| “ | So you're the one keeping a watch over this, for me, have you? I've been searching everywhere for this, My Darling. | ” |
—Selene’s Father | ||
Selene's Father is a minor character seen in Underworld: Evolution. He is also mentioned briefly in the novelization for Rise of the Lycans.
He is the father of main character, Selene, and grandfather to her daughter, Eve. In life, he was a master stonemason, metalsmith, locksmith, and craftsman.
History
Little is revealed about Selene's Father's back history, but there are some discernible facts: He was estimated to have been born sometime in the second half of the 14th Century. He was a talented master craftsman trained in stonemasonry and metalsmithing.[1] In the novelization for Rise of the Lycans, he was mentioned in Viktor's internal dialogue as a "clever mortal locksmith". At some point he married Selene's Mother, and together they had two daughters: Cecilia and Selene, (who was born in 1383).
Due to his reputation as a talented Mason and Smith, Selene's Father was approached by Lord Viktor with a lucrative commission as an architect, to design, excavate and build a new dungeon for him beneath one of his fortress', secluded up high in the Carpathian Mountains. As part of the commission, Selene's Father was also asked to include a special cell in particular, to be kept hidden behind a trick wall, as well as to striking two unique keys for that one cell, which would be given to Viktor upon completion of the prison.
Young Selene with her father.
Selene's Father took his daughters to the work site a number of times during the time that the work was in progress, the work site serving as a playground of sorts as well as a canvas, as they painted on the walls at some point. It is unknown when work on the dungeon began, or how long it took, but the Architect's youngest daughter, Selene, was around 6-7 years old when the site reached completion.
In 1396 AD, Selene's Father becomes a Grandfather when his older daughter, Cecilia, gives birth to her Twin Daughters. Besides being a Craftsman, Mason and Smith, it seems that Selene's Father also owned some land with a stable and some horses, (as in when Selene recounts the night of her family's massacre, she mentions the stable and the horses, and the prologue for the Evolution novelization confirms that they had a stable and horses,) indicating that Selene's Father owned either a farm or a ranch.
Six years later, in the winter of 1402 AD, (following the main events of Rise of the Lycans), Lord Viktor, along with a small entourage consisting of Kraven and Soren, sneaked onto the small family's land in the dead of night, intent on leaving no survivors: During the Lycan uprising at the Vampire stronghold led to the escape of Lucian, a powerful Lycan desiring revenge on the Vampires due to the murder of his lover, Sonja. Before fleeing the Vampires' castle, Lucian had stolen Sonja's pendant, which, (unknown to Lucian), served as one half of the key into William's lair. Even though he had shared the knowledge with no one, Viktor, paranoid that Lucian might know something, hastily decided to cut off any loose ends that may lead Lucian to William's location. While it is never mentioned just how much Selene's Father knew about what the commission was for, he did at the very least know both the fortress's location and the dungeon's layout. During the chaos of the rebuilding of the Vampires' Coven, Viktor tracked down the builders and murdered them one by one. Viktor, along with two other Vampires, Kraven and Soren, attacked the household of Selene's family, murdering each of them before they ever had the chance to fight back.
Selene's Father was the first to die; he was attacked by Viktor in the stable when he went out to investigate the what had disturbed the horses, after which while Viktor turned his attentions to the rest of the family in the house, he let Kraven and Soren his leftovers. Selene's Father's body was the last body to be discovered by Selene after she fled into the stables. Upon seeing Selene, Viktor was stunned by her uncanny physical resemblance to his deceased daughter, Sonja. Viktor then made Selene a Vampire, and took her under his wing as his new daughter. He told her that Lycans had killed her family, and that he had driven them off and saved her. Believing Viktor's tale, Selene spent the next six hundred years trying to exterminate the Lycan species in retaliation for her family's murder.
Underworld
In 2003, Selene begins to see a different side of Viktor when he condemns her for awakening him from hibernation a century ahead of schedule. While seeking to escape from Viktor with her lover, Michael Corvin, she happens upon Kraven, who tells her the truth of how her family died. Upon learning that Viktor had killed her family, not the Lycans, she cuts Viktor's head off, killing him almost instantly.
Underworld: Evolution
In Underworld: Evolution, Selene discovers the truth of why Viktor murdered her family from exiled Vampire historian, Andreas Tanis. As she comes closer to William's prison, she remembers more and more of her childhood, including visions of her father, who speaks kindly and lovingly to her.
Trivia
- Selene's Father's pet name for Selene was "My Darling".
- Selene's use of the oath "Praise the Saints", in her internal dialogue in the prologue of the novelization of Evolution reveals that prior to her family's death and her becoming a Vampire, Selene and her family were Roman Catholic.
- Viktor's reason for the massacre of Selene's father and family were twofold: First, Viktor's indulgence in his own illicit craving for Human blood.[2] Second, Viktor targeted them specifically to silence any living connections to the whereabouts of William's prison.[3][4] It is also possible that Viktor, who kept his deepest, darkest secrets to himself, would not have shared everything with Kraven about the true reason for the deaths of Selene's family and he thought it as just another outing to binge on human blood. It may even be a retcon or a goof.
- According to the Rise of the Lycans novelization, (in chapters 20 and 21), at some point after finishing William Corvinus' prison, Selene's Father was again commissioned by Viktor with another custom job, a unique iris hatch which opened to let in light into a chamber from up high. This was the very device that was used to execute the Vampiress, Lady Sonja, after she was revealed to have fallen pregnant by Lucian, a Lycan.[5]
- As well as being skilled in masonry and smithing, Selene's Father also demonstrated a talent for mechanisms.
- Selene's Father was a talented and intelligent man: Giving the time period where Selene's Father lived-in, most men were lucky to gain a mastery in one trade. For Selene's Father to gain a mastery in two trades, masonry and smithing, plus his talent for mechanisms, all demonstrates that he was indeed a gifted man. His daughter, Selene, has also exhibited high intelligence.
References
- ↑ "A master mason and smith, he was in charge of constructing these new dungeons beneath the mighty fortress above." ~ Evolution novelization, chapter 16
- ↑ "But let me tell you a little something... about your 'Beloved Dark Father': He's the one that killed your family. Not the Lycans. Never could follow his own rules, said he couldn't abide the taste of lifestock, so every once in a while, he'd go out and gorge himself on human blood. I kept his secrets, cleaned up the mess but it was he, who crept room to room, dispatching everyone close to your heart." ~Kraven, Underworld
- ↑ "The Winter of Lucian's escape. Your father knew too much. Or too much for Viktor to risk, especially when Lucian now had the key to William's cell." ~ Andreas Tanis, Underworld: Evolution
- ↑ "That Lucian had purloined Sonjs's precious pendant only added to [Viktor's] anxiety. Beyond its sentimental value, the pendent was also vital component of the key to William's hidden prison. Thank the gods that Lucian was unaware of its true import... Or was he...? Viktor recalled that the mortal locksmith who had crafted the key was still breathing. That was a loose end that needed snipping once this present crisis was concluded; the temporary loss of the pendent made it clear that its secret had to be guarded even more zealously then Viktor had previously believed." ~ Rise of the Lycans novelization, chapter 21
- ↑ "Many floors shielded him from the sight of Sonja's impending cremation, but he could hear the rusty gears carrying out the lethal purpose for which they had been engineered. Never before had this fearsome penalty been imposed on another Vampire, let alone one of royal blood, but Viktor-himself had commissioned the mechanism as the ultimate deterrent for any Vampire who might dare to violate the sacred covenant that governed them all. A clever mortal locksmith, whom Viktor had previously employed to craft William's hidden oubliette, had installed the deathtrap according to the Elder's specifications." ~ Rise of the Lycans novelization, chapter 20