Vukodlak was an ancient Methuselah killed by a coterie led by Christof Romuald. He was the main antagonist of the video-game Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption.
Biography[]
| “ | Serve me. You do not really have any love for the Antediluvians, have you? The day of Gehenna is coming, and they intend to consume you, and Wilhem, and Lily, and all other vampires. I will prevent that! I will give you eternity! Life everlasting! We will greet the awakening grandsires with another flood, a deluge of their own blood! | ” |
| — Vukodlak, adressing Christof Romuald | ||
Vukodlak dwelled amongst the Antediluvians before the Deluge and commenced to defile and twist the fabric and essences of all that was good and fair in the now cleansed Earth. He desired to overindulge himself with the vitae of the Antediluvians and conceived a diabolical plot to find and eventually destroy the members of which the Third Generation consists. His contemporary Voivodes regarded the pursuit and the execution of his ambitions dangerous to the Voivodes and their holdings, they found it to be revolting and essentially treacherous to clan Tzimisce. Thus the Voivodes unanimously retaliated and purged the entourage, servants and legions of what they deemed to be a wayward Voivode from the ancestral Tzimisce lands. Vukodlak was cursed and placed in a deep Torpor that would last eons. His remaining obedient servants carried the body of their dreaded lord across eastern Europe, persecuted and bereft. But they left destruction in their wake and they embraced many new sentient beings, that they might serve as soldiers or provide flesh for the creation of monstrous entities. But while Vukodlak mustered strength, so too do his followers become evermore powerful and proficient in their unlife as vampires. Eventually the servants of Vukodlak found a safe haven in Prague and Vysehrad Castle became their new dark demesne.
He kidnapped Anezka and turned her into a ghoul in Prague. A great amount of tension in Prague culminated in a fierce conflict. A battle ensued in which the Ventrue Prince Rudolf Brandl was slain, the Tremere went to war with the Tzimisce and the mortals of Prague besieged Vysehrad Castle. Eight hundred years after that, he relocated himself to New York City trying to find the Antediluvians. Due to the Tzimisce clan curse, he had to ship ludicrous amounts of native soil to the New World, that he might rest in grounds that provided the Tzimisce sanctuary and rest. He also endeavored to construct a gigantic Cathedral of Flesh, a establishment that could stand as precedent or prototype for the fashion in which Vukodlak would reshape the world, were he to gorge on the blood of the Antediluvians.
Over the centuries Vukodlak had to endure several failed attempts at resurrection and had to suffer the failures of his sorcerers in lifting the curse the Voivodes placed on him. Anezka, who sacrificed her purity and innocence for the sake of procrastinating the resurrection of Vukodlak, had often sabotaged the ominous plans of Vukodlak and she gained his trust by exploiting Vukodlak's fear of losing power. This is revealed to the player in an alcove deep within the depraved Cathedral of Flesh, where Anezka concealed her memories and experiences of her existence ever since Christof seemingly perished the night Vysehrad Caste was besieged. Eventually Anezka realized she was unable to prolong the inevitable rise of Vukodlak. In her desperation she prayed that God would awaken the one man Vukodlak dreaded, she prayed God would restore Christof. Her prayer reached Christof directly, stirring him from his torpor moments after his arrival in London.
When the time of Vukodlak's resurrection was nigh, Vukodlak had already amassed power and attained potency the likes of which was immeasurable in order to destroy the Antediluvians and feast on their blood. Christof and his allies believed Vukodlak was unable to be a vessel in which such power could be wielded without risking the devastation of a large part of the world. On the eve of the new millennium, the spell of the Voivodes was broken and Vukodlak reemerged. Christof battled the fiend and emerged victorious from the battle. How Christof, a young vampire, could defeat the Methuselah is somewhat miraculous. Was it his undying love for Anezka or Vukodlak's instability that enabled Christof to best Vukodlak?
Vukodlak was a monstrous being, having forsaken all of his Humanity. His talents in Vicissitude were also exceptional, being able to modify his body to great extents. He could transform his entire body into a winged terror known as the 'Chiropteran Marauder'. His undeniable presence and the apparent telepathic influence of Vukodlak, that resonated within his followers, suggests that he has mastered numerous mental Disciplines. His visage, devoid of any beauty, is also the result of reveling in the dark art of Vicissitude. He is quite impervious to melee weapons, and firearms inflict some physical discomfort.
He delights in corrupting purity and defiling noble traits and vestiges constructed by those who desire to do good. He is unable to feel pity or remorse. He even utters a word of genuine gratitude for Christof: were it not for him, Anezka would not be an ill-gotten gain that Vukodlak could defile. Vukodlak also fancies himself a savior, eliminating the Antediluvians and therefore preventing them from consummating Gehenna. Many vampires fear that the founder of each vampire clan, the Antediluvians, would reawaken and gorge on their descendants in a tidal wave of blood.
Background Information[]
- This character might have been inspired by Shaagra, a fifth generation Tzimisce that dwells under the city of Prague. This theory is strengthened by the fact that Vukodlak was served by Libussa, who was Shaagra's ghoul according to Transylvania by Night.
- Vukodlak means "Werewolf" in some Slavic languages.
- When confronted in VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption , Vukodlak has 2000 health, and defeating him is worth 1000 XP. After he's defeated and transforms into the Chiropteran Marauder form, he has 3000 health, and defeating him is technically worth 2000 XP (although the game's final cutscene plays immediately afterwards, so the XP is largely moot). Therefore Vukodlak has a total of 5000 health and is worth 3000 XP.
Gallery[]
