LAMIA

Real Name: Lamia

Identity/Class: Human (see comments) vampire (pre-Cataclysmic Era to 1930s)

Occupation: Predator; former High Priestess of Varnae

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Varnae

Enemies: Bloodshadows (Blade, Carla, Chen, Glory, Hector), pre-Cataclysmic Atlanteans, any other human

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: A House on Blaylock Street in London, England

First Appearance: Blade the Vampire-Hunter I#6 (December, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: She possessed the normal abilities of a vampire including superhuman strength and durability, immunity to the effects of aging and disease, sharp fangs, claws, the need to consume blood etc. Sunlight, a stake (or whatever pointy weapon is available) through the heart and other typical vampire weaknesses could kill or at least hurt her.

History:
(Blade: Vampire Hunter I#6 (fb) ) - In the days before the Great Cataclysm Lamia was the High Priestess of Varnae and butchered thousands in his name.

    In recent years she lived in a house on Blaylock Street where she slaughtered humans on a daily basis. She kept them in her larder hung head down from the ceiling to bleed out and collected their blood in pots. Others were eaten by her immediately. One night the street gang Bloodshadows broke into her house in search for money and other stuff to steal. Lamia found them in her larder and threatened them before Carla attacked her with a knife. Lamia liked her fighting spirit, but this didn't stop her from ripping her apart. The next attacker was bitten by her and then used to knock out the next guy. She mocked their fighting style and told her history to Blade and Glory before Blade attacked her next. Lamia realized that he was a Dhampir, a human tainted but not turned. He was quick enough to stab her in the chest, but he missed her heart and lifted him up to bite him. Glory stabbed Lamia from behind to save Blade, who was thrown through a window to the outside by Lamia. In Blade's absence Glory was bitten by Lamia and turned into a vampire.

(OHotMU Marvel Knights 2005) - Blade returned and slew Lamia. (see comments)

Comments: Created by Ian Edginton (writer), Nick Napolitano (pencils), Steve Moncuse & Phil Moy (inks).

    Blade was raised in London, but I'm not 100% sure that he still was in London when he joined the Bloodshadows.
He wasn't, but he returned to England with the Bloodhshadows! Read Guggenheim's Blade title and the Bloodshadows entry on the Appendix to learn more about this time in Blade's life.

      Lamia possibly survived the Great Cataclysm in a similar way as Varnae (read his profile on the Appendix) or she left Atlantis before.

     Originally Blade didn't kill Lamia on panel. In the present he wasn't even sure if she was dead (although he hoped the Montesi Formula had destroyed her). But with the revelation in the OHotMU Marvel Knights 2005 Lamia is history.

    The name Lamia seemed to be popular in the past.

•   In Greek legend Lamia once was a Lybian queen who became the lover of Zeus. Zeus' wife Hera punished her by killing her children (or compelled Lamia to kill her children). Lamia became insane and began to hunt human children to eat them and drink their blood. This version was sometimes depicted as a snake-like creature with a human head and breasts (the transformation was also done by Hera in some versions of the story).
•   Her name was pluralized into Lamiae which were ghostly, man-devouring women that lured men into their beds to drink their blood.
•   In the Middle-Ages the name was used for witches.
•   In Basque legends Lamia was a class of water fairies (evil water fairies).
•   In Bulgarian folk tales a three-headed dragon (nearly Hydra like) was named Lamia. It killed young women and drank human blood.
•   In 1820 an English poet named John Keats used Lamia by combining her with the Lilith myth. In this version the monstrous Lamia was able to transform into a young woman to win the love of Lycius. The poor thing was killed by the philosopher Apollonius when he addressed her by her name and then confronted her with her true nature. Lycius died as well when Lamia was named.
•   There are more legends and stories about creatures named Lamia.

  The vampire Lamia could be the source for some of those legends above. This doesn't necessarily have to be the case and a connection to none of those Lamia creatures is as likely as a connection to all of them or some or at least one. We don't even know if one of these legends or myths exists in the Marvel Universe the way they exist here.

With her build and the fact that she was the High Priestess of Varnae it can not be ruled out that she was actually not human when she was still alive, but like Varnae, a Giganthopithecus. Why? Because Varnae was revealed as one in his second appearance Timespirits#4 (April, 1985), which was written by his original creator. A Giganthopithecus is an extinct giant ape species.
--Markus Raymond

    In Blade III#12 a prophecy was fulfilled that brought back all vampires that ever died. This most likely included Lamia as well. We'll have to wait if she resurfaces, but to be honest it would be cool to see her again.
--Markus Raymond

Profile by Markus Raymond

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lamia has no known connections to

• Lamia, former Libyan queen @ Incredible Hercules#138
• Lamia, leader of Hkkkt @ Seeker 3000#2
• any other character with a similar name or the mythological creatures going by the same name

images: (without ads)
Blade: Vampire Hunter I#6, p10, pan3 (main image)
  p11, pan2 (head shot)

Appearances:
Blade: Vampire Hunter I#6 (December, 1994) - Ian Edginton (writer), Nick Napolitano (pencils), Steve Moncuse & Phil Moy (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)

First Posted: 04/18/2006
Last updated: 06/06/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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