Blade, born Eric Brooks and also known as The Daywalker, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Wesley Snipes and Sticky Fingaz in the New Line Cinema Blade franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name created by writer Marv Wolfman and illustrator Gene Colan. In his original 1970s comics, Blade had been depicted as a human immune to vampire bites, and had worn a red/green suit, bright green goggles, and an afro-style haircut. Wolfman and Colan updated his look in 1991 to include a dark leather jacket and short hair. The comics had also given Blade vaguely supernatural abilities, while still keeping him human. The character was completely streamlined for the film franchise, where Blade is depicted as a sunglasses and leather-wearing dhampir. In both comics and film, the character gained enhanced abilities after his mother was bitten by a vampire while giving birth to him. A variation of the film's storyline was integrated into Spider-Man: The Animated Series by John Semper in 1995 ahead of the first Blade (1998) film being made, adapted from an early script for the film by David S. Goyer, and Blade's redesigned costume and powers were integrated into comics as well in 1999. Following two further sequel films starring Snipes: Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004), Fingaz was cast to replace him in Blade: The Series in 2006.

Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor and martial artist. Snipes has made films in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, though he is best known for his action films. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work in The Waterdance (1992) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film One Night Stand (1997).