Armand

Armand is the oldest of the three Anne Rice vampires in my hall of fame. He was made into a vampire way back in the 15th century at the tender age of 17. He is described as angelic in appearance, with large brown eyes and a cascade of bounteous auburn hair. Fans of the screen adaptation of Interview With The Vampire will note that the way he is presented there is a considerable departure from the original idea. The reason for this remains a mystery.

Armand's story is first told by Lestat in The Vampire Lestat, but is later given a much fuller treatment by Armand himself in The Vampire Armand. His journey to becoming a vampire begins when he is abducted from his home in Russia and sold to a brothel in Constantinople, where he is seen as a valuable commodity because of his androgynous looks. He is bought by Marius - a vampire from Roman times, who crops up on a regular basis in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - and taken to Venice. The two understand each other on levels that they have never experienced before and a burning love quickly develops between them. Marius is both teacher and master to the youthful Armand, and in the fullness of time makes him into a vampire.

Their happiness together comes to an end when Marius' villa is burnt down by a satanic coven of vampires, who believe that it is wrong for vampires to live amongst humans. Marius is presumed dead, whilst Armand is taken into captivity and taught the nature of the beliefs of the coven. He is quick to learn and soon earns himself the leadership of a coven in Paris.

Armand does not believe what he teaches, but is drawn to the sense of identity that the coven provides. His world comes crashing down around him when he comes across two vampires called Lestat and Gabrielle. Lestat and Gabrielle behave in a way that is contrary to what the coven have been taught and cause them to question their beliefs. Armand leads the coven against the newcomers, but it is already too late. His frustration at this is so great that he destroys all but four of his own followers.

Armand wishes to accompany Lestat and Gabrielle when they leave Paris, but Lestat refuses to allow this and persuades him to rejoin the surviving members of his coven at the Theater des Vampires. He exacts his revenge on Lestat for this rejection years later, when the younger vampire comes for him to help and he throws him off a tower.

In the 1970s Armand finds what he believes to be his perfect companion - a boy called Daniel - who is in fact the interviewer from Interview With The Vampire. Through Daniel, Armand is able to connect with the modern world. He revels in the technology of the 20th Century, spending long hours talking on the phone, watching television, and typing on his computer (amongst other things).

Just before Lestat's rock concert, he makes Daniel into a vampire. He meets Marius again for the first time since leaving Venice, at the height of the Akasha crisis and lives with him for a time after her eventual defeat. In Memnoch the Devil, Armand is shattered by Veronica's Veil. He decides to sacrifice himself by daring the buring rays of the sun to confirm the miracle. Numerous other vampires follow his lead in this.

The amazing thing is that Armand doesn't really die, as we find out at the start ofThe Vampire Armand.

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