Kenneth Irons is a fictional

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are of ...

. He is depicted as the person behind nearly every evil deed in the Top Cow series '' Witchblade''.

Fictional character biography

Irons is the head of Irons International, businessman of the year of

Fortune magazine ''Fortune'' is an American multinational business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The ...

and one of the ten richest men in the world. He made his fortune though drug trafficking, prostitution, slavery, and the arms industry. His one obsession is the Witchblade. Irons was born in the mid-to-late 12th century during the reign of

King Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ove ...

and served as a leader of the

Templar Knights , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity ( Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

. He and his son Gerard, along with a group of other Knights, made their way into a holy place where they found and drank from the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...

, making them immortal. In the late 19th century while on an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

dig in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, Irons discovered the Witchblade gauntlet and became obsessed with controlling the Witchblade and/or its host. When Sara Pezzini became the Witchblade's host, Irons turned his attention to her. His ambition came to an end when he was shot and killed by Sara's captain Joe Siry after

Ian Nottingham ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers ...

and Excalibur stripped Irons immortality away from him. He also has a son named Geraun Irons who follows in his father's footsteps and recently returned from the Dead to antagonize Sara again.

Powers and abilities

After drinking from the Holy Grail, Irons became immortal and stopped aging. Irons possessed knowledge of magic spells and could also feel or sense magical energy. Irons was also a skilled swordsman and fighter due to his experiences with the Templar Knights. Iron's most potent weapons were his centuries of experience, his vast economic resources, and his influence over powerful underground organizations such as the Mafia and Yakuza.

In other media

Irons served as the main villain of the 2001-2002 live-action ''Witchblade'' television series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irons, Kenneth Characters created by Marc Silvestri Comics characters introduced in 1995 Fictional businesspeople Image Comics male supervillains Witchblade characters