Black Knight
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The Black Knight is a title used by several characters in the Marvel Universe. One was a medieval knight, the second was a supervillain and enemy of Iron Man, while the third and most famous, is a long-time member of the superhero team, the Avengers.
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Publication history
Marvel Comics' first Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, first appeared in the medieval-adventure series Black Knight #1-5 (May-Dec. 1955) from Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor to Marvel Comics.
Sir Percy's descendant, Professor Nathan Garrett, debuted as the modern-day supervillain Black Knight in Tales to Astonish #52 (Feb. 1964). This villainous Black Knight appeared in The Avengers #6, 14-15 (July 1964, March-April 1965), and in the feature "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense #73 (Jan. 1966), in which he was mortally wounded.
Dane Whitman, Garrett's nephew, makes his first appearance in The Avengers #47 (Dec. 1967), and becomes a heroic version of the Black Knight in the following issue. Whitman sporadically appeared with the Avengers until becoming a core member, regularly appearing in #254-297 (1985-1988).
Whitman starred in the limited series Black Knight #1-4 (June-Sept. 1990), written by Roy and Dann Thomas and drawn by successive pencillers Tony DeZuniga and Rich Buckler. A Black Knight one-shot starring Sir Percy, written by Thomas and illustrated by Tom Grummet and Scott Hanna, was published as Mystic Arcana: Black Knight #1 (Sept. 2007), the second of four Mystic Arcana one-shot issue.
Fictional character biographies
Sir Percy of Scandia
Main article: Black Knight (Sir Percy) The original Black Knight is Sir Percy of Scandia, a 6th century knight who serves at the court of King Arthur as his greatest warrior. Recruited by the wizard Merlin, Percy adopts a double identity, and pretends to be totally incompetent until changing into the persona of the Black Knight. As the Black Knight, Percy wields the Ebony Blade, which Merlin forged from a meteorite. A constant foe of the evil knight Mordred the Evil (Arthur's traitorous "nephew"), Percy is eventually killed by him during the fall of Camelot when stabbed from behind with an enchanted blade — although Mordred then dies himself of wounds inflicted by Arthur. Merlin ensures that Percy's spirit will live on by casting a spell that will revive his ghost if Mordred should ever return. Percy's spirit has appeared several times to counsel his descendant, Dane Whitman.
Nathan Garrett
Tales of Suspense #73 (Jan. 1966): Nathan Garrett, the villainous Black Knight. Art by Gene Colan & Jack Abel.Professor Nathan Garrett, a biologist, is the direct descendant of Sir Percy, and found Sir Percy's tomb and the ebony blade. Garrett's evil tendencies make him unworthy of wielding the sword, and he is shunned by Sir Percy's ghost. An embittered Garrett then devises an arsenal of medieval weapons that employ modern technology and genetically engineers and creates a winged horse called Aragorn. Calling himself the Black Knight, Garrett embarks on a life of crime to spite his ancestor. After a battle with the hero Giant-Man, Garrett joins the supervillain team the Masters of Evil at the request of master villain Baron Zemo. After two unsuccessful battles with the Avengers, Garrett is mortally wounded while trying to kill the superhero Iron Man. A dying Garrett summons his nephew, Dane Whitman, reveals his secret identity to Whitman, and repents for his life of crime. Whitman then adopts the identity of the Black Knight himself.
Dane Whitman
Dane is the current Black Knight who has been a member of the Avengers and is currently one of the core members of MI: 13.
Vatican Black Knight
An unidentified Black Knight is a member of a team of supervillains that invades the African nation of Wakanda. A devout Catholic, this Black Knight hopes to convert the populace to Catholicism. He is defeated by the superhero the Black Panther, who retains the Black Knight's ebony blade.
Other versions
The Avengers: United They Stand
Nathan Garrett appears and attempts to steal a device from the organization AIM.
Earth X
In the Earth X series, Ahura - the son of Black Bolt and Medusa - becomes the Black Knight.
Marvel Zombies
Dane becomes one of the dozens of super-powered zombies that are laying siege to the castle of Doctor Doom. The zombies have detected delicious humans hiding inside, all of whom ultimately escape.
Ultimate Black Knight
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Black Knight is a member of the would-be superhero team the Defenders. He is long-haired, bearded, and out-of-shape, with a piece of armor, and resembles a LARP.
In other media
Television
The Nathan Garrett version of the Black Knight appeared in the Captain America/Avengers portion of The Marvel Superheroes as a member of Baron Heinrich Zemo's Masters of Evil. He appears solo in an episode of The Invincible Iron Man segment. The medieval Black Knight appeared in the "Knights & Demons" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, scripted by Don Glut. Dane Whitman was also to appear, but was rejected to avoid confusion.