Blade (Marvel)

Blade is a fictional comic book character, Superhero, a half-vampire hybrid and a vampire hunter of the Marvel Universe.

History
Eric Brooks, the man later known as Blade, was born in 1929. His father, Lucas Cross, a member of the secret society the Order of Tyrana, sent his pregnant wife Tara to England before he was taken prisoner in Latveria. There she took the name Vanessa Brooks and found shelter with brothel owner Madame Vanity, another member of the Order of Tyrana. Experiencing labor complications, Tara was forced to seek a doctor's assistance.

The doctor, Deacon Frost, was actually a vampire and feasted on the woman as she gave birth, passing on a series of enzymes that altered her baby. The enzymes entered the infant's bloodstream, transforming him into a Dhampir - a being tainted by a vampire's kiss, but not converted. In other words half-man, half-vampire. Frost was driven away before he could slay the child, but Tara perished, leaving the orphaned Eric Brooks to be raised at Madame Vanity's brothel.

Though Blade is crusading against forces that are a threat to humanity, he is also a loner by nature and does not take orders well. For this reason and also the nature of the foes he fights he often operates outside society, and rarely interacts with other superheroes.