Ebony Blade
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The Ebony Blade is a fictional enchanted sword in the Marvel Comics universe.
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[edit] History
The Ebony Blade was created by comic book writer Stan Lee in 'Black Knight Comics' #1, published under Atlas Comics in 1955. Its history was later revealed in Marvel Super-Heroes II #17 (November, 1968), written by Roy Thomas. The blade was shown to have been carved from a meteor, and enchanted by the wizard Merlin for Sir Percy of Scandia, the first Black Knight. Because of all the blood that Sir Percy shed with the blade, it acquired a curse. The sword passed down through the generations until it finally came to Dane Whitman, Sir Percy's descendant. Dane used the blade for many years. It passed briefly to Valkyrie when Dane's body was turned to stone (Defenders #4), and his soul sent back in time to the 13th century, but was soon returned to him (Defenders #11). Due to the curse, Dane eventually gave the Blade up. He drove it deep into the same meteor it was forged from, now residing in his castle. Only another deemed worthy would be able to withdraw it.
Sean Dolan, Dane's ex-squire, was able to draw the blade during an attack on Whitman's castle. This transformed Dolan into Bloodwraith. Dolan fought with the curse, and was able to give up the sword for a brief time. During this time, it was trapped in the Negative Zone barrier outside of Attilan. In the meantime, a second Ebony Blade had been brought into this dimension by Proctor, an alternate reality version of Dane. (Avengers #375) When Proctor was killed, his blade was taken into Avengers custody.
Dolan was drawn to this second Blade, and once again became Bloodwraith (Avengers Unplugged #6).Crystal retrieved the original Blade, and The Vision threatened to destroy it if Bloodwraith didn't surrender. Bloodwraith tossed the alternate Blade aside and reclaimed his own. Crystal picked up the second Blade and said it would be important to the future of the Inhumans. Bloodwraith was last known to have the Blade in his possession in Slorenia, where he was trapped by the Scarlet Witch (Avengers III #37).
The history of both Blades between that point and present is unknown. Presently, Black Panther was seen to be wielding the Ebony Blade, which he took off of an unidentified Black Knight assassin sent by the Vatican. Dane Whitman has also been seen in possession of the Ebony Blade, as of New Excalibur #10. Dane's Blade seems to still hold its blood curse. Black Panther's blade has not been mentioned to be holding any such curse.
In a recent interview, when addressing a question about the confusion of the Ebony Blades appearing in two comics, Marvel Comic's Editor Nick Lowe had this response:
| “ | The Black Knight in Black Panther wasn't ya' boy, Dane Whitman. It was an imposter who stole the sword from Dane. Now, since the imposter wasn't an idiot, he knew that if he outright stole the sword, Dane would come looking for it. So he replaced it with a different sword, so Dane didn't even know it was missing.
We're touching on this in New Excalibur #14-#15. Is that okay, Joe? |
” |
[edit] Powers and abilities
The Ebony Blade was an extremely powerful enchanted weapon. It was said to be indestructible, and nothing in the comics to date has disproven that statement. It also had many mystical or quasi-mystical capabilities, including the ability to:
- cut through virtually any physical substance except other enchanted weapons or extremely strong metals like adamantium
- cut through mystical barriers
- deflect energy when angled correctly
- absorb all forms of energy
Ironically, Dane Whitman discovered most of these abilities through scientific testing of the Blade.
Additionally, the Blade bonded to its wielder in such a way that the wielder could summon it back to himself or herself using a mystical ceremony if it were ever lost.
The Blade formerly rendered its wielder invulnerable to everything except another weapon carved from the same meteor, such as the Ebony Dagger.
Other notable wielders of the Blade include Whitman's ancestors Sir Percy of Scandia and Eobar Garrington, Valkyrie, and Marvel's version of Ares.
[edit] Curses and Influences
The Ebony Blade was afflicted with a blood curse due to all the blood the original Black Knight had spilled. Dane Whitman eventually purged the Blade of its curse at Doctor Strange's behest by plunging it into the Brazier of Truth while Strange bathed them both in magic fire. The curse returned, however, when the Sub-Mariner used it to kill his wife Marrina. The curse seems to affect different people in different ways. It turned Dane into a statue, it amplified Proctor's gann'josin-based powers, and it granted Sean Dolan great physical powers as Bloodwraith.
The Blade was sometimes known to subtly compel Dane to do things or go places that were tied to its previous wielders, as well.
