DARIUS VENGINIAN

Real Name: Darius Venginian

Identity/Class: Human vampire (possibly Ancient or Pureblood, see comments)

Occupation: Owner of Diva Corps, sponsor of Silvereye

Group Membership: Diva Corps

Affiliations: "Evangeline", "Kate", S.H.I.E.L.D., Silvereye (especially Commander Dallas & Commander Spencer), US president, "Wesley", two bodyguards

Enemies: Blade, Miss Maples

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Diva Corps HQ in New York City
Mobile across the United States in the Diva learjet

First Appearance: Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1 (December, 1999)

Powers/Abilities: Venginian possessed the normal strengths and weakness of a vampire including superhuman strength, speed, longevity, the need for blood and so on. His telepathic powers were presumably above those of other vampires as he could easily control several humans at once. For some people (maybe those who resisted) the control caused blood running from the eyes. It should be presumed that Venginian could kill anybody under his control at any time. It is also possible that prolonged control (again probably only for the resistant people) caused severe brain damage which allowed Venginian to easily kill such a person with something resembling an aneurysm. His psychic powers combined with Venginian's wealth and status in society opened him many doors over the years and even gained him access to some of the most important people in the United States.

History:

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1/1 (fb) - BTS) - Darius Venginian was the owner and chief executive officer of Diva Corps. He was known as a suave and sophisticated billionaire industrialist. At some point he was appointed by the US president to head the S.H.I.E.L.D. Silvereye program.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1/1) - Through a telepathic connection Commander Dallas asked Venginian for permission to wake up Blade after he was dug up by vampires. Venginian was okay with it, but he didn't want Silverfang 1 to interfere yet because he wanted to see Blade in action. After awhile he was okay with the activation of Silverfang 1. Meanwhile in the Diva Corps HQ in NYC Venginian sat in his office and ordered his assistant "Claire" telepathically to inform Nick Fury that all was well, to cancel the meeting with Stark/Fujikawa, to ready Diva learjet for Washington D.C., to have the driver bring his car around and to inform the chief of staff of his E.T.A.. After that she wished him a nice trip and Venginian said that everything was chaos.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1/2) - Venginian left NYC in his jet because Blade's awakening caused too much chaos too soon. From his jet he stayed in telepathic contact with Commander Dallas and ordered him to let Silvereye's dogs out to hunt Mikado and Mosha on Blackeye's hull.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#2) - Venginian arrived in Washington D.C. and was brought to the White House where he met with one of his supporters (lets call him Wesley) and Nick Fury. "Wesley" and Fury wanted to talk about the recent problems on Blackeye 1 like the security breach, but Venginian assured that it was a computer glitch. Fury didn't believe him a single word because Blackeye 1 seemed to go down, but Venginian used his telepathic powers on "Wesley", who told Fury in return that Venginian explained the situation sufficiently. Fury left angry while "Wesley" bled from his eyes. Venginian stayed with "Wesley", who stayed unconscious while Venginian observed through Commander Dallas the capture of Blade. Suddenly Miss Maples entered the room and told Venginian to leave because she knew that he was a vampire. "Wesley" asked her to apologize, but Maples took out a cross to scare Venginian. Venginian knocked her out with a telepathic attack and called his bodyguards who turned into werewolves and slaughtered her. "Wesley" discharged Venginian and was sorry that the president couldn't meet him personally, but he thanked Venginian in the president's name.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#3) - Venginian stayed in contact with Dallas and informed him that he was leaving Washington and would rendezvous with Blackeye 1 at 5:10 AM over Jersey City. He wanted Blade ready for him at that time. On his jet Venginian was served fresh human blood by "Kate".

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#4) - Venginian overheard the chaos on Blackeye 1 through his connection to Dallas and was very angry. Blood poured out of Dallas' eyes until he was dead. Venginian created a psychic link to Spencer and turned him into Silvereye's new commander. He ordered Spencer immediately to gas Lab A5 with Blade, the twins, Patriot, Hrolf and the Silverfang units in it.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#5) - While Venginian was on his plane he was informed by Silvereye's Commander Spencer that unknown intruders (Reaper and his girls) had wiped out a Silverfang Squad and that they were attempting to find them. After a grenade destroyed Blackeye's starboard rudder control. when Venginian heard the description of the intruder he ordered Spencer telepathically to deal with it. On his plane Venginian telepathically told "Kate" to change the course from Jersey City to a short stop in Laguardia and then Chicago. He knew that the intruder on Blackeye 1 was the Reaper and thought that Saracen was a fool to unleash it. From his plane Darius ordered Commander Spencer telepathically to kill his colleague Herbert Mills and crash Blackeye 1 onto populated area in Jersey City.

(Blade: Vampire Hunter II#6) - Venginian observed Spencer changing the course of Blackeye 1. After he jammed the ships controls he let Spencer shoot himself in the head in front of Blade. Blackeye 1 crashed and Venginian was still in his jet. He had killed "Kate" and silently smoked a cigarette.

Comments: Created by Bart Sears (writer/pencils), Raymond Krissing & Andy Smith (both inks).

This series occurred after Blade was bitten by Morbius in Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#8.

A sketch of Venginian was first seen in Blade: Vampire Hunter II#½.

I don't know it for sure, but I assume that Venginian was a Pureblood or even an Ancient. It would explain his strong psychic powers and his knowledge of Saracen and the Reaper.

The US president made him the head of Silvereye. Draw your own conclusions whether the president was under his control or not.

There were some unnamed characters I gave names. There is no good reason why I named Evangeline and Kate the way I did except that I'm a fan of LOST. Wesley on the other hand got his name because he reminded me of C.S.A. member Wesley Werner.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Darius Venginian has no known connection to:


"EVANGELINE"

She seemed to be Venginian's secretary. Like most people around him she was under his control and therefore in telepathic connection with him.

 

--Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1/1

 


"KATE"

She was served Venginian as his personal stewardess on his learjet. Like most people around Venginian she was under his control and telepathically connected to him. On the jet she brought him fresh blood from three men connected to tubes and stayed for him in contact with the pilot. She was killed by Venginian on his flight to Chicago when he drank her blood.

 

--Blade: Vampire Hunter II#3 (Blade: Vampire Hunter II#2 - BTS, Blade: Vampire Hunter II#3, 5-6

 


MISS MAPLES

She knew that Venginian was a vampire and wanted him to leave the White House. She even tried to threaten him with a cross, but in the end she was just a small annoyance for Venginian, who knocked her out with a psychic attack. Maples was killed by Venginian's bodyguard.

 

--Blade: Vampire Hunter II#2

 


"WESLEY"

Wesley worked in the White House for the president. His position stayed a mystery, but like many people around Venginian he controlled by him. With his help Venginian got rid of Fury. Like some others the telepathic control by Venginian caused his eyes to bleed. When Venginian left he didn't notice that Miss Maples was killed right next to him.

 

--Blade: Vampire Hunter II#2

 


images: (without ads)
Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1, p19, right side (main image)

#5, p22, pan7 (head shot)
#6, p22, pan2 (Venginian bit "Kate")
#1, p19, pan9 ("Evangeline")
#5, p10, pan8 ("Kate")
#2, p20, pan6 (Miss Maples)
#2, p20, pan9 ("Wesley")


Other Appearances:
Blade: Vampire Hunter II#2-4 (January-March, 2000) - Bart Sears (writer/pencils), Andy Smith (#2, 4) & Bill Sieniwicz (#3) (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Blade: Vampire Hunter II#5-6 (April-May, 2000) - Bart Sears (writer), Andy Smith (pencils), John Beatty, Bob McLeod & Andy Smith (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)


Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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