Baron Blood appeared in 1976 Marvel Comics called Invaders.
Lord John Falsworth was the youngest of two sons of Lord William Falsworth, one of the wealthiest members of the British aristocracy in late Victorian and Edwardian times. John left, embittered, when his older brother Montgomery inherited the title and the bulk of his estate upon William's death, shortly before World War I.
Eventually, Falsworth sought the castle Dracula in Romania in order to find and control the Dracula as a means for achieving immense wealth and power. However, Falsworth fell victim to Dracula's hypnotic powers and was turned into a vampire himself. Dracula bid Falsworth to return to England to wreak havoc upon the country that had repulsed him earlier (as detailed in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel) while Dracula himself fought Abraham van Helsing and other enemies.
Once World War I broke out, Falsworth, still intent on destroying England, offered his services to the German intelligence, who gave him the code-name Baron Blood. Falsworth adopted his costume to better instill terror in his victims. Falsworth became the German's greatest secret weapon in the final months of the war. He battled Freedom's Five, a group of costumed agents from Great Britain and her allies, but, although Blood was always defeated, he also managed to escape. He was finally found and fought by the costumed hero, the original Union Jack (and secretly Falsworth's elder brother Montgomery). Union Jack injured Falsworth with a silver blade, causing him to flee England.
After World War I, Falsworth began studying occult arts and followed Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He understood Hitler and his Nazi party were similar to him.
Powers and Abilities[]
Baron Blood possessed the typical powers associated with vampires, although to a greater degree than most:
- Superhuman Strength: Baron Blood possessed superhuman strength and the handbooks class him 1,500 lbs. But Baron Blood's power would vastly decrease during day light and in the night his strength could even hurt Namor as his strength was stated to be around Namor level, as Baron even defeated most of the Invaders in WW2 in the night.
- Superhuman Speed: Baron Blood could run and move at speeds much greater than that of the finest human athlete.
- Superhuman Stamina: Baron Blood's muscles produced considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the muscles of a human being. He could exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue impaired him.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Baron Blood was capable of healing injuries with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. He could heal from injuries such as multiple bullet wounds within a few hours. However, he was not capable of regenerating missing limbs or organs.
- Immortality: Like all vampires, regular ingestion of fresh blood rendered Baron Blood immune to the effects of aging as well as immunity to all known Earthly diseases and infections.
- Resistance to Sunlight: Due to experiments conducted on him by the Nazis during World War II, Baron Blood was capable of withstanding direct exposure to sunlight for about half an hour without sustaining any of the debilitating effects common to vampires. A side effect of these experiments resulted in Baron Blood being capable of moving about during daylight hours, whereas most vampires automatically fall into a dormant, death-like state. Another side effect of these experiments prevented him from utilizing shape-shifting powers, such as transforming into a bat or a wolf, common to all vampires.
- Flight: Despite lacking his shape-changing abilities, Baron Blood was still capable of flying through the air at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. It is believed that his transformation into a vampire awakened latent psionic powers that enabled him to levitate himself.
- Hypnotism: Like all vampires, Baron Blood was capable of mentally enslaving an individual if they maintained eye contact with him for only a few seconds. However, exceptionally strong willed individuals were capable of resisting his hypnotic control.
- Mental Control Over Animals: Like all vampires, Baron Blood possessed the ability to mentally control certain animals such as bats and wolves.
- Weather Manipulation: Baron Blood was capable of greatly affecting the weather to a certain degree over a small area. Within that area, he could generate storms of great power. However, the act would leave him physically drained afterward.
- Knockout Gas: Blood could shoot out gas from his nostrils that even rendered Namor useless.
Weakness[]
Baron Blood possessed most of the same special vulnerabilities common to vampires:
- Religious Symbols: Like all vampires, religious symbols such as a cross or Star of David was capable of keeping Baron Blood at bay, filling him with an almost irrational fear. However, this tactic was only effective against a vampire if the wielder truly had faith in the religious icon being used.
- Beheading: Like all vampires, Baron Blood could be killed by having his head severed from his body.
- Fire: Baron Blood was vulnerable to fire since the ichor, the substance that flows through a vampire's veins instead of blood, is a highly flammable substance. Sufficient flames could reduce Baron Blood to ash within a matter of seconds.
- Silver: Baron Blood, like all vampires, was especially allergic to silver and could be killed by weapons made of it. If he were merely injured, and not killed outright, his recovery time would be considerably longer than if he'd been injured with some other material.
- Wooden Stake: Baron Blood could also be killed by having a wooden stake driven into his heart. For some reason yet to be fully explained, the presence of a wooden stake prevents ichor from pumping through a vampire's heart.
- Exposure To Sunlight: Despite having increased resistance to sunlight, Baron Blood couldn't withstand being exposed to it indefinitely. Eventually, his body would feel the painful effects and would soon disintegrate.