Hannibal King

Hannibal King is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book Tomb of Dracula.

A private detective who made a modest living, King was bitten and killed by the vampire Deacon Frost while on a case. Waking up to find himself one of the undead, King was horrified at what he had become and vowed never to consummate the curse by passing it to another. Thus, King would subsist on blood that he purchased (or stole) from blood banks and feed on corpses or animals. King also preferred not to use his vampiric powers believing that he gave up a part of himself everytime he did so. In spite of his vampirism, King continued to operate as a private detective, but could only travel freely at night.

While searching for Deacon Frost, King eventually met Blade, the vampire hunter. It was also Deacon Frost that killed Blade's mother. Initially distrustful of each other, they nevertheless, teamed up to destroy Frost and parted 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 contacted Doctor Strange, the Sorceror Surpreme. It was through Strange that King discovered that the Darkhold contains the spell not only for creating vampires but destroying them. And it was through King that Strange learned of the apparent return of Dracula. King, along with Blade and Frank Drake (another vampire hunter ally) joined Strange in their visit to Castle Mordo where they retrieved the Darkhold and use it to cast the Montesi formula. This spell destroyed Dracula and all current vampires on Earth and prevented anymore from being able to exist on Earth. King was saved through a complete blood transfusion and restored to human form. But the only real reason King did not succumb to the Montesi formula is the fact that he had never taken blood from a living human being.

King, Drake, and Blade subsequently founded a detective agency initially simply known as King, Drake, and Blade; the firm was later known as Borderline Investigations. They fought several enemies such as the Darkholders. King also assisted The Defenders on one of their missions.

Apparently, discord amongst the three friends caused Drake to leave the firm and Blade suffered a nervous breakdown after a fight with a once again resurected Dracula. Dracula's return indicated the weakening of the Montesi formula and King was unable to operate the firm on his own knowing his vampirism was returning. After an examination, Doctor Strange concluded that King, because of his recent reversion, had become a "neo-vampire", a special type of vampire that had all of the abilities and weaknesses of the vampire and craved blood but did not need it to survive.

The three men were manipulated by Strange into reuniting and forming the group known as the Nightstalkers in an effort to combat the many supernatural enemies that were emerging. Among the enemies they fought were the Lilin, Meatmarket, Hydra's DOA, and Varnae. Originally thought killed in a final battle with Varnae where only Blade walked away, King next showed up in New Orleans where he met Blade and they fought a ressurected Deacon Frost. As a result, Donna Garth, who had been victimized by Frost, hired King to search for her father, Simon Garth who is also known as the Living Zombie or simply the Zombie. King trailed Garth to New York where he enlisted the help of Spider-Man and battled Lilith, Dracula's Daughter, who had kidnapped Garth to serve as her slave. Lilith tried to persuade King to be her consort, but he refused. With Spider-Man's help, Lilith was defeated and Garth was rescued and safely laid to rest.

King would later set up a small shop in San Fransisco where a CIA agent enlisted his help in stopping a vampire plot to blackmail the Earth with biochemical weapons. During this fight, CIA agent Tatjana Stiles was injured by vampire terrorist leader Navarro; although they defeated Navarro, Stiles' injuries were too painful for her to live with. Knowing the pain would eventually kill her, she begged King to make him like her "if she loves him". King, who grew attracted to Stiles, reluctantly complied and broke his years-long vow. Weeks later, King read 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 is responsible. Dispirited, King lost interest in his work and retreated into depression.

Trivia

In the first appearance of Hannibal King (Tomb of Dracula #25) and during the events of Doctor Strange (volume 2) #59-62, King had stated that he had been a vampire for about five years. During the events Journey Into Mystery #520-521, King revealed that he had been a vampire for about five decades, indicating that he had been a vampire since around the late 1940s.

In other media

The character of Hannibal King appears in the 2004 movie Blade: Trinity. He is played by actor Ryan Reynolds. In the movie, King serves as a member of a vampire hunting group known as the Nightstalkers. This is similar to the comic book except that the leader of the Nightstalkers is Abigail Whistler, a character created for the movie and based on a recurring character from the film franchise. And Blade, instead of being a Nightstalker himself, sees them as young and inexperienced compared to him. The movie preserves the "former vampire" nature of King, but he is much younger and no longer a private detective. Also, due to Reynold's history of playing extroverted comedic characters, Hannibal King's personality is very much the opposite of his more serious and reserved comic book counterpart. Additionally, in the movie, it was Danica Talos and not Deacon Frost who turned King into a vampire. Also, unlike in the comic where King avoids intimacy, there was fan speculation that King and Abigail Whistler would become romantically involved. While, there's nothing in the movie to suggest this (their relationship was more like brother and sister), most assumed that it would be explored in the once heavily anticipated Nightstalkers spinoff movie or series. However, with the lackluster response to Blade: Trinity (one of the harshest criticisms was that although Reynold's performance was well received, it was at the cost of screen time for Blade), plans for further movie or TV adventures with Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler have evaporated.