Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Jacob Russoff was the elder of two children sired by Gregor Russoff who was a Transylvanian baron and scholar. Russoff's ancestor Grigory Russoff first brought lycanthropy upon the family when in 1795 he tried to avenge his wife Louisa by staking the vampire-king Vlad Dracula where he was bitten by a female werewolf in Dracula's service. (Werewolf by Night v1 #15) Grigori's descendants did not immediately become werewolves themselves; however, the curse on the Russoff family only needed a catalyst to trigger it. In the mid 1950s Gregory Russoff, great-great-grandson of Grigori, acquired a copy of the Darkhold, which includes the secret origin of lycanthropy. By reading that passage, Gregory activated the curse and became a werewolf. He sent his wife, Laura, to her native America with their children for their own protection. Gregory was eventually killed by an angry mob. Laura Russoff married again, to a man named Philip Russell. Jacob Russoff became Jack Russell, and with his sister Lissa was raised in Los Angeles. When he turned 18, the curse struck him in turn and he became a werewolf. It was revealed a year after Laura's death that Jack and Lissa's step-father was also their father's brother thus making him their uncle. (Werewolf by Night v1 #14)
The night before his 18th birthday the first night of the full moon Jack came to inherit the curse and became a Werewolf. The next day, at his birthday party, Jack escaped and transformed again. During this time, his family's driver, Maxwell Grant, who was an undercover agent for the commission, damaged the brakes of Laura's car in retaliation for Philip for canceling the payment. They blackmailed him and Laura with the fact that their father was a Werewolf. His mother was seriously injured in the ensuing crash, and Jack and Lisa suspect Philip was involved in her death. His mother as she was dying revealed his true origin, and made Jack promise never to raise a hand against his stepfather until he died. He changed into a werewolf again on the third night killing Grant, but the faint memory of his commitment to his mother kept him from harming his stepfather. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #2) Castle Russoff was left to him in his mother's will, although Philip became a trustee. Philip sold the castle to Dr. Miles Blackgar, who had it shipped brick by brick to be rebuilt on Blackgar Island coast of Monterey. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #4) The Hell-Runners a motorcycle gang attacked Lissa and was driven off by a werewolf who was shot while fleeing the police. Jack decided to leave the area out of fear of hurting his sister as the werewolf. Jack was picked up by Nathan Timley, who took him to his wife Andrea Timly, who was searching for the Darkhold. Jack knew nothing of the book so he was thrown into a dungeon and attacked by Timley's deformed minion Kraig, who then punched and killed Nathan before fighting the werewolf but he was then killed by lightning. After he escaped, Andrea tried to cast a spell without the book but it backfired killing her. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #3) Jack met journalist Buck Cowan, who told him about Philip's sale of the castle and his fathers ownership of the Darkhold. Cowan helped Jack distract Philip so Jack can investigate the castle to find the Darkhold. He encountered Miles and Marlene Blackgar and learned they had conducting experiments on people. He turned into a werewolf and battled Blakegar's creatures and then Blakegar himself, knocking him out of a window and seriously injuring him. Marlene then used her powers to turn the werewolf into stone. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #4)
When the sun rose the next day he returned to normal and Buck came to his rescue grabbing the the Darkhold before they left. Marlene then advised Philip of the theft, and he tricked Lissa into getting Jack to come to them. There Marlene and her enforcer Strug captured Jack but was unable to find the Darkhold. Jack escaped but returned as the Werewolf and battled Strug but Marlene tried to shoot him but instead killed Strug. Marlene tried to turn the Werewolf to stone, however repelled and sent back by a mirror, turning them into stone. (Werewolf by Night v1 #1) Jack stayed at Buck but he became the Werewolf again and was forced to escape the L.A.P.D. he was saved by Max and Betty, who took him home. Back at Buck's place Jack took the Darkhold to Father Jóquez to translate. Mark Cephalos kidnapped Jack and tried to apply the Werewolf's powers to stabilize his very own mutated form. The Werewolf broke loose and fought Cephalos who tried to escape in a helicopter but was forced down and killed in the crash. (Werewolf by Night v1 #2) Responding to a desperate phone call from Father Joquez, Jack drove to his church, but transformed into the Werewolf in mid-trip and crashed. Nonetheless, the Werewolf arrived at the church, finding Joquez possessed by Aelfric the Mad Monk, who subdued and captured the Werewolf. When Lissa arrived at the rectory, having followed Jack's message of his intent to go there, Aelfric plotted to use her for his purposes, causing the Werewolf to break his mystical bonds. Aelfric summoned Dragonus to protect him, but Aelfric ended up being gored after Dragonus tripped over the Werewolf, causing Dragonus to fade from the earthly plane. (Werewolf by Night v1 #3) The Werewolf carried Lissa into the hills, and Lissa realized that the creature was her brother. The Werewolf was hunted by Joshua Kane, an obsessed hunter and film star wanting to face dangerous prey; Kane held Lissa hostage to prevent Russell from simply fleeing. When the Werewolf turned back into Russell, Kane kept him under guard until the following evening, so that he could hunt him as the Werewolf on an abandoned film studio set. Kane toyed with the Werewolf, but when the fight ended up back in Castle Kane, he became spooked in the dark by a bear he had slain and stuffed years before. When the bear resisted his gunfire and toppled onto Kane, he apparently had a heart attack and died. (Werewolf by Night v1 #4)
Jack encountered Joshua's brother, Luther, who told him that while he couldn't cure Jack, he had the means to prevent Lissa from inheriting the family curse. He offered this to Jack in exchange for killing billionaire recluse Judson Hemp; reluctantly Jack guided the Werewolf after Hemp, but, after turning back human due to an eclipse, found the man to be completely harmless and left him alone. Jack returned to Kane, turned back into the Werewolf, and slew Kane's bodyguard Desmond. Joshua, struck by a knife hurled at the Werewolf by Desmond, died as well, and the Werewolf freed Lissa and escaped. (Werewolf by Night v1 #5) The Werewolf was attacked by a group of truckers, who fled upon seeing him clearly. Nearly a month later, traveling to San Diego along with Lissa and Buck, Russell attended Calliope's Carnival and Circus, where their mysterious leader, Swami Rihva hypnotized and captured him. Placed in exhibit as the Wildman of Borneo, Russell ended up fighting the Carnival members; Mige, the lion tamer, directed his lions to attack the Werewolf. (Werewolf by Night v1 #6) Rihva attempted to use the Werewolf as the supernatural catalyst which would allow him to view a secret treasure map hidden on the surface of his 'Bloodstone'. However, the carnival member Elmo stopped the Werewolf's sacrifice long enough for the Werewolf to break free. Rihva died from the shock of trying to read the Werewolf's mind and the Carnival went up in flames in the resultant struggle. (Werewolf by Night v1 #7) The Werewolf took a glancing bullet to the head after stealing food from some hunters. The next night, Jack uncovered and unwittingly opened the tomb of the demon Krogg, freeing the demon, which attacked him. Needing a host-body in order to have substance in Earth's dimension, Krogg tried to possess Jack's body. When he found that it was already inhabited by the spirit of the wolf, Krogg was forced to possess a smaller, less powerful form and transform it to more closely resemble his own. In the course of their struggle, Krogg fiery blasts caused a cave-in, burying the demon, while the Werewolf managed to escape from the scene. (Werewolf by Night v1 #8)
The Werewolf, Topaz and others then battled and were nearly driven mad by the ghost of 19th-century black magician Belaric Marcosa, but they freed the trapped spirits of Marcosa's victims, who destroyed him. One of the grateful spirits, magician Gideon Blaine, healed Buck. The enigmatic Three Who Are All (the Hooded One, the Burning Snake and the Goat Child) — an ancient extra-dimensional group — sent Jack, Topaz, Raymond Coker and Brother Voodoo to Haiti, where the Werewolf and Fire-Eyes destroyed former group member Glitternight once and for all. In the process, Jack gained control of his Werewolf persona to the extent that he only shapeshifted under moonlight and still lost control during the three nights of the full moon. (Werewolf by Night v1 #41)
The death of Tier continued to plague Jack who felt that he could not escape fate. Afterwards, Russell read from the Darkhold yet retained his sanity. He then set forth on a quest to free werewolves from their servitude to the moon god Khonshu. To accomplish this, he set forth to claim the title of King of All Wolves. This saw him fight challengers for leadership from all the packs in North America and even winning the sacred rites at the conclave of the Boreal Cordillera. Jack even proved himself in the running battles with the Wendigo during the Hudson Bay Wars in the winter. ((Moon Knight Annual v3 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Later on, he came to be known by the title of King of All Wolves. (Moon Knight Annual v3 #1)
It was noted that for a time that he had dated Elsa Bloodstone. (Fearless Defenders v1 #9)
Powers and abilities
The Werewolf's speed was similarly enhanced and was way faster than the finest human athlete, being nearly invisible during the night. (X-Factor v1 #222)
Russell later came to be the King of All Wolves where he aimed to be the leader of all werewolves. (Moon Knight Annual v3 #1)
Notes
- Werewolf by Night was created by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog where he made his first appearance in Marvel Spotlight v1 #2 (February, 1972).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
Video games
Appearances
- Marvel Spotlight v1: (1972)
- Werewolf by Night v1:
- Werewolf by Night v2:
- X-Factor v1:
- Deadpool:
- Moon Knight Annual v3: (2022)
External Links
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