Origin
Brielle’s mother, Safron Caulder, was a former lover of Blade, the vampire hunter. When she became pregnant with his child, she moved from London to Atlanta to keep her away from the world of vampires. However, one night, when she was a teenager, Brielle went to the batting cages with her friends. She swung the bat so hard that it splintered. The next day she was unable to repeat this feat until nightfall, when they were attacked by a vampire. Brielle was able to fight the vampire off, whom also described Bri’s blood as tasting weird. She continued to experiment with these powers until she was attacked by a vampire with her mom, who was ready with a stake.
Creation
Brielle made her first appearance in Free Comic Book Day 2022: Avengers/X-Men. Previously, a character named Fallon Grey was going to be introduced as the daughter of Blade in a series from Tim Seeley and Logan Faerber in 2015, but that series never materialized.
Major Story Arcs
Meeting Dad
With Brielle’s powers emerging, more and more vampires were attracted by the smell of her blood. Safron begged her to be careful and stay out of trouble while she secretly calls her dad, Blade, to come meet her for the first time. Brielle goes out on a hunt anyway when she finds out Whitney, the new girl in school, is a trained vampire hunter.
Unfortunately, Whitney didn’t care for Bri being a half-breed, so she lured her into a nest of vampires to be taken out. Blade showed up at the nick of time to save her and bring her home, vowing to help her rein in her feral powers.
There training gets put on hold when Safron gets kidnapped by a clone of Deacon Frost and his new hunting party made of vampires and humans, including Whitney. Their attacks on Bri was to lure Blade out so they could steal his blood for a special ritual. However, father and daughter were able to team up and take them down.
Bad Blood
Bri joined her dad on a hunt for an energy vampire master named, R’ym’r. They chased him out of Atlanta and followed him up the coast for a week before R’ym’r settled in Brooklyn. Because these energy vampires are attracted by bio-electricity, Blade and Bri end up crossing paths with Brooklyn’s resident Spider-Man, Miles Morales. After finding an MTA badge on a vampire leech, Miles leads them to the subway where they find R’ym’r’s nest.
They nearly captured him in a magic vessel, when they are interrupted by speedster, Hightail, who has been keeping tabs on Miles. When she broke the incantation, she gave R’ym’r a chance to escape, but before he left, he infected Hightail into one of his soldiers.
Bri and Blade fought R’ym’r to buy Miles time while he tries to subdue Hightail. As long as she was infected, R’ym’r got a superhuman boost from her. Once Miles venom blasted Hightail unconscious, the trio were able to subdue R’ym’r and successfully recite the incantation that would trap him in the magic vessel. Once there, his vampire goons were cured.
Unlike Any Other
Bri was trying to rescue her friend, Jayden, who accidentally matched with a vampire on a dating app. The would-be vampire date brought Jayden to the vampire cult, Temple of the Shifting Sun, which had been hanging out on Hexus property. After slaying Jayden’s attacker, the rest of the vampires were sent away by their new queen, Agatha Harkness, who admired Bri’s attitude. As she was leaving, Bri was approached by Doctor Voodoo, who was sent by Blade with an offer.
Powers & Abilities
Dhampir: Brielle is the daughter of Blade, who is half vampire. So, Bri is a quarter vampire. They were unsure if her vampiric abilities would ever develop
- Nightstalker: Bri has increase strength, speed, and agility like most vampires but only under cover of darkness.
- Daywalker: Bri does not have the fatal weakness to sunlight. She is able to walk around freely but powerless.
- Bloodlust: Bri does suffer from the bloodlust weakness. Human blood can trigger a feral rage, where claws and fangs grow and her strength increases.
Magic Immunity: To keep her safe as a child, Blade made a deal with Doctor Strange to cast a protection spell that would psychically block her existence from magic users and supernatural enemies. When he briefly died, that spell was broken, but since he was resurrected, Agatha Harkness confirmed that the spell had re-established itself.
Vampire Hunter: Bri has been trained by her father to hunt monsters, particularly vampires.