Origin
Before her life as an immortal, Erika grew up in South Africa, living as a ‘Boer’ (farmers). In 1901, during the Boer war with the British, Erika and her mother were forcefully removed from their home and moved into concentration camps. The living conditions were terrible and there were mass shortages of food and medical supplies, this resulted in the death of over 26,000 people. Erika’s mother was among the dead, killed by cruel soldiers. Erika manages to survive the concentration camp, and though the ordeal had been terrible, it had also made her strong. She goes on to become a solider, in more than one war, and was part of the army that opposed the Nazi’s in 1945. Some time before the age of thirty, Erika was turned into an immortal, and is part the seductive elder Marilyn‘s bloodline.
Creation
Erika was created by Kerri Hawkins as part of the Blood Legacy world. The character first appears in Vol 1 of Blood Legacy: The Young Ones, she was penciled by Eric Basaldua.
Major Story Arcs
Erika appears in Blood Legacy: The Young Ones, Issue #1 . She is a young immortal who uses her powers to destroy evil all over the world. During the story, Erika encounters the legendary Ryan Alexander, who appears several times offering advice and cryptic warnings. Erika learns of the deaths of around a million people in Rwanda, she travels there intent on destroying the evil murdering the people. Using her enhanced senses she tracks down the source of the killings and finds one of her kind named Luke, a psychopathic Old One, responsible for the mass genocide all over the world. Erika, despite her skills and resolve is easily overpowered and defeated by Luke, who then proceeds to torture her. She is ultimately saved by Ryan Alexander, who had also been hunting Luke, although not to save the world, but for revenge, as it is revealed Luke had betrayed her father many years before. Luke is defeated by Ryan who then proceeds to give Erika the information she had been seeking about the progenitor of her Bloodline. Erika vows to continue hunting down and destroy evil all over the world.
Powers and Abilities
Erika possesses the conventional attributes of the Immortals created in the Blood Legacy universe. She possesses enhanced physical abilities which allows her to break concrete with her fists, and leap great distances. She also has a regenerative healing factor, this gives her the ability to survive wounds that would be fatal to a human, as seen when she was brutally stabbed through the abdomen and not only survived but was still able to fight effectively.