| Frank Kohanek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Frank Kohanek | |
| Aliases: | Detective Kohanek |
| Franchise: | Kindred: The Embraced |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Type: | Law enforcement |
| Gender: | Male |
| Location: | San Francisco, California |
| Associations: | San Francisco Police Department |
| Status: | Alive |
| Introduction: | "The Original Saga" |
| Final: | "Cabin in the Woods" |
| Actor: | C. Thomas Howell |
Frank Kohanek is a fictional police detective featured in the short-lived Fox Network television series Kindred: The Embraced where he was played by actor C. Thomas Howell. Frank Kohanek was a detective for the San Francisco Police Department. While investigating reputed mobster Julian Luna, he came to learn that Luna was in fact a vampire and the leader of all Kindred living within the city. Frank was determined to bring Luna down, but was forced to enter into a truce with Julian, often working alongside him to resolve a common problem. Julian even saved Frank's life on one occasion when a psychotic vampire named Starkweather attempted to kill him. Although uncomfortable with his arrangement with Luna, Frank diverted his efforts to bringing down one of Julian's rivals, the Brujah gang leader Eddie Fiori.
Biography[]
Frank Kohanek was a detective for the San Francisco police department. He worked under Lieutenant Kwan and was partners with a man named Sonny Toussaint. Frank was once happily married, but his wife committed suicide - an event that turned Frank into a bitter man who threw himself into his work.
"The Embraced"[]
In 1996, Kohanek began investigating a reputed mob boss named Julian Luna. He knew that Luna was behind most of the crime cartels in the city, but was shocked by how many people had encouraged him to stay clear of Luna and his enterprises. Frank got close to one of Luna's former lovers, an attractive woman named Alexandra Serris. Something about Alexandra reminded Frank of his ex-wife and the two wound up falling in love with one another. What Frank didn't know at the time, was that Alexandra, as well as Julian Luna, were both vampires.
Frank also entered into a relationship with an anonymous informant who would telephone him using a disguised voice. The informant would give him leads to Luna's activities, as well as the whereabouts of the mob leader's underlings. Following such a lead, Frank and Sonny learned about Julian's bodyguard Stevie Ray. They tracked Stevie Ray to a rooftop where they witnessed him being brutally murdered by a man named Eddie Fiori and an unnamed assassin. Unable to stop Eddie and his lieutenant from escaping, he watched in shock as the sun came up over the horizon, causing Stevie Ray's body to burst into flames.
Later, he met with Alexandra, who warned Frank against pursuing his case against Luna. They spent the evening together, but the following morning, Frank discovered that Alexandra did not have a heartbeat. She revealed to him the fact that she was a vampire and that most of the power players in the city were also vampires (often referred to as Kindred). By doing so, Alexandra violated the Kindred's most sacred law - the Masquerade. The Masquerade was a doctrine of secrecy employed by the Kindred to keep the nature of their vampiric existences a secret from humanity. By breaking the Masquerade, Alexandra knew that her life would now be forfeit. She went to Luna privately and begged him to spare Frank's life. Luna agreed, but could not afford Alexandra the same respect. A blood hunt was called and she was sentenced to be executed.
Kohanek's mystery informant called Frank and told him where he could find Alexandra. Frank drove out to the Golden Gate Bridge just before dawn where he found her standing on the railing. She turned towards him just as the rays of the sun caused her body to ignite. She fell from the bridge and her burning body plummeted into the waters below. Frank swore to avenge her death and found Julian. He shot him twice in the chest, but knew that this would not be enough to stop him. Luna honored his promise to Alexandra and took no action against Frank. In fact, he even tried to come to an accord with him. Frank was repulsed by Julian and swore that he would find a way to destroy him, even if it meant becoming a vampire himself. [1]
"Prince of the City"[]
Realizing that taking down Luna would be more difficult than he initially imagined, Frank entered into a reluctant truce with the vampire. They did however, both share a common enemy - Eddie Fiori. Frank and Sonny knew that Eddie and his Dock Worker's Union were accepting bribes from ship owners and Frank wanted to bring him down. They found one of Eddie's underlings, Paulie Boyle, and convinced him to wear a wire so they could get some dirt on Eddie. They sent Paulie into a meeting with Eddie and one of his Brujah enforcers, Nino Donelli. Eddie immediately knew that Paulie was wearing a wire and Nino killed him by impaling him on a sharp metal instrument. Frank, Sonny and their superior Lieutenant Kwan busted into the warehouse, but Eddie and Nino were gone. Frank was the first to find Paulie's body, but made the mistake of touching the item that killed him. With his fingerprints now on the murder weapon, Frank was the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation. Eddie appeared before him shortly thereafter. Revealing his vampiric nature to him, he warned Frank to back off.
With Kwan's support, Frank continued to lean on Eddie's operations. He researched the history of the Kindred and learned of some of their powers. He discovered that vampires had the ability to perceive the history of an item merely by touching it. Recovering a ruby ring that Paulie had been wearing at the time that he died, he decided to use the Kindred to catch a Kindred. He gave the ring to Julian Luna and asked him to have his people look into Paulie's death.
Sonny knew that Eddie would come gunning for Frank, so he anonymously presented him with a phosphorous rifle to defend himself. Late one evening, Nino Donelli broke into Frank's apartment with the intent of embracing him. Frank fired the weapon at him, killing the vampire. As it turned out, Luna's people had already discovered that it was Nino who had killed Paulie and were going to execute him anyway. Julian told Frank that he was committed towards helping him weed out those who would oppose him. [2]
"The Nightstalker"[]
Frank was later called in to investigate a brawl that took place at the Haven. He learned that two vampires named Cash and Starkweather had gotten into a fight and were remanded to the care of the Suncrest psychiatric hospital. When Frank arrived however, Starkweather had already killed a psychiatrist and escaped from the hospital, but only after smearing the words "Blood Brothers" in blood on the wall of the observation room.
Starkweather continued to murder people over the course of the next week, earning himself the nickname, "The Nightstalker". Frank and Sonny followed the case and discovered the body of one of Starkweather's more recent victims - his own father. Julian later approached him at the Nighthawks Diner, asking Frank to let the Kindred offer some assistance. Frank didn't care for the idea and considered it akin to "...letting the fox guard the hen house". Julian reminded him that the Kindred had powerful resources and asked him if he could live with the consequences should Starkweather kill again knowing that he could have done something more. Once again, Frank was forced to accept Julian's assistance.
A few nights later, Julian telephoned Frank and told him that Starkweather had taken a lounge singer named Elaine Robb to The Haven with the intent of killing her. Frank armed himself with his phosphorous rifle and drove to the club. Starkweather over-powered Kohanek however, disarming him and hanging him by the neck with a pair of amplifier cords. Julian arrived just in time to save Frank. Still weak from the attack, Frank watched as Julian beheaded Starkweather with a large, curved blade. He promised that he would cover up Julian's involvement in his official report on the incident. [3]
"Romeo and Juliet"[]
Not long later, Frank was called in to investigate an incident at the Bay General Hospital. He went there and met up with Sonny as well as another police detective named O'Fallon. Frank didn't know that like Sonny, O'Fallon was also one of the Kindred. Sonny and O'Fallon were trying to cover up the murder of a vampire doctor who had broken Kindred law by feeding off of children. Despite their efforts to shield Frank from the investigation, he still managed to recover the skull of the missing doctor from an incinerator. The murder of the doctor was also linked to the disappearance of a young boy named Abel. When Abel mysteriously returned to the hospital, Frank tried to question him about who abducted him. Abel was under the secret protection of the Nosferatu Daedalus, who mistakenly believed that Frank was trying to use the boy to get information on him. Daedalus attacked Frank in the corridor of the hospital and Sonny had to come to his rescue. As he watched Sonny speaking to Daedalus in a familiar tone, he realized that Sonny too was a Kindred. After Sonny managed to convince Daedalus to leave him alone, he used his vampire powers to hypnotize Frank, making him forget about learning his secret. [4]
"Live Hard, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Corpse"[]
Frank's next case involved a young woman named Grace Dugan. Grace had been embraced by a Toreador vampire named Zane against her will. Following a hit and run accident, she turned up at a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Frank was called in to the case after Grace disappeared from the morgue. Sonny and he tracked her down to the pharmacy where they found her holding a pharmacist up at gunpoint. Seeing how terrified she was, Frank coaxed her into surrendering the gun. Afterward, Grace turned and jumped out through the hospital window. Frank tried to follow her, but she managed to get away. He quickly deduced that she was a vampire.
Back at the police station, Frank met with Grace's father and promised him that he would do everything in his power to find his daughter. Caitlin Byrne arrived to get a statement from Frank, but in his frustration, he cynically told her that she should instead get one from her employer, Julian Luna.
When he learned that Grace was last seen at The Haven, Frank went there to investigate. He spoke with Lillie Langtry, who had since come to appreciate Frank more since their last encounter. Lillie knew the truth about what had happened, but as Zane was one of her progeny, she felt obligated to protect him. Lillie tried to confound Frank's efforts, but Zane's showy presence made him easy to spot in a crowd. Frank pursued him, but Zane managed to get away. He caught up with him later in the back alley behind The Haven, but Zane leaped down from above and got the drop on him. Fortunately for Frank, the Gangrel leader Cash arrived and fought Zane off. Frank withdrew his pistol (now loaded with phosphorous rounds) and held it to Zane's head. Knowing that Zane was a vampire, he couldn't very well take him back to police headquarters. Instead, he brought him to Luna. Pushing him into Julian's office, Frank told him "My law has no way to deal with his crimes... but yours does". [5]
"The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori"[]
An old colleague of Franks, a private investigator named Benning gave him a collection of negatives showing Julian Luna involved in a fight with another vampire. Frank didn't let on about Julian's true nature, but kept the negatives on hold. It was actually Lillie Langtry who came to Frank's apartment to ask him about them. She used her feminine wiles to seduce Frank and he knew that whatever situation Julian was involved in was beyond his control now. He agreed to give her the photographs. [6]
"Bad Moon Rising"[]
A Nosferatu vampire known as Goth abducted a young infant named Jesse in Golden Gate Park. Jesse's mother, Ruth Doyle, reported the kidnapping to the police, but while many of the detectives were willing to place her as a suspect, Frank believed her story. After she provided a physical description of the kidnapper, Frank knew that a vampire was responsible.
He began looking into the case and had another meeting with Julian Luna. Luna knew that Goth was behind this and, recognizing how dangerous he was, warned Frank against interfering - for his own safety.
Frank was undeterred however and pursued the investigation. He eventually told Ruth about the existence of vampires and she was irate that Frank knew of such things and never mentioned anything to the police. He told her that if he had gone to them with stories of vampires, nobody would believe him. Frank and Ruth worked together, combing the areas surrounding Golden Gate Park in search of a clue to the child's whereabouts. With the help of Julian Luna, working behind the scenes, they were able to safely recover the child. [7]
"Cabin in the Woods"[]
The death of Eddie Fiori left a vacuum in the Brujah hierarchy and dozens of vampires rushed in to fill the void. Sonny tried to discourage Frank from pursuing the matter, but this only made Frank suspicious of Sonny's motives. He noted how Sonny grew increasingly edgy every time Frank mentioned vampires. As usual, Sonny deflected the issue, but insisted that Frank should stay clear of the Fiori legacy. One notable Kindred vying for Eddie's position was a Brujah from Manzanita Springs named Cameron. Cameron learned of Frank's connection to Julian and paid him a visit. Erroneously believing that he had killed Julian, he bragged about it to Kohanek and warned him that he would no longer enjoy Luna's protection. Julian was still alive however and though Cameron remained in the city, Frank still worked under his protection.
A few days later, Frank followed Julian and his brood to Manzanita Springs where he witnessed them performing funeral services for one of their own - Archon Raine. Frank saw Sonny in attendance with them and knew for certain that his partner was actually a vampire. [8]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Frank Kohanek is based on concepts developed by Mark Rein•Hagen for the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game.
- Although he was introduced as the central character in the series, Frank's screen time was significantly decreased with each episode.
- Frank Kohanek learned that Sonny Toussaint was a vampire on two separate occasions. The first instance took place in "Romeo and Juliet", but Sonny used his powers to wipe his memory of the event. Frank learned the truth again at the end of the final episode, "Cabin in the Woods".
Quotes[]
- "One day you're going to meet a woman like her and she'll show you colors you didn't even know existed."
- "Who are you trying to protect, him or me?"
- "You want to help me out? Help me nail Eddie Fiori!"
- "My law has no way to deal with his crimes... but yours does."
- "If the Elephant Man killed somebody, I would bring him down like any other criminal. That's my job."
- "Ever since Alexandra died, I always thought this was what I wanted... something to bring down Julian Luna. Something to prove to the rest of the world that I wasn't crazy. Now, I'm not so sure."
- "In our job we see things. Things we can't believe, but we do. Not just because its in black and white or in our metro section, but because we know out there in some hearts this brutality really exists."
- "No bodies. There was never any bodies. Half of Eddie Fiori's house looked like this... bullet holes and blood, but never any bodies. And what did they do... they just bleed all over and then walk home?"
- "Every time I mention this vampire thing you act like I'm crazy. Now there's two possibilities for that. Number one: You don't believe that they're real. And number two - you know they are."
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
Keywords[]
Detective | Firearms | Human | Investigation | San Francisco | San Francisco Police Department
 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. |