Hannibal King

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Hannibal King
Hannibal King Art by Howard Chaykin
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Tomb of Dracula #25 (Oct. 1974)
Created by	Gene Colan (Artist) Marv Wolfman (Writer)
In-story information
Team affiliations	Nightstalkers Midnight Sons
Notable aliases	Henry Kagle
Abilities	Regeneration Superhuman strength and speed Halted aging Ability to turn into mist Ability to transform into a werewolf Flight Skilled detective and marksman

Hannibal King is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book The Tomb of Dracula, issue #25 (Oct 1974).^[1]

King is portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity.

Fictional character biography[]

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Hannibal King was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Working as a private detective, Hannibal was bitten and killed by Deacon Frost while on a case in London, England. Waking up to find himself one of the undead, King was horrified and vowed never to consummate the curse by passing it to another, and he subsisted on blood purchased (or stolen) from blood banks and consuming only corpses or animals.

He prefers not to use his vampiric powers, believing that he gives up a part of himself every time he does so. In spite of his vampirism, King continues to operate as a private detective, but only traveling freely by night.^{[volume & issue needed]}

As a vampire, he first battled Dracula, the lord of Earth's vampires.^[2] While searching for Deacon Frost, King eventually met Blade, the vampire hunter, whose mother had been killed by Frost. Together they team up and destroy Deacon.^[3]

Around this time, Hannibal had been a vampire for about five years. While investigating a friend's murder at the hands of the Darkholders, King contacts Doctor Strange. Through Strange, Hannibal discovers that the Darkhold contains the spells to create and destroy vampires, while Strange learns of the Dracula's apparent return. Hannibal, with vampire hunters Blade and Frank Drake, accompany Strange to Castle Mordo to retrieve the Darkhold. They battle Dracula and the Darkholders, and use the book to cast the Montesi Formula, which destroys Dracula and all current vampires on Earth. It also prevents others from existing on the planet. King is not destroyed by the spell because he had never taken blood from a living human being, but still needs Doctor Strange to perform a complete blood transfusion for King to survive, which restores him to human form.^[4]

The trio establish a detective agency initially known simply as King, Drake, and Blade, before being renamed Borderline Investigations. With Strange, they fight the Darkholders again.^[5] King also assists the Defenders on one of their missions. Alongside the Beast, Gargoyle, Daimon Hellstrom, Hellcat, Cutlass and Typhoon, and Rufus T. Hackstabber, he foils the plans of Minvera Bannister.^[6]

Discord among the three friends causes Frank to leave the firm, after which Blade suffers a breakdown after a fight with a resurrected Dracula, whose return is a sign that the Montesi Formula is weakening. Hannibal is unable to continue operating the agency on his own, as he knew his vampirism was returning. After an examination, Strange concludes that Hannibal, because of his recent reversion, had become a "neo-vampire", a special type of vampire with all the abilities and weaknesses of the vampire, yet merely craving blood despite not needing it to survive.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Strange manipulates the three men into reuniting under the name Nightstalkers to combat the supernatural enemies that are emerging. In their first mission, the Nightstalkers are hired by the demonic Lilith to kill the Ghost Rider and John Blaze, and battle the Meatmarket.^[7] Alongside Ghost Rider, Blaze, Morbius, Strange, and the Darkhold Redeemers, the Nightstalkers battle Lilith and her Lilin.^[8] Among the enemies the Nightstalkers fight around this time are The Fallen, HYDRA's DOA, and Varnae. Hannibal and Frank are thought to have been killed in the explosion that destroyed Varnae, but Hannibal shows up later in New Orleans to help Blade fight a resurrected Deacon. Hannibal also accepts an assignment from Donna Garth to locate her father, Simon Garth (the Living Zombie). Hannibal tracks Garth to New York where Spider-Man helps him rescue Garth from Lilith.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Hannibal sets up a small shop in San Francisco where a CIA agent enlists his help in stopping a vampire plot to blackmail the Earth with biochemical weapons. During this fight, CIA agent Tatjana Stiles is injured by vampire terrorist leader Navarro; although they defeat Navarro, Stiles's injuries are too painful for her to live with. She begs Hannibal to make her like him "if she loves him". Hannibal, who has grown attracted to Stiles, reluctantly complies and breaks his years-long vow. Weeks later, he reads a newspaper article about the mysterious death of two Iraqi guards in an overseas search for terrorist weapons. From the description of the deaths, he has no doubt who was responsible, leading to him becoming dispirited, losing interest in his work, and retreating into depression.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Hannibal comes to assist Blade in London where the latter confronts Draconis, a vampire impervious to all forms of exorcism.^[9]

Blade's biological father offers a way to restore the souls of all vampires, which he admits would have the additional effect of removing all of their weaknesses. The rite is dependent on Blade, however, who scoffs at a plan to provide practical invulnerability to the enemy he had sworn to destroy. Blade attempts to enlist Hannibal against his father, but Hannibal refuses and attacks his former partner for denying him one of his greatest desires: to see the sunrise again. Blade stakes King, who appears to die, leaving behind only a smoking stain on the cobblestones.^[10]

He returns soon after, and Blade gives him a potion that stops his need to consume blood.^[11]

Powers and abilities[]

Hannibal King is a vampire, and once cured has retained many of his vampiric abilities. He has superhuman strength, speed, and senses. He is virtually immortal, ageless, immune to diseases and poisons, and can survive and heal great amounts of physical damage. He also has the ability to instantly hypnotize human victims and can fly via directed motion hovering by taking on a mist-like form. He can control rats and uses them to gather information for him during the day. He can also transform into a wolf.

Hannibal also has the weaknesses of a vampire: the need for blood in order to sustain his existence, the inability to endure direct sunlight, and the standard vampiric vulnerabilities to garlic, silver, and the presence of religious symbols. Beheading, burning, and a wooden stake through the heart would kill him.

Hannibal is an excellent detective, a good marksman with a pistol, and possesses an extraordinary sense of will. He often arms himself with conventional firearms, but sometimes uses special ones against supernatural foes.

Vampirism[]

In the first appearance of Hannibal King (The Tomb of Dracula #25) and during the events of Doctor Strange (volume 2) #59-62, King states that he had been a vampire for about five years. During the events in Journey into Mystery #520-521, King reveals that he had been a vampire for about five decades, indicating that he had been a vampire since around the late 1940s. He has openly stated the first figure to others; the latter figure of five decades was stated by King only in narration.

In The Tomb of Dracula #25, the reader is not told immediately that Hannibal is a vampire until the final panel.

It was stated in Nightstalkers #1 (Aug. 1992) that King's neo-vampire status (craving blood but not needing it to survive as well as his limited ability to tolerate sunlight) was because he never directly consumes blood from a living human, which is also how he survives the Montesi Formula. This neo-vampire condition was never alluded to again after his seeming death in Nightstalkers #18 (April 1994) and he was shown thereafter to be a regular vampire with all of the traditional strengths and weaknesses, identical to his status before the Montesi Formula was cast.

In other media[]

Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity

Hannibal King is played by Ryan Reynolds in Blade: Trinity.^[12] In the film, he is a member of a vampire hunting group known as the Nightstalkers allied with Blade, led by Abigail Whistler, a character created for the film and based on a recurring character from the film franchise. The film includes the premise that King is a former vampire, having been turned by Danica Talos, and cured by the retrovirus serum that was developed in the first Blade film.

Reynolds has said that his performance reminded a rival executive of Marvel antihero Deadpool. The exec is said to have told Reynolds, "Trust me, if they ever make a movie about Deadpool, you're the only guy who can play Deadpool," and sent Reynolds a copy of the comic, "Cable & Deadpool" #2, in which Deadpool refers to his own scarred appearance as "Ryan Renolds crossed with a Shar-Pei." When Reynolds read that comic that name-dropped him, he fell in love with the character and was driven to bring him to the movies.^[13]

Reception[]

Hannibal King was ranked #25 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.^[14]

References[]

External links[]

• Hannibal King at Marvel.com