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NOCTURNE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Vampire (pre-modern era)

Occupation: Professional criminal, predator

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Ionel Caesescu, Zombie Red Skull, Zombie Invaders, (Bucky, Captain America, Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner);
    though not directly affiliated, he largely fought on their side against the Skrulls: First Line (Black Fox/Robert William Paine, Effigy/Velmax, FirefallFlatiron/Russell, Major Mercury/Makkari, Mr. Justice/Timothy "Tim" Carney, Morph, Nightingale, Oxbow/Sam Matonabbe, Pixie, Positron/Veronica, Rapunzel, Reflex, Squire, Templar/Ian Fitzwilliam Dare, Walkabout/William Carmody, Yeti), Riot-Act -- though he shot Carmody when given the chance

Enemies: Esteban Diablo, First Line (confirmed encounters with Black Fox/Robert William Paine, Firefall, Katyusha/Anya, Mr. Justice/Timothy "Tim" Carney, Oxbow/Sam Matonabbe, Pixie, Positron/Veronica, Reflex, Templar/Ian Fitzwilliam Dare, Vulcan, Walkabout/William Carmody; but he may have also encountered Blackjack, Doctor Mime, Effigy/Velmax, Flatiron/Russell, Frank (see comments), Liberty Girl/Beverly, Major Mercury/Makkari, Morph, Nightingale, Rapunzel, Rebound, Squire and/or Yeti), Doctor Stephen Strange, Miriam, Skrull invaders

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: '"Some nut" (nickname given by the Black Fox), "vampire" (nickname given by Pixie)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly mobile with reported schemes in New York City;
    formerly Castle Diablo, Petralova, Romania;
    formerly Cleveland and Chicago.

First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000)

Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Nocturne possessed enhanced strength, speed and durability. Like most vampires, he could mesmerize people, provided his will was superior to theirs. He could command rodents and other carrion eaters and turn his body into mist if needed. Thanks to Diablo's alchemic potions, he regained a measure of his humanity, which allowed him to survive exposure to direct sunlight. His restored humanity also made him vulnerable to forces fully unliving creatures would be immune to, such as the Eternal Pixie's petrifaction powers. Though ruthless, revenge driven and, literally bloodthirsty, Nocturne possessed a keen scientific mind, creating the unique organic technology known as Alchem-Tech. He also had sufficient arcane knowledge to create zombie-like minions he disguised as the war-time Invaders and their archenemy the Red Skull. Nocturne was able to survive losing a limb, re-growing or attaching it later through unrevealed means. Because he didn't want to create any additional vampires, he used a special device to drain the blood of his victims, that left five distinctive puncture marks. Nocturne was proficient in the use of most (handheld) fire arms. Most people believed Nocturne was merely pretending to be one of the undead, convinced the criminal was obsessed with the idea, unaware that he was indeed a full fledged vampire.

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: None

History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#2 (fb) - BTS) - At some unrevealed point, the man who would become Nocturne was willingly turned into a vampire by an unknown sire. Inspired by his new status as a creature of the night, he chose the codename Nocturne and went on a crime spree. Already making somewhat of a name for himself, Nocturne arrived in Chicago circa 1958, where he stirred up trouble. The Black Fox (Robert William Paine) became aware of Nocturne when his fiancée, Miriam, informed him of Nocturne's activities. The Fox decided to travel to the windy city to take care of Nocturne, whom he called "some nut."

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Nocturne faced the Black Fox in Chicago. The cavalier Fox sorely underestimated his foe, who not only managed to break both the Fox's legs, but also took Miriam captive.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8 (fb) ) - Forcing the crippled Black Fox to watch helplessly as he begged to take his girlfriend's place, Nocturne brutally rammed his five-pronged draining device through Miriam's neck, ending her life in a spray of blood. The villain figured he would derive more satisfaction from the fact that the Fox was forced to live with the painful knowledge he had failed to save his lady. Nocturne allowed the gravely injured Black Fox to live, figuring he had broken the hero's spirit. However, watching his lover die steeled the Fox into becoming the tough and gritty crime-fighter who would hound Nocturne for decades to come.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7 - BTS) - In the early-1970s, Nocturne was operating out of an abandoned warehouse in Cleveland. There, he used his knowledge of the arcane to create a number of zombies he disguised as Captain America, Bucky, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the original Human Torch, collectively known as the wartime heroic group the Invaders; he dressed another one as the Invaders' foe the Red Skull. First Line members Oxbow (Sam Mattonabe) and Mr. Justice (Tim Carney) became aware of Nocturne's scheme, but were overpowered and captured. However, Oxbox managed to alert the other members of the First Line.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7) - When the remaining First Line members stormed Nocturne's Cleveland base and were stunned to find the Skull and the Invaders there, Nocturne gleefully welcomed them. The First Line engaged Nocturne's forces, while he himself kept out of the fighting. After it became apparent the Invaders were actually zombies, the First Line's field leader Templar killed them all with his enhanced broadsword. By that point, Nocturne had already beaten a strategic retreat, with only a small army of fleeing rodents pointing towards the sewer pipe he'd most likely used to get away (possibly using his vampiric mist form).

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8 (fb) - BTS) - After several, undocumented run-ins with the First Line, Nocturne was presumed dead. However, sometime in the mid- to late-1970s, the American intelligence agencies became aware of his existence when they monitored presumed criminal Ionel Ceausescu and noticed him meeting with someone who did not appear on film. Nocturne had contacted Ionel to gain information on the location of Diablo's castle. Figuring the master alchemist's knowledge might restore a semblance of his humanity, Nocturne hoped to gain access to Diablo's research. Once he reached Diablo's castle, he encountered the villain locked away in a dungeon in his own lab. He was able to resist Diablo's powers of suggestion, possibly because of his similar gifts, and started to modify the lab's equipment to concoct the potion he needed. After an unrevealed amount of time, he was successful in his endeavors and used the brew to become more human than he had been in quite some time. In order to cover his tracks, he attacked and killed intelligence agent Groza, using his five-pronged draining device--figuring himself safe, he wasn't aware this eventually led Pixie, the Black Fox and Doctor Strange to him at Castle Diablo.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8) - Pixie was the first to gain access to the laboratories inside Castle Diablo. Impressed by the bizarre collection of 19th century technologies, she was ill prepared to resist the sway of Diablo, who called her from his prison, demanding she free him. Nocturne intervened at the last minute, forcing Pixie to obey his superior will instead. He used his hypnotic abilities to tie the superstrong Eternal to a table using ordinary ropes, explaining to her that he was in fact a true member of the undead, dispelling the long held belief among the First Line that he was merely playing the part of a vampire. As he enjoyed a drink of blood from a nearby mason jar, he pointed out to Pixie that he used his five-pronged blood siphon to ensure he wouldn't create more vampires, claiming that he didn't need the competition. However, he did consider turning Pixie, figuring the irony of the First Line being forced to hunt down and kill one of their own amused him. Before he could strike, the Black Fox swooped in and stabbed Nocturne through the heart with a wooden spike in hopes of killing him. Momentarily stunned, Nocturne quickly got up and pulled out the stake, explaining that it only served to trap a vampire in his coffin, not kill him. He was about to tear into the Black Fox, who'd just freed Pixie, when the newly arrived Doctor Strange attempted to kill him by exposing the vampire to the purifying light of the all-seeing. Much to everyone's surprise, Diablo's potions had removed Nocturne's vampiric weakness to direct sunlight. Boasting that he had regained enough humanity to withstand the light of day, he grabbed Pixie and planned to snap her neck. The quick thinking Pixie used her dust on him, reasoning that the villain just might be vulnerable to her powers now. Nocturne was shocked to find most of his lower right arm was petrified. In the confusion, Pixie slipped away leaving Nocturne wide open for the Black Fox, who happily tore into his old foe. Realizing he was vulnerable, Nocturne transmuted into his mist form and slipped away. However, he couldn't control his still petrified right arm, which fell off and was picked up by Pixie, who assured the Black Fox his archenemy would be back, because he needed his lost limb.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (fb) - BTS) - Somehow regaining or replacing his missing limb, Nocturne hatched a new scheme to destroy his enemies when he finished the development of the unique organic technology he dubbed Alchem-Tech. He covertly took over the top floors of the Baxter Building in New York, planning to unleash the fast spreading, continuously mutating virus-like technology from there. Nocturne took the building's occupants prisoner, locking them into containment capsules. He then managed to lure the First Line to the Baxter Building, though only Firefall, Pixie and Walkabout (without Carmody inside him) were available. Ordered by Effigy to maintain a low profile, the First Liners quietly entered the building, but soon found themselves besieged by the virus. Pixie and Firefall were overtaken, while Walkabout was hit in mid-air by a blast that short-circuited his systems.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11) - While his Alchem-Tech virus tore through New York, infecting buildings near to the Baxter building, First Line member Walkabout managed to free Pixie and Firefall. Nocturne made his presence known when he instructed the virus to entangle Walkabout, almost destroying the sentient robot in the process. Walkabout, however, kept scanning the mutating Alchem-Tech and learned it had become almost lifelike. This prompted Pixie to use her petrification powers on the Alchem-Tech, immediately turning the entire entity into stone, which caused it to harmlessly collapse to dust under its own weight. Nocturne, who had been tied into his creation all along, was affected as well. The First Line discovered the villain had been turned into a statue. Impressed, the newly arrived Mr. Justice wanted to see if he could remove Nocturne's mask, only to have the petrified vampire crumble to pieces upon being touched. The First Line decided to sweep up Nocturne's dusty remains and save them in a locked container.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 - BTS) - Nocturne managed to free himself not too long after being turned into a pile of stone pieces. Apparently none the worse for wear, he resumed his criminal activities. However, when he learned the First Line were preparing to counter an imminent invasion from the alien Skrulls, he stowed away on their ship bound to meet the armada in space.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12) - Uatu the Watcher and the time-traveling historian Cassandra Locke from Earth-700 watched how Nocturne skulked along the Skrull ship, picking off aliens as he went. He made his presence known when he popped up right after Walkabout had defeated three Skrull soldiers, who had badly damaged his robot body. Explaining why he had stowed away, Nocturne nevertheless shot Walkabout's homonculoid partner Professor Carmody. The telepathic Carmody cursed Nocturne, claiming he had doomed them both. Too late, Nocturne spotted an overloading Skrull blaster that Carmody had been trying to disable. Both the vampire and the hero apparently died in the explosion (see comments).

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks).

LV suggested that Nocturne could be a later iteration of Mister E's enemy, the Vampire.--Ron Fredricks

    While the Black Fox is actually a thinly veiled Batman knockoff (Surely it's no coincidence "Robert Paine" rhymes with "Bruce Wayne"), his archenemy Nocturne is nothing like the Joker. Cruel, cunning and complicated, Nocturne proved to be a consistent thorn in the side of both the Black Fox and the First Line.

Actually, with his pallid complexion, red-lipped grin, and homicidal tendencies, Nocturne does have a superficial resemblance to the Joker, although he much more resembles The Monk, an early Batman foe who was also a vampire.--Ron Fredricks

    So, did Nocturne really die on the Skrull ship? It's hard to say, but a villain who can survive getting turned into stone, crumbling to pieces, losing limbs left and right, and getting staked through the heart could probably walk away from an exploding ray gun... And being in space doesn't really hurt a vampire who doesn't need to breathe, so chances are he's still out there.

    Furthermore, even though he wasn't technically a pure vampire anymore after Diablo's potions, Nocturne could have been restored when Lucas Cross inadvertently resurrected all the vampires ever slain on Earth (...though Nocturne did die in space, but let's not split hairs, he has so very few left).

Nocturne received a profile in Vampires: The Marvel Undead I#1.

    It's not clear whether Frank from the First Line is definitely the Frankenstein monster or not. The First Line and Frankenstein Monster profiles in the OHotMU are contradictory in this regard, with the former saying they are the same and the latter saying it is "unknown."
    As the head writer of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe at that time, I can tell you, the official policy is:
Frank of the First Line is apparently either a Frankenstein monster - meaning a creature created in the manner of Victor Frankenstein's first creation - or just a being with a similar appearance and abilities who adopted the name Frank due to the notable similarities. However, it as yet remains unrevealed whether Frank is actually the original creation of Victor Frankenstein, aka "the Frankenstein monster." Previous entries referencing Frank as "Frankenstein monster" were unclear in specifying/clarifying this point.
--Snood.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Nocturne should not be confused with


Nocturne's zombies

    Nocturne used a combination of technology and mystical knowledge to resurrect several bodies he had unearthed, turning them into zombies he outfitted as the Invaders and the Red Skull. He even managed to give them powers and personalities remarkably similar to the originals, though he was unable to copy certain unique features, such as Captain America's indestructible shield. The zombie Invaders believed they were the genuine article, even though they didn't question the fact they were now working for their archenemy the Red Skull. When First Line member Reflex realized their opponents weren't the real Invaders and unmasked "Captain America," the zombie immediately reverted to his hissing, unthinking former self. Eventually, all of Nocturne's zombies were slain by the First Liner Templar.


--Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7

 


Nocturne's Alchem-Tech

    Nocturne used a combination of alchemy (possibly based on Diablo's research) and technology to create the nigh-sentient, mutating Alchem-Tech virus. Nocturne had tied this amalgam into his own body, allowing him to actively control his rapidly expanding creation. Once unleashed, the Alchem-Tech could contaminate an entire skyscraper within minutes, covering it with thick, mechanized tendrils that automatically restored any part that might get damaged. The Alchem-Tech was able to quickly adapt to any possible external threat, for instance becoming fireproof to counter Firefall's powers. However, when it started mimicking biological functions, it became vulnerable to Pixie's petrifaction dust, which immediately turned the entire, massive Alchem-Tech structure to stone, causing it to collapse to inert dust under its own weight.


-- Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11










Ionel Ceausescu

Sometime during the mid- to late-1970s, Nocturne sought out information about Diablo and his famed alchemic lore. Aware Diablo's last known location was somewhere in Romania, he met with Ionel Ceausescu, a distant relative of then current Romanian president Nicolae. Unbeknownst to both Ceausecu and Nocturne, the American intelligence operative Groza kept tabs on Ionel, hoping to find evidence of his ties to criminal activities. Ionel and Nocturne figured they could have an inconspicuous meeting at a local cafe in Brasov, Romania. Even as Groza secretly filmed the encounter, Ionel told him Castle Diablo was located in the town of Petralova. Later, when Groza developed the tape, only Ionel appeared on it, alerting Groza to the fact a vampire was involved.


--Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8





images: (without ads)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#8, p16, pan5 (main image)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#8, p18, pan5 (unmasked)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#8, p22, pan4 (turns into mist)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#12, p14, pan4 (dies)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#7, p7, pan3 (Nocturne's zombies)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#11, p15, pan3-4-5 (Alchem-Tech)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#8, p10, pan1&3 (Ionel Ceasescu)


Appearances:
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (April 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8 (July 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7 (August 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#2 (January 2001) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor) 


First Posted: 02/10/2014
Last updated: 10/06/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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