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The Black Knights:
Tropes in General
- Animal Motifs: A raven is the animal seen on the original Black Knight’s armor.
- Black Knight: One of Marvel Comics' earliest examples of the trope.
- Empowered Badass Normal: The Black Knight is typically an excellent swordsman and equestrian. While wielding the blade, however, he also gets augmented powers, such as a Healing Factor, a bit of immortality, and the ability to fly.
- Familial Body Snatcher: For vague mystical reasons (literally A Wizard Did It and the Wizard in question was Merlin) the Black Knights seem strangely prone to snatching one another's bodies. Sir Percy hijacked his descendant Dane Whitman once and Dane himself has hijacked his later descendant Eobar Garrington on multiple occasions.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The first eight men Merlin chose to wield the Ebony Blade, among them King Arthur's cousin Sir Reginald, were all driven mad by the blade's curse.
- Heroic Lineage: Most of them share a common ancestry going back over 1500 years.
- Legacy Character: The title has gone between hero and villain from its early days.
- Signature Headgear: Most of them wear distinctive helmets, and Sir Percy and Sir William have both worn bandannas.
Ebony Blade
The sword wielded by the Black Knight.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Ebony Blade is an evil counterpart to Excalibur, so this comes with the territory.
- Alternate Self: The villain Proctor, an alternate reality version of Dane Whitman, came with his own alternate reality Ebony Blade, which stuck around after his defeat and was last seen in the hands of the villain Bloodwraith.
- Artifact of Attraction: In at least some retcons, the blade (or the curse on it) wants to be used, and its wielders have a very hard time letting go of it, even possibly after death.
- Continuity Snarl: Just how many Ebony Swords are out there, anyway? And just what is the blade's deal? The later tends to change from writer to writer.
- Cursed with Awesome: The Ebony Blade is pretty evil, and does mental damage to its wielder, but it is pretty awesome.
- Energy Absorption: One of the blade's abilities. Dane didn't actually know this.
- Evil Weapon: The Ebony Blade is also known as the Anti-Excalibur. An ancient sword fueled by a horrific blood curse that corrupts the owner, the more blood they take with it, the stronger the curse gets. The Black Knights have been guarding the world from it for over a millennium. Later retcons make it so that it's not a curse - the blade is just like that anyway.Captain Britain: This is the Ebony Blade, the Anti-Excalibur. Sword of the other Britain. The one that sneers at "chavs" and "scroungers", and pours hate and fear on those who need kindness.
- Infinity +1 Sword: According to Knull, who has some experience with forging ultimate swords of his own, the blade has vast potential beyond the capability of mortals to tap into.
- No-Sell: One of the blade's abilities is that it can turn the Grey Gargoyle's petrifying touch right back on him.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Inverted; this was retconned into a lie by Merlyn to both manipulate wielders into self-restraint against its corrupting influence and suppress the sword's true potential. The sword actually works best with the worst kind of people wielding it, especially if they hate themselves for not being better than that.
- The Power of Hate: The sword isn't just empowered by bloodlust, it's at its strongest when the wielder hates themselves more than anything.
- Resurrective Immortality: An enchantment by Merlyn makes it so that anyone related to King Arthur who dies wielding the Ebony Blade will resurrect at full health.
- Retcon: There've been a few with the Ebony Blade. Originally, the sword was cursed. This changed in the mid-00s to the sword just being naturally evil. Also, Nate's status as a legacy character. Originally, the lineage just went back to Sir Percy of Scandia, an Arthurian knight. New Excalibur changes it up so that Percy wasn't anywhere near the first to wield the sword.
- Thunderbolt Iron: The Ebony Blade was made by Merlyn from a piece of meteorite. Though in this case, it was something called Starstone rather than meteoric iron.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: A horrifying aversion plays a part in Dane's exclusion from Age of Ultron - the blade doesn't care about the nature of the life being taken. Even Ultron's drone army is just alive enough to push the curse into overdrive.
Sir Percy of Scandia
Black Knight
Sir Percy of Scandia
Debut: Black Knight #1 (1955)
The Black Knight will serve as a name, sire! As my life serves in thy behalf!
The first Black Knight. A hero active in Dark Age Europe who was a friend of Merlin among others.
- Arch-Enemy: As a Black Knight active during the time of King Arthur, he crossed swords a lot with Arthur's traditional villains, Mordred and Morgan Le Fey.
- Big Good: Despite his more morally grey actions, he's still the most unambiguously heroic of the Black Knights and has often acted as a Spirit Advisor to his descendants.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: He becomes the Black Knight at Merlin's behest to protect King Arthur from Mordred's plots. Merlin makes no mention of the eight other guys he approached first who all went mad.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Defeated a youngThor in single combat, but due to a mixture of being stirred up into a blood frenzy by the Ebony Blade and believing that the Thunder God was just a northman pirate with an enchanted weapon and didn't think much of the incident.
- Characterization Marches On: The early comics had Sir Percy be a basic hero hiding his alias. Later stories made him a more morally gray and complex character.
- Clark Kenting: Percy of Scandia plays the part of a meek music-loving courtier to hide his noble and valorous self as the Black Knight.
- Dead Guy on Display: Subjected to the Leninesque fate of being on display in Dane's Black Knight museum for looky-loos to gawk at.
- Heroic Willpower: The reason he was able to wield the Ebony Blade without going mad.
- Killed Off for Real: Backstabbed to death by Mordred during the fall of Camelot.
- King in the Mountain: Not a king, but Merlin enchanted him to revive as a ghost if Mordred should ever return.
- No Man of Woman Born: His armor was enchanted by Merlin to make him invulnerable to all physical harm while holding his Ebony Blade except another blade made of the same metal. Guess what Mordred showed up with...
- Retired Badass: Combined with 10-Minute Retirement, as he retired just long enough to marry and have a son before taking up his sword one final time.
- Spirit Advisor: Attempted to guide Nathan Garrett to heroism this way, but failed. He later had more success with Dane Whitman.
Eobar Garrington
Black Knight
Eobar Garrington
Debut: The Defenders #11 (1973)
I did as my lord beseeched! To whom do you pledge fealty?
The Black Knight active during The Crusades. Fought in the Third Crusade and notably befriended the men who would become Prester John and Exodus.
- Ambiguous Innocence: Unlike the other Black Knights, he is not depicted as either overtly heroic or villainous. It's established that he killed a lot of Saracens as a crusader knight, but whether that was due to naturally being a Blood Knight or just the curse of the Ebony Blade is never definitely stated. From the little we see of him in Black Knight: Exodus he seems to be a fairly decent guy.
- Big Bad Friend: His friends Johann and Bennet du Paris both went on to become immortal supervillains, though they both suffered more from With Great Power Comes Great Insanity than actually being evil and have both since reformed.
- The Exile: After King Richard executed his 2700 Saracen prisoners, Dane in Eobar's body attempted to kill him as punishment. He failed, and while a later defense of the Lionheart's life saved him from execution he was punished with both this and being an Un-person to history.
- Familial Body Snatcher: His 20th century descendant Dane Whitman possessed him on multiple occasions.
- The Faceless: In almost all of his appearance he never removed his helmet. Only in Black Knight: Exodus is he seen unmasked.
- Flat Character: Due to being under control of his descendant Dane most of the times he is seen. It's never made clear exactly how much agency Eobar had in his body being repeatedly usurped and his standing with his king ruined by his distant ancestor.
- Heroic Willpower: Garrington was the third Black Knight who had enough of this to wield the Ebony Blade without going mad.
- Killed Off for Real: He's definitely this, though like with most of Eobar's story the particulars are contradictory. Avengers #226 shows him as dying years after the Crusades in a battle on Avalon which reduced him to a skeleton, but in Black Knight: Exodus he dies much earlier by permanently relinquishing control of his body to Dane so that the latter can go save his best friend.
- Kudzu Plot: Eobar's story is a mess of contradictions and Retcons. Originally he was just Dane's ancestor who underwent a sort of mental Fusion Dance with his descendant. Later stories made Dane more of a Body Snatcher while seeding the uncomfortable question of how willing Eobar exactly was about getting repeatedly bodyjacked while also establishing continuity errors like Richard dying in 1191 instead of 1199 and Eobar fighting at Richard's side again even though he'd been exiled and shamed. Even his own death got caught in this kudzu, as mentioned above.
- Legacy Character: Even though Richard punished him with being an Un-person, Dane made sure the heroic deeds of his crusading ancestor became known and he is now among the better known Black Knights publicly.
- Mysterious Past: There's a gap of about some 500-odd years between the time of the second Black Knight and Sir Eobar, so it's not known how he came to be the Black Knight in the first place. We only ever meet him as an adult, by which time he's already taken up the mantle.
- Un-person: King Richard punished him with this as retribution for a very foolhardy assassination attempt Dane made on the Lionheart's life.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Clan Akkaba, who used him to get a very powerful early mutant into the arms of Apocalypse, and possibly of his own ancestor Dane.
Sir William
Black Knight
Sir William
Debut: New Excalibur #10 (2006)
The Black Knight active during The American Revolution. Only appeared in a single panel and very little is actually known about him.
- Aborted Arc: In the original script his allegiance would have been made more clear, as he would have worn a redcoat and explicitly been fighting on the side of the British. Since this was omitted and his garb is shown in the final product as looking more like a soldier of the Continental Army, his actual allegiance is unclear. He was also originally named Sir Nigel.
- Heroic Willpower: Marvel Atlas identifies him (albeit in his proto-name of Sir Nigel, see above) as one of the Black Knights who was able to wield the Ebony Blade without going mad.
- Mysterious Past: Virtually nothing is known about this guy, not even which side he fought for.
- Signature Headgear: Unlike most other Black Knights, Sir William wore a bandanna over his head rather than a helmet.
- Sword and Gun: Also unlike the other Black Knights, Sir William fought with both his Ebony Blade and with a firearm, a musket in his case.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Not even hardly but completely unknown. All we know about this guy comes from a single portrait of him seen in Dane's Black Knight museum.
Nathan Garrett
Black Knight
Nathan Garrett
Debut: Tales to Astonish #52 (1963)
I once told you that if I had a super power to match yours, things would have turned out differently! Remember??
The first of two Black Knights known to be active during The 20th Century, he was an evil villain. He is the uncle of Dane Whitman.
- Black Knight: Dane's predecessor, but not the trope namer either.
- Black Sheep: Most of the Black Knights were either outright heroes or at least trying to do good, but Garrett was a Jerkass who was only interested in his own glory and profit.
- Came Back Wrong: Immortus resurrected him to serve in his Legion of the Unliving, and he was duly unhorsed again and fell to his death again for his trouble.
- Cool Horse: His horse is awesome.
- Costume Copycat: Much of his costume and weaponry was later copied by the Dreadknight, an identity used by Hawkeye and a few other characters.
- Death Equals Redemption: In his deathbed, he asked his nephew Dane to carry the Black Knight legacy to the side of good.
- Dirty Communist: Before he became a supervillain, Garrett was a radical leftist turned spy for Communist China.
- Disney Villain Death: This was how Garrett died. During a fight in the air with Iron Man, Garrett was knocked off his horse and took a long fall to the ground. While Garrett did survive to tell Dane what he had done, he ultimately expired not long after.
- Evil Counterpart: To his Redeeming Replacement Dane as well as being an evil Foil to Hank Pym.
- Fatal Flaw: Giant Man identifies his fatal flaw as vanity in his introductory appearance, although he also clearly suffered from a lot of envy for super-powered folks.
- Killed Off for Real: He crashed into some trees and after giving his last words to his successor, he's been killed and hasn't come back. Even with his partial corpse being reanimated by Grim Reaper, he is remarkable for not coming back and remains deceased.
- Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: During one of his prison stints he was bafflingly allowed, along with fellow supervillain the Melter, to don his armor for a "scientific demonstration". No points for guessing how that went.
- Motive Decay: Inverted, as he got his start as a Communist spy but never espoused any radical speeches nor did he ever seem to care about communism or any other political ideology thereafter. His whole reason for being affiliated with them just seemed to be giving Hank Pym something to bust him for to guide him towards his lifelong motive thereafter, hating the Avengers.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: His power lance has many functions: thermal beams, ionic energy blasts, force blasts, bolo cables, a lasso, a machine gun, buzz discs, and sappers.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Seems to have skill in just about any discipline, primarily engineering and genetics. He designed and constructed his own weapons as the Black Knight.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Got his start as a villain to Hank Pym but soon after transferred his hatred to the Avengers as a whole.
- Running Gag: At least three times the man has been knocked from his horse in midair.
- The Unchosen One: He actually discovered the Ebony Blade and was visited by the spirit of his ancestor, but was found to be unworthy of the Blade's power and decided to become a supervillain instead.
- Villain Team-Up: In his first appearance he fought solo but in most appearances thereafter he teamed up with other supervillains in the Masters of Evil.
- Weak, but Skilled: Garrett was blocked from wielding the Ebony Blade and had none of the enchanted gear common to Black Knights, but he made do by creating a lot of techno-gear to use instead.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: His staff alone has thermal beams, ionic energy blasts, force blasts, bolo cables, a lasso, a machine gun, buzz discs, and sappers. Not only that, but he has a paralyzer pistol with him as well.
Dane Whitman
Black Knight
Dane Whitman
First Costume Click here to see Second Costume
Debut: The Avengers #47 (1967)
The second of two Black Knights known to be active during The 20th Century, Dane Whitman is the most prominent of them. At one point a member of the Avengers and then leader of Ultraforce, Dane is now the current king of Weirdworld.
- Artifact of Doom: Dane's swords have a nasty habit of being this.
- Battle Couple: With his Avengers teammate Sersi.
- Been There, Shaped History: In Eobar's body, he was the one responsible for the mysterious historical assassination attempt on the Saracen leader Saladin.
- Canon Discontinuity: In the 1990s Heroes For Hire series, Dane received the Sword of Light and the Shield of Night... and they've promptly been ignored in every series since.
- Also never mentioned is when he spent some time during the 90s in the Malibu Ultraverse as the Captain America to their Avengers, the Ultra Force.
- Civvie Spandex: Dane currently wears a helmet and leather jacket over ordinary clothes.
- Cock Fight: In Quicksilver's solo series he and Pietro butted heads over Crystal.
- Color Character: Black Knight.
- Cool Horse: Two genetically engineered flying horses, and one robot horse. Aragorn, Valinor, and Strider have all served as his mounts.
- Cool Swords: The Ebony Blade and the Sword of Light.
- Cursed with Awesome: The Ebony Blade is pretty evil, and does mental damage to its wielder, but it is pretty awesome.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He looks imposing with his dark attire, but he's one of the more heroic Black Knights in their lineage.
- Does Not Like Guns: Dane has the tech skill to make shooters similar to his uncle Nathan Garrett, but Dane never did like guns.
- Dork Knight: Particularly when first meeting Faiza's parents.
- Familial Body Snatcher: He possessed his Crusading ancestor Eobar Garrington on multiple occasions and once was possessed by his earlier ancestor Sir Percy.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Dane once spent some time in the Crusades, which is where he learned to speak a number of foreign languages. This comes up when he meets Faiza Hussain's family, with her father revealing that while he's not as much of a superhero fan as his daughter, he does know his superheroes, and thus where (and when) Dane learned Urdu, before irritably wondering if it was an intentional offense or institutional incompetence.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Not originally part of his characterization but from the 2000s onward he became much more interested in and affiliated with British culture despite not being British himself. Having a long family tree with deep British ties at least gives him some excuse.
- Green-Eyed Monster: During the 80s, he and Wasp had kind of a thing going on. Dane got very jealous when she met up with Paladin, even though nothing was going on there.
- Insane Equals Violent: The Ebony Blade has done a number on his sanity, when his mind occasionally snaps he ranges from violently insane (which is the vast majority of the case) to being a harmless gibbering nutter.
- Interspecies Romance: Twice, first with Sersi (an Eternal) and then with Crystal (an Inhuman).
- Jack of All Trades: Somewhere between this and Master of All. Dane doesn't excel at any one discipline, but he combines aspects of the Badass Normal, The Leader, Science Hero, and Magic Hero into one versatile package. He defies Does Not Like Magic unlike most Marvel scientists, and he neatly merges the traditional Black Knight role of magic-wielding swordsman with his uncle's gadget-empowered errantry.
- Laser Blade: There was a time when he ditched the Ebony Blade and instead went around with a lightsaber-like weapon known alternately as either the Photon Sword or the Neural Sword.
- The Leader: During the late 80s and early 90s he actually led the Avengers at points.
- Legacy Character: All the way from the middle ages.
- Master Swordsman: Extremely proficient with his blade, to the point where very few individuals who aren't gods can rival his skill.
- Mysterious Past: Not a lot is known about Dane's early years. He was retroactively given a lover in his youth who secretly bore his bastard child, but aside from that all that is known of his life prior to inheriting Garrett Castle is that he was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and that he inherited his uncle's scientific acumen, at some point acquiring a Master's degree in physics.
- Odd Friendship: He's become pretty chummy with Cain Marko, the Juggernaut, after they worked together at the Punisher's Kill Crew and when they meet again with the Savage Avengers.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Before becoming Black Knight, Whitman was specifically a physicist, but he also displays knowledge of genetics and mechanical engineering.
- Other Me Annoys Me: Goes a little beyond "annoys", but during the 90s Dane met Proctor, an evil and insane version of himself from another reality, who'd killed Sersi and gone on a multiversal rampage after every other version of her.
- Redeeming Replacement: His uncle and predecessor, Nathan Garrett, was a founder member of the Masters of Evil, and he would eventually infiltrate them for the Avengers.
- Science Hero: Downplayed, but lots of Whitman's equipment as Black Knight is derived from science and technology, such as his Neural Sword, and Aragorn, a genetically-modified winged white horse.
- Ship Tease: With Faiza Hussain, until they finally get together.
- Taken for Granite: He's suffered this fate on a few occasions.
- Token Minority: If being the only American in the midst of a British main cast of MI13 counts, then yes.
- Unstoppable Rage: The effect Dane's cursed swords usually have on him.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He promised to save his ancestor's friend Bennet du Paris from going power mad again and then his squire turned supervillain Sean Dolan, but both times he never really acted on those vows. Bennet eventually overcame his madness of his own initiative, but Sean never did and is still a giant immortal Soul Jar trapped in the borders of a dead country to this day.
Augustine du Lac
Augustine du Lac
A Vatican Black Knight named Augustine du Lac received the Ebony Blade after Vatican agents retrieved it from an Iraqi vampire nest. He became a member of a team of supervillains that invades the African nation of Wakanda. A devout Catholic, du Lac hopes to convert the populace to Catholicism.
- Famous Ancestor: Descended from Lancelot.
- Straw Character: He's a completely one-dimensional Knight Templar.
Black Knight V
Black Knight V
"Good" versus "Evil"...tough to tell the difference, if you ask me. Not sure if your optimism takes into account what's really out there...things we never hear about."
Young female Black Knight and member of the Young Masters.
See Young Masters
Jackie Chopra
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: She's half-Indian with a caucasian father, but unlike other Legacies, she and her predecessor share the title, similarly to Hawkeye and Spider-Man. Death of Dr. Strange: X-Men/Black Knight reveals she's also a mutant too, but she and her father are unaware of it, for now.
- Audience Surrogate: Serves this role to re-introduce readers to the Black Knight and his curse.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: She either calls her father by his name or they use the code names of 'Sword' and 'Siege'.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She was an orphan with an abandoned father and a mother who died giving birth to her, and due to her half-Indian half-American heritage she has faced discrimination. This suffering provides her with enough angst to qualify for the Ebony Blade.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Dane only suspected she was his daughter until Jackie downright told him.
- Super-Empowering: Legion of X reveals that her mutant ability is the power to grant or activate mutant powers in people she touches, lasting about an hour. Unfortunately, this is found out when she's been magically cursed so that the mutations are also monstrous, which further affects people who already have their mutant powers activated.
- Take a Third Option: She and Dane are the only existing two wielders of the Ebony Blade exist thanks to Mordred's doing, and so one must withdraw the blade and give it to another, who will be consumed by its darkness. Jackie instead elects to share the sword with her father: one person takes the Black Knight title for a time, then gives it to the other till they decide to hand it back.
- Take Up My Sword: She had no clue, but she took up Dane’s sword to fight Mordred, and it sure paid off.
Enemies
Balor
Balor
Debut: The Avengers #225 (1982)
A gigantic minotaurean Cyclops deity from Celtic Mythology. Clashed with Eobar Garrington in the 12th century and returned in the modern day to give both the Avengers and Thunderbolts headaches.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Even bigger, as he's officially 66 feet tall.
- Blood Knight: By his own account he lives for battle and his peers describe him as The Berserker, fighting without care for friend or foe.
- The Constant: He's been the enemy of three different Black Knights (Eobar Garrington, Sir Percy, and Dane Whitman).
- Dumb Muscle: Used for this in the modern day by Mordred and Morgan Le Fey, who reconstituted him to kill the Black Knight (actually a resurrected Sir Percy at this point) and Dr. Strange on their behalf.
- Eye Beams: Being a cyclops god, it's perhaps unsurprising that this is his main method of attack.
- Godzilla Threshold: Outside of his wife, not even the other Fomorians wanted to unleash this guy, and he only got out of his can because his wife seized a battlefield opportunity to pop him out.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: He's a giant cyclopean minotaur deity.
- The Power of the Sun: A Celtic sun god who fires searing mystic beams from his eyes on anyone he can't just stomp or crush to death.
- Power Limiter: Subverted: Unlike the mythological Balor, this one sees no need to restrain his power in any way.
- Really 700 Years Old: He's been around since at least 2000 BC, and is probably much older.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: His own people sealed him away prior to the 12th century because of his berserker tendencies. He was sealed again within Prester John's Evil Eye artifact by Eobar/Dane, and in the modern day Dr. Strange attempted to prevent him from returning with a sealing spell invoking the Elder Goddess Oshtur. Apparently Oshtur wasn't listening, because he returned one more time after that.
- Super-Strength: Strong enough to easily beat down Thor and She-Hulk, two of the strongest Avengers.
- Third-Person Person: The classic Western example of an egomaniac so in love with himself that he always refers to himself this way.
- Unholy Matrimony: With the beastly Formorian goddess Cethlann.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Prester John's Evil Eye can be used to drain his power.
- Would Hurt a Child: Had no problem with killing Sean Dolan, although he did consent to wait until he'd killed Dane and Strange.
Bloodwraith
Bloodwraith
Sean Dolan
Debut: Black Knight (vol 2) #2 (1990)
Clearly, Sir Knight, ye fear the Ebony Blade — while I embrace it!
An Irish youth who became the squire to the Black Knight Sir Percy (who was inhabiting the body of Dane Whitman at the time). Inheriting the Ebony Blade of Proctor after that villain's defeat, he succumbed to its curse and was transformed into the Bloodwraith, a demonic Soul Eating entity sprung fully-formed from the Ebony Blade itself.
Notably is still active to this day, albeit imprisoned by the Scarlet Witch within the borders of a dead European country called Slorenia.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: After the Ebony Blade absorbed the millions of Slorenian souls who had been slaughtered by Ultron, he transformed into a 100' tall giant. Even the Avengers couldn't defeat him, and their only recourse was to magically trap him within Slorenia's borders instead.
- Evil Counterpart: As Bloodwraith, Sean was basically just a Darker and Edgier Black Knight at first. Things went From Bad to Worse after he went to Slorenia.
- Fighting from the Inside: As shown when he fought Namor, Sean is trapped inside the Ebony Blade along with all its other consumed souls whenever Bloodwraith controls him and was able at least then to restrain the Bloodwraith's more murderous impulses.
- Hero Killer: Has the distinction of once killing Namor the Sub-Mariner (he got better).
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Twice. The first time he drew the Ebony Blade and became Bloodwraith was because he was attempting to protect the Black Knight's love interest Lady Victoria from a gang of thugs. Then he traveled to Slorenia to lend a hand to humanitarian efforts in that country and was allowed to take the Ebony Blade with him, as the Avengers believed they'd Beat the Curse Out of Him. Unfortunately this was very much not the case, and Bloodwraith returned in a very big way.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: As Bloodwraith, he fought with Deadpool almost as much as he did with Dane.
- Soul Eating: His Ebony Blade's stock in trade, and each soul consumed made him stronger.
- Tagalong Kid: What he started out as.
- Tragic Villain: Unlike Proctor, Sean was never malevolent and was only ever trying to follow his hero Sir Percy's example in doing some good in the world.
- Turns Red: After absorbing the millions of Slorenian souls and becoming a giant.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Bloodwraith can be forcibly transformed back into Sean by sheathing his sword. Good luck with that now that he's 10 stories tall, though.
- Vengeful Ghost: The souls he absorbed in Slorenia all wanted revenge on their murderer Ultron. Sadly Bloodwraith was too Ax-Crazy at that point to direct that vengeance towards just the one who deserved it, and instead slaughtered anything and anyone that crossed his path.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: A jarring case, as the Avengers never went back and did anything about him after trapping him in Slorenia.
Chandu
Chandu the Alchemist
Debut: The Defenders #11 (1973)
Hahaha! Now who will save the mighty Avengers?
An Arabian Evil Sorcerer who allied himself with Prince John (yes, that one) and Modred during the Third Crusade.
- Alchemy Is Magic: He calls himself an alchemist, but in practice he's a sorcerer, if a particularly gifted one in matters of Transmutation.
- The Constant: If a very infrequent one, as he's faced two Black Knights over an 800-year interval.
- Dominance Through Furniture: He transmutes the Vision into synthezoid ropes with which to bind Hercules.
- Evil Counterpart: To Doctor Strange, as he invokes many of the same deities Strange himself calls upon and knows spells that only Strange himself knows in the 20th century.
- Evil Sorcerer: And a much more fearsome one than Kalmari below, as he is a mystic of power comparable to Dr. Strange himself.
- Legion of Doom: Acts as part of a 'Convation of Wizards' in Avengers Annual #22, allying himself with fellow Black Knight villains Le Sabre, Mongu, Maha Yogi, and Yogi's manservant Achmed.
- One-Steve Limit: Not to be confused with Chondu the Mystic, a 20th century mage reduced to a Brain in a Jar.
- Really 700 Years Old: Possibly. He is native to the 12th century and returned in the 20th, but it's not clear if this was the result of immortality or some sort of time travel.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Played with, as he fights both the Defenders and the Avengers but in both cases he only targets them because they are the Black Knight's allies.
- Rule of Perception: An in-universe example: Chandu's powers can only affect what Chandu himself can see and perceive. When the Vision phases through a wall, he is no longer able to alter Vision's powers.
- Summon Magic: His Signature Move is summoning Hulkish gnome creatures. Though they look ridiculous, these gnomes have the power to give the real thing and even the Silver Surfer beatdowns.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's only appeared in two issues ever, and the last led to...
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Never appears again after Sersi and the Vision knock him out. Given Sersi's own penchant for transmutation, one is temped to imagine him spending the rest of his days as a convenient chair somewhere in Avengers Mansion.
Dracula
Dracula
Vlad Dracula
Debut: Suspense #7 (1950)
You've sealed your end, my friend — for, whoever strikes Dracula — strikes Death!
The reigning Vampire Monarch for the past 600 years, Dracula has clashed with hundreds of knights over the centuries and may have encountered other inheritors of the Black Knight mantle before clashing with Dane Whitman in the modern day. Dane handed him one of his more humiliating defeats and while they have not crossed paths since, a vampire lord does not forget.
For more on him, see Dracula.
Exodus
Exodus
Bennet du Paris
Debut: X-Factor #92 (1993)
The Black Knight. Stand out of my way. I have suffered much over the years from those who have taken that name and crest... including from one I once thought my friend.
A former foe to The Avengers and the X-Men who was the best friend of Eobar Garrington in the days of the Crusades. Hasn't crossed paths with Dane Whitman since 1998 and isn't likely to anytime soon as he's since reformed and currently sits on the Quiet Council on Krakoa, but there's still some bad blood between them.
For more on him, see Exodus.
Kalmari
Kalmari
Debut: Marvel Super Heroes #4 (1990)
Beware self-doubt, Knight... for that way be dragons!
An Evil Sorcerer originally faced by Eobar Garrington in the 12th century. He was slain, but preserved his essence in an amulet that disappeared for 800 years before improbably resurfacing in the possession of an unfit mother in NYC.
- Atrocious Alias: There's no way to read this guy's name without thinking of a certain delicious octopus dish.
- The Constant: Faced two different Black Knights and was defeated quickly by both of them.
- Evil Old Folks: He was already an old man when Eobar fought and killed him, and he maintains his wizened appearance as a ghost.
- Evil Sorcerer: A fairly stock example, with the slight twist that the draws magical power from the self-doubt of others.
- For the Evulz: He claimed to have a plan when he fought Eobar, but what exactly it entailed other than hanging out in a swamp being evil is never revealed.
- Mysterious Past: Nothing is really known of his past other than the fact that he fought Eobar Garrington at least once. The locale of their battle (a swamp) implies this took place before Garrington left England. It's also not known exactly what his amulet did during the next 800 years, or how it ended up in Manhattan in the possession of an unfit mother.
- Non-Action Guy: He never fought the Black Knight directly, instead using various pawns to do his fighting for him.
- One-Shot Character: He only appeared once and was Killed Off for Real in that appearance.
- Soul Jar: Garrington killed his human body, but his soul survived for the next 800 years in an amulet of his own creation.
- Summon Magic: While still alive he could summon monstrous creatures to do his bidding.
- Too Dumb to Live: He dared the Black Knight to kill him and got his wish.
- Weredragon: Transformed an unfit mother from NYC into one in hopes of her killing the Black Knight for him.
- Vengeful Ghost: Waited 800 years as a spirit in an amulet for his chance to get Revenge on the Black Knight.
Le Sabre
Le Sabre
Paul Richarde
Debut: Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (1968)
I am called Le Sabre, godling. Do not force me to show you why.
A disgraced French knife thrower who was chosen by Mordred to oppose the (then) newest Black Knight, Dane Whitman. After an ignomious first defeat, he tried again and was defeated again. He hasn't been seen since.
- Blessed with Suck: He was given enchanted armor, an animated gargoyle to ride, and Mordred's own Ebony Dagger, but was cursed to constantly be hounded by Mordred's astral nagging.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Vanished from circulation after his second defeat in the 90's. While not stated, it's a safe bet that he was abandoned by Mordred and sent to prison.
- Dirty Coward: Wasn't above taking Herc's girlfriend du jour hostage when he broke into Avengers Mansion and was confronted by the angry demigod.
- Evil Counterpart: Plays this painfully straight, from having an evil flying gargoyle he rides to wielding an Absurdly Sharp Blade dagger instead of a sword, to being Mordred's champion rather than Merlin's.
- French Jerk: The stereotypical Frenchie with a Maurice Chevalier Accent and very stereotypically villainous as well.
- Immortality Seeker: In his last appearance he stated he was seeking the Ebony Blade because he believed possessing it would grant him immortality.
- Legion of Doom: Acts as part of a 'Convation of Wizards' in Avengers Annual #22, allying himself with fellow Black Knight villains Chandu, Mongu, Maha Yogi, and Yogi's manservant Achmed.
- Multi-Melee Master: Boasts of having mastered all ancient hand weapons, and at the very least he's handy with his Ebony Dagger, a battle-axe, and various throwing knives.
- My Greatest Failure: He was a successful and renowned knife thrower until the day his hand slipped and he accidentally killed one of his assistants.
- Thunderbolt Iron: His main weapon is a dagger forged from the same meteorite as that of the Ebony Blade.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Only ever appeared in 7 issues, 5 of which were flashbacks or reprints.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Hasn't been seen since 1993's Avengers Annual #22.
Necromon
Necromon
Debut: Hulk Comic (UK) #42 (1979)
Lord of the dead nethergods and enemy of Merlyn and Otherworld.
- Atrocious Alias: Continuing the theme of Black Knight villains with terrible names, his makes him sound like a refugee from Digimon.
- Big Bad: Of The Otherworld Saga. Most of the other villains in the storyline serve him directly or indirectly.
- Dark Is Evil: A dark undead shade who is every bit as evil as his sinister appearance implies.
- Dimension Lord: Rules the Hungry Land, a roaming splinter realm of Otherworld that invades and comsumes other realities.
- For the Evulz: He wants to hang out in the Hungry Land invading and consuming other realities because, hey, it's something to do.
- Horned Humanoid: Sports a nice pair of ram horns befitting a self-styled underworld god.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: 'Hungry Land' does not sound like a place that anyone would want to visit.
- Irony: He debuted in Marvel UK's Hulk title, making him a retroactively-fitting foe to wannabe-Brit Dane.
- Sinister Scythe: He wouldn't be a proper nethergod without one!
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Introduced as the next step up on the algorithm from Mordred.
- The Bus Came Back: After a 40 year absence he returns in The Death of Doctor Strange, able to directly attack Earth for the first time.
- Villainous Glutton: Called "the hungry shade of a dead god" and rules a place called the Hungry Land.
Proctor
Proctor
Dane Whitman (of Earth-374)
Debut: The Avengers #344 (1992)
Beware, Dane Whitman. She is far, far gone. To meld with one such as she is a most dangerous thing.
An alternate-reality version of Dane Whitman who was driven mad by his Psychic Link to the Eternal Sersi.
- Alternate Universe: He comes from one, and wanders others to kill all alternate versions of Sersi.
- Arc Villain: Of The Gatherers Saga, of which he was the Big Bad.
- Atrocious Alias: 'Proctor' just makes the guy sound like he ought to be standing over the Avengers menacing them with the Baldi's Basics ruler.
- Ax-Crazy: He's murderously insane and obsessed with killing every version of his former GF Sersi in existence, then collapsing all of existence itself.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: His Start of Darkness was when Sersi grew bored of him and flounced off to go sleep with other men.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Unlike regular flavor Dane Whitman, Proctor has superpowers, quite powerful ones in fact. Good luck getting him off his duff to do anything with them, though.
- Evil Doppelgänger: An evil Dane Whitman from another dimension.
- Evil Weapon: The Ebony Blade.
- Eye Beams: What he uses the most.
- Frame-Up: He framed Sersi for murders to turn public opinion against her.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Very similar to those of Exodus, to the point that readers writing in wondered if they weren't the same character.
- Healing Factor: What allows him to survive most of what should have killed him.
- Killed Off for Real: Sersi gave him a kiss with his own Ebony Blade and he's never been revived.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Why he became evil.
- Manipulative Bastard: He drove hundreds of alternate reality Sersis into madness before killing them.
- Master Swordsman: As the villainous counterpart to Black Knight he is this.
- Omnicidal Maniac: It wasn't enough for him just to kill his own unfaithful Sersi. It wasn't enough for him to kill every Sersi. He wanted to destroy all reality just because Sersi cheated on him.
- Orcus on His Throne: Mostly just sat around in his hidden fortress doing a fat lot of nothing while his Gatherers did his bidding until the Avengers came for him.
- Psychic Powers: What he gained as he became an eternal.
- Superpower Lottery: His 'Gann Josin' Psychic Link to Sersi and embracing the full power of the Ebony Blade granted Proctor powers on par with those of The Eternals. If you're curious about the full range of Proctor's powers, just go look at what Exodus can do, since Proctor's almost an exact copypaste of him in that regard.
- You Don't Look Like You; He really doesn't look like the sandy-haired Dane... like, at all. There was a lot of speculation he was intended to be a different character originally (a lot of bets were on Wonder Man, and he does look a lot like Exodus), but the truth was rather more mundane — his creator Bob Harras just wrote himself into a corner, threw up his hands and gave up.
