WITCHBLADE - Individual PROMO Card - Breygent Marketing, 2013.
Witchblade
is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint
of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The
series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri,
editor David Wohl, writer Brian Haberlin, and artist Michael Turner.
The
Witchblade
comic was adapted into a television series in 2001, as well as an
anime, a manga and a novel in 2006. A feature film based on the
comic, titled The
Witchblade,
was announced for a 2009 release, but was never produced. A second
Witchblade
television series was announced for development in January 2017.
The
series follows Sara Pezzini, a NYPD homicide detective who comes into
possession of the Witchblade, a supernatural, sentient gauntlet that
bonds with a female host and provides her with a variety of powers in
order to fight supernatural evil. Sara struggles to hone the powers
of the Witchblade and fend off those with a nefarious interest in it,
such as entrepreneur Kenneth Irons and his bodyguard Ian Nottingham.
Sara
Pezzini
- A
New York City detective, Sara first encountered the Witchblade while
on a case with her then partner, Michael Yee. After both officers
were mortally wounded by criminal Ian Nottingham, the gauntlet
suddenly left the possession of Nottingham's employer, Kenneth
Irons, and gave its power to Sara, healing her wounds. When Jackie
Estacado, the host of the Darkness, was possessed by its influence,
he impregnated a temporarily comatose Sara as part of an effort to
sway the Witchblade's balance. However, neither of them became aware
of this until later. Eventually, Sara met and relinquished the
Witchblade to Danielle Baptiste, to whom the artifact had a strong
affinity. Amidst complications during the birth of her daughter,
Hope, Sara's life was saved when she received half of the Witchblade
from Dani. Sara now possesses the full Witchblade and Dani is now
the host for the Angelus.
Danielle
Baptiste
- Danielle
is a young ballet dancer who was born in New Orleans. After moving
to New York to pursue her career, she experienced a mysterious dream
in which she saw herself inheriting great power by means of a
mystical gauntlet. Dani found herself taking a walk and wandering to
an antique shop the next day. It was there that she encountered Sara
Pezzini, the current host of the Witchblade. Having become pregnant,
Sara realized that the time had come for her to relinquish the
artifact. Sara relinquished the Witchblade to Dani when she realized
that she was meant to become its next host. While exploring her
powers, Dani faced and overcame a number of mystical opponents.
Eventually, Dani returned half of the Witchblade to Sara in order to
save Sara's life following the birth of her child. She currently
does not have any portion of the Witchblade as she is the present
host to the Angelus.
Patrick
Gleason
- An
NYPD detective; Sara's former partner and boyfriend. Following
Hope's birth, he serves as the baby's surrogate father and Sara's
confidant in issues involving the Witchblade.
The
Curator/The Survivor
- The
owner of an antiques shop, the Curator is a sage-like spectator and
occasional informant. One of Sara and Dani's most trusted
confidants, he knows much about the various Artifacts. The Curator
later dies, spontaneously exploding after saying "all hope is
lost". It was later revealed that the Curator was actually the
Survivor – the mysterious mastermind behind all of the recent
events in Sara's life. He is the sole survivor of the previous
universe in which he was the "Codex" – a being meant to
ensure its survival in the event of Armageddon. Having failed in his
duty and witnessed the destruction of his family, the Survivor has
been gradually gathering and manipulating the Artifacts and their
bearers throughout history as part of his plan to resurrect his
universe.
Tau'ma
- The
Curator's brother, Tau'ma has sided with the Darkness and can pull
Darklings from out of his head to attack or spy on others. He also
wields a powerful cane with a gem-encrusted hawk head.
Hope
Pezzini
- Sara's
daughter with Jackie Estacado. She is neither of the Darkness nor
the Angelus, but has unknown powers that are dormant. Hope is the
subject of a search by several Artifact bearers following her
capture by the Survivor. Hope is the "Codex" for the
entire universe, meant to survive and ensure its survival. The
Survivor plans to kill Hope and replace her as the Codex in order to
guarantee the resurrection of his own universe.
Julie
Pezzini
- Sara's
sister. She was romantically involved with Jake but the two broke up
when Jake discovered that she was running drugs. Jake later returned
and shot Julie, but she survived, leading to her arrest and
imprisonment. Julie was later released after serving her sentence
and was reunited with Sara. While taking Hope to a fair, Julie was
surprised by Aphrodite who killed Julie after shooting her in the
head.
Ian
Nottingham
- Formerly
a Captain of the British Special Air Service, Ian subsequently
joined MI5. He underwent behavioural modifications for the purpose
of infiltrating the Yakuza. Afterwards, he forgot his past and
became Kenneth Irons' bodyguard. Ian has phenomenal skill with both
ancient and modern weapons. Ian kills Sara's partner Michael Yee.
For a time he underwent a great change, allowing him the capability
to absorb great quantities of energy and to drain energy from
entities, even going so far as to temporarily host both the
Witchblade and the Darkness. He also temporarily wielded Excalibur,
the Witchblade's twin, but it was revealed that Excalibur was merely
a shard of the Witchblade, which quickly reabsorbed it. After he
lost Excalibur and was defeated by Sara, Ian was taken to prison,
only to be later freed by Aphrodite IV. He then retrieved the Blood
Sword from Michael Finnegan, gravely wounding the wielder of the
Glacier Stone in the process, and left him in the river to die.
Kenneth
Irons
- A
rich entrepreneur who discovered the Witchblade in Greece, Irons'
age is undefined. It was eventually revealed that he was a Templar
Knight of the third crusade and that he once drank from the Holy
Grail, granting him a healing factor and immortality, establishing
his age as greater than 800 years. However, due to his exposure to
the Witchblade during an attempt to host it, Irons does not age at a
normal rate; he appears to be no older than 35. In a failed bid to
gain control of the Witchblade, Kenneth Irons lost his hand and
sacrificed his wife. Kenneth Irons was later one of two characters
left in the Deathpool. As a result, Chief Joe Siry killed Irons for
all of the trouble that Irons had unleashed on Sara. Kenneth is the
father of Geraud Irons.
Joe
Siry
- Sara's
former captain when she served at the 18th Precinct. He was the
partner of Sara's dead father, Detective Vincent Pezzini.
Jake
McCarthy
- An
NYPD detective, Jake was Sara's best friend and former partner. He
fell in love with Sara, but his feelings were unrequited. A demon
came to Earth and entered Jake's body, possessing him while he was
wounded defending a weakened Sara. While in a coma he was placed in
a hospital. When he later awoke up, the god-like demon took full
control of his body. The demon was bent on destroying the world to
remake it into a hellish kingdom with him as ruler. Sara eventually
drove the demon's influence out of his mind, but Jake, still
possessed by the demon, committed suicide to ensure that the demon
could never control his body again.
Lisa
Buzanis
- Daughter
of Maria, a deceased friend of Sara's.