Vampire Week 2025—Blade

Jon Solo Sebastian 10/23/2025:

Today, as I continue my Vampire Week, I’d be hard pressed not to include one of the most bad ass vampire hunters—who just so happens to be half vampire himself: Blade. Eric Brooks, more properly known as Blade from the movies and comic books, and often called the Daywalker, by his vampiric foes who have come to fear him, takes the spotlight. I mainly know of Blade from the movies where he is portrayed by the actor Wesley Snipes. The three blade movies were really good and filled with action. Wesley Snipes took on the role and made it his own; I truly believe anyone else stepping into that role in the future will have a very difficult time filling those shoes because he was superb as the Daywalker. Considering Wesley doesn’t seem to age (is he himself a vampire?), they really could make another Blade film with him starring in it… without spoiling anything, he made an appearance as Blade recently and he looks great!

Side Note:

Blade’s birthday is October 24, 1929, which is tomorrow (if you’re reading this today on the 23^rd), so make sure you wish the bad ass vampire hunter a happy birthday tomorrow!

Who is Blade?

He is a half-human, half-vampire that was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics, and started out as a supporting character in the comic: Tomb of Dracula. He was created by Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman. He appears in over 800 comic book issues, and has his own trilogy of movies while appearing in others.

“The man called Blade was born in a Soho Brothel, in Great Britain. Blade himself has revealed that the exact date of his birth was October 24, 1929 (also known as Black Thursday), as it was the day the stock market crash began. Blade said he is 72 years old, but his vampire powers make him look much younger. Blade’s mother, Tara Brooks, a prostitute at Madame Vanity’s Brothel, experienced severe labor complications, and a doctor was summoned.

The “doctor’s” name was Deacon Frost, in reality a bloodthirsty vampire.

Frost feasted on Blade’s mother during Blade’s birth, killing her, and accidentally passing along certain enzymes in his own blood to the infant. This process turned Blade into a Dhampir: one who has been touched, but not converted, by a vampire.”

As a hybrid, Blade has been granted all of the powers of a regular vampire. He possesses super strength, speed, agility, and enhanced senses. He heals much faster than a typical human as well. Unlike normal vampires, Blade is resistant to sunlight, though it does somewhat affect his eyes. He is immune to silver and garlic, but one thing he is not immune to is the vampiric hunger for blood. His mentor teaches him how to suppress the thirst, but it’s a struggle for him. He can still transmit the vampire virus to others if he bites them.

Like most comic book characters or characters in action movies, Blade has an arsenal of weapons, and is a wickedly skilled fighter. He is a master martial artist and has been training since he was a little boy. He really is a Jack of all Trades—he is highly intelligent, he is multilingual, an expert with weapons, and a master hunter. His arsenal consists of his trademark sword, handguns loaded with bullets cast in silver… and garlic. He also carries silver stakes that if used “gently,” can be used for interrogating purposes due to the silver causing an allergic-like reaction to vampires if not fully impaled into them. For example, if Blade needed to “persuade” a vampire to give him information, he might scratch the vampire’s skin or stab the vampire in the leg with the silver stake. It won’t kill them, but it will create extreme discomfort and pain. He can still use the stakes to formally impale and destroy the vampires, as well.

As I stated earlier, I mostly know of Blade in the movies. I haven’t read many of his comic books, but I plan to start reading them. That said, one of the things I love about the character is his stoic and cold personality. That doesn’t mean he’s cruel or a bad guy. He is just fairly emotionless, but if you’re paying attention, you’ll catch a fun one-liner or wise crack here and there. Like some of my other favorite fictional characters, Blade is “mission first” type of person. He doesn’t have time for games when there is evil to be eradicated.

A couple of fun facts

Before Wesley Snipes became the face of Blade in the movies, there were other big name actors that were considered for the role: LL Cool J, Denzel Washington, and Laurence Fishburne. Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne are phenomenal actors, in my opinion, and LL Cool J isn’t bad, either. I’m glad Wesley Snipes got the part, though. He’s a solid actor and has been in some of my favorite movies like: Major League, Demolition Man, Wildcats, and New Jack City.

Blade artist, Gene Colan, was inspired by a combination of actors and athletes when he designed Blade. One person he mentions is none other than the best Cleveland Browns football player of all-time, and one of the top NFL players of all-time—Jim Brown. Note my excitement here since I’m from Cleveland. I’m too young to have seen him play football live in person, but my dad got to and used to tell me the stories. Jim Brown was a great player, an actor, and a great person for the community in my home town.

Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, Wesley Snipes donned the Blade attire recently. If you follow Marvel, you know what I’m referring to, but I won’t spoil it for anyone else.

As always, thank you for stopping by and reading. Tune in tomorrow for the last vampire in my Vampire Week 2025! Let me know if you’d like to see me do more of these in the future. I’ve had a lot of fun revisiting some of my favorite vampiric baddies!