LUCAS CROSS
Real Name: Lucas Cross
Identity/Class: Human vampire (early 20th century to 1929, 1930-1944, 1945-1959, pre-modern era to modern era);
US citizen; former citizen of Latveria
Occupation: Leader of the Order of Tyrana
Group Membership: Order of Tyrana (Madame Vanity, Oleg Speziali, many others)
Affiliations: Vincent Gaul, Manning, National Security Agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. (including loyal vampire agents within the agency);
has connections to various influential people like US politicians;
tricked by Dracula into inadvertently aiding Earth's vampire population
Enemies: Jamal Afari, Blade (Eric Brooks), Hannibal King;
formerly Baron Mangegi de Sabbat
Known Relatives: Tara Cross (wife), Eric Brooks (Blade, son), Zukajaa (possible grandchild)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: His offices in Washington D.C.;
formerly Haasenstadt's prison;
formerly his home in Latveria
First Appearance: Blade III#1 (November, 2006)
Powers/Abilities: Lucas Cross possesses conventional vampire powers including enhanced strength (lifting 1500 lbs.), speed, stamina, agility and reflexes. He is immune to aging, conventional disease, and most forms of injury. Cross has limited psychic powers to control others with a glance or after drinking their blood. He must drink blood regularly to survive and is vulnerable to silver, garlic, sunlight, a wooden stake through the heart and religious symbols. He does not cast reflections and usually cannot enter a house without invitation. Cross commands immense political and financial resources and is fully tapped in the levers of power.
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 224 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald
History:
(Blade III#6 (fb) ) - In the early 20th century, Latverian Lucas Cross, lived with his pregnant wife Tara in his homeland. As the leader of the Order of Tyrana he opposed Vladimir Fortunov's tyranny. Suffering from cancer, Lucas tried Roma ("Gypsy") magic, but it couldn't cure him. Fortunov eventually signed a warrant for Lucas and his wife, but Lucas' friend Oleg Speziali warned them the night Fortunov sent his soldiers after Cross and arranged their escape. When Fortunov's soldiers arrived early, Lucas told Tara to flee to London and go into hiding at the brothel of Madame Vanity, another member of the Order of Tyrana. After telling Tara how to gain Vanity's trust with the phrase "If one of the Order of Tyrana, requests sanctuary, one of the Order shall provide it", Tara took off with her unborn child and Oleg, while Lucas led the soldiers away from them and was arrested. In Haasenstadt's prison, Lucas sought a quick death instead of dying from cancer and asked his cellmate Vincent Gaul, unaware he was a vampire, to kill him, but Lucas changed his mind when Gaul offered him a chance to survive prison and cancer to see his wife and child one day, Lucas took the offer and was turned into a vampire by Gaul.
(Blade III#2 (fb) - BTS) - Cross stayed imprisoned between 1929 and 1937 for his political protest and kept in chains in his cell (see comments). Cynthia von Doom encountered him when she was imprisoned and realized how dangerous Cross had become during his time in prison.
(Blade III#2 (fb) ) - Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) required Blade's help in order to save his mother, Cynthia von Doom, while she was pregnant with Victor. He sent the Dhampir back in time in order to save her from prison while it was overrun by vampires. During the mission in the past, Blade freed Cross, who was imprisoned at the same prison in exchange for his help in locating Cynthia, whom Blade had every intention of slaying in hopes of preventing Victor's rise to power, in the castle's tower. Blade had to join forces with Cynthia to thwart the large number of vampires, and she convinced him that attempting to kill her would change the future too much. On their way to the outside Cynthia noticed Cross was escaping on horse. Blade told her about his deal with Cross to let him go free for his aid to find Cynthia, who told Blade that he would regret his deal with Cross because prison had changed Lucas Cross in ways Blade could not even imagine.
(Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1 - Lucas Cross) - Lucas immigrated to the USA.
(Blade III#1 - BTS) - Blade managed to incapacitate Dracula and a vampirized Spider-Man (Peter Parker). He handed them both over to S.H.I.E.L.D., informing an agent that Spider-Man's radioactive blood would destroy the enzyme responsible for vampiric conversion. During the transfer Blade realized the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were actually vampires, unaware they were secretly working for Lucas Cross, who had given them specific orders to not reanimate Dracula by removing Blade's stake from his heart, but merely collect a splinter from the stake for further use.
Blade attacked and crashed the Helicarrier Pericles V, destroying the hundreds of vampiric S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed on board, including the two collecting the splinter for Cross.
(Blade III#1) - During a banquet in Washington D.C. Lucas Cross was informed by his adjutant Manning about everything that had happened and that the Quantico-trained CSU (Counter Surveillance Unit) couldn't find Dracula or the stake splinter at the Helicarrier's crash site. Manning then handed Cross everything the FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Interpol had on Blade, the main suspect in the crash, but Cross didn't need the file because it couldn't tell him anything he didn't already know about his own son.
(Blade III#2) - Lucas Cross met with Manning at the NSA's HQ at Forte Meade, Maryland. Manning handed him part of the translation of an ancient vampiric prophecy. Manning wasn't sure about the correctness of the part about a "son not yet birthed" freeing a father in chains, but Cross assured him the prophecy was correct, not telling Manning that Blade had actually freed Cross decades ago from prison in Latveria.
(Blade III#4) - Lucas received the complete translation of the ancient prophecy at his office in Washington D.C. from Manning. Cross was preoccupied by the question how the prophecy might come to pass.
(Blade III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Lucas ordered his men to capture Blade. Using information from S.H.I.E.L.D. they managed to capture Blade while he was asleep and took him to an underground prison in Washington.
(Blade III#6) - Lucas visited Blade in his cell and Blade, who was chained to a wall with a reinforced titanium chain, tried to jump him, but the chain was too short to reach Cross, who told Blade to consider himself a guest. Cross opened a hidden section of the cell to reveal a young girl chained to the ground behind it and offered Blade to satiate his hunger on her. When Cross returned some time later the girl was still alive to Cross' surprise. Lucas revealed himself to be Blade's father and that his mother's real name was Tara Cross, who Lucas had sent to London for her own protection when she was pregnant. He told Blade that Vanity pretended Vanessa was one of her girls to protect Blade because he would've become a target if people knew he was Lucas' son. Lucas then told Blade about the prophecy, which spoke of Blade drinking a virgin's blood, which was the reason for the young girl in Blade's cell. Blade didn't believe a word Lucas said because he looked too young to be Blade's father and Blade wasn't half-white either. Lucas left the cell leaving Blade with the options to either drink the girl's blood or starve to death.
(Blade III#6 - BTS) - Blade chewed off his own hand to free him from his chain.
(Blade III#6) - When Cross returned to his cell Blade attacked him and forced Cross to release the girl. After knocking Cross out Blade fled the prison with the girl.
(Blade III#8) - Lucas was told by Manning, watching Blade through the mystic sibyl, that Blade had fulfilled the next part of the prophecy by killing the vampiric priest Draconis and drinking his virgin blood. An excited Cross told Manning that now the only thing left for them to do was to find the stake splinter to fulfill the prophecy.
(Blade III#9 - BTS) - Blade learned Lucas and his mother had been members of the Order of Tyrana from a letter he took from his mother's coffin.
(Blade III#10) - Blade attended uninvited an event at a social club in Washington D.C. to meet with his father. Threatening a security guard with his gun to learn his father's location he was sent upstairs to the Belmont Room where Lucas was in the middle of a conversation with politicians raising money for the primaries. When he saw Blade he excused himself and had a talk with his son outside on the balcony where Lucas revealed his vampiric nature and that he only became a vampire to one day be with his family again. The girl in Blade's cell was just his way to help the prophecy along, but the prophecy came true even without his interference when Blade drank Draconis' blood. Blade decided to let Lucas live and soon met with King, who had stolen the prophecy off of Cross' computer while Blade had him distracted.
(Blade III#11 (fb) - BTS) - Cross kept Blade under surveillance.
(Blade III#11 (fb) ) - Manning informed Cross that Blade had gone to La Crosse, Kansas where the Helicarrier Pericles V had crashed. Blade's associate King apparently spoke to a farmer, who didn't talk to Cross' government agents before. Afterward Cross' men followed Blade around the world in search for Jamal Afari. Cross knew how Afari had been turned into a vampire and that Dracula had apparently used the Espil Shade spell to resurrect him. Cross considered Dracula's involvement something he could turn into an advantage.
(Blade III#12 (fb) - BTS) - Cross made a deal with Dracula and they decided to work together to fulfill the prophecy.
(Blade III#11) - Lucas Cross and a bunch of armed agents forced their way into Blade's apartment in Manhattan. Cross, who knew Blade had been searching for Afari, told his son that he knew where Afari was. Cross took Blade and Hannibal King on a private plane to Transylvania in order to find Blade's former mentor Jamal Afari. Blade told his father that Transylvania was the first place he had been looking for Afari, but that he wasn't there, but Cross assured him Blade would be reunited with Afari and give Blade the means to restore Cross' soul. They took a limousine to the location of Dracula's old castle, which was still sacred ground or salted ground as it was called in the prophecy. Cross explained to Blade and King that the prophecy was apparently all about returning the souls to vampires, which was the loophole Cross had been searching for since he became a vampire. Cross pulled out the stake splinter soaked in Dracula's blood and asked Blade to stick it in the salted ground and destroy the amulet Blade had picked up weeks ago, which had rendered Blade immortal, to fulfill the last parts of the prophecy, but Blade refused because it would remove all the vampires' weaknesses thus making them invulnerable. Lucas had enough and revealed his plan and had his henchmen bring in Afari, whom Cross threatened to kill if Blade didn't fulfill the prophecy. Blade still refused to follow Lucas' orders and decided to fight instead. Hannibal had a change of heart and attacked Blade because he wanted his soul back. Blade staked Hannibal through the heart, killing him instead.
(Blade III#12) - Cross watched as Blade took out his henchmen, but then Dracula stabbed Blade from behind. Though he missed all of Blade's vital organs Cross wasn't pleased that Dracula had harmed his son, but Dracula didn't care. Cross explained his deal with Dracula and how Dracula had resurrected Afari to search for the amulet Blade now possessed. Dracula confronted Blade outside his Transylvanian Castle, crushed the amulet and attempted to force Blade to fulfill the prophecy, threatening to destroy Blade and then Jamal Afari when Blade still refused to do what he was meant to do. As Blade tried to stop Dracula from harming Afari, the vial containing "Vlad's remains" (the stake splinter), which Cross was holding hit the ground after Blade failed to catch it, but because he was the last to touch the vial it fulfilled the prophecy and reanimating all vampires destroyed over the ages, which Dracula had known all along. Invoking the time he had let Blade live years ago, Dracula then took to the air and departed. The realization that his interpretation of the prophecy was wrong made Lucas feel so guilty that Blade decided against killing him to make him live with the guilt.
(Dark Reign Files) - Quasimodo researched Lucas Cross for Norman Osborn. Osborn considered Cross' connections valuable and suggested to use Cross' guilt over bringing back so many of Earth's vampires to make him work with them. In case Doom was angered by Cross the latter should be eliminated.
Comments: Created by Marc Guggenheim (writer), Howard Chaykin (Artist) and Edgar Delgado (colorist).
Vincent Gaul was identified by name in the Vampires Appendix in the Vampires: The Marvel Undead (December, 2011) handbook, which also included a profile on Lucas Cross. Oleg's last name was revealed in Cross' profile.
We know how long Lucas Cross was imprisoned in Haasenstadt because we know Blade's birth date and the year of Cynthia von Doom's pregnancy. Blade II#3 revealed Blade's birth date as Black Thursday (10/24/1929). According to Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune#4 (September, 2009) Cynthia von Doom was pregnant in 1937.
Profile by Markus Raymond & Julien Vivé.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Lucas Cross has no known connection to:
images (without ads)
Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1, p12 (main image)
Blade III#11, p4, pan4 (head shot)
Blade III#11, p16, pan1 (full body)
Blade III4, p2, pan5 (full Prophecy)
Appearances:
Blade III#1-2 (November-December, 2006) - Marc Guggenheim (Writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Blade III#4 (February, 2007) - Marc Guggenheim (Writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Blade III#6 (April, 2007) - Marc Guggenheim (Writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Blade III#8-12 (June-October, 2007) - Marc Guggenheim (Writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Dark Reign Files#1 (2009) - Markus Raymond (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
Vampires: The Marvel Undead#1 (December, 2011) - Markus Raymond (writer), Patrick Scherberger & Howard Chaykin (artist), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
First Posted: 10/30/2016
Last updated: 10/27/2016
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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