Blade's vampiric DNA resurfaced, making him even more volatile and dangerous and playing him and King against each other. Blade even tried to sacrifice King to the DOA. It was only through Frank Drake's insistence that Blade decided to save his former friend.

At one point, Blade used a page of the accursed Darkhold book of spells to become, apparently, the mystically empowered Switchblade. In truth, his body was taken over by an ancient entity bent on the destruction of the supernatural world called the Demogorge. In this form Blade fought and slew many of the Midnight Sons, and was only stopped when one of them read a spell of banishment and exiled the Demogorge forever.

The damage he had done as Switchblade was reversed; however, Blade could not reconcile himself to the fact that he remembered everything that had occurred, and that he had caused it all through his blind hatred of the supernatural. Using a mystical knife called the Edge of Intrados, Blade reviewed his life as though living it again. This was a major turning point in his life: he realized that, even before Strange's manipulations, he had been governed by his own obsessions and blinded to the safety and well-being of his friends and allies, or the possibility of leading a normal life. He decided to retire.

He was soon pressured into returning to the game, however, when Drake and King were kidnapped by Shortcircuit, one of the Lilin. Blade followed them into an alternate reality where King had become the Lord of Vampires. Escaping from this living nightmare, Blade killed Shortcircuit, and swore to King that he would never allow King to lose control of his vampiric urges, sealing the rift between them and cementing their friendship forever.

The Midnight Sons were soon after involved in the events known as the Siege of Darkness. In the culminating chapter of this adventure, Blade obtained the mystical sword Justicar from Foundry, a former member of both the Blood and the Fallen, immortal enemies and servants of Zarathos, respectively.

Foundry had never completed the forging of Justicar because it needed to be tempered in Blood. Not blood - Blood. However, when Zarathos and the Fallen attacked, Foundry allowed Blade to kill her, completing the sword. Blade proceeded to kill each and every member of the Fallen, and to seemingly destroy Zarathos.

After the Siege of Darkness, the Midnight Sons began to drift apart, as their destiny as a team seemed fulfilled. Blade and the Nightstalkers continued to hunt vampires, believing that it was partially their fault (through their lack of understanding about how to properly use the Montesi Formula) that vampires were being reintroduced into the human world.

But tragedy soon struck. Blade was devastated when he appeared to be the only one of the trio to survive the final battle with Varnae, which culminated in the death of Blade's old friend and the only one of the Drac Pack he was ever able to connect with: Taj Nital, now a vampire serving Varnae. With every member of the Drac Pack now gone, Blade decided to return to vampire hunting to honor their memory. He would go on to join forces with a mystic named Bible John Carrik, and to encounter a vampire impersonating Deacon Frost and finally a once again resurrected Dracula. Later, in New Orleans, Blade discovered that Hannibal King had survived the encounter with Varnae, and the two joined forces to defeat a newly resurrected Deacon Frost.

Daywalker
Blade remained active in New Orleans, defeating the vampire Ulysses Sojourner and his own former ally, Morbius, who was under Sojourner's mental thrall. Blade followed Morbius (himself a former member of both the Midnight Sons and the Nine) back to New York, where, while teamed with Spider-Man, Blade was bitten by Morbius.

Blade's blood enzymes reacted unexpectedly with Morbius's unique form of vampirism to produce an almost perfected form of the virus, granting Blade many vampire strengths while eliminating weaknesses inherent to a vampire (it was at this time that Blade assumed the unofficial title of "Daywalker" among his prey).

Recently, Blade has come under the eye of the S.H.I.E.L.D division Project: Silvereye, which sought to use his blood in creating cloned vampire operatives. Blade shut down the project with the help of two vampire-hunting twins, Mosha and Mikado. Blade was then forced to combat a hostile takeover of the vampire world by a breed of vampire called the Tryks while simultaneously repelling the advances of their queen.

Blade's last known solo adventure involved a plot by Dracula to assume the title of Vampire Lord officially, by becoming a god-like being like Varnae. Blade joined Noah Van Helsing (actually Noah Tremayne, Rachel's adopted cousin) and several vampire hunters from across the globe to stop Dracula from succeeding.

Blade has since encountered the Punisher, and has taken up protecting a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans from an escalating vampire population, most notably alongside Luke Cage, Brother Voodoo, and the Black Panther.

Powers and abilities
Blade has all the strengths of a vampire, but none of their weaknesses. He has at times referred to himself as a dhampir, though this is not strictly true. He does, however, greatly resemble the creatures he hunts.

Blade can see in the dark, is a great deal stronger than a normal human being, has faster reflexes and a regenerative healing factor, can "smell" supernatural creatures of all kinds, and is immune to being turned into a full vampire via a vampire's bite.

Beyond his obvious vampiric abilities, Blade also seems to be something of a savant in the field of weaponry. Blade has mastered the use of every single type of weapon known to man, and can adapt new weaponry to his growing repertoire in mere minutes. It is unknown if this is because he is more than human, or if he would have possessed this ability regardless. For a list of Blade's preferred weapons, link here. Blade is also an expert of several martial arts styles.

Blade also possesses the skills of a professional jazz trumpeter.



Ultimate Blade
Blade made his first appearance in the Ultimate Marvel Universe in the Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special One-shot. His appearance was limited, but he was still hunting vampires and was, himself, part vampire.

Notable Comic book appearances
Tomb of Dracula #10 (first appearance)

Tomb of Dracula #13 (helps Quincy Harker track down Dracula)

Tomb of Dracula #14 (kills Dracula for the first time)

Tomb of Dracula #15 (Dracula revived)

Tomb of Dracula #18-19

Fear v1 #24 (Blade meets Morbius)

Tomb of Dracula #30 (meets Ogun, Azu, Musenda & Orji)

Tomb of Dracula #41-44 (with Dr. Strange, meets Hannibal King)

Tomb of Dracula #45 (vs. Hannibal King)

Tomb of Dracula #48, 51 (vs Dracula)

Tomb of Dracula #53 (fury of Deacon Frost)

Tomb of Dracula #58 (alone against Dracula)

'''Dr. Strange v1. #61-62''' (October 1983, Dr. Strange team-up vs. Dracula)

Vampire Tales #8-9

Blade: Crescent City Blues (one-shot)

Ghost Rider v2 #28 (August 1992, revealed as future member of Midnight Sons)

Nightstalkers v1 #1 (November 1993, rise of the Midnight Sons)

Nightstalkers v1 #10 (August 1993, team-up with Johnny Blaze)

Ghost Rider v2 #40 (vs. Demogoblin)

Midnight Sons Unlimited #4,8

Darkhold v1 #11 (August 1993, Midnight Massacre)

Morbius: The Living Vampire v1 #12 (August 1993, meets Werewolf Jack Russel)

Ghost Rider: Spirits of Vengeance v1 #13 (August 1993)

Nightstalkers v1 #18 (April 1994, Dr. Strange team-up)

Blade: The Vampire Hunter #1-10 (July 1994 series)

Blade: Sins of the Father (1998 one-shot)

Marvel Team-Up v2 #7 (1998, Blade & Spider-Man team-up)

Blade #1/2 (Wizard one-shot; team-up with Mikado & Bloodsbane)

Blade v1 #1-4 (1999 series)

Gambit v3 #4 (1999, team-up with Gambit)

Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #7 (July 1999, Spider-Man team-up)

Blade: Vampire Hunter #1-6 (2000 series)

Blade v2 #1-6 (2002, Max series)

Blade: Nightstalking (2004 comic available with Blade: Trinity DVD)

Tomb of Dracula (v2) #1-4 (2004 series, teams up with vampire hunters against Dracula)

Marvel Team-Up v3 #8 (2005, Blade & Punisher team-up)

Black Panther v4 #12-13 (2006, team-up with Black Panther, Brother Voodoo & Luke Cage)

Blade
In 1998, the movie Blade starred Wesley Snipes in the title role, Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler, Blade's mentor, and Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost. The film was written by David Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington. While not an exact adaptation of the comics, the film was faithful to the spirit of the character as created by Wolfman and Colan. Unlike in the comics, Blade's half-vampire nature was very much apparent from the beginning, and he was constantly at odds with it. Deacon Frost was depicted as a much younger, stylish, more rebellious character than his printed counterpart.

Blade II
Blade II (written by Goyer and directed by Guillermo del Toro) followed in 2002 and saw the Daywalker joining forces with his enemies to defeat a powerful new breed of vampire called Reapers.

Blade: Trinity
The 'trilogy' concluded in 2004 with Blade: Trinity (written and directed by Goyer), which introduced very modified versions of Hannibal King (played here by Ryan Reynolds) and the Nightstalkers. Blade reluctantly joins forces with the group of vampire hunters (led by Abigail Whistler, the estranged daughter of his old mentor) to prevent the original vampire Drake (a younger version of Dracula) from creating a race of super-vampires.

Blade also appeared in the 1990's show of the Spider-Man Animated Series in the episode called "Neogenic Nightmare: Chapter 9: Blade the Vampire Hunter." In that episode, Spider-Man and Blade first met each other, and it also marked the very first appearance of Whistler in the Marvel Universe, as Whistler never appeared in a comic before. In this episode, Blade was hunting down Morbius. It was also revealed that Blade was the son of a vampire man with a human mother, but became orphaned after his mother left him in a foster home after she was bitten by a vampire. In the episode "The Immortal Vampire", Blade once again makes an appearance alongside Morbius. In the shows 4th season, in the episode "Partners in Danger: Chapter 7: The Vampire Queen", Blade returns and hunts down the Vampire Queen, who is revealed to be his mother. Blade made his final appearance in the show in the 5th season episode "Secret Wars: Chapter 2: Gauntlet of the Red Skull" where he was seen working side by side with Morbius and the Black Cat against the Vampire Queen until the Cat got "abducted" by Spider-Man to help him. Blade was voiced by J.D. Hall.

TV Series
A television series based on the films airs on Spike TV and stars rapper/actor Kirk Jones as Blade. The series deals with Blade fighting an evil vampire named Marcus Van Sciver in Detroit, which is also Blade's birthtown (in the series). It has also been revealed that Blade's parents were called Vanessa and Robert Brooks, and that after his mother's death, Blade's father called his son "Eric".

Video Games
Blade is playable in the two games based on the first two Wesley Snipes films. Blade is also a playable character in the upcoming action-RPG, Marvel Ultimate Alliance