Bloodscream
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Bloodscream is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe and an enemy of Wolverine. The character's first appearance was in Wolverine (volume 2) #4 (February, 1989).
History
Bloodscream is a "Pseudo-Vampire". A creature with vampiristic powers but not an actual vampire. He was born in the Kingdom of England during the 16th century. He was a typical sailor of the Tudor period. He served under Francis Drake from 1577 till 1580.
However this sailor was mortally wounded in combat and taken for treatment by a Native American shaman. The shaman was secretly a necromancer and offered him life for a chance to experiment on him. The Englishman was desperate and agreed. Only to awake as a creature living on the lifeforces of others.
Despite his vast powers, Bloodscream longs for his humanity to be returned to him. He killed the shaman who initially transformed him, after making him reveal a cure to his condition. It seems his version of vampirism can be cured by the blood of an immortal.
His activities for the following four centuries are unknown. He resurfaced in the 20th century as a soldier of Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. He served during World War II and first encountered Wolverine during the Battle of Normandy (June 6 - August 25, 1944). Wolverine was serving as a corporal of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Bloodscream met Wolverine decades later in Madripoor. The Canadian seemed to have not aged a bit. He surmised that Wolverine himself must be immortal, and therefore a candidate for curing his pseudo-vampirism. This is why Bloodscream repeatedly hounds Wolverine.
He properly introduced himself to Wolverine while working in Madripoor as a criminal enforcer with his partner, Roughhouse. He often came into conflict with Wolverine (who was at the time in his alter-ego as "Patch"). After Roughhouse retired, Bloodscream partnered with Cylla of the Reavers. He killed her for sustenance, then tracked down Wolverine, who hacked him nearly in half with the Clan Yashida Honor Sword, which was, according to legend, forged from a meteorite by a god. However, Bloodscream later reappeared, apparently having turned over a new leaf; this reform was short-lived, though, and Bloodscream reverted to villainy, eventually teaming again with Roughhouse.
When Bloodscream first appeared in Madripoor, he was using the name Bloodsport.
Powers
Bloodscream possesses a variety of superhuman abilities that are reminicsent of those possessed by vampires, even though he himself is not a true vampire. His strength, agility, reflexes, and speed are all inhumanly fast, but subpar when compared with that of Spider-Man. He may be able to increase is strength temporarilly in his altered "demonic" form, but this has not been revealed. Bloodscream possesses a low level of superhuman strength enabling him to lift somewhere between 1000 pounds and 2 tons. His stamina is superhuman, enabling him to operate at peak levels of physical activity indefinately.
Bloodscream possesses a magically accelerated healing ability that enables him to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue of his body. He can regenerate limbs and vital organs and once even reattached his head after it was severed. Bloodscream's supernaturally enhanced body has suspended his aging, thus extending his lifespan. He has often boasted that he is immortal and cannot be slain by any weapon forged by a mortal hand. It is currently unknown whether or not this is true or merely a boast to frighten his enemies.
Like true vampires, Bloodscream requires fresh blood to ingest on a regular basis, although it is unknown how often he must feed or the quantity he needs to maintain his youthful vitality. If Bloodscream goes for an extended period of time without fresh blood, it is possible that he may actually die or merely go into a comatose state. He possesses a unique ability to draw blood from his victims by placing the palm of his hand across their bare flesh. Bloodscream draws his victim's blood through his hand while burning an imprint of his hand upon the area where the blood was drawn. However, for reasons that have never been explained, this power is useless against superhuman mutants.
Bloodscream also does not possess most of the vulnerabilities possessed by true vampires(in the Marvel Universe). Religious icons, such as crucifixes or the Star of David, are unable to cause Bloodscream any physical or mental distress. Bloodscream is able to walk about in daylight without sustaining any physical discomfort, where as true vampires would begin to incinerate after only a few seconds of exposure to direct sunlight. Whereas true vampires are highly allergic to silver, Bloodscream possesses no mystical vunlerability to it. He could be injured by a weapon composed of silver but would quickly recover, whereas a true vampire, if not killed outright, may take several days or even several weeks to heal depending upon the severity of the injury or injuries sustained.
Whereas many of Earth's true vampires have demonstrated the ability to manipulate the weather, to a limited extent, Bloodscream has demonstrated no such abilities, nor is he able to transform himself into animals such as bats, wolves, or rats as true vampires are all capable of.
Bloodscream can shift his shape, to a limited extent. While Bloodscream has a human appearance, he can transform himself into a monsterous visage. While in this form, Bloodscream possesses a highly elongated jaw filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. Bloodscreams fingers also become tipped with razor sharp claws, possibly up to 12 inches in length.
Special Skills
Bloodscream is a good hand to hand combatant and has many connections throughout the criminal underworld, adding to his reputation as a mercenary for hire.