Lilith is a woman with a bad relationship with her dad… which isn’t that surprising since her dad is Dracula. She was introduced 50 years ago in Giant-Size Chillers Featuring Dracula #1 (June 1974) as a creation of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. Lilith is a vampire with many of the traditional qualities, however she is not hampered by certain weaknesses like sunlight, religious symbols, or total dependence on drinking blood for survival.

Lilith’s mother was Zofia, who was married to Dracula (still human at the time) through an arranged marriage. When his father died, Dracula ordered Zofia and infant Lilith to leave the castle so that he could marry his second wife, Maria. Filled with grief, Zofia committed suicide, leaving Lilith to be raised by Gypsies.

Dracula was cursed to become a vampire by a Gypsy, and in retaliation, he killed several Gypsies – including the son of Lilith’s foster mother. Enraged, the woman cursed Lilith to become a vampire too, minus certain weaknesses and possessed by a need to see Dracula dead. The curse continued beyond death, because if Lilith died, her spirit would attach itself to another woman who similarly hated her father.

In modern times, Lilith possessed Angel O’Hara, a woman who wanted her father dead because he had accidentally killed her husband after learning that they had married in secret. Lilith killed Angel’s father and the pair were able to coexist in one body until a descendant of the Gypsy that raised Lilith was able to separate their bodies.

Following years of conflict, Lilith and Dracula made an agreement to avoid each other. This changed when Dracula lost his vampiric powers and Lilith refused to bite him and give him back his powers. During a fight, Dracula revealed to Lilith that the curse between them also made it impossible for her to actually kill him. This revelation locked them into a constant battle between two immortals.