Witchblade is one of the more obscure comics that people tend to know by name, but don’t
know a whole lot about.
Published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image comics, it ran from 1995 to 2015
but recently got a revamped series that follows a brand new protagonist at the end of 2017.
So what is Witchblade?
And who are the women that have wielded it?
Well, these are all questions we plan on answering in our list of the top 10 Witchblade Shocking
Facts.
10 Sentient Gauntlet Witchblade is a supernatural, sentient gauntlet
that bonds with a female host.
It’s conscious, intelligent and ancient.
While it’s been around for ages, in our modern times it was discovered by a man named
Kenneth Irons – more on him later, though.
If an unworthy user tries to wield it, that individual will lose their arm.
Yikes.
But when it does form a symbiotic relationship with a host, it will spread and expand across
the host's body to form armor, often shredding the host’s clothes in the process.
Hence the Witchblade comic’s sex appeal.
The amount of armor often fluctuates based on the threat at hand.
What else can it do?
It increases the strength and endurance of its host, can heal wounds, including fatal
ones, is invulnerable, allows the host to have pyrokinesis, can heal others, and can
also summon additional weapons.
9 The Darkness and The Angelus Witchblade is the offspring of the universe’s
opposing primal aspects – the Darkness, and the Angelus.
It’s a male aspect, hence why it needs a female host in order to balance itself out.
The Angelus is a female entity who represents the light and order, whereas the Darkness
is a male entity who represents the dark and chaos.
Both entities can choose hosts of their own.
They made a ‘sexual truce’ and created the Witchblade together despite being mortal
enemies.
8 Wielders There have been many individuals who have
wielded Witchblade over the centuries – over 33 of them.
This includes the likes of Joan of Arc.
The first was a woman named Una, who had a pet tiger and appears in 14 issues of the
series, primarily as cameos.
7 Canceled Film Like most comic book properties, there was
once a Witchblade feature film in the works.
Back in 2008, it was announced that Witchblade would be getting its own film, scheduled to
be released in the subsequent year as a production between Top Cow, Platinum Studios and Arclight
Media, with Matt Hawkins and Marc Silvestri of Top Cow serving as two of the exec producers.
Canceled before it even got to pre-production, the film was supposed to commence shooting
in September of 2008 in Australia.
6 Sara Pezzini When Witchblade started, the host was Sara
Pezzini, an NYPD homicide detective.
She discovers Witchblade while on a case that crossed paths with the villain Kenneth Irons,
who had it in his possession.
Witchblade abandons Kenneth and bonds with Sara Fighting off supernatural evils, Sara
also finds herself fending off those who want to use Witchblade for their own sinister agenda.
She’s impregnated by Jackie Estacado, the host of the Darkness, when she’s in a coma
– both of them unaware of this occurring, actually – and ends up having a daughter
named Hope.
5 Danielle Baptiste Speaking of Hope, let’s talk about her relation
to the next host of the Witchblade, Danielle Baptiste.
Dani is known for being an impulsive yet good-hearted woman who was born in New Orleans, daughter
to the police captain.
She moved to New York to pursue a career in dancing, which is when she crossed paths with
Sara and the Witchblade.
Danielle was given Witchblade by Sara, although she would eventually give half of the gauntlet
back to Sara during her complicated delivery of her daughter Hope in order to save her
life.
Dani would eventually become the host of Angelus.
4 Kenneth Irons Kenneth Irons is the primary villain of the
Witchblade series.
An international businessman and criminal mastermind, he sets his sights on Witchblade
after discovering it in Greece.
He tries to control it, and in the process loses his hand and his wife.
Throughout the series it’s revealed that he’s 800 years old, and was a Templar Knight
who drank from the Holy Grail, granting him immortality and a pretty sweet healing ability.
3 Alex Underwood The current 2017 Witchblade features a new
female host named Alex Underwood.
Her story starts with her gunned down and left for dead atop of a New York rooftop.
This is when Witchblade finds her – right before she dies, she becomes the new host.
But, she finds that her newfound power has made her quite the target – demons all over
the city are hunting her down in an attempt to take her out before her power grows even
more.
2 The Television Series Despite the feature film being a bust, a Witchblade
tv show did manage to come out of the woodwork.
In August of 2000, a pilot of the show premiered on TNT that ran for two seasons in 2001 and
2002 starring Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini.
It was eventually canceled in September of 2002, and later had a made-for-tv movie released
alongside all 23 episodes of the show in 2008.
But, fear not – ANOTHER Witchblade show is in development for NBC – back in January
of 2017, the show was announced, and it will also follow Sara Pezzini and her quest to
track down a serial killer in San Francisco.
1 13 Artifacts The Witchblade is one of thirteen artifacts
of power that the world’s fate balances on.
Each artifact requires a bearer or host.
The artifacts are said to guide the fate of the universe, yet, if brought together, the
will end the universe.
How morbid.
Aside from Witchblade, these also include The Darkness, The Angelus, the spear of destiny,
the blood sword, the glacier stone, the ember stone, pandora’s box, the rapture, the wheel
of shadows, the coin of Solomon and the heart stone.
Then there’s the mysterious last one known as the thirteenth, which is a great force
of evil – according to the series, “without it, the others are mere trinkets.
With it, the thirteen can be one again, and the world will be created anew.”
There we have it, friends!
Do you all read the Witchblade comic?
Do you think its film adaptation will ever see the light of day?
Let us know your thoughts in those comments below!
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