Eli Bard

Origin

It was revealed that Eli (or Eliphas) Bard was in fact a man born during the Roman Empire. Eliphas, who at that moment was not an evil man, was however down on his luck. He was a good, honest and privileged man with some admiration from the people. He however lost his wife (and his reputation) to a brute whom she fought was better then Eli. From that moment on Eli was laughed at and ridiculed. Filled with anger and hate, Eli tried to live his life as best he could, but it was not before late that a mysterious goddess (who was in fact Selene) promised him her love and eternal life in exchange for every soul in Rome. Eli seemed liked the perfect man in Rome to help her.

Eli reluctantly agreed to help Selene, feeling that the people did not deserve anything less then death. Eventually, just a day before the destruction of the city was about to take place, Eli saw a young girl named Claudia whom he had met before. She was so innocent that Eli couldn’t help but feel guilty if such a beautiful child was to die. He walked up to her and told her to tell her parents to leave city tonight, because something terrible was about to happen. The child ran to her parents and told them, but instead of fleeing, her parents warned the authorities and took Eli and Selene into custody. Selene was burned, but before this happened she cursed Eli, granting him immortality but living a life of eternal pain. At that moment, Eli swore he would gain his goddess forgiveness. Eli however was seemingly killed by the Roman authorities and put into a grave. Decades later, Eli was revived by an unfortunate farmer whom started poking in Eli’s grave. Revived, Eli walked the world for hundreds of years before joining the Purifiers, in hope of finally getting Selene’s forgiveness.

Creation

Eli Bard was created by Christopher Yost, Graig Kyle and Clayton Crain and first appeared in X-Force Vol. 2 issue 1 (2008).

Major Story Arcs

Purifiers

Eli Bard was the man responsible for bringing back Bastion to the Purifiers. He quickly became Matthew Risman‘s right hand as a counselor but both suddenly became aware of Bastion’s own agenda. Risman’s purposes for the Purifiers were put in check when Bastion, with the help of Magus, brought William Stryker, Cameron Hodge and Graydon Creed back to life. Risman planned to take down Bastion, using The Purifiers Choir, an army of winged soldiers built using Angel‘s DNA that they got by ripping Worthington’s wings. This inner struggle among the leaders of the Purifers meant also a danger for Bard’s own objective.

When X-Force attacked the Purifiers Facility, the battle between Bastion and Risman had already begun and the Choir slaughtered Bastion’s army. But X-Force arrival, and Wolverine‘s berserk attack against Bastion, opened an opportunity for Risman’s retreat. While he was heading to a safe exit, he found out Eli Bard fusing himself with a spawn of Magus. At that moment, he revealed that he only objective for rebuilding the Purifiers was to use their souls for a mysterious goddess. Just when he was about to fed on Risman’s soul, X-23 and Warpath arrived and confronted Bard. But Eli, now transformed in a vampire being was too much for both members of X-Force. He managed to escape, but not before swearing revenge against Warpath for confronting him.

X-Necrosha

With his first plan were ruined by X-Force, he decided not only to desecrate the Apache warriors graveyard, but also to bring Caliban back to life in order to find the dead souls of mutants and offer them to Selene. But he was suddenly attacked by the spirits of the Native American’s ancestors. Eli used a cursed blade to wound the spirits, turning them into malevolent beings. Bard retreated from them. When Eli returned to take back the blade, he found out that it was now in the possession of Warpath.

As Selene makes her move to previous plan of ascension, Eli resurrected , both villains and former allies of the X-Men, those who had opposed Selene the most frequently in recent years. He also brought all of the deceased residents of Genosha back to life in order for them to be sacrificed for Selene. When Selene asked for the cursed blade that will be used for the ritual, He goes to retrieve it with the help of Selene’s Inner Circle. When they retrieve the blade and also kidnapped Warpath, Eli handed the blade to Selene and she promptly stab him with it, voicing her disappointment in him.

Powers and Abilities

Eli Bard was cursed by Selene to be an immortal but at the cost of being a vampire. He has exhibited supernatural strength, speed, healing, fangs, and claws. When he infected himself with the Techno-Organic Virus of Magus, he was able to resurrect dead beings and also exert some control over them. He also had limited knowledge with magic