Blade

Real Name
Eric Brooks

Occupation
Vampire hunter

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Unrevealed

Known Relatives
Unnamed mother (deceased)

Group Affiliation
Formerly Noah van Helsing's vampire hunters, Nightstalkers, Midnight Sons, the Nine, Quincy Harker's vampire hunters, Ogun Strong's vampire hunters, Bloodshadows gang

Education
High-school equivalent

Height
6'2"

Weight
180 lbs.

Eyes
Brown

Hair
Black

Powers
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.

Abilities
Blade is a master martial artist proficient in practically every form of weaponry known to man. His particular specialty is the use of edged weapons, be they teakwood daggers or swords.

Other Info
Eric Brooks was was born over seven decades ago. His mother, a prostitute, was forced to seek a stranger's assistance when she experienced severe labor complications. The stranger, Deacon Frost, claimed to be a doctor; however, he was actually a vampire. Frost 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 Eric into a Dhampir (someone tainted by a vampire's kiss, but not converted). Frost was about to slay Eric, but he was driven away before he could. Unfortunately, Eric's mother died. (To learn about Frost, click on his name above.)

Eric was now orphaned, but he was raised at Madame Vanity's brothel, his mother's workplace. He knew how his mother had died, but he did not fully understand it until he was nine years old. One night when he was walking home, he saw an old man get attacked by vampires. Eric threw himself into the fight, driving them away. The old man turned out to be Jamal Afari, a great jazz trumpeter and a dangerous foe of the undead. Afari moved into the Vanity and mentored Eric, teaching him in both music and combat.

Despite Afari's positive influence, Blade decided to turn his life to crime. He briefly joined the Bloodshadows street gang. Later he claimed leadership after driving out the group's previous head, Cutter. Blade also took Cutter's woman, Glory, for his own; however, Glory was later turned into the undead due to a vampire attack. Blade killed the vampire who did this to Glory and from that day forward he decided to accept his destiny: battling the undead. (Blade uses a small arsenal of weapons: teakwood daggers; titanium, 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 anti-coagulants.)

Later on, the vampire lord, Dracula, turned Afari into a vampire, which eventually resulted in Blade been forced to destroy Afari. This act intensified his hatred for the undead. In search of Dracula, he partnered with Azu, Ogun, Musenda and Orji Jones and traveled to China. Here, he tricked Dracula into an ambush and they slew the vampire; however, Dracula rose again within the night and destroyed Blade's allies. (To learn about the characters above, just click on their names.)

Some time later, Blade attracted the attention of Quincy Harker, whose passion for destroying the undead nearly equaled Blade's own. Blade decided to join up with Harker, Frank Drake, Rachel van Helsing, and Taj Nital to track down Dracula. The group was able to find one of Dracula's lairs and kill him; unfortunately, Dracula rose from the dead once again. (To learn about some of Blade's teammates, click on their names above.)

In a later battle, Dracula tore out Blade's throat, leaving him to transform into a vampire; but Blade recovered from the wound, realizing for the first time that he was seemingly immune to vampire bites. Now with this knowledge, Blade left Harker's group to focus on finding his mother's killer; however, he was sidetracked by the Legion of the Damned (a cult of vampires based in London and answering to Marguerite D'Alescio, a human agent of Dracula). Madame Vanity, who had once employed Blade's mother and had helped raise him after her death, was slain by the Legion. This sent Blade into a out-of-control rage. Intent on stopping the Legion from creating the Sunlight Serum (this would have allowed vampires to move freely during the day), Blade teamed with Inspector Kate Fraser to track the Legion to their lair. There they ended the group's threat. (To learn about Kate Fraser, click on her highlighted name above.)

Months later, the hunt for Deacon Frost took Blade to Boston, where he was astonished to find Harker's team and their mortal enemy Dracula working together against a greater threat, Doctor Sun. Blade spurned this alliance at first, unwilling to work with a vampire, but joined them after realizing how dangerous Sun was. While battling Sun's forces, Blade caught a glimpse of Frost. Once again deserting Harker's band for his own mission, Blade resumed his search for Frost and soon found Hannibal King, a private eye whom Frost had transformed into a vampire. Unwilling to trust each other but united by their hatred of Frost, King and Blade joined forces to pursue Frost. Finally, King and Blade tracked down Frost and seemingly destroyed him in a powerful explosion; but like all too many of Blade's vampire foes, Frost would eventually return. (To learn about King, click on his name above.)

Some time later, Rachel van Helsing was killed by Dracula and turned into a vampire before Wolverine destroyed her. Blade, Drake, and King teamed up with Doctor Strange to cast a spell called the Montesi Formula, which seemingly wiped out all vampires on Earth. For the first time in his life, Blade lacked a clear purpose. Seeking direction, he formed the Borderline Investigations firm with Drake and King. However, Dracula was revived, and Blade sought him out once again. (To learn about the above characters, thing, and place above, just click on their names.)

Later on, Blade began to have a hate for all supernatural. He, Drake, and King began to call themselves the Nightstalkers. The trio were soon hired to attack the Ghost Riders (Daniel Ketch and Johnny Blaze) because they were supposed threats to humanity due to their supernatural nature; the Ghost Riders barely survived. The Nightstalkers next aided the Punisher, who had been caught in a mystical war between Shiv and Adam Casim. (To learn about the highlighted characters, just click on their names.)

Blade later teamed up with Brother Voodoo to thwart Marie Laveau and Deacon Frost's attempts to build an undead army. Then later, Blade and Spider-Man encountered the vampire Henry Sage and learned of the development of the Daywalker formula (an evolution of the Sunlight Serum). Continuing to refine his techniques and equipment, Blade helped Spider-Man try to capture Morbius. During their confrontation, Morbius bit Blade, who soon realized that his blood enzymes were not enough to protect him from his foe's unique form of vampirism transforming into the thing he hated most, a vampire. Blade was now 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 and struggles to this day to cope with his hunger for human blood. (To learn more about the three highlighted characters above, just click on their names.)

Most recently, Blade has teamed up with a new group of vampire hunters, thwarting an immense vampire conspiracy threatening the entire planet, led by Dracula himself. Dracula was destroyed once again, though his eventual resurrection seems to be assured.

Despite his terrible losses and his own transformations, Blade continues on in his crusade against the undead. Fueled by a constant craving for vengeance against the monsters who have tainted his own humanity, Blade will never rest until all the vampires of the world have been destroyed.

To learn more concerning the life of Blade, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Blade.