Bloodaxe

Bloodaxe's History

When Leena Moran (an alias used by the Enchantress while she was living among mortals on Earth) discovered that her beloved Heimdall was in trouble in her home of Asgard, she planned on using the enchanted axe of the Executioner to aid him. Without warning, she was attacked in the apartment she shared with Susan Austin by Skoll, the Wolf god who was acting on the orders of his master, Karnilla, and the two disappeared in a flash of light leaving the axe behind. Hearing sounds of a struggle, the being that would soon be known as Bloodaxe was instantly overcome with a feeling of power and bloodlust upon picking up the enchanted weapon. Filled with false thoughts of now being above the law, this murderous vigilante started killing small time thugs and drug dealers despite protests of the local authorities. One such instance brought the mighty Thor and Balder, the Brave into the equation, but the supremely powerful Bloodaxe, along with a little help from the corrupt Karnilla, bested the Thunder god on their first meeting.

Bloodaxe would soon return for the lure of power was too much too resist, but this next appearance would not go unnoticed. Doctor Strange sensed the immense mystical power held within the axe and went to investigate the source. To learn more about his origins, Bloodaxe went to the place where he first discovered the axe, the apartment of Susan Austin and Leena Moran, but the astral form of Doctor Strange spooked Bloodaxe and the two fought in front of the frightened woman. The chaos that followed brought the police including their special task force Code: Blue, and the newly formed super team called Earth Force. The woman was saved and Bloodaxe retreated, but this would not be the last time the axe called out to its new owner.

Bloodaxe's identity was initially a mystery, all early panels of the character's alter ego were depicted as being concealed by shadow or as a silhouette. Due to the sheer muscular mass of Bloodaxe (a direct result of the Asgardian magic within the axe), it was also impossible to determine whether the mortal alias was even male or female. Many supporting cast members of Thunderstrike were hinted at being Bloodaxe but many of those clues would later turn out to be fake clues to conceal 'his' true identity. It was only after Bloodaxe was defeated that the mortal alias was revealed to be Jackie Lukus, a confidant and love interest of Thunderstrike's alias Eric Masterson.

Bloodaxe's powers were derived from the enchanted Asgardian axe once wielded by Skurge the Executioner. The evil that remained within it from Skurge's time as a villain would eventually drive any new owner of the axe insane, and compel them to kill.

Bloodaxe first fought Thor when the mortal Eric Masterson was using the identity of Thor. When the real Thor returned, Masterson became Thunderstrike and again fought Bloodaxe several times. Thunderstrike defeated Bloodaxe and succumbed to the axe's will in an attempt to obtain more power to defeat an even bigger villain, Set the Serpent God of Death. After Set was destroyed, Thunderstrike was possessed by the axe's murderous curse and as no-one was able to stop his rampage, Masterson chose to sacrifice himself in order to destroy the Bloodaxe forever.