Dreadknight

---

title: "Dreadknight" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["characters-created-by-bill-mantlo", "characters-created-by-george-tuska", "comics-characters-introduced-in-1977", "fictional-engineers", "fictional-polearm-and-spearfighters", "latverians", "marvel-comics-male-supervillains", "marvel-comics-scientists"] description: "Fictional character appearing in American comic books" topic_path: "general/characters-created-by-bill-mantlo" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadknight" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Fictional character appearing in American comic books ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox comics character"]

Field	Value
character_name	Dreadknight
image	DreadknightIM102.jpg
imagesize	222
converted	y
caption	Dreadknight as depicted in Iron Man #102 (September 1977). Art by George Pérez.
publisher	Marvel Comics
debut	Iron Man #101 (August 1977)
creators	Bill Mantlo
George Tuska
alter_ego	Bram Velsing
species	Human
alliances	Frightful Four
Masters of Evil
powers	Gifted scientist
Rides the "Hellhorse"
Use of weapons
Steel alloy body armor grants:
Superhuman strength and durability
cat	super
subcat	Marvel Comics
villain	y
sortkey	Dreadknight
::

| character_name = Dreadknight | image = DreadknightIM102.jpg | imagesize = 222 | converted = y | caption = Dreadknight as depicted in Iron Man #102 (September 1977). Art by George Pérez. | publisher = Marvel Comics | debut = Iron Man #101 (August 1977) | creators = Bill Mantlo George Tuska | alter_ego = Bram Velsing | species = Human | alliances = Frightful Four Masters of Evil | powers = Gifted scientist Rides the "Hellhorse" Use of weapons Steel alloy body armor grants: Superhuman strength and durability | cat = super | subcat = Marvel Comics | villain = y | sortkey = Dreadknight Dreadknight (Bram Velsing) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The character first appeared in Iron Man #101 (Aug. 1977) and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller George Tuska.

Fictional character biography

Bram Velsing is a Latverian scientist, unsatisfied with serving Doctor Doom whom he referred to as a "grotesque mockery of a man" and thought himself as his superior. Upon learning of Velsing's treacherous ideals, Doom grafts a skull-like metal helmet to his head using a Bio-Fusor device, scarring him as a way to make him even with Doom. Velsing flees and comes under the care of Victoria Frankenstein, who nurses him back to health at Castle Frankenstein. Velsing gains a variety of weapons and rides the "Hellhorse", a bat-winged horse created by Victoria Frankenstein using the Black Knight's horse Aragorn. Calling himself Dreadknight, Velsing attempts to force more resources from Frankenstein to defeat Doom, but is defeated by Iron Man and Frankenstein's Monster and rendered comatose.

Dreadknight is revived by the mystical villains Morgan Le Fay and Mordred and menaces Captain Britain, Victoria Bentley, and Sean Dolan. He is defeated by Dane Whitman.

Dreadknight appears as a member of Wizard's incarnation of the Frightful Four alongside Trapster and Man-Bull. In their attempt to capture a physicist named Dr. Cargill, the Frightful Four are defeated by Spider-Man and Cargill's daughter Turbine.

Dreadknight battles Iron Man while working for and still resenting Doctor Doom, but is defeated and the Hellhorse leaves him.

During the "One World Under Doom" storyline, Dreadknight joins Mad Thinker's incarnation of the Masters of Evil and assists them in invading the Impossible City. After battling the Masters of Evil alongside Captain America, the Impossible City resets itself, freeing it from the group's control.

Powers and abilities

Bram Velsing is a gifted scientist with skills as an engineer.

Equipment

Dreadknight wears a steel alloy body armor granting him superhuman strength and durability. He uses a power lance capable of projecting energy blasts; electrified steel cable bolas; miniature missiles; and also uses a carbon dioxide pistol that fires concentrated nerve gas which can render opponents unconscious or kill them.

Dreadknight rides the "Hellhorse", a demonic mutated horse.

Other versions

Mini Marvels

In the Mini-Marvels reality, Dreadknight is depicted as a child.

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe version of Dreadknight from Earth-1610 appears in Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars. This version is German and wields armor based on Iron Man's designs.

In other media

Television

• Dreadknight and his Hellhorse, Nightwing, appears in Iron Man, voiced by Neil Dickson.
• A legion of Dreadknights appear in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Ancient History 101". They are depicted as stone statues created by the Mandarin to guard one of his Makluan rings and test his potential successors' wisdom. They come to life after Gene Khan fails the test and attack him and his friends until Tony Stark passes the aforementioned test.

Merchandise

• Toy Biz produced a Dreadknight action figure for the Iron Man animated series tie-in line.
• A figure of Dreadknight was released for the Marvel Super Hero Squad line in The Danger of Dreadknight four-pack, packaged with two figures of Iron Man and one of the Mandarin.
• A figure of Dreadknight is included in the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Marvel Legends "The Raft" box set.

References

References

1. (2019). "The Marvel Encyclopedia". DK Publishing.
2. Rovin, Jeff. (1987). "[[The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains]]". Facts on File.
3. ''[[Iron Man (comic book). Iron Man]]'' #101-102 (August - September 1977)
4. ''[[Black Knight (Marvel Comics). Black Knight]]'' (vol. 2) #2 (July 1990)
5. ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man. Amazing Spider-Man: Chaos in Calgary]]'' #4 (February 1992)
6. ''Iron Man: Legacy'' #3 (August 2010)
7. ''[[The Avengers (comic book). Avengers]]'' (vol. 9) #25 (June 2025)
8. ''Avengers'' (vol. 9) #28 (September 2025)
9. ''Spidey and the Mini-Marvels'' one-shot (May 2003)
10. ''[[Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars]]'' #2-3 (December 2009 - January 2010)
11. "Dreadknight Voice - ''Iron Man'' (1994) (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors.
12. Diestch, T. J.. (July 11, 2016). "Marvel Legends Breaks Out SDCC-Exclusive The Raft Action Figure Set".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::