He first appeared in JLA #94 and was created by John Byrne and Chris Claremont.
As a vampire, Crucifer is a member of the living dead, virtually immortal and only able to be destroyed by direct sunlight, piercing of his heart, beheading, burning and scattering of his ashes. Religious objects can also harm him and items made of silver. Crucifer is dependent on consuming human blood every night.
History
Lord Crucifer was born millennia ago, in an unspecified region of Earth. Through unspecified means, he became a vampire, and along with hundreds like him he founded the Tenth Circle, a cult that promised immortality to its members, obviously spreading the plague of vampirism as the promise was delivered. The Tenth Circle expanded all over the world, growing in power and conquering countries, until they found a people who matched their strength and numbers: the Amazons. Lord Crucifer led his people in an all-out war against Queen Hippolyta and her sisters, and despite their might the vampires were defeated. Thanks to the gods’ magic, Hippolyta was able to cast the vampires out of Earth, imprisoning them into another dimension, where they stayed trapped for centuries. From his alien prison, Lord Crucifer tried over and over again to breach the barrier separating him from a world still ripe for conquering, until he found an ancient blood magic that could actually help him: he projected his life force outside the barrier, leaving behind just his heart, obtaining a new physical form on Earth. Finally free to move again, he dedicated his (eternal) life to the purpose of freeing his people, and rebuild the Tenth Circle in all its ancient glory. In the vampires’ absence, humans had grown in number, so surely he wouldn’t have starved in the process. Obviously, however, he had to lay low for a while.
Lord Crucifer claimed a castle, that became his house, and fed on the ones fool enough to accept his invitations. In the meanwhile, he kept studying the blood magic that had freed him, and tried more than once to project the life force of his companions into human bodies drained of their blood. The vessels, however, proved to be too frail, and the body pulverized a few moments after a vampire spirit inhabited it. Then, finally, the solution was born on its own: in the 20th Century, Earth saw the dawn of superheroes, beings with incredible powers who were much more durable and resistant than baseline humans. Fascinated, Crucifer studied them for decades, always acting from the shadows, until he decided that they would have been the perfect hosts for his brothers and sisters. For the task, Crucifer bent to his will a young metahuman, Nudge, and forced her to use her hypnotic powers to enslave also her super-strong friend Grunt and young Doom Patrol member Vortex to kidnap for him a number of metahuman children, whom he prepared to be the living vessels of his brethren. These actions, however, attracted the attention of both the remaining members of Doom Patrol and even of the Justice League of America, who came to the rescue. Lord Crucifer proved to be more than a match for the heroes: he successfully hypnotized Superman, making him a personal slave, and he nearly turned Faith into a vampire as well. He then faced the daughter of his nemesis Hippolyta, Wonder Woman, and bested her in combat, stabbing her with her own sword. He was even able to recognize Martian Manhunter disguised among the children in his castle, and proceeded to bite him. The return of the Tenth Circle was right at hand.
Television
Lord Crucifer appeared in The Flash episode "Null and Annoyed", portrayed by Mikael Vierge.
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