VIKTOR
BENZELThis profile is from a magazine that included nudity
VIKTOR
BENZEL
This profile is from a magazine that
included nudity
Real Name: Viktor Benzel
Identity/Class: Human magic-user;
descended from the Gypsy/Romany;
Transylvanian
citizen
Occupation: Musician
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Lilith (Daughter of Dracula), Angel O'Hara,
Enemies: Vlad
Dracula;
Known Relatives: Karl
Benzel (brother);
Gretchin
(ancestor), Arni
(ancestor, or of common ancestry)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
perished in Castle Dracula, Borgo Pass, Transylvania,
Romania;
formerly an unidentified Transylvanian village,
Romania
First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (June, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: Viktor had some occult
knowledge and was willing and able to perform a gruesome mystic ritual
that separate Lilith from a human host within whom she had been bound.
He was brave (and foolish) enough to challenge Dracula, armed with a stake and mallet.
He was a musician, although his style
and instrument of choice were unrevealed. 
History:
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - A descendant
of the 15th
Century Gypsy/Romany sorceress Gretchin (who had transformed/empowered
Lilith, the daughter of Dracula), Viktor Benzel, like his brother,
Karl, had much of Gretchin's occult knowledge passed on to him.
However, unlike Karl, Viktor eventually put mysticism behind him and
became a musician.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (fb) - BTS)
- Lilith sought to free herself from the form of Angel O'Hara, within
whom she had been resurrected, as part of her plot to kill her father,
Dracula. She additionally sought to end her undead existence and
apparently regain her humanity. To this end, Lilith sought out Viktor
Benzel, whom she knew to be the descendant of Gretchin.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2) -
Lilith knocked on Viktor's door, introduced herself, informed him that
she would like to speak with him about a matter of great urgency and
asked if she could come in, Viktor recognized her name and appreciated
her true nature. Initially hesitant about allowing a vampire into his
home, Viktor was set at ease by her disarming manner and invited her
in. When she he told him that she knew his ancestry and felt that he
may be the only one who could help her. Viktor advised her that he had
put all of that behind him and was now merely a musician.
Lilith implored Viktor to end the curse that kept her undead, as she tired of seeing everyone cared for die, and she had become afraid to care any more. Viktor acknowledge her plight, but told her that the only way he could help her was to destroy her. He continued that his brother, Karl, was the true adept, and advised that she should seek him out. Feeling like the time was ripe for her vengeance against Dracula, Lilith told Viktor that there was not time for that.
Viktor than asked why he would aid
Dracula's flesh and blood after all of the horrors Dracula had brought
to so many of his kind. After Lilith explained that she desired
Dracula's death more than Viktor and that Dracula was particularly
vulnerable at this time. Presumably intrigued with the idea of
vengeance against Dracula as well as with Lilith herself, Viktor told
her to stay for dinner and that he would think about it.
As the hours passed during their
meal and subsequent discussions, Viktor felt a growing affinity for the
beautiful Lilith and, to her surprise, Lilith was attracted to him as
well. Eventually, around midnight, Viktor led Lilith to his bedroom;
well aware that she was one of the undead, he felt the need to hold her
close and ease her aching loneliness.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - Viktor and Lilith enjoyed some romance.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2) -
Remarking on her beauty and how surreal it was that he was with her,
Viktor asked Lilith to forget about Dracula and her curse and stay with
him. Lilith reminded him how she would stay young while he aged and
suggested that he would eventually hate her for the atrocities she had
performed as a vampire. Viktor tried to tell her that she was not to
blame, but proclaiming herself to be a monster, she shattered a glass
and tore open her forehead only for it to heal in seconds. When she
begged for his help to gain some release, Viktor promised to help her,
assuring her that he would do anything for her.
After a few days preparation,
Viktor was ready to begin the hideous ritual that would divorce Lilith
from from her host body. In his shed, he strapped the naked Lilith to a
cold table; trembling, he kissed Lilith one last time before taking his
buzzsaw and cutting her into bloody sections. Undying, Lilith screamed
in agony.
When it was over, the shaking and
horrified Viktor placed each separate part of her still-living body
into four separate containers. At nightfall, he drove to a crossroads
and buried the containers at different points of the compass:
North, South, East, West...in the arcane manner dictated by his
ancestors.
For twenty-four hours, he waited,
unable to eat or sleep until the proper time arrived, after which he
unearthed the casements and returned home. He then prepared a huge
cauldron into which he deposited the body parts while reciting
time-lost chants. Within moments, the vat bubbled with the stuff of
sorcery.
Suddenly, the ghastly figures of
two women arose from the cauldron, conjoined momentarily until they
separated and solidified. The unconscious form of Angel O'Hara
collapsed on the floor as a reborn Lilith looked on impassively.
Viktor told Lilith that he would get Angel dressed and take her back to the hotel, and that she would know nothing of what transpired since she boarded the plane for Europe and that she could go home, have her child in peace and begin living her own life.
Viktor further informed Lilith
that he had only performed part of the ritual and that he would have to
get in touch with his brother, Karl, to ask his help in neutralizing
the vampire spell to truly free her of her curse. He asked her in the
meantime to stay with him and forget about Dracula; telling her that he
cared about her and was afraid for her, he asked her not to leave.
However, Lilith told him that she would have no peace until she fulfilled her life's mission and that she owed Dracula's death to all those he had harmed over the centuries. Before Viktor could respond, she turned into a bat and flew off to Dracula's Borgo Pass Castle.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (fb) -
BTS) - Fearing Dracula might kill Lilith, Viktor traveled to Castle
Dracula, perhaps following Lilith's flight. He had hoped when he
arrived that she would have the advantage and that he would only have
to complete the job.
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2) - As
Lilith fought Dracula furiously, eventually being swatted back and
knocked to the ground by her, Viktor rushed into the room armed with a
stake and a mallet and warned Dracula that if he moved one step further
he would kill him,
Lilith warned Viktor to get back, and when Dracula slapped her back so
he could finish with this fool, Viktor rushed forward, cursing Dracula
as a black-hearted bastard. However, Dracula casually caught Viktor in
mid-air by the neck and taunted Lilith for consorting with common
gutter trash.
Lilith begged Dracula to leave
Viktor alone, but Dracula instead snapped his neck, telling Lilith that
if she were to win their duel, she could feast on his corpse.
Although Lilith warned Dracula
that she now craved his death more than ever, Dracula -- having sensed
that the spell that created her as his eternal nemesis prevented her
from slaying him directly -- gave her Viktor's stake and hammer, bared
his chest, and challenged her to destroy him.
After Lilith proved unable to do so, Dracula mocked her and departed, leaving her standing over the corpse of her lover and perhaps the only man who could have cured her.
.
Comments: Created by Ralph Macchio, Lynn Graeme and Gene Colan.
This profile was completed 10/01/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.
.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Viktor Benzel should be distinguished from:
|
(Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 (fb)
- BTS) - A descendant of the 15thCentury
Gypsy/Romany sorceress Gretchin (who had transformed/empowered
Lilith, the daughter of Dracula), Karl Benzel, like his brother,
Viktor, had much of Gretchin's occult knowledge passed on to
him.
However, unlike Viktor, Karl continued to focus on his magic and
was
the most adept of the family. (Tomb of Dracula II#5/2
(fb) - BTS) - Lilith, the daughter of Dracula, sought to free
herself
from the form of Angel O'Hara, within
whom she had been resurrected, as part of her plot to kill her
father.
She additionally sought to end her undead existence and
apparently regain her humanity. To this end, Lilith sought out
Viktor
Benzel, whom she knew to be the descendant of Gretchin. (Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 -
BTS) - Viktor told Lilith that his brother, Karl, was the true
adept,
and advised that
she should seek him out. Feeling like the time was ripe for her
vengeance against Dracula, Lilith told Viktor that there was not
time
for that. Viktor and Lilith had a romance, and Viktor performed
a
ritual that separated Lilith from Angel. Viktor informed Lilith
that he
had only
performed part of the ritual and that he would have to get in
touch
with his brother, Karl, to ask his help in neutralizing the
vampire
spell to truly free her of her curse. Viktor was slain by
Dracula while
trying to aid Lilith against him. While it is unrevealed whether Lilith ever met Karl Benzel, she continued to suffer the same limitations against Dracula. --Tomb of Dracula II#5/2 - BTS Note: Karl Benzel was only mentioned a few times, but never pictured, as far as I know. Karl would be a perfect member of the Legion of Night. Sadly, with Steve Gerber no longer with us, I fear that we may never again see Omen or the Legion of Night. But, one never knows, does one? No, one does not... |
First posted: 09/03/2026
Last updated: 10/01/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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