Baron Blood Villain
Real Name: Lord Johnathan Falsworth.
Occupation: Former war saboteur.
Identity: Known to various intelligence and police officials in the United Kingdom and Germany, not generally known by them to be a vampire.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United Kingdom with no criminal record, legally deceased.
Other Aliases: John Falsworth, Jr; Dr. Charles Cromwell.
Place of Birth: Falsworth Manor, England.
Place of Death: Castle Dracula, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary Empire, in what is currently Romania.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: William, Baron Falsworth (father, deceased); Montgomery, Baron Falsworth (alias Union Jack I, brother, deceased); Brian, Baron Falsworth (alias Union Jack II, nephew); Lady Jacqueline Falsworth Creighton (alias Spitfire, niece, deceased); Lord William Falsworth (grand-nephew, deceased); Lord Jack Falsworth (alias Union Jack III, great-grandnephew); Kenneth, Lord Creighton (grand-nephew).
Group Affiliation: Formerly German intelligence during both World Wars, formerly Super-Axis during World War II; currently none.
Base of Operations: Mobile.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: CAPTAIN AMERICA #
History: A gentleman explorer from late Victorian and Edwardian England, Lord John Falsworth traveled throughout Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Indochinese peninsula. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, John's father William passed away, and the title and the bulk of the estate passed to John's older brother Montgomery, according to the British laws of primogeniture. Inspired by Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Lord John decided to seek out the castle to see if the rumors of the events of the novel being fact were indeed true; John intended through various unspecified means to control the vampire to take the bulk of his family's wealth for himself. To his horror, he fell victim to Dracula's hypnotic powers, died from the vampire's bite, and rose as a vampire under Dracula's control several days later.
Because of Lord John's British background, Dracula sent him back to England to wreak havoc on the nation where he'd suffered an embarrassing defeat. When World War I broke out, Lord John offered his services to German intelligence, who gave him an outfit which made him resemble a human-sized bat and code-named him Baron Blood. Baron Blood was soon opposed by the original Union Jack, secretly his brother Montgomery, who had discovered that Baron Blood was in fact a vampire. In the final days of World War I, Union Jack and Baron Blood discovered each other's identities, and Montgomery wounded his brother with a silver stake, though he missed the heart.
Baron Blood's activities during the inter-war period are unknown. With Hitler's rise to power, Blood offered his services to Nazi Germany. German scientists in the Hydra science division performed a number of experiments on Blood, removing several of his vampire weaknesses, including the weakness to sunlight, and granting him the ability to fly unaided, but at the cost of removing his shapeshifting and ability to turn to mist. Returning to England, he posed for a time as his own son, who had been conceived prior to Blood's trip to Transylvania. However, his identity was discovered by his nephew Brian, who took on the role of Union Jack to defeat him. During this time, Blood bit his niece Jacqueline, whose life was saved by an emergency blood transfusion from the visiting original android Human Torch and Captain America; Jacqueline herself gained superhuman speed powers and took the costumed identity of Spitfire. Brian and Jacqueline joined the Allies' super-team, the Invaders, and clashed several times with Baron Blood. During World War II, Baron Blood teamed with a number of other Axis agents (mostly Nazis) to form the team known as Super-Axis, a counterpart to the Invaders. At the end of the war, Blood was impaled by a wooden stake by his nephew; because he was a member of the aristocracy, his remains were interred in the Tower of London.
Decades passed, with Blood existing in a state between death and undeath, believed dead by all. His remains were jostled during the internment of another nobleman, accidentally removing the stake from his chest, and he awoke. During the intervening decades, probably because he had been reduced to simply a skeleton, the experiments the Nazis had performed on him had faded, and he was once again vulnerable to all vampiric weaknesses. At first eager to take vengeance on his brother, he was saddened to discover that Montgomery had died of natural causes decades ago; indeed, the body next to his in the Tower was his brother's and he never knew it. Denied his vengeance, he slew and took over the identity of Dr. Charles Cromwell, his now elderly nephew's doctor. To keep others from knowing the truth, he mentally enslaved one of Dr. Cromwell's daughters and turned the other, Lily, into a vampire like himself. (Dr. Cromwell's own remains were laid in Blood's place in the Tower of London.) To cover their tracks when they fed, Blood and his protege killed their victims by slashing open their victim's throats with their fingernails or with knives rather than with their fangs; this also prevented their victims from inadvertently rising as vampires themselves.
His identity went undiscovered for months, until his great-grandnephew Jack, now adopting the identity of Union Jack himself, teamed with the visiting Captain America and his teenage sidekick, Bucky, to investigate the rash of slasher killings plaguing the region. Jack Falsworth and his grandfather had suspicions that Baron Blood was again active, but were unable to prove it until Bucky was able to infiltrate the Tower and confirm that Blood's remains were missing.
Baron Blood fought Captain America, Bucky, and Union Jack, but was unable to defeat them. The trio defeated the Baron and drove a stake through his heart; the Captain then beheaded Blood with his shield, seemingly ending the threat of Baron Blood forever. Whether this truly is the last the world has seen of Baron Blood, however, remains to be seen. Lily Cromwell was not known to be a vampire, and as such has escaped destruction.
Age (at time of destruction): 132 (actual); 27 (physical age).
Height: 5' 10".
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Red.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: Purple and black bodysuit with large bat-like wings running from under the arms to the outside of the legs; purple gloves; black boots, black cowl resembling the head of a bat.
Strength Level: An athletic man in life, Baron Blood's strength as a vampire has been enhanced to enable him to lift (press) roughly 1,500 pounds.
Known Superhuman Powers: Baron Blood possesses the usual vampire powers. For a time during World War II, he was also able to withstand sunlight, allowing him to operate during the day, as well as fly unaided, but these powers have since worn off.
Paraphernalia: Baron Blood's uniform allows him to glide on air currents even without transforming into a bat or were-bat.
Weaknesses: Baron Blood possesses the usual vampire weaknesses. During World War II, he lacked the ability to become mist or take animal forms, but these abilities returned with his resurrection.
1,000 points
| ST: 30* [50] | HP: 30 [0] | Speed: 7.00 [5] |
| DX: 13 [60] | Will: 12 [0] | Move: 7 [0] |
| IQ: 12 [40] | Per: 14 [0*] | |
| HT: 14 [40] | FP: 14 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Dmg: 3d/5d+2 | BL: 180 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 11 | Parry: 11 | DR: 12/4* (uniform) |
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; French (Accented) [4]; German (Accented) [4]; Polish (Accented) [4]; Serbian (Accented) [4].
Cultural Familiarities: Eastern European [1]; Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Appearance (Attractive) [4]; Claws (Sharp Claws) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Status 4 [15†]; Wealth (Wealthy) [20]; Vampire [757].
Perks: Power Grappling [1]; Supersuit [1].
Disadvantages: Callous [-5]; Megalomania [-10]; Obsession (Destroy Family) (9) [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Secret Identity (Death) [-30]; Selfish (6) [-10].
Quirks: Chauvinistic [-1]; Insists on "Proper Gentlemanly" Behavior (When It Won't Inconvenience Him) [-1].
Skills: Acting (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Boxing (A) DX+2 [8] – 15; Connoisseur (Literature) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Connoisseur (Visual Arts) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Connoisseur (Wine) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Diagnosis/TL8 (Human) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 12; Escape (H) DX+0 [4] – 13; Intimidation (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Navigation/TL6 (Land) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Observation (A) Per+0 [2] – 14; Pharmacy/TL8 (Synthetic) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 14; Physician/TL8 (Human) (H) IQ+0 [4] – 14; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 13; Sex Appeal (Human) (A) HT+0 [1] – 14‡; Stealth (A) DX+1 [4] – 14; Survival (Mountain) (A) Per+0 [2] – 14; Survival (Woodlands) (A) Per+0 [2] – 14; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4] – 14.
Starting Spending Money: $20,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).
* Includes +15 to ST and +2 to Per from Vampire.
† Includes +1 from Wealth.
‡ Includes +1 from Appearance.
Role-Playing Notes:
Baron Blood is out for revenge against the family that he believes scorned him. At first this need for vengeance was directed at his brother, but has since turned his vengeance towards his brother's descendants. An opportunist by nature who was never patriotic, he has no qualms about working with his country's enemies to achieve this vengeance.
Baron Blood is able to control his bloodlust to an extent, and rarely feeds without killing his target first – usually by snapping the neck or slashing the throat open – to keep investigators from suspecting the work of vampires.
| BOXING | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Boxing Punch | 3d+5 cut | C | 11 | – | – | 30 | |
| DX | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Bite | 3d-1 cut | C | n/a | – | – | 30 | |
| – | Kick | 3d cut | C, 1 | n/a | – | – | 30 | |