Black Knight (comics)

The Black Knight is the name of several fictional characters, both heroic and villainous, in Marvel Comics' universe. All of these characters have a shared lineage, and all wear similar costumes and use a medieval motif.

Medieval Black Knight

The original Black Knight was Sir Percy of Scandia, a 6th century knight in the court of King Arthur's Camelot who first appeared in Black Knight #1 (1955). He was recruited by Arthur and Merlin to battle evil; in a manner not unlike The Scarlet Pimpernel, he adopted a foppish persona as Percy and became a fearless crusader in his secret identity as the Black Knight. As the Black Knight, Sir Percy wielded the Ebony Blade, a magical sword forged by Merlin from a meteorite. Black Knight ended after five issues. It was later revealed that, after numerous battles with Mordred and Morgan le Fay, Sir Percy retired his dual identity and married his love, Lady Rosamund, only to be murdered by Mordred with a dagger carved from the same meteorite as the Ebony Blade. Mordred was reportedly already dying from wounds received during the Battle of Camlann earlier on the same day. (The Battle is traditionaly placed in 537) . Percy was survived by his son Geoffrey. Lady Rosamund later gave birth to his second son, Edward the Posthumous, who reportedly became ancestor of "a proud lineage".

Later comics revealed that a few descendants of Sir Percy adopted the identity of the Black Knight, namely Sir Raston, a knight active during the late 6th century and early 7th century who eventually became an agent of the time traveler Kang the Conqueror, and Sir Eobar Garrington, a 12th century knight serving under Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade.

Villainous Black Knight

In the Silver Age of Comic Books, the mantle of the Black Knight was revived by Sir Percy's distant descendant Professor Nathan Garrett, who had a brief career as a supervillain beginning in Tales to Astonish #52. This Black Knight used science, not magic; he had a lance that fired bolts of energy; like the Shining Knight of the Golden Age of Comic Books he had a winged horse, though the Black Knight's mount, named Aragorn (after the Lord of the Rings character), was genetically-engineered. He battled Iron Man and The Avengers several times, and joined the supervillain team called the Masters of Evil; during his last battle, he was mortally wounded. Dying, he summoned his nephew Dane Whitman to their family estate, confessed to his life of crime, and bid Whitman to restore the honor of their shared legacy.

Heroic Black Knight

Whitman agreed, and took up the role of the Black Knight in Avengers Volume 1 #47. During his first outing, he was mistaken for his uncle and attacked by the Avengers, though the mistake was soon realized. Later, he infiltrated the newest incarnation of the Masters of Evil. Whitman, having now fully proven himself a superhero, was, after a further adventure with the group, inducted into the Avengers, and, although he did not join the active membership for some time, he eventually became one of their most loyal members.

Not long after joining the Avengers, Whitman was given the Ebony Blade by the spirit of Sir Percy (as seen in Marvel Super-Heroes Volume 1 #12). However, over time, it was learned that the Sword was cursed: every time it drew blood, it drove its user closer to madness. At one point during this period, the curse transformed Whitman's body into the same metal as that of the blade; while his body was in this state, his spirit was sent back in time to inhabit the body of Eobar Garrington. Although this transformation was averted by Doctor Strange and by the efforts of Whitman and the ghost of Sir Percy, the curse was reawakened when Namor the Sub-Mariner was forced to use the sword to kill his wife Marrina, who had become a rampaging monster. In order to save his sanity and his soul, he stopped using the Ebony Blade and left the Avengers. He later developed a weapon that projected a sword-like sheath of energy (in essence, an imitation lightsaber) as a replacement. The Ebony Blade would come into posession of Sean Dolan, who had briefly served as the "squire" of the Black Knight, transforming him into the Bloodwraith.

Whitman became an early member of Defenders in the #4 issue of their title (February, 1973). He was also their first casualty, becoming petrified after a kiss of the Enchantress. His spirit was drawn to the 12th century by the sorcerer Amergin the Druid and took reccuring spiritual possession of the body of his predecessor Sir Eobar Garrington. Meanwhile Aragorn came into the care of fellow Defender Valkyrie.

His original body was eventually restored and his spirit recalled back into the 20th century. He was accompanied by a gift of Amergin: a black, winged horse called Valinor. Presumably named after the fictional location of that name.

After rejoining the Avengers, he had a long stretch of time as a prominent member of the team, becoming romantically involved with his teammate, the Eternal Sersi. This relationship soon came under strain, however, as Sersi proved increasingly unstable, thanks primarily to a man called Proctor. In an attempt to stabilise Sersi, Ikaris, one of her follow Eternals, mentally bonded Sersi and Whitman with bond known as a "gann josin", but this did little to slow the process - not least due to Whitman's resentment at having the bond imposed upon him, especially as he was beginning to turn his attentions toward Crystal. Eventually, Sersi snapped completely, forcing Whitman to aid her - until the sight of her attacking Crystal snapped the gann josin completely. In short order, Proctor was revealed as an alternate universe's counterpart of the Black Knight - having been rejected by his own Sersi, he now travelled the multiverse specifically to kill Sersis. Ultimately, Sersi slew Proctor with his own counterpart to the Ebony Blade, and was subsequently forced to leave the Marvel Universe to restore her mind; the Knight left with her, not wanting to come between the reunion of Crystal and her husband, Quicksilver, and feeling responsible for what had happened to Sersi.

The pair were transported to another universe, the Ultraverse (home of the Malibu Comics characters). They were separated, and Whitman became the leader of the superhero team called Ultraforce. They briefly reunited to return to the Marvel Universe.

The Lady of the Lake then bestowed upon the Knight new mystical equipment: the Shield of Night, which absorbed energy, and the Sword of Light, which returned said energy in the form of an energy projectile. The Knight joined the newly-formed Heroes for Hire team and, after that organization disbanded, returned to the Avengers when they expanded their roster to include satellite teams around the world. Whitman was thus sent to the Slorenian border, where the Bloodwraith had used the Ebony Blade to absorb the souls of the entire population after they had been killed by the android Ultron. After the "Kang War", the Avengers disbanded these global teams, and the Black Knight's curent status is unknown.