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History

Sir Percy of Scandia / Black Knight

Merlin gave the enchanted sword to Sir Percy of Scandia, the first Black Knight. Because of all the blood that Sir Percy shed with the blade, it acquired a curse.[2]

Medieval period / Knights Templar

The Ebony Blade was wielded by Knights Templar for over 600 years.[1]

Dane Whitman / Black Knight

The sword passed down through the generations until it finally came to Dane Whitman, Sir Percy's descendant. Dane used the blade for many years.[3]

It passed briefly to Valkyrie when Dane's body was turned to stone, and his soul sent back in time to the 13th century, but was soon returned to him. Later, the blade was broken by an entity called the Iron Ogre, but was eventually reforged and returned to Whitman by Merlin. Due to the curse, Dane eventually gave the Blade up.[4]

He drove it deep into the same meteor it was forged from, now residing in his castle. Only another deemed worthy would be able to withdraw it.[5]

Sean Dolan / Bloodwraith

Sean Dolan, Dane's ex-squire, was able to draw the blade during an attack on Whitman's castle. This transformed Dolan into Bloodwraith.[5]

Dolan fought with the curse, and was able to give up the sword for a brief time. During this time, it was trapped in the Negative Zone barrier outside of Attilan.[6]

In the meantime, a second Ebony Blade had been brought into this dimension by Proctor. When Proctor was killed, his blade was taken into Avengers custody.[7]

Dolan was drawn to the blade, and once again became Bloodwraith. Crystal retrieved the original Blade, and The Vision threatened to destroy it if Bloodwraith didn't surrender. Bloodwraith tossed the alternate Blade aside and reclaimed his own. Crystal picked up the second Blade and said it would be important to the future of the Inhumans.[8]

Bloodwraith was last known to have the Blade in his possession in Slorenia, where he was trapped by the Scarlet Witch.[9]

Augustine du Lac / Vatican's Black Knight

The Blade was found back by the Vatican's "Black Knight"[10] Augustine du Lac[11] (a descendant of Lancelot),[1] in a Vampire nest in Iraq that had been flattened by the Opus Dei.[10]

This "Black Knight" wielded it on his invasion attempt of Wakanda, along with Klaw. The Blade was confiscated by Black Panther.[12]

Black Panther

Brian Braddock later tried to claim the sword from T'Challa during a meeting as part of the British legacy but T'Challa denied him the return of the weapon, later using it against Iron Man's attack in front of the White House.[13] T'Challa actually waited for Dane Whitman to return it, suspecting that others would had tried to save him from it (when T'Challa himself consider that those who shoulder great responsibilities must make such decisions themselves).[10]

Returned to Dane Whitman

After Dane Whitman learned that the sword he was using was not the Ebony Blade[14][15] (which was seemingly part of a scheme of Dracula)[16] and that the real one was in Wakanda,[15] he asked an audience to Wakanda Queen Ororo.[10]

Dane Whitman has been seen in possession of the Ebony Blade once again, given it by Queen Ororo of Wakanda. It seems to still hold its blood curse.

Composition

The sorcerer Merlin came upon a strange black ore called the Starstone, apparently the site of a fallen meteor. He forged the Ebony Blade and Obsidian Dagger out of the strange material, using his magic to empower the blades.[3]

Powers

  • The Ebony Blade deflects most magical attacks. When angled in a certain way, it can instead absorb energy directed at it. It seems mostly immune to magical effects.[17]
  • It can cut through any substance (except other enchanted weapons or extremely strong metals like Adamantium), even piercing Iron Man's Extremis armor with one slash, though how much of a certain substance it can cut through depends on the strength of the wielder. The sword is also indestructible.[citation needed]
  • The blade and its wielder are linked. The wielder can be transported to the blade's location through mystic ceremony, or sometimes even act of will.[18] In a few cases Dane Whitman has been transported into the body of an ancestor to wield the blade.[19]
  • Merlin has enchanted the blade so that its wielder can be injured, but not killed. The one exception is when the wielder is attacked by a weapon forged from the same starstone as the blade (such as the dagger Merlin himself crafted).[3]
  • The link between blade and wielder means that evil acts committed by the wielder can taint the blade. If used to spill too much blood in evil acts, it will begin to crave blood, and induce the wielder to kill even more. If enough blood is shed the wielder becomes the Bloodwraith. Only a worthy person can resist it. Dane Whitman once cleansed the blade of the taint accumulated over the years by casting it into the Brazier of Truth, but it could become tainted if used for evil again.[5][2]

Known wielders

Additionally to the various Black Knights, and of Black Panther, who have been owners of the Ebony Blade, the following people have used the Blade at some point:

Proctor wielded his world's version.[7]

Notes

  • The Ebony Blade was originally referred to as the Black Blade. Merlin created the weapon to be a worthy magical counterpart to King Arthur's Excalibur.[23]

See Also

Links and References

References

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