Van-Fem

, better known as , is an Elder Title Dead Apostle known for running the casino event Fem's Casa.
In Tsukihime Worlds, he is the fourteenth of The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. In Fate Worlds, the title of Dead Apostle Ancestor does not exist.
==Profile==
===Background===
Van-Fem is an Elder Title, one of the original Dead Apostle Ancestors who has lived since the Age of Gods. He became a vampire through his own magecraft, rather than being bitten by another vampire. He chose to become a Dead Apostle as a result of taking his magecraft to its ultimate conclusion.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 1
Known as an eccentric vampire who held interest in humans, he sought to increase his worldly influence through non-vampiric methods after the as part of a rapid rise in the last few hundred years to become one of the world's leading conglomerates. Jester Karture refers to him as the leader of a pro-humanity faction among Dead Apostles.
Most recent rumors about him said that he had recently constructed buildings in the celebrity town Monaco and started running a weekly casino event, , aboard his ship the Joie de Vivre where he challenged other visitors on a weekly basis.Fate/hollow ataraxia - 10/09 - Streets - Mimic Rin/Tohsaka Lvl 2 There are multiple casino buildings installed on Joie de Vivre's streets, but the main one is Van-Fem's very own L'Empire du Jeu. Fem's Casa can vary depending on Van-Fem's mood, from lasting several days in a row to going more than a year without occurring, but generally he holds it weekly. Winners of the event can ask Van-Fem for anything they wish, but in the century since the game's creation the number of winners can be counted on one hand. It's a public event that has run for a century, so people without knowledge of Mystery and Dead Apostles think that "Van-Fem" is a character who multiple actors have played over the years. 
At some point, Van-Fem killed one of Francesca Prelati's bodies, an encounter that was one of Francesca's most memorable deaths.Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Prologue VIII: "The Star Performers' Feast (Part 1)" In the distant past, he knew Mesala Escardos, and refers to him as an "old friend". Van-Fem is also old friends with Ziz of the Wandering Sea, having seen the early stages of the Ergo project 2300 years ago in real time despite not having faith that the project could survive the transition to the Age of Man. He's also acquainted with Alexander the Great and his army, having witnessed the Wars of the Diadochi with his own eyes.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 7: Fem's Casa (Middle) - Chapter 3
===Appearance===
Van-Fem has red eyes and blond hair, a long bang of which hangs over his right eye. He wears red gloves, a white suit with a blue tie, and a matching white top hat. During the French Incident, he is seen carrying a cane.
His voice is described as elegant but giving an impression of incredible depth.Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Chapter 20: "Fantasy Becomes Reality"
===Personality===
Van-Fem, nicknamed the , is a "man of the world", who has an intense interest in human society and holds a prominent position in public society. He even goes as far as worrying about global affairs. He is fond of "trivial things." Merem Solomon is friendly with Van-Fem, calling him . Merem considers him to be fresh, new, and smart among the Dead Apostles, knowing when to step away from a situation. He finds it strange that Van would have anything to do with such an old-fashioned ritual as the Aylesbury Valesti, but he feels that Van isn't serious about it like Trhvmn Ortenrosse.
He speaks like an amiable old gentleman, but behind that is the intimidating air of a powerful king. His voice gives an impression of someone reminiscing about the past. Van-Fem regards humans in a very different light from most Dead Apostles despite the nature of vampires being to deny humanity. He lives by a very strict code which he holds other Dead Apostles to, with zero tolerance for hypocrisy. He once considered Jester Karture a "fellow affirmer of humanity" admirable for his view of humans as "worthy enough to plan a murder-suicide with" despite his decadent and destructive nature, but upon learning of his obsession with a Heroic Spirit, he completely severed ties with him. If Jester had become obsessed with his Servant without making a claim to "deny human history", he would not have cared, but since Jester changes his very way of being based on who he's dealing with, Van-Fem considers him an "unnecessary bug in the world".
He claims to be ecologically conscious, not desiring to waste energy on such things as a lengthy phone call, though this may be a mere joke as he gave it as a response to Hansa Cervantes' snide comment about him making a donation to the Church. He is also concerned about global warming.
He has an interest in Flat Escardos in part due to his descent from his old friend Mesala and his nature as a product of the Escardos family's 1800-year-old dream, going as far as to give Flat his phone number. He briefly becomes involved in the True and False Holy Grail Wars purely due to being "invested" in him. While he gives a toast to the fulfillment of the Escardos family project upon Flat's death, he was interested in Flat as "a young man with a future", and sees it as regrettable that he died in order to bring this dream of "the past" to fruition.
Van-Fem levitates when outdoors because he doesn't like stepping on dirt. In order to speak at eye level with someone when he's doing this, instead of landing he'll stand upside-down in midair.
In Fate Worlds, where the 27 Ancestors don't exist, he ends up having a slightly different atmosphere.Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Afterword
Van-Fem has extravagant tastes, decorating his casino with "augmented reality" decorations via magecraft that are only visible to people with magic circuits. According to Flat, his preference for AR over VR is related to how Flat's managed to give him motion sickness despite him being a Dead Apostle.
He has as a personal rule to not leave his boat during a Casa.
==Role==
===Tsukihime Remake series===
Van-Fem is shown to be listed as one of the Ancestors on the list possessed by Arcueid Brunestud.
During the French Incident, he appears as one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors involved in the event.Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Midnight Rainbow route - Day 13: "Mirage"
===Tsukihime series===
In the original setting, Van-Fem, one of the longest-serving Dead Apostles, felt that Trhvmn Ortenrosse's ideas were too old-fashioned and broke away from his faction.Character material - Prelude III At some point, Fina-blood Svelten captured Van-Fem's fifth Demonic Castle during an engagement, so Van-Fem started to harbor a long-held grudge against Altrouge Brunestud's faction.
Despite his falling-out with Ortenrosse, he was still participating in the Aylesbury Valesti, but only in the way of providing legitimate capital to build up Aylesbury through legitimate means. In form of , a company which is owned by him. More so than even Ortenrosse, Merem Solomon credited Van-Fem as the reason it has been able to proceed as far as it has without the Church being able to be involved.
In Prelude, Merem Solomon and Gransurg Blackmore discuss the coming Aylesbury Valesti ritual. While discussing Trhvmn Ortenrosse, Merem declares him to be incompetent and says that Van-Fem is the reason the ritual has been able to proceed. Due to his capital being provided through legitimate means, neither the Church or Mage's Association can directly interfere with the ritual until the ritual begins. When wondering why Van-Fem would be involved despite his dislike of Ortenrosse, Merem learns that Van-Fem is simply providing capital and that he has been spending time on his casino boat. Merem says Van-Fem was a "bit hard-headed" for a time, but now "he's back to being lazy." Merem wishes to remain friends for longer, and because he is of the side that plans to destroy the ritual, he feels that it is fortune Van-Fem isn't serious about the ritual.
===The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II===
====Fem's Casa====
While the party of Lord El-Melloi II is attending Fem's Casa, Van-Fem meets Gray and Ergo when he goes out to his garden for a stroll. Surprised that Gray can see through his invisibility and intrigued by what he sees of Ergo, Van-Fem invites the two of them to join him in his office. There Van-Fem reveals he knows about the events that their group has gone through since Singapore, except for what happened in the Library of Alexandria. He plays a short game with three cups and a coin featuring Iskandar's face, with the promise that if Ergo wins he'll tell them something important. Ergo has Van-Fem lift two cups, revealing that all three cups had coins under them and it was rigged so Ergo would always win.
Based on what he knows about them and the Iskandar coin, Ergo asks Van-Fem if he was involved in the Ergo Project 2300 years ago, and Van-Fem says that Ziz is an old friend. Because Ergo won the game, Van-Fem tells them that he knows both how to stop Ergo's memory saturation and how to fix Gray's frozen body so that her physical age matches her chronological age. He refers to Gray as "Gray Blackmore", but when Gray tells him that she didn't inherit the Blackmore family name, Van-Fem's expression changes slightly.
Van-Fem has provided a potential solution to both Ergo and Gray's problems, with one way to achieve it being if they win the Casa. Another option they could pursue would be helping him find a missing person: Shirou Emiya, who won the previous Casa but has since gone missing before he could claim his prize. While El-Melloi II is suspicious of this, he agrees to take up the case in exchange for Van-Fem paying his entrance fee for Fem's Casa, which Van-Fem agrees to.
When Ziz is shot and killed by a sniper, Van-Fem confirms his death and mourns his old friend by making the sign of the cross. After Melvin Weins performs a funeral for Ziz, Van-Fem affirms on his authority as an Elder Title that what Melvin performed was Age of Gods magecraft. Some time later a massive spell begins to converge on Monaco from the sea, which could only be Ziz's doing, and Van-Fem laments that if he were only 700 years younger he could have figured out what Ziz was up to.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 4
===Fate/strange Fake===
During his childhood, Flat Escardos sneaked onto Van-Fem's casino boat as a minor, but Van-Fem let him stay in return for Flat showing him his magecraft.Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Day 1, Early Dawn "Ensemble Versus Illusion" After learning of Flat's exceptionality, Van-Fem also noted that he had achieved the 1,800-year old dream of the Escardos Family. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the Second Magician, also noted this, using the exact same words.Fate/strange Fake Volume 4 - Extra Chapter: "-"
As they are confronted by a projection of Jester Karture while captive of Pale Rider's ward-world, Flat secretly calls Van-Fem on Hansa Cervantes's cellphone, who reveals to them Jester's real name, which distracts him enough that Flat can trace back his spell and affect Jester from where he is hiding through his illusion. Van-Fem states that he did not do this for Hansa, his natural foe, but because he invested in Flat, the descendant of an old friend. He asks as compensation that they dispose of Jester.
===Other appearances===
In Fate/hollow ataraxia, Shirou Emiya and Luviagelita Edelfelt of an alternate universe are shown to be planning to investigate Fem's Casa. Shirou is to act as Luvia's representative in gambling.
In Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, he is briefly mentioned by Alice Kuonji, who recounts the rumor that he sucks the blood of all his employees to create a network of perfect information sharing, and that he became a vampire in order to create a mentally united company with no internal conflict.Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 8 Extra Story: "Whiteboard"
==Abilities==
===Dead Apostle Ancestor===
In Tsukihime Worlds Van-Fem is a Rank IX Dead Apostle, possessing one of the Idea Blood and a currently undisclosed Principle. As such, Van-Fem is among the very pinnacle of Dead Apostles above the Successors who not even True Ancestors can lay a finger on.Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Midnight Rainbow route - Day 10: "Arc en Ciel II" He is a big name that would require the Burial Agency to take on.Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 2: "Day 1, Before Dawn A Battle Without Heroic Spirits" Being at the apex of Dead Apostles, he naturally has all the standard abilities of a Dead Apostle such as levitation and the ability to turn invisible. A suitably powerful spirit medium, such as Gray, can see through his invisibility. Furthermore, as an Ancestor he is able bestow additional power to Dead Apostles in his lineage. Jester Karture's lineage as a Dead Apostle originates with Van-Fem, and his action of abandoning Jester causes Jester’s vampiric abilities to degrade.
In Fate Worlds Van-Fem only reaches Rank VII as the rank of Ancestor does not exist. As a Superior Dead Apostle, Van-Fem is regarded as a monster spoken of in fairy tales, beyond human understanding. Jester Karture believes that a Dead Apostle Ancestor, like Van-Fem, is able to compete with Ishtar who had manifested her Authority on an even level.Fate/strange Fake Volume 7 - Chapter 23: Day 5, Morning "The Age of Gods and the Modern Age (Daybreak)" In a short battle with Zagreus, a living God, Van-Fem held the upperhand although neither of them went all out.
===Magecraft===
UnknownDAA1.png|Van-Fem surrounded by his "daughters" in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-.
Cupola.png|Van-Fem's eldest "daughter", Cupola.
Van-Fem was a fully accomplished magus who turned himself into a Dead Apostle by taking his magecraft to its ultimate conclusion. As a result, the foundation of his existence changed. While normally not a serious problem for Dead Apostles who are a few hundred years old, Van-Fem, being one of the oldest Dead Apostles, has a completely different label on his soul, as such he's not very good at magecraft anymore due to poor compatibility with human Mysteries. Due to having turned himself through magecraft he does not need to resort to bloodsucking as a medium to turn people into Dead Apostles, with his method even those with low aptitude can be turned into Dead Apostles. The entire staff of Fem's Casa are Dead Apostles.
He is a Puppet Master who is the greatest in terms of making large constructs. Earning him the nickname , as he has created seven giant Golems known as . They normally take the form of human sized women that are referred to as his daughters. The eldest daughter is named Cupola, and seems to be able to transform at will, making her arm gigantic to envelop a magus' hand and Mystic Code so the magus' spell destroyed their own hand.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 2
Due to his advanced age his spells became very personalized to his tastes with the years. Which is noticeable in his Bounded Field which delivers varying layers of magical Augmented Reality depending on the customer's spiritual sensitivity. People without enough Magic Circuits for Spiritual Sight are unable to see things like the trumpet-shaped tropical flowers between slot machines functioning like real trumpets, or the butterflies releasing pyrotechnical animations of the casino mascots. Gray notes that his Bounded Field is much harder to notice compared to the ones in Lord El-Melloi II's apartment or Garan no Dou. His poor compatibility with human foundations renders him unable to use his magecraft in most cases, however as his seven Demonic Castles were creations from back when he was still compatible, they can use the magecraft he studied if they have access to his Magic Circuits. By allowing himself to be controlled by their strings, Van-Fem is able to cast his magecraft therefore it can be said that he has more value as a puppet manipulatee rather then the puppet manipulator himself.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 2
He was able to sense the death of Flat Escardos in Snowfield and the emergence of "it" from Flat's body all the way from his base in Monaco.Fate/strange Fake Volume 6 - Bridge Chapter: "Clink Clank"
Van-Fem spells he has used so far are;
*Fantasia No. 17: Vermilion Tremor: A two or three bar spell that resignifies seawater and turns it into blood to exert pressure on his opponent. Van-Fem is normally unable to use the spell but is able to cast it by having Cupola control him with her strings. It requires the incantation "We exalt the vermilion world" to activate. While it does not use a lot of magical energy, the spell is incredibly powerful: it converted a large part of the Monaco sealine into a sea of blood, which began exerting enormous pressure on Zagreus, equal to the the pressure of the deep sea at 8000 meters depth. Van-Fem states that the pressure it exerts is enough to kill even powerful Phantasmal Species in just a few seconds. It was able to shatter Zagreus's divine steel exoskeleton he tried to form by using his Authority of transformation, and would have completely crushed Zagreus if he hadn't rearranged his insides like that of abyssal fishes living in the deep sea.The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 2
==References==
Category:Characters in Tsukihime
Category:Dead Apostles
Category:Dead Apostle Ancestors
Category:Vampires
Category:Authorities
Category:Magi
Category:Characters in Fate/strange Fake
Category:Characters in Tsukihime Remake
Category:Characters in Mahou Tsukai no Yoru
Category:Introduced in 2001
Category:Characters in The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II
Category:Van-Fem (topic)