Lily Cromwell (Earth-616)

The girl who became Baroness Blood was one of the two daughters of village doctor Jacob Cromwell. A secret thrall of Dracula, Jacob was ordered to revive John Falsworth, who had worked for the Germans during both World Wars as the vampiric Baron Blood until he was staked and placed in the Tower of London. Jacob removed the stake, resuscitating Falsworth, who slew Jacob and one of his daughters, and transformed the other into a Vampire. After Falsworth was again killed by Captain America and Union Jack, Ms. Cromwell founded a cult dedicated to Blood's memory as the Baroness. At some point she met Axi Nacht, who offered her membership in Axis Mundi if she would make a suitable sacrifice to prove her loyalty. She did this by getting the Holy Grail to become immune to sunlight and allowing her cult to die by sunlight. She later gave birth to her son John Crichton and joined Axis Mundi and helped them fight the Invaders.

Baroness Blood resurfaced as a member of the Legion of the Unliving,^[3] a group of vampires brought together by Dracula under the leadership of the Shadow Colonel.^[4] She aspired for her work with the Legion to help bring about the Fourth Reich.^[2] Under the pretense of being dissidents, the Legion weeded out the weaker of the vampire race, giving Dracula an excuse to seek political refuge in Russia. He struck a deal with the government and was granted the territory of Chernobyl, where he intended to start the vampire kingdom anew.^[4] During their crusade, the Legion of the Unliving came to blows with the Avengers, who had become of the Legion of the Unliving's activities,^[3]^[2] but the vampires managed to ultimately evade them.^[4]

Attributes

Power Grid^[8]

Powers

Cromwell possesses the various conventional superhuman attributes common to vampires.

Superhuman Strength: Like all vampires, Cromwell possesses superhuman strength. Most vampires possess physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they had in their mortal live, which fits Cromwell. She is capable of lifting approximately 1,200 lbs under optimum conditions.^[5]
Superhuman Speed: Cromwell is capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the physical limits of the finest human athlete.^[5]
Superhuman Stamina: Cromwell's musculature, like the musculature all others of her race, produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of normal humans. She can physically exert herself at peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in her blood begins to impair her.^{[citation needed]}
Superhuman Agility: Cromwell's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.^{[citation needed]}
Superhuman Reflexes: Cromwell's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.^{[citation needed]}
Superhumanly Acute Senses: Cromwell, like other vampires, possesses extraordinarily acute senses of sight and hearing.
- Telescopic and Night Vision: Cromwell is capable of seeing much father and with much greater clarity than a human being, particularly at night.^{[citation needed]}
- Superhuman Hearing: She can also detect sounds that ordinary humans normally can, though at much greater distances, and sounds that ordinary humans can't.^{[citation needed]}
Regeneration: Cromwell is capable of rapidly regenerating damaged bodily tissue much faster and more extensively than an ordinary human. Injuries such as severe, body wide burns and bullet wounds fully heal within the span of a few hours. However, like the vast majority of her race, Cromwell isn't able to regrow missing limbs or organs. Cromwell is also immune to the effects of all Earthly diseases and infections, particularly due to the fact that she isn't technically alive. Her aging process is also halted completely, giving her the appearance of a woman in her physical prime, so long as she ingests blood on a regular basis.^{[citation needed]}
Immunity To Sunlight: After drinking from the Holy Grail itself, Cromwell is now immune to the degenerative effects that exposure to sunlight has on all other vampires.^[5] A vampire's body soon begins to incinerate after only a few moments of exposure to sunlight. She can also move about during the daylight hours, whereas other vampires enter a death-like state. If she shares her blood with other vampires, she can also render them immune to sunlight and allow them to go without blood for longer periods of time than other vampires.^[6]
Fangs: Like all vampires, Cromwell possesses specially, elongated canine teeth which are extremely sharp. She typically uses these fangs to puncture the neck of her victims in order to drain their blood. These sharp fangs can be useful in close combat situations as well.
Hypnosis: Like all vampires, Cromwell is able to hypnotize most beings for the purpose of using them to follow her orders or sometimes to make feeding easier.^[5] However, exceptionally strong willed individuals can break this hypnotic control.^{[citation needed]}
Weather Manipulation: Cromwell is able to generate tremendously powerful storms over a limited area for a period of several hours.^[5] However, she is physically and mentally drained for a period of time afterward.
Shapeshifting: Cromwell also has the ability to transform herself into various forms, typically those of a bat, a wolf, or as a gaseous mist. She can also transform herself into a human sized bat or into a wolf that is much larger than normal. While in her bat or gaseous form, she can travel through the air at great speeds and cover greater distances than she normally would through walking or running.^{[citation needed]}
Mind Control: Cromwell is able to mentally command those she has bitten, or vampires that she herself has created, through a type of empathic/psionic link across great distances. Much like her hypnotic powers however, a particularly strong willed individual or vampire can overcome her control.^{[citation needed]}

Abilities

Though she has had no formal training, Cromwell's power generally render her a formidable combatant against most beings.

Weaknesses

Cromwell, like all vampires, has a number of special vulnerabilities. She is highly allergic to silver and can be severely injured, or killed, with silver weaponry. If she is injured by silver, her recovery time is considerably slower than normal. She can be killed by having a wooden stake plunged into her heart, somehow interrupting the mystical energies that keeps her alive. Cromwell can also be killed by decapitation and/or by prolonged exposure to fire. She can also be affected by religious icons, such as the Cross of David or a crucifix for example. She is affected by the strength of the wielder's faith in the icon and religion it represents, not the size of the icon itself

Notes

Baroness Blood joined the Shadow Colonel's Legion in hopes of him helping her bring about the Fourth Reich.^[2]

Links and References

Lily Cromwell on Marvel.com

References

[Official_Handbook_of_the_Marvel_Universe_A_to_Z_Vol_1_1-1] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1

[Avengers_Vol_8_15-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Avengers (Vol. 8) #15

[Avengers_Vol_8_14-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Avengers (Vol. 8) #14

[Avengers_Vol_8_17-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Avengers (Vol. 8) #17

[Vampires_The_Marvel_Undead_Vol_1_1-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 Vampires: The Marvel Undead #1

[New_Invaders_Vol_1_4-6] New Invaders #4

[7] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1

[8] Vampires: The Marvel Undead Vol 1 1

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Lily Cromwell (Earth-616)

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