10 Strongest Marvel Vampires Who Became Heroes

This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Blood Hunt!Marvel’s Blood Hunt is their bloodiest event yet. Some of the strongest Marvel heroes, such as Black Panther and Miles Morales, became vampires. Both fell victim to Varnae’s attack, as the original vampire tricked them by occupying Blade‘s body. Thankfully, they were both able to break Varnae’s grip on them and eventually fight against him. However, T’Challa and Miles aren’t the only characters who became vampires, only to be heroes despite their malady.

In the Marvel universe, some of the strongest vampires fought against their predatory natures and embraced the role of heroes (though self-interests drove some of them). This often makes for very intriguing characters, as they are fighting for good and trying to suppress their vampire needs—most of the time.

10 Dracula Occasionally Sides With the Heroes

The Lord of Vampires is also known as Vlad the Impaler, Dagon, and Frank Drake

Yes, Vlad Dracula is one of the strongest Marvel villains, but sometimes, he worked with heroes to further his agenda. In recent Blood Hunt issues, readers were surprised to see him working with the Avengers and Blade’s daughter, Bloodline. But this isn’t the first time Dracula has defended humankind from his own.

During The Death of Doctor Strange, Dhalia, one of the vampire council members, wanted to use Strange’s death as a chance to conquer humans. Dracula teamed up with Blade to stop her, but that’s not the only time he has fought alongside a hero. In Curse of the Mutants, Dracula’s son, Xarus, murdered him and declared war on the mutants. When the X-Men resurrected Dracula, he returned the favor by killing Xarus. However, years later, he kidnapped Wolverine and used his blood to help vampires walk in sunlight. Still, seeing his interests line up with Marvel superheroes is always interesting.

9 Bessie the Hellcow Teamed Up With Deadpool

Hellcow retired to her own farm and raised a child known as Hellcalf

Hellcow is one of the strangest Marvel characters, let alone vampires. Dracula, extra hungry one night with no humans to prey upon, drank Bessie’s blood and turned her into a vampire cow. She spent the next few hundred years looking for Dracula but somehow landed in Ohio, where she fought Howard the Duck. After stabbing Hellcow with a wooden stake, Howard thought he had killed her, but her story just kept getting stranger.

Years later, Hellcow teamed up with Deadpool to fight Doctor Kilgore, a mad scientist using Bessie’s vampiric milk to treat his tuberculosis. Afterward, Hellcow joined Deadpool, Inc. However, like Dracula, she only had self-interest in mind. She eventually betrayed Deadpool while working with the Chameleon. She may have ended up a bad vampire cow, but she was a hero for a time.

8 Sam Wilson’s Bird Redwing Was Transformed Into A Vampire

Redwing also operates as a member of the Pet Avengers

Bessie isn’t the only vampire animal in the Marvel Universe. As it turns out, there is also a vampire bird! Redwing is among the coolest yet scariest pets in the Marvel Universe. He already has a psychic connection to Captain America (Sam Wilson). This was the result of the Red Skull tampering with the Cosmic Cube. Redwing is also, in his own words, a master strategist. But that’s not all.

In All-New Captain America #5, Baron Blood bit and nearly killed Redwing, but the falcon returned in the next issue sporting red eyes. The heroes didn’t make much of this new development, but Redwing gained an accelerated healing factor. This came in handy later for the new Falcon, Joaquín Torres. The mad scientist Karl Malus used Redwing’s blood to experiment on Torres. As a result, Torres grew wings and got Redwing’s healing powers.

7 Bloodstorm First Turned Against Her Creator To Join The Six

A Bloodstorm variant later joined the X-Men Blue roster for a short time

In the 616 universe, Dracula once tried to hypnotize Storm into being his bride. Too bad for him, Ororo Munroe has such a strong will that she resisted his influence and defeated him. However, there are several other realities in which Dracula succeeded in turning Storm into a vampire. In one of those realities, Earth-21710, Dracula turned Storm while she was a young thief in Cairo. She went on to join that reality’s X-Men, but her bloodlust led her to kill that reality’s Professor X and Beast.

When the Goblin Queen brought her to Earth-616, she met the young time-displaced Beast. After seeing the face of the friend she killed, she turned against the Goblin Queen and worked with the young X-Men to defeat her. She ended up joining the time-displaced X-Men team until she was killed by Ahab, who stabbed her with a silver spear. For a short while, readers had a version of a beloved Marvel hero, Storm, as a vampire.

6 Hannibal King Is a Vampire Detective Who Worked With Blade

The Vampire Detective is one of Marvel’s best private eyes

Hannibal King might not be the most well-known Marvel hero, but he is one of the few who became a vampire and never hunted humans. Deacon Frost turned him into a vampire, the same character who killed Blade’s mother. When he discovered what he had become, he was mortified and vowed never to feast on a living person’s blood. Instead, he used blood banks to keep himself fed.

He’s also a formidable opponent. He once fought Dracula to a standstill and even defeated Blade in combat. However, they became allies when they realized that they both had a connection because of Deacon Frost and were on the same side. Hannibal might not be a popular character, but he did once take over Thor’s title in the 90s. So, at least, he had a moment to shine.

5 Morbius Is An Anti-Hero Who Struggles With Personal Demons

The Living Vampire does his best to control his vampire urges

Dr. Michael Morbius may not have had a successful movie, but he’s been a popular Marvel character for decades. He’s an interesting vampire because, unlike all others, his curse is due to experimenting on his own body rather than a vampire biting him. This is how he gained the monicker, “the living vampire.” And though he is usually a strong vampire villain, he’s also been an on-and-off again hero.

Morbius’s bloodlust might sometimes drive him, leading him into confrontations with Spider-Man, Blade, and the X-Men. However, he is also a doctor and struggles not to harm others unless necessary. In fact, he is one of the nicest villains in comics. For a time, he also protected the people of Monster City and vowed that when he fed, he would only feed on “the blood of the guilty.”

4 Nightguard Helped Wolverine Fight Dracula

Logan’s vampire ally was out for revenge

Nightguard is a new Marvel superhero who has worked alongside Wolverine and X-Force to fight Dracula and the Vampire Nation. She has been a vampire hunter all her life, part of a cult called the Nightguard operating out of Paris, France. Unfortunately, the leader of Nightguard betrayed the rest of the cult to Dracula’s forces. Louise was one of many who became a vampire.

However, she became an even stronger hero, especially after Forge of X-Force equipped her with armor that allowed her to walk in sunlight and weapons that used UV technology. She teamed up again with Wolverine during the Blood Hunt event. When Blade, possessed by Varnae, the first vampire, blacked out the skies and set vampires loose worldwide, Nightguard and Wolverine worked together to save as many humans as possible.

3 The Forgiven Is a Team of Good Vampires

The vampire-hunting vampire team also helped Jubilee

The Forgiven are a relatively new team in the Marvel Universe. What makes them unique is that they are a team of vampires who became heroes and now hunt vampires. Their first appearance was in an epic clash. They teamed up with Dracula to stop a Norse god-possessed Hulk during Fear Itself. Not bad for a debut.

As often as they can, however, they try to help vampires curb their need for human blood. After Jubilee of the X-Men turned into a vampire, they also helped her. Eventually, Jubilee was cured of her vampire affliction, but she kept in touch with the team. During Blood Hunt, the Forgiven and Jubilee teamed up to help a newly-turned vampire control her bloodlust.

2 Blade Is One of the Most Popular Vampires in Pop Culture

The original vampire superhero is still one of the best

Blade is, without a doubt, the most famous vampire in comics. Technically, he’s a “dhampir,” a human-vampire hybrid. This means he has many gifts that vampires have but doesn’t hunger for human blood. He became even more powerful when Morbius the Living Vampire bit him. Afterward, he became the “daywalker” and could survive in sunlight. He was enhanced even further when he drank Dracula’s blood.

Blade, or Eric Brooks, has been a superhero since he was a teenager. He even served in World War II as part of the Secret Invaders, defeating a U-boat possessed by Mephisto. Since then, he’s teamed up with heroes all over the Marvel Universe, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. He was also an Avenger during Jason Aaron’s run. And unlike Morbius, he had a successful film series and is about to enter the MCU, this time played by Mahershala Ali.

1 Spitfire Served with Captain America As An Invader

The World War II vampire speedster deserves more recognition

Blade might be the most famous vampire who became a hero, but that doesn’t make him the strongest or best of them. Enter Jacqueline Falsworth, AKA Spitfire. During World War II, the Captain America villain Baron Blood bit her and drained her blood. She nearly died but was saved when she received a blood transfusion from the android Jim Hammond, known as the Human Torch (not the one in the Fantastic Four). She served with Hammond and Captain America as part of the Invaders.

The combination of Hammond’s blood and Baron Blood’s bite gave her incredible powers. She is fast enough to rival Quicksilver, has extraordinary strength, stamina, and durability, a set of claws, and an accelerated healing factor. She also ages incredibly slowly, and after a second transfusion from Hammond, her body reverted to her teenage years. Like Blade, she can also walk in the sunlight. Spitfire is a great character, but she is horribly underused.