Jean Chastel

> And after I have destroyed you, your domain will be mine, your servants will worship me, and I will wipe Castle Dracula from the face of the Earth.”
>
> -Jean Chastel to Count Dracula (Midnight Bound)

Jean Chastel was a powerful French werewolf famous for terrorizing Gévaudan throughout the 18th century. He would later die and return as a pricolici before setting his sights on Transylvania, the domain of Count Dracula.

### Aliases

Andre Ripoli, Diavolul de Noapte, Night Devil of Viscri, The Beast of Gévaudan

## Biographical information

### Date of death

March 6, 1789 (human/werewolf)September 25th, 1867 (pricolici)

### Place of death

La Besseyre-Saint-Mary, France (human/werewolf) Ștemos, Romania (pricolici)

## Biography

### Human

Jean Chastel was born on March 31st, 1708 in Gévaudan, France (later called Lozère).

Sometime before 1764, he became a werewolf.

### Werewolf

Between 1764 and 1767, he would terrorize the French village of Gévaudan, attacking over 610 times and killing more than 500 people, partially consuming around 100 of them. He eventually stops hunting humans openly to avoid being hunted and killed, and instead takes credit for the death of The Beast. Although he died in 1790, his horrific acts of violence and bloodlust caused him to return as a Pricolici, a vampire-werewolf hybrid created from the souls of particularly violent werewolves. Although they keep their werewolf powers, they also have the insatiable urge to feed on human blood like vampires.

### Pricolici

Being returned to life by dark power caused Chastel to become very sickly, and he only felt truly strong and alive while in his wolf form.

In 1867, he began attacking citizens in Romania and joined a vampire hunting group hoping to draw out the powerful Count Dracula and kill him to take his territory and his power. He would later "get hungry" in the village of Ștemos and kill the group, before his neck was snapped by Count Dracula himself, after which the Count tore his heart from his chest and burned it, preventing his return and killing him for good.

## Powers/Abilities

* **Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, durability, and senses**: His physical powers were weaker than that of vampires while in human form, but in his wolf form, he could easily overpower young vampires, though older vampires would prove a significant challenge.
* **Claws and teeth**: Both his claws and teeth were incredibly sharp and durable, having no trouble tearing through most materials.
	+ **Infectious Bite**: Pricolici can turn another person into either a werewolf or a vampire by biting or scratching them, depending on the person’s morals. (a violent person will be turned into a werewolf while a more peaceful one will become a vampire) Their venomous bite is fatal to a vampire.
	+ **Memory Senses**: Pricolici can transfer memories by inserting claws into the nape of an individual's neck. This ability can establish mind-to-mind communication and, with practice, allow for memory manipulation or erasure.
* **Telepathy** - Pricolici are able to hear each other's thoughts while in wolf form.
* **Shapeshifting**: If it is nighttime, an older, more powerful Pricolici can transform into its wolf form at will.
* **Healing Factor**: Pricolici like Jean Chastel are capable of regenerating damaged or destroyed areas of their body with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Even injuries that result in massive tissue damage such as bullet wounds, slashes, punctures, blunt force trauma, and severe burns heal completely, without so much as a scar, in a short amount of time. The speed of healing increases with the age and power of the former werewolf.

### Weaknesses

Pricolici derive most of their weaknesses from werewolves, including:

* **Silver**: Silver, being pure, will burn a pricolici such as Chastel even with just a touch and prevent it from healing. If it enters the bloodstream, silver is extremely fatal. If it doesn't hit a vital area and is removed, the pricolici will rapidly regenerate.
* **Mercury**: They are also vulnerable to mercury for similar reasons.
* **Wolfsbane**: Wolfsbane will repel a pricolici, and will also poison them if they come into direct contact with it.
* **Mountain Ash**: A Pricolici can be contained in a barrier made from mountain ash.
* **Breaking the neck**: They will be instantly killed by breaking their neck, along with decapitation or cutting out the heart.
* **Decapitation:** Like vampires and most supernatural creatures, beheading results in instant death.
* **Hecatolite**: This type of moonstone blocks the Pricoli’s ability to shapeshift if they are close to it.
* **Fire**: Pricolici fear fire and are repelled by it.

Weaknesses from the vampiric side include:

* **Sunlight**: A pricolici is blocked from accessing their powers in daylight.
* **Garlic:** Garlic will repel a pricolici

## Possessions

* Sometime before 1867, Jean Chastel came into possesion of a Henry Repeating Rifle, which he used while disguised as a member of Thomas Shaw's Hunting Group. He kept the rifle until his death.

## Gallery

Jean Chastel, still a werewolf in 1765Chastel shooting Anton's pistol at the vampire Marius, 1867Jean Chastel as seen in his pricolici form
## Trivia

* In Midnight Bound, he goes by the name of Andre Ripoli. The word "Ripoli" is similar to the word "rip," meaning "to tear."