First Appearance: Tomb Of Dracula No. 10

       Blade has perhaps the most bizarre origin of all of the vampire hunters in TOD.   During his labor, Blade's mother was undergoing complications and her friends summoned a doctor of dubious background.  The doctor turned out to be the white-haired vampire known as Deacon Frost.  He feasted on Blade's mother right before Blade's birth which resulted in Blade being immune to vampire bites.  As a result of Frost's attack, Blade's mother died but not before she gave birth to Blade.  Blade was raised by his mother's work associates until he was 9 years old.  At age 9, Blade helped save the life of vampire hunter Jamal Afari, a musician who took Blade in and raised him as his son.  Afari trained Blade as a vampire hunter as well as a trumpet player until Dracula turned Afari.  Blade was forced to kill Afari and swore revenge on Dracula.

      As a result of the deaths of his mother and foster father, Blade traveled the world to revenge himself against Dracula and Deacon Frost.     Blade traveled the world , his path crossing with many other vampires, including Dracula, including one incident in which Blade and four of his friends lured Dracula into a deathtrap.  Unfortunately, some of Dracula's minions soon revived Dracula and the vampire lord murdered most of Blade's vampire hunting friends.

     Over time, Blade met up with Quincy Harker and his band of vampire hunters.  At first their relationship was troubled at best, as Blade felt that Harker and his band were somewhat soft.  Nonetheless, Blade found himself allied with Harker at times as his search for Deacon Frost often was sidetracked by his battles with Dracula.

     After the death of Quincy Harker's daughter Edith at the hands of Dracula (TOD #13) , Blade helped Harker hunt down Dracula and succeeded in killing the vampire lord (TOD #14).  Unfortunately, Dracula's minions rescued his corpse and the vampire lord was eventually revived (TOD #15).

    Blade's search for Deacon Frost led to Blade teaming up with the vampire detective Hannibal King.  King was a former detective who had been turned into a vampire by Deacon Frost and he too had a vendetta against Frost.  Blade very reluctantly teamed with King, and at times, it seemed as if Blade might try to kill King.  However, their partnership grew stronger as the hunt continued and over time, Blade began to respect King, especially after King saved Blade from becoming one of Deacon Frost's magically created vampires.  Eventually, the two finally found Frost and confronted him.  Frost died in an explosion during the confrontation and Blade could finally rest, knowing that his mother had been avenged.  After Frost's death, Blade and King went their separate ways, but they parted as friends.

      After his battle with Frost, Blade's future seemed uncertain, his entire life had been devoted to killing Frost, now what would he do? As he pondered his future, Blade occassionly teamed with Harker and his band and from time to time, found himself embroiled in battles with vampires besides Dracula.

   Blade was probably the most dangerous threat to Dracula with the possible exception of Quincy Harker.  He possessed a fierce fighting style which helped compensate for Dracula's tremendous strength. and was highly skilled with his wooden knives.   

SPECIAL ABILITIES/SKILLS: Blade was a fierce fighter and especially proficient with the wooden knives he used to kill vampires.  He also possessed an immunity to vampire bites thanks to the nature of his birth.  Blade is also a skilled trumpet player and for a time , he made a living as a musician.  Blade of course was the coolest vampire hunter in TOD with the possible exception of Hannibal King.

NOTES:  Blade added a new dimension to the vampire hunters in TOD.  His street-wise nature was a marked contrast to the more upscale Quincy Harker and Rachel Van Helsing.  Blade seemed like the John Shaft of vampire hunters but Marv Wolfman soon developed Blade into his own character.  In later Marvel Comics, Blade was seen teamed up with Hannibal King in their own detective agency.

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: vampire hunter and anthropology professor

Affiliations: Ally of Johnathan Harker; Dr.Jack Seward; Lord Arthur Holmwood; Quincy P. Morris, Percival Pinkerton [Marvel Comics only], Mina Murray

Enemies: Dracula, Children of Judas (Dracula's cult [Marvel Comics only]), Lucy Westernra, Lyza Strang [Marvel Comics only]

Known Relatives: Rache van Helsing (ancestor), Boris Van Helsing (brother, deceased), Elizabeth Van Helsing (wife, deceased), Mrs. Van Helsing (second wife [Marvel Comics only], deceased), unnamed son (deceased, later named as Adam [Marvel Comics only]), unnamed grandson (deceased, [Marvel Comics only]), Mrs. Van Helsing (granddaughter-in-law [Marvel Comics only], deceased), Rachel Van Helsing (great-granddaughter [Marvel Comics only], deceased) 

Aliases: all Marvel Comics only - Herr Doktor van Helsing, Professor van Helsing, Baron of Bistritz, Quincy P. Morris, Jonathan Harker

Base of Operations: Unknown - comes from Holland, and travelled to England and Transylvania in pursuit of Dracula, but nothing to indicate he is normally based in any of these places.

First Appearance: Dracula (novel by Bram Stoker, 1897)

Powers/Abilities: No actual superhuman abilities. He had a vast understanding of vampire lore, and was adept in the use of weapons used against them.

History:

Comments: Created by Bram Stoker. Thanks to Nikki P. for additional information.

Darla
Darla kinda looks like a sweet country girl - she's even got a whispery little voice - but this chick has one heck of a bite. Darla (played by Julie Benz) was a hooker in the 1600s who was dying of an STD when The Master (the big cheese of vampires) sired her. She loved her new "life" as a vamp and took great pleasure in terrorizing and killing. She must have become lonely though, because she created her own playmate, Angelus. Darla was staked by Angel after she tried to kill Buffy. Years laters, she was brought back from the dead by the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart. Angel was trying to help her adjust to human life, but Darla was turned back into a vampire.

Angel
This guy makes the undead pretty appealing. Angel (played by David Boreanaz) was sired by Darla in Ireland in the 1800s. They first called him Angelus - the latin for

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Angel - which was kinda ironic cuz he was nasty. He loved killing and terrorizing just like Darla. Angel sired Dru, but only after he drove her batty. Then Angelus chomped on the wrong chick - a favorite daughter in a Gypsy clan - and they cursed him with a soul. He tried to pretend he was still bad, but Darla caught on and that ended their vamp love affair. Angel moved to Sunnydale to help Buffy and quickly fell in love with her. Unfortunately, Buffy showed Angel some "true happiness" which lifted the curse and turned him back into Angelus. Even though Willow restored the curse, Angelus had opened up hell and Buffy had to send him into it to save the world - talk about a bummer! He did come back though and moved to LA to start his own business. He's still as tortured as ever.

Drusilla
This girl is one pint short of a blood bank. Dru (played by Juliet Landau) was a rich girl about to become a nun when Angelus and Darla set their sites on her. Angelus decided to drive her nuts by killing her family and terrorizing her, then he sired her. Because of this Dru does wacky things like carry around a doll named Miss Edith and she has a thing for poking people's eyes out. She calls Darla her grandmum and she has visions. She and Spike had a long love affair that ended when she lost interest because he couldn't kill Buffy. A classic Dru line, "I'm naming all the stars." To which Spike calmly replies, "Can't see the

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stars, love. That's the ceiling. Plus, it's day."

Spike
Becoming a vampire really boosted this guy's ego. Spike (played by James Marsters) grew up in England in the late 1800s. He was rich but didn't fit in. People used to call him William the Bloody because he wrote poetry that was bloody awful. Now he goes by Spike because, after becoming a vampire, he used to put the heads of his victims on railway spikes. The thing is, how he became a vampire is a little sketchy. In the very beginning, when Spike and Dru moved to Sunnydale, Spike says that Angel sired him. More recently, in an episode that flashes back, they show Dru doing it.

Whether she sired him or not, Spike loved Drusilla which was not an easy feat considering she's looney. He also killed two slayers - one in China and one in New York - and he has tried to kill both Buffy and Angel on numerous occasions. A secret government group called The Initiative kidnapped Spike and stuck a chip in his brain which makes him unable to kill innocent people. Now Spike is good - by force - and he's developed a real soft spot for Buffy. He even offered to kill Dru to prove his love for Buffy. Buffy wants nothing to do with him.

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