Lucien LaCroix
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Lucien LaCroix was a fictional vampire in the Canadian-German-American science fiction/fantasy/horror/gothic television series Forever Knight. LaCroix was portrayed by British actor Nigel Bennett.
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[edit] Life as a Mortal
Little is known of LaCroix’s mortal life prior to becoming a vampire, other then that he was a Roman born sometime in the first century AD, and that his given first name was Lucius. (In some works of Forever Knight fan fiction, LaCroix’s full mortal name was Lucius Divius. However, such works are not considered cannon by the series creators.) Few details were revealed on the series about his upbringing. However, he did imply in one episode that he was physically abused by his father and that he may have ultimately killed him in retaliation.
Lucius became a professional solider in the Roman Army, eventually rising to the rank of General. He knew the Roman Emperor Nero, and once boasted I taught Nero the tune, and together we watched Rome burn! (He presumably was referring to the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD.)
During his career, Lucius earned a reputation for ruthlessness in battle and for the remarkable cruelty and sadism he inflicted on his opponents.
[edit] Brought Across
By AD 79 Lucius owned an estate in Pompeii. He had a 12 year old daughter named Divia with a woman named Seline, though it was unclear if were married and whether or not Divia was illegitimate.
August 24th, AD 79, was a fateful day for Lucius. He had just triumphantly returned from a major war and was being honored at his estate with a party, where he was a presented with a marble bust of his likeness by his guests. Seline informed Lucius that during his long absence, Divia had contracted a serious illness and came very close to dying, but that after seeing an Egyptian healer she made a miraculous recovery. Some of his guests, however, noted her pale complexion and found it odd that she only came out at night.
Later that evening, Mount Vesuvius erupted. Lucius railed against the Roman gods in response, boasting he had fought greater adversaries then them before reluctantly accepting that he would not survive. Divia then asked him whether it was more preferable to live or die, Lucius incredulously responded ...TO LIVE, DIVIA, TO LIVE! Divia then revealed herself as a vampire and bit Lucius in the neck, causing him to be brought across (to the world of the undead) and survive the destructive eruption.
Though initially shocked at the prospect of being a vampire, Lucius very quickly accepted his transformation and reveled in his new existence. As a vampire, Lucius gained several extra-ordinary powers. Among them were immortality, the ability to fly, superhuman speed and strength, infrared vision that allowed him to see in the dark, and a heightened sense of hearing. He also gained the ability to hypnotize mortals, a skill which proved useful if needed to alter or erase someone’s memory, extract information from someone or manipulate them into performing some kind of action (though some mortals, known as resisters amongst the vampire community, are immune from such hypnosis.) He is immune to any kind of illness or disease, and cannot be harmed by poisons of any kind. His heart beats only once every ten minutes, and is not bothered by cold weather.
Although he can suffer injuries serious enough to make him appear dead, he fully recovers from them within a matter of hours. He outwardly appears human, but his eyes turn yellow and he bare fangs when he is threatened or acting on his vampire instincts (this is know informally as vamping out among fans of the series.) His face appears pale, likely the result of avoiding sunlight of any kind (which would destroy him if exposed long enough.) This prevents him from going outside in daylight.
Though he is immortal, he can still be destroyed by a variety of means other then sunlight. Fire, decapitation and having a wooden stake driven through his heart will kill him. He is also compelled to look away from any religious objects such as crucifixes. He can’t eat food, though he can mix blood with some beverages such as wine. Members of the vampire community go to great lengths to protect knowledge of their existence from mortals. Consequently, he will move on every few years, meaning that he relocates to another geographical area under an assumed identity.
Unlike other fictional vampires, both he (and other vampires depicted in the series) do not sleep in coffins or become comatose and lose their powers at sunrise. He does not have the ability to shape shift into animal form, and can both cast a shadow and see his reflection in a mirror. He does not appear to suffer from obsessive compulsive traits exhibited by other fictional vampires, such as refusing to enter a dwelling that he hasn’t been invited to or a compulsion to eat sunflower seeds.
Although Lucius is Divia’s father, she is his vampiric master by virtue of the fact that she was the one who turned him into a vampire. This doesn’t make him Divia’s slave, however, he feels obligated to show her a certain amount of loyalty (to a point.) He also shared a psychic link with her, which allowed him to sense her when she was nearby.
[edit] Parting Company
Lucius and Divia traveled together for 20 years, during which time she taught Lucius how to use his vampire powers and conceal his true nature from mortals. In AD 99, both of them visited the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Divia brought Lucius to the Tomb of Qa'Ra, the Egyptian healer who had cured her 20 years ago, explaining to Lucius that he was in fact her master, the vampire who had brought her across when she lay dying, and that he had been destroyed.
When Lucius asked if she took revenge on Qa'Ra's killers, Divia nonchalantly responded that it was not necessary to do so. She then made a shocking admission to Lucius, that she had in fact murdered him because she had grown weary of his attempts to both control her and make her conform to the code of behavior followed by those in the vampire community. Lucius responded with genuine shock and outrage, pointing out that for a vampire to murder their master was considered one of the most heinous offenses a member of the vampire community can commit.
Divia reveals that she had even more selfish reasons for killing him. Now that her master was dead, there was nothing to stop her from taking Lucius, her mortal father and vampiric prodigy, as her lover. Horrified by Divia’s incestuous desires and plans for him, Lucius, ironically, decapitated her and placed her body in a sarcophagus within the tomb. He then placed the symbol of the Egyptian Sun god upon it to ensure that she would not regenerate and seek vengeance on him.
[edit] A Proud Father
By 1228, Lucius had settled in Paris, France, and began using the alias Lucien LaCroix. Over the last 1200 years, LaCroix had brought across several individuals and taught them how to survive as vampire before allowing them to make their own way in the world. Over the years he began to grow lonely and wished to bring across individuals who would stay with him instead of eventually leaving him. Around the turn of the first millennium, he brought across Janette du Charme, an abused French prostitute who found life as a vampire more preferable to her former life. She was grateful to LaCroix, and loyally stayed with him. Both of them formed a very strong father-daughter bond. LaCroix now wanted to add a son to complete his ideal family.
One night in 1228, Janette brought LaCroix a mortal, Nicholas deBrabant, a Norman Knight and disillusioned ex-soldier she met in a tavern, who had recently returned from fighting in the Crusades. Janette had intrigued Nicholas with the prospect of having eternal life. LaCroix had taken a liking to Nicholas, and revealed to him that both he and Jeanette were in fact vampires, and that he wanted to bring Nicholas across. He tempted Nicholas with the prospect of eternal life, eternal youth and power beyond his wildest dreams. Nicholas readily agreed to allow LaCroix to bring him across.
LaCroix then brought Nicholas to the catacombs of Paris and had Nicholas commit his first feeding, which involved killing a mortal in order to feed of their blood. After some initial hesitation, Nicholas, urged on by LaCroix, killed the first of what would be several victims over an 800 period. LaCroix, Nicholas and Janette traveled the world together for 700 years, living very evil lives. It was during this period that LaCroix taught them valuable lessons on the nature of both vampires and mortals and how to survive as a vampire.
LaCroix gives the appearance of a learned, refined aristocrat to both the vampires and mortals that he deals with. A student of the humanities, LaCroix has a very broad knowledge of art, history, literature, music and philosophy from a wide variety of cultures that he acquired during his long life. He is an amateur musician and can play the violin.
LaCroix is a publicly avowed atheist, having faith in no one but himself. However, he has been known to contradict himself on occasion concerning his belief in a higher being.
Thought Latin is LaCroix’s mother tongue, he has learned several other languages over his 2000 year existence. He is fluent in Cantonese Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.
He has also encountered several historical personalities over the years, including Nero, Charlemagne and Genghis Khan. He has also turned historical figures such as Jack the Ripper and Rasputin into vampires, and once nearly turned Adolph Hitler into one.
[edit] Trouble on the Home Front
Over the course of 700 years, Nicholas had difficulty dealing with the guilt he suffered for turning his back on his humanity and for the numerous murders and other sins he had committed. LaCroix, in contrast saw such feelings as counter productive. LaCroix felt that vampires were a superior form of life, and that killing mortals to feed on was no worse then mortals killing animals to feed on. As time went on, Nicholas resolved only to feed on mortals who had committed major crimes or sins, justifying such actions by claiming to be God’s instrument of vengeance. Nicholas eventually started to express regret over becoming a vampire and sought to regain his mortality.
LaCroix found such thoughts disturbing. He felt Nicholas should both accept and appreciate his vampire nature and could not understand why Nicholas found it preferable to be a weak mortal. LaCroix cruelly mocked Nicholas’ desires and actively tried to thwart Nicholas’ attempts to reclaim his humanity. He would often use psychological and even physical abuse as a means to discourage Nicholas' attempts. Nicholas would retaliate by abandoning both LaCroix and Janette for long periods of time, which sometimes lasted decades. LaCroix was genuinely hurt by Nicholas’ rejection, since he thought of him as his son. LaCroix would always locate Nicholas eventually and make him return to his vampire family.
LaCroix once attempted to teach Nicholas a lesson about both his vampiric nature and his killing of mortals whom he judged as deserving of death. This time, LaCroix had gone too far when a mortal woman that Nicholas fell in love with died at Nicholas’ hands, in part because of LaCroix's manipulation of Nick. LaCroix had hoped that this lesson would finally make Nicholas realize his hypocrisy in killing bad humans and finally abandon his attempts to reclaim mortality. It was a pyrrhic victory. Although Nicholas finally learned that his killings were indeed hypocritical, he vowed from that day forward never to kill any human again, under any circumstances, in order to feed, much to LaCroix’s chagrin.
[edit] Death and Resurrection
By 1992, LaCroix had arrived in Toronto, Ontario, searching once again for Nicholas, who had now established himself as Detective Nick Knight of the Metropolitan Toronto Police force. Nick had gone without killing mortals for 100 years, and satisfied his hunger for blood by drinking cow’s blood. Janette had also settled in Toronto as the owner operator of the Raven, a gothic nightclub that was frequented by both vampires and mortals.
LaCroix became entangled in a homicide case that Nick was investigating. Nick eventually confronted LaCroix, who cruelly destroyed yet another attempt by Nick to regain his mortality. Shortly afterwards, Nick was forced to save an innocent mortal from LaCroix by driving a burning stake through his heart, apparently destroying him. Both Nick and Janette believed that LaCroix was dead. (This occurred in the second episode of the series Dark Knight, Part II. Despite this supposed death, LaCroix remained a prominent character in the series by appearing in flashbacks Nick had of his 800 years as a vampire. Such flashbacks occurred in almost episode of the first season.)
In 1994, Nick, while investigating a case, had been framed for murder. Eventually, he learned the identity of the real killer, and shocked to learn it was none other then his old master, LaCroix! LaCroix had somehow comeback to life, and had unsuccessfully tried to frame Nick so that he would be forced to give up reclaiming his humanity and return to the vampire community. A bemused LaCroix boasted to a horrified Nick that he was far too old and powerful to be killed by a burning stake.
(It was never clearly explained how LaCroix managed to regenerate, despite clearly being killed on screen during the Dark Knight, Part II episode. This would imply that LaCroix has vampiric powers above and beyond those of both Nick and other vampires. He may have learned such powers from Divia or some other vampire prior to bringing Nick across, or, as he implies, his advanced age has granted him these abilities. For some reason, he has chosen not to teach Nick the full depth of his vampiric knowledge.)
An unspoken truce between the two resulted. Lacroix stopped actively trying to thwart Nick’s quest to become human, but he did not give up hope that Nick would one day abandon his quest.
[edit] Life in Toronto
LaCroix settled in Toronto and became a night time radio talk show host for The Night Watch, a call in show on the CERK radio station. He hosted the show using the radio name Nightcrawler. He would often share his keen insights on both history and human behavior, specifically their dark side. Although the show gained a devoted following, others found his content very disturbing. Nick would often listen to LaCroix on the radio while driving around Toronto in his Cadillac.
LaCroix quickly renewed his relationship with Janette, and slowly improved his relationship with Nick. Nick would consult with him occasionally concerning cases he was investigating, specifically cases where supernatural elements or other vampires were involved (which seemed to happen often in this series.)
[edit] Change
In 1995, Janette abruptly left Toronto, giving LaCroix ownership of The Raven. Janette confided in LaCroix that Nick’s quest to regain his humanity was beginning to leave an impression on her. She felt that she should leave Toronto to re-affirm the vampire in her. LaCroix agreed with her decision. He was mildly perturbed with Nick over Janette's departure, and withheld from him the reason of why Janette left. He continued to host his radio talk show, broadcasting it from a radio booth inside the club. He also began posting blogs on Internet discussion boards under the username Rosebud.
Janette did come back to Toronto in 1996 to seek Nick’s help in hunting down the killers of a mortal firefighter Janette had fallen in love with while living in Montreal. She revealed to Nick that she had inadvertently become a mortal again. This occurred when she drew blood from her lover while making love, but just a little at a time, until she gradually regained her mortality. When Nick and Janette confronted the killers, Janette is mortally wounded, but is turned into a vampire once again by Nick (over her objections.) Janette then fled, but not before leaving a portrait of herself at Nick’s loft. When LaCroix learned of this, he told Nick that in all sincerity, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for him. Though he was saddened at having lost his daughter Janette, he felt that in many ways he had regained his son.
[edit] Love Life
Little is known about LaCroix’s love life. Apart from Seline, LaCroix once fell in love with Nick’s mortal sister, Fleur, when they visited the deBrabant estate not long after Nick became a vampire. He was so taken by her innocence and beauty that he nearly brought her across. Nick dissuaded him though, pointing out that if she crossed over, the innocence that LaCroix loved about her would disappear. LaCroix reluctantly agreed, though he vowed to make Nick suffer the same pain he felt someday over losing Fleur.
He nearly carried that threat out in 1995 when he tried to kill Dr. Natalie Lambert, a mortal who was trying to help Nick become mortal again and had developed strong feelings for. Nick luckily managed to persuade LaCroix that he was just toying with her to enlist her help in his quest to regain his humanity and that he didn’t really love her.
By 1995, LaCroix began a romantic relationship with Urs, a vampire who was brought across in the 19th century by Javier Vachon, a vampire acquaintance of LaCroix’s. Urs was a regular at the Raven.
[edit] Reunion
In 1996, LaCroix finally came face to face with his past when Divia had returned. She had somehow survived being decapitated, and was unearthed accidentally by 20th century grave robbers looking for historical relics. Divia proceeded to seek revenge on LaCroix for leaving her to a 2000 year imprisonment inside the sarcophagus. She placed the corpse of one of the robbers in The Raven and tipped the police about the body in an effort to frame LaCroix. He was briefly held as a material witness, but released due to lack of evidence. Later, he reluctantly confided to Nick what had happened with Divia in both Pompeii and later in Egypt. He told Nick that he believed Divia was responsible for the murder and that he was able to sense her presence because of their shared psychic link. He was at a loss, however, to explain how she survived decapitation, speculating that perhaps the evil inside the tomb some how allowed her to regenerate.
Members of the vampire community in Toronto, fearful of exposure, distanced themselves from LaCroix because of the intense police scrutiny he was under. Divia stepped up her revenge by killing both Vachon and Urs and by trying to kill Nick. She nearly killed LaCroix but was saved when Nick intervened and drove a stake through her heart. LaCroix later cremated her body and told Nick that he would scatter her ashes to the wind, and that he might even say a prayer for her. In a touching moment, the normally stoic LaCroix wept as he lit Divia's funeral pyre, having lost his beloved daughter and master for a second time.
[edit] Moving On...
Now being investigated as a murder suspect by police, and having lost Janette, Vachon and Urs, LaCroix realizes its now too dangerous to stay in Toronto and decides to move on. As LaCroix closes down the Raven, Nick visits him. His partner, Tracy Vetter, had taken bullets that were meant for Nick during a hostage situation at Nick’s precinct. Nick was troubled by the fact that she may die, and blamed himself for what happened. LaCroix urged Nick to leave Toronto immediately, noting it would now be impossible for him to stay in Toronto given the strange circumstances surrounding the shooting. He pointed out that if he stayed, he would eventually be exposed as vampire, jeopardizing both himself and the entire vampire community. When Nick protests, LaCroix tells him that he will stop by Nick’s loft to collect him later that evening, and that he will leave Toronto for good, with or without him.
Hours later, LaCroix arrives as promised, and is surprised to find Natalie Lambert dead in Nick’s arms. Nick, having learned that Tracy had died and not wanting to lose Natalie, tried to become mortal using the method Janette did. Unfortunately, he could not control himself and took too much blood. LaCroix told Nick he had two choices, bring Natalie across or let her die as a mortal. Nick chose the latter option, unwilling to condemn her to life as a vampire, a choice that LaCroix felt was a wise one under the circumstances.
It was at this point Nick decided to commit suicide. He realized that just as Natalie had faith in him, he now had faith that he would join Natalie wherever she was in the afterlife and that God would finally absolve him for his numerous sins. LaCroix tried to talk him out of it, arguing that life was a precious gift and that there may be no afterlife to go to, but instead just non-existence, or that he may instead risk eternal damnation. Nick would not be dissuaded. LaCroix, perhaps for the first time realizing the terrible toll that life as a vampire was taking on Nick, said that he must think that he is the devil. Nick said no, that he now realized that LaCroix is, and always was, his closest friend. He then handed LaCroix a wooden stake and knelt over Natalie’s body. LaCroix, in an ironic act of love for his son, then drove the stake through Nick’s heart while shouting ...DAMN YOU NICHOLAS!, killing Nick and in the process releasing from his hellish 800 year vampiric existence. He then presumably moved on from Toronto towards an uncertain future.
