ORA
Real Name: Ora
Identity/Class: Human, presumptive vampire;
late 19th century;
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: Presumably vampires of Earth
Affiliations: Abraham van Helsing;
unidentified Transylvanian villagers;
possibly Dracula if she was transformed into a vampire by him
Enemies: Dracula;
Known Relatives: Unidentified father
(presumably deceased)
Aliases: "Little Ora"
Base of Operations: Transylvania, Hungary,
Transleithania circa late 1890s (see
comments)
First Appearance: Tomb
of Dracula I#5 (November, 1972)
Powers/Abilities: Ora did not document any abilities, other than carrying a basket of fruit. She lived in legitimate fear of vampires and werewolves and other supernatural creatures.
if she became a vampire, she would
have had the typical superhuman power and limitations of vampires,
including superhuman strength, requiring blood meals to survive,
turning others into vampires by fatally draining their blood,
resistance to conventional injury, vulnerability to sunlight, religious
icons, garlic, a wooden stake through the heart, and silver. She may or
may not have been able to transform into a bat, rat, wolf or mist
and/or to mesmerize others with a gaze.
Height: Unrevealed (there's no direct
comparison to anyone of known height; "Little Ora" may reflect on her
height, but it could also refer to her youth, or it could refer to how
she was referenced in the past and a nickname stuck; regardless, I'd
guess between 5'2" to 5'6")
Weight: Unrevealed (see above; perhaps 110-130 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue (according to my
wife and daughter, Kate; I can't see color that well...); likely
red if she became a vampire
Hair: Red-brown
History:
(Tomb of Dracula I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Ora's father witnessed Abraham von
Helsing's staking of Dracula.
(Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - Escaping the demon
realm via a Black
Mirror, the 21st
century Dracula emerged in a
Transylvanian mausoleum -- the same one in which his own ancestors had
been interred -- having been displaced temporally to the late 1890's,
shortly after the time Abraham van Helsing had
staked Dracula.
(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - Walking through a
field with a basket of (presumably) fruit, Ora heard what sounded like
giant batwings flapping, though she tried to reassure herself that her
father had seen the vampire slain. Apparently seeing the approaching
bat, she begged the lord to protect her from vampires and werewolves
and all other creatures of the night. Losing track of the bat, Ora felt
relieved that it was an ordinary bat, but Dracula soon confronted Ora,
and her screams were soon muffled as he bit into her neck. After
feasting, Dracula departed, intending to ambush and vampirize Abraham
van Helsing.
(Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - Finding van Helsing away for the week, Dracula retreated to his castle.
(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - The next morning, a villager found Ora, dead of a vampire bite, noting
"Heaven help us if Count Dracula still stalks this haunted land."
He then carried her back into the village, where
townspeople gathered at the marketplace wondered how many others would
die by the same fangs, and the villagers debated whether they should
march on Dracula's castle and slay the vampire of if they should wait
until van Helsing returned and made the decision.
Arguments and debate continued throughout the day
so that it was almost dusk when perhaps 4-7 of them finally gathered
their courage and resolved to take care of matters themselves. As a
result, Dracula was awake, and he easily overpowered the farmers and
sheepherders, biting and drinking the blood of some while at least a
couple fled.
(Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - After Dracula's
modern day enemies Rachel van Helsing and Frank Drake traveled back
through the Black Mirror and pursued him, Dracula fled back to the
modern era via the Black Mirror, with Rachel and Drake close behind.
Having been fatally drained by a vampire, Ora should have become a vampire herself, unless the villagers staked, burned, and/or decapitated her.
Comments:Gardner F. Fox, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer.
Real world history and culture are not my areas of expertise, and I only searched Wikipedia. Feel free to disabuse me of my ignorance!
If Ora became a vampire and was subsequently slain, she was likely revived by the prophecy fulfilled in Blade III#12 that brought back every vampire that had ever perished.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ora should be distinguished from:
(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - The morning after Dracula fatally drained Ora, another villager found her. Realizing that she was dead of a vampire bite, he noted "Heaven help us if Count Dracula still stalks this haunted land." He then carried her back into the village, where townspeople gathered at the marketplace discussed what to do.
--Tomb of Dracula I#5
Note: Was this man her
father? Her brother? Just another villager? He didn't say "my little
Ora" or anything to indicate a relationship beyond familiarity.
You'd think if her father had witnessed van
Helsing staking Dracula just a short time before the story that he
would have still been around at the time of this story...or perhaps he
regularly accompanied van Helsing on missions, and perhaps he was away
with van Helsing at this time.
Regardless, we don't know whether this
villager accompanied the small group that stormed Castle Dracula; and,
if he did so, we don't know whether he was slain or bitten by Dracula...
-- |
(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - The the morning,
a villager found Ora, dead of a vampire bite
(from the time-traveled Dracula the night before), noting "Heaven help
us if
Count Dracula still stalks this haunted land." He then carried her back into the village,
where townspeople
gathered at the marketplace wondered how many others would die by the
same fangs, and the villagers debated whether they should march on
Dracula's castle and slay the vampire of if they should wait until van
Helsing returned and made the decision. Arguments and debate continued throughout
the day so that it was
almost dusk when perhaps 4-7 of them finally gathered their courage and
resolved to take care of matters themselves. As a result, Dracula was
awake, and he easily overpowered the farmers and sheepherders, biting
and drinking the blood of some while at least a couple fled. --Tomb of Dracula I#5 |
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images:
(without ads)
Tomb of Dracula I#5, pg. 9, panel 1 (most
full);
panel 2 (face);
panel 5 (soooo close to
being bitten);
pg. 13, panel 1 (villagers, battered);
pg. 13, panel 5 (corpse found);
pg. 12, panel 1 (villagers, knees-up
crowd);
panel 2 (villagers, face
crowd);
pg. 13, panel 3, 4 (villagers
bitten, and/or fleeing)
Appearances:
Tomb of Dracula I#5 (November, 1972) - Gardner F.
Fox (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Stan Lee
(editor)
First posted: 02/19/2021
Last updated: 02/19/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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