# Undead superhero character question



## tecnowraith (Mar 30, 2005)

Does anyone know how many undead superheores there that been done so far? There area few I know of but I like to know.


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## Tonguez (Mar 30, 2005)

Undead - you mean like Solomon Grundy, Spawn, Spectre, Swamp Thing (sort of), Ghost Rider, Pheonix (Jean Grey) and their ilk?

or the likes of Superman who was killed and then came back?


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## Ranger REG (Mar 30, 2005)

I recalled having seen a _Deadman_ series from DC Comic (nothing to do with a famous WWE wrestler). There is also the _Crow._


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## Farganger (Mar 30, 2005)

Vampirella . . . (or was she an alien of some sort?), Lady Death and, of course, Dracula, all had or have comics.


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## Farganger (Mar 30, 2005)

On reflection, my candidates may not meet the test of "superheroism" . . .


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## Chun-tzu (Mar 31, 2005)

DC Comics had a comic named I... Vampire, featuring a vampire protagonist, but he wasn't a super-hero.  Marvel's Morbius (originally a Spidey-villain) also had a series briefly, I think.  Blade, of course, is half-vampire.  A couple of teen super-teams had undead heroes.  Team Titans had a vampire named Nightrider, and Superboy and the Ravers had an undead member named Half-life.  Both teams have faded into obscurity.  UltraForce (by Malibu Comics, later bought out by Marvel Comics) had an undead member named Ghoul, or something like that.  UltraForce even made it onto TV in animated form.  The vampire super-hero has also been done in Astro City, but I don't want to give away the story for any who haven't read the arc I'm talking about.


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## CrusaderX (Mar 31, 2005)

There was a Marvel character in the 70's simply called "The Zombie"


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## WayneLigon (Mar 31, 2005)

All of the supers in the _Elementals _ universe were technically undead; they died, then were ressurected by the rampant power of the Shadowspear and given powers that usually had something vaguely to do with the manner of their death.

Alex, the hero of _Crimson_, is a vampire.


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## Villano (Mar 31, 2005)

Chun-tzu said:
			
		

> Marvel's Morbius (originally a Spidey-villain) also had a series briefly, I think.  Blade, of course, is half-vampire.




Morbius' full name was "Morbius, The Living Vampire", so that disqualifies him.   

Actually, Morbius started as a scientifically created vampire, not a real one.  He had some vampire-like abilties, but wasn't undead (kind of like how the mutant Wolfsbane can change into a wolf, but isn't a werewolf).  However, in the early 90s, he ended up with demon blood or something, so I'm not sure what he is now.

Originally, Blade had no superpowers other than being immune to a vampire's bite (he might have been able to resist their mind control, too).  I don't really read Marvel, so I don't know if they've changed him since the movie.

Speaking of Blade, in the old Tomb Of Dracula series, Hannibal King was a good, vampire hunting vampire (he lived on animal and corpse blood).  Of course, he didn't wear a costume, so I'm not sure he counts as a superhero.

Supposedly, Frankenstein's Monster turned up as some sort of superhero in that Marvel series that took place in, I think, the 50s that John Byrne did.  I think it was called Marvel: The Lost Generation (or something like that).  I never read it so I'm not sure if it's the real monster or not.  All I know is that it doesn't fit in with the Monster's chronology (he was frozen in ice until the 70s).  

He also turned up in the Bloodstone mini-series.  Never read that one either. 

Milestone had a series called Xombi.  I don't remember much about it though.  I think the hero was killed and brought back with nanotechnology.  

There was a character from the 40s named Kid Eternity.  He died before his time and was sent back to Earth with the power to summon anyone from history.  Vertigo revived him and made him "adult" and he was finally killed off in the new JSA series. 

There was also a one-shot by Apple Comics in the late 80s/early 90s called The Bat.  It was set in the 30s (spanning several years) and starred a hero who wore Dracula's ring.  The ring kept him alive after sustaining what would be fatal injuries.  At the end of the comic, he took the ring off and basically fell apart (as his old wounds opened) once he realized that he was undead and essentially turning more and more into a vampire (he didn't drink blood as I recall, but he became more ruthless).

Oh, and there's the Crow!  I almost forgot that was a comic first.


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## Filby (Mar 31, 2005)

Villano said:
			
		

> There was a character from the 40s named Kid Eternity.  He died before his time and was sent back to Earth with the power to summon anyone from history.  Vertigo revived him and made him "adult" and he was finally killed off in the new JSA series.




Oh yeah, Grant Morrison took the Kid and turned him into an Agent of Chaos. I need to read that sometime.

He's not quite dead, per se. His physical form was destroyed by Mordru, but his consciousness (or at least Hector Hall's remembrance of it) remains in Fate's Amulet, where he and other past Agents of Order and Chaos occasionally offer Doctor Fate advice. So there's hope for the Kid to make a comeback.


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## Tonguez (Mar 31, 2005)

Blade was born to a Vampire mother - so he's not actually undead


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## Umbran (Mar 31, 2005)

There was, back in the 80s, a Marvel hero called Moon Knight.  Not quite undead, so much as coming back from the dead was the basic source fo his powers, IIRC.


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Mar 31, 2005)

Umbran said:
			
		

> There was, back in the 80s, a Marvel hero called Moon Knight.




He's still around in the Marvel Universe. I seem to recall him showing up in a few panels in the big End of the Avengers story arc, in the scenes where all the former Avengers were gathered outside the destroyed  mansion, and at the funerals in the Avengers one shot that followed the end of the series. I don't know what else he's been in recently, but he's still around.


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## Villano (Mar 31, 2005)

There was also a DC hero called The Immortal Man.  He became immortal at the same time Vandal Savage did, except, while Savage was a true immortal, IM could be killed but was continually reincarnated as different people.  They "permanently" killed him off, but he's back now (last I saw, he looked like a little girl).

DC also had a guy called Resurrection Man.  I think his power was that, each time he was killed, he would come back with a differnt superpower.  I'm not sure if he's connected to Immortal Man or not.

Mr. Immortal is another "coming back from the dead" character.  He turned up in an issue of Avengers or Avnegers West Coast as part of a team called Great Lakes Avengers.  It was sort of a goofy team (with members like Doorman, Flatman, and Squirrel Girl).  I think the story was that Hawkeye was sent to talk to them and let them know they can't just declare themselves Avengers.

Anyway, Mr. Immortal's sole power was that he would come back to life no matter how he was killed.


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## Arnwyn (Mar 31, 2005)

Was Deadpool undead?


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## Tonguez (Mar 31, 2005)

arnwyn said:
			
		

> Was Deadpool undead?




No he was just a guy who was artificially enhanced by the Weapon X programme

and as to Mr Immortal didn't he come back stronger everytime he died?

Also does the fact that Vision was programmed withthe dead 'Wondermans' brain pattern mean he is undead - or something else?

Which also opens the question of cyborgs like um Cyborg (Steve Austin and Teen Titan versions), Robocop, Deathlok and Inspector Gadget etc - does having your mangled flesh, brain and nervous system augmented with robotic parts make you undead?


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Mar 31, 2005)

Tonguez said:
			
		

> and as to Mr Immortal didn't he come back stronger everytime he died?




I think every time he came back he had a new superpower that he had to learn how to use. Since he didn't know what he would have or how it worked, it often ended up getting him killed and the cycle started over again.


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## Rackhir (Mar 31, 2005)

Tonguez said:
			
		

> No he was just a guy who was artificially enhanced by the Weapon X programme
> 
> and as to Mr Immortal didn't he come back stronger everytime he died?
> 
> ...




I would say no. Especially since most of the cyborgs never died. They were gravely injured and mangled, but did not actually die. Robocop might be the one exception to that, he may have fully died, but it's unclear as to how much of his mind was cybernetic and how much was original. Also it's unclear as to exactly what happened with his brain with regards to death. Though Robocop II at least implies that it would have been kept alive.


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## Cthulhudrew (Mar 31, 2005)

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
			
		

> I think every time he came back he had a new superpower that he had to learn how to use. Since he didn't know what he would have or how it worked, it often ended up getting him killed and the cycle started over again.




Mr. Immortal's only power was to come back from the dead. He was immortal. When he came back, he was usually a bit berserk (I expect dying is rather traumatic), but that's it.

The guy who died and came back with different powers is Multi-Man, a DC villain.

(For more on Mr. Immortal, there's a Great Lakes Avengers mini-series coming out soon from Marvel, written by Dan Slott. Plus, if you want to see Mr. I's origin, look here.

There was a five issue series of a book called Shadow Reavers a couple years ago (first advertised here, as it had some d20 tie-ins). A couple of the characters may or may not have been undead (we never learned for certain, but Exile and Helen both seemed to have some ties to undead.)


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## Hopping Vampire (Apr 1, 2005)

of Marvels short lived X-Statix Line, there was a member called Dead Girl, an undead mutant. Kind of cool she was.


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## TheBadElf (Apr 1, 2005)

One of the early (ie very, very bad) Image superhero comics was about a team of "superheroes" (more like government black-ops killers) who were all scientifically created undead.  The title was Blood(something), if I recall.


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## Banshee16 (Apr 1, 2005)

I'm not sure if it counts, but Ezekiel Stone, the hero of the really cool show "Brimstone", which was on TV for two seasons a few years back was really neat.  I'm pretty sure he was undead, having been killed, and returning to Earth to capture escaped souls and return them to the afterlife.

I think in D&D terms, he would have been a revenant.

Banshee


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## Villano (Apr 1, 2005)

The Grim Ghost I

http://www.atlasarchives.com/comics/grimghost01.html

The Grim Ghost II

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrinth/7393/wwgrimghost.html

There was also an Ultraverse character called The Ghoul, but I think he just looked like a rotting corpse as opposed to actually being one.

Also, the Wachowski Brothers apparently did a comic called Doc Frankenstein.  It's supposed to be a pulp-like adventure where Frankenstein's Monster becomes a Doc Savage-type hero.  

There was an independent comic about a woman named Cadavera, who was sewn together, Frankenstein-like from the bodies of famous women (Carole Lombard, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sharon Tate, Claudia Jennings, and Eva Braun).  I don't have any more information on it, like who did it or published it.  She did crossover with Apple Comics' Blood Of Dracula series in a one-shot called Big, Bad Blood Of Dracula (late 80s/early 90s). 

Lastly, there's Marshall Law: Super Babylon.  Marshall Law, the hero killer, has to re-kill a bunch of revived, Golden Age heroes (a take off of the JSA).


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## Steverooo (Apr 2, 2005)

Deathlock: The Demolisher was certainly an undead, but of an unusual kind...  He was a future General, killed in battle, and revived via cybernetics.  He had his own comic, for a while (Marvel/Kirby, I believe?)  In his dark-future world, there were many cannibals, and in one scene, he is "talking" to the computer tied into his brain, asking it why they're always following him.  The computer replies that they're following the smell of rotting meat...

Deathlock ("A Man locked in death!") somehow got brought back to the present, at some point, and all organic matter removed.  After a brief stint as a robotic villian, he was destroyed.  As far as I know, nothing ever told what happened to his "organic parts", so perhaps the good General is still around, minus his precious "'puter" and cybernetic components.


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## DarkSoldier (Apr 3, 2005)

"Undead," as a classification, means a corpse, clinically dead, that is animated by either the lingering consciousness of the person, necromantic magic, or the force of a higher power.

Spawn and Deadman are the only "good guys" who have their deaths as part of their origin. They fit the undead classification perfectly: both are animate corpses inhabited by their living consciousness.

Solomon Grundy and Swamp Thing are plant elementals animated by the consciousness of dead men (Cyrus Gold and Alec Holland); the Spectre is the Wrath of God, bound to a deceased human soul (first Jim Corrigan, then Hal Jordan); Ghost Rider is a living human bound to a demon; Jean Grey was never dead, just indisposed.

Vampirella is an alien (in at least one origin story), and Lady Death is a demon.


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## Teflon Billy (Apr 3, 2005)

Spoilers for *Astro City* here



Spoiler



The Confessor is a Vampire


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## hero4hire (Apr 3, 2005)

Steverooo said:
			
		

> Deathlock: The Demolisher was certainly an undead, but of an unusual kind...  He was a future General, killed in battle, and revived via cybernetics.  He had his own comic, for a while (Marvel/Kirby, I believe?)  In his dark-future world, there were many cannibals, and in one scene, he is "talking" to the computer tied into his brain, asking it why they're always following him.  The computer replies that they're following the smell of rotting meat...
> 
> Deathlock ("A Man locked in death!") somehow got brought back to the present, at some point, and all organic matter removed.  After a brief stint as a robotic villian, he was destroyed.  As far as I know, nothing ever told what happened to his "organic parts", so perhaps the good General is still around, minus his precious "'puter" and cybernetic components.





It's actually Deathlok (no 'c') I am not certain he qualifies as he was a Cyborg...his human parts did look somewhat ghoulish however....


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## hero4hire (Apr 3, 2005)

Let's see...off the top o' my head

Spawn (Image)
Zombie (marvel)
I...Vampire (DC)
Dracula (marvel,various)
Frankenstein (Marvel, various)
The Crow (Kitchen Sink)
Battlestone and others from Project: Born Again (Image)
Hannibal King (marvel)
Grim Reaper (marvel)
Deadman (DC)
Phantom Stranger (only if you believe some of his origins DC)
The Spectre (DC)
Grim Ghost (Atlas)
Phantom Eagle (Marvel)
The Ghoul (Ultraverse)
Haunted Tank (DC)
Kid Eternity (DC)
Shazam (DC)
Nabu (DC)
Spirit King (DC)
Xombi (milestone)
Gentleman Ghost (DC)
Patchwork Man (DC)
The Shade (DC)

I am not sure, but I thought Wil Eisner's the Spirit was undead.

Guys who look or was thought to be Undead but weren't;
Ghost Rider ( Marvel, One was a Demon, Zarathos, the other a Force of Vengeance)
Death-Stalker (Marvel, mutated intangible guy)
Mr. Bones (DC, mutant)
Morbius (Marvel, living vampire)
Blade (Marvel, half-vampire)
Wonder Man (Marvel, thought to be a zombie)
Swamp-thing (DC, he's an elemental)
Immortal Man (DC, had power of Reincarnation)
Mr. Immortal (Marvel, he just Resurrects)


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 3, 2005)

Villano said:
			
		

> Morbius started as a scientifically created vampire, not a real one.  He had some vampire-like abilties, but wasn't undead...he ended up with demon blood or something, so I'm not sure what he is now.



Once he got the demon blood he started heading in the direction of a vampire a lot more, and got new abilities.  Still, I think he wasn't an actual vampire though.

Hannibal King's one.


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## Villano (Apr 3, 2005)

What about Ghost from Dark Horse and the new Crimson Avenger from DC (I read somewhere that she was undead)?  

From DC, there's also The Weird (a corpse animated by an alien entity) and a team of ghosts whose name I can't remember.  I think they wore brown jumpsuits with a skull on the chest.  Ghost Patrol, maybe?

From Marvel, there's Brother Voodoo.  One of his powers is to summon the spirit of his dead brother.  The ghost could possess people and control them or merge with Brother Voodoo and double his strength.  

There was also a DC hero whose power was to summon and merge with the ghost of his dead brother, too.

I also remember there was a story years ago from Marvel about Nick Fury's brother, Scorpio, being returned to life.  I'm thinking he came back as an undead, but I'm honestly not sure since half the time the members of Zodiac were androids at one point or another.  :\

Terror, Inc. (Marvel) might also be an undead.  He certainly looked like one.  He had the power to rip off other people's body parts and gain their skills.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 5, 2005)

wow this has grow in feedback and thanks for the help. The reason why I ask this I wanted to create an undead (or close to one) superhero fo an Aberrant game. I just wasn't sure what types of power I give him or why became what he is. I wanted to to see all the other undead hero to get a better idea. Right I am wnadering if any of them used firearms? I know the crow, ghost (dark horse I think and The Punisher (the marvel knights version) which is another undead marvel character that came back. Any others that uses firearms?


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## Cthulhudrew (Apr 5, 2005)

tecnowraith said:
			
		

> Any others that uses firearms?




How about the Gunwitch?


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## Cthulhudrew (Apr 5, 2005)

Cthulhudrew said:
			
		

> There was a five issue series of a book called Shadow Reavers a couple years ago (first advertised here, as it had some d20 tie-ins). A couple of the characters may or may not have been undead (we never learned for certain, but Exile and Helen both seemed to have some ties to undead.)




Completely slipped my mind until now, but one of the main characters- the savior of the world- is killed and her ghost bonded to the body of her younger sister.


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## Barak (Apr 6, 2005)

Red Skull (the Captain America villain) is a good example of what not to list, since despite having a red skull, he's neither undead or possessed of super-powers.


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## Villano (Apr 6, 2005)

tecnowraith said:
			
		

> Any others that uses firearms?




I'm pretty sure the Atlas Grim Ghost used ghostly flintlock pistols (not sure about the DC version) and The Haunted Tank was a, well, haunted tank.   

If the new Crimson Avenger and Terror, Inc are undead, there are two more.  I'm also pretty sure I saw a picture of Doc Frankenstein holding a gun of some kind.  Maybe the Ultraverse Ghoul, too.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 6, 2005)

Ok Grim Ghost is an old version of Spawn....


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## Mercule (Apr 7, 2005)

Villano said:
			
		

> Speaking of Blade, in the old Tomb Of Dracula series, Hannibal King was a good, vampire hunting vampire (he lived on animal and corpse blood). Of course, he didn't wear a costume, so I'm not sure he counts as a superhero.




Hannibal King is great.  When I stopped collecting comics, the only ones I bothered to keep were the ones with him in them.  It's really too bad they de-vamped him for Blade 3, the struggle was a lot of what defined him.  Of course, explaining an alchoholic, non-blood drinking vampire who fights the good fight may have totally stolen the show.

Funny thing.  I like the Blade movies, but I always despised Blade in the comics.  I kept hoping they'd off him in the Nightstalkers and let King and Drake continue on.  Bastards did just the opposite.


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## WayneLigon (Apr 7, 2005)

Villano said:
			
		

> From DC, there's also The Weird (a corpse animated by an alien entity) and a team of ghosts whose name I can't remember. I think they wore brown jumpsuits with a skull on the chest. Ghost Patrol, maybe?
> 
> There was also a DC hero whose power was to summon and merge with the ghost of his dead brother, too.




Yes, that's the Ghost Patrol. 

The guy who could merge with his dead brother was probably the Golden Age Captain Triumph.

Now, ghosts... man, there are a lot of ghost superheroes. Deadman, for one. You might consider The Spectre a type of ghost. Hawkman's enemy The Gentleman Ghost (?) may or may not have been a real ghost. Starman's brother David came back as a ghost. The Golden Age had a lot more undead types, such as the Gay Ghost, Madame Satan, etc.


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## WizarDru (Apr 7, 2005)

Don't Forget Captain Scarlet, from Gerry Anderson's old and new TV series.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 7, 2005)

WizarDru said:
			
		

> Don't Forget Captain Scarlet, from Gerry Anderson's old and new TV series.




Um I don't think so.... :\, He's a clone, not looking for clones. Try again.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 8, 2005)

Ok now for the interesting question. With list of the replies and wanting to create an undead superhero (or anti-hero), what powers, both offensive and defesnive should they have? The powers can either be subtle or outlanish.


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## Templetroll (Apr 8, 2005)

I was in a game where the GM said we should write up a superhero concept and he would stat it out so we would not know the numbers.  It turned out cool, because he was a number crunchin' power-gamer who loved roleplaying.  We were high school students in a 'special class'.  

I wrote, "I was a teenage zombie"

The background was he woke up in a hospital after being pulled from a wrecked vehicle that was destroyed.  He has some scars but recovered from his injuries well.  During the course of things he found he could scream and scare people (that was my favorite ability - Chapions had cool Intimidation rules), he had long nails that could scratch brick and he could get stronger at times.  He like really rare steak.  the first trip to the mall with other students he got shot in the head by a robber.  He died.  He got better.  Later on he found out he could bite a corpse and it would animate.  He was reasonably resistant to being killed but died just about every other adventure.

and the thing that freaked the other students?   He wasn't a mutant.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 9, 2005)

I found this site that has a big list http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dungeon/2864/Super_Undead.html


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## Angel Tarragon (Apr 9, 2005)

Geraint Wyn Davies played  Det. Nicholas "Nick" Knight in the tv series Forever Knight. Nick was a vampire that had a job as a cop trying to re-earn his mortality.


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## tecnowraith (Apr 9, 2005)

ok I do not want vampires or half-vampires, I know that. I am thinking what if Vash the Stampede was undead with necromantic powers?


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## Templetroll (Apr 9, 2005)

tecnowraith said:
			
		

> ok I do not want vampires or half-vampires, I know that. I am thinking what if Vash the Stampede was undead with necromantic powers?




If you want to do Vash, why are you worried about anything else?


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