| Character |
Description |
|
| Aaron Lightner | Member of the Talamasca who possesses a particular interest in the Mayfair Witches. |
| Akasha | Progenitor of all vampires, called Queen of the Damned, introduced in The Vampire Lestat (1985) and portrayed by Aaliyah in the 2002 film Queen of the Damned. See Those Who Must Be Kept. |
| Antoine - French musician, exiled to Louisiana and brought into the Blood by Lestat around 1860. Lestat's fifth vampire. |
Avicus | Ancient vampire who appears in Blood and Gold (2001). Avicus is far older than Marius, but he does not know his own strength, althougj it is implied in Blood and Gold that his powers are second to those of Marius. Avicus is from Egypt and some statements in Blood and Gold indicate that he was created by Akasha herself. The powerful blood he supposedly received and his age give him his strength. If he was not created by Akasha, then his powers have most certainly increased with age, as he was a "God of the Grove" for hundreds of years. When the druid priest Mael needs a new "God of the Grove" (due to Marius's escape and the destruction of the old "God of the Grove") it's decided that Mael is to become the new "God of the Grove". The Druids learn about Avicus, who can be found in England, though the book indicates the forests to the north. This is most likely Scotland which, at the time when the book is set, had a large druid presence and was completely covered by the Caledonian forest. They travel there to get Avicus, but Mael and he make an arrangement - Avicus will give Mael "the Dark Gift" if he is given a victim and freedom. After becoming the God Of The Grove and learning (from using "the Mind Gift" on Mael) that Marius had successfully escaped, Avicus also wants to escape. Ultimately, Avicus and Mael escape together and thus become companions. They eventually meet up with Marius and the three live together for a time. In Constantinople, Marius, Avicus and Mael discover Zenobia, a vampire fledgeling of the ancient Eudoxia. Mael, Avicus, and Zenobia are left behind by Marius when he takes Those Who Must Be Kept out of Constantinople. Over 1,000 years later, Marius learns from Mael that Avicus was in love with Zenobia and persuaded her to leave with him, abandoning Mael. Mael blames Marius for this, as he blamed Marius for all his misfortunes in ancient times. |
| Azim | Azim is the ancient "blood god" who has ruled in a Himalayan temple for a thousand years. He collects worshippers into his temple using his vampiric gift and drains their blood during the frenzied ceremonies. Azim is described by Pandora as plump, bronze-skinned, and wrapped in a lavish robe and a silk turban. Despite being "as old as Marius" and therefore powerful, Akasha invades his temple and kills him with a flick of her hand, his skull detonated and his body incinerated by her primal power. |
| Enkil | Husband to Akasha, progenetor of all vampires. See Those Who Must Be Kept. |
| Eric | Eric is mentioned only in The Queen of the Damned (1988) and The Tale of the Body Thief (1992). Eric is made a vampire by Maharet around 1000 BC at the mortal age of twenty-nine. His origin and past-life are unknown. He survives Akasha's worldwide slaughter due to his immortal age of three thousand years and is one of immortals who gathered at Sonoma to stand against Akasha. His first and only appearance is in Queen of the Damned where he came to Maharet, Jesse and Mael with his Italian companion, Santino, who argued with Maharet via telepathy. As they leave, Santino is furious and Eric confused because he did not understand their argument; being Maharet's fledgling, he couldn't read Maharet's mind. It was also stated that there were times that he came to visit Maharet, Mael and Jesse while bringing with him films from other countries and sometimes joining the three in their singing. Being a vampire of 3000 years of age, he is very powerful, his skin is hard and as white as marble and therefore couldn't easily burn under the sun. He is also described as having a youthful appearance and soft brown eyes. His brief conversations makes him out to have a deceptively fragile personality. His cowardice in particular makes him stand out. |
| Eudoxia | A vampire who appears in Blood and Gold (2001). After the Fall of Rome, Marius de Romanus, Avicus and Mael move to Constantinople, along with "Those Who Must Be Kept". Shortly after their arrival they are contacted by the young vampires Asphar and Rashid. They ask them to come to Eudoxia, "the vampire empress" in the city. When her guests arrive she tells them her story. She was around fifteen and about to get married when she was abducted by a vampire. She was then also made one. Her maker she never names, but they stayed together for several years. Eudoxia's maker was very cold and uncaring. After a few years she is taken to "Those Who Must Be Kept" to drink their blood and is directly after left by her maker. She decides to make copies of different texts for mortals in order to know the world. While she's at this she opens her house to mortals and an unnamed young man falls in love with her. He offers to leave his life for her and Eudoxia makes him into a vampire. They spend a few years together until "the Great Fire". The power of all vampires resides in "Those Who Must Be Kept" and one of "the Elders" of their temple has put it to the test. All young vampires are burnt to death as they are in the sun, including Eudoxia's lover. She travels to Egypt and finds out that "Those Who Must Be Kept" are in the custody of Marius. She spends her life trying to find him. She does not succeed and forms a coven in Constantinople. Her companions are Rashid, Asphar and Eudoxia's vampire lover Zenobia. All of them are young when made because Eudoxia thinks they are better off without a connection to their mortal life. When Marius finally comes to the city, she confronts him. She demands to get possession of "Those Who Must Be Kept", but Marius cannot allow this. He doesn't know if he can trust Eudoxia or what "Those Who Must Be Kept" want. The meeting ends in a fight where Eudoxia is defeated, despite being the elder of the pair, as Marius had drunk more of the blood of Akasha. In the fight Marius discovers that he has "the Fire Gift" when he uses to burn Rashid to ashes. The next night Eudoxia shows up at Marius's house and he agrees to let her see the shrine. As she talks to Akasha and Enkil, Akasha takes her and drinks her blood but Eudoxia is saved by Marius. To heal, Eudoxia needs a victim for feeding. They find a real nobleman, but they let the people know that he has been murdered. The blame falls on Marius and they destroy his house. In his anger he destroys Asphar and all other vampires before he throws Eudoxia to Akasha, where she meets her destruction. |
| Gabrielle de Lioncourt | The mother of Lestat de Lioncourt, Gabrielle first appears in The Vampire Lestat (1985). She is Lestat's first fledgling, and the second to leave him after Nicolas de Lenfent. She has yellow-blond hair like her son's and cobalt blue eyes with "too small, too kittenish" features, as Lestat described them, that "made her look like a girl." Gabrielle comes from a prosperous Italian family. She was educated and had traveled to and lived in many cities in Europe. Then she was married at a young age to Lestat's father, the Marquis d'Auvergne. Gabrielle gave birth to eight children, but only 3 survived. Out of these sons, the youngest (Lestat), was to become her favourite. She and Lestat shared a special bond: they both were trapped in a place they hated and struggling endlessly to escape. Gabrielle was cold and uncaring to everyone. She was the only person who was educated in her family and read her books every day, yet lacked the patience to teach her sons to read or write anything. Over the years she sold two of her heirloom jewels from an Italian grandmother to aid Lestat, the only person she loved and cared for. She lived life through him; he was the male part of her. She suffered a rapidly declining health due to bad winters and multiple childbirths. It eventually developed into tuberculosis. She funded Lestat's trip to Paris with his friend Nicolas de Lenfent by giving him gold coins and advising him to hitch a ride on the postal carriage. Lestat became an actor there and was far happier than he ever was back home. He was grateful and loved his mother for all that she had done for him over the years so he sent letters to her telling her about his life in Paris. She encouraged his acting career, which gave him lot of strength. She carefully hid her rapidly declining health to keep him strong. Lestat was made into a vampire by Magnus, and inherited near-inexhaustible wealth when Magnus killed himself in a bonfire. He repaid those who helped him with gold and indulged in his new-found wealth. To hide the truth from Gabrielle, Lestat told her tales of going to the Bahamas, marrying a rich woman and coming into vast wealth. Intrigued, she went to Paris to see her son before she died. Lestat went to see his mother the second night she was in Paris and tried to hide the truth from her, but she found out upon closer inspection of Lestat's changed appearance that he had become a vampire. When Gabrielle began dying right in front of him, a desperate Lestat made her a vampire. Lestat was now the maker, parent, and teacher, while Gabrielle became the fledgling, the child and the student. Lestat took her to his tower where they lived happily for months. Things changed, however, when Lestat destroyed the Satanic cult headed by Armand, founded a theatre and made Nicolas into a vampire. After this, Lestat and Gabrielle went traveling around the world. Gabrielle became increasingly distant and cold to her son. They finally parted in Egypt just after the French Revolution. Gabrielle went into the deep jungles of Africa and Lestat went underground to sleep for two years. Gabrielle was off exploring the world on her own for the next 200 years. She did not reappear until 1985 (during 1988's The Queen of the Damned.) She was there to help her son fight against Akasha and help save the world. During this time, she developed a slight bond with Marius, but nothing became of it and she drifted away from everyone again. Gabrielle resurfaced for the last time after Memnoch the Devil, in The Vampire Armand (1998) while Lestat was in his catatonic sleep.
In the 2006 musical, Lestat, Gabrielle was portrayed by Carolee Carmello who was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her role. The show itself only lasted 39 performances. |
| Khayman | A powerful and ancient vampire introduced in The Queen of the Damned (1988). He was the third vampire in existence, after Akasha and her consort, Enkil. |
| Mael | Mael is mentioned briefly in The Vampire Lestat (1985). Along with Marius de Romanus and Pandora, he is one of the legendary ancient vampires. When Marius tells the young Lestat the story of his life, he says that Mael was the druid priest who abducted him to become the new "God of the Grove". Marius escaped. Mael later returns in The Queen of the Damned (1988). He is a companion to Maharet and also seeks to protect her mortal descendant Jesse Reeves. Mael is present when Maharet tells Jesse her story, when they later try to reason with Akasha, and when Mekare kills her. The third appearance by Mael is at the end of Memnoch the Devil. Lestat de Lioncourt goes to Heaven and Hell with the Devil, Memnoch, and he brought back Veronica's Veil, causing chaos among mortals and bringing out many of the ancients. Mael tells David Talbot and Lestat that he is going to burn himself in the sun for God. Mael is an ancient and thereby too strong for the sunlight to kill him ordinarily, but he believes that the presence of the Veil negates his supernatural powers (but not his vulnerabilities). The final implication is that Mael dies as the novel ends, but it's revealed by Marius in Blood and Gold (2001) that Mael's suicide attempt is unsuccessful, "He was badly burnt and brought low, as can happen with us who are very old, and after one day in the sun, he hadn't the courage for more suffering. Back to his companions he went and there he remains." He appears in Blood and Gold when Marius tells Thorne about his life, in which Mael is included. Marius has just left Pandora when he meets Mael and his maker Avicus in Rome, the city he moved to. When Marius had escaped and the old god had been killed (because they had Marius), Mael is chosen to become the new "God of the Grove". The druids find out about Avicus in England and they travel there. When they get there Avicus uses "the Mind Gift" on Mael and learns about Marius's escape. To give Mael "the Dark Gift" Avicus wants a victim and freedom, but it all ends up with that Mael is turned into a vampire and they escape together. Mael and Avicus become companions and eventually meet Marius in Rome, where they reveal all this. There is a lot of anger between Mael and Marius while Avicus tries to keep them from fighting. They come to a peace where they all live in the city. Mael and Avicus keeps the city clean from The Children of Darkness, but one night Mael is injured and Marius agrees to help. Marius must give Mael blood so he can heal and then Mael sees visions of Those Who Must Be Kept. Gradually they get to know more and more, and Avicus seems to have been made by Akasha before becoming "A God of the Grove". Mael is furious that Marius kept such an important secret to himself, about that Marius destroyed his belief and about the connection between Avicus and Marius. Marius eventually takes them to Those Who Must Be Kept and Mael tries to drink from Akasha. Enkil does not like it and Marius saves Mael in the last minute from being killed by Enkil. Later when Rome is falling Marius goes to sleep and they try to wake him but do not succeed. A hundred years later they decide to leave for Constantinople and finally successfully awaken Marius. In Constantinople, they separate, and then Mael becomes Maharet's companion. |
| Magnus | Magnus is the vampire who created the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt in The Vampire Lestat (1985). Magnus is characterized by black hair and eyes of the same color. As a mortal, he was an alchemist. He was an old man when he trapped the vampire Benedict in chains and stole the Dark Gift/Blood for himself. That happened at some point during the Middle Ages. According to the "Old Queen" (Alessandra) of Armand's coven in Paris, Magnus was 300 years old when he made Lestat, which would put his year of birth in the late 15th century. Over time, he was driven mad by his vampiric nature and his immortality. Before killing himself, he sought an heir to inherit the immense wealth that he had accumulated over the years. Magnus searched for years for an heir, with no succesx. In his dungeon, he had hundreds of decomposing bodies stored in a room, the discarded remains of his search for a suitable heir. Every one of these candidates had blond hair and blue eyes, just as Lestat does. After choosing Lestat as his heir and giving him explicit instructions to scatter his ashes after he had burned up, Magnus leapt into a pyre that he had made for himself. He left Lestat to struggle and learn for himself of his new vampiric nature and its powers. Lestat would later lament that he learned "absolutely nothing" from the one who made him. |
| Maharet and Mekare | 6,000 years old twins from ancient Kemet who inadvertently began the cycle of vampirism in the world by summoning the demon spirit Amel, who possesses a dying Akasha and turns her into a blood-drinker. |
| Nicolas de Lenfent | Introduced in The Vampire Lestat (1985), Nicki is Lestat's closest friend and lover until Lestat is abducted and made a vampire; later Lestat makes him a vampire as well. |
| Pandora | An ancient Roman woman, previously named Lydia, whom Marius de Romanus is forced to make a vampire, and who helps him care for Those Who Must Be Kept for centuries. |
| Roshamandes |
A peace-loving vampire, part of the Queen's Blood contingent of vampires. Made directly by Akasha. 1,000 years after the Blood Genesis or 1,000 after Akasha herself was made. To be more precise, 3,000 B.C. His fledglings include Alessandra - the old vampire that Lestat has met during his descent to the catacombs beneath Les Innocents cemetery in Paris, Benedict - a monk turned vampire from whom Magnus stole the Dark Gift, Eleni and Eugénie de Landen - made in the early Middle Ages, as well as Everard de Landen, also made in the Middle Ages. Eleni is the female fledgling who informed Lestat of their progress in the new Theatre Coven lead by Armand in The Queen of the Damned. She was presumed dead due to Armand trying to extinguish the coven, as he was the leader. |
| Santiago | A vampire introduced in Interview with the Vampire (1976), portrayed by Stephen Rea in the 1994 film adaptation. |
| Santino | Santino is the leader of a coven of Satanic vampires, the members of which hold a common belief that they are meant to be the scourge of humankind. He approaches Marius de Romanus in Rome, some 500 years before Marius meets Lestat de Lioncourt, and confronts him about the "father and mother", whom Marius has been thinking of. This startles Marius greatly, as he is much older than Santino, so reading his mind should be impossible, He decides to scare the young Santino, by setting his cloak on fire and telling him to leave. Marius does not hear of Santino again until sometime later, when Mael tells Marius of his meeting with Santino. Santino and his satanic coven ultimately attack Marius's Venetian home, his followers burning his house and killing some of the boys he harbors. Marius is badly burned from this incident and his fledgling Armand is taken, along with a number of Marius's boys. The coven burns the boys alive in a giant fire. Santino rescues Armand, claiming to his followers that the young fledgling has a heart for God. Armand does not come over to the darker life of the coven so easily though. With the help of his follower Alessandra they keep Armand locked up in their crypt, starving him for days before allowing him to feed. Eventually Armand gives in and is accepted as Santino's apprentice. After some time Armand is chosen to become the leader of the Paris coven, whose former leader went into the fire. Alessandra picks the name Armand for him as a new name and goes with him to Paris. Santino is not heard of again until in the novel The Queen of the Damned (1988) where he comes with Eric to Maharet's place, meeting Jesse who is still human at that time and where he accompanies Pandora to rescue Marius from the icy wall Akasha has entrapped Marius in, possibly hoping to redeem himself in his eyes for the wrongs he had done to the elder. After the events of Queen of the Damned, he stays for a time on Armand's Night Island, occasionally playing chess with Armand. He is also mentioned in The Vampire Armand (1998), when Armand, after going into the sun sees both his old master and his old coven master destroying evidence the humans had of vampires existing. Marius never takes his revenge against Santino for destroying his life in Venice and taking his Armand from him (at first because he doesn't have the opportunity and later because the new vampire queen forbids vampires from killing each other, as their numbers are low). Marius harbors a deep hatred for Santino, and centuries later tells his story to a vampire companion named Thorne. When Marius and Thorne met Santino, Thorne slays Santino with the Fire Gift so that Marius's heart will be at rest. This results in Thorne's confinement. |
| Seth |
Mortal son of Akasha. He was turned into a vampire by his mother and was initially part of her army, before rebelling and going off on his own. He is the protector of Fareed, the doctor turned vampire. He first appears in the novel Prince Lestat. |
| Teskhamen |
The Blood God from the grove, maker of Marius de Romanus, elder and founder of Talamasca. |
| Thorne | Thorne is a vampire who appears in the novel Blood and Gold (2001), which details the life of the vampire Marius de Romanus. Thorne is a Viking warrior originally called Thornevald that is sent to slay a vampire-witch that has been killing villagers and stealing their eyes. Thorne finds the vampire and learns that she has no eyes of her own, and must take eyes from her victims to see. After a time, the mortal eyes wear out in her immortal body and she must take another pair from one of her victims. This vampire is Maharet, one of the most ancient vampires and the story of how she lost her eyes is recounted in The Queen of the Damned (1988). Maharet does not slay Thorne but turns him into a vampire and keeps him as her companion. Soon the pair are joined by other vampires, including the druid vampire Mael, who shares an uneasy friendship with Marius. Jealous of Maharet's attentions to the other vampires, Thorne eventually leaves her. He lies asleep for centuries in the ice of the far north, his jealousy gradually growing into a mad obsession. He is awakened by the events of the novel The Queen of the Damned. Marius makes contact with him using the Mind Gift, a form of telepathy. Thorne journeys south and finds Marius in a large city near the Arctic Circle. Marius enjoys it here as the noonday darkness allows him to live more like a normal person. Marius takes him to his home and discovers that Thorne still harbors a jealous rage for Maharet. Knowing that Maharet could easily destroy Thorne in a battle, Marius tries to dissuade him from his suicidal obsession and begins to recount his life story to Thorne. Marius's story accounts for the bulk of the novel. Thorne politely listens to Marius's account of his life and what he has learned as a vampire. Thorne is particularly interested in the story of the brutal attack on Marius by the vampire Santino and his Satanic cult of followers, who burn Marius in his house and kidnap his apprentice Armand. At the end of the tale Thorne questions Marius why he has not taken revenge on Santino and offers to help kill him. Marius explains that Maharet now rules the vampires as regent for her mute sister, Mekare, and Maharet forbids it. Marius pleads with Thorne to forget the past and talk of revenge, but Thorne still insists on Marius taking him to see Maharet. Marius reluctantly agrees and the pair are mysteriously whisked away. They awaken in a jungle location, where Maharet lives in seclusion with her sister, the new Queen of the Damned. Several other vampires are present, including Pandora, Marius's long lost love; Armand; and Santino. After a brief, bitter discussion, Marius admits that he still wishes to kill Santino. However, he will not because Maharet forbids it, and Marius believes that for Maharet's rule over the vampires to be valid, all vampires must obey her. Thorne abruptly kills Santino himself and then attacks Maharet in a jealous rage. Mekare comes to her sister's aid and easily pulls Thorne away. Thorne, knowing he is undone, whispers a request to the mute Queen as they struggle and she complies. Mekare removes Thorne's eyes from their sockets and hands them to Maharet. Maharet accepts the gift and binds Thorne with ropes made of her hair, the only material strong enough to hold a vampire. Thorne ends the novel as Maharet's eternal prisoner, but he is happy knowing that the object of his obsession will always be near him, and that her new eyes will last her forever. |
| Those Who Must Be Kept | Those Who Must Be Kept are the progenitors of all vampires, and are thus regarded as the "King and Queen of the Vampires". Originally King Enkil and Queen Akasha of Kemet (now Egypt) circa 5,000 BC, they became the first vampires when an evil spirit named Amel was able to enter the body of Akasha through a wound and fuse with her flesh. Akasha then turned Enkil into a vampire by drawing out nearly all of his blood and then allowing him to drink nearly all of hers. The term "Those Who Must Be Kept" is coined by the vampire Marius de Romanus, referring to the fact that what befalls Akasha and Enkil also befalls all vampires; if they are injured, so are their children, if they die, so do all vampires. An example of this is explained in the story of Marius's life: The current caretaker of the two sought to be free of them, and placed them in the sun. The two lived, but weaker vampires were destroyed by spontaneous combustion. |