Bram Velsing (Earth-616)

Dreadknight
Name	Bram Velsing
Current Alias	Dreadknight
Affiliation and Relationships
Group Affiliation	Masters of Evil Formerly Frightful Four, Roxxon Energy Corporation
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′8″ (1.73 m)
Weight	160 lbs (72.57 kg)
Eyes	Eyeballs: Red (as Dreadknight) Irises: Blue No Visible (as Dreadknight)
Hair	Blond, No Hair At All (as Dreadknight)
Unusual Features	Dreadknight's mask is permanently fused to his face.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Schonstadt, Latveria
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Latverian
Occupation	Criminal Formerly engineer, scientist, weapons designer
Education	Advanced degree in engineering
Base of Operations	Latveria
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Bill Mantlo, George Tuska
First	Iron Man #101 (May, 1977)
First	Iron Man #101 (May, 1977)

You either serve me -- or die!! For none dares defy -- the Dreadknight!

—Dreadknight[source]

Bram Velsing is a Latverian scientist and weapons designer who was transformed into the Dreadknight after defying his monarch, Doctor Doom. Once considered one of Latveria's most brilliant minds, Velsing believed himself Doom's equal and sought to overthrow him. As punishment for his treasonous ambitions, Doom had an iron mask permanently grafted to Velsing's face, branding him a living reflection of his shame. Humiliated and cast out, Velsing fled to Transia, where he was discovered by Baroness Victoria Frankenstein and recovered at Castle Frankenstein.

Fuelled by bitterness, he constructed a suit of armor and energy lance using both Doom's technology and Frankenstein's research, adopting the persona of the Dreadknight. Riding the mutated steed Hellhorse, Velsing sought vengeance against Doom and later crossed paths with heroes like Iron Man, the Black Knight, and Spider-Man.

Throughout his career, Dreadknight has acted as an enforcer for villainous factions including the Frightful Four and the Masters of Evil.

History

Early Life

Bram was born and raised in Schonstadt, in Latveria. He was a brilliant but vain Latverian scientist employed in the service of the monarch Doctor Doom. Handsome and gifted, Velsing saw himself as Doom's intellectual equal and secretly harboured ambitions of one day usurping Latveria's throne. However, Doom soon uncovered Velsing's treacherous thoughts. Determined to make an example of him, Doom devised a particularly cruel punishment: he had a custom iron mask forged, similar to his own, and had it grafted onto Velsing's face using a bio-fuser, rendering it irremovable. Stripped of his identity and forced to forever wear a face akin to Doom's, Velsing fled Latveria, tormented by Doom's laughter echoing in his mind. Exhausted, he collapsed near the border of Transia.

There, he was discovered by the Children of the Damned mutated creations of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and brought to Castle Frankenstein in Transia. The current occupant, Baroness Victoria Frankenstein, nursed the disfigured scientist back to health. During his recovery, she showed him a mutated creature she called Hellhorse, a genetically altered steed that had once belonged to the villainous Black Knight. Victoria had attempted to cure the animal of its mutations but only succeeded in making it more monstrous. Inspired by the sight, Velsing hatched a plan: he would become the "Dreadknight" and build an army of monstrous beings to lead against Doom. Using the castle's resources, Velsing crafted a suit of advanced armour modelled partially on Doom's own technology, complete with a powerful energy lance. When Victoria refused to turn over her great-grandfather's forbidden research notes, which contained essential secrets for furthering his monstrous army, Velsing imprisoned her and assumed full control of the castle.

Encounter with Iron Man

Meanwhile, the Frankenstein's Monster and the Children managed to escape into the woods. There they discovered the unconscious Iron Man, whose armour had short-circuited following an earlier battle. Fearing he was a new monster under Dreadknight's command, the Children considered destroying him. However, the Monster intervened, believing Iron Man could help reclaim the castle. Upon waking, Iron Man misunderstood the situation and attacked the Children, thinking them his captors. The commotion drew the attention of Dreadknight, who arrived and struck Iron Man with an ionic blast powerful enough to short out his suit once more. The armoured Avenger collapsed and was taken captive, alongside the Frankenstein's Monster, and thrown into the castle dungeon with Victoria.

Later, Velsing entered the dungeon and took pleasure in recounting his twisted origin to Iron Man, as the Baroness revealed parts of his past. When she still refused to hand over the Frankenstein secrets, he began to torture her in front of his prisoners. Victoria's screams enraged the Frankenstein's Monster, who finally broke free of his restraints. In the ensuing chaos, the Monster accidentally freed Iron Man as well. Realising that close-quarters combat placed him at a disadvantage, Dreadknight retreated and mounted Hellhorse, taking to the skies. Iron Man followed him, and the two fought a fierce aerial battle above the castle grounds. Iron Man eventually managed to blast Dreadknight off his steed. Velsing saved himself by stabbing his lance into the castle wall and hung suspended mid-air. Spotting Victoria below, he attempted to shoot her to distract Iron Man. While Iron Man rescued her, the Frankenstein's Monster caught up to Dreadknight and delivered a powerful kick, knocking him down a flight of stairs and rendering him unconscious. Determining that the Dreadknight was still alive but comatose, Iron Man left him in the care of Baroness Frankenstein.

Resurgence

Dreadknight remained comatose in Castle Frankenstein following his defeat, but was eventually revived through mystical means. The sorceress Morgan Le Fay and her son Mordred awakened Velsing with a dark bargain: in exchange for restoring his vitality, he was to assassinate the newest incarnation of the Black Knight, Dane Whitman, and his companion Victoria Bentley. As a reward, they promised Dreadknight a position of power at their side once they seized control of Earth.

Tracking Dane, Victoria, and their ally Sean Dolan to the Irish coast, Dreadknight launched a surprise aerial assault. During the ensuing duel, Dane's body began to turn to metal due to the ancestral curse of Sir Percy, which was only held in check by wearing Percy's enchanted helmet. As Dane fell from his steed, Dreadknight prepared to deliver the killing blow with his energy lance. The attack, however, was intercepted by Captain Britain, who was knocked unconscious by the blast. The delay allowed Sean and Victoria to place the helmet back on Dane, allowing Sir Percy's spirit to assume control. Now fighting as Sir Percy, the Black Knight hurled the Ebony Blade and dismounted Dreadknight. He then closed in and swiftly knocked Velsing unconscious.

Frankenstein lineage

While researching the Frankenstein lineage, Doctor Strange came across records of Dreadknight's attempted takeover of Castle Frankenstein.

Frightful Four Activity

Later, Dreadknight resurfaced as a member of the Frightful Four during a plot orchestrated by the Wizard to abduct Canadian physicist Dr. Cargill. The villains targeted the scientist during the celebration of Canada's 125th anniversary in Calgary, where costumed performers such as the Right Riders and the Rangers entertained the crowds. Peter Parker, attending as a photographer, was on hand to witness the attempted abduction. As chaos erupted, Dreadknight briefly clashed with the Phantom Rider near a western-themed display, easily defeating him. However, the tide turned when Spider-Man and Dr. Cargill's daughter, the young speedster Turbine, joined forces. Together, they defeated the Frightful Four members one by one, leaving only the Wizard, who surrendered.

Wedding of Titania and Absorbing Man

Dreadknight was later seen attending the wedding of Absorbing Man and Titania. The celebration was unexpectedly interrupted when She-Hulk burst in, mistakenly believing the gathering to be a supervillain convention. Upon recognising She-Hulk, Dreadknight panicked and fled on his steed, fearing that if one Avenger had arrived, others would soon follow.

Attempt to Conquer Latveria

Following the disappearance of Doctor Doom during the Onslaught crisis, Doom's former protégé and adopted heir Kristoff Vernard returned to Castle Doom to reclaim Latveria. However, the castle's automated defenses denied him entry, and Kristoff was forced to flee alongside his ally Nathaniel Richards when the Doombots activated and attacked. Furious at this perceived betrayal by Doom's own systems, Kristoff vowed revenge, laying the groundwork for an elaborate plot to destroy Latveria. Among the agents he moved into position to destabilize the region was the Dreadknight.

Unbeknownst to the world, Dreadknight entered into a clandestine agreement with Roxxon Oil. Linden Laswell, a former CIA and special forces operative turned Roxxon executive, supplied Velsing with financial backing and advanced weaponry. In return, Velsing would conquer Latveria and grant Roxxon exclusive mining rights within its borders. S.H.I.E.L.D., under the direction of G.W. Bridge, received intelligence regarding radical anti-Doom factions aiming to seize the weapons and technology hidden within Castle Doom.

Latverian Civil Conflict

Armed with Roxxon's resources, Dreadknight launched a military campaign against Latveria's interim government. Leading a group of armored mercenaries called the "Knightsmen," he declared himself a freedom fighter, while keeping his true identity hidden. Velsing also issued a statement explicitly banning Americans from entering Latveria. One American, however Betty Brant of the Daily Bugle had already infiltrated the country and discovered the link between the so-called resistance and Roxxon. Before she could escape with the story, she was captured by the Dreadknight.

Upon learning Brant had refused to eat for several days, Dreadknight personally visited her cell. When she threw food in his face, he coldly warned that he would kill her to ensure the truth remained buried. Brant later escaped her cell but wandered into one of Dreadknight's combat drills. Before he could strike her down, he was ambushed by Spider-Man, who had infiltrated Castle Doom alongside Silver Sable and her Wild Pack operatives. While Spider-Man battled Dreadknight directly, Sable and her team engaged Laswell and the Knightsmen. In the end, Spider-Man overloaded Dreadknight's lance with a power surge, sending thousands of volts through his armour and disabling it. Dreadknight was defeated and presumably taken into custody by Doom-loyalist forces. Roxxon later issued a public statement denying any involvement and claimed Laswell had been terminated years prior.

Dark Reign

At a later date, the artificial intelligence Quasimodo conducted a character analysis of Dreadknight on behalf of Norman Osborn during the Dark Reign period. He assessed Dreadknight as a pitiable and largely ineffective individual. Eventually, Velsing was granted permission to return to the service of Doctor Doom.

Clash in Transia

Doom dispatched Dreadknight to the neighboring nation of Transia to rendezvous with Nina Demir, who had alerted Doom to Iron Man's presence in the region. Stark had entered Transia to investigate the genocide being committed by the Zmaj militia, known for their use of stolen Iron Man technology. At Demir's farm, Dreadknight discovered a cache of Stark-designed armor components. Reporting the find to Doom, he was praised for his loyalty. Moments later, when Doom learned Stark was fleeing the region in a prototype armor, he ordered Dreadknight to intercept him. Dreadknight shot Stark out of the sky and, overconfident, began monologuing about his past and his cursed mask. However, he failed to notice he had stepped onto a landmine. The explosion hurled him aside, although he survived. Stark quickly commandeered Dreadknight's flying steed and escaped, leaving Velsing behind in the wreckage.

Masters of Evil

Joining the Masters of Evil

During the reign of Doctor Doom as the global Sorcerer Supreme, following his mystical conquest of Earth, a resistance began to form against his iron-fisted regime. One such insurgent faction was a newly assembled incarnation of the Masters of Evil, brought together by the calculating Mad Thinker. Among those recruited was the Dreadknight, Bram Velsing, whose personal vendetta against Doom made him an ideal candidate for the team.

The Mad Thinker's goal was not merely to destabilize Doom's rule, but to establish a new, autonomous nation free from his domination. To that end, the Masters of Evil launched an assault on the Impossible City, the mobile headquarters of the Avengers at the time. The team succeeded in seizing control of the city's infrastructure and its advanced weapons systems. While occupying the Impossible City, Dreadknight proposed a bold and destructive message to Doom's loyalists: the team should drop a massive asteroid from orbit onto New York, showcasing their power and defiance. His fellow Masters supported the plan, seeing it as a necessary escalation in their campaign against Doom's tyrannical rule.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

• Swordsmanship: Dreadknight is a capable swordsman.
• Firearms: Dreadknight is adept in the use of firearms.
• Equestrianism: Dreadknight is an experienced equestrian.
• Engineering: Dreadknight is a skilled inventor and engineer, and has created his own armor and weaponry.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Dreadknight Armor: Velsing wears a suit of full-body armor that provides him with considerable protection against most forms of harm.

Weapons

• Lance: He wields a specially designed lance that contains a number of offensive technological devices built into it, including a pair of twin force-blast pods, an electrical entanglement cable, two "penetro-shells" armor-piercing bullets. Velsing also carries a pistol which fires a blast of knockout gas.

Transportation

• Hellhorse: Velsing rides a mutated black stallion named Hellhorse, who possesses bat-like wings and claws.

Notes

• According to Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #4, Dreadknight was a member of the fourth Masters of Evil, but he never actually appeared with the team. He also was not listed in the Masters' own entry.

Trivia

• Dreadknight's civilian name is a double reference to the novel Dracula. His name comes from the novel's author, Bram Stoker, and his last name is a portmanteau of the surname of the novel's protagonist, Abraham Van Helsing.
• In order to approach the reformed super villain team of the Thunderbolts to offer them his mentorship while they were on the run, Hawkeye once impersonated Dreadknight so not to immediately raise suspicions if he appeared as a super hero.

See Also

• 12 appearance(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 10 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 2 minor appearance(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 2 mention(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 21 image(s) of Bram Velsing (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Bram Velsing (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Bram Velsing on Marvel.com
• Bram Velsing on Wikipedia.org
• Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe