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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 1929.[14] 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.[15] 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.[5]

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.

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.[16]

WWII[]

In 1943, he joined the Secret Invaders on a mission on the Irish Sea's, where he found and destroyed U-666, a Nazi U-Boat being possessed by Mephisto. They turned up late due to fighting the Vampire Luftwaffe.[17]

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.[18]

Mighty Avengers (1970s)[]

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.[19]

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.[20]

Tomb of Dracula[]

Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 Vol 1 1 0001

Blade in his original costume

When Blade was in need of money, he'd often perform at nightclub in London as trumpeter. With time, he noticed there was a beautiful woman who would never miss his performances and, one night, the two finally met after Blade intervened to protect her from a a pimp named Ponce. After this, Blade and the woman, named Safron, became romantically involved.[16]

Still a vampire hunter, Blade would often fight alongside a team led by Quincy Harker, also a great vampire hunter. The company's members included Rachel van Helsing and Frank Drake.[21] Blade and the team battled Dracula and attempted to kill him and rescue Elizabeth Langley.[22] 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.[23][24] However his death was short-lived and he was resurrected by his minions.[25] Blade attempted to once more slay Dracula. Dracula managed to overpower Blade and fed upon the vampire hunter before leaving him for dead.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]

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.[31] 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 mother's killer he would die by his hands.[32] Dracula refused to be ordered around, leading to a battle between the two.[33]

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.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36] After a while alone in London, Safron moved to the United States to stay with Blade in Boston, claiming that London "was a drag" without him there.[37]

Doppelgänger[]

Blade and King found the "Doppelgänger" and he revealed that he was created to destroy the original.[38] 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.[39] 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.[40] 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.[41] 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. King enlisted the help of Daimon Hellstrom who exorcised Blade from the Doppelgänger and killed it with King's help. Blade and King eventually caught up with Frost and together they destroyed the Vampire and his vampiric doppelgängers, and forging a lasting friendship.[42]

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.[43] 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.[44] Blade also rescued his girlfriend Safron Caulder from the Darkholders,[45] but shortly after they grew apart.[46]

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.[3]

The Nightstalkers also battled other threats, such as Hydra's D.O.A. (Department of Occult Armaments).[47]

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.[48]

Dracula Returns[]

Following the dissolution of the Nightstalkers, Blade left Boston and moved to Greenwich Village.[7] At some point before this time, Blade had a daughter with Safron, a girl named Brielle.[13][49]

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.[50]

In New Orleans, 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.[46]

Daywalker[]

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.[51] 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.[52]

Back in New Orleans, he was contacted by Dominique Levant[53] who led him into the midst of a vampiric coup which involved Morbius and the powerful Ulysses Sojourner.[54] Sojourner sought to unify all vampires on the East Coast, but Blade was able to stop his plans.[55]

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.[56]

Battling the Tryks[]

Blade encountered a new type of vampiric creature called a Tryk, which was fearless of vampires and hunted them.[57] 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.[58] 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.[14]

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.[59]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.[12] Blade later helps a woman put to rest her husband who was killed by a vampire being pursued by Blade.[60]

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.[61]

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.[5] 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 part of a prophecy by freeing his imprisoned father.[62]

Unknown to Blade, his wealthy father, Lucas Cross, was responsible for Dracula's resurrection. Lucas kidnapped his son and tried to force Blade to feed on a young virgin girl by starving him; in an attempt to fulfill the same prophecy that Blade had unwittingly begun. Blade escaped with the girl unharmed after biting through his own hand.[15]

Blade returned home to England seeking answers about his past and the prophecy. Shortly after arriving he used his S.H.I.E.L.D. connections to learn of vampires running illegal weaponry, and killed them while procuring the guns he was unable to bring into the country. The deaths of these vampires alerted a powerful vampire priest, Draconis, to Blades presence. Draconis attacked Blade and was able to defeat him as he had spent decades building up an immunity to vampiric weaknesses including being staked in the heart, specifically to defeat Blade in vengeance for his time spent in London killing vampires when he was young.[63] Blade survived this encounter thanks to a talisman which made vampires immortal and was aware he couldn't take Draconis on alone, after gathering information on him, and called Hannibal King for help in taking him down. Blade fed upon Draconis to make killing him easier, thus feeding on virgin blood and unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy.[64]

While still in England, Blade dug up his mother's grave and within her casket marked 'Tara Cross' he found a confession she wrote about having been married to Lucas Cross as well as being a member of the Order of Tyrana from whom she had been forced to flee. From Maria Hill he learned that the Order were connected to the Knights of Pendragon of which he also learned Joseph Chapman, the current Union Jack, was a member as well as a vampire hunter. Chapman was already on Blade's trail and attempted to kill Hannibal for being a vampire. After getting Chapman to spot attacking them and speak with them instead, Blade learned more about the Order, including the fact that they were supposedly good people.[65]

Blade returned to America and tracked his father down to a social club party in Washington, D.C. to get answers. Blade learned his father was a vampire and that everything he had been doing was in service to the prophecy. Blade had distracted his father long enough for Hannibal to obtain a copy of the prophecy, the details of which Blade recognised in his recent actions, including the freeing of his father from a Latverian prison. Blade began working on stopping the prophecy which led him to try and track down Dracula's body, to aid in this he approached Spider-Man in New York City (whose uncle and aunt he was unaware he had once saved from a vampire attack shortly after their marriage). Blade learned more about how Spider-Man was temporarily turned into a vampire, including the fact that Jamal Afari, an old friend and mentor of Blade's who he was forced to kill, had been the vampire to turn him.[66]

Blade spent weeks searching the planet for Jamal but was unable to find him, until his father broke into his home to offer his help. Blade travelled alongside his father and Hannibal to Transylvania where his father assured him they would find Jamal at Castle Dracula according to the prophecy which he believed would give all vampires back their souls. Blade wasn't interested in potentially making vampires invulnerable by returning their souls and refused, at which point his father revealed he had been holding Jamal and would stake him dead if Blade did not cooperate. Desperately wanting the return of his soul, Hannibal turned against Blade who quickly killed him.[67]

Moments after killing friend, Blade was confronted by Dracula who Lucas had returned to life and brokered a deal with. Dracula tried to force Blade to complete the prophecy by returning a piece of the stake used to kill him to the ground of his Castle but Blade refused, causing Dracula to target Jamal in an attempt to convince him. In the ensuing scuffle the sliver of stake touched the ground as Blade fumbled it, enacting the prophecy though not in the way Lucas Cross had expected. The prophecy did not return vampires lost souls to them but instead brought every dead vampire back to undead life including Hannibal. Blade then decided not to kill his father and instead left him to live with his actions. Later, in exchange for having killed him, Blade gave Hannibal the potion he obtained from Doctor Doom so Hannibal could live without bloodlust.[68]

Vanguard[]

Vanguard (Black Ops) (Earth-616) from Marvel Comics Presents Vol 2 7 0001

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.[69] Her investigation led to her own arrest, but survived a failed assassination attempt by Vanguard operative, Dominic Fortune.[70] Dolan discovered the entire Vanguard team and convinced them that she is innocent by exposing Yoosuf, who is summarily killed by Blade.[71] 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.[72] 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.[73]

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.[74]

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.[75]

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[76] 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.[77][78] Dracula arrived at Utopia and offered his assistance in defeating his son.[79] 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.[80]

Blade and the X-Men have to battle wave after wave of attacking Vampires.[81] 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.[82]

Mighty Avengers[]

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.[83]

Mighty Avengers Vol 2 4

Ronin and Spider Hero

Following the victory of Earth's heroes over Thanos' army, Eric adopted Hawkeye's former identity of Ronin.[1] 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.[84]

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.[85] 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.[86]

Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Mighty Avengers Vol 2 9 001

Ronin exposed

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.[87]

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.[88]

Avengers[]

Blade was captured by vampires and eventually freed by Wasp.[89] On the advice of the Black Panther, Blade joined the Avengers and aided them stem a civil war between the vampire community being waged by Shadow Colonel and the Legion of the Unliving, which turned out to be a ploy by Dracula to renew the Vampire Nation by removing weaker elements from it.[90]

Blade continued helping the Avengers to fight the Dark Council's invasion of Earth,[91] help rescue Ghost Rider when was sent to Hell,[92] help to determine the fate of the new wielder of the Starbrand,[93] stop Khonshu from taking over the world,[94] help deal with the Phoenix Force when it came to Earth to find a new host,[95] help subdue the Hulk,[96] and fight Knull when he attacked Earth by fighting Knull and asking for help from Dracula and his Vampire Nation.[97][98]

After Knull was defeated, the Vampire Nation were able to successfully lobby for recognition from the United Nation as a country within the Chernobyl exclusion zone as compensation for their help in fighting Knull. Blade chose to leave the Avengers and live in the Vampire Nation to keep the vampires in check with the full authority of the Avengers and the United Nations.[99]

Heroes Reborn[]

One day, Blade woke up to discover that the entire world had changed to one where the Avengers didn't exist and the Squadron Supreme was the world's premiere superhero team. Wanting to change the world back to its proper state, Blade sought to create the Avengers. After failing to convince Thor to join him, Blade recovered Captain America still frozen in ice and convinced him to help him.[100] They then began gathering the members of the Avengers, starting with Echo.[101]

Blade and Captain America later recruited Black Panther, and Echo recruited Thor who was able to recover his powers and memories. With the help of a Wakandan spaceship, Brandy Selby was discovered deep in space and was returned to Earth. The Squadron Supreme eventually caught wind of the Avengers and began investigating them. When the Squadron found the Avengers in the hidden nation of Wakanda, Blade and the Avengers were ready to fight the Squadron.[102]

Blade fought Nighthawk but was stunned by a Hawkarang that delivered a powerful electric shock. Blade was able to get to his feet but was then knocked out by Hyperion. Blade eventually came to and helped Thor rise after he was knocked out by Hyperion. Blade and the other Avengers were about to fight Nighthawk when reality was returned to normal when the source of the reality warp was destroyed, President Coulson's Pandemonium Cube. Blade was returned to Earth-616 and woke up to find himself back in Chernobyl. Blade surmised that his supernatural nature was what protected him from the reality warp.[103]

The Mother of Evil[]

In order to repay a favor he owed to an old acquaintance, Blade accepted a mission to protect a young woman from a masked Cambodian assassin wielding a magic sword. While Blade succeeded in killing the assassin in a heated duel to the death, the woman he was hired to protect seized the assassin's sword for herself before revealing her true identity as The Adana: A Primordial Eldritch God who could only be stopped by the assassin Blade had just decapitated. Realizing that he's been duped, Blade immediately tried to slay Adana but was effortlessly defeated by the God instead. Blade woke up thirteen days later in the Cardamom Mountains, where he was imprisoned and tortured by a militant sect of warrior occultists as punishment for murdering their champion and dooming the entire world to annihilation at the Adana's hands. Fortunately, a teenage member of the sect named Rotha decided to defect and free Blade from captivity so he could help her stop the Adana's apocalyptic machinations[104]

In order to obtain another weapon capable of slaying Adana, Blade and Rotha traveled to Japan to recruit the assistance of his ex-girlfriend Tamlyn Hamato AKA Tulip: A clairvoyant Japanese arms dealer with a notorious history of selling supernatural armaments to the highest bidder. After helping Tulip kill a local Yakuza boss she swindled in an arms deal gone sideways, Tulip informed Blade and Rotha that Lightbringer, the sword of Lucifer (Earth-616) himself, was the only weapon currently on Earth that had the best chance at slaying an eldritch entity like the Adana. But Lightbringer was unfortunately in the possession of a vampire turned corrupt war profiteer named Hamilton Achilles, who locked up the sword inside of a heavily fortified Adamantium Train that serves as Hamilton's mobile fortress. Doctor Strange would also arrive to confront Blade over his disastrous handling of the crisis, as Adana murdered over a dozen of Stephen's subordinates while trying to apprehend her, but agreed to support Blade in his heist to steal Lightbringer.[105]

Boarding the train, Blade slashed his way forward to reach Hamilton and Lightbringer while Tulip and Rotha fought to free the human captives kept on board to serve as livestock for its vampire passengers. While Hamilton attempted to fight Blade over the holy sword, the vampire boss was psychically compelled by the Adana to relinquish the weapon and committed suicide immediately afterwards. With Lucifer's flaming sword in his hands, Blade and his allies arrived just in time to confront the Adana while she was in the middle of conducting a ritual, but it turns out to have been another ruse by the eldritch horror, who duped Blade into essentially hand delivering Lightbringer to her so she can carry out the next step of her plan.[106][107]

Blade and his allies failed to stop Adana's ritual, resulting in a "primordial wave" that transformed millions of people across the planet into supernatural horrors. The Adana also bonded a demon to Tulip's soul, forcing the woman to perpetually suffer in agony seemingly to spite Blade. Overcome with guilt and a lust for revenge, Blade forced Doctor Strange to teleport him directly to Adana for a desperate rematch, where she personally revealed to Blade that she had created an entirely new Hell from scratch to both rule over and to serve as a display of her regained power. After effortlessly defeating Blade once more, the Eldritch God decided to spare his life and cast him out of her Hell.

With the Adana stronger than ever before, the world embroiled in chaos as new supernatural horrors run rampant, and Tulip continuing to suffer from her demonic possession with no cure in sight, Blade left both Tulip and Rotha in Doctor Strange's care before traveling back to the Vampire Nation of Chernobyl. Realizing that he would never be able to defeat something as powerful as the Adana while suppressing his vampiric heritage, Blade decided to swallow his pride and seek mentorship from his oldest enemy: Count Dracula.[108]

Attributes

Power Grid[122]
: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.[109] After drinking the blood of Dracula, Blade became better connected to his power, allowing him to unlock new abilities.[15]
    • Superhuman 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.[109]
      • Superhuman Smelling: Blade possesses an incredibly pronounced sense of smell, easily able to discern what's human and what's not even from a good distance away.[110] Jen Walters likened his olfactory senses to that of Wolverine.
      • Superhuman Hearing
    • 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.[109]
    • 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.
Eric Brooks (Earth-616) from Deadpool Vol 6 28 001
    • 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.[109]
    • 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.
    • Regeneration: 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.[109] 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.
    • Contaminant Transferal: Eric can take any kind of ingestible or even metaphysical ailments coursing in the system of another living being, or willingly introduced into his system and pass it along, using the same process that Vampires use to infect others.[111] He used this ability to drain away the infection which remade Robbie Reyes into a more monstrous form of Ghost Rider.[112]
      • Healing: Blade can also use his vampire bite to deliver cures that he has contained within his bloodstream, as he did to nullify the Roxxon B.E.R.S.E.R.K.E.R shocktrooper's hulk-like transformation abilities.[112]
    • Advanced Longevity: Although not a pure vampire, he does have the advantage of being a Hybrid. This includes a Pseudo-Immortality, granting Eric a 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.
    • Appearance Alteration: Blade seemingly possesses the ability to change to & from human form to a more monstrous state of being by force of will.[113] After drinking the blood of Dracula, Blade gained the ability to transform into mist, and a wolf.[15][63]
      • Wing Manifestation: Blade's transformed state comes with the added proclivity of bat like aviary appendages that enable him to fly around at high speed.[113]
    • Self-Exorcism: Blade is capable of forcibly removing possessing entities from his own body, such as demons. He can also maintain control over his body while he is possessed.[63]
  • Magic: Though rarely displayed, Blade posesses some skill with magic. He knows one spell that allows him to trap and contain vampires inside a mystical artifact.[114]

Abilities

  • Master Martial Artist: Blade is a master martial artist proficient in practically every form of weaponry known to man.[109] 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.[62]
  • Expert Marksman: He can throw most projectile weaponry with great aim and is well-versed in the use of firearms.[109]
  • Expert Swordsman: His particular specialty is the use of edged weapons, be they teakwood daggers or swords.[109]
  • 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.[109]
  • Occult Knowledge: Blade has exceptional knowledge and understanding of magic and the supernatural. He was capable of quickly identifiying a demon by it's attributes.[4] As Spider Hero, he showed exceptional magical knowledge, as he assumed Photon's mimicry of Shuma-Gorath's magic sigils would buy them time. He also guided Power Man to utilize his Chi in greater and more diverse ways than ever before.[83]
  • Intimidation: Blade is well-known and feared among vampires and other supernatural beings who are hesitant about ever facing him in combat or invoking his wrath.
  • Multilingual: Blade is fluent in English, German, Romanian, and 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]

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 special meditation to maintain his self-control and a huge amount of blood-serum in his inventory. One serum is enough for 24 hours of extended combat or he can use it to quickly recover from grave wounds. However, an extended period of time without consuming either blood or the serum could prove fatal.[115][109]
  • Vulnerability to Red Sunlight: While not affected by normal (yellow) 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.[116]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

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.[109]
  • Justiciar[118]
  • Blade's Sword

Transportation

Motorcycle

Notes

  • It was implied that the identity of Ronin / Spider Hero was that of Blade before it was even revealed, because of three 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.[1]

Trivia

  • Blade was a fan of police procedural television shows which he watched 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 didn't like the works of Anne Rice and would only recommend them as a cure to insomnia.[119]
  • Blade's patented black, leather trench coat once belonged to Wolverine.[6]
  • Blade considers some of the best music albums of all time to be Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and Beyoncé's Lemonade.[120]
  • Eric is a skilled jazz trumpeter and has worked professionally as a musician.[16]

See Also

Links and References

References

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