Blood Knight / Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

Comic Books

Comic Books

• The Avengers:
  • Kang the Conqueror. He was a native of a peaceful age in humanity's future. Kang thought peace was boring, so he donned a futuristic combat suit and used Time Travel to become a conqueror of all time and space. Also, Kang never exploits time manipulation to wipe out The Avengers simply because he wants a fair battle which is surprisingly honourable for a villain. However, this does also mean a lot of Kang's plots are for no other motivation than he was really bored.
  • The Champion: This member of Marvel's Elders of the Universe is this trope personified. Each of the Elders remains immortal through single-minded pursuit of their particular monomania. The Obliterator also fits the description, is dedicated to the destruction of living things.
• Daredevil: Bullseye. Dear christ, even among the vilest of Marvel's Rogues Gallery he stands out as a Ax-Crazy Psycho for Hire Sadist who makes the likes of Doctor Doom and Norman Osborn look sane and rational. Bullseye takes vicious (sometimes sexual) delight in combat, like when he impaled Elektra with her sai, and once threatened to murder his Arch-Enemy Daredevil's family, all his ninja friends "then have a sandwich". Bullseye also takes pride in his killing and his main beef with Daredevil is the fact he made him miss.
• Dark Avengers: All the Dark Avengers (except The Sentry, Moonstone, and maybe Marvel Boy). The rest of them just love to hunt and kill or beat the everloving shit out of real heroes.
• Deadpool: Deadpool loves fighting and killing. He once punched Kitty Pryde to try and get Wolverine mad enough to fight him and was extremely happy when the claws came out, yelling "Snikt me! Snikt me!"
  Deadpool: Yay, now is fighting time, fighty time, blood blood blood!
• Fantastic Four: Ben Grimm is obviously both The Big Guy and this trope. See his Character Catchphrase “It's Clobberin' Time!".
• The Incredible Hercules: Hercules is the page picture for a reason. Not so much for the blood as Ares and toned down some from other appearances, but still loves to fight.
  • And then there's Ares, who's like Hercules but with less of a conscience. The two happen to be brothers as well.
    Ares: I am sorry, Wonder Man! I cannot hear you over the sound of returning fire!
• The Incredible Hulk: While an increasingly commonly applied character trait, the Hulk was originally an aversion. He held pretty true to the "just wants to be left alone" claim, not caring about the fights he got into. Later writers play the "left alone" as more of a hollow statement, with Hulk enjoying company, and extremely enjoying combat.
  • The earliest version of the Hulk, before his character settled into what most people are familiar with, was always looking for a fight, and didn't particularly care who it was with.
  • Highlighted in the Heart of the Monster arc in The Incredible Hulks, where, confronted by Fin Fang Foom, giant dragon (who also happens to be green with purple pants...) who crushes the giant fish monster that Hulk, She-Hulk, and A-Bomb were struggling with moments before, the following exchange occurs;
  Fin Fang Foom: Who Dares? disturb the slumber of Him whose limbs shatter the mountains and whose back scrapes the sun?
  Hulk: Hah! Is it my birthday?
  • The Abomination retains his intelligence when transformed meaning that all the destruction and fighting he does has no Freudian Excuse and is purely for shits and giggles.
• The Mighty Thor: Thor loves fighting and proving his strength, being very Hot-Blooded and has gone up against the strongest beings in the universe, though unlike other examples he's enough of a Nice Guy to settle things peacefully. However, when a challenge presents itself Thor can't help but heartily accept. Even when "unworthy" Thor still went all One-Man Army on hordes of beasts "fighting and failing... and fighting again".
• The Punisher:
  • Why does Frank Castle kill? 33% justice, 33% revenge, 33% because he likes it, and the other 1% depends on the writer. This quote from The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank is a good example.
    Castle: I caught a glimpse of heaven once... Then I was cast down. Back to a world of killers. Rapists. Psychos. Perverts. A brand new evil every minute spewed out as fast as men can think them up. A world where pitching a criminal dwarf off a skyscraper to tell his fellow scum you're back is a sane and rational act. The angels thought it would be hell for me. [said "dwarf" hits the ground with a splat] But they were wrong. Welcome Back, Frank. Says New York City.
  • This is only the tip of the Punisher iceberg. In The Punisher: Born, his origin story from MAX imprint, it's explained that Frank Castle was born Frank Castiglione, and changed his name to Castle because there was a limit on how many tours a solder could serve in Vietnam, and he wanted to go back for a third. During this third tour, Frank starts hearing a voice in his head egging him on to greater and greater feats of violence against his enemies, and taunting him with the fact that wars end, and eventually he would have to stop. The voice is never specifically explained, but it offers Frank a "war without end, for a price. All you have to do is say yes". Frank ignores the voice until it goes away, and goes about his mission. Later, his camp is overrun by 'Cong... while another soldier has ordered a napalm air-strike on the camp itself. As the bombs fall, the entire camp is incinerated as Frank says "YES". After the battle, all the Vietcong are dead, Frank's skin is covered in third degree burns, and he is standing in the middle of the bombed out camp, wielding an M16 with the butt smashed after bludgeoning several soldiers. The next scene is him coming out of the gate at an airport stateside, months after he has healed from his injuries. He goes to hug his family, when the voice returns for the first time, and says "Hey Frank... remember that price I talked about? Enjoy your time with them while you can."
  • And along the same line, both Nick Fury and Col. Rudi Gagarin in Fury (MAX).
  • Secret Invasion (2008) even shows Frank sporting a Slasher Smile as he goes around killing invading Skrulls.
• Spider-Man: No, seriously. Peter Parker enjoys fighting as Spider-Man so much that sometimes, in early comics Spidey even showed disappointment at the common Mooks who can't do much more than "tickle" him. He even holds back the majority of the time because just knocking thugs out would be too easy - and also dangerous (as Doc Ock discovers while controlling Peter's body, when he hits the Scorpion so hard he punches his jaw off). Earlier in his career, Spidey often picked fights with Human Torch, Wolverine, and even the goddamn Hulk just because he wants a good scrape - though in the latter case, it was because he'd hit the Despair Event Horizon after it looked like Mary Jane had died in a plane crash and wanted to “feel” some time again. While the Hulk was initially annoyed at Spidey’s attack he instead offered sympathy after realizing what had happened, having lost his own wife. In Nick Spencer’s run, Peter has an Enemy Without situation and the “Spider-Man” half is a complete Blood Knight, smashing villains and damaging New York simply for fun with no sense of responsibility that defines Spidey. Before Peter and Spider-Man fuse together again, Spidey tells his alter ego that he shouldn’t be too ashamed of having some fun while crime-fighting.

  • It's actually quite poignant if you consider Peter was bullied for most of his childhood and was helpless to fight back - so in many ways Spider-Man was the outlet for his frustrations.

  • Kaine, Peter's clone, and the current Scarlet Spider remain this even after his Heel–Face Turn. Before, it was a product of his mental instability and the constant agony he was in, both caused by the imperfections in the cloning process. Now, it's the remains of his dark side, plus the fact that he really does not believe in Thou Shalt Not Kill (when faced with someone sufficiently evil).
  • Cletus Kasady, a true Ax-Crazy psychopath who makes Eddie Brock look like the picture of mental health in comparison, Carnage butchers people with gleeful abandon. He even once misquoted Ben Grimm's catchphrase to fit his own sadistic style.
  Carnage: Check out my Thing impression: "IT'S MURDERIN' TIME!"
  • Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven the Hunter, one of Spider-Man's greatest villains is also one of the biggest Blood Knights in the Marvel universe. In Africa, he hunted and killed every single animal that walks, crawls and slithers and had every intention of hunting Spider-Man down as well and does so with a passion. Spidey is such a Worthy Opponent to Kraven that failing each time to kill him just makes even more hell bent to destroy Spider-Man, even when with the Sinister Six Kraven often complains, saying he "doesn't hunt in a pack" and would rather kill Spidey on his own. The Chameleon even asks his half brother why he’s so cheery in face of Spider-Man's strength and Kraven answers, in true Blood Knight fashion.
    Chameleon: I don't get it, Kraven! You say he's far stronger, far more dangerous than you thought— and you're happy about it.
    Kraven: Of course I am, he's kind of foe I've always wanted— one to test my mettle to it's fullest! What triumph this will be for me! How sweet will be the fruits of my victory.
  • Kraven's Last Hunt is the penultimate example of Kraven's desire to conquer Spider-Man, after many years of failing. Kraven hunts down Spidey and seemly kills him and buries Peter in a grave. Kraven then dresses up as Spider-Man himself and hunts down criminals for a time but unlike Peter, he kills the goons he finds. Spider-Man then wakes from the tranquilizer Kraven shot him with and digs his way out of his grave and seeks out Kraven who explains he has conquered Spider-Man by proving he could kill him at any time as well be a "better" Spider-Man than him. Kraven then infamously commits suicide as he fulfilled his purpose, but comics being comics he was resurrected entirely against his will.
• Thunderbolts: The Thunderbolts once featured two of these as members: Scourge, formerly Nuke, a battle-crazed lunatic whose worst nightmare is a world without war, and Mr. X, whose empathic powers cause him to experience incredible bliss every time he kills. Mr. X reveled in the chance to go to Asgard during the Siege event — he wanted to prove he could kill a god. He could.
• Ultimate Marvel:
  • The Ultimates: Hawkeye grows to relish battle as a means of coping with his family's death.
  • Ultimate X Men: The Ultimate version of Wolverine seems to be this way, or at least in Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk. In it he's offered a chance to save a village in a far off country from the Hulk; he doesn't care about any of the people, he just wants a thrill from a fight.
    • Wolverine's first Danger Room session was meant to be him sparring against the other X-Men. He got a little carried away and it soon turns into a bloodbath.
• X-Men:
  • Wolverine is like this, at least to some extent. The animalistic side of his psyche clearly does get pleasure from violence.
    • X-23 (Laura Kinney) and Daken are also Blood Knights to mixed degrees, same as their dear father. Laura, at least, is far less bloodthirsty about it.
  • Sabretooth IS this. Easily the most bloodthirsty character in the MU besides maybe Bullseye and Carnage, he lives for nothing but the opportunity to be able to slaughter anything that it's practical to slaughter, and he'll usually also bag a few other prizes.
  • The Juggernaut is this too. He is compelled to revel in wanton destruction of his own making by the powers of Cyttorak that fuel his strength. In fact, if the Juggernaut isn't engaging in indiscriminate violence for the sake of indiscriminate violence, he actually gets weaker.
  • Beast may be a Genius Bruiser poet and Gentle Giant but due to his animalistic side, he falls into this trope occasionally. It’s especially evident when he’s facing the aforementioned Juggernaut and has a huge smile on his blue furry face before flipping Jugs over. Sometimes Depending on the Writer Hank more civilized but other times he’s as enthusiastic about fighting as he is working on scientific discoveries.
  • Nightcrawler, he isn’t considered a Swashbuckler for nothing and while he’s also quite pious and morally just that doesn’t seem to stop Nightcrawler from laughing like crazy during a Teleport Spam and Dual Wielding cutlasses.
  • Gambit, you’d think a thief would be more subtle, but Gambit goes out of his way to have as much fun as he can in a fight and won’t back down from even the likes of Wolverine and Sabertooth. It’s best shown during the Claremont era when Gambit was once up against a pack of Skrulls pretending to be the Star Jammers and despite being completely outnumbered, when a huge female Skrull asked if really thought he stood a chance Gambit replied with a smile “Now. Mam’selle more’n ever. Shall we Party?”.
  • Betsy Braddock is a reluctant example. She started out as a fairly standard hero with a slight ruthless streak and action junkie tendencies. Then she got her mind merged with that of a master assassin, then had her life saved by dark magic that twisted her personality towards darkness, then trapped a psychopathic psychic monster inside her head for a prolonged period, then got brainwashed into becoming the Horseman of Death, then was forced to kill pretty much everybody she loved in one form or another, then gave up her capacity to feel sorrow... after all of which she's still a hero, but now has to constantly struggle in order to not leave a trail of corpses in her wake. And when she finds an excuse — she enjoys it.

Films

Films

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Noir Spider-Man is this, he even lampshades it awesomely when the Rogues Gallery come knocking.
  Aunt May: Do you mind taking this outside?
  Noir Spidey: We don’t pick the ballroom, we just dance.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Emil Blonsky from The Incredible Hulk held off being promoted out of the battlefield, despite his aging body (looking 45 when he's 39) for the sheer joy of being a "fighter", and when the opportunity to fight a foe as formidable as the Hulk arose, was willing to have himself transformed into a Super-Soldier and an outright abomination (no pun intended) to be able to have a "real fight".
  • At the start of the film, Thor Odinson is like any Asgardian of legend: boastful, headstrong, and will gladly take any challenger to task in the name of his homeland, laughing like a boy when fighting colossal Ice Giants, and still smiling even when one headbutts him in the face. However, spending some time on Earth weans him from his one-track mindedness. Nonetheless, he still relishes fighting; upon realizing how much of a challenge the Hulk is, he smirks.
  • In The Avengers (2012), the Hulk only has one reason to live; as Cap gives him the simple order "Smash" he gives a brutish smirk and gives the invading Chitauri something to think about. Even when facing Loki, an Asgardian a god in the eyes of humans, Hulk doesn't waste a second smashing Thor's little brother into the ground and walking away growling Puny God in disappointment.
    • Hulk was at most happy being the crowning champion of the Gladiator Games in Thor: Ragnarok, he was probably much more comfortable on Skaar than Earth.
  • Hawkeye, despite being a Family Man and all-around good-natured person, that has to be Brainwashed into evil still has a more than sanguine attitude towards combat.
    Cap: Can you hold them off?
    Hawkeye: Captain... [loads his arrows] it would be my genuine pleasure.
  • Guardians Of The Galaxy:
    • Drax the Destroyer. When the team gets into fights, he is clearly enjoying himself throughout, laughing like he's on a roller coaster while brutally slaughtering dozens of mooks.
    • Rocket Raccoon. He approaches firearms, explosives, and their use with all the giddy joy and level-headed justification of a serial arsonist. When he is finally given a weapon (a large, high-powered Gatling-style gun that's twice his size) to use during the prison break, his reaction is essentially a barely-contained orgasm:
      Rocket: Oh. Yeah.
  • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron accuses Captain America of being "God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war". Similarly, Steve's "nightmare" from Scarlet Witch is Peggy telling Steve his fight is over and the world no longer needs him. In the end, Steven concedes that he feels at home with the Avengers. This is extended to Captain America: Civil War where Steve can't accept the accords because it means he can't fight his own way. Steve acknowledges it's one of his shortcomings and apologizes for it, saying it's something he just can't change. By the end of Avengers: Endgame Cap has learned to live without conflict and following Tony's example uses Time Travel to settle down and live a peaceful life with Peggy despite previously being frightened by that prospect in Ultron.
  • Spider-Man (yes even him) as first seen in Civil War when Spidey utterly overpowers Falcon and Bucky but is delighted as a schoolboy (which he is) throughout the fight, even geeking out over Bucky's metal arm when he effortlessly catches his fist. Even up against Giant-Man while shocked at first, Spidey leads the rest of Team Iron Man in bringing him down and exclaims in triumph when he succeeds.
    • In his solo movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter is completely reckless at times, extremely anxious for another chance to kick with the Avengers after Berlin and is left disappointed. Spidey even breaks the "training wheels" put inside his suit by Stark when foiling the Vulture's plans, leading to him getting punished by Tony himself. Before the end of the climax of the movie, Peter was willing to throw his school/social life away just to chase the glory of being a superhero, but heeding Stark's words Spidey learns from his reckless mistakes and man-ups. Peter plays it safe from then on, even refusing Stark's offer to be become recognized officially as an Avenger despite wanting it to fight with The Team so badly before then.
  • Hela in Thor: Ragnarok is a villainous example. She talks about how the shining glory of Asgard was won in battle; Asgard's sole purpose once was to justify her and Odin's endless bloodlusts, and when Odin started drawing the line she turned on him, too. When she slaughters the entire Asgardian army, she's clearly enjoying herself immensely.
  • In Black Panther, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens and his accomplice Ulysses Klaue openly enjoy causing violence and chaos wherever they go. When tearing his way through a casino, Klaue acts like a giddy child at Disneyland while joyously remarking that it was awesome. Killmonger racks up kills like he's playing a video game and relishes the prospect of killing T'Challa's family and allies, as seen when he sports a Slasher Smile before fighting Okoye, Nakia, and Shuri during the final battle.
    • M’Baku is a heroic example of this, he cares greatly for his country and people but is still a Spirited Competitor and is visibly having a whale of a time of in the massive battle sequences. T'Challa even counts on this in Infinity War, knowing that M'Baku won't pass up a chance to fight off an alien invasion.
  • Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel is a brutally stoic character until her brainwashing wears off, but if there’s one that she loves it's combat as seen when fighting Skrulls◊.
  • Thanos is a more subtle example, and in fact he likes to act like all the violence he commits are all For the Greater Good. This is bull, of course as Thanos clearly does enjoy killing and fighting, to point of even getting a Slasher Smile at one point while trying to kill Thor in Endgame. There are also several instances in Infinity War where he either tells the heroes to Bring It or gives them Villain Respect for their bravery. This side of his personality was hinted back in his Guardians of the Galaxy cameo (albeit before his characterization was fully established) as Thanos says to Ronan that his politics "bore" him, foreshadowing his own extreme approach to handling a population crisis... well he is called the "Mad Titan" for a reason.
    • Thanos's adoptive children take after him, especially The Brute Obsidian Cull who Word of God says enjoys killing solely for his personal pleasure. Thankfully for the Avengers he is Dumb Muscle being the first to be killed in the second timeline.
• In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Victor joins many wars for over a century only to keep his killer instincts satisfied. He enjoys being a warrior far too much to start a life of peace with James.

Live-Action TV

Live-Action TV

• Daredevil: While Matt Murdock does have moral and justice-minded reasons for going around and beating the shit out of criminals every night, Foggy, Claire, and Elektra (among others) bring up many times the possibility that Matt also does it because he enjoys it and even that it might be the biggest reason he does so. No matter what, it's obvious that he loves a good fight. Before taking on a group of Dogs of Hell bikers early in Season 2, he gives a smile and low chuckle.

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