GUARDIAN of the EBONY BLADE

Real Name: Unrevealed Identity/Class: Magical being, apparent reanimated corpse/unliving being (see comments) Occupation: Former guardian of the Ebony Blade Group Membership: None Affiliations: Black Knight (Dane Whitman);     presumably Merlin and/or the Black Knight (Percy of Scandia) Enemies: The Guardian challenged those who drew the Ebony Blade from its scabbard in a battle to the death, and he fought to force such beings to prove their mettle, although he appeared to wish a worthy candidate to succeed.                                                                          . Known Relatives: None Aliases: None Base of Operations: Unrevealed (perhaps Avalon/Otherworld);     formerly Garrett Castle (formerly Bridgewater Castle and Castle Scandia), near Stroud, England First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes II#17 (November, 1968)

Powers/Abilities: Gigantic in stature (nearly 8' tall per the Black Knight (Dane Whitman)'s estimation), the Guardian was powerfully built and wielded a large, spiked mace on a chain, which he could use to shatter solid stone walls with a single blow.     The Guardian was powerfully built, but its green color and its skeletal facial features made him appear to be either a decomposing or unliving being or perhaps a reanimated corpse.     The Guardian was presumably affected by some spell that kept him alive/existing in some form -- although apparently decaying somewhat -- until a worthy successor obtained. Height: Unrevealed ("almost 8' tall" by the Black Knight's estimation) Weight: Unrevealed (at that height with that build, he would be around 530 lbs. assuming human composition) Eyes: Unrevealed (possibly none; his face was skull-like but his eye-regions were shaded and only shown as black; just before fading to dust, his head was an eyeless skull; eye color while a living being is unrevealed) Hair: Unrevealed (likely none, but he wore a helmet; hair color in life is unrevealed)

History:
(Marvel Super-Heroes II#17 (fb) - BTS) - The Guardian of the Ebony Blade lied dormant within Garrett Castle for over a millennium (see comments), presumably awakening any time the Ebony Blade was drawn from its wall-locked hand.

(Marvel Super-Heroes II#17 (fb) - BTS) - Nathan Garrett apparently attempted to pull the Ebony Blade from its wall-locked hand-held scabbard, but was presumably judged unworthy and was unable to do so.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Howard Purcell, and Dan Adkins.

    The Official Marvel Index to the Avengers#3 (October, 1987) describes the Guardian as "a large demon armed with a magic mace." The caption described it as a "living, loathsome entity" and an "ageless menace," while Whitman considered it to be unliving. He also referred to Whitman as "mortal" and "man of flesh and blood" which would indicate that the Guardian was not mortal.

    I'm not sure that the Guardian is a demon, it seemed to be a valiant spirit who wished the Black Knight to succeed so he could end his long watch.

    I'd think it was some long-dead knight of Camelot, chosen to wait and guard the Ebony Blade, perhaps granted superhuman size and power but gradually decaying in the process. Or perhaps he was a native/agent of Avalon/Otherworld.

    At the time of the original story, no one had held the Ebony Blade since Sir Percy, and it was stated that the Guardian had lain dormant for over a millennium (from 6th century Camelot to the mid-20th century) but that has been retconned over time, starting with Eobar Garrington, the Black Knight of the Crusades, but we've subsequently seen Sir Henry and Sir William as active during time periods with guns and cannons. Perhaps each of the Black Knights faced the Guardian, but he otherwise lay dormant beyond these minutes of challenges? Or maybe the Ebony Blade was removed from Garrett Castle at some point, perhaps by Sir Raston (who may have escaped without destroying the Guardian's mace, and the Guardian couldn't leave the castle?), and then only returned after the last person before Whitman wielded it, such that the Guardian hadn't truly revived in over a millennium. Or perhaps, if Eobar Garrington revived him, the sliding timescale will make it over a millennium in 2187 AD). Or...dorcas farkas...

Per the Grand Comics Database:

Possible inkers who assisted Adkins include Tom Palmer (pages 2-3); Dick Ayers (pages 16, 17, 20) and Paul Reinman (page 22).

Staff artists who made alterations throughout the book include Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe and John Romita, who redrew Dane Whitman's face throughout most of the story. Info per Nick Caputo, March 2013.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Guardian of the Ebony Blade should be distinguished from:

• Guardian - four-armed servant of Infinity (aspect of Odin)--Thor I#185
• Guardian (James MacDonald "Mac" Hudson), founder and leader of Alpha Flight--(as Weapon Alpha) X-Men I#109, (as Guardian) Alpha Flight I#2
• Guardian, a synthoid duplicate of James MacDonald Hudson (except that he was younger than the original Mac) who was created by Department H scientists-- Alpha Flight II#1
• Guardian imposter (Delphine Courtney), an android (MX39147) built by Roxxon's Brand Corporation and assigned to help Jerry Jaxon get revenge on James and Heather Hudson who later impersonated James Hudson--(as Delphine) Alpha Flight I#7, (as Hudson) Alpha Flight I#22
• Guardian imposter, a Plodex who used the transubstantiator to become a duplicate of the real Guardian (James Hudson)--Alpha Flight III#5
• Guardian (Heather McNeil Hudson), wife of Alpha Flight's founder James Hudson who used her husband's battlesuit (as Vindicator) after his apparent death, temporarily became Guardian after his return before switching back to Vindicator--(as Vindicator) Alpha Flight I#34, (as Guardian) Alpha Flight I#90
• Guardian (Heather Hudson) of Earth-21993, one of the many superhuman heroes on that divergent Earth who were massacred by the Sentinels when they overran the planet--What If? II#47
• Guardian (Mac Hudson) of Reality-9997 (Earth X), a cyborg whose head is attached to a Neanderthal body who is Protector of Canada but also a pawn of the Skull-- Earth X#10
• Guardian, an alias briefly used by Omega (Michael Pointer) when he was part of Omega Flight--(Collective) New Avengers I#16, (Guardian) Omega Flight#5
• "The Guardian", the leader of a city in North America where the last remnants of human civilization on Earth-3710 lived--Strange Tales II#2/2
• The Guardian, a giant intelligent cobra who guarded the tunnels which led to the secret underground city in New Mexico which had been built by the People (several different species of sentient reptiles)--Ms. Marvel I#21
• Guardian, the most protective member of the Triad, three aspects of Bruce Banner's consciousness which appeared to guide the Hulk when he was left in a nearly mindless state--Incredible Hulk II#308
• The Guardian (Mr. Doug), a man whose obsessive rivalry with his former childhood friend (Phantom) over a toy led to them killing each other 20 years after their friendship ended when Doug stole the toy from his friend--Marvel Super-Heroes III#2/4
• Vormund (Markus Ettlinger), a German super-hero whose most recent codename means "Guardian" in English--(as Hauptmann Deutschland) Captain America I#387/2, (as Vormund) Captain America I# 442
• Guardian, a clone of Peter Parker who was created by the Jackal (Miles Warren) whom he served by guarding the door to his master's laboratory--Web of Spider-Man#122
• "Guardian" of "Earth-7310" - ruler of the City--Savage Tales I#2/2
• The Guardian of Fen's crypt, a male member of the Unforgiven Dead who guarded Fen's crypt in Antarctic Atlantis while it held the living body of Artys-Gran in which Fen's spirit had been trapped--Namor I#39
• The Guardian of the Altar, an immense, incredibly strong (and long-lived) cephalopod which the Olympian god Neptune had placed to guard the Set-sphere at the undersea location known as the Altar of Neptune's Wrath--Avengers West Coast Annual#4
• "Guardian of the Black Orchid", a brown-skinned dinosaur (or dinosaur-like creature) who acted to guard a rare black orchid located in a hidden swamp in the jungles of the Congo--Jungle Tales I#2/1
• Guardian of the Cave of Reality-93060 (Ultraverse), a three-faced and three-legged monster who was created by Prometheus to protect the Fire People from humans--Freex#12
• Guardian of the Dead, a giant monster who lived beneath the ground and guarded the coffins of the dead members of the Grateful Undead--Marvel Comics Presents I#90/3
• Guardian of the Gateway, a Yeti who guarded the City of the Samurai--Black Panther I#5
• Guardian of the Light, a title given to the High Priest of the Monks of the Hidden Temple in Vietnam--Amazing Spider-Man I#108
• The Guardian of the Mirror of Beauty, an inhumanly-beautiful woman who guarded one of the four Cornerstones of Creation during the Hyborian Age--Conan the Barbarian#130
• The Guardian of the Promethean Flame, an Olympian Titan stationed in the Temple of the Promethean Flame in Olympus who guarded that mystical flame eternal until killed by Ares--Avengers I#100
• The Guardian of the Ruby, a huge monster which King Kronak of the Realm of Terragonia (located in an extradimensional microverse) could summon from a nether realm by using the mystical Ruby of Shadows--Incredible Hulk II#201
• Guardian of the Spirit World--Marvel Mystery Comics#28
• Guardian of the Tower in the Hyborian era, a giant bat/human creature who guarded Siptah and the Gem--Gem in the Tower/Savage Sword of Conan#45
• Guardian of the Treasure of Tranicos in the Hyborian era, a demon (aka the Black Stranger) who guarded the cave which contained the Treasure of Tranicos as well as the preserved bodies of the pirate Tranicos and his men--Treasures of Tranicos/Savage Sword of Conan#47
• Guardian of the Vortex, an extradimensional non-humanoid who defended a dimensional portal from attackers for over 1,000 years until it was assisted in closing the portal by Iron Man (James Rhodes)--Iron Man I#176
• Guardian of the Well of Wisdom (Mimir), an Asgardian god (Aesir) who was long ago beheaded by the Vanir and now exists as a flaming disembodied head with prophetic abilities--Thor I#240
• Guardians of A.I.M., two giant humanoid robots created by M.O.D.O.K. to protect the A.I.M. base which contained his super-weapon--Iron Man Annual#4
• The Guardians of Shagreen, two giant serpentine carvings which were enchanted by Shagreen the Sorcerer of Reality-5311 so that they would come to life and attack any who approached his chambers-- Nightcrawler I#2
• The Guardians of the Galaxy (aka the Chosen Eight of Fate), a group of eight beings (the Kree woman Ajesthe, a Badoon, a Shi'ar, a Skrull and four others) who thousands of years ago were evolved/empowered by the Lifestone Tree so that they could maintain peace between the inhabited worlds--Thunderbolts I#45
• The Guardians of the Galaxy (Drax, Gamora, Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, Bug, Groot, Major Victory, Mantis). a team formed by Star-Lord (Peter Quill) in the aftermath of the Phalanx conquest of the Kree Empire to proactively protect the galaxy from similar threats--Guardians of the Galaxy II#1
• The Guardians of the Galaxy from Reality-691 (Major Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu), a group of heroes initially formed from the last (known) survivors of four planets destroyed by the Badoon in 3007 A.D. who were dedicated to freeing Earth from their Badoon conquerors--Marvel Super-Heroes II#18
• Guardians of the Quadriverse, beings who exist at the very center of the Quadriverse and act to prevent menaces from reaching the Home Sector, Guardians who reach the Home Sector live a life of peace and contentment while a new Guardian replaces them at the central point--Doctor Strange II#24
• The Guardians of the Temple of Cyttorak in Korea, ten (or more) humanoid beings of unknown nature who guard the Temple of Cyttorak from intruders--New Excalibur IV#13
• The Guardians of the Temple of the Sun on the island of Koma Koi, warriors who protected the temple and its priests against evil groups (like the Coven) who would use the Tear of Heaven gemstone to bring the final Dark Age of mankind to Earth--Marvel Comics Presents #134/1
• The Guardians of the Universe of Earth-Amalgam (Reality-9602), a powerful alien organization that manipulated the Starbrand Corps--mentioned in Speed Demon#1
• Guardian Angel (Tom Harper) of Earth-Amalgam (Reality-9602), a combination of the Angel (Thomas Halloway) from Marvel Earth-616 and the Guardian (James Harper) from a Different Cosmos--Spider-Boy#1
• Seraph (aka Guardian Angel) of Reality-148611 (New Universe), a paranormal mutate who devoted his life to defending less powerful paranormals--Justice#20
• The Guardian Life Insurance Company, a firm which engaged in fraud by offering life insurance policies to super-criminals but then refusing to pay claims due to their clients' criminal activities--Captain America I#291
• The guardian lions which the Hyborian era sorcerer Yara kept in the garden of the Tower of the Elephant to deal with intruders and the giant spider which Yara kept in the top room of the Tower of the Elephant to protect the boxes full of treasure which he hoarded there--Conan the Barbarian I#4
• The Guardian Protocols, interstellar agreements established thousands of years ago by the ancient "Guardians of the Galaxy" (aka the Chosen Eight of Fate) whereby, once enacted, the various alien races involved would work together to neutralize significant threats to the universe--mentioned in Thunderbolts II#101+106
• Guardian Robots (aka Doombots, Omni-Bots, Security Robots, Servo-Guards, Servo-Units), humanoid robots built by Doctor Doom to serve him and police Latveria--Fantastic Four I#84
• The Guardian Spirit (aka the Demon of Zangabal) of the Lost Lemuria era, a monstrous demon with an iron-hard body who was used as a watchdog by the wizard Athmar Phong until it was killed by Thongor (who had been strengthened enough to do so by the mystic Shield of Cathloda amulet)--Creatures On the Loose#22
• or any other "Guardians"

Marvel Super-Heroes II#17, pg. 9, panel 1 (main image);
       pg. 10, panel 1 (mace - wall smash);
          panel 3 (mace, cleaving);
          panel 4 (defeated);
          panel 5 (skull in dust)

Appearances:
Marvel Super-Heroes II#17 (November, 1968) - Roy Thomas (writer & associate editor), Howard Purcell (penciler; see comments), Dan Adkins and Co. (see comments; inker), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/03/2021
Last updated: 08/30/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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