Vanessa Brooks

Vanessa Brooks
Aliases:	Tara Brooks
Continuity:	Marvel Comics Blade
Notability:	Supporting character
Gender:	Female
Race:	Vampire
Location:	Detroit, Michigan
Relatives:	Eric Brooks Lucas Cross Robert Brooks
Status:	Deceased
Born:	Late 1940s
Died:	1967 1998
First:	Tomb of Dracula#13 Blade (1998)
Actor:	Sanaa Lathan Alana Husband Sonja Bennett

Vanessa Brooks is a fictional vampire and a minor recurring character featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is part of the mainstream Marvel Universe and is also associated with the Blade film franchise by New Line Cinema. The character first appeared in Tomb of Dracula, Volume 1 #13 in October, 1973. In her early appearances, the character was named Tara Brooks. Vanessa Brooks appeared in the 1998 film adaptation of Blade where she was played by actress Sanaa Lathan. The character also appeared in episodes of Blade: The Series. She appeared in episode 1x06, "Delivery", where she was played by actress Alana Husband.

Marvel Comics

Vanessa Brooks was born Tara Brooks in the United States. She was married to an Englishman named Lucas Cross, who was a member of an occult secret society called the Order of Tyrana. Tara became pregnant with Lucas' child, but had a very difficult labor. She took up residence at a brothel owned by a woman named Madame Vanity. A physician was summoned to attend to her, but the physician in question was a powerful vampire named Deacon Frost. Deacon fed from Vanessa as she was in the midst of giving birth. The process introduced an enzyme into her bloodstream, that altered the child on a genetic level. The baby, Eric Brooks, was born with all of the physical characteristics of a vampire, but harbored none of their weaknesses. In time he would be defined as a dhampir and take on the code name Blade. The experience of giving birth to a supernatural being was too trying on Vanessa however, and she died in labor.

Blade (1998)

Vanessa Brooks was a young woman who grew up in Detroit, Michigan during the late 1940s and 1950s. As an adult, she married a man named Robert Brooks and became pregnant with his child. During the ninth month of her pregnancy in 1967, Vanessa was attacked by the vampire Deacon Frost. He turned her into a vampire, but as Vanessa "died", she gave birth to her son Eric, who was born with certain preternatural traits. He had the power and thirst of a vampire, but could exist in the sun without fear of harm. Afterward, the baby was taken elsewhere, and Vanessa became part of Deacon Frost's brood. He remained with him as his concubine for many years.

Decades later, the adult Eric Brooks, now a vampire hunter calling himself Blade, began fighting up against the forces of Deacon Frost, who wanted the blood of the "Daywalker" as part of a ritual to gain the power of a vampire God known as La Magra. Blade was captured and brought to Deacon Frost's stronghold. He managed to escape, but while there, found his mother, who tried to encourage him into becoming part of Frost's pack. Blade was saddened, but knew what he had to. He impaled Vanessa with a piece of broken bone, thus setting her free.

Powers

All vampires share common superhuman abilities regardless of whether they were born a vampire, or were once human and were subsequently turned into a vampire. The only exceptions are vampire offshoots such as half-vampires (Daywalkers) and those who are carriers of the Reaper strain.

• Vampirism: Vampirism is the physioglogical act of becoming and/or turning another human being into a vampire. Despite its roots in European folklore, vampirism exists in nature, and there are many such creatures who are actually born as vampires. Pathologically, vampirism is likened to a virus, carried in the saliva of predators. The vampire enzyme is carried through a victim's bloodstream and within seventy-two hours, mutates the subject's physiology, creating new parasitic organs. It has been described as "cancer with a purpose". Not all of a vampire's chosen victims become vampires however. Some serve as human agents that perform tasks for their vampire sponsor, often during daylight hours when a vampire's mobility is restricted. Referred to as familiars, these human agents are devoutly loyal to their vampire master in the hopes of one day being turned into a vampire themselves. Like cattle, familiars are branded with a special glyph representing the house seal of the vampire breed they are associated with.

• Immortality: Vampires are immortal creatures whose bodies cease to physically age beyond a certain point. Pure blood vampires will age into adulthood, while turned vampires maintain the physical form they had when they were still human. Theoretically, a vampire can live forever providing that it is not destroyed.

• Metamorphosis: Vampires possess a limited degree of metamorphosis or the ability to shape-shift. Unlike the creatures of popular fiction, vampires cannot transform into bats, or wolves or mist. A vampire can only alter his appearance into one of two forms: a vampire's natural form is that of an inhuman, monstrous creature, with exaggerated facial features, sharp canine fangs, claws and blood-red eyes. With a sufficient supply of blood in their bodies, vampires can alter their appearance to make themselves resemble normal humans. In the case of turned vampires, they look as they did prior to becoming a vampire. This is a useful tool, as it enables a vampire to operate amongst humans without giving itself away. While assuming a human mien, a vampire may voluntarily reveal slight vampiric features, such as fangs or red eyes.

• Superhuman Strength: Most vampires possess superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires are capable of lifting from 1,000 lbs to 4,000 lbs. A vampire's enhanced strength also enables them to perform other superhuman feats such as leaping great distances. Supplementing their strength, vampires are naturally heartier than normal humans and can withstand severe physical exertion with no ill effects. It is unknown if vampire strength levels differ between pure bloods and turned vampires.

• Superhuman Durability: With the exception of certain restrictions, vampires are essentially invulnerable to most forms of bodily harm, including the effects of disease, and the natural cellular mitosis that comes with aging. Vampires are not living creatures, and as such, they do not require oxygen to breathe. Vampires can exist without undue stress in oxygen free environments such as being submerged under water or buried beneath the earth. Excessive force will cause physical damage to a vampire, but their bodies will regenerate damaged tissue providing they can supplement themselves with regular supplies of blood.

• Superhuman Reflexes: A vampire's reflexes, agility and reaction time are many times greater than a normal human being. At maximum optimal capacity, a vampire can move more quickly than the human eye can perceive.

Weaknesses

• Hematophagia: Vampires require the consumption of human blood for nourishment and to maintain their existence. The required dosage of blood per vampire depends upon their overall strength and vitality, though most vampires need to feed at least once per evening. Older, more powerful vampires will sometimes require more blood than lesser vampires in order to maintain their health. The most common form of extraction is by biting a human victim upon the neck, usually on the jugular vein where the blood is freshest. Some vampires keep supplies of stored blood at secret locations called "blood banks". This practice is more common amongst turned vampires and rarely employed by natural vampires, who prefer to feed on live prey. Failure to consume human blood at regular intervals may produce a variety of effects. Vampires may suffer a loss of vitality and cohesion and they will find it more difficult to maintain a human mien. If enough time has passed without nourishment, a vampire may enter a "blood frenzy" wherein they will act on primal instinct and take what they need from the closest available source, regardless of the consequences.

• Ultraviolet Radiation: The vampire's greatest enemy is the power of the sun. Minimal exposure is known to cause great discomfort, even pain, but direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation is instantly fatal. Vampires are at their most vulnerable during daylight hours, and must sequester themselves in environments completely cut off from all natural light sources. When exposed to direct UV radiation, a vampire's body will blister, burn and disintegrate into ash within seconds. Some vampires, such as Deacon Frost, have been known to apply a special protective ointment to their skin, which will enable them to survive minimal exposure, but even this is hardly considered a reliable alternative and most vampires know better than to take any undue risks. Artificial UV radiation is just as deadly to a vampire as natural sunlight. The vampire hunter known as Blade has been known to employ various UV gadgets in his quest to destroy all vampires including, UV lamps, UV target scopes and UV flashbang grenades.

• Silver: Silver nitrate is extremely deadly to a vampire. Bladed weapons forged from silver are more likely to destroy a vampire than conventional ones. If ingested, a vampire's body will convulse wildly and disintegrate within moments. Silver nitrate combined with garlic extract produces a sort of "vampire mace" that, when sprayed, will cause a vampire's body to quickly corrode.

• Garlic: Though unconventional, garlic is a useful tool against a vampire. A vampire who is tricked into consuming garlic extract will suffer severe pain and will be forced to flee so that he or she may recover. Concentrated doses of garlic extract, mixed with silver nitrate yields a deadly corrosive that will destroy a vampire in seconds. This chemical compound can be weaponized and used in impact grenades or aerosols.

• EDTA: Short for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA is an anti-coagulant that reacts explosively to vampire physiology. Like silver nitrate and garlic extract, EDTA can be weaponized and used as a reliable offensive measure against vampires.

Notes

• The character of Vanessa Brooks was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan.

• Blade's mother redirects to this page. This serves as a shortcut to help people who are doing a search for the character, but may not
• Tara Brooks redirects to this page. This was the character's original name as seen in comic book issues published by Marvel Comics.

See also

Media

Blade Blade pages Blade images

Blade films Blade comics Blade episodes

The World of Blade

Blade characters Blade organizations

Blade locations Blade miscellaneous

External Links

• Vanessa Brooks at MDP
• Vanessa Brooks at IMDB
• Vanessa Brooks at the Marvel Movies Wiki

Appearances

Film

• Blade (1998)

Comics

• Tomb of Dracula 13 (In flashback only)
• Tomb of Dracula 58 (In flashback only)

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