History Characters / Blade

* DeadpanSnarker: Has a rather sardonic wit, with much of her more antagonizing quips being directed at [[{{Tsundere}} Blade himself]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Has a rather sardonic wit

!Enemies
[[folder:Deacon Frost]]
!!Deacon Frost
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deacon_frost.jpg]]
[[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 killer with a knife! I've given you a purpose, I'm your reason for living!"]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Deacon Frost
!!! '''Notable Aliases:''' Dark One, Whitehair
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Tomb of Dracula'' #13 (October, 1973)

A 19th century scientist whose experiments with vampire blood resulted in him becoming an unusual type of vampire, Frost was the one who vampirized Blade's mother decades ago, leaving Blade a dhampir. While lacking the powers of a Varnae or Dracula, Frost has the unique ability to transform his victims into doppelgangers of himself and used this power to challenge Dracula for the title of Lord of the Vampires.

* 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.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Frost is defined by his status as a social climber, after being turned into a vampire he sought to sway the title of Lord of the Vampires away from Dracula.
* ArchEnemy: To Blade. He might have more powerful enemies, but there's none he hates more than Frost. Hannibal King is not too fond of him either.
* BigRedDevil: Deacon Frost's "god" form resembled the trope only green. It had horns and wings but no tail.
* EvilOldFolks: Appeared to be an older man with snowy white hair and beard.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Zigg-Zagged. Frost, like most vampires, knows how to act charming and innocent to lure people into a false sense of security. However, [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the writer]] he also sees himself as a gentleman and use the proper vocabulary and cordial tone associated with that status. It's played straight in his tenure in the 2017 run of ''Falcon'' where he refers to his vampires and Blade as his "children" and adresses everyone around him in a more polite tone.
* {{Foil}}: He is one to Morbius. Like Morbius he was a scientist who experimented with blood in order to extend his lifespan which resulted in turning himself into a unique kind of vampire. But while Morbius is an altruistic individual who did it to save himself from dying young, only ever involved himself in his experiments and deeply resents his status as the "Living Vampire", Frost is a selfish sociopath who did it to gain immortality, used an innocent person as a human subject and [[TranshumanTreachery embraced his new life as a creature of the night and preys on others with no remorse whatsoever]].
* FoodChainOfEvil: One of his doppelgangers attempts to turn himself into a god beyond vampires, but after a couple of [[ClippedWingAngel failed attempts]] the real thing takes notice and eats him.
* 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.
* IHateYouVampireDad: On the receiving end of this from Blade and Hannibal King.
* ImmortalityImmorality: Was conducting human experiments in order to [[ImmortalitySeeker try and unlock the key to immortality]]. He ultimately hit upon the idea of using vampire blood and the rest is history.
* ItsPersonal: With Blade, something they both acknowledge.
* LackOfEmpathy: To the point of thinking that Blade should be grateful to him for ruining his life.
* MadScientist: No one who experiments with vampire blood can be up to anything good.
* ManipulativeBastard: Attempted to manipulate Blade and Dracula towards mutual destruction so he could claim the title of Lord of the Vampires.
* MesACrowd: What separates Frost from other vampires was his power to create doppelgangers out of his victims.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: He was a chemist in his human life and already a selfish man, willing to use an innocent woman as a guinea pig in order to invent a serum of immortality.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Holds decidedly racist views about black people, insisting that without him Blade would be dead in the ghetto of drug addiction or rotting in jail. One of his doppelgangers even favoured a Confederate Army uniform just to drive the point home.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Glowing red eyes, like most vampires.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries 90s Spiderman show]] a character who is a dead ringer for Frost (but never named or identified as such) appears in the flashback of Blade's origins, where it's revealed that the character is the biological father of Blade.
* SmugSnake: While clever and a good planner, Frost was never ''quite'' as smart as he thought he was, and he was never really a match for Dracula.
* TheSociopath: Frost was a psychopath before he was vampirized, and the process did nothing to improve him.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: He's an evil vampire and his white hair is one of his most notable traits and the main feature used to identify him in ''Tomb of Dracula''.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: In UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks he was a BadassLongcoat, but very much of an intellectual looking type. (The aviator glasses helped the effect.) In UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks his briefer, HellBentForLeather look reflects a more aggressive approach.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: DoubleSubverted in the nine issue ''Strikeforce'' arc, where Blade steps in to ruin an EvilPlan to frame an assembled group of oblivious superheroes to fight with and weaken The Avengers. While finding something for them to do and place for them to stay he and Winter Soldier still end up duped into a fist fight with Spider-Woman(Jessica Drew), that they lose handily.

Taking up the alias of "Blade" after his [[KatanasAreJustBetter edged weapons of choice]], Eric begrudgingly worked 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}} himself, to defeat [[RoboticPsychopath Doctor Sun]]. From there, Blade made appearances in similarly supernatural themed Marvel comics such as ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' and ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'' as well as team up with characters like ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' on special occasion. While Hannibal King would gradually become one of Blade's closest acquaintances, Dracula still remains one of his most hated foes.

** Blade respects Spider-man enough to distinguish him as "hero" on a planet full of them. That doesn't mean he ''likes'' Spider-man, since Spider-man tends to try and make Blade abide by his ThouShaltNotKill rule when they work together. Especially if the target is Morbius.

* BringingInTheExpert: He's ''THE'' premiere VampireHunter of the Marvel Universe for a reason. If any superhero finds themselves dealing with vamps or ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight, Eric is the first person everybody tries to reach out to for consultation. When Moon Knight found himself taking Reese, a 19 year old vampire who was recently turned, under his wing as a secretary, Marc recruited Eric to help show her the ropes of what she can do and how to properly manage her thirst for blood.

* TookALevelInBadass: Blade's origin, with his mother dying of a vampire's bite while she was in labor with him, was established early on, but there was no hint this had any effect on him. Later on, it was realized that he had been rendered immune to vampirism, and later still, a strange reaction to a bite from ComicBook/{{Morbius}} resulted in him acquiring vampiric powers (but not their weaknesses). Then writers such as Marc Guggenheim, Jason Aaron, and Bryan Hill decided to [[CanonDiscontinuity cut out the middle man entirely]] and [[{{Rewrite}} rewrote the origin again]] so that Eric ''was'' born a {{Dhampyr}} as a result of the vampire attack that claimed his mother and has been using his HybridPower to hunt TheThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight long before he ever met Morbius.

* {{Dhampyr}}: Easily [[TropeCodifier the most famous example]] in Comic-Book History. Blade's mother was bitten a vampire while he was in utero, resulting in him being born a HalfHumanHybrid with all of vampire's strengths but [[OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce none of their weaknesses]] beyond a ever-present craving for blood. Blade wasn't this originally though (he debuted as just a regular human who was immune to vampirism), but the success of a [[Film/Blade1998 certain movie]] led to his origins being rewritten to synergize with his most influential adaptation.
* 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.

** Blade was a human who was immune to vampire bites. However, he was bitten by Morbius (a scientifically-created vampire) and [[RetCanon got turned into a vampire similar to his movie counterpart]]. He was mostly involved with the {{Dracula}}-descended type of vampire so it's not too outlandish for his immunity not to cover [[FantasyKitchenSink every other vampire type in Marvel.]]

* ParentalSubstitute: In addition to Jamal, Blade also had Madame Vanity, who owned the brothel his mother worked at.

* {{RetCanon}}: Blade originally had an immunity to vampire bites and hypnosis, but was otherwise a BadassNormal. After the first movie gave him superhuman strength, speed, agility, a HealingFactor, and heightened senses, Blade gained these powers in the comics thanks to a bite from Morbius. The movies also provided him with his half-vampire origin, the "Daywalker" title, and his leather-and-shades design.

** The nineties saw Blade growing up in Brooklyn, when before he had been British. Because all Marvel heroes have to be somehow American. (Or, more likely, because Blade was played in movies by Wesley Snipes and not Idris Elba...)
** The Guggenheim run made a few changes to his backstory, many of which were incredibly unpopular and tend to not be acknowledged by either [[FanonDiscontinuity fans]] or writers.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Blade refuses to admit Morbius's bite did anything to him and insists he was always the way he is when S.H.I.E.L.D. sends the latter to bring him in. In fact, Blade denies it whenever it comes up so much a reader could be forgiven for believing him. A look at an older comic where he lacks fangs and an urge to drink blood or a peep in a Marvel handbook will set them straight.

* TookALevelInBadass: Blade's origin, with his mother dying of a vampire's bite while she was in labor with him, was established early on, but there was no hint this had any effect on him. Later on, it was realized that he had been rendered immune to vampirism, and later still, a strange reaction to a bite from ComicBook/{{Morbius}} resulted in him acquiring vampiric powers (but not their weaknesses).

* TookALevelInBadass: Blade's origin, with his mother dying of a vampire's bite while she was in labor with him, was established early on, but there was no hint this had any effect on him. Later on it was realized that he had been rendered immune to vampirism, and later still, a strange reaction to a bite from ComicBook/MorbiusTheLivingVampire resulted in him acquiring vampiric powers (but not their weaknesses).

* {{Dhampyr}}: Started as tainted by a vampire but not actually turned, was thought in fact to be impossible to turn but now Blade is a full-fledged vampire.

* DrivingUpAWall: In some incarnations, Blade's morotorcycle was equipped to scale walls.
* DualWielding: 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.

* 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.