𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓜𝓸𝓜

[hampire]

〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Cala
AGE: 21+
JOURNAL: n/a
IM / EMAIL: deadscorpy @ gmail
PLURK: deadscorpy
RETURNING: Currently playing Hans Gruber, Korg

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Eccarius
CHARACTER AGE: 350, give or take
SERIES: Preacher (TV)
CHRONOLOGY: End of S3
CLASS: Villain!
HOUSING: randomly with roommates

BACKGROUND:
Born in the late 1600s to an aristocratic English family, Eccarius spent the the first thirty-five or so years of his life as the 9th Earl of Saxon-on-Thames. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all we know, apart from his ability to speak nineteen languages and play Bach sonatas on the harp. When Cassidy the vampire (one of the show's principle characters) first encounters him, he's the leader of a New Orleans coven of vampire enthusiasts known as Les Enfants du Sang, who dresses and talks like someone out of an Anne Rice novel—or possibly like someone who has read Anne Rice novels and consciously decided that copying the characters in them would be a good idea. Cassidy thinks they’re a bunch of posers (the fact that they’re operating out of a grandmother’s basement not helping matters) and tries to discourage them from wanting to become vampires. Cassidy, being relatively sane, decides to leave, but then the aforementioned Lestat/Armand-wannabe Eccarius eats a live owl, proving he's the real deal. The others are posers yes, but he’s a legitimate creature of the night.

And here's a Wiki entry to fill in the details.

PERSONALITY:
Aristocratic, elegant, theatrical and charming, Eccarius styles himself after the more romantic, old world images of vampires, in particular the characters Anne Rice made popular in her novels some forty years earlier, with his New Orleans coven Les Enfants du Sang seemingly patterned after Armand and the Théâtre des Vampires of the first novel—albeit somewhat laughably, given their appearance of being the naïvest of the naïve, just playing at being satanic cultists and not technically vampires themselves yet, Eccarius aside—who seems to be a pretty decent guy at first, helping Cassidy and indulging his 'children' as he does. Okay, he's technically feeding off them, but it's for the greater good of vampires everywhere; turning them, then sending them off as 'vampire goodwill ambassadors', with his dream being 'to provide a sanctuary and give anyone (vampires) a home'—which turns out to be bullshit, with Cassidy finding out that Eccarius has been lying to all of them and using his willing sacrifices as a way to boost his own power, the rush of which he's just as addicted to as Cassidy is his drugs, his dream actually being unlimited power for himself.

What makes it even more reprehensible, is that the followers he turns (and then kills) are actually 'good people;' it's not as if they're truly sleazy underworld characters or evil. He has a little speech he repeats to each new vampire before he kills them– "Why would I send another vampire into the world? A filthy piece of vermin? Spoiling, stinking, falling into despair?" But you're a vampire, too! "Yes. And I'm the worst one of all," he replies, which leads one to wonder if he's struggling with self-loathing even more so than Cassidy, yet reveling in it, anger turning outwards rather than being self-destructive. On the other hand, it's also a possibility that the cheesy monologue (complete with Don Giovanni as a radio soundtrack) is simply just for melodramatic shock value. I'd imagine it's a bit of both, with Eccarius self-flagellating himself by being as verminous as possible in true Rice-pire fashion, and even though that part might very well be an act to begin with, that doesn't negate the underlying feelings. In Cassidy he sees a kindred soul; they both despise what they are, but Eccarius, with his lack of moral character, takes it a step further by ridding the world of those who aspire to be one of them, the perk of acquiring extra powers during the course of that not hurting at all.

For all his self-centeredness, arrogance and nefarious intent however, Eccarius falls legitimately in love with Cassidy and during the course of which, he shows a softer, compassionate, and truly endearing side of himself. His appeal to Cassidy– "This is what you've been looking for all along. Someone to accept you and your flaws. Just accept me and mine," is heartfelt in its anguish and we truly believe him. Unfortunately Cassidy isn’t having any of it, and even when Eccarius practically begs him– "Please, Cassidy. We're this close to happiness," Cassidy's response is, "I'd rather be sad."

And Eccarius, as we come to see, does not handle rejection (or the threat of exposure) well, revealing yet another unpleasant characteristic: he's vindictive as hell. He's not satisfied with just killing Cassidy, he has to make a public example of him in front of the coven, staging a dramatic exposure to sunlight—the rays of which fall a little short, giving Cassidy a reprieve. It's possible however, that Eccarius knew that would happen, so perhaps he's more reluctant to kill Cass than he seems, which is further supported by him continuing to try to convince the other vampire to join him, which Cassidy eventually agrees to (ostensibly), so the show of vindictiveness might be taken with a grain of salt; yet another histrionic display.

As it turns out though, he's met his match in Cassidy, who turns out to be a pretty good actor himself and successfully turns the tables on him, because Good prevails over Evil, which is kind of a shame, as Evil was a really good kisser.

POWER: The following powers are canonical-

1. General Vampiric Powers

—Blood empowerment: While technically he doesn't need to drink blood to survive, he does need it on a regular basis in order to sustain his general physical and mental health. In the absence of it, he'll grow progressively more rabid and out of control, eventually losing all sense of reason as the cravings consume him.

—Immortality/Immunity/Regenerative ability: Which translates to being able to live forever without showing any effects of aging, immunity from human disease, and completely heal and recover from any injuries, even to the extent of regrowing body parts—for which he needs blood; the more he drinks, the quicker he'll heal.

—Superhuman strength/speed/reflexes: pretty much just what it says on the tin—much faster/stronger than a normal human, and although not Superman-level by any means, able to easily dodge punches, move faster than a human eye can track, pick up people bigger than he is and throw them, etc. In addition, Eccarius' personal abilities have some extra added oomph due to his diet of vampire blood (mentioned below).

2. Special Vampiric Powers (from drinking the blood of other vampires)*

—Flight: Basically the ability to coast around in the sky, capable of carrying at least one person if he likes.

—Transformation: Eccarius has the ability to shapeshift into a variety of different animals, including a cat, a mouse, something fur-covered with big talons, something with hooves and a big bird of some sort, but nothing bigger than a moose

—Hypnosis/Seduction: While making eye contact, Eccarius is able to put the subject into a trance, telepathically compelling them to do his bidding, which we only saw him use for seduction, but it's probably not limited to that.

—Weakness: Like all Preacher-verse vampires, Eccarius can be killed by direct sunlight.

*[I'm going to say that at least here in the imPort world, he doesn't need to keep doing this in order to maintain the extra powers (canon never really says, only that the more he drinks, the more powerful he becomes). If he should ever succumb to temptation and do this however, any PCs he turns (and subsequently kills) would revert to their non-vampire status upon nanite resurrection.]


FINAL NOTES: In Preacher canon, the only way to kill a vampire is by direct exposure to sunlight; stakes don't bother them much. They have reflections in mirrors, no fear of holy objects, can cross running water and don't need to be invited in.