Hannibal King

Real Name
Hannibal King

Occupation
Private investigator

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Known Relatives
None

Group Affiliation
Formerly Borderline Investigations (Nightstalkers), Midnight Sons

Education
Unrevealed

Height
5'11"

Weight
190 lbs.

Eyes
Brown

Hair
Brown

Powers
King has the standard powers associated with vampire: superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, senses, healing, and slowed/halted aging. Hannibal can change his body into mist, allowing him to squeeze through extremely tight spaces and fly, as well as into a large wolf. Hannibal can also control the minds of rats, and he uses them to gather information while he rests during the day. He cannot be controlled by vampire lords such as Dracula. Along with his vampiric powers, Hannibal also has standard vampiric weaknesses: the need for blood in order to sustain his existence, the inability to endure direct sunlight, and the standard vampiric vulnerabilities to garlic, silver, and the presence of religious symbols. Beheading, burning, and a wooden stake through the heart will kill him.

Abilities
King is an excellent detective, a good marksman with a pistol, and possesses an extraordinary sense of will. He often arms himself with conventional firearms, but sometimes uses special ones against supernatural foes.

Other Info
Decades ago, Hannibal King was a private detective who was hired to investigate an industrial espionage case. While King was casing a factory, the vampire Deacon Frost invaded and killed everyone there, including King. King awoke three days later in a morgue as a vampire. Horrified at what he had become, King resisted his vampiric instincts and continued to work as a private detective, taking the blood he needed from animals, corpses, and blood banks. (To learn about Deacon Frost, click the highlighted name above. Note: Hannibal as a human is shown in the third picture posted.)

Determined to find Deacon Frost, King took a special interest in cases (working only at night) involving the supernatural and soon met the vampire hunter Blade, who was also tracking Frost. Although Blade instinctively hated King for being a vampire, they put aside their differences to destroy Frost, and Blade was finally able to accept King for who he was. (Click on the highlighted name above to learn more about Blade.)

After his friend Douglas Royce was slain by the Eye-Killers, King investigated the cult's activities. He ultimately learned that the cult was in the service of Dracula. When Dracula attempted to possess the Darkhold, King joined the Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) of the Avengers in delaying Dracula while Doctor Strange removed the Darkhold from Avengers Mansion. King then joined Blade and Frank Drake in holding Dracula back long enough for Dr. Strange to use the Darkhold's Montesi Formula to destroy all of Earth's vampires. King had been prepared to sacrifice his life for this, but instead, Dr. Strange was able to transform King back into a human via a complete blood transfusion because he had resisted his bloodlust. (To learn about the above groups/characters/place, click on their highlighted names above. Note: Beware of the revealing outfits on the Scarlet Witch's bio page, and at the bottom of Monica Rambeau's bio page.)

Afterward, King continued as a private detective with Drake and Blade, eventually founding Borderline Investigations (Nightstalkers) together. Later, they also joined the Midnight Sons. However, when the Montesi Formula weakened, King began to revert to a vampire-like state. (To learn about the two teams above, just click on their highlighted names.)

At one point, CIA agent Tatjana Stiles hired King to investigate the vampire Navarro (who had stolen biological weapons), but Navarro captured King instead. Navarro forced King to feed on a live human by threatening to make the victim a vampire instead. Ultimately, King and Tatjana were able to destroy Navarro; however, Tatjana was horribly injured. Tatjana begged King to make her a vampire in order to save her. King gave in, taking his second human life. (To learn about Navarro, click on her highlighted name above.)

To learn more about Hannibal King, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Hannibal_King.