| Daedalus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Name | Daedalus |
| Known aliases | None |
| Category | Vampire |
| Gender | Male |
| Base of Operations | San Francisco, California |
| Known relatives | None |
| Year of birth | Unknown |
| Year of death | N/A |
| First Appearance | Kindred: The Embraced: The Original Saga |
| Played by | Jeff Kober |
Daedalus was a supporting character featured in the short-lived Fox Network television series Kindred: The Embraced. Played by actor Jeff Kober, he made his first appearance in the series pilot "The Original Saga". He appeared in all eight episodes of the series. Daedalus was a vampire and the Primogen for Clan Nosferatu. Despite his horrific appearance, Daedalus had a tender soul. He was devoutly loyal to his prince Julian Luna. Daedalus rarely left his warren beneath Luna's mansion, but occasionally ventured out into the city on personal matters. He attempted to court a human lounge singer named Elaine Robb with disastrous results and later took an interest in a terminally ill child named Abel. Daedalus later sought to rally the Nosferatu behind him, luring them away from the dark path offered to them by the rogue vampire Goth.
Biography[]
Daedalus was a vampire belonging to the Nosferatu clan and lived in the city of San Francisco. He was also the clan Primogen, a position that granted him authority over other members of his clan. Like all Nosferatu, Daedalus had noticeable inhuman physical features that prevented him from being able to mingle in human society without risking exposure. Despite his monstrous visage however, Daedalus held firm to his humanity, though he was not above committing certain acts of violence if such situations were required. Daedalus was loyal to the city's reigning prince Julian Luna and lived in a dungeon located beneath Luna's mansion. Luna called upon Daedalus to perform certain tasks and he was sometimes expected to carry out executions.
"The Embraced"[]
When a Gangrel vampire named Stevie Ray was murdered in 1996, Luna asked Daedalus to dispose of the body and dispatch anyone who might discover that Stevie Ray was a vampire. Using the network of tunnels that ran beneath the city, Daedalus appeared inside a drawer at the County Coroner's Office. He used his mental abilities to force the coroner, Charon, to open the vein in his arm so that he could drink his blood. He then killed Charon and brought the body back to Luna's manor.
Daedalus was then called upon to execute a blood hunt against a vampire named Alexandra Serris. Alexandra had revealed her vampiric nature to a human, thus breaking the commandments of the Kindred's masquerade. Daedalus picked Alexandra up in a taxicab and sliced her throat open with a razor-sharp fingernail. He didn't truly wish for Alexandra to die, so he deposited her body on the Golden Gate Bridge and told her, "The water is your sanctuary". He had hoped that she would have enough strength to jump off the bridge into the water below where she could avoid the fatal rays of the rising sun. Unfortunately, Alexandra did not make it in time and she burned to death on the railing of the bridge. [1]
"Prince of the City"[]
Daedalus attended a conclave of the Primogen to determine which Kindred was responsible for the murder of a human named Paulie Boyle. Julian Luna had recovered a ring that had belonged to Paulie and each of the clan elders used their post-cognitive abilities to perceive the history of the item. Through it, they learned that one of Eddie Fiori's Brujah, a vampire named Nino Donelli had impaled Paulie with a metal instrument. A vote was cast to determine if Eddie Fiori should bear responsibility for his progeny's actions. Daedalus disliked Fiori, but in keeping with the strictest measures of Kindred law, voted to spare his life. [2]
"The Nightstalker"[]
A short time later, Daedalus made a rare visit to The Haven to watch a lounge singer named Elaine Robb. Daedalus was instantly enraptured by the young woman's beauty and talent, but also sensed a great pain within her soul. Feeling as if she were a kindred spirit, he left a note for Elaine in her dressing room, in which he indicated how sorry he felt for the pain and loneliness she had long suffered. He signed it only as "A friend".
Due to his vampiric physicality, Daedalus knew that any hope of entering into a relationship with Elaine was impossible. He studied alchemy in the hopes of creating a formula that would give him a human appearance. His first several attempts failed however. Daedalus visited Elaine's apartment late in the evening. He spoke to her, but was careful to remain in the shadows. Elaine wanted him to show himself, but he could not bring himself to do it.
The following evening, Daedalus attempted his alchemical formula again with limited success. He went to Elaine and appeared before her as a normal human being. He felt that the two could now love one another. They spent the evening together, but the following morning, when Daedalus awoke, he found that he had resumed his normal appearance. Elaine saw him and screamed in terror. Daedalus jumped through the window of her apartment and returned to his lair. He knew that he would never be able to be with her again. Keeping to the shadows, Daedalus maintained a vigil over Elaine. He learned that she had been targeted by a vampire serial killer named Starkweather and informed Julian Luna who took measures to protect her. Elaine was rescued, but Daedalus never saw her again. [3]
"Romeo and Juliet"[]
Soon after, Julian Luna approached Daedalus with news of a Kindred doctor who worked at Bay General Hospital. This man had violated Kindred law by feeding off patients from the children's ward. He sent Daedalus to the hospital to execute the man. Daedalus appeared in the hospital and shut down the lights that ran through the ward. When he found the doctor, he told him that the Prince had sentenced him to Final Death. He cornered the man at the end of a long corridor and killed him. Afterward, he took the body down into the sub-level of the hospital and burned it in an incinerator. One of the doctor's victims, a young boy named Abel, witnessed the incident and approached Daedalus. Daedalus was surprised to find that the boy was completely unafraid of him. He took a liking to the child and brought him back to his warren. When Julian learned that the child was now staying with him, he ordered Daedalus to return him to the hospital. Daedalus could not stand to see the boy in pain and asked Julian to embrace him. Luna felt sorry for the dying Abel, but refused to embrace him, citing that Kindred never embrace children, even as an act of mercy.
Crestfallen, Daedalus obeyed Luna's directive and brought Abel back to the hospital. He asked the child to speak of him to no one and promised that he would visit him whenever he could. He soon learned however that Frank Kohanek was investigating the death of the doctor and was hoping to use Abel to learn the truth about who murdered him. Daedalus flew into a frenzy and attacked Frank, pinning him against the wall of the hospital. Frank's partner Sonny Toussaint calmed Daedalus down, reminding him that Kohanek was under Luna's protection.
Daedalus was determined to help Abel in any way he could. He managed to put together an alchemical mixture designed to cure his illness. He returned to the hospital and smeared the mixture across the boy's mouth. As he had hoped, Abel's disease went into remission.
During this entire affair, clan rivalries began heating up between the Brujah and those vampires still loyal to Julian Luna. Julian tried to get Daedalus to enlist the aid of the Nosferatu, but Daedalus reminded him that his clan does not partake in internecine clan rivalries. Although still bitter at Julian's refusal to embrace Abel, Daedalus did in fact go to the Nosferatu and convinced them to throw their support behind the Prince. As things came to a head between Luna and Brujah Primogen Eddie Fiori, the Nosferatu appeared and gave Luna's efforts added leverage. [4]
"The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori"[]
Daedalus later attended a meeting of the Primogen council to discuss the gross violations wrought by a member of Clan Toreador named Zane. Upon learning that Zane had embraced several young women against their will, Daedalus voted to have him executed. [5]
A short time later, Eddie Fiori made his final move and attempted to assassinate Julian Luna. However, what he had in fact succeeded in doing was shooting a shape-shifting Assamite who had assumed Luna's form. Lillie Langtry, believing that Luna was dead, went to Daedalus' warren and tearfully confessed to setting Julian up. Eddie proclaimed himself the new Prince of San Francisco and called a conclave at his office. While the rest of the Primogen were duty-bound to recognize Eddie as the new Prince, they all shared great resentment towards him. In a rage, Daedalus told him, "Retribution will find you, Fiori. Some night when you're feeling the strongest, you'll bleed until you're dry". Daedalus' words bore true only a few moments later. The real Julian Luna resurfaced and Lillie Langtry redeemed the part she played in Eddie's rise to power by beheading him with a samurai sword. [6]
"Bad Moon Rising"[]
An old adversary of Daedalus', a Nosferatu Kindred known as Goth returned to San Francisco shortly thereafter. Daedalus knew Goth very well and knew that he embraced the savage brutality that the other members of the clan had striven to shed so many centuries ago. Goth appeared within the underground warrens of the Nosferatu and tried to incite them to rebel against Julian Luna. Daedalus pleaded with his fellow vampires, reminding them that Goth's way was one of savagery and that he was known as a "rogue" and "fallen one". Goth began to win them over however, and Daedalus knew that such a union would spell disaster for the San Francisco Kindred. Daedalus told Julian and the rest of the Primogen everything he knew about Goth. He also mixed a serum and added it to Julian's wine glass to give him enhanced vitality in the coming battle against Goth. Daedalus' contribution to the struggle proved beneficial as Julian succeeded in beheading the evil Nosferatu. [7]
"Cabin in the Woods"[]
A short time later, Archon Raine confessed to Daedalus the sins of his past. He told him how ten years ago he sent Julian to Manzanita Springs to unjustly slaughter a pack of Brujah vampires who had committed no crime other than being embraced into an undesirable clan. Later, when one of the surviving Brujah took his revenge against Archon, Daedalus was tasked with revealing Raine's confession to Julian, solemnly stating that the Brujah's actions were justified and did not violate Kindred law. Daedalus and the rest of the Primogen council attended Archon Raine's funeral. [8]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Daedalus is based on concepts developed by Mark Rein•Hagen for the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game.
- Daedalus is also the name of an Un-Man character from American Freak: A Tale of the Un-Men.
Quotes[]
- "The Brujah never listen to reason. They only understand carnage."
- "The water is your sanctuary."
- "I'm sorry for the love that you've lost."
- "For the horror you bring to the innocent, your Prince sentences you to Final Death."
- "The Nosferatu do not choose sides in any war. That will never change."
- "Retribution will find you, Fiori. Some night when you're feeling the strongest, you'll bleed until you're dry."
- "He must have done blood ritual, he's reverted to our primitive form."
- "From the time of the Inquisition, we were hunted down, tortured, burned alive by humans who feared us... who called us monsters. When the Nosferatu joined with the other clans to maintain the Masquerade, we were able to live peacefully out of sight of humans below ground."
- "Don't be tempted by Goth. He's given himself up to the forces we as Nosferatu have spent millennia struggling against. See Goth for what he is - the fallen one. The rogue. Letting himself be dragged down by his own horror... he'll drag you down with him."
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
 This article relates to characters featured in and pertaining to the Kindred: The Embraced television series. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Kindred: The Embraced characters category. |
 This article relates to characters featured in and pertaining to the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Vampire: The Masquerade characters category. |