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The
tortured warrior known only as Blade may be humanity's last, best hope for
survival against an army of immortal vampires. Rendered immune to a
vampire's bite by the circumstances of his birth, he sharpened his combat
skills to a lethal edge. Fueled by a craving for vengeance, Blade fights
alone and alongside his fellow hunters to wipe vampires off the face of
the Earth!
Real
name: Unrevealed
Occupation: Vampire hunter
Group affiliation: None, formerly the Midnight Sons
Base of operations: Mobile
First appearance: Tomb of Dracula (Vol. 1) #10 (1973)
Height:
6'2"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Black
Powers: Due to the tragic nature of his birth, Blade is immune to
the supernatural effects of vampire bites.
Weapons:
Having embarked on a quest to rid the world of vampires, Blade employs a
number of edged and wooden weapons. He most frequently wields a sword of
his own design and a type of throwing dagger called a dirk. Blade usually
gilds his weapons with silver to increase their effectiveness against his
prey.
History:
The man known only as Blade came into the world an orphan. Bitten while in
labor by the vampire Deacon Frost, his mother died during childbirth.
Blade was taken in and raised by his mother's friends. Determined to
avenge her death, he fashioned himself into a vampire hunter even before
he reached adulthood.After stalking the night on his own for a number of
years, Blade became leader of a small band of like-minded individuals
hunting Dracula. He first encountered the dark lord in Japan, after many
months of searching. Blade lured Dracula into an ambush, and the vampire
was slain with a wooden stake.
However,
Dracula soon was resurrected by his servants and exacted revenge by
murdering Blade's entire band of vampire hunters. Blade
pressed on, often fighting alongside a team led by Quincy Harker, the
great vampire hunter. The company's members included Rachael Van Hesling
and Frank Drake. Later, Blade teamed with vampiric private eye Hannibal
King to hunt down and destroy Frost. Blade, King and Drake helped Dr.
Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts and Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, cast a
spell that destroyed Dracula and all the vampires on the planet. Following
their victory, King was cured of his vampirism. Subsequently, he and Blade
formed a private-investigation firm.
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
John 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.
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, Lilin, in a supernatural contest
with Earth as the prize. The Midnight Sons proved victorious, destroying
Lilith and her brood.
However,
the team was unable to prevent its hated quarry, the vampire, from
returning to the Earth realm. 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 --
supposedly the first vampire, the demon who had visited this 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.

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