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Dr. Alistair Grout was the Malkavian Primogen of Los Angeles until his Final Death in 2004.

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See this article on the VTM Bloodlines Wiki:
Dr. Alistair Grout


Biography[]

I am confident no cure for my condition or that of my beloved wife lies within our figurative minds, waiting to be unlocked by the correct combination of memories recovered from our childhoods. And I am most certain it has nothing to do with the relationship between myself, my parents and my... genitals. Sorry, Sigmund, but I choose to stay my course. In time, too, may your star fade and disappear...


While the country and the year of his birth are unknown, but sometime in 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century Grout owned an insane asylum where he did his research and work. As was typical of his profession at the time, Grout was a firm believer in phrenology. Grout also had a wife whom he loved very much, though she suffered from an incurable disease.

Unfortunately, one of Grout's patients was the Malkavian who embraced him. His sire died the next morning, when the orderlies found the pair and had the "patient" taken to the sunny outside pen, where she suffered the Final Death. Grout, left with no answers about what really happened to him, began to build up theories, trying to discover what he had become.

After long years of isolation, he discovered other like him, and became aware they had their own society called the Camarilla, while referring to Grout himself as a fellow "Kindred". He approached the other "afflicted" in order to know more about this new condition they were experiencing. After some time past his initial dealings with the others, he was made a Primogen among their kind. He took it as a token of appreciation from the vampiric population of Los Angeles due to his age and eloquence, and used his position to further his research.

Unlike other Malkavians, Grout seemed to be fairly rational and had a great mind for science. However, according to his recordings, he struggled with the voices that plagued him, providing him with secret details of their lives; Grout kept his composure until the voices started to speak outside of conversation, warning him about a powerful vampire implied to be LaCroix and "his blackest crimes, both past and future." He also deeply loved his wife, even after his Embrace.

Grout regretted the fact that he couldn't run an asylum anymore, and he missed the horrendous things that happened in such institutions (he hadn't had much respect for human life). Grout also enjoyed puzzles and riddles immensely, going so far as to transform his own house into an immense maze full of such riddles. Eventually, the Malkavian began to withdraw from Kindred society altogether due to his growing paranoia, but also to dedicate himself to finding the cure for himself and for his wife. Beset by the voices, Grout made what he called a "Faustian bargain" to protect him and his wife -- it's unknown what this bargain was, but he likely called either Ming-Xiao or Grünfeld Bach to his mansion, as he would reasonably expect either to consider LaCroix a common enemy.

Grout was ultimately killed by Ming-Xiao in the form of Armando Rodriguez, under the direction of LaCroix. Grout's death both removed a potential adversary for LaCroix and also gave him an excuse to call a blood hunt on a popular Anarch leader.

Quests[]

Trivia[]

  • Grout's date of Embrace is unknown. One of his audio recordings indicates he'd been Embraced 50 years prior to recording, although the recordings themselves span multiple years, possibly even decades. The Plus version of the Unofficial Patch includes a newspaper with a date of February 28, 1925, although that comes from the patch developers and was not original to the game.
  • According to his audio recordings, Grout learned about and gained Ghouls of his own, which he then used in his experiments. In one of his more humorous recordings, he states, "The one called John went so far as to gnaw off his arm and escape into the floorboards like some feral rodent. I still hear him scurrying about at night; he must be making an atrocious mess…"
  • Grout's preferences for different psychiatric practices do not make much chronological sense. He laments the popularity of Freud's theories and in another place reminisces how the sounds of insane asylums included the "gurgling of the lobotomized." Lobotomy became an accepted medical practice decades after Freud made his mark on psychiatry.
  • Among discussing other obsolete theories such as phrenology (the use of skull shape to determine personality traits), Grout mentions something which sounds like "dactopintalism." This is not a real word, so either voice actor J. Grant Albrecht jumbled up a line, or script writer Brian Mitsoda inadvertently created a word. Given the similarity to the "dactyl-" prefix, one can assume that dactopintalism was intended to be the use of, for example, the measuring of the length of fingers to determine personality traits, akin to phrenology, but for hands instead of skulls.
  • The audiotapes Grout leaves around are similar to the ones used by Dr. Seward, in Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula."
  • A popular theory among some fans is that Grout would not leave a skeleton after his Final Death, suggesting a younger vampire was killed in his place. (Or that the creators of the game are under no obligation to follow every single rule in the VTM's book.) This theory makes no sense for several reasons: 1) no young vampire you kill in the game leaves a skeleton so the creators did not follow these rules, 2) Grout wasn't that old to begin with, he was probably embraced when Dr. Freud was still alive, 3) he would never have left his wife open to attack while he himself was hiding and 4) his presumed killer would have to make sure that they got the right vampire otherwise the whole deal behind this would be in danger. Therefore it's most likely that the skeleton was indeed Grout's.
  • The painting in the entryway to Grout's mansion is often assumed to be Grout, but it's intended to be his wife (Filename: malkwifepic).
  • Grout is one of those Malkavians like Willum Timothy, Reiner Stoschka, Adolph Nonesuch, Jeffrey Granger, Nancy Reage who share common interest in human psyche.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

The Diary of Doctor Grout.
Vampire_The_Masquerade_Bloodlines_-_The_Diary_of_Doctor_Grout

References[]

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