Hannibal King (Earth-26320)

Hannibal King
Name	Hannibal King
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Nightstalkers
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Brown
Unusual Features	Vampire Glyph tattoo on stomach
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Former Vampire
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-26320
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Vampire Hunter
Creators and Appearances
Creators	David S. Goyer
First	Blade: Trinity (December 8, 2004)
First	Blade: Trinity (December 8, 2004)

 And now I kill them. And that's basically turning a frown upside-down. 

—Hannibal King

History

Hannibal King was made a vampire by Danica Talos to be her - as he describes it - "little vampire Cabana boy", until he was freed and cured by the Nightstalkers. Since that day, he has become a central member in the team of hunters, pursuing a personal crusade of vendetta against the House of Talos.

When Blade was captured by the FBI, Hannibal led the rescuing team, along with Abigail Whistler, killing some vampires in the process. Despite his attempts to impress the Daywalker or to gain his sympathy, Hannibal is always viewed as a grown up child by Blade, who cannot tolerate his bad humor. When at the Nightstalkers' base, Hannibal tells Blade of Talos' plan to revive the first vampire and asks for the Daywalker's help in the hunt. Blade accepts, and, along with Hannibal and Abigail, begins a mission to track and kill Dracula (Drake).

The trio arrives at Edgar Vance's studio where they find Drake himself, who has killed the psychiatrist and disguised himself in Vance's shape. Hannibal tries to attack him, but is badly wounded. Abigail tends to his wounds while Blade goes after Drake.

Incapacitated, Hannibal is forced to stay at the base while Blade and Abigail are out on hunt. Whilst watching a movie in Esperanto language, Hannibal is seemingly visited by Abraham Whistler, but in reality it is Drake, who then kidnaps Hannibal and kills all of the other Nightstalkers. Hannibal is then taken to Talos' hideout. Here, he is interrogated by Talos, her brother, Asher, and Jarko Grimwood, who torture him in order to gain information concerning the Daystar Virus. Hannibal reveals that hidden beneath his skin is a tracking chip, which will allow Blade and Abigail to locate him and come to his aid. After he has been freed, Hannibal confronts Pac-Man, Grimwood's vampire Pomeranian, and two vampire pitbulls, managinging to throw them from a window to their apparent deaths. He later confronts Grimwood himself, who is enraged by Pac-Man's death. During the fight, Hannibal makes Grimwood bite a silver bullet with his golden teeth, killing him. Finally, Hannibal finds Talos and engages her in a fight, but is bested by her; while Talos is choking him, the Daystar Virus is released and so Hannibal assists in causing Talos' death.

Despite the release of the virus, vampires are not totally eradicated, meaning the Nightstalkers must continue hunting them.

Attributes

Powers

Former Powers

All vampires share common superhuman abilities, regardless of whether they were born a vampire, or were once human and were subsequently turned into a vampire. The only exceptions are vampire offshoots, such as half-vampires and those who are carriers of the Reaper Strain.

• Vampirism: Vampirism is the physiological act of becoming and/or turning another human being into a vampire. Despite its roots in European folklore, vampirism exists in nature, and there are many such creatures who are actually born as vampires. Pathologically, vampirism is likened to a virus, carried in the saliva of predators. The vampire enzyme is carried through a victim's bloodstream and within seventy-two hours, mutates the subject's physiology, creating new parasitic organs. It has been described as "cancer with a purpose".

• Immortality: Vampires are immortal creatures whose bodies cease to physically age beyond a certain point. Pure blood vampires will age into adulthood, while turned vampires maintain the physical form they had when they were still human. Theoretically, a vampire can live forever, providing that it is not destroyed.

• Protractile Fangs/Claws: Vampires possess adapted musculature around the canine teeth that can extend these to become fangs. Similarly, they can also extend their fingernails to claw-like proportions.

• Superhuman Strength: Most vampires possess superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires are capable of lifting from 1,000 lbs to 4,000 lbs. A vampire's enhanced strength also enables them to perform other superhuman feats such as leaping great distances. Supplementing their strength, vampires are naturally heartier than normal humans and can withstand severe physical exertion with no ill effects. It is unknown if vampire strength levels differ between pure bloods and turned vampires.

• Superhuman Durability: With the exception of certain restrictions, vampires are essentially invulnerable to most forms of bodily harm, including the effects of disease, and the natural cellular mitosis that comes with aging. Vampires are not living creatures, and as such, they do not require oxygen to breathe. Vampires can exist without undue stress in oxygen free environments such as being submerged under water or buried beneath the earth. Excessive force will cause physical damage to a vampire, but their bodies will regenerate damaged tissue providing they can supplement themselves with regular supplies of blood.

• Superhuman Reflexes: A vampire's reflexes, agility and reaction time are many times greater than a normal human being. At maximum optimal capacity, a vampire can move more quickly than the human eye can perceive.

Abilities

• Expert in Martial arts and with firearms.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Bullet proof vest.

Weapons

• Electronic Pistols: Hannibal carries a pair of fictional "Electronic Pistols" that fire "Sun Dogs", explosive rounds that emit a burst of ultraviolet light. A miniature camera is mounted next to the barrel, recording to a disc housed in the rear of the slide assembly.

• Winchester Model 1887: In the armory, Hannibal shows off the Nightstalkers' take on "the Army's Individual Combat Weapon" to Blade, a weapon designed to fire multiple types of ammunition, including silver stakes, UV-explosive rounds and grenades. The weapon is actually a heavily modified Winchester Model 1887. The weapon is not used or seen again in the film, but in the alternate ending included on the DVD's special features, Hannibal uses it when the Nightstalkers track down a werewolf in a Hong Kong casino.

Notes

• Ryan Reynolds portrays Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity.
  • Reynolds later portrayed Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool in the X-Men movies' revised timeline, and Juggernaut in Deadpool 2.
• Since Ryan Reynolds played mostly comedic characters, David S. Goyer decided to make Hannibal King more like him and transformed the serious private detective in a effusive hunter.
• Colin Farrell was considered for the role of Hannibal King, but turned it down.
• Ryan Reynolds was forced to follow a strict diet and training regime in order to portray King.
• Being a wrestling fan, Ryan Reynolds didn't allow any stuntman to do the fighting scenes with Triple H (who played Jarko Grimwood), wanting to prove himself his wrestling abilities.

See Also

• 3 appearance(s) of Hannibal King (Earth-26320)
• 1 mention(s) of Hannibal King (Earth-26320)
• 8 image(s) of Hannibal King (Earth-26320)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Hannibal King (Earth-26320)