Born in blood is a phrase that can be used to state a child was born into violence, often a war or gang violence. Eric Brooks was also born in blood, both metaphorically and literally in more than one way. October 24, 1929 was a day know as Black Thursday because the stock market crashed. It was also the day Eric Brooks was brought into this word.
Lucas Cross was a member of the Order of Tyrana, a group specializing in the occult. The priority for the group was vampires. The secret society was being hunted for acts they had committed so Licas Cross sent his pregnant wife Tara to England. Once she was there she took the name of Vanessa Brooks and lived in a brother sheltered by Madame Vanity. Little did she know Madame Vanity was also a member of the Order.
When it came time for Tara to give birth she suffered complications that required a doctor. The brothel called a doctor. Unbeknownst to them the doctor had been murdered and replaced by Deacon Frost, one of the most vicious and bloodthirsty vampires ever. Deacon closed the door so he was along with Tara and feasted on the fresh blood from her pregnancy while people outside believed it was just the pain of child birth. Eventually they entered anyway and saw he was eating her. The women attacked and forced him to flee. Tara died and the brother was left to raise the child they named Eric. Eric was a dhampir, one who has been touched by vampirism, but could not be converted.
For 10 years they raised Eric. He was a smart child and although his vampire abilities had not yet appeared he trained himself to near an Olympic level. Despite living in a brothel where the women were looked upon poorly they raised Eric to be a good person. One day on his way home from school he saw an old man being attacked by three teenagers. Eric fought them off and learned they were vampires actually trying to kill Jamal Afari, a jazz musician and vampire hunter from America.
James had retired long ago and was no longer able to fight vampires regularly in his old age. He moved into the brothel and soon taught Eric to kill vampires as well as to kill his violent urges with music. Over the next few years he became to look at Jamal as a father and followed in his footsteps sharpening his mind and body. It was also during this time when Blade's superhuman abilities began to emerge.
Eric chose to name himself Blade after the weapons he preferred. His mission was to avenge the death of his mother and he would take down as many vampires necessary to do so. However with his new powers he over estimated his strength. This caused him to accidentally kill a man suffering from insanity and drug usage that he believed to be a vampire attacking civilians. Jamal being near 80 at this point he tricked Blade into fleeing to America while he stayed behind and claiming to be the murderer. Jamal went to prison and Blade was 18 and all alone in America.
Blade spent the first year or so in America becoming accustomed to the society of American vampires and honing his skills alone. Eventually he comes to join a gang. The gang was lead by a vampire named Lamia and was stronger than any for that Blade had faced before. During his time in the gang he had began dating a woman named Glory. During their final showdown Glory was murdered by Lamia. Afterwards Atari was murdered and brought back as a vampire by Dracula and forced to hunt Blade as punishment. Blade kills Afari and heads back to Europe to kill Dracula. These two events caused Blade to realize he wouldn't stop at Frost, he'd hunt vampires forever or kill them all first.
Blade fought Dracula throughout Europe and Asia until 1968. Although he beat Dracula several times he was never able to kill him. During his time he managed to learn several new martial arts styles and hone his skills.
During his time in China he joins Ogun Strong's vampire hunting crew. The other members were Ogun, Orji, Musenda and Ask. Each was able to show Blade new techniques. Together they formed a plan to kill Dracula for good. They pretended to be a group who believed Vampires would rule the world in 60 years but could spread up the process by 10 years. Dracula met with the group only to be murdered.
Dracula was resurrected by his followers and wanted to teach Blade a lesson about respect. He personally hunted down and murdered the group Blade had come to call his family after so many years alone. The one survivor was Musenda who managed to escape, but she retired from vampire hunting and went into hiding. From this Blade adopted the throwing knives he uses based on a design Orji used and demonstrated to be just as effective as staking vampires.
On November 7, 2972 a creature that appeared to be half man and half bat was found murdered in New York causing Blade to head back to the United States. There while investigating he came across Kulu who was investigating the body with magic. He assumed Kulu was an enemy. However he was stopped by the a group made up of Adam Brashear, The Blue Marvel, James Cross a police detective and father of Luke Cage as well as Constance Molina. Knowing he was among friends.
The group had come together for various reasons to investigate. They learned it was actually were-bat that had been murdered by a Russian operative code named The Bear. The team agreed to work together on locating where the beast came from. They learned a cult called The Deathwalkers was attempting to sacrifice it and a dark magic ritual.
The Bear explained she was created by the cult as well in 1908. The Deathwalkers wanted to exterminate humanity. The were-bats were the latest attempt. The makeshift group jokingly called themselves the Mighty Avengers. This is because the story takes place in 1972 when Brashear had been outlawed as a black superhero that was too powerful, Blade was an illegal immigrant, James Cross was a black police officer, The Bear was a Russian spy and Kulu was Asian. None of them would make it to an actual Avengers team.
They attacked the Deathwalkers at their base. The surprise attack caught them off guard and they were able to easily take down the Deathwalkers. While Blade managed to grab the ancient pendant they needed for the ritual Blue Marvel collapsed the subway tunnel above them trapping the Deathwalkers and ensuring their deaths. The group celebrated their victory and went their separate ways with most people never knowing what they did.
Blade returns to Europe and searches for Dracula. He continues to come into contact with a group of vampire hunters following Quincy Harker but refuses to join them because he's really introvert. He comes into contact with the team on a rescue of Elizabeth Langley while attempting to murder Dracula. The group is attacked by Dracula's thralls and are forced to flee.
They're cornered in a mortuary where Blade manages to stake Dracula once again. This time he returned sooner than later and Dracula returns almost instantly overpowers blade. Blade is bitten by Dracula but since he's touched by vampirism but can't be converted he only falls unconscious from the pain. Harker sees this and assumes Blade is dead and attempts to stake him before he can come back as a full vampire. Blade wakes up and realizes for the first time he's immune to vampire bites.
The group travels to London where Quincy attempts to make Blade formally join their grouo. Blade however leaves planning to continue searching for revenge against his mother's killer. When a vampire broke into Blade's home and tried to kill his roommate he knows Dracula is sending a message and puts on his gear again despite planning to take a break. Dracula attacked Blade on the streets and the two fought across London. Blade forced Dracula to retreat and he returns to his roommates. He explains to them that he's a vampire hunter and leaves for Boston.
In Boston Blade attempted to find more clues about his mother's death. He comes into conflict with Dracula again but stops when he realized Dracula wasn't fighting back only dodging. Dracula explains that he needs help stopping a villain named Dr. Sun. Blade and Dracula team up with Quincy's team and work together to murder Dr. Sun who wanted to kill vampires an humans alike. After this Blade tells Dracula to reveal his mother's killer or die. Dracula laughed his way away as Quincy's team stopped Blade from attacking as part of the alliance.
Blade comes across a clue about his mother's death and attacks a vampire. The vampire turns out to be a detective named Hannibal King. Blade was easily beaten and the two agreed to work together. King was hunting Deacon Frost for revenge and easily deduced that Frost had murdered Blade's mother as he committed other similar murders. The two learn that Frost is attempting to take over the world using a copy of Blade.
When it comes time to kill the clone it reveals that it was created simply to murder Blade. The two fight but when they touch Blade is absorbed by the clone. King tries to save him but can't separate the two of them. King manages to escape when the powered up clone attacks him. The fight spills out into a vampire party that Frost and Dracula are attending. Disgusted that Blade would ruin his party Dracula attacks and finds it strange that Blade is now a full vampire. The three way fight continues while King is able to contact Hellstorm to separate Blade. Dracula gloats over beating the clone and the real Blade stabs him through the back killing him again. King and Blade manage to kill Frost afterwards.
They continue their partnership and add Frank Drake and Doctor Strange to create Borderline Investigation Inc. The group would fight off super natural beings from vampires to demons and masters of realms. After a fight with Dracula went wrong Drake and King left the team. Blade was placed in a mental hospital after a breakdown.
Doctor Strange managed to have Blade released only to reveal he had renamed the team The Nightstalkers and brought back Drake and King. Blade was in that hospital for a long time, it was also known as developmental hell, meaning they had nothing available for him at the time. The literal mother of all demons named Lillith hired the team to kill Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze. The team realized they had been tricked and united with him, Morbius and the Darkhold Redeemers to create the Midnight Sons. The new super team was dedicated to protecting our world from the boundaries between our world and dark realms. The team murdered Lillith together.
During Midnight Massacre Blade is tricked into using a blade called the Darkhold. He used it to destroy several supernatural creatures and steal their powers which caused reality to warp. When he was stopped he destroyed the blade to return things to normal. When the team grew too large Blade, Drake and King left. After King was turned into a vampire the trio swore to murder all vampires. During a battle with the first vampire Varnae it seems as if King and Drake are murdered. When Blade wins he realized King had been cured of vampirism and Drake was simply in a coma. They stay at the hospital until Drake wakes up and talk about forming a detective agency. Blade leaves them in the middle of the night not wanting them to be hurt because of him.
Deacon Frost teams up with Marie Laveu to take over New Orleans. Blade is told about the plan by Bible John. The two attempt to take her down but it fails as Frost and Laveu attempted to revive Varnae. It fails but Dracula is resurrected instead who had merged with King and Drake. A small team of heroes is put together to stop Marie and Frost with Brother Voodoo and Monica Rambeau. Dracula catches Blade, Brother Voodoo and Hanibal King and promises with their deaths Marie can become truly immortal. However Monica comes through and recuses them. They defeat Marie and Dracula but Deacon Frost escapes.
Blade leaves New Orleans for New York when he hears Morbius has switched sides. There he meets Spider-Man for the first time and the vampire Henry Sage. He learns that Morbius was being controlled and there was a daywalker formula that would allow vampires to walk around during the day. Morbius was being controlled by a powerful vampire named The Hunger. During their confrontation Blade is bitten by Morbius and is left unconscious for some time.
Blade awakes to learn that his vampire abilities have turned all the way up. While they were active before he now has the full abilities of any vampire (except turning into bats, rats etc. That's magic). He's still able to walk in the day and is given the name Daywalker for the first time. Back in New Orleans he works with Dominique Levant to hunt down Morbius and Ulysses Sjourner who were leading a vampire uprising on the east coast. After the defeat Blade is captured by SHIELD for use in a plan that is never fulfilled after Blade escapes. In reality the story was scrapped.
Blade is next seen in New York. The Punisher is on a roof in New York watching a gang fight off a group of vampires. Blade approaches and Punisher draws his gun. Blades says "if you shoot me the vampires will hear it and I won't help you." He attempts to walk away but Punisher shoots him in the back with a silenced pistol. The two fight until an explosion stops them. They realize the vampires and gang have gotten out of hand and hop off the roof to leave a large massacre behind them.
We pick up with Blade again and he's killed Dracula again this time during Civil War. He's arrested and forcefully registered. He's sent by SHIELD as their answer to Wolverine and it works. Wolverine is shocked because Blade's healing factor is equal to or greater than his own. Blade is also able to dodge his claws with his martial arts training and able to wound Wolverine with his seemingly endless arsenal. Before Blade can kill Wolverine he realizes that Wolverine had saved his life in the past and calls off the fight. He storms into SHIELD's office and starts ripping through them.
Then he's kidnapped by Lucas Cross who reveals himself to be a vampire and Blade's real dad. He attempts to force Blade to drink the blood of a virgin woman but Blade bites through his own hand to escape. During his escape he's met by a group of Doombots to take him to Latveria. Dr. Doom hires him for some time travel missions, because Blade is old and could maneuver in the past.
Doom wants Blade to save his mother from a vampire prison facility. Blade says no and Doom transports him to the past anyway. During this time he did free Doom's mother. He also freed his father from a prison without realizing it. Lastly in the past he got his famous leather black trench coat which was owned by Wolverine, one of the few people older than Blade. Blade got it when Wolverine saved his life and helped him escape capture. This is how Wolverine saved Blade's life in the past and he remembered it but it technically hadn't happen. Moral of the story is don't mess with the X-Men you'll get trapped in time travel loops or alternate dimensions.
Blade's next major adventure saw him taking on the son of Xarus the son of Dracula who had been uniting vampire groups. When the X-Men are attacked by vampires Blade appears to help them. Blade leads a class on killing vampires back in Utopia for the X-Men. Dracula arrives and offers his assistance as well. Cyclops sends the X-Men to attack him until Blade explains Dracula is scum but keeps his word.
Blade leads Dracula and the X-Men to where Xarus is hiding out. They take down hundreds of vampires until Dracula uses his superior power to stop all the vampires, because he's mellowed out in his old age and isn't looking for world domination. It is revealed Jubillee has been captured and turned into a vampire. Blade wants to just kill her to end the struggle that will come before it starts. The X-Men attempt to stop him but he only spares her because of a mutual respect with Wolverine after Wolverine simply asked him not to kill her.
Blade secretly arrives back in the United States being hunted by an unnamed enemy. He turns to Monica Rambeu who is operating as Spectrum. She's one of the few people he trusts and asks her to help him. She chews him out in response but Thanos attacks New York and they must go. Blade puts on a fake Spider-Man costume to hide his identity and help, calling himself Spider-Hero. A team of black heroes in the area group together to take out part of Thanos' army and save people including Sam Wilson, Luke Cage, Victor Alverez and others. The thing is, Luke Cage isn't letting the chance pass him by to lead a team of black heroes. Luke names them the Mighty Avengers and Blade asks did he get the name from his father or Blue Marvel causing Luke to be confused (Not a lot of people knew about the brief 70s team up). Blade takes the identity of Ronin to hid his identity.
Blade works with the group including one mission where he's disemboweled but heals and sneaks off before anyone notices, causing Victor Alvarez to fly into a rage assuming he's dead. Monica tells Victor "Don't eulogize him, this is what he does. He gets what he wants and leaves." He returns until he's attacked by were-snakes sent by the Deathwalkers. They had retrieved the pendent from the 70s and were attempting to end the world again. They revealed his identity and drained him of his some of his blood. The Mighty Avengers found him and attempted to stop the Deathwalkers but were too late as they created Deathwalker Prime. The Avengers decided to merge their own souls to form Avenger Prime. It worked and they defeated Deathwalker Prime because they had all actually grown to care about each other. Afterwards they Blade leaves the team in silence because that's what he does, even when the team considered him family.
Powers, Abilities and Equipment
- Possibly Immortal - hasn't aged since mid twenties
- Healing Factor - Either equal or greater than Wolverine's stated by Wolverine
- Near invulnerable
- Danger Sense - like Spider-Sense
- Hypnosis
- Trained in over two dozen martial arts styles
- Almost 100 years worth of knowledge on the occult
- Trained in espionage by MI-13
- Super Strength - up to 1 ton
- Super speed - enough to move faster than Spitfire who has supersonic speed
- Immune to poisons
- Expert Marksman with guns, bows and throwing knives
- Expert Swordsman - prefers dual edged adamantium swords
- Speaks; English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Romanian and probably others
- Adept level sorcerer
- Master of chi - gave Victor Alvarez lessons on focusing his
- Throwing knives
- Several hidden advanced bases
- Motorcycles
- Large Arsenal of weapons
- Can rock crazy haircuts with no shame.
Tags:
Black Superheroes
