Abraham Whistler is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a vampire hunter and mentor to Blade. Screenwriter David S. Goyer created him for the 1998 film Blade (in which the part was played by Kris Kristofferson), but he first appeared on screen in Spider-Man: The Animated Series where he was voiced by Malcolm McDowell and later by Oliver Muirhead. In 2006, Abraham Whistler appeared in the television show Blade: The Series. Although he shares certain traits and is partially inspired by the character Jamal Afari from the comics, Whistler has yet to make a transition to the comics.

Biography

Abraham Whistler is a vampire hunter and mentor to Blade. Abraham Whistler was once a happily married man with two daughters and a beautiful wife. He lived a normal life, and his family lived comfortably, but all of that changed one night when a drifter came, seeking dinner and place to rest for a while before continuing on his way. Whistler let the man in, only to regret that decision for the rest of his life. The drifter was a vampire, and a sadistic one at that. After torturing the family - mainly Whistler - for a while, he then tried to force Whistler to decide in which order his family would die. Whistler refused, struggling to stop the vampire from killing his wife and daughters. He was unable, and a few hours before dawn, the vampire left him with a damaged leg, other injuries, and the drained corpses of his family.

Whistler dedicated himself to hunting down vampires, learning about their ways and customs, and shut himself off from the world. A few years after his family's death, he went to a bar, got drunk, and ended up sleeping with one of the locals. The next morning, he explained to her that he was on the run from a powerful organization, and she would be in danger if they found out she'd been involved with him. He left her with a name and took her number and address, just in case he needed to get in touch with her should something happen. The one night stand had a big consequence: A daughter, whom Whistler learned about not long after her birth. He almost panicked, forcing his one-time lover and daughter to move somewhere else and change their names. He was determined not to lose this new family to the vampires. Certain they were safe, Whistler then left them to fend for themselves after giving them a substantial amount of money he'd earned from stealing from the vampires and their familiars. He checked in on his new family so often but kept them largely ignorant.

Several years later, Whistler met up with a young boy who he'd almost mistaken for a vampire - Eric Brooks, a half vampire, half human miracle. He took the Daywalker in, teaching him to use his powers and was able to create a serum to sate the bloodlust Eric suffered. The two of them became a team, Eric taking on the name Blade, and since then they have stayed together and fought the vampires as partners. In the recent years though, Whistler was diagnosed with lung cancer from his smoking, and he realized that without him, Blade would be alone. Determined Blade wouldn't have to fight the war on his own, Whistler secretly began forming a team of vampire hunters. Around the same time, Abigail Whistler showed up, having tracked down her father, determined to know who had left her and her mother alone while occasionally supporting them. Whistler reluctantly told her everything, only to have an even more determined girl on his hands - one that wanted to follow in his footsteps. Seeing it was useless to convince her otherwise, he put her on the team, thankful that she would at least have others with her and he would be able to check up on her.

Later, Whistler was nearly beaten to death by Deacon Frost's goons and shot himself in an attempt to prevent resurrecting as a vampire. His suicide was in vain, though. He came back, only to be kidnapped by the vampires working for Eli Damaskinos, who saw Whistler as a great advantage over the Daywalker and someone who could prove useful. Kept as a prisoner and tortured regularly, Whistler was eventually saved by Blade and given a cure for the vampirism. Whistler wasn't happy about the temporary alliance between Blade and the vampires, and he sensed something between Blade and Nyssa. He also resented Scud but went along with Blade's plan.

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