| 1 | %%Please remember that information about the End Times should go on the Warhammer: The End Times (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/WarhammerTheEndTimes) pages not here. |
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| 3 | [[WMG:[[center: [- ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' [[Characters/{{Warhammer}}Main Character Index]]\ |
| 4 | [[Characters/WarhammerTheEmpire The Empire]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBretonnia Bretonnia]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDwarfs Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerElves Elves]] ([[Characters/WarhammerHighElves High Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerDarkElves Dark Elves]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWoodElves Wood Elves]]) | [[Characters/WarhammerLizardmen Lizardmen]] | '''Vampire Counts''' | [[Characters/WarhammerTombKings Tomb Kings]] ([[Characters/WarhammerNagash Nagash]]) | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosGodsAndDaemons Daemons of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerWarriorsOfChaos Warriors of Chaos]] | [[Characters/WarhammerBeastsOfChaos Beastmen]] | [[Characters/WarhammerChaosDwarfs Chaos Dwarfs]] | [[Characters/WarhammerSkaven Skaven]] | [[Characters/WarhammerGreenskins Greenskins]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOgreKingdoms Ogre Kingdoms]] | [[Characters/WarhammerOtherFactions Others]]]]-]]] |
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| 7 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vampire_counts_1907.jpg]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350:Come! The night beckons!]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ->''"Awake O Dead, for there can be no rest for ye beneath the earth. Let the splintered bones burrow from the grave pall. Let cold fingers grip time-worn blades, and unseeing eyes survey the fields of slaughter. For your time has come once more. And the dead shall walk again."'' |
| 11 | -->--'''Motto of the Sylvania Press''' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The Vampires are powerful undead humans characterized by superhuman strength, speed, and an affinity for necromantic magic in exchange for an eternity of damnation and hunger for blood. First created in Nehekhara when Queen Neferata studied the Nine Books of Nagash to become immortal, the Vampires have since that time dispersed around the world, forming dynasties with their own distinct characteristics but all sharing a unnatural control over the world's dead. These dynasties raise the dead into armies and eternal ambition drives them to try wars of conquest during which they unleash hordes of undead against the living. The most notorious bloodline of them all are the Von Carsteins, masters of the cursed province of Sylvania South-East of the Empire. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | The Vampire Counts field an unconventional army made of undead centered around the General (either a Vampire or a Necromancer) whose presence is key to keep the dead animate and moving. The army lacks shooting options and is based around hordes of mediocre undead soldiers supported by more powerful units, either fast beasts bound to the general's will, more powerful kinds of undead soldiers or monsters and terrifying undead constructs. With the ability to replenish their ranks, the omnipresent ''Fear'' rule, an array of tricks, and general maneuverability, the Vampire Counts tend to outlast their opponents in a bloody grind rather than outperforming the enemy troops. |
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| 17 | The Vampire Counts have a complex relationship with the other factions: they would dearly love to see the world eclipsed in darkness forever -- but they would hate to have to share any of it with their vampiric fellows. They have fought grand wars to destroy the Empire -- and yet, when the Skaven had overrun its cities or when the forces of Chaos finally ran rampant throughout the Empire's homeland, [[EnemyMine it was the armies of the Vampire counts that]] [[VillainousRescue saved the Empire in its moments of direst need]]. |
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| 19 | ----- |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:General Tropes]] |
| 24 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: Vampires are bloodthirsty creatures who, above all else, desire to instill their dominance and power over mortals and will occasionally go as far as to terrorize others for their own amusement. However, while the playable vampires on the tabletop are undoubtedly evil, [[SubvertedTrope this is not actually the case in-lore]]; while Vampires are generally feared, some have displayed positive qualities and even noble aspirations. Other vampires have also been shown to be unambiguously good and are more than capable of feeling affectionate love. |
| 25 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Vampires ultimately respect only strength, and their place in the hierarchy is decided by their power. The instant a leader seems weak, their subordinates will attempt to destroy them and take their place. This is especially common among the Von Carsteins. |
| 26 | * BackFromTheDead: Practically every unit save the Vampires, Necromancers and ghouls are deceased creatures and people brought back to undeath by necromancy to serve their dark masters. The ''Invocation of Nehek'' and ''Raise Dead'' spells even allow to bring back some recently slain warriors very easily mid-battle. |
| 27 | * BatOutOfHell: Fell Bats and Bat Swarms are commonly used by the Vampires as harassing units thanks to their ability to fly. |
| 28 | * BatPeople: |
| 29 | ** Vargheists are monstrous bat people created from von Carstein Vampires that lost out in their family's endless internal plotting. Denied blood for decades, and tainted with diluted Dark Magic, these unfortunates grow in size and sprout leathery wings from their forelimbs as their features twist into fearsome bat-like faces with mouths filled with murderous fangs. Driven mad by their thirst, Vargheists desire nothing more than to feed and will follow their creators into battle so that they can feast on the blood of the enemy. |
| 30 | ** Varghulfs are Vampires that have given in to the bestial side of their nature, forsaking any semblance of humanity to run with Dire Wolves and Ghoulkin. With heavily muscled bodies, winged forearms and nightmarish bat-like features, Varghulfs fight with bestial fury, ripping apart their prey with dagger-like fangs and feasting on the bloody remains. |
| 31 | * TheBeastmaster: Vampire Counts can dominate the lesser minds of beast and use undead versions of them to aid their armies in battle, from SavageWolves to BatOutofHell to even undead dragons. The ''Vampiric Power: Summon Creatures of the Night'' buffs the ''Invocation of Nehek'' spell on beasts, represented as the Vampire having an easy time calling more of these creatures to them in order to replace the fallen beasts. |
| 32 | * TheBerserker: Some Vampires are said to be so bloodthirsty they fight relentlessly until the enemy is utterly dead. This aspect is represented by the ''Vampiric Power: Red Fury'' which allows to make additional attacks for each unsaved wounds caused. |
| 33 | * BloodMagic: Some of the Vampires' spells are inevitably tied to blood, one of which is the process of turning someone into a Vampire, which involves giving the future Vampire some blood from a vampiric sire. |
| 34 | * CoolChair: Some Vampires, especially Lahmians, consider themselves TooImportantToWalk near their undead minions so they sit upon a Coven Throne. Coven Thrones are huge thrones made of bones and carried by bound spirits. |
| 35 | * CrapsackWorld: Even compared to the rest of the Old World, life in Vampire-ruled Sylvania sucks. The brooding forests are filled with bloodthirsty monsters and vampire lords maintain seats of power inside haunted castles, presiding over (and preying on) a helpless populace of sullen, poor and often-mutated villagers who scratch out a living in run-down communities, herding skinny goats by day and hiding behind heavy doors laden with multiple bolts and religious fetishes by night. |
| 36 | * DarkIsEvil: The night-crawling monsters leading hordes of undead do not want to do you good, unsurprisingly. |
| 37 | * DemBones: Skeleton warriors are a common sight in Vampire Counts armies, being long dead warriors corrupted by winds of magic. They are marginally better than freshly raised zombies due to their use of weapons and shields. |
| 38 | * {{Dracolich}}: Vampires occasionally venture east of the World's Edge Mountains into the Plain of Bones, where dying dragons come to their final rest. They then use their fell powers to resurrect one of the dragon corpses and mount it to battle. Just as powerful as in life, the Zombie Dragons replace their BreathWeapon with a ''Pestilential Breath'' which is quite weak but has a penalty to Armour Saves. Moreover, their corpses are surrounded by huge swarms of flies. As a result, enemy models in base contact with the Zombie Dragons suffer a penalty to hit. |
| 39 | * TheDreaded: Vampires are particularly terrifying, which is represented through several ''Vampiric Powers''. ''Fear Incarnate'' forces nearby enemies to Reroll ''Fear'' tests and cancels the ''Hold Your Ground'' effect from Standard Bearer. Likewise a Vampire with ''Aura Of Dark Majesty'' is said to exhude a particular dreadful aura that intimidates enemy by making them realize how inferior they are, inflicting a -1 penalty to Leadership to nearby enemies. |
| 40 | * EliteMook: Grave Guard are lesser [[OurWightsAreDifferent wights]] that act as elite infantry for Vampire Counts armies. Resembling ancient and heavily armoured Skeleton Warriors, Grave Guard retain far more of their martial skill than their lesser brethren and wield enchanted blades that can slay all but the most fearsome of opponents with a single strike[[note]]represented by the Killing Blow special rule in later editions of the Game[[/note]]. |
| 41 | * EvilWeapon: The cursed magic weapon Skabscrath is said to have an evil will that forces those who draw it to commit truly vile acts. The blade is possessed of an insatiable bloodlust that will drive its wielder into a frenzy during battle and will kill the character that carries it if they haven't killed at least one enemy model by the end of a game. |
| 42 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: Sylvania is a fantasy version of medieval Eastern Europe and Wallachia under Vlad the Impaler. |
| 43 | * FearlessUndead: The Vampire Counts have the particularity of being near immune to Psychology Tests, justifiable as the undead that aren't mindless puppets are also freakishly strong and overconfident. Undead units in the army are ''Unbreakable''. |
| 44 | * FeralVampires: Vargheists and Varghulfs are monsters who were once normal vampires, but succumbed to their bloodthirst and no longer functional as anything but indulging beasts. |
| 45 | * {{Flight}}: Vampires with the ''Flying Horror'' Vampiric Power have the ability to ''Fly'', either because they transform into bats or because they already possess bat wings. |
| 46 | * GameFace: Almost all vampires have some level of shapeshifting ability, allowing them to pass for human most of the time before changing to a more monstrous aspect when angry or at war to strike fear in their enemies. |
| 47 | * HorrorHunger: Becomes less of an issue over time for Vampires but it never goes away entirely. The Vampire Counts are all consumed by a need to drink blood which they usually try their hardest to counter as they don’t want to devolve into ravening beasts. The youngest vampires have the hardest time controlling it but with time and willpower, a Vampire may only need a handful of blood every few years. Vampires who are denied their blood won’t die but devolve into powerful but brutish Vargheists. Finally, some vampires do not care and fully give in to their bloodlust, becoming over time bestial Varghulfs. |
| 48 | * HypnoticEyes: ''Beguile'' represents a Vampire whose gaze can entrance foes. It forces an enemy in a challenge to pass a Leadership test with a -3 modifier or reroll successful To Hit rolls. |
| 49 | * ImmortalImmaturity: Many vampires succumb to this as a side-effect of their condition. They're usually credited with a "predator's laziness," not willing to put in the work necessary to achieve much beyond their immediate (by their standards) ends. They also have a tendency to indulge in hedonistic behaviors,a penchant for emotional instability, and an inability to forge healthy, meaningful relationships with others (though there are exceptions). Even [[FounderOfTheKingdom Vlad von Carstein]], one of the oldest vampires in existence, had a notorious HairTriggerTemper whenever things didn't go his way. |
| 50 | * KeystoneArmy: The General of any Vampire Counts army is explained to be the one bending every undead to his will and providing the magic that sustains their dead bodies, so killing him will result in the army crumbling away too. However, any other Lord or Hero unit with the ''Lore of Vampires'' can take over as the next general. |
| 51 | * LightningBruiser: Vampires are among the most fearsome Heroes and Lords units of the Undead, having high stats in every category on top of a slight healing factor. For instance, a Vampire Lord has a Weapon Skill and Initiative of 7, Strength and Toughness 5 with 3 Wounds and 5 attacks, without magic weapons or other allottable skills. The only (comparatively) ordinary Lords who could reasonably beat that are the famously powerful and duel-oriented Chaos Lords and Greater Daemons of Chaos. Moreover, several ''Vampiric Powers'' allow to characterize Vampires into leaning toward a specialty. Some NighInvulnerable Vampires thanks to foul magic or exceptional constitution can be represented with ''Curse Of The Revenant'' which adds +1 Wound to their profile. One can also emphasize the SuperSpeed of their Vampire by giving them ''Quickblood'', meaning they ''Always Strike First''. Finally, the SuperStrength of a Vampire may be highlighted through ''Master Strike'', signifying the Vampire is so strong a well-placed blow can kill anyone and they may perform a single attack with ''Heroic Killing Blow'' |
| 52 | * MagicKnight: Yet another reason Vampires are so powerful is that they combine a powerful body with a great affinity for the Wind of Death. Several ''Vampiric Powers'' may represent a Vampire's possible specialization. A Vampire with ''Master Of The Black Arts'' is particularly talented at magic and may reroll a dice to determine the strength of the Winds of Magic or someone with ''Forbidden Lore'' has spent their undeath practicing many types of magic, thus they are able to generate spells from all basic Lores except the ''Lore of Life''. On the other hand, a Vampire who is a ''Dread Knight'' has spent centuries honing their battle skill and mimicking knights, gaining +2 Weapon Skill and having to issue/accept challenges. |
| 53 | * MakeMeWannaShout: Tomb Banshees and Terrorgheists have access to terrifying shrieking abilities that either demoralize the enemy or outright kill them from the sound. |
| 54 | * NakedNutter: Ghouls have been driven insane by generations of cannibalism and necrophagia, and have lost so much of their mental faculties to that they barely understand the concept of weapons or clothing. Consequently, most go into battle wearing nothing more than loincloths. |
| 55 | * TheNecrocracy: Sylvania is currently under the unchallenged rule of the Vampire Counts. Whatever population of living peasants is now too afraid to cross the forests to get out of Sylvania and are forced to live beneath their undead lords, hoping they won’t catch their attention. |
| 56 | * {{Necromancer}}: All practitioners of the ''Lore of the Vampires'' are necromancers commanding the Wind of Death to raise dead or cause nasty effects of enemies. The ''Lore of Vampires'', thanks to its attribute ''Curse of Undeath'' and basic spell ''Invocation of Nehek'', is particularly useful for raising the undead and replenish your ranks. Vampires are nearly all capable necromancers, which is necessary to raise entire legions of dead zombies or skeletons and a Vampire with the ''Vampiric Power: Dark Acolyte'' adds D3 to casting total for ''Invocation of Nehek''. Necromancers are a cheaper yet more vulnerable option for army leaders, being mere humans who learned necromancy and raising undead armies for their own nefarious goals. |
| 57 | * OurBansheesAreLouder: Tomb Banshees are an available unit of the Vampire Counts armies, being the restless spirits of sorceresses specifically. Otherwise they fit the trope perfectly. |
| 58 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: Spirit Hosts are spirits of the dead attracted to the dark magic of the undead, which are then enslaved by the nearest vampire. |
| 59 | * OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Crypt Ghouls are former human cannibals driven away and forced to live underground to feed on buried corpses. They were then corrupted by madness and dark magic into their current bestial state. Crypt Ghouls may occasionally be given permission to drink a very desperate Vampire’s blood to turn them into Crypt Horrors, acting as shock troops. |
| 60 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: Refined, powerful undead who see themselves as undisputedly higher lifeforms than their "cattle". [[VampireVarietyPack They come in several distinct bloodlines]], but all are unaging, magically powerful, superhumanly strong and unable to subsist on anything but the blood of the living. |
| 61 | * OurWightsAreDifferent: Wight Kings are a close-combat oriented and cheaper alternative to Vampires, being the raised cadavers of ancient warlords who have retained their personalities but gained undead powers. |
| 62 | * OurZombiesAreDifferent: Zombies are maybe the most common troops used by a Vampire. They are exclusively of the “recently raised through necromancy” kind and are overall a really cheap but pitiful unit, their only strengths being how easy it is to replenish their ranks and just how many of them are in a given mob. |
| 63 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: While the game system itself means that a character is more powerful the higher their rank, this is particularly prominent in Vampire Counts armies. In many editions of the game, Vampires are some of the most powerful individual generic characters from any army with strong close combat abilities and reasonable magical talent. The core infantry units of their undead armies, however, are near mindless undead minions that mostly rely on their numbers and their ability to resurrect their casualties to swamp their enemies more than skill-at-arms. |
| 64 | * RenegadeSplinterFaction: Technically of the Empire. Sylvania started out as an imperial province that Vlad von Carstein legally inherited from Otto von Drak. In essence, Sylvania is basically a rogue province of the Empire that is trying to take over the rest of it. |
| 65 | * SavageWolves: Dire Wolves are undead wolves acting as outflanking units for the Vampire Counts, protecting the flanks from cavalry units or hunting vulnerable ones. |
| 66 | * ShoutOut: The Von Carsteins are named after the title character of ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'', whose surname is Karnstein. The name Vlad and the title of Count are obvious references to ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. |
| 67 | * StrongerWithAge: The older vampires get, the stronger they get. Vlad, in addition to being the strongest of the Von Carsteins, was also the oldest. |
| 68 | * SuperEmpowering: The Blood Kiss is a mysterious ritual that allows Vampires to create another Vampire, seemingly involving giving the would-be vampire some of their cursed blood. |
| 69 | * {{Uberwald}}: Sylvania is probably the bleakest province of the Empire, from the poor soils to the tortured forests full of roaming abominations and a consistently bad weather. The Vampires intend to keep it that way too. |
| 70 | * TheUndead: An entire faction of them. The Vampires are the ones with the power, sentience, and ambition to actually seek out other undead to dominate and form entire armies with them. |
| 71 | * TheVamp: All Vampiresses who try to blend into human society become this. Most notable are the Lahmian vampires who created a network of courtesan spies under Neferata’s control. This aspect is represented on the tabletop by some Vampiric abilities like ''Beguile'' or the ''Coven Thrones'' whose Lahmian Vampiress occupants can enthrall a unit near them. |
| 72 | * VampireMonarch: There is a reason they are called "Counts". The Vampires, especially those of the Von Carstein bloodline, mimic noblemen by living in castles and ruling their own province of Sylvania. The "Vampire Wars" trilogy is about the Von Carsteins' repeated invasions of the Empire in order to become a true undead monarch of humanity. |
| 73 | * VampiricDraining: Vampires get strength from drinking blood from anyone. They all have ''The Hunger'' rule, allowing them to regain a lost Wound on a 6+ roll whenever they kill a model in close quarters. |
| 74 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: Many von Carstein vampires have a wolf form from the day they're turned and some of them like to hunt or even fight in that form. Older Lahmians can learn a cat version (different individuals get different species, most are big cats but at least one becomes a large housecat) but they generally treat it as a minor amusement of little practical worth. |
| 75 | * WarriorUndead: Wights are the skeletal remains of ancient warriors, raised from their burial mounds by vampires and necromancers in order to exploit the skill in arms that still clings to them, and typically possess greater intelligence and independence than regular undead. |
| 76 | ** The husks of common warriors are grouped into units of grave guard, resembling skeletons clad in rusted armor and wielding ancient weapons. Horsemen, buried together with their mounts, are instead raised as black knights to serve as terrifying, armored cavalry. |
| 77 | ** The remains of chieftains and heroes, still clad in their ancient finery and wielding the weapons they did in life, become the much more powerful wight kings, which retain enough intelligence and combat prowess to serve as independent heroes instead of rank-and-file troops. |
| 78 | * WeakenedByTheLight: Vampires cannot bear sunlight which burns them with a small duration and kills them if they're out in the sun for too long. Interestingly, it doesn’t have anything to do with any holy aspect of the sun but arises from a petty curse Nagash threw at their entire kind for being GeneralFailure. |
| 79 | * WeHaveReserves: Played interestingly. Vampires will happily swamp their enemies in zombie and skeleton fodder, oftentimes even [[AnimateDead reusing the same corpses many times]] in the same fight. They'll even treat themselves as expendable because they often employ magical means to resurrect themselves and even if these means fail, they can still eventually come back from their dust through the efforts of some foolish necromancer. They are, however, very careful with the lives of their living servants; few among the living willingly associate with the undead, and their ability to operate in plain sight (and daylight!) and further their undead patron's interests (infiltrating towns and cities, guarding and moving coffins, procuring supplies or victims, etc.) make them highly valuable. This tends to be bad news for a VampireVannabe working for immortality; their master can get a new vampire anywhere, but a competent human servant is irreplaceable. |
| 80 | * WreathedInFlames: Hexwraiths are [[{{Intangibility}} ethereal]] horsemen who reap the souls of their victims. The spiritual remains of these souls are absorbed by the Hexwraith where they for a coroner of spectral flame that, in the 8th Edition of the rules, give Hexwraiths Flaming Attacks. |
| 81 | * ZombieApocalypse: A Vampire Count invasion will invariably be this. Any freshly slain in the invasion's path will be raised again and added to the Vampire Counts’ numbers, sometimes resulting in entire armies turned into zombies to then be used as cannon fodder against their former countrymen. Zombie Units have a rule allowing them to grow beyond their starting size to represent this. |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Vampire Bloodlines]] |
| 85 | * NatureVersusNurture: Depending on which edition of the game or story you read, the bloodlines either all affect their new members in specific ways (nature) or vampirism is fairly universal and the existing Vampire Counts create new vampires based on certain traits within the prospective recruit (nurture). Is the Necrarchs' infamous skeletal gauntness an inherent part of W'soran's lineage, or are they like that just because, like their founder, they prefer to feed off dark magic directly and only drink blood as rarely as possible (it distracts from their research after all)? Up until 5th edition or so, a player had to take one bloodline as a package deal, but later rules allow them to pick and choose which traits their vampire has. |
| 86 | * VampireVarietyPack: The vampires are divided between five distinct bloodlines, each tracing its descent from one of the original five vampires of ancient Lahmia and embodying a different take on fictional vampires. |
| 87 | ** The von Carsteins are essentially {{Dracula}}, pale aristocrats brooding in gothic castles in the local {{Uberwald}}. |
| 88 | ** Lahmian vampires are Literature/{{Carmilla}}-like female vampires, look the most human and secretly manipulate human society. |
| 89 | ** The Blood Dragons are {{Blood Knight}}s -- literally, they're knights who strive to grow ever better in combat until they can defeat a dragon, drink it dry and lose their addiction to blood. |
| 90 | ** The Strigoi are degenerate, physically bestial descendants of more intelligent vampires who [[LooksLikeOrlok Look Like Orlok]], live in crypts and rule over equally degenerate ghouls. |
| 91 | ** The Necrarchs are MadScientist {{Necromancer}}s who look like walking corpses and study dark magic in isolation. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | !!Blood Dragons |
| 94 | ->''"If there be Gods, then they must smile to see their gifts so well used. If there are not, then I am surely the closest thing to them. Life and death are mine to deal, to those whom I consider worthy of each."'' |
| 95 | -->'''Lady Sigismunda''', Blood Dragon |
| 96 | |
| 97 | The knights of Blood Keep are the most driven and martial of the vampire bloodlines. The Blood Dragons devote their undeaths to becoming the deadliest warriors in the Old World in pursuit of their order's shared goal -- slaking their thirst on a dragon's blood and transcending the limitations of vampirism. They descend from Abhorash the Blade Immortal, a legendary warrior of ancient Lahmia. |
| 98 | ---- |
| 99 | * AnimalMotifs: They make heavy use of dragon imagery in their heraldry and armor, in order to remind themselves of Aborash's great achievement and of their own ultimate goal. |
| 100 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: The Blood Dragons' mastery of martial combat comes with a degree of pride and disdain for humanity notable even among vampires. Blood Dragons view the majority of the human species as nothing more than pathetic vermin fit for little more than testing a new blade's edge, and make no attempt at hiding this attitude. |
| 101 | * BlackKnight: They clad themselves from head to toe in intimidating armor, hold a harsh sense of honor despite being man-eating undead, and wander the world in search of powerful warriors to fight. Some are even known to park themselves on bridges or in narrow passes and challenge anyone who tries to pass. |
| 102 | * ChallengeSeeker: Blood Dragons devote their undeaths to becoming the greatest paragons of martial skill they can, and constantly test themselves against powerful foes. They will gladly slaughter peasants or travellers to test a new blade, practice a strike or feed, but they seek mighty champions and fearsome monsters above all else in order to push themselves further and further along their path. |
| 103 | * MonsterKnight: They're an order of vampire knights that live to fight powerful foes, and they believe that only cowards feed upon the weak -- the only ones that Blood Dragons will willingly feed on are powerful warriors and monsters. |
| 104 | * NobleDemon: Blood Dragons hold themselves to a strict code of honor, typically refusing to fight weaker or helpless opponents and saving their blades for those who can put up a good fight for their lives, and are known to spare foes who fight honorably or with courage. |
| 105 | * UndyingWarrior: An order of vampire knights devoted to honorable combat and transcending their hunger, [[ChallengeSeeker they actively seek out battles across the world to test their mettle]] -- either challenging lone warriors on the road or pitting entire armies against the nations of the world. As such, of all the vampire bloodlines, they're the only one whose members wage war not for the sake of knowledge, power, or hunger, but simply for the sake of fighting. |
| 106 | * WarriorUndead: Blood knights spend centuries training themselves to achieve excellence in arms. Combined with the extreme resilience granted by their undead state, this makes them some of the greatest cavalry in the world. |
| 107 | |
| 108 | !!Lahmians |
| 109 | ->''"Behind every great man is a great woman. And behind those great women is me."'' |
| 110 | -->'''Neferata''', Queen of the Lahmians |
| 111 | |
| 112 | The Lahmians are almost exclusively female vampires who hide themselves within the upper echelons of human society, using talents for subterfuge and politics honed over centuries to stalk their prey within their own cities and halls of power. They descend from Queen Neferata herself. |
| 113 | ---- |
| 114 | * TheChessmaster: Neferata's teachings expressly forbid her spawn from seizing open power for themselves, as this tends to drive humanity to unite and bring them down. Instead, Lahmians prefer to work from the shadows, subtly manipulating human rulers and society into furthering centuries-spanning schemes. This is the cause of their conflict with the [[TakeOverTheWorld Von Carsteins]], whose aspirations to forge an Empire of Undeath would ruin their carefully crafted network of shadow rulers. |
| 115 | * FemmeFatale: The stereotypical Lahmian is a gorgeous high-class woman who uses her beauty to seduce unsuspecting humans to advance her own schemes. |
| 116 | * HiddenInPlainSight: Unlike other vampires, who either hide far from civilization or make no secret of themselves, Lahmians prefer to pass themselves off as members of human society, making use of pseudonyms and convenient cultural and aristocratic affectations to walk in plain sight among their prey. |
| 117 | * VampiresAreSexGods: The Lahmians consist almost entirely of gorgeous {{Femme Fatale}}s who use their beauty to seduce human prey. |
| 118 | |
| 119 | !!Necrarchs |
| 120 | ->''"Forever there shall be cold under the sun, rivers will run dry and the forests wither, the stars shall grow dim, flicker and die, and death shall reign from forever to forever."'' |
| 121 | -->From the Black Curse of the Necrarchs |
| 122 | |
| 123 | The Necrarchs steep themselves in the study of dark magic to a greater degree than any other vampires, sustaining themselves on the wind of magic as much as they do on blood and often becoming necromancers of terrifying power. This practice, however, leaves them wasted and corpselike -- no Necrarch would ever pass for a living man. They descend from W'soran the Wicked, high priest of Lahmia and one of Nagash's closest acolytes. |
| 124 | ---- |
| 125 | * BaldOfEvil: Necrarchs are almost universally bald. |
| 126 | * EvilSorcerer: Necrarchs are consummate sorcerers and wizards to a degree beyond the vampiric norm. They obsessively amass immense stores of arcane lore, magical tomes and enchanted artifacts, and are some of the most powerful practitioners of necromancy and dark magic in the Old World. |
| 127 | * TheHermit: Necrarchs are deeply distrustful of each other, and their lowered thirst means they do not need to hang around human civilization like other vampires do. Consequently, they tend to spend most of their lives in deep seclusion, holing themselves up in isolated fastnesses to pursue their research away from prying eyes. |
| 128 | * ImmortalGenius: Composed almost entirely of scholars, mages, and necromancers, and are obsessively dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge -- especially that of dark magic. Indeed, they've become so skilled in the dark arts that they rarely need to feed on blood, instead sustaining themselves through the Winds of Magic alone, and regularly surround themselves with new and experimental forms of unlife. |
| 129 | * LooksLikeOrlok: Necrarchs are the most outwardly corpselike of the vampire bloodlines, with desiccated skin stretched taut across their bones, prominent fangs, pointed ears, and hairless domed skulls. |
| 130 | * MageTower: The Necrarchs' favored dwelling places are tall, twisting towers rising out of the wilderness. This is in part for ease of access to the Wind of Heavens for peering into the future, in part for defensibility, and in part to indulge Necrarch fantasies of being gods high above the mortal scum. |
| 131 | * MeaningfulRename: Necrarchs tend to take Nehekaran names when they are first turned, symbolizing their leaving their mortal life behind in favor of a new existence as Nagash's heirs. |
| 132 | * MustBeInvited: While this particular weakness is rare among other vampires, Necrarchs find it almost impossible to enter a building that mortals made a home unless expressly invited -- trying to do so otherwise will cause them great physical harm if they manage it at all. |
| 133 | * TheNeedless: Downplayed. Necrarchs still need to consume blood every now and again, but for the most part subsist upon dark magic alone and are largely free of the ties binding other vampires to their bloodthirst and human society. Many Necrarchs seek to become this in full, and put a great deal of work in researching ways to purge the last traces of their thirst from themselves. |
| 134 | * PointyEars: Necrarchs tend to develop elongated, pointed ears. |
| 135 | * SeeTheInvisible: The Witchsight of the Necrarchs allows them to see spirits and the winds of magic as if they part of the physical world. In exchange, however, the physical world of the living becomes a blurred and insubstantial thing to their eyes. |
| 136 | |
| 137 | !!Strigoi |
| 138 | ->''"For now, we sleep, and we dream. But one day we will rise, and we will make our dreams real again."'' |
| 139 | -->'''Urzen the Unrelenting''' |
| 140 | |
| 141 | The Strigoi are bestial, degraded beings, and their hulking forms, batlike faces and taloned extremities prevent them from appearing as anything other than the inhuman predators they are. As a consequence, Strigoi usually lurk within ancient necropolises and haunted wildernesses, preying on wildlife and travelers and ruling over bands of primitive ghouls. They descend from Ushoran, Neferata's hated younger brother. |
| 142 | ---- |
| 143 | * BatPeople: Strigoi are the most physically bestial of the vampires, and tend to resemble monstrous humanoid bats through traits such as prominent fangs, elongated ears or vestigial wings. |
| 144 | * DoomedHometown: More like doomed home kingdom! The Strigoi vampires used to rule the Strygos empire from the city of Mourkain in the Badlands. After years of Neferata scheming to destroy it, the City fell to a greenskin Waaagh. |
| 145 | * FeralVampires: The Strigoi are the most mentally and physically degenerate of the vampires, living as little more than feral predators and bearing precious few traces of humanity in their hunched, twisted forms. Downplayed with the Strigoi leaders, as they remain intelligent enough to lead troops into battle. |
| 146 | * FeralVillain: Strigoi are as intelligent as the other vampire bloodlines, but most choose to embrace their inner beasts and live like savage predators in the wilderness. |
| 147 | * FightingForAHomeland: While most Strigoi hide in cemeteries and forgotten tombs, some amongst them try to carve out their own kingdoms to recreate the glories of Ancient Mourkain. |
| 148 | ** One that has met with some success is Gnashag, the Black Prince, who has controlled a town in the Border Princes for many centuries, protecting it from outside threats, be it hostile neighbors, Greenskins or Ogres. |
| 149 | ** Vorag Bloodytooth led an army of madmen, ghouls and undead into the Badlands to reclaim Mourkain, beginning construction of a small stronghold within the Plain of Bones on the way. Although he eventually fell in battle against goblins, Vorag remains an inspiration to other Strigoi for his attempt. |
| 150 | * MonsterLord: Strigoi often rule over tribes of equally degenerate ghouls, earning them their moniker of Ghoul Kings. |
| 151 | * NakedNutter: Having been pushed to the very fringes of society by misfortune and the excesses of more successful vampires, the Strigoi bloodline has gradually degenerated into insanity: some exist in a state of animalistic rage, others embrace delusions of their former courtly life even while living in graveyards or caves. As such, most of them wear next to nothing -- and it's noted that some are so deluded that they may actually believe their ragged loincloths to be the finest robes. |
| 152 | * TheResenter: Strigoi typically hold massive grudges against their Lahmian and Von Carstein counterparts, due to the fact that the latter two enjoy unlives of luxury and comfort while the Strigoi are forced to scrounge in graveyards and ruins. |
| 153 | * RichesToRags: Basically the life history of the Strigoi Bloodline is this trope. The most ancient of Strigoi hailed from Mourkhain in Strigos where they were the top of the kingdom’s power structure with riches and luxuary. When the kingdom was destroyed and the city sacked, the Strigoi were forced to flee and were hunted relentlessly by other vampires, which eventually drove them to hide in cemeteries and sustain themselves on corpses, which also [[DrivenToMadness drove many of them insane]]. Ultimately this experience left the Strigoi to become little else than scavengers. |
| 154 | * {{Revenge}}: Strigoi deeply resent the other vampire bloodlines for tearing down their kingdom and then driving them into their present state, and many Strigoi dream of making themselves into a power again and exacting revenge upon the rest of vampirekind. |
| 155 | |
| 156 | !!Von Carsteins |
| 157 | ->''"They are stronger than us, smarter than us, live longer than us, and are far better looking than us. They are our superiors in every respect, and the taxes are lower when they rule. When they come back I will be the first to welcome them."'' |
| 158 | -->'''Hanskarl Denk''', Sylvanian |
| 159 | |
| 160 | The von Carsteins are power-hungry tyrants and consummate aristocrats, brooding in dark castles and commanding legions of undead thralls. They view themselves as the rightful nobility of the night, cultivating themselves into noble or scholarly personas to present themselves with the dignity they feel due to their status, and openly rule over the nightmare lands of Sylvania. They descend from Vlad von Carstein, formerly Vashanesh of Nehekara and Neferata's first husband. |
| 161 | ---- |
| 162 | * AnimalMotifs: Aside from [[BatOutOfHell bats]], the von Carsteins are commonly associated with wolves, commonly assuming lupine forms. This serves both to highlight their dual [[NobleWolf aristocratic]] and [[SavageWolves feral]] natures. |
| 163 | * ClassicalMovieVampire: The von Carsteins have traditionally exhibited all the classic movie vampire traits, and most of the older model range is heavily inspired by the classic movie vampire look. More recent incarnations have given them a harsher, more militaristic aesthetic, with heavy fluted armor and bat designs highly prominent. According to the designers, however, this is because the newer models are meant to represent the von Carsteins on the battlefield, where it's generally a bad idea to dress in formal evening wear. In more relaxed settings they're still depicted with the traditional capes, jackets and aristocratic airs, and they're typically found living in dark, gothic castles in a haunted {{Uberwald}}. |
| 164 | * ContinuitySnarl: For a long time, the only source for most of the von Carstein backstory was the a supplement for the RPG. When novels started being written about those events, they largely ignored that source entirely, using only the broad outlines found in the army books and otherwise going in completely different directions. The biggest change is that Vashanesh, previously the main focus of the story, was removed entirely. The ''Vampire Wars'' trilogy splits the difference by having Vlad tell the Vashanesh version, but he admits that the other elder vampires will say he never existed; the ''Liber Necris'' lore book, presented as Mannfred's in-universe reconstruction of those events, follows on from that. The End Times treat all versions as canon in BroadStrokes, just to make it even more confusing. |
| 165 | * EnemyCivilWar: More so than any other vampires, the von Carsteins are in a near-constant state of internecine war, power struggles and backstabbing among each other as they jockey for power and prestige. |
| 166 | * HauntedCastle: The von Carsteins of Sylvania typically reside in the residences of former nobles, chiefly {{Big Fancy Castle}}s with lots of spires and steep roofs, the most notorious of which is Castle Drakenhof, home to the heads of the Von Carstein family. Besides the vampires, these castles are home to all kinds of undead and many tomes and artifacts of ancient lore that attract adventurers despite the obvious danger. |
| 167 | * ShoutOut: The von Carsteins are named after the title character of ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'', whose surname is Karnstein. The name Vlad, the title of Count and their homeland of Sylvania are instead references to ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. Isabella, Konrad, and Mannfred are named after principal characters from ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'', possibly the earliest GothicHorror novel. |
| 168 | * TakeOverTheWorld: The ultimate goal of the Von Carstein bloodline is to conquer the Empire and bring it under their dominion, either as a means of [[WellIntentionedExtremist saving it from Chaos]] or because they [[EntitledBastard they believe the world was made to grovel at their feet.]] This puts them into conflict with the [[TheManBehindTheMan Lahmians]], whose carefully constructed web of influence across the Empire would be disrupted if the Von Carsteins succeeded. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | !Predatory Lords of Undeath |
| 172 | !!Von Carsteins |
| 173 | [[folder:Vlad von Carstein]] |
| 174 | !!Vlad von Carstein, Count of Sylvania |
| 175 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlad_von_carstein.jpg]] |
| 176 | ->''"Surrender and serve me in life, or die and slave for me in death."'' |
| 177 | |
| 178 | The founder of the Von Carstein bloodline and the first Vampire Count of Sylvania. Undoubtedly one of the most infamous Vampires in the old world. |
| 179 | |
| 180 | Vlad came to rule Sylvania several centuries before the setting of the game, and invaded the Empire in what would be known as the First Vampire War. Killed several times but always returning, his battle ended at the walls of Altdorf where a thief managed to steal the ring allowing Vlad to resurrect after his deaths and he was finally slain for good. |
| 181 | ---- |
| 182 | * TheAce: Vlad was considered to be the best monarch the Von Carsteins had and for a good reason; he was an exceptionally skilled warrior with an educated understanding of magic which he could use proficiently, a great strategist with a sharp mind, a proficient speaker who could be very persuasive, and his authority and leadership were unmatched in comparison to other vampires. Naturally, most of the Von Carsteins came to respect and look up to Vlad as the model vampire to serve and die for. |
| 183 | * AffablyEvil: Underneath Vlad's unlimited ambition, infinite ruthlessness and other vampire-related evilness is a decent person, which he occasionally lets show. Although ruthless to any dissenters and enemies, Vlad is polite and courteous to whoever gains his respect and would even grant them benefits if they prove their worth. He's also capable of great affection, as demonstrated with his relationship with [[HappilyMarried Isabella]]. |
| 184 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Led the Von Carstein family because he was the most powerful of them, which does say something. |
| 185 | * BackFromTheDead: Vlad is brought back by Nagash during the End Times to serve as one of his Mortachs, Nagash needing competent souls to lead his armies. |
| 186 | * BadassCape: Vlad's model sports an impressive bearskin cape flowing in the wind and seemingly laden with tortured souls. |
| 187 | * BattleAura: His ''Aura of Dark Majesty'' gives his enemies a decrease in Leadership if they are near him. |
| 188 | * BerserkButton: Thwarting his plans in lore. In the game rules, killing Isabella will cause him to go berserk and become more dangerous in melee. |
| 189 | * CulturedBadass: Vlad is genteel and well-traveled. When he took rulership of Sylvania, he was eager to learn the cultures of the Empire from his wife. |
| 190 | * {{Determinator}}: Vlad is one of the most determined and resilient vampires of the setting, having spent several years formulating his plans to dominate the Empire and pulling no stops when it came to whatever battles he participated in. This is what made him one of the most dangerous adversaries the Empire had to deal with as Vlad's commitment to his goals was so strong not even putting him down would deter them and his determination ensured that he would have won had it not been for a last-minute sabotage on Mannfred's part. |
| 191 | * EnemyMine: Against the threat of Chaos, Vlad becomes the most enthusiastic ally of the Empire among the Mortachs. He contacts Kurt Helborg and proposes an alliance between the two which eventually comes to pass when Altdorf is assieged, Vlad coming to assist the Empire. |
| 192 | * EvilMentor: Vlad eventually becomes one to [[spoiler:Balthazar Gelt]], who is so desperate to quell the threat of Chaos that they resort to learning Necromancy from Vlad. |
| 193 | * FounderOfTheKingdom: Vlad is the founder of the Von Carstein bloodline and the first vampiric ruler of Sylvania. |
| 194 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: In-universe. Downplayed as Vlad and the Vampires are clearly dangerous, but the question initially was just how dangerous they are. Vlad went from a strangely-accented foreign nobleman of indeterminate origin to a conquering Vampire Lord. Vlad also did this to Vampires as a whole in regards to how the Empire views them. Vampires went from being seen as just another kind of undead monster that occasionally caused people to go missing from isolated villages and towns, to ruthless conquerors of nations with armies of undead at their beck and call. |
| 195 | * GameFace: ''Supernatural Horror'' grants him the ''Terror'' rule. |
| 196 | * HypnoticEyes: ''Beguile'' enables Vlad to force a possible close-quarter penalty to his opponent, representing his hypnotic power. |
| 197 | * ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: Vlad only became interested in his new bride when she resisted his vampiric charms and openly defied her. He ended up falling deeply in love with her for real, |
| 198 | * JokerImmunity: Justified in-universe, as his ''Carstein Ring'' gave him the ability to come back from injuries that would prove fatal even to a Vampire. Losing this ring swiftly removed this immunity from death. |
| 199 | * KilledOffForReal: When his ring that allowed him to return for the dead was stolen and destroyed, the Empire managed to kill him for good. |
| 200 | * LifeDrain: Vlad's enchanted sword, [[NamedWeapon Blood Drinker]] absorbs the LifeEnergy of those it cuts. In the 8th Edition rules, Blood Drinker boosts Vlad's Strength characteristic, and increases the effectiveness of his HealingFactor. |
| 201 | * MultipleChoicePast: Old lore from the RPG said that he was Neferata's husband Vashanesh, or at least a descendant of his bloodline. ''The Time of Legends'' and ''Blood of Nagash'' novels showed those original events, and no such character existed (his backstory is rolled into Alcadizaar in a way that suggests making them separate characters in earlier lore was an in-universe cruel joke on Vlad's part). It's heavily hinted that the future Vlad is actually Ankhat (Neferata's seneschal and her court's [[OnlySaneEmployee token sane member]]). The ''End Times'' novels confirm that he's from Nehekara, but leave the details vague enough that it could be either option (neither name is used). |
| 202 | * NastyParty: Vlad revealed his true nature to the world at a Geheimnisnacht ball in 2010 IC. He invited all the nobles of his realm to Castle Drakenhof, then had the human nobles massacred by the vampiric ones. |
| 203 | * NearVillainVictory: Even without the Carstein Ring to accelerate his immortality, Vlad was still able to decimate most of the Empire's forces in his final battle against them and would have won, had it not been for a moment of distraction that allowed his primary adversary to perform a HeroicSacrifice by taking him down to a stake, which impaled Vlad and killed him permanently. |
| 204 | * OmnicidalManiac: His ultimate goal is to convert the world's populace to vampirism and the undead, which would effectively mean killing everyone. Strangely, Vlad thinks he's doing the world a service that, by converting everyone into undead, the Chaos Gods would have no emotions to feed on and further their influence and dominance. So essentially, Vlad is ''saving'' everyone... by ''killing'' them. That said, he personally doesn't seem to have a problem with having human followers so long as they remain loyal and useful to him. |
| 205 | * PosthumousCharacter: Vlad has been slain centuries before the actual date the game is set, yet he remains playable. |
| 206 | * PragmaticVillainy: Upon taking control of Sylvania, Vlad gained a reputation as a harsh but fair ruler, in contrast to the arbitrary and tyrannical Otto von Drak. This, combined with the relative isolation of Sylvania from the Imperial heartland, allowed him to build up his power in secret, gradually replacing Sylvania's nobility with loyal undead underlings. |
| 207 | * RingOfPower: The ''Carstein Ring'', his most notable possession, enables Vlad to resurrect from anything as long as he’s got the ring in his hand. Whenever he is slain, he comes back on a 2+ roll. |
| 208 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In the hypothetical event that Isabella is fielded alongside him and is killed, then Vlad will gain the ''Hatred'' and ''Frenzy'' rules to represent his wrath. |
| 209 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: His human glamour is described like the trope almost word for word, being “tall and darkly handsome”. |
| 210 | * UnholyMatrimony: Genuinely loved his wife, Isabella, and only made her into a vampire when it was the only way to keep her from dying of a plague that swept through Sylvania. |
| 211 | * VillainousLegacy: As the founder and first ruler of the Von Carstein monarchy and for being one of the very few to nearly defeat and annihilate the Empire and complete his ambitions, Vlad is the premier role model for any vampires under his allegiance to look upon and even centuries after his death, his reputation manages to far exceed those of [[{{Sucksessor}} Konrad]] and [[DirtyCoward Mannfred]], both of whom struggle to come even remotely close to Vlad's success and fame. |
| 212 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: How "well-intentioned" he was is debatable, but his motivation for trying to take over the Empire was to put an end to its infighting and prevent it from being corrupted or destroyed by Chaos. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Isabella von Carstein]] |
| 216 | !!Isabella von Carstein, Countess of Sylvania |
| 217 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/isabella_von_carstein.png]] |
| 218 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Pun}} Undying love]]]] |
| 219 | ->''"Please, come in and join me for dinner. I can see from the way you dress, you are a man of exquisite... taste."'' |
| 220 | |
| 221 | The Countess of Sylvania, daughter of the "Mad Count" Otto von Drak. Vlad took her as a wife in order to claim the throne of Sylvania, and eventually genuine love grew between the pair. |
| 222 | ---- |
| 223 | * BloodCountess: She's a powerful vampire and her IconicItem on the tabletop is the Blood Chalice of Bathory, an enchanted cup that flows eternally with the blood of her victims, which Isabella can use to heal herself, her husband and her bodyguards. Unlike her decidedly ghoulish husband, Isabella has also always been presented as looking eternally young and beautiful. |
| 224 | * DaddysLittleVillain: Seemed to genuinely care for her father's well-being and had no problem with his evil habits. |
| 225 | * DrivenToSuicide: After Vlad was killed, Isabella became so stricken with grief that she flung herself from a gate tower of Altdorf down to the stakes below, before crumbling to dust. |
| 226 | %%* FemmeFatale: Not to Vlad but against other people.%%ZCE. How? |
| 227 | * AGlassOfChianti: Isabella holding the ''Blood Chalice of Bathori'' (which, by the way, is enchanted to always be full of blood) evokes the imagery and also makes her and any Vampire in the unit sensibly more resilient. |
| 228 | * KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Isabella's model wears a blend of black armor and fine party dress. |
| 229 | * PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Originally, Isabella was just wedded off to Vlad's nobleman identity to support the political ambitions of her father; much to Vlad's and Isabella's surprise, this quickly ended up becoming genuine affection for each other. |
| 230 | * TomboyPrincess: Isabella was said to be more interested in men’s games like hunting and falconry instead of needlework like a proper daughter of a count would. However, her appearance was that of a classical noblewoman. |
| 231 | * UnholyMatrimony: Willingly became a vampire to be a worthy wife for Vlad, and when he was destroyed for good, she went into a suicidal fury. |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder:Konrad von Carstein]] |
| 235 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/konrad.jpg]] |
| 236 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[BlatantLies Completely sane.]]]] |
| 237 | ->''"When the darkness falls our time is at hand. We are the rulers of the Night. We are the predators of the shadows. Come hither and we will show you the true meaning of terror!"'' |
| 238 | |
| 239 | The second Vampire Count of Sylvania; a mad butcher unwisely granted undeath by Vlad von Carstein who took the throne after Vlad's final, permanent death. |
| 240 | ---- |
| 241 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: In stark contrast to Vlad who was generally praised for his leadership, for being able to maintain his armies, relationships and even almost secure victory against the Empire, Konrad is utterly detested and disregarded by his own troops for his unstable behavior and for mistreating his subordinates. |
| 242 | * AssholeVictim: One of the reasons for Konrad's defeat and death was that many of his own forces got sick of his bullying and inept leadership. Firstly, the Blood Knights left because they weren't given any noteworthy fights as they were promised. In Konrad's final battle against an alliance between The Empire and the Dwarfs, the necromancers which Konrad had previously bullied and bribed into joining suddenly deserted him, causing Konrad's undead forces to become dead again or disintegrated, impelling Konrad himself to [[VillainousBreakdown have a mental breakdown and run off into a nearby forest]], where he soon met his end at the hands of Helmut of Marienburg. |
| 243 | * AxCrazy: Ordering his own mother bricked up in her room and left to starve to death for the "crime" of giving birth to him without his prior permission is just one example of his nuttiness. Half of the time on the tabletop, Konrad will have the ''Frenzy'' rule, which he can gain even after having lost a fight. |
| 244 | * BadBoss: Because of his magical ineptitude, Konrad was forced to recruit human necromancers to help him in building up his undead army. Unfortunately, Konrad was demanding and disrespectful of his troops and even had some of the necromancers killed if he ever heard them [[BerserkButton mocking his lack of magical abilities]]. [[DeconstructedTrope Eventually]], [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal this ultimately proved to be his undoing]] when his necromancers suddenly left him behind after losing the Battle of Grim Moor and getting fed up of Konrad's behavior. |
| 245 | * BarbaricBully: It comes with being an insane and temperamental vampire and leader after all. And as aforementioned, his behavior comes back to bite him really hard in the Battle of Grim Moor. |
| 246 | * BerserkButton: Being an insane psychopath he had many, and they could change easily, but a consistent one was mocking his abilities in any capacity (or lack thereof, such as his magic skills). |
| 247 | * TheBerserker: Konrad is the Vampire Counts' most headfirst and aggressive fighters, and his demeanor and personality adds to his battle-hungry nature. |
| 248 | * BigBad: Konrad serves as the greatest threat to the Empire during ''Dominion'', the second book of the ''Vampire Wars'' trilogy. |
| 249 | * BigBadWannabe: In spite of the above, and despite the fact that he was a bona fide dangerous and world-threatening monster, Konrad had none of the abilities and potential that made Vlad so successful prior to him. In the very end, Konrad died having achieved very little compared to his predecessor and his successor. |
| 250 | * BloodKnight: To the point that he would lick his blades clean and drink the blood from fallen enemies in battle. He even recruited a literal knightly order of these with the promise of great battles. |
| 251 | * TheBrute: When Vlad was still alive, Konrad was this for him, acting as a feral attack dog towards Vlad's enemies. |
| 252 | * BullyBrutality: Konrad's insane mindset rendered him to be very rash and panicky over his followers' thoughts on him. The moment he hears some sort of criticism about him, Konrad wastes no time in killing the one who insults him, especially if it's something to do with his lack of magical skills. |
| 253 | * TheCaligula: When he took over after Vlad's death, as he had nowhere near Vlad's restraint. |
| 254 | * ContrastingSequelAntagonist: He and Vlad share far more differences than similarities during their reign as Count in ''Dominion'' and ''Inheritance'' respectively. Where Vlad's schemes in his villainy revolved around long-term strategies and planning in his war against the Empire in addition to being a revered ruler, Konrad was gung-ho about setting off for violence and bloodshed whilst being an absolutely atrocious leader. |
| 255 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Konrad executed some of the necromancers in his service before the Battle of Grim Moor, thinking they planned to betray him. Unfortunately this caused the surviving necromancers to leave his service, leaving him no way to raise fresh troops against an enemy army that outnumbered him two to one, thanks to his own incompetence with necromancy. |
| 256 | * DualWielding: The blood-mad Konrad hacks at his enemies a pair of blades, a regular sword and the [[NamedWeapon Sword of Waldenhof]], a magic weapon that causes multiple wounds with every hit. |
| 257 | * DumbMuscle: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Konrad is normally seen as someone who is straightforward about his attacks and not employing some sort of strategic plan. However, he was able to demonstrate some sort of tactical thinking in one battle that did claim him a victory, so his madness isn't really debilitating. |
| 258 | * EvilVersusEvil: His competition with his brothers can be summed up as this. Unfortunately, Konrad was ''[[EvilerThanThou worse]]'' than any of them, barring Mannfred, and won the Von Carstein throne. |
| 259 | * FatalFlaw: His [[AxCrazy madness]] and [[BadBoss complete disregard for his army]], both of which ultimately end with his troops [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal betraying him]] in the very end, ultimately leading to Konrad being killed by his enemies. |
| 260 | * ForTheEvulz: Really, there's nothing pragmatic or anything serving a long-term goal about Konrad's actions. Although drinking blood is vital to a vampire's survival, Konrad butchers towns and settlements just to sate his own sadistic desires, not much else. |
| 261 | %%* HairTriggerTemper: |
| 262 | * HateSink: He is the highly incompetent and most infamously [[AxCrazy mad]] member of the bloodline. Nothing more than a bully, countless people die thanks to Konrad's StupidEvil, including his own men, and when he is slain during a post-battle tantrum, nobody mourns for him. |
| 263 | * TheHedonist: Compared to Vlad and Mannfred who were more ambitious and thought of more grander plans beyond Sylvania, Konrad was content with simply killing and enjoying his vampiric desire. The most he musters in ambition is invading the Empire and the Dwarf Realms and even then, it's to further cash in on more bloodshed and depraved enjoyment. |
| 264 | * HighCollarOfDoom: Combined with SpikesOfVillainy on his model. |
| 265 | * InsaneEqualsViolent: Konrad is the most insane of the Von Carstein dynasty and he is easily the most violent and bloodthirsty member of it, completely lacking any of the redeeming qualities Vlad possessed. So much so that Mannfred avoided fighting against him, which worked in his favor. His reputation was what earned him the moniker of ''Konrad the Butcher'' and ''Konrad the Bloody''. |
| 266 | * InterimVillain: With Vlad dead and Mannfred having fled elsewhere partly to sate his own sadistic desires and partly to deepen his magical potency, Konrad serves as the main Von Carstein threat to The Empire. Only when Konrad dies does Mannfred make a reappearance shortly after and since then, he's been mostly forgotten in comparison to his more successful father and older brother. |
| 267 | * ItAmusedMe: It's implied Vlad turned him into a vampire solely because Vlad [[EvilHasABadSenseofHumor found Konrad's insanity amusing]]. |
| 268 | * {{Jerkass}}: Konrad has none of the charm Vlad possesses nor can he make a convincing facade like Mannfred. Towards his troops, he's a loudmouthed, mentally venomous and temperamental asshole who has some of his followers killed simply for [[BerserkButton questioning his lack of magical affinity]]. |
| 269 | * KarmicDeath: His death was bought upon by his own necromancers who abandoned him in his time of need. Prior to this, Konrad killed a plentiful number of necromancers on his side simply because he percieved them as having mocked his inability to use magic. |
| 270 | * KickTheDog: Or in his case, "use alley cats for crossbow practice". |
| 271 | * LeeroyJenkins: Actually [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]]. While Konrad would opt to go plunder and butcher the first thing he sees, he does have a modicum of rational thinking to plan a strategy, mostly as a means to be as sadistic as possible. |
| 272 | * MagicallyIneptFighter: Remarkably for a Vampire, Konrad managed to attain a certain level of infamy despite being an inept necromancer. Only his skills at warfare and the human necromancers he had on his side allowed him to be an actual military threat to the Empire and reminding him in any way of his lack of magical talent was one of his {{Berserk Button}}s. |
| 273 | * MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: On the receiving end of it, [[AssholeVictim and for the better]], considering how Konrad treated his followers and associates like dirt. |
| 274 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: There's a reason he's gained the titles of ''Konrad the Beast'', ''Konrad the Butcher'' and ''Konrad the Bloody''. |
| 275 | * NapoleonDelusion: By the end of his unlife, he believed he was the reincarnation of Vashanesh, and damn well expected everyone around him to believe it too. |
| 276 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: The main reason Konrad was killed is mainly due to his treatment and lack of respect for his own troops. Inevitably, when he was starting to lose the Battle of Grim Moor, his necromancers ditched him in the battlefield and walked away, causing Konrad's undead troops to be disintegrated. What happens next is Konrad throwing a hissy fit and running off into the forest before being found and executed. |
| 277 | * TheParanoiac: Konrad spends his time convinced that his followers are plotting against him. Since he's a Vampire Count, a lot of the time [[ProperlyParanoid he isn't wrong]]. |
| 278 | * RapePillageAndBurn: Konrad ''lives'' for this trope. If he's not bullying and killing his own followers for slighting him, Konrad is most likely off to a nearby settlement, ready to butcher the populace for the hell of it. |
| 279 | * RedIsViolent: Konrad is clad in red armor and he is... [[AxCrazy you]] [[TheCaligula already]] [[BloodKnight know]]. |
| 280 | * RedOniBlueOni: The [[AxCrazy absolutely mad]], [[HairTriggerTemper temperamental]] and [[TheBrute thuggish]] red to Mannfred's more reserved, [[FauxAffablyEvil falsely polite]] and [[TheChessmaster calculating]] blue. This even extends to their [[TheSociopath sociopathy]] with Konrad being low-functioning compared to Mannfred's higher functioning spectrum. |
| 281 | * {{Sadist}}: Konrad is among the biggest example in the franchise, with his excessive amount of bloodlust and his general penchant for torturing and butchering rivaling those of Sigvald and Nagash. |
| 282 | * SanityHasAdvantages: Konrad’s violent sociopathy proved to be little more than a massive hindrance to his cause at the end of it all, with the shitty treatment of his own men and rampant bloodlust alienating him from his peers, if it didn’t end up gaining him more enemies. By the end of his life, Konrad was a complete wreck and ended up being hunted down like a dog and beheaded as he scrambled through the woods, his fraying sanity finally giving away to the revelation of losing everything he had and irrevocably degenerating into an incoherent, feral beast. |
| 283 | * SanitySlippage: Konrad was never really sane to begin with, got worse when Vlad turned him into a vampire and this mentality damaged the Von Carstein's reputation the moment he became the second count. This reached its conclusion by the Battle of Grim Moor when the sudden betrayal of his necromancers and the disintegration of his undead troops proved too much for Konrad's mind to handle; he fled the battle, only to be found killed anyway. |
| 284 | * SiblingMurder: Soon after Vlad died, Konrad entered competition against four of his "brothers", Fritz, Pieter, Hans and Mannfred, over who would take over the Von Carstein leadership. Konrad won the battle, though he only got to personally kill Hans over the position, whereas the others (excluding Mannfred) died for varying reasons. Later on Konrad would try to kill another "brother", Jerek, just to make sure he is the final member of the Von Carstein family still alive. |
| 285 | * TheSociopath: An ''extremely'' low-functioning example; Konrad had terrible impulse control, was driven mainly by bloodlust and was ultimately far too insane and sadistic even by the standards of his own kind. He also had a very severe need of stimulation, as evidenced by his bloodlust and had a sense of self-grandiose going alongside him. |
| 286 | * SpeakIllOfTheDead: Initially, Konrad was loyal to Vlad. After the latter's death, Konrad has nothing for outright disappointment and hate for him, even telling himself to never repeat Vlad's mistakes. All the more ironic given that Konrad makes far more mistakes than Vlad ever did and further underscored by the fact that Vlad's ''greatest'' mistake is Konrad himself. |
| 287 | * StupidEvil: His violent nature proved self-destructive and drove his allies away at the worst possible moments. |
| 288 | * {{Sucksessor}}: While Konrad was a fearsome fighter and a credible threat to the Empire for years, he was never able to match up to the success and popularity his father had before. And where Vlad was a well-revered Count for his valor, good leadership, and planning, and for coming close to achieving his goals, Konrad was hated for his abusive leadership and lack of ambition in favor of needless bloodshed. While Vlad died in battle inspiring a legacy and reputation, Konrad died unceremoniously and largely forgotten in the future. |
| 289 | * ThirdPersonPerson: In the later stages of his career, due to his ever-growing insanity. |
| 290 | * TooDumbToLive: Maybe if Konrad wasn't so condescending and maniacal to begin with, he may have won his final battle against the Empire and Dwarfs. Unfortunately, this thought never occurred to him and it costs Konrad his life. Even worse, his legacy falls flat compared to Vlad and Mannfred, leaving his monstrous reputation as the only trait he is remembered for. |
| 291 | * VilerNewVillain: While Vlad von Carstein was bloodthirsty, ruthless and was able to almost defeat the Empire, he still had plenty of redeeming qualities, was an adequate and effective ruler who was praised by his servants and outside of being a vampire, he was a reasonably decent individual, in addition to having what could have been [[WellIntentionedExtremist noble intentions]] despite his malice. In stark contrast, Konrad had ''no'' redeeming qualities, was a terrible ruler who had massive difficulties with his own servants and only lived for plundering and killing foes and defenseless victims alike. Both were also killed because of betrayal, but while Vlad was betrayed [[TheStarscream out of spite and power]], Konrad was betrayed [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal because of his bullying]] and [[BadBoss lack of concern for his troops]]. |
| 292 | * VillainousBreakdown: At the end of the Battle of Grim Moor, Konrad was beginning to lose against the allied Empire and Dwarfs, the necromancers that were maintaining his undead army became disgruntled with Konrad's repeated ineptitude of leadership and ditched him then and there, causing Konrad's undead army to wither away. He reacted with panic, and soon enough, his rational thinking blew up, screaming and roaring mindlessly as he fled into the forest, soon to be killed by Helmut. |
| 293 | * WeAreStrugglingTogether: Konrad embodied the tendency of Vlad's latter-era spawn to jockey for power among themselves, respecting only brute strength and power. This leads him to have most of his brothers killed, hampering the war against the Empire. |
| 294 | * WouldHitAGirl: Konrad once held a celebration of his victories against his enemies. To satiate himself for the occasion, he bought along one hundred and eleven women to his feast hall so that he could suck off their blood for a grand banquet. Some of them died in the process. |
| 295 | * WouldHurtAChild: One of the girls in the aforementioned banquet was noted to be "barely a child". |
| 296 | * YouKilledMyFather: Konrad slew Count Helmar of Marienburg at the Battle of Four Armies. Helmar's son Helmut later avenged his father at the Battle of Grim Moor by defeating and [[OffWithHisHead beheading Konrad]], destroying him for good. |
| 297 | [[/folder]] |
| 298 | |
| 299 | [[folder:Mannfred von Carstein]] |
| 300 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mannfred_von_carstein.png]] |
| 301 | ->''"This land is my home, my birthright. The wind and rain are my allies. The trees and stones are my foot soldiers. The very earth will rise up against you should you try to take it from me. And my people will feast on your bones."'' |
| 302 | |
| 303 | The most ambitious of Vlad von Carstein's vampiric children and current ruler of Sylvania, an exceptional necromancer and perhaps one of the most powerful vampires in the world. |
| 304 | ---- |
| 305 | * AGodAmI: Unlike Vlad's ambition to become TheEmperor, Mannfred aspires to be a deity, seeing Vlad's goals as too petty. |
| 306 | * AnimalMotif: Mannfred is often associated with vampire bats. Like them, Mannfred is cunning and stealthy and the style of his armor resembles bat wings. There's also [[OurVampiresAreDifferent the obvious]]. |
| 307 | * TheArchmage: The most magically gifted of the Von Carsteins and likely one of the most powerful vampire sorcerers in the world. In game, he is a ''Loremaster'' in both the ''Lores of Death'' and ''Vampires'' and has the ability to reroll some dice for determining the strengths of the Winds of Magic thanks to ''Master of the Black Arts''. |
| 308 | * BackFromTheDead: Was killed long ago but later resurrected when a necromancer's blood was spilled on his body. |
| 309 | * BaldOfEvil: After coming back from the dead. The ''Return of Nagash'' novel reveals that he shaved his head [[ImportantHaircut as a symbol of putting aside his vanity]]. |
| 310 | * ByronicHero: {{Inverted}}, as he is a Byronic Villain instead. |
| 311 | -->''"Mannfred was guileful and cunning, but not especially subtle. He strode across the landscape like a warrior-king, and expected his opponents to fall at his feet in awe of his majesty and political acumen. He was, in short, a barbarian. Vlad had been much the same – a man out of time. The difference between them lay in the fact that Vlad had had an almost childlike delight in learning the ways of the Imperial court, and navigating the choppy political waters of the Empire. Vlad had been subtle: patient and unswerving. Mannfred was not patient. He never had been. He was a creature of passions and selfish demands, and he only understood those things in others. Patience, to Mannfred, was simply fear. Dedication was foolishness. Subtlety was hesitancy."'' |
| 312 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Mannfred betrayed his father by stealing the ring that allowed Vlad to survive his battles countless times, all because Mannfred wanted to to take over the throne from him. Additionally, when he was confronted by the individual who was sent to do the deed, [[UngratefulBastard he lopped his hands off instead of presenting him an award]]. |
| 313 | * CreepyCrows: Announced his return to the Old World during the Vampire Wars through multiple ravens cawing "Mannfred is coming!" |
| 314 | * CoolSword: His ''Sword Of Unholy Power''. Unsaved wounds caused by it are converted into Power dice. |
| 315 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Suffered one, as he was hacked apart by a ''Runefang'' after losing the battle of Hel Fenn. As seen in the Virgin Sacrifice entry below, it didn't stick for long. |
| 316 | * DepravedBisexual: Mannfred tends to select those he feeds from for their beauty regardless of gender. |
| 317 | * DirtyCoward: Mannfred would sooner or later abandon the battle the moment his defeat becomes inevitable. |
| 318 | * DualWielding: In addition to his sword, Mannfred wields a huge billhook that counts as a normal weapon. |
| 319 | * EvilSorcerer: Comes with being a vampire in this setting, but while Konrad ruled Sylvania, Mannfred traveled the world to learn more about magic. |
| 320 | * FauxAffablyEvil: Mannfred can turn on the charm and courtesy when he needs to, such as when dealing with rival vampires, but it is a mask with a lot of arrogance and viciousness underneath. |
| 321 | * HateSink: While he's a powerful fighter and a skilled tactician and sorcerer in combat, Mannfred has a bigger reputation for being a treacherous and slimy backstabber with no loyalty to anyone other than himself. Unlike Vlad and even Konrad, he's a pathetic coward who will gladly desert a losing battle and is prone to acting like a petulant brat whenever things aren't going his way. He's just as detestable as Konrad, only in a different way. |
| 322 | * ImmigrantPatriotism: Of a sort. Neither he nor the Von Carstein bloodline are native to Sylvania, but as seen on his character folder quote, Mannfred fully considers Sylvania his land, to the point where he eventually [[spoiler: secedes from the Empire and seals Sylvania off with a wall of bone.]] |
| 323 | * ManipulativeBastard: He maintains leadership of the Von Carstein vampires by playing off their desires and flaws, or even pitting dangerous rivals against each other before they turn their sights on him. |
| 324 | ** He assumed leadership of the Von Carsteins by stoking Konrad's madness and inserting his agents into Drakenhof, then letting Konrad's paranoia and bloodlust [[ThePurge do the rest.]] |
| 325 | * SelfMadeOrphan: In the sense that Vlad made him a vampire, see TheStarscream for more details. |
| 326 | * TheSociopath: Mannfred is a higher-functioning example, in direct contrast to Konrad's more lower-functioning case. He is very good at [[FauxAffablyEvil being approachable and commendable]] towards others when it's just an act for Mannfred. He also [[ManipulativeBastard thrives on betraying his allies]] and has [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbed his allies countless times]], his father most of all. And at the end of the day, the only individual Mannfred shows concern for is [[ItsAllAboutMe ultimately himself]]. Although while he does make long-term planning which highlights his egotism, he does share Konrad's hedonism and compulsion of killing for the hell of it. |
| 327 | * SuperiorSuccessor: [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]; Compared to Vlad, Mannfred lacks his father's valor and list of achievements, to the extent that he dishonorably flees from any battle if he shows signs of losing. However, he is much more mentally sound and competent than Konrad ever was, having been able to use his manipulations to keep himself ahead of his goals and make sure he perseveres long enough to outlast the Empire. While prone to needlessly sadistic habits, Mannfred can restrain them and prioritize a greater goal while Konrad was defined by his obsession with bloody hedonism and killing others for his own sake. |
| 328 | * TheStarscream: It's been insinuated more than once that he was involved in the mysterious "disappearance" of Vlad von Carstein's magical ring, [[spoiler: he arranged for the loss of the ring and did so to engineer Vlad's downfall so he could take over, with an additional aftereffect being Isabella's suicide]]. He becomes one to Nagash too, until Nagash becomes a PhysicalGod and Mannfredd realizes he cannot challenge him in any way anymore. |
| 329 | * TookALevelInBadass: Mannfred was once weak by vampiric standards, which still allowed him to massacre groups of mortals with ease. Come The End Times, following his resurrection post-Hel Fenn, Mannfred is easily one of the physically strongest vampires in the world. |
| 330 | * TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: This is Mannfred's [[ExaggeratedTrope most favored activity]]. He has betrayed and deceived nearly everyone he has come to work with, either in search for more power or to [[DirtyCoward save his own skin]]. |
| 331 | * TheVamp: A gender-inverted version, figuratively and literally. |
| 332 | * VirginSacrifice: How Mannfred was brought back after his defeat at Hel Fenn. In an interesting twist [[spoiler:the necromancer had kidnapped a virgin woman as the sacrifice. But when Gotrek and Felix came to the rescue, the necromancer was cut in half during the battle and his spilled blood seeped onto Mannfred's remains and revived him, from which he deduced that the man was also a virgin]]. Mannfred lampshades this with some amusement. |
| 333 | [[/folder]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | !!Lahmians |
| 336 | [[folder:Queen Neferata]] |
| 337 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warhammer_neferata.png]] |
| 338 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[MonsterProgenitor The one who started it all]]]] |
| 339 | ->''"I answer to no one. That is the privilege of a queen."'' |
| 340 | |
| 341 | Queen of Lahmia, creator of vampirism and the first vampire, formerly known as Neferatem. She usurped control of a Dwarfhold, the Silver Pinnacle, and seeks to reclaim her ruined city. |
| 342 | ---- |
| 343 | * ActionGirl: In the novels after fleeing the destruction of Lahmia and before she took the Silver Pinnacle. |
| 344 | * AlphaBitch: Has shades of this in recent lore. In the ''End Times: Nagash'' book, her character description heavily implies she has any women in her keep that are prettier than her killed. |
| 345 | * AncientConspiracy: She and her sisters have -- often literally -- stood behind many of the mortal world's most powerful rulers, pulling their strings to watch them dance. |
| 346 | * {{Archenemy}}: To High Queen Khalida of the Tomb Kings. |
| 347 | * BadassBookworm: Neferata did master complex magic and is able to co-ordinate her underground network. |
| 348 | * BloodyMurder: In older editions she has a spell where she cuts open her palms and her blood spurts onto an enemy, both poisoning and burning her target. |
| 349 | * TheChessmaster: In the novel ''Neferata'', she arranges the logistics for Ushoran while serving him, and later manipulates the Orcs and the Empire into waging war on him. |
| 350 | * CrazyCatLady: Played with. In older lore Neferata bred cats and even had one as a battle familiar. She also fit the stereotype as she is very old (though [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld thousands of years rather than simply elderly]]. Though she is not crazy, just evil and manipulative. In newer lore her 'cat' is a first-generation vampire named Naaima who just happens to like that shape. |
| 351 | * ComboPlatterPowers: In the novels. It's implied that Neferata is capable of the powers that all of the Bloodlines have in addition to the usual ones. |
| 352 | * CulturedBadass: Throughout her life Neferata traveled the world, encountered many cultures and rose to a position of power within each one before eventually moving on. [[LivingForeverIsAwesome Immortality does provide opportunities]]. |
| 353 | * DoesNotLikeMen: In her eyes, every major man in her life has let her down [[JerkassHasAPoint and she's not completely wrong]]. This means she despises men and this is why there are few male Lahmian vampires.%%Then again [[ItsAllAboutMe another trope could be in play as to why she's disappointed in them]].%%Explain. |
| 354 | * DoomedHometown: Neferata was born and raised in the city of Lahmia, which was destroyed by Alcadizzar's army once the secret of her vampirism got out. |
| 355 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Neferata despises the forces of Chaos; she's never allied with them, only fought them, and has never dabbled in Chaos magic. |
| 356 | * EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In-universe due to her beauty and vampiric charm. |
| 357 | * {{Expy}}: Neferata was likely inspired by [[Literature/TheVampireChronicles Akasha]], who was an Egyptian queen that became the original vampire and the first of her kind, although Neferata is native to a FantasyCounterpartCulture of AncientEgypt at any rate. |
| 358 | * TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Implied that Alcadizzar was this for her. In the novels this is expanded and leads to the conclusion of Neferata accepting and embracing her feelings for [[spoiler:Arkhan]]. |
| 359 | * GeniusBruiser: She's crafty, resourceful and a good negotiator, but she's also from the first generation of vampires (especially since she is the first vampire), and [[StrongerWithAge vampires get stronger the older they get]]. She's very old by now. |
| 360 | * GodEmperor: How she sees herself, and wants to become the head of a cult that worships her. |
| 361 | * GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: When she became a vampire and sole ruler of Lahmia [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere she found a new use for her servants and subjects]]. In addition, she developed a god complex. |
| 362 | * HorrorHunger: Due to being a vampire, Neferata has to feed off of blood to survive. Unlike some vampires in fiction, she's not limited to human blood as the novels show her feeding off Beastmen, Orcs and Elves as well. Despite being able to charm a victim into letting her feed, she rarely has compunctions about unwilling victims. |
| 363 | * InformationBroker: Though she keeps the information for her own gain and rarely, if ever, shares it with anyone outside her Sisterhood. |
| 364 | * KissingCousins: It's implied she had... unwholesome feelings for her cousin, Khalida. |
| 365 | * LesbianVampire: Bisexual vampire, technically, but she generally surrounds herself with and turns attractive women so she fits the aesthetic. |
| 366 | * LightningBruiser: Quick and agile enough to make elves look slow, and physically one of the strongest vampires in the setting. |
| 367 | %%* MoralityPet: She has one in the form of her handmaiden/implied consort [[LoveMartyr Naamia]].%%How? |
| 368 | * ManipulativeBastard: Neferata is a master manipulator with few compunctions for betraying and using even her own "sisters," and her web of intrigue stretches across much of the Old World. |
| 369 | * MeaningfulName: Her name means "she who is beautiful in death" in Nehekaran. |
| 370 | * MonsterProgenitor: The creator of vampirism in the setting and its first vampire. |
| 371 | * MultipleChoicePast: Depending on the story in question, she may or may not have briefly served Nagash after Lahmia fell, may have been married to a vampire Vashanesh, he might not have existed at all (The End Times implies it's somehow both), and her duel with Khalida may or may not have exposed her vampirism and led to Lahmia's fall. |
| 372 | * OddFriendship: With the Dwarf thane Razek, though it didn't last. |
| 373 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: She spends millenia wallowing in hedonism within the Silver Pinnacle, rarely taking action against anyone else until near Nagash's return. |
| 374 | * OutOfFocus: She used to be a Lord that could be used in older editions, but since 6th edition she stays in the background. |
| 375 | * PetTheDog: Compared to how [[BadBoss some Vampires treat their subordinates]], Neferata dotes on her [[SupernaturalElite Lahmians]]. They live in comfort, are allowed to ask questions of her and infighting between them is forbidden [[DecadentCourt unless they violate Neferata's rules]]. She also rewarded one of her human spies who nearly died standing up to a group of vampires to protect her by making them a servant for one of her vampire handmaidens. |
| 376 | * SiblingRivalry: With her brother Lamashizzar. Her relationship with Ushoran has shades of this. |
| 377 | * ShadowDictator: Neferata prefers to manipulate nations from behind the scenes through her Sisterhood. |
| 378 | * SilkHidingSteel: Very silky, but she is far more dangerous than she is beautiful. |
| 379 | * TheSpymaster: Neferata is the single most well-informed person in the world, as her thralls and vampiric followers having infiltrated every court in the world. |
| 380 | * StartOfDarkness: Finding one of Nagash's books and wanting to study it [[ForScience for benign reasons at first]]. It's fairly clear that it snowballed. |
| 381 | %%* SuperSmoke: In her novel, Neferata demonstrates this power in a fight with a rival vampire.%%What power? |
| 382 | * TheVamp: The setting's first and best, figurative and literal example. Seduction is one of her most frequently used weapons, and the lore states that she enjoys causing noble heroes to fall from grace. |
| 383 | * VampireMonarch: The former Queen of Lahmia and current ruler of the Silver Pinnacle. She also aims to rebuild Lahmia and rule over the city again. |
| 384 | * WifeHusbandry: Performed this on Alcadizzar when she raised him, though it didn't work out for her. Her follower Ankhat actually spelled out for her why it wouldn't work early on, only to be ignored; she raised him to be the perfect king, and a perfect king tends not to approve of undead monsters murdering citizens in the shadows. |
| 385 | [[/folder]] |
| 386 | |
| 387 | [[folder:Genevieve Dieudonné]] |
| 388 | Once a girl from Bretonnia, Genevieve became a vampire at the tender age of 16, but rather than giving into the dark, bloodhungry desires that most vampires fall victim to, she decided to hold those long enough and use her undead powers and longevity for more heroic and needy purposes. She has since been travelling across the globe, learning about each parts of the world as well as battling countless threats and taking on a number of aliases and occupations to provide for herself and towards others. |
| 389 | |
| 390 | Genevieve first appears as a major character in ''Literature/{{Drachenfels}}'', returns as a minor character in ''Literature/BeastsInVelvet'', and is the main protagonist of ''Literature/GenevieveUndead''. She also stars in two of the short stories in ''Literature/SilverNails''; ''Red Thirst'', and ''The Ibby the Fish Factor''. |
| 391 | ---- |
| 392 | * ActionGirl: But of course, given the setting where she's in. On another note, she's one of the most famous and formidable examples of this in the ''Warhammer'' world, mainly due to her vampire physiology and the amount of skills and experience she's had throughout her life. |
| 393 | * BroadStrokes: She is a canon part of the world but several elements of her books do not make sense with later editions of the game, particularly her being quite open about her vampiric nature within the Empire without being hunted for it. |
| 394 | * ClassicalAntiHero: While unquestionably a hero and one who is even recognized positively by Karl Franz, Genevieve's nature as a vampire also means that she feels as if most of The Empire wouldn't be as willing to tolerate her, and that's not getting into how she tries to deal with her cursed dietary needs. |
| 395 | * FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Moreso than Abhorash, Genevieve is arguably the most heroic vampire in the setting, having devoted her life to aiding others in times of need and allying with a group of mercenaries ordered by The Empire to defeat and banish an AncientEvil known as Drachenfels. |
| 396 | * HappilyMarried: She eventually ends up marrying Detlef Sierck, a playwright residing in The Empire. |
| 397 | * OlderThanTheyLook: She's thousands of years old, and she was converted into a vampire when she was only 16 years old. She looks no older than on her last day as a mortal. |
| 398 | * TheVamp: A more heroic example, as Genevieve has used her looks on a number of occupations that she took on during her travelling days, such as being a spy and a convent-dweller. |
| 399 | [[/folder]] |
| 400 | |
| 401 | !!Necrarchs |
| 402 | [[folder:Zacharias the Everliving]] |
| 403 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warhammer_zacharias_the_everliving.png]] |
| 404 | ->''"Today is a good day to be dead!"'' |
| 405 | |
| 406 | Little is known on the history of the Necrarch called Zacharias, but he is believed to have been a human necromancer who studied under the dreaded Dieter Helschnit before finding his way to the tower of Melkhior, one of the most powerful of all Necrachs and current keeper of one of the Nine Books of Nagash. Zacharias attempted to steal the book, but Melkhior awoke and caught the impertinent thief. Amused, Melkhior decided to turn Zacharias into a vampire rather than kill him. For years the initially-reluctant vampire studied under his mad master, keeping his unlife by continually impressing Melkhior with his keenness and his capacity to learn.\ |
| 407 | Eventually, Melkhior returned from one of his mad fits, glutted on the blood of his former slaves, to discover that Zacharias had snuck into Melkhior's chamber and was busy reading the Book of Nagash. Forced to finally flee, Zacharias none the less escaped Melkhior's wrath, eventually creeping into the lair of a dragon, whom he drained of blood over a period of a month. Mounted atop the undead wyrm's back, he returned to Melkhior's lair and demolished it; Melkhior hasn't been seen since, with all his treasures and lore now belonging to Zacharias, the Everliving. |
| 408 | ---- |
| 409 | * BadassBookworm: Zacharias is one of the most powerful necromancers still active in the Warhammer setting. On the tabletop, he had the spellcasting powers of a level 4 Wizard, all six powers of the Necrach bloodline, and he knew all six Necromancy spells, whilst at the same time having far greater combat skill, speed, strength, toughness and attacks than any human wizard. |
| 410 | * DragonRider: He rides a Zombie Dragon whom he killed and reanimated himself. |
| 411 | * LooksLikeOrlok: Like all vampires of the Necrach bloodline, he's an emaciated, corpse-like figure, with desiccated skin stretched taut over moldering bones, spindly taloned fingers, and exaggeratedly long fangs. |
| 412 | * KlingonPromotion: How he took over Melkhior's position. However, a lot of the fluff implies that Melkhior is still alive and seeks revenge. Other fluff suggests that [[spoiler:he actually lost and Melkhior stole his body, and furthermore that "Melkhior" was actually W'Soran in Melkhior's body all along]]. |
| 413 | * PerpetualMotionMonster: Zacharias holds the distinction of being the second ever vampire to drink a dragon dry of blood, and consequently free himself to unlive eternally without ever having to feed again. Unlike Abhorash, who killed his dragon in single battle, Zacharias found a dragon asleep and leeched its blood away over a long span. |
| 414 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Melkhior threatened him with this, but each day Zacharias made himself useful by doing well in his studies. |
| 415 | [[/folder]] |
| 416 | |
| 417 | !!Blood Dragons |
| 418 | [[folder:Abhorash]] |
| 419 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abhorash.jpg]] |
| 420 | |
| 421 | The first and greatest of the Blood Dragons. Once a great warrior of Lahmia and Neferata's champion, he had to be tricked into consuming her blood due to his unwillingness to become a vampire. He parted ways from Neferata's early due to his disgust with their ways and resentment over his condition, and traveled widely afterwards. He settled for a time in Strygos, the empire founded by Ushoran and his progeny, but returned to his wandering ways after the empire's destruction by a horde of Orcs. |
| 422 | ---- |
| 423 | * TheAce: He was one of the greatest swordsmen and warriors to ever live, if not ''the'' greatest, and never met a foe he couldn't best. He was also one of the only vampires to overcome his blood thirst. |
| 424 | * BloodKnight: On top of being a literal one in every sense of the word, his lineage also founded an order of these, the Blood Dragons. |
| 425 | * TheCaptain: Abhorash was the captain of queen Neferata’s personal bodyguard in Lahmia before the city was sacked by the other kings of Nehekhara in their campaign against Nagash. |
| 426 | * CoolVersusAwesome: How he overcame his blood thirst. He fought a dragon, killed it and drank its blood, as dragon's blood cures the blood thirst of vampirism. |
| 427 | * DarkIsNotEvil: He refused to drink blood and only lost control of his blood thirst because he was starving. He spent years traveling and attempted to avoid feeding off the innocent. |
| 428 | * DragonSlayer: He tracked down and defeated a huge red dragon in single combat which lasted a whole night. Then he drank it dry and flung it off a mountaintop. |
| 429 | * FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Downplayed; next to other vampires, Abhorash is a downright saint since he consciously avoids drinking on the weak and the innocent and teaches his followers to only feed on the strong. On the other hand, his victims can also include noble champions of Order that aren't necessarily evil themselves, but fit the prescribed Blood Dragon diet because of their prowess in combat. |
| 430 | * IHateYouVampireDad: He hates Neferata for turning him into a vampire and that it drove him to kill innocent people. When he got the chance he ditched her. |
| 431 | * KingInTheMountain: Following his defeat of the dragon and throwing off the blood thirst, Abhorash went into meditation in the dragon's cave. The rest of the Blood Dragons continually seek to improve themselves so that he will deign to personally teach them his combat arts. |
| 432 | * TheMagnificent: To his descendants and disciples he is often known as Abhorash the Great, Abhorash the Wanderer, Abhorash the Master. |
| 433 | * MonsterKnight: He's the progenitor of the Blood Dragons, an order of vampire knights that live to fight, and they believe that only cowards feed upon the weak -- the only ones that Blood Dragons will willingly feed on are powerful warriors and monsters. |
| 434 | * PerpetualMotionMonster: What he became after drinking the dragon's blood -- he can now operate indefinitely without ever needing to feed again, and continue to live and move and act eternally without requiring any sustenance of any sort. |
| 435 | * RedBaron: He has a number of titles he's sometimes referred to in lieu of his name, such as the Dragon Slayer, the Scourge of the Greenskins, the Blade Immortal and the Lord of Blood. |
| 436 | * TokenGoodTeammate: He was turned into a vampire against his will by Neferata and when he got the chance he abandoned her and the other vampires. |
| 437 | [[/folder]] |
| 438 | |
| 439 | [[folder:Walach Harkon]] |
| 440 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/walach_harkon_8.jpg]] |
| 441 | [[caption-width-right:300:Grand Master of the Order of the Blood Dragons]] |
| 442 | |
| 443 | Formerly Walak of the Harkoni tribe, Walach Harkon is one of Abhorash's disciples, and the Founder of the Blood Knights as a Vampiric Knightly Order. |
| 444 | ---- |
| 445 | * CoolSword: Wields the Crimson Blade, a sword that allows him to either hamstring or behead an opponent on a 1d6 roll. |
| 446 | * TheCorruptor: He brought the Curse of Undeath to the Sigmarite Knights of the Blood Dragon Order, turning the strongest of them into Vampires. |
| 447 | * KlingonPromotion: He slew the Grand Master of the Blood Dragon knights and took his place. |
| 448 | * KnightInShiningArmor: He is a dark reflection of this trope, insisting on mimicking every aspect of knightly chivalry. |
| 449 | * OneManArmy: He challenged and overcame the entire Order of the Blood Dragon, slaying every one of its knights in a single night. |
| 450 | * OurFounder: Downplayed; while his master pioneered the belief that martial perfection would lead to mastery of the vampiric curse, Walach was the one who founded the Blood Dragons as a Vampiric Knightly Order. |
| 451 | * UnstoppableRage: He is able to inspire this in his Undead followers with the Blood Dragon Standard, which allows any Undead model within 12" to feel *Hatred*. |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:Luthor Harkon]] |
| 455 | |
| 456 | Formerly Lutr of the tribe Harkoni, now a mad [[GhostPirate vampire pirate]] who rules the Vampire Coast of Lustria as its Pirate King. |
| 457 | ---- |
| 458 | * AntiMagic: Yes, the Slann magic drove him completely insane, but it also resulted in him having an inherent resistance to magic from then on. |
| 459 | * AxCrazy: On account of the backlash of the Lizardmen anti-Chaos sorcerer glyphs in the temple he attempted to raid, he is unable to ever be mentally stable again. |
| 460 | * DrivenToMadness: By the backlash of the glyphs he attacked with dark magic, which left him unable to ever be mentally stable again. |
| 461 | * GhostPirate: A vampire pirate with a crew of Norse zombies. |
| 462 | * NinjaZombiePirateRobot: He's a vampiric pirate leading an army of Viking zombies. |
| 463 | * UnwittingPawn: To Morathi, when he joined forces with her to raid a Lizardmen temple city in Lustria. He got too greedy for Morathi's liking, so she sealed him in a vault as a target for the Lizardmen's wrath; given Morathi's MO, it's possible this was her plan all along. |
| 464 | [[/folder]] |
| 465 | |
| 466 | [[folder:The Red Duke]] |
| 467 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_duke.jpg]] |
| 468 | A former Duke of Aquitaine, now a monstrous knight waiting to prey upon the descendants of his people. |
| 469 | ---- |
| 470 | * ADayInTheLimelight: He stars in his own novel. |
| 471 | * BackFromTheDead: He was unwittingly revived by a cabal of witches five hundred years after his death. |
| 472 | * BloodKnight: Even in life, he revelled in duels, challenging any opponent, high or lowborn, to try and wound him. |
| 473 | * CoolHorse: He rides the skeletal remains of El Morzillo, the horse he rode in life. |
| 474 | * CoolSword: He wields the Blade of Leaping Gold, a great falchion that allows three extra attacks. |
| 475 | * FallenHero: In life, he was an honourable hero, whose death was mourned by the people of Bretonnia. In Undeath, he is now among that kingdom's fiercest enemies. |
| 476 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: One of his titles is very similar to that of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a famous Castilian Knight known as El Cid. |
| 477 | * RedBaron: The Bretonnians call him the Scourge of Aquitaine, while in Araby, he is El Syf. |
| 478 | [[/folder]] |
| 479 | |
| 480 | !!Strigoi |
| 481 | [[folder:Ushoran]] |
| 482 | The first of the Strigoi vampires and Neferata's younger brother. |
| 483 | ---- |
| 484 | * CoolCrown: Wore the Crown of Sorcery, the former crown of [[TheArchmage Nagash]]. Somehow, he almost managed to control the soul fragment kept within with sheer HeroicWillpower. Almost. |
| 485 | * FatalFlaw: His pride convinced him to try and conquer the rest of the Old World. During his campaigns, an Orc Waaagh demolished his kingdom, forcing him to make a hasty retreat. |
| 486 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He became one when he ruled Mourkain; to stop a repeat of what happened in Lahmia, Ushoran commanded his fellow vampires to only feed on the blood of slaves, criminals and prisoners of war, so the citizenry wouldn't feel threatened by their undead masters. |
| 487 | * TheSpymaster: He was Neferata's in Lahmia. |
| 488 | * TragicVillain: Ushoran use to be a reasonable ruler, but when his city was destroyed by Orcs his forces were scattered and hunted down by humans and vampires alike. Even before that he was driven to madness by the Crown of Nagash, and his main advisers were actively undermining his empire. |
| 489 | * UncertainDoom: No one is sure if Ushoran survived the fall of Mourkain or not. |
| 490 | * TheUnfavourite: To his sister, Neferata and the court in Lahmia. |
| 491 | [[/folder]] |
| 492 | |
| 493 | !!Others |
| 494 | [[folder:Heinrich Kemmler]] |
| 495 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heinrich_kemmler.png]] |
| 496 | ->''"The dead answer my call. When you are dead, you will answer too!"'' |
| 497 | |
| 498 | The Lichemaster, the most feared and terrible necromancer to still walk the earth as a living man, is beholden to the Gods of Chaos for restoring both his mind and unholy power, allowing him to raise the dreaded Krell as his minion. |
| 499 | ---- |
| 500 | * BeardOfEvil: Though the tremendous, matted beard might also be said to be a [[WizardBeard Wizard Beard of Evil]]. |
| 501 | * CoveredInScars: Seemingly not as an indication of toughness, but self-inflicted during his long madness. |
| 502 | * DealWithTheDevil: He made a pact with the Chaos Gods that he would spread destruction in their name if they gave him back his wits and magical skills. |
| 503 | * DueToTheDead: Averted. Kemmler seems to enjoy desecrating tombs and corpses as he does so more than once in the lore, such as [[BodyHorror merging a group of human zombies into a spider-like creature]]. |
| 504 | * KlingonPromotion: How he gained control of his former master's coven. |
| 505 | * MagicKnight: Kemmler is surprisingly adept at swordplay for a wizard, and his ''Chaos Tomb Blade'''s ability to turn his kills into fresh Skeleton Warriors or Grave Guard means that getting him into combat can be a surprisingly useful ploy. |
| 506 | * NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: Or infamous, in this case -- his name is a play on the name of one of the most infamous members of the Nazi party, Heinrich Himmler. |
| 507 | * {{Necromancer}}: Kemmler has earned his title of Lichemaster by becoming one of the most adept necromancers in the world, being a Level 4 Wizard and a ''Loremaster'' in the ''Lore of the Vampires''. |
| 508 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: He's used this to escape enemies or get information. |
| 509 | * OminousOperaCape: His ''Cloak of Mist and Shadows'' is not badass by any mean but sinister looking and quite useful. By manipulating the surrounding mist and wind, he can either ''Fly'' or become ''Ethereal''. |
| 510 | * SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: His hat is topped by a small human skull and wrapped in what appears to be a snake skeleton. |
| 511 | * SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Worked his way up this, killing people, then liches, then vampires. |
| 512 | * UnwittingPawn: Kemmler is one to Nagash, who subtly guided his actions to resurrect Krell and made him join with other undead forces. |
| 513 | * WizardClassic: He hits (a dark version of) every note of this trope, including being one of the few ''Warhammer'' wizards to play the WizardBeard and RobeAndWizardHat straight (with a few [[ObviouslyEvil embellishments]]). |
| 514 | [[/folder]] |
| 515 | |
| 516 | [[folder:Krell]] |
| 517 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/krell.jpg]] |
| 518 | |
| 519 | A mighty Champion of the Chaos God Khorne in the days before Sigmar, who fell during the battle of Karak Kadrin at the hands of the Dwarf hero Grimbul Ironhelm. Buried within a barrow, he was revived by Nagash himself some 1500 years later and became one of his most prized wight generals; when Nagash fell against Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, only Krell and his "Doomed Legion" of wights survived, hacking their way to freedom and butchering their way tirelessly across the land in an epic slaughter constantly retold to this day. Only at the Battle of Glacier Lake was Sigmar able to finally capture Krell and seal him away within a magical tomb, where he lay until he was once again resurrected by the necromancer Heinrich Kemmler. |
| 520 | ---- |
| 521 | * AntiMagic: Krell's crimson armour, the ''Armour of the Barrows'', nullifies the magic effects of a weapon that has wounded him. |
| 522 | * BlackKnight: He used to serve Khorne exclusively in life, but in undeath serves Nagash and Kemmler. |
| 523 | %%* TheDragon: To Kemmler. |
| 524 | * DragonWithAnAgenda: He is implied to be this, with his first loyalty still to Nagash rather than to his erstwhile master Kemmler. |
| 525 | %%* TheDreaded: Even before his death, and especially after his first death.%%How? |
| 526 | * GeniusBruiser: He's a very keen strategist who nonetheless can go toe-to-toe with the best of them in melee. |
| 527 | * MadeOfIron: Only the strong can become Champions of Chaos. Becoming undead made the already tough Krell harder to destroy. |
| 528 | * UndyingLoyalty: Zigzaged. Krell was in life a Champion of Chaos, but in undeath he's now one of Nagash's most loyal minions. |
| 529 | * WoundThatWillNotHeal: Krell's ''Black Axe'' is a vile weapon that leaves shards of metal in the wound, which slowly worm their way towards their victim's heart. |
| 530 | [[/folder]] |
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