|
Hannibal King is a fictional character, a supernatural detective 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''. ==Fictional character biography== Hannibal King was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A private detective making a modest living, King was bitten and killed by the vampire Deacon Frost while on a case in London, England. Waking up to find himself one of the undead, King is horrified at what he had become and vowed never to consummate the curse by passing it to another. Thus, King subsists on blood purchased (or stolen) from blood banks and consuming only corpses or animals. King also prefers not to use his vampiric powers, believing that he gives up a part of himself every time he did so. In spite of his vampirism, King continues to operate as a private detective, but only traveling freely by night. As a vampire, he first battles Dracula, the Lord of Earth's vampires.〔''The Tomb of Dracula'' #25〕 While searching for Deacon Frost, King eventually meets Blade, the vampire hunter, whose mother had been killed by the same Deacon Frost. Initially distrustful of each other, they nevertheless team up to destroy Frost. In the process, King battles a Blade doppelganger created by Deacon Frost.〔''The Tomb of Dracula'' Vol. 1 #51〕 King and Blade then destroy Deacon Frost himself,〔''The Tomb of Dracula'' #53〕 and part as eternal friends. At the time of these stories it was revealed that King had been a vampire for about five years. While investigating the murder of a friend at the hands of the Darkholders, King contacts Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Through Strange, King discovers that the Darkhold contains the spell not only for creating vampires but destroying them. Through King, in turn, Strange learns of the apparent return of Dracula. King, with vampire hunters Blade and Frank Drake, join Strange in their visit to Castle Mordo where they retrieve the Darkhold. They battle Dracula and the Darkholders, and then use the book to cast the Montesi formula. This spell destroys Dracula and all current vampires then on Earth and prevented any more from being able to exist on Earth. King was not destroyed by the Montesi formula because he had never taken blood from a living human being, but still required Doctor Strange to perform a complete blood transfusion for King to survive, which restored him to human form.〔''Doctor Strange'' vol. 2, #56-62〕 The trio subsequently founds a detective agency initially known simply as King, Drake, and Blade; the private investigations firm is later known as Borderline Investigations. With Doctor Strange, they fight the Darkholders again.〔''Doctor Strange'' vol. 2, #67〕 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 helps foil the plans of Minvera Bannister.〔''The Defenders'' #148〕 Apparently, discord amongst the three friends causes Drake to leave the firm, after which Blade suffers a breakdown after a fight with a once again resurrected Dracula. Dracula's return was a sign of the weakening of the Montesi formula. King is unable to continue operating the agency on his own, as he knows his vampirism is returning. After an examination, Doctor Strange concludes that King, 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. Strange manipulates the three men into reuniting under the name Nightstalkers to combat the supernatural enemies that were emerging. In their first mission, the Nightstalkers are hired by the demonic Lilith to kill the Daniel Ketch Ghost Rider and John Blaze, and battle the Meatmarket.〔''Nightstalkers'' #1〕 Alongside Ghost Rider, Blaze, Morbius, Doctor Strange, and the Darkhold Redeemers, the Nightstalkers battle Lilith and her Lilin.〔''Ghost Rider'' vol. 3, #31〕 Among the enemies the Nightstalkers fight around this time are The Fallen, HYDRA's DOA, and Varnae. King and Drake were originally thought by Blade to have been killed in the explosion that destroyed Varnae. King however later shows up in New Orleans, to help Blade fight a resurrected Deacon Frost. King also accepts an assignment from Donna Garth to locate her father, Simon Garth who is also known as the Living Zombie. King tracks Garth to New York where he is assisted by Spider-Man in rescuing Garth from Lilith. King later 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 were too painful for her to live with. Knowing the pain would eventually kill her, she begs King to make her like him "if she loves him". King, who had grown attracted to Stiles, reluctantly complies and breaks his years-long vow. Weeks later, King 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, King has no doubt who was responsible. This revelation leads to King becoming dispirited, losing interest in his work and sparking a retreat into depression. He comes to assist Blade in London where the latter confronted Draconis, a vampire impervious to all forms of exorcism.〔''Blade'' #8〕 Blade's biological father then 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'd sworn to destroy. Blade attempts to enlist King against his father, but King refuses, and attacks his former partner for denying him one of his greatest desires: to see the sunrise again. Blade ends up staking King, who then appears to die, leaving behind only a smoking stain on the cobblestones.〔''Blade'' #11〕 He returns (as had every other vampire that Blade had killed) soon after, and Blade gives him a potion that stops him needing to feast on blood.〔''Blade'' #12〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hannibal King」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|