Bloodstone (comics)
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Ulysses Bloodstone, also known as Frank, is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a monster hunter and the father of Elsa Bloodstone. He was created by John Warner, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Mike Vosberg, and Bob McLeod. Ulysses Bloodstone was named by Stan Lee, and designed by John Romita, Sr.
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[edit] Publication history
Bloodstone first appeared as "Frank" in Strange Tales I #73 (February 1960); then as Bloodstone in Marvel Presents #1 (October, 1975)
[edit] Fictional character biography
The Man who would become Ulysses Bloodstone was born approximately 8250 B.C., towards the twilight of the Hyborian Age, into a small nomadic tribe who occupied Northern Vanaheim, which would later be called Scandinavia. One of his tribe's foremost hunters, he one night observed a meteorite crashing to the Earth. He directed his subsequent hunting endeavors in that direction, where one day he spied a cloaked figure (who turns out to be Ulluxy'l), whom he followed into a cavern, where he approached an advanced citadel.
Ulluxy'l, a servant of the Exo-Mind, sought a human host for the Exo-Mind, and offered the savage a portion of the power of the Hellfire Helix, channeled via the Bloodgem. The savage was initially startled by Ulluxy'l's appearance and tried to attack him, but Ulluxy'l psychically immobilized him. Irradiated by the Bloodgem, the savage was endowed with superhuman strength. Ulluxy'l sent the savage to bring his tribe before the Bloodgem as well.
The savage returned to his tribe and demonstrated his power by overpowering a mastodon, after which he fired an energy blast and then offered the "power of the gods" to his people. They followed the savage to Ulluxy'ls citadel, where Ulluxy'l performed an elaborate ceremony, arranging the tribesmen in a geometric formation around the Bloodgem, to access the powers of the Helix. The Bloodgem issued its energies, psychically draining the tribesmen's minds and killing their bodies. However, the cosmic images and energies channeled proved too much for the tribesmen, who broke formation and thus disrupted the ceremony. While Ulluxy'l lamented the failure of his plan for ultimate power, the savage lunged upon the gem, causing it to explode into hundreds of fragments, destroying the citadel and even shattering the mountain containing the cavern. One of these geometrically perfect fragments imbedded itself in the savage's sternum; the others were scattered across the planet.
Although his people had perished in the process, the savage had become immortal. He dedicated himself to exacting revenge upon Ulluxy'l, the being he held responsible for his people's death, and eventually took the name Ulysses Bloodstone.
[edit] Monster Hunter
For a hundred centuries, Bloodstone pursued his goal of taking down Ulluxy'l, while Ulluxy'l sought to regather the Bloodgem fragments. To keep Bloodstone from reaching him, Ulluxy'l dispatched hordes of extradimensionally born monsters to kill him. Bloodstone managed to triumph over the many creatures sent against him, but only succeeded in locating his archfoe a handful of times over the millennia. When he lost Ulluxy'l's trail completely, and was not involved in learning new languages, skills, or knowledge, Bloodstone went into a self-induced suspended animation, sometimes for up to a century at a time.
By the early 20th century, Ulluxy'l had acquired all but four of the Bloodgem fragments, while Bloodstone had acquired a fortune through mercenary work and shrewd investments. Ulysses Bloodstone, using the alias "Frank," was summoned to Mombasa, Africa by his friend Museum of Natural History curator Lynn Avery to stop Grottu, a giant ant. As Grottu and his legion of army ants approached Mombasa and passed straight through the city, Frank realized that Grottu's goal was to reach the wharf and the ships that would allow it to reach the rest of the world. Frank shot off Grottu's antennae, limiting his ability to control the ants, and then had the natives gather a large supply of sugar from a nearby warehouse, and had it dumped on top of Grottu. The other ants were drawn to the sugar and Grottu's could not drive them off. The ants ravenously consumed the sugar and then wandered back into the jungle, leaving Grottu dead.
Bloodstone followed the trail of Grottu's destruction back towards it origins, into a narrow mountain pass, when he encountered a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He was assisted by the adventurer Zawadi, and the two managed to drive the creature off. Bloodstone and Zawadi continued to follow the trail, which ultimately led to a collapsed cave in the Wakandan mountains. His only certain finding was that Grottu came from underground.
Six weeks later, Bloodstone and Zawadi met at Hathaway's Explorer's Club, where they were joined by Doctor Druid and the Eternal Makkari. After sharing their adventures, the four formed the group the Monster Hunters, to locate and end the threat of the source of the numerous monsters plaguing the world at that time.
The monster Gorgilla was sent into New York on a rampage by the Deviant Kro. The Monster Hunters followed Gorgilla and encountered him in Yankee's stadium and the Statue of Liberty, where Dr. Druid mentally calmed and managed to control him. The quartet decided to return Gorgilla to the wild. Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters took Gorgilla to Midnight Mountain, where they were attacked by the Lizard Men, whom they fought off with Gorgilla's aid. However, in the process, Makkari was captured and Bloodstone revealed his true nature. After explaining his origins to Zawadi and Druid, Bloodstone accompanied them in pursuit of Makkari, encountering the immense Gigantus in the process. Bloodstone stunned Gigantus with the rocket thrust from their ship, and he escaped the monster, though it did cause their ship to sink. Descending down a tunnel, they encountered other monstrous creatures, eventually confronting Kro and freeing Makkari. However, Kro unleashed other mutates against them, including Tricephalous, and the Monster Hunters were forced to allow him to escape.
Approximately 18 years ago, Bloodstone met and married a woman named Elise, who adopted his last name. Eventually Elise gave birth to his daughter, Elsa, though Ulysses and Elsa separated when Elsa was two years old. Ulysses distanced himself from both, and Elsa never knew him as she grew up.
After the break-up, Ulysses established a mansion in Boston, Massachusetts, which served to house many of the relics and other items he had collected over the years. The house was cared for by the vampire Charles Barnabus, who was also named to be the executor of his estate. Bloodstone also befriended an eccentric Polishman named Mr. Dluga, as well as his son. At some point, he also befriended the Frankenstein monster, who came to occasionally stay at his mansion, eventually acting as its caretaker. The monster, sometimes using the name Adam, sometimes accompanied Bloodstone on missions. Bloodstone trusted Adam to give his daughter Elsa a fragment of the Bloodgem in the Bloodstone choker when she was old enough.
[edit] Confrontation and Revelation
Ulluxy'l allied himself with Conspiracy, a group of four others assembled by the Exo-Mind to complete the five beings necessary to channel the Hellfire Helix's full energy into Earth. Six months later, agents of Centurius smuggled a Bloodgem fragment onto an ocean liner departing from Rio de Janiero, the same ship on which Bloodstone was traveling. Accompanying Brad Carter, Bloodstone fought Centurius's agents--who sought to capture either Bloodstone or his gem, after which he was introduced to Samantha Eden, a freelance journalist. However, the ship was then attacked by the monstrous Goram, who rent a hole in the hull, causing the smuggled Bloodgem fragment to fall to the ocean floor. Bloodstone pursued it, but was incapacitated by Goram, who escaped with the fragment. After learning that several scientists had been abducted, Bloodstone sought out Tony Stark to help investigate and to learn if S.H.I.E.L.D. had any further information. After a brief battle resulting from the usual case of mistaken identities/purposes, Bloodstone and Iron Man joined forces and tracked Centurius to his lair (based on the last coordinates transmitted by Carter's ship). However, Ulluxy'l confronted Centurius as well, only to learn that Centurius was actually secretly part of the Conspiracy, who had conspired to expel Ulluxy'l from their group. Bloodstone destroyed Centurius's robots and defeated Goram, but then confronted Centurius just as he utilized the Bloodgem fragment he had acquired to slay Ulluxy'l. Centurius' then activated his island's self-destruct mechanism and escaped, forcing Bloodstone and Iron Man to rescue Centurius' prisoners - with the aid of S.H.I.E.L.D. - and flee as well.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Eric Koenig dropped Bloodstone off at his own island, where he offered Samantha Eden a position as his public relations agent to aid in his worldwide struggle against and investigation of the Conspiracy. Bloodstone then meditated on his own Bloodgem fragment and learned of the existence of the Exo-Mind, the intelligence within the Hellfire Helix and Bloodgem. The Exo-Mind told him of the Otherworldly Gods/Elders who wished to use the Bloodgem to transform Earth's dimension into a chaotic world similar to their own.
Samantha Eden was allowed to return to her apartment in France to consider Bloodstone's offer, but she was then confronted by Domino, an agent of the Conspiracy. Bloodstone and Brad Carter traveled to a Manhattan hotel, and Bloodstone was ambushed by the "Death Suite," a trap set by the Conspiracy; Bloodstone destroyed the trap.
Meanwhile, Conspiracy agents destroyed Bloodstone Island and blew up a subway in Greenwich Village. In addition, another Conspiracy agent delivered the Modular Man to a New York hospital, where he collected the Killer Shrike before meeting up with another Conspiracy agent. Domino convinced Samantha Eden that she must distance herself from Bloodstone due a threat he posed to the world.
Bloodstone tracked the energy impulses from the Death Suite to a control room in the suite above. There he encountered several Conspiracy agents who acted as empathic batteries and channeled the combined mindforce of the Conspiracy against him. Bloodstone's own power, channeled through his Bloodgem, overcame his attackers, and he met up with Brad Carter and Samantha Eden and regrouped at his Minibase-6, a bar in Harlem owned by his ally, William Brandon Montague III, also known as Billy Brand. His computers analyzed a programming tape from the "Death Suite" 's control room, giving only the vague message "Yesod is in Cancer". Bloodstone sent Carter to investigate the loss of communication with Bloodstone Island, and three days later Bloodstone himself appeared before the United Nations, declaring his sovereignty of Bloodstone Island, and requesting the UN's assistance and support.
Bloodstone's meeting was interrupted by the monstrous Sharzan the Elemental, who battled Bloodstone and eventually stunned him, allowing Kaballa (a member of the Conspiracy) to transport them both to his subterranean base. The stunned Bloodstone was devastated to hear Kaballa reveal that he had been a pawn of the Exo-Mind and that his entire 10,000 years of existence had just been for the Exo-Mind's enjoyment.
[edit] The End
Bloodstone was brought before the Conspiracy, where one of its members, Dr. Juden Bardham, a cardiologist, cut the Bloodgem from his chest. The Conspiracy left Bloodstone for dead, traveling to the cavern in which Bloodstone had gained his power millennia before, and prepared to perform the ceremony to gain its power. However, the Exo-Mind instead absorbed the Conspiracy members and used their energies to coalesce the Bloodgem fragments into a single, monstrous crystalline creature. Reborn in the Bloodgem creature, the Exo-Mind traveled to and rampaged through New York. However, residual Bloodgem energy in Bloodstone's corpse reanimated him, and he made his way from the Conspiracy's underground citadel to confront the Bloodgem creature. Now absolutely focused on a sole purpose, Bloodstone used his third eye to access the astral plane on which the Exo-Mind existed. His chronic exposure to the Bloodgem's energies enabled him to survive the Exo-Mind's assaults and penetrate the outer mind/form, and to confront the very Hellfire Helix itself. Disrupting the Hellfire Helix, Bloodstone severed the Exo-Mind's connection to the Bloodgem. The Bloodgem creature shattered into countless fragments, while Bloodstone's body decayed into a lifeless skeleton.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
Ulysses Bloodstone possessed a number of superhuman attributes as a result of having a fraction of the Bloodgem imbedded in his chest. He possessed superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, and senses. Bloodstone also possessed vast regenerative capablities that enabled him to fully recover from virtually any type of injury. Bloodstone was even capable of regenerating missing limbs, although it required him to enter a state of hibernation that would last for years. The presence of the Bloodgem fragment granted Bloodstone virtual immortality. He was immune to aging and Earthly diseases.
Bloodstone some degree of psionic capabilities. He possessed what he referred to as an invisible "third eye" on his forehead that enabled him to see human auras and to travel to the astral plane. Bloodstone also possessed limited telekinetic powers that he could use to place himself in suspended animation for a considerable period of time.
Bloodstone was dependent upon the Bloodgem for his continued survival. Separation from it would result in death. Due to the mystical energies of the Bloodgem, Bloodstone didn't require food, water, or air in order to survive.
Bloodstone also possessed a lamp which contained a Genie he had enslaved many years ago. This lamp served as a type of early warning system, lighting up during encounters with supernatural forces. He could also use the lamp to teleport himself over great distances.
[edit] Appearances
- Marvel Presents #1, 2 (1975)
- Rampaging Hulk #1-6, 8 (1977)
- Captain America #357-362 (1989) [Bloodstone Hunt]
- Marvel Universe #4-7 (1998) [intro of Monster Hunters]
- The Supernaturals #4 (1998) [story takes place in an Alternate Universe]
- Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6-7 (1999)
- X-Men: The Hellfire Club #2 (2000)
- Marvel: The Lost Generation #2 (2001)
- The Defenders #9 (2001)
- Universe X #6 (2001) [story takes place in an Alternate Universe]
- Universe X: X (2001) [story takes place in an Alternate Universe]
- Paradise X #10 (2003) [story takes place in an Alternate Universe]
- Nextwave #8 (2006)
