LENORE DeCADE

Real Name: Lenore DeCade

Identity/Class: Late 19^th century human vampire;
    also active in the modern era;
    possibly previously active at some time period in the 15^th to early 19^th centuries (see comments)

Occupation: Predator; servant of Dracula;
    any previous occupation is unrevealed

Group Membership: Vampires of Earth;

Affiliations: Formerly Dracula (although, even though he sacrificed her, if she revived, she would likely be subject to his will);
    the Moorlands man she vampirized may have been subservient after his revival

Enemies: Dracula, Frank Drake, Taj Nital, Rachel van Helsing; unidentified Moorlands man she vampirized.
    indirectly Abraham van Helsing;

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly a crypt within a ruined chapel in the Moorlands near Dering manor;
    formerly Transylvania near Castle Dracula;
    formerly a bottle within Castle Dracula, Transylvania

First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula I#4 (September, 1972)

Powers/Abilities: As a vampire, Lenore had superhuman strength (lifting perhaps 1000 lbs; she considered herself to be as strong as Dracula, but that is unconfirmed...as is whether she just meant "strong like Dracula") and required regular blood meals to survive.

    Further, feeding on a human victim would turn that victim into a vampire, depending on the extent of the feeding and other circumstances.

    Those she vampirized may or may not have been subservient to her.

    When fully fed, she could likely heal rapidly from non-fatal wounds. 

    She was certainly vulnerable to a wooden stake (or arrow) through the heart. Presumably she had the standard vampire vulnerabilities, including sunlight, religious icons, garlic, and  silver.

    He could transform into a normal-sized bat and into mist; it is unrevealed whether he could transform into a wolf.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 6'; she did not appear to be much shorter than the 6'5" Dracula)
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 145 lbs.; variable (mist or bat forms))
Eyes: Red (original color unrevealed)
Hair: Black

History:

(Tomb of Dracula I#5 (fb) - BTS) - Lenore DeCade was vampirized, presumably by Dracula

(Tomb of Dracula I#5 (fb) - BTS) <Centuries ago (see comments)> - Dracula imprisoned Lenore in mist form within a glass bottle he kept in Castle Dracula.

(Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - Transported back to the late 1890's from modern times via the Black Mirror and pursued by similarly transported enemies Frank Drake, Taj Nital, and Rachel van Helsing, Dracula sought a distraction for them so he could slay and/or vampirize Abraham van Helsing.

(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - Returning to Castle Dracula, Dracula located the glass bottle containing Lenore's mist form and hurled it against a wall, shattering it and releasing her.

    When Dracula instructed her of her mission and authorized her to feed on them, Lenore replied that she cared not what she did, as long as she satisfied her hunger.

    Lenore subsequently confronted Drake, Nital, and Rachel van Helsing as they headed from the mausoleum containing the Black Mirror from which they had emerged. She warned the others back as she wished to feed on the "soft female flesh" first, but when Drake and Taj rushed her, she swiftly subdued them, swatting Taj back as she noted that her strength matched Dracula's. When Drake began to lose consciousness under her choking hands, Lenore -- apparently unable to contain her hunger -- told him to wait for the touch of her fangs.

    However, as Lenore ranted about sating her long-lasting hunger while holding Rachel, the recovered Drake and Taj broke free a marble cross cracked at its base and lifted it into the sky so the moonlight shadowed a cross shape on Lenore. Screaming in pain, Lenore turned into a bat and flew away.

(Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - The vampire-hunters rescued Abraham van Helsing, driving off Dracula with the threat of a white thorn wood arrow.

(Tomb of Dracula I#5) - Seeking to return to the modern era, Dracula traveled to the mausoleum containing the Black Mirror. Lenore appeared there, asking Dracula not to leave her to die. Urging Lenore's haste, Dracula spoke the incantation and led Lenore through the Black Mirror back to the present from which he had initially traveled.

(Tomb of Dracula I#6) - Dracula and Lenore emerged through a Black Mirror in the fetid crypt of a ruined chapel somewhere on an English moor, unknowingly observed by the monstrous Randolph Dering (aka the Moorlands Monster).

    As they exited the chapel, Lenore noted her hunger, and Dracula suggested they separate for better hunting. Soon thereafter, Lenore located and followed an unidentified man as he headed home from a pub, ambushing and fatally draining him.

(Tomb of Dracula I#6 - BTS) - Although Drake, Rachel, and Taj emerged through the Black Mirror in Ilsa Strangway's manor, they soon headed to the moors, where Inspector Chelm told them a blood-drained corpse had been found (he also told them of the rumors of the local shaggy monster).

(Tomb of Dracula I#6) - She and her allies having split up, Rachel observing a high-flying bat and followed it back to the ruined chapel, hoping to destroy Dracula with the whitethorn stake in her bag.

    Within the crypt, Lenore returned to human form and prepared to seek out and claim a coffin as her own. Hearing Rachel's footfalls, Lenore charged her, while Rachel's stake caught on her handbag.

(Tomb of Dracula I#6 - BTS) - Rachel's screams drew Dracula, as well as Drake and Taj.

    When Drake fired his crossbow at Dracula, the vampire lord told Lenore he had need of her, and he pulled her in front of him, so that it struck her in the chest instead.

    Screaming, Lenore perished.

Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer.

When was Lenore imprisoned in the bottle?

• When Dracula noted that he had imprisoned Lenore centuries ago, the comic was written in 1972, but he was speaking to her around 1898.
  
• His mind may or may not have considered that time travel and he could have been thinking of the time from which he had traveled, meaning that he could have been imprisoned as recently as 1772.
• Given the sliding timescale, as of 2021, "centuries ago" could be as recent as 1821.
• However, even if they meant the timespan to be in reference to his modern appearances, I would think the writer would have meant to reference a certain time period in the past, rather an amount of time from the modern story.
  
• Or obviously, it could have been earlier in his vampire history, anytime after 1459.
• By my interpretation, I would think sometime well after 1459, but before 1698...but possibly as recent as 200 years before the current year in reality.
  
• I don't think we know enough to narrow it down more closely than that.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lenore DeCade should be distinguished from:

• Decay (Yoshi Hachiman) - Exemplars, Japanese man, former director and efficiency expert of study of sub-geothermal power sources for Stark-Fujikawa, solitary man with no living friends or family, supporter of the arts, empowered by Vial of Valtorr. Drain life force from others--Iron Man III#22
• Decay (Jacob Lashinski), of the Acolytes @ Quicksilver#9
• D'Kay, the demon who empowered the Legion of Vengeance, @ Marvel Comics Presents I#116/3
• D.K., David Kalen, mutated by Snider Chemical Corporation, @ Spectacular Spider-Man II#230
• Danton, Lenore - vampire; after marrying werewolf Archibald Danton, Edna Stapleton Danton and her daughter Lenore, both vampires, kept him tied to his bed to prevent him from devouring men Lenore lured back to her apartment while somehow surviving in daylight. When Burt Lang discovered and unwittingly freed Archie, Lenore slew her stepfather before vampirizing Lang as well. --Suspense#27
• Rogaland, Lenore - @ 1898, werewolf, rescued + befriended + later killed by Frankenstein monster--Frankenstein Monster#5
• von Frankenstein, Lenore - @ 1898, wife of Vincent, died in childbirth with Basil--Frankenstein Monster#11d
• Wilkins, Lenore - former lover of Murdoch Adams, slain by Ningal--Chamber of Chills#4/3
• Castle, Lenore of Earth-Shadowline - Powerline, formerly engaged to Eric Ravenscore, father kidnapped and mother killed by Dirk Ravenscore. Float in air, powers magnified when in vicinity of Victor Guillermos, fly, project energy blasts--Dr. Zero#1
• Twilight of Earth-148611(Lenore Fenzl) - DP7, apparently perished fighting the Famileech--DP7#1
• Other "Lenore" or decay-ish characters

(Tomb of Dracula I#5 (fb) - BTS) <Centuries ago (see comments)> - Dracula imprisoned Lenore in mist form within a glass bottle he kept in Castle Dracula. (Tomb of Dracula I#5 - BTS) - Transported back to the late 1890's from modern times via the Black Mirror and pursued by similarly transported enemies Frank Drake, Taj Nital, and Rachel van Helsing, Dracula sought a distraction for them so he could slay and/or vampirize Abraham van Helsing. (Tomb of Dracula I#5) - Returning to Castle Dracula, Dracula located the glass bottle containing Lenore's mist form and hurled it against a wall, shattering it and releasing her. --Tomb of Dracula I#5

(Tomb of Dracula I#6) - An unidentified young man was heading home from the local pub in a village near the ruined chapel somewhere on an English moor in the region of the Dering manor. He failed to see the bat hovering above him and remained unsuspecting until Lenore materialized by his side, baring her fangs. He only had time to cry, "Noooooo..." before she was upon him.      The wind seemed to moan in sorrow over his dead body. --Tomb of Dracula I#6 Note: It is pretty consistent that someone fatally drained by the bite of a standard (Varnaean) vampire in the Marvel Universe revives as a vampire, usually three days later, but sometimes sooner. Therefore, this chap likely revived as a vampire, to embark on adventures we may never know...

Appearances:
Tomb of Dracula I#5 (November, 1972) - Gardner F. Fox (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Tomb of Dracula I#6 (January, 1973) - Gardner F. Fox (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/06/2021
Last updated: 09/04/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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