Nicholas

### Cause of Death

Spine broken after being violently thrown by his cloak into the ground by a rat swarm

### Affiliation(s)

The Catholic Church
 The Inquisition

## Behind the Scenes

### Mo-capped by

Christophe Sardain

*We have the same goal... We both fight the plague... Only our methods differ.*[src]
Nicholas reflects on the order's battle with the Bite

The **Scarlet Monk,** commonly known as **Nicholas**, is the commander of the Inquisition under the order of Vitalis Bénévent.

## Biography

### Background and Early Life

Not much is known about Nicholas' previous life or his history with the Inquisition and the church, but as he is a trusted servant of Grand Inquisitor Vitalis Bénévent, he had likely served the order long and well. As the Captain of the Guard, he was put in charge of the order's armed forces.

### The de Rune Legacy

In September 1348, he was ordered to lead a raid on the de Rune estate in Aquitaine to capture Hugo de Rune, but his father Robert resisted and killed two of his men before capture. Nicholas had all the servants lined up and forced Robert onto his knees, asking him twice where Hugo was. Robert coldly replied, "in good hands". With one fluid motion, Nicholas drew his sword and whipped it across Robert's throat, killing him where he knelt. Nicholas ordered his men to search the house and to kill anyone who resisted, but his group failed to catch Hugo escaping with his sister Amicia, thanks to Béatrice de Rune's efforts to delay him and the Rats emerging in the forest. Taking Béatrice as a prisoner, he took her to the town Bastion to be tortured. In capturing her, he killed her bodyguard by impaling him against the gate she had just shut behind Amicia, making the girl, who was on the other side of the gate, believe that Nicholas had butchered her mother.

### The Apprentice

When the de Rune children escaped, he ordered a blockade of Laurentius' farmstead, allowing no one in, posting guards on the roads, and slaughtering a mass of pigs to try and contain the rats. This also failed, as the coming of darkness forced his troops to retreat.

### Damaged Goods

Having received word that the English Army had apprehended the de Rune children sneaking through a recent battlefield, Nicholas personally came to collect the children, only to find them escaping the camp as he arrived. He scorned the useless Plantagenet soldiers and tried to recapture the children, but Arthur distracted him and his men with an explosive barrel, allowing everyone to escape but Arthur, who was sent to the Bastion. Because of this, Arthur discovered and would later relay to Amicia that Béatrice was still alive.

### Penance

Nicholas appeared again later when Hugo ran away from the Château d'Ombrage, taking the boy (who turned himself in hoping to be reunited with his mother) both in Amicia's fevered dream when she was knocked unconscious by a fall and in real life.

### Blood Ties

Nicholas arrived to tell Vitalis of the news just as the Archbishop informed Vitalis of his excommunication from the Church, and left to speak to Béatrice again. When Hugo freed his mother and tried to escape with her, Nicholas sent his men to kill the woman, forcing Hugo to awaken his ability to control the plague rats and, in turn, the same ability in Vitalis, who had taken some of Hugo's blood to transfer Hugo's affliction to him as well.

### Death

Nicholas discovers that Hugo is still unable to pass the first threshold, therefore preventing Vitalis from doing so as well, because of Amicia: the boy's mixed feelings of anger and love towards his sister were holding him back. In January 1349, Nicholas took Hugo back to the Château d'Ombrage to kill his sister, threatening that should the boy fail to do so he would be forced to witness Nicholas kill his mother. He pursued the children through the crumbling castle, knocking aside Arthur with ease. Cornering Amicia in the courtyard and fed up with Hugo's hesitation to kill her, he knocked the boy aside and made to finish the girl himself. This distraction allowed Arthur to drop some heavy masonry on him in the courtyard, seemingly killing him. The boy made to make sure he was dead with a heavy rock but was distracted by Hugo forgiving Amicia. Nicholas, without a word, got up and ran Arthur through with his sword to the de Runes' horror. Seeing no more use in Hugo, Nicholas decides to kill them all himself.

Hugo sends a group of rats onto him, pulling him to the ground but Nicholas destroys them by setting his sword and right arm on fire, as well as starting small fires to keep the rats away. His arm and sword extinguished, Hugo tried again but this time, enraged, Nicholas set his entire upper body on fire, burning away his cloak. Amicia manages to extinguish the fire and the rats attack once more. This time his armor is not there to protect him and his sword is unable to fend the rats off. The rats charge Nicholas but he holds his ground until they eventually overwhelm him. They grab the back of his cloak and yank him backwards into the pit they crawled from, instantly snapping him in half as they do so and killing him.

### Coronation

Several Inquisition soldiers point out that no one has seen Nicholas since he was sent to attack the castle. While Nicholas was very close to Vitalis for a long time, it would seem that the Grand Inquisitor has been changed by the Prima Macula and has instead already moved on to find a new protégé.

## Physical Appearance

Nicholas is a towering man clad in full chain mail armor and a hooded black tunic with pauldrons, arm guards, gauntlets, and a helmet with a cross breathing hole that hides his face. His legs are covered with armored boots adorned with winding steel thorn branches, sabatons, and greaves. His armor is adorned with intricate chains and religious symbols, on his belts are various Latin inscriptions, along with a small leather waterskin. His face is always hidden by his helmet, which resembles a visored barbute-style helm with a very narrow, crosslike visor, the rest hidden by a hood.

The combination of the dark cloth and metal armor, including his large sword, gives him the appearance of both a monk and a knight. This symbolizes his dual purpose as a holy warrior in the Inquisition war against heresy.

## Personality

Nicholas is a ruthless and efficient servant of the Inquisition, having no qualms with killing anyone in his way, nor does he mind sending his own men to certain death. His impatience and temper drive him to achieve the swiftest results. He is a man of few words and swift action, although he often reflects on matters to himself.

Nicholas seems to believe he is in the right, however, rationalizing that both he and the de Runes are combating the plague; only their methods are any different. Because of this, he is confounded why the de Runes resist the Inquisition's efforts.

## Abilities and Skills

*Since you refuse to go to hell... I shall bring hell to YOU!*[src]
Nicholas, moments before engulfing himself in flames

* **Swordsman**: Nicholas is a deadly combatant armed with a longsword and covered in armor. This makes him unassailable by sling attacks. Getting hit by his blade is certain death. In all encounters prior to his assault on the castle, Nicholas must be avoided either by running as is the case in "Damaged Goods" or staying out of sight in "Blood Ties". However, his armor and confident stride make him slow, although he has no doubt in catching his prey sooner or later.

* **Bringing Hell**: When attacked by rats, Nicholas has a last-ditch defense: setting himself on fire by dragging his sword along the ground to create sparks, which kills any rats clinging to him and drives the rest into hiding. First, he sets his sword and right arm on fire, but if attacked again he sets his entire upper body ablaze. Using these flames, he can also create small fires in the area around him to not only keep himself ablaze but to keep rats away from the general arena. The only way to overcome this is using Estinguis to eradicate the flames both on him and the braziers so rats can finally finish him off.

* **Horseman**: A skilled rider, Nicholas can quickly pursue enemies, as when he first pursues the fleeing de Rune children and again when he arrives at the English Army's camp.

* **Captain of the Guard**: Commanding the respect and fear of his men, Lord Nicholas' orders are carried out with little hesitation.

## Relationships

### Vitalis Bénévent

As Vitalis' second-in-command, Nicholas is accountable to no one else. The two have the same goal, ending the plague. He is also very obedient to Vitalis' orders and his orders alone, carrying them out to the letter. He does, however, express some distaste with the way the Grand Inquisitor draws things out, wishing to instead end it quickly.

### Béatrice de Rune

He respects the Lady de Rune's knowledge and education, but cannot understand why she sought to hinder the order rather than side with them, and thus only sees her as an obstacle to achieving his goal. He held no regrets at having murdered her husband, Robert.

### Hugo de Rune

Tasked with capturing the boy, Nicholas is initially gentle with the boy, but only to ease him out of hiding and deliver the Prima Macula in his blood to Vitalis. Once this is accomplished, he becomes much rougher and harsher with Hugo, shoving him out of the way, goading him to kill his sister, and finally resolving to slay the child when he no longer was of any use to the order.

### Amicia de Rune

As Amicia is Hugo's main protector, he sees her as the greatest obstacle to achieving his goal. Like with her mother, he cannot understand why Amicia makes the same error of opposing the Inquisition. Later when Hugo is unable to pass the first threshold (allowing Vitalis to as well) because of her, he saw killing her as a necessary action and did not hesitate to try and do so when Hugo failed.

## Trivia

* The name **Nicholas** comes from the Greek words *nike* ("victory") and *laos* ("people"), meaning "victory of the people". This makes his name fitting, as his goal is beating the plague, saving the people of France from its grasp.
* Nicholas's character design is, in many ways, similar to that of Darth Vader, an iconic antagonist of the Star Wars franchise:
	+ Both are quite tall, menacing, and are clad in armor covering every inch of their body, including unique helmets.
	+ Both are right-hand men loyal to their masters (Vader for Sidious, Nicholas for Vitalis)
	+ Both skillfully wield swords and bear the title of "Lord".
	+ Both hunted the main characters to persuade them to their side rather than just kill them (although not hesitating to do so when deemed necessary.)
	+ Both are supreme military commanders in their factions.
	+ Both command the respect and fear of their people, as well as disdain of those who are not in their army, and their orders are carried out almost without hesitation.
	+ Both have unnatural abilities for a simple person and display almost no emotion except anger and hatred.
* Nicholas is one of the few major characters whose features are not revealed, even his eyes and his neck are hidden by his helmet, hood, and chain mail gorget.

## References

1. ↑ *"Is there a confirmed age for Nicholas?"* (Date Posted - June 6, 2019). *Tumblr*.
2. ↑ *Tumblr* – "Hello, I noticed that the voice actor for Father Thomas is uncredited. Do you happen to know who it is, given that you have worked alongside the production staff?" by unpetitrat. Published January 24, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.