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| RealName = Eric Brooks
 
| RealName = Eric Brooks
 
| CurrentAlias = Blade
 
| CurrentAlias = Blade
| Aliases = [[Blade: The Vampire Hunter]],{{Citation}} Daywalker,{{r|Blade Vol 4 1}} Hannibal Francis "Frank" Blade,{{Citation}} [[Ronin]],{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4.INH}} [[Spider Hero]],{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 #1}} Subject AA1{{r|Blade: Vampire Hunter Vol 1 1}}, Switchblade,{{r|Ghost Rider Vol 3 40}} Dhampir,{{r|Blade Vol 4 1}} Bill{{r|Blade Vol 4 4}}
+
| Aliases = [[Blade: The Vampire Hunter]],{{Citation}} Daywalker,{{r|Blade Vol 4 1}} Hannibal Francis "Frank" Blade,{{Citation}} [[Ronin]],{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4.INH}} [[Spider Hero]],{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 #1}} Subject AA1{{r|Blade: Vampire Hunter Vol 1 1}}, Switchblade,{{r|Ghost Rider Vol 3 40}} Dhampir,{{r|Blade Vol 4 1}} Bill,{{r|Blade Vol 4 4}} Edge{{r|Blade Vol 4 5}}
 
| Identity = Public
 
| Identity = Public
 
| Affiliation = {{m|Strikeforce (Earth-616)|Strikeforce}}, {{M|MI13}}, {{m|Avengers}}, [[Boy-Thing (Earth-616)|Boy-Thing]], {{m|Midnight Sons}}; formerly {{m|Mighty Avengers (Cage) (Earth-616)|Mighty Avengers}}, {{m|Avengers of the Supernatural}}, Vanguard, {{M|Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (Earth-616)|S.H.I.E.L.D.}}, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s {{m|Howling Commandos (S.H.I.E.L.D.) (Earth-616)|Howling Commandos}}, {{m|50-State Initiative|Initiative}}, {{m|Mighty Avengers (1970s) (Earth-616)|Mighty Avengers (1970s)}}, [[Noah van Helsing]]'s vampire hunters, {{M|Silvereye (Earth-616)|Silvereye}}, {{m|Nightstalkers (Earth-616)|Nightstalkers (Borderline Investigations)}}, {{M|Nine (Midnight Sons) (Earth-616)|The Nine}}, King, Drake and Blade, [[Quincy Harker (Earth-616)|Quincy Harker's]] vampire hunters, Orji Jones' vampire hunters, {{M|Bloodshadows}}, {{M|Vanguard (Black Ops) (Earth-616)|Vanguard}}
 
| Affiliation = {{m|Strikeforce (Earth-616)|Strikeforce}}, {{M|MI13}}, {{m|Avengers}}, [[Boy-Thing (Earth-616)|Boy-Thing]], {{m|Midnight Sons}}; formerly {{m|Mighty Avengers (Cage) (Earth-616)|Mighty Avengers}}, {{m|Avengers of the Supernatural}}, Vanguard, {{M|Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (Earth-616)|S.H.I.E.L.D.}}, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s {{m|Howling Commandos (S.H.I.E.L.D.) (Earth-616)|Howling Commandos}}, {{m|50-State Initiative|Initiative}}, {{m|Mighty Avengers (1970s) (Earth-616)|Mighty Avengers (1970s)}}, [[Noah van Helsing]]'s vampire hunters, {{M|Silvereye (Earth-616)|Silvereye}}, {{m|Nightstalkers (Earth-616)|Nightstalkers (Borderline Investigations)}}, {{M|Nine (Midnight Sons) (Earth-616)|The Nine}}, King, Drake and Blade, [[Quincy Harker (Earth-616)|Quincy Harker's]] vampire hunters, Orji Jones' vampire hunters, {{M|Bloodshadows}}, {{M|Vanguard (Black Ops) (Earth-616)|Vanguard}}
Line 190: Line 190:
 
* Blade is a fan of police procedural television shows which he watches while whittling stakes. He also enjoys police procedural novels as well as being a fan of the novel [[Wikipedia:I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]. Blade also <gallery type="slideshow">
 
* Blade is a fan of police procedural television shows which he watches while whittling stakes. He also enjoys police procedural novels as well as being a fan of the novel [[Wikipedia:I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]. Blade also <gallery type="slideshow">
 
</gallery>stated that he doesn't like the works of [[Wikipedia:Anne Rice|Anne Rice]] and would only recommend them as a cure to insomnia.{{r|Blade Vol 2 2|3}}
 
</gallery>stated that he doesn't like the works of [[Wikipedia:Anne Rice|Anne Rice]] and would only recommend them as a cure to insomnia.{{r|Blade Vol 2 2|3}}
Blade's patented black, leather trench coat once belonged to Wolverine.{{r|Blade Vol 4 5|6}}
+
Blade's patented black, leather trench coat once belonged to Wolverine.{{r|Blade Vol 4 5}}
 
| Trivia =
 
| Trivia =
 
* It was implied that the identity of Ronin / Spider Hero was that of Blade before it was even revealed, because of 3 notable hints: his interest in vampires, or as he calls them walkers, his cloak that he wears which is the same as his old one, and the fact that blades are always present around him when he appears somewhere.{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4.INH}}
 
* It was implied that the identity of Ronin / Spider Hero was that of Blade before it was even revealed, because of 3 notable hints: his interest in vampires, or as he calls them walkers, his cloak that he wears which is the same as his old one, and the fact that blades are always present around him when he appears somewhere.{{r|Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4.INH}}

Revision as of 10:28, 16 February 2020

Quote1 So, how many times do I have to put you in the ground? Quote2
Blade[src]

History

Early life

Eric Brooks was born in Soho, London, on the 24th October 1922[9]. His father, Lucas Cross, a member of the secret society the Order of Tyrana, sent his pregnant wife Tara to England before he was taken prisoner in Latveria. There she took the name "Vanessa Brooks" and found shelter with brothel owner Madame Vanity, another member of the Order of Tyrana. Experiencing labor complications, Tara was forced to seek a doctor's assistance. The doctor, Deacon Frost, was actually a ravenous vampire and feasted on the woman as she gave birth, passing on a series of enzymes that altered her baby. The enzymes entered the infant's bloodstream, transforming him into a being tainted by a vampire's kiss, but not converted. In other words half-human, half-vampire also called a Dhampir. Frost was driven away before he could slay the child, but Tara perished, leaving the orphaned Eric Brooks to be raised at Madame Vanity's brothel.[1]

Training

While he was growing up on the street of London, he ran into American veteran Vampire Slayer, Jamal Afari and saved him from being killed by vampires with a grudge against the old man. Afari soon learned about Eric and his origins and decided to take him under his wing, becoming his mentor and foster-father and helping him to control his powers. Afari taught Eric everything he knew about hunting, fighting, and killing vampires.

File:Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 3 1 0001.jpg

Blade in his original costume.

Determined to avenge his mother's death, Eric fashioned himself into a vampire hunter like Afari while still a teenager and started calling himself Blade, after the sharp weapons with which he used to kill vampires. Finally, Blade and Afari split up when Jamal willingly took the fall for murder when Blade killed a man (who was suffering from a derangement), whom he mistook for a vampire.[10]

1968

After stalking the night on his own for a number of years, Blade became a part of a small band of like-minded individuals hunting Dracula consisting of Musenda, Orji, Ogun, and Azu. Blade went to Dracula and told him he represented a group of men who believed that in another sixty years vampires would rule the world, and that realizing humanity had no chance against their "superior," Blade would offer his and his associates assistance to carry on Dracula's bidding during the daytime. Blade further enticed Dracula with this idea telling him that they had facilitated a plan that would speed up global conquest by vampires to only ten years. Intrigued, Dracula agreed to go with Blade to meet his associates. Dracula met these associates: Ogun, Azu, Musenda, and Orji. However, Dracula would soon find that this was all a trap and that they were really a group of vampire killers. They nearly succeeded in destroying Dracula by driving a stake into his heart. It was during this battle that Blade's companion would try out wooden knives of his own design and find that they work just as well as stakes. However, Dracula soon was resurrected by his servants and exacted revenge by murdering the band of vampire hunters, leaving only Musenda and Blade alive [11]

Mighty Avengers (1970's)

On November 7, 1972, the murder of a bat-like monster in New York brought Blade's attention. When looking for the corpse in a morgue, he discovered Kaluu investigating the body with magic, and attacked him believing him to be a vampire and an enemy. As soon as detective James Lucas, Constance Molina, and Adam Brashear arrived at the scene, the fight was stopped when Blade realized he was among allies. They started investigating the murder as soon as The Bear appeared, and presented herself as the killer of that creature, in self-defense, as she wanted to prevent the Deathwalkers from using it for a sacrifice.[12]

The Bear explained that she herself was the result of a failed attempt of the Deathwalkers to extinguish humanity in 1908 and that they would try to do it again. With the mystery solved, the people present formed the Mighty Avengers, and went to find the Deathwalkers. Kaluu tracked down the magic they used in the were-bat to a secret subway below the City Hall. The Mighty Avengers then attacked the Deathwalkers before they could make their sacrifice. After Blade recovered the Talisman of Kamar-Taj, which was required to perform the sacrifice, Adam Brashear caused the subway to collapse above the Deathwalkers. With the Deathwalkers stopped, the team disbanded.[13]

Tomb of Dracula

Blade pressed on, often fighting alongside a team led by Quincy Harker, the great vampire hunter. The company's members included Rachel van Helsing and Frank Drake.[14] Blade and the team battled Dracula and attempted to kill him and rescue Elizabeth Langley.[15] Blade and the hunters chased Dracula across Europe. After being attacked by his thralls they reached Dracula's mortuary. The team managed to outnumber him, and eventually Blade got close enough to the vampire lord to stake him through the heart, effectively killing Dracula.[16][17]However his death was short-lived and he was resurrected by his minions.[18] Blade attempted to once more slay Dracula. Dracula managed to overpower Blade and fed upon the vampire hunter before leaving him for dead.[19] Quincy Harker came across the body of Blade, and seeing that he had been bitten by Dracula, and him to be dead. Quincy Harker got a stake out and prepared to ram it through Blade's heart.[20] Before Quincy could strike, Blade suddenly revived and to Quincy's surprise, Blade has not changed into a vampire. Blade explained that he is immune to vampire bites due to the fact that his mother was bitten by a vampire while Blade was being born. Blade vowed to use his immunity to his advantage.[21] They traveled to London, and at Quincy's home he tried to convince Blade to stay and continue their quest to destroy Dracula. Blade declined the offer, feeling that he should get back on the case of the vampire responsible for killing his mother.[22] Blade returned to the flat that he shared with Safron to find that a vampire had broken in and was attempting to feed upon his girlfriend. Blade easily destroyed her attacker. A friend, Trudy, explained what happened and Blade agreed to go out looking for Dracula. After putting on his vampire hunting gear, Blade went out into the night and was soon attacked by Dracula in his bat form. Dracula knocked him down into the street with a car speeding toward him. Blade battled Dracula across the city, their fight took them to a sporting goods store. Dracula was forced to retreat when Blade managed to partially impale the vampire lord in the chest with a broken ski pole, and then later with one of his wooden daggers. With the battle over, Scotland Yard let Blade walk away from the scene, and he returned home to Safron and Trudy rest and told them he would explain everything in the morning.[23]

When Dracula traveled to Boston, Blade was also there tracking down the vampire who killed his mother. Blade attacked the Vampire but was easily stopped in his tracks by Dracula who demanded that Blade accompany him back to Harold's home to meet with Quincy Harker. Dracula explained he has nothing to do with the murders and that the coven is acting on their own. Blade had no interest in getting involved in their battle with Dr. Sun as he came to destroy the vampire who killed his mother. When Dr. Sun was about to kill Dracula Blade arrived and offered assistance in killing Dr. Sun.[24] The two work together and destroy Dr. Sun. But after the fight Blade threatened Dracula telling him that if he does not help him find his mothers killer he would die by his hands.[25] Dracula refused to be ordered around, leading to a battle between the two.[26]

Hannibal King

Blade, still looking for his mother's killer, found a clue leading to their apartment. Blade attacked the occupant, but the vampire was revealed to be Hannibal King, the vampire detective.[27] Hannibal easily defeated Blade but due to their mutual mission, they decided to work together. They waited in Frost's apartment for his recent victim to rise as a vampire. When he awoke, he explained that he had dug up a coffin containing an exact copy of Blade.[28] Blade and Hannibal King continued their hunt for Deacon Frost, they wondered how Frost intended to take over the world with a duplicate of Blade.[29] Blade and King went to London so Blade could visit Safron.[30]

Doppelgänger

Blade and King found the "Doppelgänger" and he revealed that he was created to destroy the original.[31] The two fought, but Blade stopped when the two began to fuse together on contact. Hannibal King tried to rush to Blade's rescue, however, he was too late to stop the merger from completing. With the vampire doppelgänger in full control of their unified body, it set its sights on King.[32] The Doppelgänger attacked King, and despite his savage fury, he is easily fought off by King who stabbed the faux-Blade in the chest with one of his own wooden daggers, defenestrating the imitator, allowing Hannibal to escape.[33] King fled from the vampire doppelgänger of Blade and their fight crashed into Dracula's party with Deacon Frost in attendance. Furious of Blade's interruption of his party, Dracula attacked and was shocked to find his longtime vampire hunter foe to be a vampire himself.[34] Blade appears to have the upper hand when he stabs Dracula in the back with one of his wooden daggers. However, Dracula turns around, and mocking the fake Blade's inferior skill to the original impaled the vampire doppelgänger in the chest with a stake, killing him.[35]

Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Blade Vol 2 2 0001

"Daywalker"

Nightstalkers

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.

The mother of all demons, Lilith, hired Blade's agency to kill Ghost Rider -- the leather-clad, motorcycle-riding Spirit of Vengeance -- and bad-boy Johnny Blaze, the fiery skeleton's former host. After a protracted battle, Blade and company realized they had been duped. The team joined with Ghost Rider and Blaze against Lilith, battling her monstrous minion Meatmarket.[36] Blade, Drake, and King continued their partnership with Ghost Rider and Blaze. Along with Dr. Strange, Morbius the Living Vampire, and the Darkhold Redeemers, they formed the Midnight Sons, a group dedicated to preserving the boundaries between our world and the dark realms. The Midnight Sons clashed with Lilith and her demonspawn, the Lilin, in a supernatural contest with Earth as the prize. The Midnight Sons proved victorious, destroying Lilith and her brood.[37] Blade also rescued his close friend Safron Caulder from the Darkholders.[38]

Blade's desire to destroy supernatural enemies led him to be tricked into using the Darkhold. As 'Switchblade' he attacked a number of supernatural beings and stole their power in the 'Midnight Massacre'. Eventually, Blade was stopped and another page of the Darkhold was used to restore things back to normal.[5]

The Nightstalkers also battled other threats, such as Hydra's D.O.A. (Department of Occult Armaments).[39]

Upon the eventual weakening of the Montesi Formula, and the return of vampires, Blade encountered and staked a former ally, a now-vampiric Taj Nital. Blade, Drake, and King, who again had become afflicted with vampirism, began their crusade anew to cleanse the world of all bloodsuckers. Blade and his partners clashed with dread lord Varnae, the supposedly first vampire and the demon who had visited the hellish curse upon men. King and Drake were slain in a bloody and futile battle. The loss of his compatriots only strengthened Blade's resolve to rid the world of vampires, regardless of the circumstances of their creation. Following their victory, King was cured of his vampirism. Subsequently, he and King formed a private-investigation firm.[40]

Dracula Returns

Deacon Frost teamed up with Marie Laveau to take over organized crime in New Orleans as a staging area for greater conquests. Blade was alerted by Bible John, and the two fought Dracula and later Marie Laveau, who was attempting to resurrect Varnae. It appeared that King and Drake had somehow been merged into Dracula when he was resurrected, but the two had since been freed. Deacon captured Blade, Hannibal King, and Brother Voodoo to establish his rep among the undead in a power grab. The heroes freed themselves from the trap and Blade battled Deacon Frost to a stalemate. Deacon escaped and Blade vowed again to hunt him down.[41]

Sins of the Father

The daughter of a vampire mafia Don manipulated Blade into attacking her father's estate with a story about seeking vengeance for being turned into one of the undead, but she and her husband really just want to eliminate the Daywalker and remove her father in a power grab. After she and her husband killed her father, Blade slayed the two of them.[42]

Daywalker

In New Orleans, Blade teamed with Brother Voodoo to stop Marie Laveau and Deacon Frost's plans to build an undead army. Later, Blade and Spider-Man encountered the vampire Henry Sage and learned of the development of the Daywalker formula, a version of the Sunlight Serum.[43] Blade helped Spider-Man try to capture their former ally Morbius, who was under the control of a vampire known as the Hunger. During the battle, Morbius bit Blade, but his blood enzymes were not enough to protect him from Morbius' unique form of vampirism. This transformed Blade into a Daywalker: a vampire able to move about in the sunlight and lacking most of the vampire's traditional weaknesses. Blade was now driven by bloodthirst, however, but he was able to hold it back with a serum.[44] Back in New Orleans, he was contacted by Dominique Levant[45] who led him into the midst of a vampiric coup which involved Morbius and the powerful Ulysses Sojourner.[46] Sojourner sought to unify all vampires on the East Coast, but Blade was able to stop his plans.[47]

Silvereye

Blade was also temporarily in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody due to the machinations of Silvereye as they sought to use him. Their plans for Blade failed. However, Darius Venginian's true agenda remains unknown.[48]

Battling the Tryks

Blade encountered a new type of vampiric creature called a Tryk, which was fearless of vampires and hunted them.[49] The queen of the Tryks was interested in a ceremony which would make Blade her king and an organization called the The Seven was introduced which pursued a policy of 'vampiric equilibrium'. They killed both vampires and the Tryks which prey upon them, but only enough to regulate the numbers of both types. They were upset with Blade's recent escalation of vampire killings, as they didn't want an all-out war spilling over into the streets, so they authorized assassinating him.[50] The Seven revealed that the Queen Cilla of the Tryks wanted Blade for her mate so that she could devour him and produce another queen. Blade went on a date with his new girlfriend Susan and told her that the vampires tricked him into slaying his former lover with a sword by drugging her and outfitting her with contact lenses and fake fangs. The vampires captured Fofo, Blade's weapons supplier, and placed a tracking device on him so that he would lead them to Blade after they dump him in the river. The vampires got the drop on Blade and captured him.[9]

The Tryk captures the Seven agents who were sent to kill Blade while Blade escapes from the vampires. The Tryk brings the agents to his queen after Blade receives some I.D. from them which he traces back to their leader. The boy (since leaders of the Seven age backward) makes Blade the offer of a sword to invade the queen's stronghold and slay them so he can submerge himself in the queen's baths and become fully human.[51]After Blade has sex with Susan, he finds out that she has been the Tryk queen in disguise all along. Blade enters the queen's baths but does not change, so he realizes the leader of the Seven was manipulating him. Blade then destroys the Tryk lair, but the now-pregnant queen escapes.Realizing the Tryk numbers have been so thinned by Blade, the Seven countermands its previous directive to assassinate Blade and let him have a free hand in the field.[52] Blade later helps a woman put to rest her husband who was killed by a vampire being pursued by Blade.[53]

Meeting the Punisher

Blade found the Punisher hiding on a rooftop he was viewing a deal between vampires and some thugs. The Punisher emerged from the shadows the two drew their weapons, Blade eventually lowered his and told the Punisher, that if he shot him, the vampires below would know. Then the Punisher attached a silencer to his gun and shot Blade in the back, Blade remains unharmed and they argued. They turn their attention to the crime below. Blade admitted that he admired the Punisher but suddenly there was an explosion a few blocks away, the vampires think it is the thugs and try to eat them, but Blade and Punisher jumped from the roof to kill them all.[54]

Lucas Cross

Blade Vol 4 11 Textless

Blade came into contact with Dracula again, and appeared to fully destroy the vampire once again, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Pericles V.[1] Unknown to Blade, his wealthy father, Lucas Cross, was responsible for Dracula's resurrection. Lucas kidnapped his son and forced Blade to feed on a virgin girl; in an attempt to fulfill a prophecy. Blade escaped after biting through his own hand.[citation needed]

After taking on a time travel mission for Doctor Doom, Blade received from Doom an elixir that would purportedly cure him of his thirst for human blood but would also remove the bloodlust he had killing the undead. During the mission in the past, Blade fulfilled another part of the prophecy by freeing his imprisoned father.[55]

Later, Blade fed on a virgin after biting an evil vampire priest, Draconis.[56] Blade traveled back home to England and fought Union Jack.[57] Back in the US he helped Spider-Man battle the criminal Fracture.[58] Blade then finally confronted his father.[59] Blade gave Hannibal King the elixir bringing him back to life.[60]

Vanguard

File:Vanguard (Black Ops).jpg

Blade was recruited into the Vanguard, the name of a secret black-ops team of superheroes that carried out missions, including assassinations, on foreign soil. During one mission, Micromax was captured by Jaafar Yoosuf and was forced to tell him about Vanguard and their most powerful operative, Colonel America (Trenton Craft). Yoosuf used his powers of body-possession to cause police detective, Stacy Dolan to murder Craft.[61] Her investigation led to her own arrest, but survived a failed assassination attempt by Vanguard operative, Dominic Fortune.[62] Dolan discovered the entire Vanguard team and convinced them that she is innocent by exposing Yoosuf, who is summarily killed by Blade.[63] Craft arrived at their facility to reveal that his telekinetic powers allowed him to survive his murder and autopsy, but that he had to destroy Dolan and the entire roster to preserve the secret identity of Vanguard.[64] The Vanguard members survived thanks to the intervention of Retcon whose powers allowed Craft to think he had killed them, but they were all forced to go into hiding.[65]

MI:13

MI-13 (Earth-616) from X-Men Legacy Vol 2 13

MI:13

Following the Skrull Invasion of United Kingdom, Blade joined MI:13 to aid with the resurgence of evil forces, resulting from the Skrulls defeat. Blade failed to ingratiate himself, however, when he attempted to kill fellow team member, and part-vampire, Spitfire. Both Spitfire and Blade however settled their difference and pursued a romantic relationship.[66]

Nightmare tried to conquer the Earth and mind-controlled Blade and the world's most powerful supernatural beings. He then forced them to battle former Sorcerer Supreme, Jericho Drumm.[67]

Eric Brooks (Earth-616) and Xarus (Earth-616) from X-Men Curse of the Mutants - Blade Vol 1 1 Cover Textless 001

Mutants vs Vampires

Blade was forced to battle Xarus son of Dracula as he unites the various Vampire Sects[68]The X-Men are attacked by a siege of Vampires, but Blade was around to lend a hand. The vampires are now using technology to protect them from sunlight.[69][70] Dracula arrived at Utopia and offered his assistance in defeating his son.[71] With vampire activity in San Francisco escalating, Cyclops gave the order for the X-Men to tackle their foe, find out what their next move was. He had Blade teaming up with Angel in taking down a few vampires at a rock-and-roll concert.[72]

Blade and the X-Men have to battle wave after wave of attacking Vampires.[73] With Dracula in the Xarus tried ordering his minions to help him, but receives no support. Blade didn't see eye-to-eye with Cyclops and charged at Dracula, only to knocked unconscious with an optic blast. Cyclops then reminded Dracula of their previous, unspoken agreement. After a short stare down, Dracula called Cyclops' bluff, but nonetheless, decided to end hostilities with mutants, even giving Jubilee back to them. Jubilee was put in isolation. Blade believed that the only solution was to put her out of her misery. Wolverine warned him not to, prompting the vampire hunter to leave.[74]

Mighty Avengers

Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4

Ronin and Spider Hero

Blade secretly arrived at New York City in order to ask his associate Spectrum for help on a mission. However, they were interrupted by the invasion of Thanos' army on Earth. Monica convinced Blade to help, but since he wanted to stay under the radar, he wore a faux-Spider-Man suit from a superhero costume shop. As "Spider Hero," Blade became part of the team of heroes now named the Mighty Avengers, named after a Twitter hashtag used to describe them.[75]

File:Mighty Avengers Blade.jpg

True Identity

Following the victory of Earth's heroes over Thanos' army, Eric adopted Hawkeye's former identity of Ronin.[2] As Ronin, Blade accompanied his teammates to Attilan. He recovered the Talisman of Kamar-Taj the Deathwalkers were looking for and temporarily left the team during their fight against Lichidus' Hellhound.[76]

Days later, Ronin was attacked by ninja were-snakes, which were sent by the Deathwalkers, who had discovered Blade's disguise, to get the Talisman of Kamar-Taj.[77] Numerous other creatures were sent to hunt down Blade, and he was ultimately defeated by were-roosters. Blade was then brought to the Deathwalkers, who planned to use him for a sacrifice.[78]

Even though he escaped captivity after being drained a portion of his blood, and the Mighty Avengers located him, Blade couldn't prevent the Deathwalkers from finishing their ritual. The successfully-finished ceremony merged them together into the Deathwalker Prime, a creature with control over the four elements, thus power over the fifth: the spirit, which would be the key for it to destroy humankind.[79]

However, the Mighty Avengers managed to get hold of the cup used in the ritual of merging, and using a similar procedure merged themselves into the Avenger Prime, which managed to destroy the Deathwalker Prime, mainly because unlike the Deathwalker, the different personas merged into it were truly spiritually bonded, while the personas composing the Deathwalker were fighting for control.[80]

Attributes

Power Grid[89]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Single Form of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Regenerative:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

  • Dhampir Physiology: Blade was born a human/vampire hybrid, the enzymes in Blade's blood made him immune to normal vampire bites, uniquely attuned to sensing the supernatural and resistant to aging. Since being bitten by Morbius, Blade has gained many of the traditional powers of the vampire without developing their weaknesses. He has superhuman strength, senses, and stamina, plus an accelerated healing factor.[81]
    • Superhumanly Acute Senses: Blade's sense of sight and hearing are heightened to levels comparable to those possessed by true vampires. He is capable of seeing objects with perfect clarity at much greater distances than ordinary humans. He retains this same level of clarity even in near-total darkness. His hearing is similarly enhanced, allowing him to detect sounds that an ordinary human can't hear and enable him to hear sounds an ordinary human can hear but at greater distances. Blade is also able to sense the presence of supernatural beings or forces whereas an ordinary human would be oblivious to them.[81]
    • Superhuman Strength: Blade possesses the strength of a vampire, allowing him to lift about 1 ton due to his half-vampire side. Blade has overpowered a vampiric Spider-Man, routinely makes prodigious jumps of hundreds of feet through the air, and has sufficient strength to easily rip the head off of another vampire with his bare hands.[81]
    • Superhuman Speed: Blade is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete. He can also accelerate his movements to cover short distances in an instant, faster than the human eye can see, but he is not as fast as a pure vampire. His reflexes are similarly heightened. He moves so fast that everything else when compared to him, appears to be moving in slow motion.
File:Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Deadpool Vol 4 28 001.jpg
  • Superhuman Agility: Blade's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. He can leap several feet into the air and is able to move, jump, climb, flip, and run at incredibly fast speeds without difficulty or exhaustion. He can perform above-human parkour feats and virtually always land on his feet.
    • Superhuman Stamina: Blade's musculature generates less lactic acid (i.e. muscle fatigue) during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.[citation needed]
  • Superhuman Durability: Blade's Vampire/Human Hybrid tissue allows him to sustain physical trauma to a certain extent. He can withstand powerful energy blasts, exposure to temperature extremes, and great impact forces without being injured. He's been seen tanking a blast from Lilith herself and walked away with minor burns and injuries. This also contributes to his healing factor, making him more resistant than a normal human.
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: Blade, like true vampires, possesses an accelerated healing ability that allows him to heal mild to moderate injuries with much greater speed and efficiency than ordinary humans.[81] He is capable of healing from severe slashes and puncture wounds within a matter of minutes to hours depending on the severity of the wound. Wolverine himself stated that his regeneration was almost on par with his during his fight with Blade in the Civil War. However, he is not able to regenerate missing limbs or organs.
  • Prolonged Lifespan: Although not a pure vampire, he does have the advantage of being a Hybrid. This includes a Pseudo-Immortality, greatly enhanced lifespan. This has also been noted in the Superhuman Registration act as one of his abilities. Also, no change of his appearance has been seen during his time on earth. Besides losing his hair sometimes.[citation needed]
  • Immunity To Vampire Vulnerabilities: True vampires have numerous and very particular supernatural vulnerabilities, most of which Blade is totally immune to. For instance, Blade is unaffected by direct exposure to sunlight, whereas most vampires are either rendered comatose during the daylight hours or are quickly incinerated when exposed directly to sunlight. Vampires are also highly allergic to silver, supposedly because of the metal's mystical purity. As a result, silver blades or bullets are capable of killing vampires. If not killed, and merely injured, it will take a vampire much longer to heal than if the injury had been inflicted by another material. Blade himself could be injured by a silver weapon, much as an ordinary human would, but his healing powers would be able to heal it as if it were an ordinary wound. Blade is also immune to the effects of religious icons, such as crucifixes, whereas vampires are rendered almost powerless when confronted by them.

Abilities

  • Master Martial Artist: Blade is a master martial artist proficient in practically every form of weaponry known to man.[81] After training with Jamal Afari and various other private instructors, his main form of combat is a mixture of Boxing, Capoeira, Escrima, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Jujutsu, Shotokan Karate, Kung Fu, and Ninjutsu.[citation needed] He is also proficient in krav maga[55]
  • Expert Marksman: He can throw most projectile weaponry with great aim and is well-versed in the use of firearms.[citation needed]
  • Expert Swordsman: His particular specialty is the use of edged weapons, be they teakwood daggers or swords.[citation needed]
  • Weapons Proficiency: Blade is practically proficient in every form of weaponry known to man. His particular speciality is the use of edged weapons, be they teakwood daggers or swords. Blade is a master in the use of small bladed weapons and can hurl knives with great accuracy. Blade also shows great skill with firearms, including both automatic and semi-automatic, which he often modifies to fire hollow-point, garlic-filled silver bullets. He is also a skilled jazz trumpeter.[citation needed]
  • Multilingual: Blade is fluent in English, German, Romanian, Japanese. He might be lingual in other languages.[citation needed]
  • Expert Vehicular Driver: He is proficient in driving cars, motorcycles, and various other vehicles when needed.[citation needed]
  • Sorcery: As Spider Hero, he showed exceptional prowess in sorcery and the supernatural. He assumed that Photon's light mimicry of Shuma-Gorath's shields would buy them time, and was able to guide Power Man to utilize his chi in much greater and diverse ways that he never had before, creating an astral tiger to defeat him on both levels as he had theorized.[citation needed]

Weaknesses

  • Blade does possess one weakness common to all vampires: the need to ingest fresh blood in order to stay alive. However, rather than consume blood, he ingests or injects a specially designed serum that provides even better nourishment that blood would provide. If Blade doesn't drink the serum for an extended period of time, he will weaken and his self-control will be stretched. He would be forced to attack a human and consume his or her blood if this period is more than a week. Blade does have a huge amount of blood-serum in his inventory and actually never runs out of energy. One serum is enough for 24 hours of extended combat or he can use it to quickly recover from grave wounds. Although he has a special meditation to maintain his self-control An extended period of time without consuming either blood or the serum will prove fatal.[82][81]
  • Vulnerability to Red Sun: While not affected by sunlight and immune to all the weaknesses of traditional vampires, Blade has been shown to be vulnerable to red sunlight which is able to burn his skin. Longer exposure to red sunlight can be fatal and can also kill him.[83]

Paraphernalia

Weapons

  • Blade uses a small arsenal of weapons: teakwood daggers; Adamantium, acid-etched swords; Kevlar body armor; automatic and semi-automatic firearms converted for use with hollow-point, garlic-filled silver bullets; and a variety of portable, custom-designed weapons that employ silver, garlic, sunlight, ultraviolet rays and anticoagulants.[citation needed]
  • Blade's Sword

Transportation

Motorcycle

Notes

  • He claims he knows Dr. Brashear (the Blue Marvel) "from another life."[84]
  • Blade is one of the many heroes mentioned in the Civil War Battle Damage Report.[85]
  • Blade is one of the many heroes to attend Storm and Black Panther's wedding.[86]
  • Blade is a fan of police procedural television shows which he watches while whittling stakes. He also enjoys police procedural novels as well as being a fan of the novel I Am Legend. Blade also stated that he doesn't like the works of Anne Rice and would only recommend them as a cure to insomnia.[87]
Blade's patented black, leather trench coat once belonged to Wolverine.[7]

Trivia

  • It was implied that the identity of Ronin / Spider Hero was that of Blade before it was even revealed, because of 3 notable hints: his interest in vampires, or as he calls them walkers, his cloak that he wears which is the same as his old one, and the fact that blades are always present around him when he appears somewhere.[2]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Blade (Vol. 4) #1
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #4.INH
  3. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #1
  4. Blade: Vampire Hunter #1
  5. 5.0 5.1 Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #40
  6. Blade (Vol. 4) #4
  7. 7.0 7.1 Blade (Vol. 4) #5
  8. Avengers (Vol. 8) #2930
  9. 9.0 9.1 Blade (Vol. 3) #3
  10. Marvel Preview #3
  11. Tomb of Dracula #30
  12. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #11
  13. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #12
  14. Tomb of Dracula #10
  15. Tomb of Dracula #12
  16. Tomb of Dracula #13
  17. Tomb of Dracula #15
  18. Tomb of Dracula #14
  19. Tomb of Dracula #17
  20. Tomb of Dracula #18
  21. Tomb of Dracula #19
  22. Tomb of Dracula #21
  23. Tomb of Dracula #24
  24. Tomb of Dracula #41
  25. Tomb of Dracula #42
  26. Tomb of Dracula #43
  27. Tomb of Dracula #44
  28. Tomb of Dracula #45
  29. Tomb of Dracula #46
  30. Tomb of Dracula #47
  31. Tomb of Dracula #48
  32. Tomb of Dracula #49
  33. Tomb of Dracula #50
  34. Tomb of Dracula #51
  35. Tomb of Dracula #53
  36. Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #28
  37. Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #31
  38. Marvel Comics Presents #6
  39. Nightstalkers #24
  40. Nightstalkers #18
  41. Blade #1
  42. Blade: Sins of the Father #1
  43. Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 2) #7
  44. Peter Parker: Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #8
  45. Blade (Vol. 2) #1
  46. Blade (Vol. 2) #2
  47. Blade (Vol. 2) #3
  48. Blade: Vampire Hunter #16
  49. Blade (Vol. 3) #1
  50. Blade (Vol. 3) #2
  51. Blade (Vol. 3) #4
  52. Blade (Vol. 3) #5
  53. Blade (Vol. 3) #6
  54. Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 3) #8
  55. 55.0 55.1 Blade (Vol. 4) #2
  56. Blade (Vol. 4) #78
  57. Blade (Vol. 4) #9
  58. Blade (Vol. 4) #10
  59. Blade (Vol. 4) #11
  60. Blade (Vol. 4) #12
  61. Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #1
  62. Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #6
  63. Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #10
  64. Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #11
  65. Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #12
  66. Captain Britain and MI-13 #510
  67. Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural #4
  68. X-Men: Curse of the Mutants - Blade #1
  69. X-Men (Vol. 3) #2
  70. X-Men: Curse of the Mutants - Smoke & Blood #1
  71. X-Men (Vol. 3) #3
  72. X-Men (Vol. 3) #4
  73. X-Men (Vol. 3) #5
  74. X-Men (Vol. 3) #6
  75. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #13
  76. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #5.INH
  77. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #9
  78. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #10
  79. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #13
  80. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #14
  81. 81.0 81.1 81.2 81.3 81.4 81.5 81.6 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2
  82. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 4) #10
  83. Avengers (Vol. 8) #27
  84. Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #3
  85. Civil War Battle Damage Report #1
  86. Black Panther (Vol. 4) #18
  87. Blade (Vol. 2) #23
  88. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2
  89. Vampires: The Marvel Undead Vol 1 1