Who Is Lord Ruthven? Origin, Powers and Key Facts

Lord Ruthven is a In the Public Domain comic book character, with over 16 comic issue appearances. One of the first vampires in English literature, also one of the first Male vampires, appearing almost 75+ years before Count Dracula made his debut.

Who is Lord Ruthven?

Lord Ruthven first appeared in the 1819 short story "The Vampyre" (which was thought up on the very same night that Mary Shelly created her Frankenstein story) by John William Polidori. He's a man of mystery who has managed to penetrate the High Society of London. It is in these circles that he meets Aubrey, a wealthy young gentleman whom he soon befriends. The two travel throughout Southern Europe, where a misshap involving bandits seems to take the life of Ruthven, but not before the Lord makes his young friend swear an oath not to reveal the circumanstances of his death to anyone. To add more mystery to things, Ruthven's body seems to disappear overnight. As he travels back home, Aubrey begins to piece together various seemingly unrelated facts that seem to indicate that Ruthven was not who he seemed to be. He begins to suspect that Ruthven may in fact be... a VAMPIRE.

Key facts

Lord Ruthven is of human origin and first appeared in "Morbius". The character is published by In the Public Domain. With 16 recorded issue appearances, Lord Ruthven ranks among the most featured characters in comics.