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| Quentin Collins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Quentin Collins | |
| Aliases: | Grant Douglas |
| Franchise: | Dark Shadows |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Type: | Werewolf |
| Gender: | Male |
| Location: | Collinwood, Collinsport, Maine |
| Associations: | Collins family |
| Relations: | See Family |
| Status: | Alive |
| Born: | 1870 |
| Died: | 1897 (original timeline) |
| Introduction: | Dark Shadows: 646 |
| Final: | Dark Shadows: 1113 |
| Actor: | David Selby |
Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1967-1971 ABC soap opera television series Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby. The second Quentin Collins was actually the first one featured in the series, and is arguably the more popular of the two versions among fans, owing primarily to the fact that he was a werewolf.
Biography[]
Quentin Collins was the great-nephew of the first Quentin Collins and was also a direct paternal ancestor of the modern Collins family of Collinsport, Maine.
Quentin originally appeared as an angry malevolent spirit haunting the playroom in the West Wing of Collinwood (along with the ghost of his lover Beth Chavez). [1] Quentin and Beth's spirits befriended the children David Collins and his friend, Amy Jennings and manipulated them into serving Quentin's goals. Quentin had the children take his skeletal remains from the West Wing and provide him with a proper burial on the grounds of the estate. He also manipulated David Collins into trying to murder his father Roger.
Roger's sister, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, discovered a Tarot card in Roger's room and grew fearful of the supernatural presence growing in the house. She took it upon herself to hire a medium named Madame Janet Findley. Findley came to Collinwood and used her insight to discover the secret room housing Quentin's spirit. Quentin locked her inside the room.
Eventually, Quentin and Beth took possession of both children and used them to further their own dark interests.
In an effort to save his family, the former vampire known as Barnabas Collins, used the cosmological principles of the I Ching to send his spirit backwards through time to the year 1897 (unfortunately for Barnabas, this meant becoming a vampire once again as such was his physical state during that time period). This series of episodes is commonly referred to as the "1897 flashback". [2]
Upon meeting Quentin, Barnabas discovered him to be a selfish and spiteful individual, a womanizing manipulator constantly at odds with his family. Quentin earned himself the reputation of being the black sheep of the family – due largely in part to his marriage and subsequent abuse of a gypsy girl named Jenny Racosi. Along with Beth Chavez, the two conspired to keep Jenny hidden from the rest of the family by imprisoning her inside of the tower room at Collinwood.
Quentin's philandering lifestyle changed forever when he ran afoul of an occultist known as Count Petofi. Through Petofi's machinations, Quentin inherited a curse that transformed him into a werewolf whenever the moon was full. Barnabas, sympathetic to Quentin's plight, tried to help him overcome the curse, but to no avail. He did however succeed in altering Quentin's destiny, preventing the creation of the future timeline where Quentin's spirit plagued Collinwood.
Not only was Quentin forced to suffer the curse of Lycanthropy, but he was also rendered immortal due to the efforts of his artist friend Charles Delaware Tate (Roger Davis). In a pastiche of Oscar Wilde's, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Tate painted a portrait of Quentin Collins. So long as the portrait remained intact, Quentin would be forced to live the life of a werewolf forever.
Quentin was still alive and wandering the streets of Collinsport by the year 1969. An amnesiac calling himself Grant Douglas, he reunited with Barnabas Collins and soon regained his true memories. He worked closely alongside Barnabas and his trusted companion Doctor Julia Hoffman and aided them against the likes of the witch Angelique and the Cult of the Leviathans.
During this time, Quentin discovered that his lycanthropy had passed along his family line affecting his descendent Chris Jennings (Chris' twin brother Tom, ironically enough, became a vampire).
Parallel Time[]
Both Quentin I and Quentin II had counterparts that appeared during the various Parallel Time story-arcs. Quentin I appeared in the 1841 Parallel Time arc, which began with episode 1186 and continued until the final episode of the series. Played once again by David Selby, there was very little to distinguish this version of Quentin from his mainstay 1840 counterpart. Quentin's first actual appearance in Parallel Time was in episode 1200. He appeared in a total of fourteen Parallel Time episodes.
Quentin II appeared in another Parallel Time reality (of the same continuity), but this time in the year 1970. Here Quentin became the pawn of the witch Angelique, who used him as a means of striking out against his wife Maggie Collins (Kathryn Leigh Scott). [3]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Although Selby first played the role of Quentin in episode 646, he actually made his first appearance as a skeleton in episode 645. Selby provides the voice of Quentin's ghostly laughter in this episode, but is not credited.
- Quentin Collins II was a recurring character in the Dark Shadows novels written by Marilyn Ross and published by Paperback Library in the 1960s-70s. He shared the title spotlight (along with Barnabas Collins) in seventeen Ross novels. [4]
- Quentin was also a regularly featured character in the Dark Shadows comic book series published by Gold Key Comics from 1969 until 1976. Quentin frequently worked alongside Barnabas in an effort to find a cure for the disease that turned him into a werewolf.
- Quentin Collins II had a nephew named Jamison. Actor David Selby also has a son named Jamison. [5]
Associations[]
Organizations[]
- Collins family - Member
Family[]
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Appearances[]
Quentin Collins makes 243 appearances on Dark Shadows. He makes 15 appearances as an evil spirit (apocryphal), 129 appearances in the year 1897, and 99 appearances in the modern era.
Related categories[]
External links[]
- Quentin Collins article at CollinWiki
- Quentin Collins (1840 version) article at CollinWiki
- Quentin Collins (1897 version) article at CollinWiki
- David Selby biography page at IMDB