History Characters / Blade

* NinetiesAntiHero: Blade was always uptight, ruthless and demeaning on the hunt, but in the 1970s he genuninely empathized with the people minding their own business, whose lives were intruded upon by vampires. His loss of empathy, abuse of his protectorates and all around unpleasantness came in the 1980s, but since this was the 80s, this shift in attitude and behavior was considered a bad thing. Blade was still an example during the 1990s, but he was less manic than he was in the 80s while also being less sociopathic and more self-aware than most other 90s antiheroes. Still, he's retained the general 90s appearance and attitude well into the following millennium.

* CombatPragmatist: Blade is a ruthlessly efficient fighter who will use whatever he can to gain an advantage in a fight. His fighting style even prominently includes Krav Maga and Jeet Kune Do, both styles built around this trope.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blade2.jpg]]

A VampireHunter who debuted in ''ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula'' #10 (July, 1973). Blade grudgingly ended up working with the vampire detective Hannibal King against their common enemy, Deacon Frost and eventually joined up with the other surviving hunters in the book and {{Dracula}}, to defeat [[RoboticPsychopath Doctor Sun]]. From there, Blade made occasional appearances in similarly themed Marvel comics such as ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' and ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'' or in books like ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' whenever writers remembered him and had an excuse to use a vampire hunter. King became his best friend while Dracula remains one of his most hated foes.

Blade made regular appearances again during the "Characters/MidnightSons" story arc in the 1990s, which led to the character being featured on the then running [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries Spider-Man cartoon]], which gave Blade new powers. ''That'' led to a mildly successful [[Film/BladeTrilogy trilogy of movies]] based off the cartoon, best known for building enough confidence for Marvel to launch films of better named properties like ''Film/XMen1'' and ''Film/SpiderMan1.'' Attempts to reproduce that success for Blade in the comics failed but the adaptations did permanently change how the character would be used.

Initially he was tainted but mostly human, having a few of the vampire perks with drawbacks so few and negligible they were rarely mentioned at all. He's since gained more of the undead's strengths but has to deal with the issue of blood thirst. Mentally, his detachment from other people was traditionally presented as troubling and something he'd have to overcome. Now it's kind of accepted as who he is. After Marvel's ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' crossover event the character has also been prone to show up in stories dealing with government organizations, such as the Vanguard in ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsPresents'' and [=MI13=] that followed in the wake of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''.

* TheDreaded: Blade is widely feared among the supernatural underworld, especially among vampires where he is seen as something akin to the boogeyman. He is usually quick to show why he has such a reputation when he shows up.

* TheAssimilator: Blade was once absorbed into the body of one of Frost's creations when he tried to kill it. Daimon Hellstrom manages to exorcise him from it, then kill it properly.
* TheDreaded: Especially among New Orleans Vampires, who Blade states see him as some kind of Boogeyman. This is significant because Marvel New Orleans is home to a shapeshifter that can turn into anyform wavelength of light on the electromagnetic spectrum and move at lightspeed while doing so, while Blade is a world traveler that is mainly associated with the United Kingdom than any single state in the Union, but killed so many of them in a week he's still the thing they fear most.
* TheMusketeer: He's got UV grenades and cutting boomerangs too nowadays, but the sword and gun have been his most used weapons from Nightstalkers onward.
* TheNoseKnows: Of his super senses, his sense of smell is the most notable, as that's how his ability to detect supernatural activity manifests.
* TheRival: Joseph Chapman, aka Union Jack (not ''that'' Union Jack), another vampire hunter who believes Blade is a "[[MistakenForForeigner foreign amateur]]" and goes as far as to blame him for the continued existence of vampires(see nice job breaking it hero and inept mage for his reasoning).

Initially he was tainted but mostly human, having a few of the vampire perks with drawbacks so few and negligible they were rarely mentioned at all. He's since gained more of the undead's strengths but has to deal with the issue of blood thirst. Mentally, his detachment from other people was traditionally presented as troubling and something he'd have to overcome. Now it's kind of accepted as who he is. After Marvel's ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' crossover event the character has also been prone to show up in stories dealing with government organizations, such as the Vanguard in ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsPresents'' and [=MI13=] that followed in the wake of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''.

* StickyFingers: Jamal encourages Blade to loot the vampires he fights, as many VampiresAreRich.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Blade was always uptight, ruthless and demeaning on the hunt, but in the 1970s he genuninely empathized with the people minding their own business, whose lives were intruded upon by vampires. His loss of empathy, abuse of his protectorates and all around unpleasantness came in the 1980s, but since this was the 80s, this shiftt in attitude and behavior was considered a bad thing. Blade was still an example during the 1990s, but he was less manic than he was in the 80s while also being less sociophathic and more selfaware than most other 90s antiheroes. Still, he's retained the general 90s appearance and attitude well into the following millennium.

* TheDreaded: Blade is widely feared among the supernatural underworld, especially among vampires where he is seen as something more akin to the boogeyman. He is usually quick to show why he has such a reputation when he shows up.

* GeniusBruiser: He's an outstanding combatant with all the physical abilities of a vampire and also a highly skilled tactician and planer who is well versed in supernatural lore and sorcery.

* HealingFactor: Not as good as it could be, as he doesn't drink much blood Blade has to will himself to heal and manually kick-starting it is very painful but it gets the job done all the same. He teaches Spitfire how to do it too.

* StrongAndSkilled: Blade has both the physical abilities of a vampire and years of training and experience in various martial arts such as Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga, Boxing, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Capoeira, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiujitsu. His ability to use his powers to enhance his already deadly combat skills makes him incredibly dangerous in a fight.

* StrongAndSkilled: Blade has both the physical abilities of a vampire and years of training and experience in various martial arts such as Shotokan Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga, Boxing, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiujitsu. His ability to use his powers to enhance his already deadly combat skills makes him incredibly dangerous in a fight.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill."]]

* WeaponOfChoice: Two teakwood daggers were his preferred vampire-killing weapons in the beginning, as he was impressed by Orji Jones, who used them as his weapon of choice before him. Blade didn't limit himself to them though, also carrying things like crossbows. While working with the Nightstalkers, Frank Drake gets him some more dangerous weaponry and his arsenal continued to expand with S.H.I.E.L.D. and when he met the twins Mikado and Mosha.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: A group of vampires were trying to preform a resurrection spell that required a specific day walker, Blade, to drink virgin blood. They tried to force him to eat a little girl and it didn't end well for them. Another group of vampires had created their own day walker named Draconis, to kill Blade. Draconis proves too tough for Blade to beat, so Blade decides to drink him of all his blood so he won't regenerate. Draconis dies... [[BrickJoke a virgin]]...

* OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce: For the most part, Blade has all the strengths of a vampire but is immune to the traditional weaknesses, mainly daylight. And while he isn't immortal, he ages at a much slower rate than humans, evening the playing field with vampires considerably. However he still struggles greatly with the blood lust vampires have.

* VitriolicBestBuds: He has this kind of relationship with Hannibal King. Their association started out begrudgingly (mostly from Blade's end), but even once Blade finally trusted him, there still remains tension and personality clashes between them. That being said, they have each other's backs, enjoy working together, and Blade has referred to King as his best friend.

* DaywalkingVampire: He's even referred to as the "daywalker" by other vampires. Blade's physiology means he is completely immune to vampire weaknesses and is completely unaffected by sunlight.

* StrongAndSkilled: Blade has both the physical abilities of a vampire and years of training and experience in various martial arts such as Shotokan Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga, Escrima, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiujitsu. His ability to use his powers to enhance his already deadly combat skills makes him incredibly dangerous in a fight.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: [[AccidentalPun Puns aside]] in ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13, he claims to sharpen his stakes to ''nanopoints'' to pierce light armor.

* AffirmativeActionLegacy: Blade was the most recent holder of the Ronin identity. He even used the same costume that [[ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]] wore during his tenure with the ''Comicbook/NewAvengers''.

* AndThenWhat: Blade gets a job and performs as a trumpeter on the side when all the vampires are killed in the comics. He asks this question to other people who don't seem to have an obtainable goal, such as Comicbook/ThePunisher, or just haven't thought of what they'll do when they're done.

* BodySurf: Blade had to hunt down a body surfing criminal named Yoosef while Comicbook/SHIELD had forced him into the Vanguard program.

* BreakOutCharacter: Of ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula, getting his own comic out of it.

* NotSoSimilar: He gets compared to Wolverine, both being really old guys who look younger than they are, and ComicBook/LukeCage, thanks to his relationship with Hannibal King (to Luke's with Comicbook/IronFist), but he doesn't have much in common with either of them. Blade himself thought he was just like The Punisher but found out he was mistaken when he finally met him.

*** Possibly Lampshaded by ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, who claims Blade is stronger than the trading cards say he is. After all, they ''do'' say vampires get stronger with age.

** With Comicbook/MonicaRambeau, any time they've worked together after a team-up against vampires in a post-Katrina New Orleans. On that same campaign he butted heads with Luke Cage but Brother Voodoo was indifferent to and Black Panther was amused by Blade's abrasive personality.

* TimeDissonance: When [[Comicbook/BlackPanther T'challa]] was in possession of the Black Knight's Ebony Blade, our hero Blade asks him to give it to him in his will. Luke Cage tries to explain to him why that's rude but he doesn't care. Also, anyone who claims Blade can't kill all the vampires will be intimately corrected, he really doesn't care how long it takes.

* KnifeNut: One of Blade's weapons of choice are knives made out of wood.

* KnifeNut: He preferred to use wooden knives made of teak back in the 70s.

* AmbitionIsEvil: Frost is defined by his status as a social climber.

* ImmortalityImmorality: Was conducting human experiments in order to try and unlock the key to immortality. He ultimately hit upon the idea of using vampire blood and the rest is history.

* ManipulativeBastard: Attempted to manipulate Blade and Dracula towards mutual destruction so he could claim the title Lord of the Vampires.

Frank Drake was once a millionaire playboy until he wasted his inherited fortune. All he had left was his charm and a castle that had been in the service of his family for many generations. Before deciding to sell the place, he, his friend Clifton Graves, and fiance Jeanie went to Transylvania to investigate the ancient castle which was the resting place of Count Dracula. During his search, him and another stumbled upon the remains of the lord of vampires and accidentally revived him. Dracula instantly attacked Frank and his friends throughout the castle, Frank escaped with his life due to Dracula finding that Frank was Dracula's descendant.

[[caption-width-right:300:"Tell me, where would you be if I hadn't slaked my thirst at your mother's throat? You'd be another product of the ghetto, either dead or rotting in jail, a vicious cold eyed killed with a knife! I've given you a purpose, I'm your reason for living!"]]

* VitriolicBestBuds: He has this kind of relationship with Hannibal King. Their association started out begrudgingly (mostly from Blade's end), but even once Blade finally trusted him, their still remains tension and personality clashes between them. That being said, they have each other's backs, enjoy working together, and Blade refers to King as his best friend.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: [[AccidentalPun Puns aside]] in Captain Britain and the [=MI13=], he claims to sharpen his stakes to ''nanopoints'' to pierce light armor.

* ActuallyADoomBot: Deacon Frost has the power to create clones of himself, this is why Blade, Hannibal King and the rest of his enemies have failed to kill him over the years. Blade's also fought the trope namer, Doctor Doom, but in that case the story didn't try to present the broken Doom bots as legit and he wasn't able to stop the real Doom.

* AsteroidsMonster:The white worm summoned by Deacon Frost. The solution? KillItWithFire. TheEndOrIsIt
* BadassBiker: Ghost Rider, the vampire hunter twins Mikado and Mosha.

* BigRedDevil: Deacon Frost's "god" form resembled the trope only green. It had horns and wings but no tail.
* BlessedWithSuck: Blade's initial state of tainted but not turned made even dim sources of light irritating to his eyes and others had it worse. Elliot Flanders's unsuccessful vampire turn left him an amnesiac wild man who ate animals and at times appeared to be brain dead, leading Blade to give him a MercyKill. Rank, a man who helped Blade for many years of his vampire hunting career, had to deal with his body literally rotting away as a result of not fully turning.

* BreakOutCharacter: Along with Hannibal King.

* CelestialBody: Plokta has one.

* CostumeCopycat:
** Patriot, a super-soldier Mikado and Mosha brainwashed into believing he was Blade, they were trying to free the real thing from Silver Eye at the time and thought they were simply undoing "Blade's" reprogramming.
** Briefly, during ''Infinity'', he took to the streets as the "Splendiferous Spiderhero" (no hypen), a cheap green-and-purple knock-off of Spidey's outfit he borrowed from a costume store, mainly because it was what there was, and it covered his face.

* DodgeTheBullet: Most of the monsters can be shot but most likely will not be hit if just shot at once. Even Blade gets tagged occasionally, but it is rare.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Taker Of Heads, a demonic entity that tries to do exactly that when he is summoned
* EvilVersusEvil
** Dracula's daughter Lilith wants to kill her dad more than Blade does, as killing Dracula will [[DeathSeeker also lead to her death]]. As detached from people as Blade is, Lilith is even more so, to the point he has to interfere with plans since she really doesn't care about the consequences beyond the end goal.
** Cyclops's reasoning in bringing back Dracula is that he won't approve of the current vampire lord Xarus and will make dealing with him easier. Blade is clearly not a fan of this, especially since he's seen it play out before with Dr. Sun.

* FoodChainOfEvil: There are many types of vampires and "Tryks" use other "species" to reproduce. Naturally, a colony targets Blade at one point and mostly regrets it.
* FullFrontalAssault
** Varnae's preferred method of assault. Whether he actually can or not depends on the situation but if left to his own devices he will be in the nude. This serves to contrast him to his SharpDressedMan "successor" Dracula.
** Blade's been forced to do this twice. Once after fist getting his powers and once again in his Max series when a group of vampires busts in on him as he's [[SleepsInTheNude sleeping in the nude]].

* GodhoodSeeker: Deacon Frost (or rather a clone), uses magic to become something he claims to be greater than a vampire but his new powers weren't anything Blade couldn't handle and he's only saved by the fact that Blade is more concerned with Bible John's safety at the moment. Frost's later [[FoodChainOfEvil eaten by the real thing]] in his second attempt for more power.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: As usual for Marvel, Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau does not get a very sympathetic depiction in Blade and Nightstalkers comics, where her attempts to extend her lifespan or kill rivals(nothing the historical figure nor the rumored daughter who took up her name her were ever noted for) often have nasty collateral damage they have to clean up.

* HumanityIsInfectious: The reason that Blade doesn't try to keep vampires from getting the Sun Walker Formula and the reason why most vampires would rather risk burning to death or use more complicated alternatives. It restores the natural human aversion to cannibalism but retains the vampire's insatiable thirst anyway. Lucas's plan is to give all vampires their humanity back.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: Apparently most vampires cannot, since after the success of sun walker serum Henry Sage said he would not be able to stop killing people until Blade "[[SuicideByCop did what he needed to do]]".

* ImmortalityImmorality: Draconis wanted to live forever, so he joined the church. Everlasting paradise wasn't good enough for him though, he wanted to live in ''this'' life forever, so he gave up being a good Christian and volunteered for a vampire's experiments. Marie Laveau also qualifies, as she abuses her talents to retain her youth.

* JokerImmunity: InUniverse. Dracula's died a few times, Blade was involved in at least two cases but since the guy's such a popular figure with cultists, evil religions, demons, vampires and such he keeps being resurrected. One time the ComicBook/XMen were the guilty party (then again, it was an EnemyMine situation).

* {{Mithridatism}}: Draconis was exposed to several vampire weakness in small amounts for a very long time until he became immune to them all and was effectively a day walker. He was also twice as strong and fast as Blade, as he was "created" to kill him.
* MonsterProgenitor
** Varnae to vampires, at least those of Dracula's line. As Blade mellows out he doesn't hold a personal grudge against him anymore. He'll still kill him on sight of course.
** Lilith to Lilim demons. She has the potential to become a MotherOfAThousandYoung but is never allowed to operate long enough to reach that point.

* OneSteveLimit
** Blade's a Midnight Son character so it bears mentioning that Lilith, Daughter of Dracula is distinct from Lilith, Mother of Demons. The latter being much more powerful and evil than the former.
** Blade also shares his first name with the vampire Eric Guy.

*** Possibly Lampshaded by Deadpool, who claims Blade is stronger than the trading cards say he is. After all, they ''do'' say vampires get stronger with age.

* PhysicalGod
** Lilith, Mother of Demons, was rumored to be a goddess who degenerated into a demon herself due to spawning so many.
** Deacon Frost tries to create one, and was wise to use a clone as a test subject because the experiment failed twice and wound up with said clone being eaten by the real thing.
** The demogorge was the {{Elder God|s}} responsible for killing off or chasing away all the others because they had become corrupt. Blade starts to become a second demogorge when he takes a page out of the Darkhold and set out to kill everything related to magic in the Marvel Universe. The Characters/MidnightSons are eventually able to reverse this, and they had to since the Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance, would have been his first victim. The demogorge was ''that'' powerful.
* PowerCopying: In the Characters/MidnightSons [[BatFamilyCrossover crossover]] ''Midnight Massacre'', Blade in his obsessive quest against all occult reads a certain page from [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]] and turns into Switchblade the Demogorge, a being who obtains powers of anyone he kills. [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard This power proves to be his undoing]] when kills Comicbook/GhostRider, and feels the power of his Penance Stare as he obtains it, buying enough time for Prof. Hastings of the Darkhold Redeemers to fix things up]].

* PsychicPowers: Some people get them when they become vampires. Eric Guy psychically tormented the wife of a vampire hunter into getting blood for him while he slept, giving Blade extra motivation to track him down. Freak was used by Silver Eye to help them brainwash their operatives. When Blade destroyed Jared Amundson in ''Midnight Sonss Unlimited'', he temporarily sent Blade's mind into the past as a parting shot.
* ReligiousVampire: Draconis, a vampire priest that had been immunized against all vampire weaknesses including religious artifacts, is unique in that he is genuinely devout; he is introduced praying in front of an altar before being hired to kill Blade.

* ReverseGrip: How Hrolf, a vampire turned by Deacon Frost, holds is weapon. It looked pretty cool until Blade started cutting him up.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Night Terror was originally a Ghost Rider villain.
* ScaryBlackMan
** In the comic, Blade's Mentor, Jamal, was a Jazz musician from Harlem (a far cry from Whistler), which is why someone from Britain like Blade would use American slang, that and the gang he joined was made up of New Yorkers. Orji Jones's and his vampire hunters were a group of them, especially Ogun Strong, who was big and strong enough to restrain Dracula! Also, the vampires Steppin' Razor and Night Terror count.
** Blade himself qualifies, especially towards the supernatural.

* StoutStrength: Varnae is not the ideal picture of fitness but is stronger and faster than Dracula unless he is artificially powered up by something. Steppin' Razor too, if not to the same degree.

* SummonBiggerFish: The Reaper was a legendary creature summoned by ancient vampires Maracen and Saracen to deal with Blade's new superpowers, but proved difficult to control. If Blade hadn't defeated it, it could have easily displaced him as their problem.
* SunglassesAtNight
** Both Blade and Night Terror are known for it, Blade does because of light sensitivity and Night Terror for probably the same reason, as he didn't even go through the "not full vampire" stage.
** He can also see just fine in the dark, so his vision isn't hindered.

* SuperSpeed: After getting his powers, its noted that's he's uncannily quick, even among other vampires. Draconis and Spitfire are possibly even faster.

* TheFairfolk: Dark Elves are one of the main antagonistic groups during the ''Strikeforce'' arc, and the ones doing the most to actively hinder the heroes since the Savage Land monsters are [[EverythingIsBetterWithDinosaurs mostly just territorial or hungry animals]]. Not just any Dark Elves either, but [[MasterOfIllusion illusion]] specialists whom can [[VoluntaryShapeShifting voluntarily shape shift]]. The hope is that Comicbook/SpiderWoman can be of some use to the force, due to here experience with similar inflitrators.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany : When Daimon Hellstrom, one of the few members of his Strikeforce whom Blade thinks of as more than an asset, is killed in action, he tells the surviving members to both get over it and stop worrying about the sister Daimon left behind because they have a lot more people in more immediate need of aide.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: When Rotwrap of Comicbook/{{Hydra}}'s D.O.A. sends a swarm of stinging insects at Blade, he quickly cuts them to pieces with two knives, but laments that he really had nothing against those bugs and that he was sorry for them. He had no problem cutting Rotwrap herself to pieces though. Pyre had to save her before he could do too much damage. When 'god' Frost covers him in a swarm of insects he doesn't even attack them, stating worse things have bitten him.

* {{Youkai}}: "The snow vampires of Nippon" are based on {{Yukionna}}, except they are not all female.

* OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce: For the most part, Blade has all the strengths of a vampire but is immune to the traditional weaknesses, mainly daylight. And while he isn't immortal, he ages at a much slower rate than humans. However he still struggles with the blood lust vampires have.

* {{Archenemy}}: To Blade. He might have more powerful enemies, but there's none he hates more than Frost. Hannibal King is not to fond of him either.

[[folder:Safron Caulder]]

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[[folder:Dominique Levant]]

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[[folder:The Seven]]

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[[folder:Ulysses Sojourner]]

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[[folder:Xavier Rath]]

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[[folder:Yves St. Monroe]]

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[[folder:Trykes]]

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[[folder:Huskies]]

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[[folder:Lucas Cross]]

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** IHateYouVampireDad: Well, Blade doesn't care for Lucas and him becoming a vampire to escape imprisonment did not improve their relationship. Blade doesn't like Deacon Frost or Morbius, the ones responsible for his own vampire state, either. He hates the latter least of the three and the middle the most.

* DisappearedDad
** Lucas Cross claims to be Blade's father, as he was Tara Brook's lover. Given what her profession is though, there is a good chance he isn't. His excuse for not being around is being locked up in Latveria for a crime he did not commit.
** IHateYouVampireDad: Well, Blade doesn't care for Lucas and him becoming a vampire to escape imprisonment did not improve their relationship. Blade doesn't like Deacon Frost or Morbius, the ones responsible for his own vampire state, either. He hates the latter least of the three and the middle the most.

* IHateYouVampireDad: On the receiving end of this from Blade.