Order of Aurelius
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The Order of Aurelius is a fictional cult of vampires, seen primarily in the first season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the first episodes of the show's second season.
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[edit] The select, the elite
The Order of Aurelius is an ancient religious cult of vampires named for the 12th century prophet Aurelius. Aurelius foretold the rise of the Anointed One. Some of its most prominent members are The Master, Darla and Luke. While part of the Master's bloodline, Angelus, Penn, Drusilla, Spike and their offspring were never members of the Order. Spike and Dru do, however, work with and eventually take control of the Order. Angel is also offered membership, but turns it down
Under the command of The Master, the Order of Aurelius is ruled by codes of severe ritualistic beliefs and extreme obedience to the Master: failure to follow the Master's will results in severe punishments, mostly mutilation or even death. Examples of this are the mutilation of the left hand of the vampire "Claw" and also the eye-gouging of the vampire Colin (not to be confused with Collin, the Anointed One).
The rules of the Order dictate that its members must not live "among the human pestilence", instead dwelling underground and visiting the surface only to feed or sire new vampires. Their underground existence is marked by observation of vampire rituals and religion, especially the tribute of the Old Ones, the original pure-breed demons that ruled the Earth in its beginnings.
The brethren of the Order consider themselves to be the "elite" of the vampire race, destined to usher in the return of the Old Ones and the destruction of mankind, regarded by the Order as little more than animals, a "plague of boils" covering the earth.
The belief of the Aurelians that they are the "select" also comes from the fact that the vampires of the Aurelian line can be counted among the most powerful and commanding of vampires. The Order of Aurelius is one of the few vampire groups shown in the Buffyverse to be organized on a heavily structured society, instead of the common vampire packs merely focused on hunting, feeding and protection, or the groups seen as minions of other demons.
[edit] At the Hellmouth
In 1937, the Order settled in Sunnydale in an attempt to bring about the End of the World. In preparation for the opening of the Hellmouth, the Aurelians were responsible for a series of gruesome murders. The murders ceased after an earthquake that swallowed part of the town. The earthquake had interrupted the ritual that the Master was performing to open the Hellmouth, leaving the Master severely weakened and trapped in a mystical prison, which was actually the portal he wanted to open. The Order then lay low until early 1997.
In 1997 the time for The Harvest comes. During the night of the Harvest, the Master plans to obtain strength from the souls of the victims of one of his minions, the so-called Vessel, through a mystical link between the two. The Master hopes to gain enough strength to break through his prison, and thereby open the portal that had trapped him in 1937. However, the Harvest is ruined by the interference of the Slayer, Buffy Summers.
Weeks later, some Brethren of the Order bring about the prophesied rise of the Anointed One. The Aurelians also decoy Buffy away from the true Anointed One by making a vampire of the maniacal Andrew Vorba, who is in turn slain by Buffy. Meanwhile the true Anointed, a child named Collin, is taken to the Master's presence.
Due to the actions of Buffy, the Order's numbers continue to thin, and many of the Master's most appreciated acolytes end up as dust. Dispirited, the Master summons the Three, a trio of battle-scarred vampire warriors, to hunt down the Slayer. They fail, thanks to the intervention of Angel, and lay down their lives in penance, which prompts Darla to impale them.
By May 1997, a number of portents announcing a new Apocalypse prompt the Aurelian vampires to once again perform a number of murders in preparation for the liberation of the Master and the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Pergamum Codex; the Slayer's death. The Order sires a large number of vampires to serve as the Master's army. The ancient vampire succeeds in escaping his prison, which causes the "opening of the Hellmouth": a portal to the Old Ones' universe opens and from it emerges a demon commonly referred to as the Hellmouth Spawn. Buffy finally slays the Master as Rupert Giles and others fight the Hellmouth demon back, averting the end of the world. A number of other vampires are also slain and many flee.
With the Master gone, the Anointed One remains as the leader of the Order of Aurelius.
[edit] Decline
Months later, under the orders of the Anointed One and his right-hand man, Absalom, the Order puts in motion a plan to resurrect the Master. The Master's bones are dug up and those around the Master at the time of his demise — Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Cordelia Chase and Jenny Calendar — are kidnapped to be sacrificed in the ritual. However, Buffy Summers, Angel and Xander Harris interrupt the ritual and slay all of the vampires except Collin the Anointed One. The Slayer smashes the Master's bones to dust, destroying the Order's last hope of resurrecting the Master. The decline of the Order has begun.
Weeks later, the Aurelian vampires resolve that whoever could kill the Slayer should take the Master's place and rule the Order. They choose the 'Night of Saint Vigeous', the vampiric Holy Night of Attack, for the contest. The plan is derailed when Spike, a vampire newly arrived in Sunnydale, impetuously leads a mass assault against the Slayer a few nights early. The assault is a failure and many vampires are killed. The Order's rules demand that Spike offer his life in penance, but Spike instead kills the Anointed One, takes the remaining vampires as his own minions and announces that they will have "a little less ritual and little more fun". The Order of Aurelius is now gone.
[edit] An alternate world
In the alternate reality of "The Wish", created when Cordelia wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, we see that the Order of Aurelius rules Sunnydale. The Master rules the town from his headquarters located in The Bronze and Willow and Xander are his two most prized acolytes. Humans live in terror, hiding in their homes from dusk to dawn while the vampires run unchecked. The Master's consideration of humans as mere animals is made explicit by his blood extraction factory, in which humans are trapped like cattle awaiting to be have their blood drained by a machine and their bodies disposed. The souled vampire Angel is held prisoner and tortured.
[edit] Members
- The Master
- Darla
- Luke
- Collin the Anointed One
- Thomas ("Welcome to the Hellmouth"): he plans to take Willow to the Master as a sacrifice
- Male vampire 1 ("Welcome to the Hellmouth" & "The Harvest"): at the graveyard where he attacks Willow
- Male vampire 2 ("Welcome to the Hellmouth" & "The Harvest"): is taking Jesse until Buffy stakes him with a tree branch
- Female vampire ("Welcome to the Hellmouth" & "The Harvest"): takes Jesse to the Master's lair
- Random male vampire ("The Harvest"): chases Buffy and Xander through the sewers and grabs at Buffy's leg as they are leaving
- Random female vampire ("The Harvest"): seen in the sewers along with Colin and the male vampire
- Colin: seen in "The Harvest"; the Master drives a finger through his eye after learning that Xander and Buffy escaped the Order's lair
- Jesse McNally, Xander's former friend, seen in "The Harvest". Is the bait used to lure Buffy into the Order's lair
- Male 1: seen at the Bronze in "The Harvest"
- Male 2: seen at the Bronze in "The Harvest"
- Male 3: seen at the Bronze in "The Harvest"
- Female 1: seen at the Bronze in "The Harvest"
- Claw: former member, seen in "Teacher's Pet"; he disappointed The Master and had his arm cut off as penance. This was replaced with a claw
- Golden-faced vampire: staked in the graveyard and leaves behind a ring bearing the Order's symbol in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
- Male vampire #1: thrown across the room by the Master in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
- 2 male vampires: are with Male vampire #1 while the Master throws him in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
- Andrew Vorba: the decoy used to keep Buffy away from the true Anointed in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
- Vorba's sire (Never Kill a Boy on the First Date)
- Vampire hit by bus (Never Kill a Boy on the First Date), killed the bus driver
- Zachary: only mentioned by the Master in the episode "Angel"
- The Three ("Angel"): a trio of powerful vampires who Buffy and Angel together cannot defeat
- Male vampire in graveyard: seen at the start of "Prophecy Girl"
- The Vampire Gathering ("Prophecy Girl"): the large number of vampires sired to be The Master's army after he is released
- Absalom ("When She Was Bad"): a somewhat religious vampire, guardian to the Anointed One.
- Bob: the fat hairy vampire with mustache seen in "When She Was Bad"
- Jane: the female vampire at the resurrection ritual seen in "When She Was Bad"
- Ned: the bearded, short-haired vampire seen in "When She Was Bad"
- Walt: the dark-haired vampire at the resurrection ritual in "When She Was Bad"
- Tara: the female dark-haired vampire seen at the Bronze in "When She Was Bad"
- "Big Ugly": the large, muscular vampire who claims to have witnessed the Crucifixion, and proposes that the assassin of the Slayer should take the Master's place, in "School Hard"
- "Lean Boy": the bearded vampire at the Anointed One's side, who reprimands Spike for his failure to kill Buffy, in "School Hard"
- Random male vampire: the non-bearded vampire seen by the Anointed One's side in "School Hard"
- Random female vampire ("School Hard"): the vampire to whom Spike hands the pole
- Dalton (?), from "What's My Line, Part One" until "Surprise": is a minion of Spike who has great wisdom from books, like a vampire form of Giles
- Julia (?) ("Lie to Me"): a female blonde vampire who steals an artifact from the Sunnydale Library
- Willow Rosenberg (alternate reality, "The Wish" and "Doppelgängland"): one of The Master's most prized acolytes in the alternate reality
- Xander Harris (alternate reality, "The Wish"): one of The Master's most prized acolytes in the alternate reality
- Alternate Reality Vampires ("The Wish")
- Old-fashioned vampires: seen in "Darla" by the Master's side; two attempt to stop Darla leaving with Angel
As well as the above, there are many other unknown, unnamed vampires seen from season one until the death of the Anointed One and even beyond (as Spike makes the rest his minions).
[edit] Appearances
- "Welcome to the Hellmouth": The Master, Darla, Luke, Thomas, unnamed vampires.
- "The Harvest": The Master, Darla, Luke, Colin, Jesse, unnamed vampires.
- "Teacher's Pet": Claw.
- "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date": The Master, Collin the Anointed One, Andrew Vorba, unnamed vampires.
- "Angel": The Master, Darla, Collin the Anointed One, the Three.
- "Nightmares": The Master, Collin the Anointed One.
- "Prophecy Girl": The Master, Collin the Anointed One, vampire gathering.
- "When She Was Bad": Collin the Anointed One, Absalom, Ned, Bob, Walt, Jane, Tara, Teaser vampire unnamed vampires.
- "School Hard": Collin the Anointed One, "Big Ugly", "Lean Boy", unnamed vampires.
- "The Wish": The Master, Willow, Xander, unnamed vampires.
- "Doppelgängland": Willow, unnamed vampires
- "What's My Line, Part One": Dalton, unnamed vampires
- "Darla": The Master, Darla, unnamed vampires.
[edit] Trivia
- After The Master is killed in "Prophecy Girl", the large number of vampires who survive are never seen again
- There are more Aurelian vampires seen in "School Hard", after the defeat of all the vampires who are at the ritual in "When She Was Bad", and many of those shown are not seen at all throughout the whole episode. These include Lean Guy and Big Ugly.
- After Spike knocks him out, Big Ugly is later staked outside the Bronze by Buffy whilst Spike watches from the shadows.
