Nikolai (animated series)

is a character in the Netflix original animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne. He is one of Drolta Tzuentes's personal guards, who has accompanied her in many battles throughout the years. He is tall and muscular, and his weapon of choice is a musket with a battle axe blade.
He was voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
==History==
Nikolai is first seen escorting Drolta Tzuentes's carriage during her arrival to Paris. He wears a cowl and carries his musket in one hand while resting it on his shoulder. He rides on horse beside the car, with both this attire and corpulent frame giving him a threatening yet mysterious aspect.
His next appearance is through Tera's reminiscence about the time when her Speaker tribe settled in a Russian village to aid its inhabitants. One day, Drolta –following Erzsebet Báthory's orders to sow terror through the land– attacked the village by leading a troop of soldiers. Nikolai already was Drolta's right-hand man by that time and he apparently had been fighting alongside her for a while.
Back in present time, Drolta and Nikolai are seen attending the Marquis's funeral at the Vendée's courtyard, where both discreetly start mocking the fact that his wife intends to keep his head. A visibly bothered Drolta asks Nikolai to give the wife her condolences, and he complements this by saying he will also promise her to bring her the head of her husband's murderer, Richter Belmont.
Intending to keep his word, Nikolai and a group of his men ambush Richter and Juste Belmont outside the latter's hut. The vampire soldiers easily seize Juste offscreen while Richter tries to fend off the attackers by the river bank. Greatly outnumbered by one against four men, but still managing to keep them at bay, when Richter sees Juste captured and in chains, he loses his concentration and is easily beaten. One of the vampires manages to take his whip out from his hands and gives it to Nikolai.
With Richter restrained by two of the soldiers, Nikolai starts gloating about this victory and tells him that his next targets will be his friends at Machecoul. In fact, he mentions very detailed aspects about Maria and Tera, revealing he knows about Richter's relationships with them very well. He then tells him he will give them to Báthory, and starts detailing how she is going to slowly make them suffer –a process that may even take days–, or if they are lucky, she may turn them too, greatly enjoying every word he says. Nikolai then discards the whip as if it was just a cheap trinket.
Unfortunately for Nikolai and his men, the thought of seeing his loved ones suffering unexpectedly reawakens Richter's dormant magical powers, and with them, he easily defeats all of the soldiers. Suddenly finding himself alone, Nikolai tries to shoot Richter with his musket, but he misses. He attempts to reload it while Richter menacingly advances toward him. He fires another shot, but this time Richter deflects it with his hand by covering it with ice. Nikolai then attempts to flee, but Juste –who freed himself from his bindings in the meantime– restrains him by the leg using the whip and slams him to the ground, putting him at Richter's mercy. Richter then puts his hand on Nikolai's face and burns him in an explosion of blue magical fire.
==Appearance==
Nikolai is considerably tall, has a very muscular frame, and rough facial features. He has scruffy ash blond hair and has lost his left eye. He also has a large branding mark all over his face (possibly the largest seen of all vampires) that goes over where his left eye should be, and which is in the shape of a solar eclipse, Erzsebet Báthory's symbol. Likewise, he wears a spiked collar around his neck whose frontal metal ring is also in the shape of a solar eclipse. He is generally seen wearing combat fatigues from different regions and eras, but characteristically, he always uses his coats open to brag about his muscular pectorals. To complement his threatening persona, he is always seen holding his trusty musket, which has a large battle axe blade attached to the end of the barrel.
It should be noted that during Tera's flashback, he could still be seen with both eyes and without the branding mark. It is unknown if he lost his left eye in battle; or, since he is very sadistic and possibly also a masochist, he opted to get this large branding himself, even if it meant losing his eye in the process.
==Personality==
In general, Nikolai displays a somber demeanor. He is usually very quiet and rarely speaks to other people. However, when given the chance, he can turn quite talkative, mainly to gloat about his victories or to mock and demean his defeated enemies. He is also remarkably sadistic, almost on par to his mistress, Drolta Tzuentes. He loves making or seeing other people suffer. He can often be seen smiling and enjoying every minute of a battle. He also enjoys torturing his enemies, both physically and psychologically.
Apparently, he is also a masochist. He has the largest known brand of all of Erzsebet Báthory's followers, which goes all over his face, even to his scalp area, whether it was for devotion to her or just for the pleasure of feeling more pain. Furthermore, he also lacks his left eye, with this branding going over where it should be; it is unknown if he lost it in battle or if he intentionally let it be burned when getting branded.
==Powers and abilities==
===Powers===
*Vampire physiology: Being a vampire (and an old one, that is), Nikolai bears some of the usual traits inherent of this species.
**Great strength and resilience: Nikolai is especially strong among vampires, evidenced by his great stature and muscular body, traits that had won him Drolta's complete confidence and becoming her personal guard. His prowess in battle greatly surpasses that from most other vampires, allowing him to unleash devastating attacks on enemies, which often and quickly turn the odds in his favor.
**Levitation: Nikolai can fly, or at least perform high leaps defying the laws of gravity. He often uses this in conjunction to his agility and strength to perform quick and devastating attacks on the enemy.
===Abilities===
*Skilled marksman: Being a veteran soldier, always having used his trusty musket in battle, Nikolai is a master marksman. Furthermore, since he has to reload his weapon every time, he must make every shot count, so he must be especially good.
*Skilled melee combatant: Unlike traditional muskets that have a bayonet attached for stabbing, Nikolai has his with a battle axe blade attached instead and can be seen skillfully wielding it against enemies during battle.
==Appearances==
==Quotes==
*"His wife is saying she intends to keep the head." [...] "I'll tell her I'll find the Belmont boy and bring back his head." ("The Natural Order")
*"But back in Machecoul, they're family, aren't they? Sort of. The little girl who isn't your sister but is almost your sister. The Speaker woman who isn't your mother, but has been like a mother to you. And the black girl. Wherever the *** she is from. You could beg for their lives. Not a lot of point begging to me, though, because it won't be me that kills them. That will be the gift of the Devourer of Light. Often she hangs you by your arms with hooks through the bones, making sure you don't bleed out too fast. You can be conscious for days. It's wonderful. If they're lucky, she'll turn them, and then they'll never die." ("Guilty Men to be Judged")
==Gallery==
===Screenshots===
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==Trivia==
*Nikolai is one-eyed, possibly having lost his left eye in battle, or willingly sacrificing it when he was branded on his face.
category:Deceased Characters
Category:Male Characters
Category:Vampires
Category:Nocturne Characters
Category:Nocturne Season 1 Characters