Victor Renquist is a fictional character created by

Mick Farren Michael Anthony Farren (3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013) was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground. Early life Farren was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and aft ...

. He has appeared in a series of books known as ''The Renquist Quartet''.

Profile

Born in the twelfth century, the illegitimate son of a nobleman, Victor Renquist grows up to become a sword for hire. When in his forties, he works for a breakaway Christian sect known as the

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...

during their hopeless last stand against the forces of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

, in which he is mortally wounded. To save his life, the Cathars call upon an entity known as

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

the Great Vampire, who makes, or "turns" him to a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

as well. During the intervening centuries, Renquist survives not only on blood, but also by accepting jobs for various political and intelligence agencies. He has reputedly works for the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

, and the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

. Along the way, he has evaded capture by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

, the Knights of Sebastopol and the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

. As a vampire, he is faster, stronger, and hardier than a human. He is also able to read minds,

brainwash Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...

and hypnotize people. He is vulnerable to radioactivity, both from natural (the Sun) and unnatural sources (such as nuclear devices). As their leader, he lives with at least four other vampires in a "colony" of vampires in an isolated residence in California. Through the series, we are told of how vampires evolved from a warrior class created by an alien race called the Nephilim. The Nephilim conquered Earth millennia ago and tinkered with the primitive humans to create two classes: warrior (Nosferatu) and administrator (Urshuu). However, the Nephilim left Earth in antiquity, leaving their creations behind. Over the course of the books, Renquist clashes with, variously, the Old God

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story " The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the p ...

, the vampire Clan, Fenrior, members of his own colony, a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

society living in caverns under the ground (in an environment which is supposed to be the basis of the

Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

), the mythic magician Merlin, a cult known as The Apogee, and the Dhrakuh, an ancient race of sentient reptiles (who it is implied are the basis of dragon

legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...

Books

# ''The Time of Feasting'' (1996) # ''Darklost'' (2000) # ''More Than Mortal'' (2001) # ''Underland'' (2002)

External links

*
Series listing
at SciFan Fictional vampires Series of books Vampires in written fiction Literary characters introduced in 1996 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Characters in American novels of the 21st century Fictional telepaths {{novel-char-stub