Raphael Santiago

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* Book Raphael

**SPOILER WARNING: Plot details follow. *Caution is advised!***

**Raphael Santiago**, during his time as a vampire, was the head of the Brooklyn vampire clan.

## Biography

### Early life

As a boy, Raphael was raised a religious Catholic. He was particularly close to his youngest sister, Rosa. Eventually, he and his family migrated from Mexico City to the States.

When Raphael was first Turned into a vampire, he became addicted to feeding from mundanes. He then met the warlock Magnus Bane, who helped him regain his faith, in his religion and in himself. Magnus took him under his wing and came to see him as a son, committed to helping and protecting him when he would need it.

### Rise to power

Outside the Silent City, Raphael made noises to distract the Shadowhunter Isabelle Lightwood so his companion could grab the Shadowhunter's mundane friend Simon Lewis from his van. Upon the return of the group who were with Simon, Raphael revealed himself and told them that they would negotiate Simon's safe return in exchange for the Mortal Cup.

Raphael delivered Simon to Camille Belcourt as instructed. Before she arrived, a desperate Simon threw a blade at him that barely hurt him. He openly questioned her decision to break the Accords and potentially antagonize the Clave when Valentine Morgenstern posed a very real threat to them. Camille ignored his warnings, and Raphael left, annoyed of Simon's antics. Later, when the Shadowhunters arrived to rescue Simon, Raphael told Camille to escape and secretly helped Simon and the others get away, giving Jace Wayland an ominous warning about who his enemies were.

One evening, he saw Simon lurking around the Hotel Dumort and scared him off in an attempt to keep him off Camille's radar. Because Simon did not heed his warnings, Simon was eventually killed by Camille. Raphael took his body to his friends at the New York Institute and told them that they would either have to Turn Simon that night or stake him through the heart. After successfully appealing to his fellow vampires that Camille's constant breaking of the Accords will only cause them trouble, he was able to overthrow her and take over as the leader of the clan. He later helped Simon undergo his transformation, promising to Clary and Jace that he would look after the new vampire.

### Alliance with Nephilim

When Simon turned down Raphael's offer of help, he decided to let Simon come to him when he was ready. Later that night, Clary and Simon sought refuge at the hotel, agreeing to let them hide from the Clave in exchange for Simon's cooperation—something he wanted so he could present Simon as proof to the Nephilim that Camille had broken the Accords. He kept the pair behind bars and fed Simon blood so that he would not feed on Clary, though he teased him about considering Clary as his meal.

When Jace and Isabelle arrived for them, Clary convinced Raphael and the other vampires to join him and Luke's pack of werewolves in their rescue of the Seelie Meliorn. Though initially against it because of the hostility between their people, Raphael went along with it when Simon agreed to pledge loyalty to him, and thus join their clan and stay at the hotel. The rescue mission went smoothly and according to plan, and Raphael and the vampires returned to their base with Simon in tow.

When the Shadowhunters asked to see Camille, whom Raphael had thrown into a coffin in a heavily-guarded room in the hotel, he refused. Clary and Simon snuck in and released Camille themselves. When Isabelle failed to distract Raphael, the pair were caught making their escape with Camille. He told them that their alliance was over, and Simon was out of their clan. He proclaimed that Simon and Camille would be executed for their crimes against the clan; he was about to sic his vampires on them when they were interrupted by Isabelle, who created a hole in the hotel's wall, letting in a barrier of sunlight that made it hard for Raphael and his men to follow as the others left with Camille.

### Hunting Camille

When Reggie's was discovered to be a vampire den, the new interim head of the New York Institute, Victor Aldertree, interrogated Simon. The latter's unclear answers made it seem that Raphael was involved and got him in trouble with the Clave. Raphael met Simon and demanded that he look for Camille—for being responsible for her escape, and because he can use his connection to her as his sire—and return her to him to make her answer for her crimes. Raphael continued to force Simon into looking for Camille, to the point where he threatened the life of his mother, Elaine Lewis, to further pressure him.

Eventually, Aldertree "invited" Raphael to the Institute. Raphael was bound to a chair and tortured by Aldertree with a ray of concentrated UV rays for interrogation. Though he was released, it was only when Raphael continued to say that he didn't know where Camille was; Raphael was greatly weakened and scarred, and he went straight to Magnus's for help. Magnus felt that, due to their connection, Raphael's torture was in part Magnus's punishment for helping the fugitive Jace.

Simon arrived while Raphael was being treated, and Magnus stopped the two from getting into a full-blown fight. When Simon took out the box he found at Camille's residence in India, Raphael revealed to them that it contained Camille's grave dirt—which could be used to summon her—and sliced open Simon's hand to use his blood—which also contained Camille's blood—to open the impenetrable box. Magnus later sent them to Catarina Loss as a distraction while he summoned Camille by himself so he could speak to her alone first, though he ultimately sent her to the Clave.

### Isabelle

When Simon decided to move back in with his mother, against Raphael's advice, he found himself in trouble when his sister threw out his stock of blood. He called Raphael asking to bring him a supply of blood, which was impossible because it had been during the daytime. Simon resorted to drinking blood from a rat and was seen by his mother. Raphael came shortly after and handled the situation by wiping his mother's memories with an *encanto*. He warned Simon that this could not keep happening, and that he was putting himself, his family, and vampires in danger.

When the Shadowhunter Isabelle Lightwood became addicted to *yin fen*, Raphael found her begging some members of his clan for some vampire venom and stopped them in time from harming Isabelle. Isabelle, who was already suffering from withdrawal, begged Raphael to bite her. Though he refused at first, he eventually gave in. When the effects of his blood wore off, Isabelle met with him again. When Raphael refused her request, she baited him into biting her by injuring herself. He was unable to resist. After, Raphael tried to convince her to stop seeking out *yin fen* and go through the cleansing process, despite the pain, to get it out of her system. Shadowhunter blood was very addicting to vampires, more so than mundane blood, so when Isabelle came back for more venom, Raphael continued to indulge and oblige her, and the pair also grew closer. At one point, Raphael even brought Isabelle to see his sister and last remaining family, Rosa.

Raphael was invited to a Downworld Cabinet meeting by Luke, with the leaders of the four Downworld factions. They discussed their course of action, now with the knowledge of Valentine's intention to use the Soul-Sword to destroy all Downworlders, and that Clary would be able to activate it. Raphael was in agreement with Meliorn that Clary should be killed.

During the meeting, Meliorn smelled Isabelle's perfume on him, making their connection known to Magnus who then told Alec. While he was feeding on Isabelle in the Dumort, Alec came in and started punching Raphael, only to be stopped by Magnus. When Raphael told Magnus how he felt, Magnus pointed out that he was only addicted to her blood. Isabelle returned to him after confronting Alec.

Raphael took advantage of Isabelle's momentary detachment from her brother and secretly hid her phone, making her unreachable during the power struggles occurring outside. Raphael excused himself, after which Isabelle found her phone and left to help Alec. Meanwhile, Raphael went through with his decision to kill Clary before she could, but he was convinced by the others to join them in attacking the Institute and targeting Valentine instead. Raphael led the vampires into the Institute, but their plan immediately backfired because Jace had accidentally activated the Sword, enabling Valentine to wield the Sword against them. Raphael got out in time, but those left inside, except Simon, were killed.

After Valentine was captured, and the Sword neutralized, Raphael went back into the Institute to gather the remnants of his clan and to check on Isabelle. Though she was pleased to see him alive, her anger at being kept in the dark prevailed and she told him that she never wanted anything from him ever again. Isabelle returned some time after, suffering from an intense withdrawal, and tried to charm Raphael into giving in again. Raphael adamantly refused, explaining that he was refusing because he cared about her and giving her in the first place has made things worse, causing Isabelle to lash out and almost kill him in frustration. Raphael went to Magnus's to tell Alec about Isabelle and gave him the address to the nearest den in case she had gone to look for another source.

Raphael, as the representative of the vampires of the city, was invited to the Downworld Council meeting convened by Alec, the new head of the Institute. There, he was greeted by Isabelle, who by then had recovered from her withdrawal and addiction. Their conversation was interrupted by Sebastian. Both men were distrustful of each other: Raphael because he noticed that Sebastian watched Isabelle like prey, and Sebastian immediately suspected that Raphael was Isabelle's source of venom. Sebastian confronted him after the meeting, telling him that he knows that he was still addicted to her, and that if he truly cared, he should stay away from Izzy.

### Daylighter

Meanwhile, word reached Raphael that Simon had become a Daylighter. When he went to him to ask how it happened, Simon told him that he didn't know, but Raphael wasn't convinced. When Simon next came to him for help—looking to stay at the Hotel Dumort while the investigation on a mundane, Heidi, he believed he may have accidentally killed after feeding on her—Raphael refused to help unless he shared how he became a Daylighter.

Raphael eventually helped, because the matter was still vampire business. Raphael found out that it was Daniel Quinn, a member of his clan, who killed the girl, and went to the bleeder den to get him. By the time he arrived, Simon had already staked and killed Quinn. He later performed a *encanto* on the Ollie, Luke's detective partner whom Simon surrendered himself to, and made her forget about Simon, telling her that the true killer had been Daniel Quinn but that he had disappeared, never to be found, to make her close the case.

Raphael did not leave Heidi to die, however. Knowing that she likely had Simon's blood, he took her from the morgue and helped her Turn. Hoping to find a way to become a Daylighter through her blood, Raphael kept her in the Dumort. Aside from training and apparently helping her adjust to her new life, Raphael would burn her with UV rays in a series of experiments, keeping her knocked out with dagget root—a vampire tranquilizer—acquired from Magnus. His experiments proved futile and only angered Heidi and made her more anxious to get away, and to meet her sire, Simon.

Raphael's sister Rosa's condition worsened over time, until finally, after spending one last night with her, reminiscing their short time together, Rosa died. He was devastated to know that he could not attend her funeral—which was to be held during the day—and lashed out at Simon, who had come to ask for his help regarding a Mark placed on him by the Seelie Queen. He called out Simon for not telling him how to become a Daylighter, which would be useful for his current dilemma, and tried to attack him in annoyance, only to be pushed back by a powerful, invisible force, dislocating his shoulder in the process—though he was able to quickly fix this.

He called to tell Isabelle about Rosa's death, who came to comfort him. Isabelle promised to attend Rosa's funeral for him. Raphael was grateful, and the two shared a moment, before temptation almost took over once again, and the two pulled back and away from each other, Raphael urging Isabelle to leave. Isabelle left, but not before telling him to ask for help when he needed it.

While Raphael was out, Heidi managed to escape. Heidi went rogue and fed directly from a mundane, making a scene that caused both mundane police and the Shadowhunters to get involved. Raphael went to Simon's boathouse, correctly expecting that Heidi would go there eventually, and intended to kill Heidi. Heidi fought him off, however, and was knocked out with a dose of dagget root. In revenge for his experiments, Heidi brought Raphael to a rooftop and chained him down to be burned by the rising sun. Raphael's pleas did not move Heidi who soon left him. Fortunately, as the sun rose and began to burn his foot, his screams were heard by Isabelle and Clary who were tracking the mundane that Heidi Turned. They broke him free of his chains.

Raphael claimed to be after the rogue vampire as well and feigned ignorance about who she was. He immediately returned to the Dumort, planning on destroying any trace of Heidi hiding there but was caught by Isabelle. She expressed her disappointment in him and told him that she will not report him to the Clave as long as he left the city.

### Away

Raphael moved to Detroit following Isabelle's warning and started working at a soup kitchen. At one point some weeks after he left, Simon came to him to ask about the Mark of Cain, hoping his research on Daylighters could help. Raphael told him that the oldest vampire might know, and that, according to a legend, the vampire was hiding in the sewers of New York.

Shortly after, Heidi told Alec about Raphael's experiments on her and how Isabelle had let him go. Before Alec could gather a team to go after him, Isabelle volunteered to take him in herself, like she was supposed to from the beginning. Though surprised that it was ultimately Isabelle who came to arrest him, he came willingly, accepting his punishment. Raphael was taken to the New York Institute for holding before being transported to the Gard. Raphael was singled out by Victor Aldertree, however, and was transferred to his facility for Project Heavenly Fire shortly after.

Raphael watched for days as prisoners were taken and never seen again from their pit at the facility until, one day, Simon himself was brought in. Simon explained that he was there, disguised as a criminal named Zeke Russo, undercover for Isabelle. Soon, Raphael was picked out of the lineup to be experimented on next, and though Simon tried to volunteer in his place, Raphael let them take him.

For the experiment, Raphael was injected with a serum made with heavenly fire. The process was painful, with Raphael feeling like he was burning and about to die, before the heavenly fire took effect and made him human. He was taken to a room with windows afterwards with the other prisoners who'd gone through the experiment. There, Raphael stood by the window and stared at the light streaming through the blinds and onto his skin, relishing the fact that he was human once again.

When Simon arrived, Raphael expressed his joy, but Iris Rouse interrupted them by saying that she felt robbed of her identity when her magic was stolen from her by the heavenly fire. Helen Blackthorn, a half-Shadowhunter and half-Seelie who was originally part of the project, arrived and asked for their help in stopping Aldertree's plan to use the serum on all Downworlders. Raphael, Simon, and Helen escaped and made their way to a control room where Helen activated the self-destruct sequence that destroyed all the heavenly fire serums, save for a few vials Simon needed for Clary.

With the cruelties of Project Heavenly Fire revealed, the Consul, Jia Penhallow, considered commuting the sentences of Raphael and the other Downworlders who had been turned into mundanes. After Jonathan Morgenstern was killed for the second and final time, Raphael attended Magnus’ and Alec’s wedding where he saw Simon and Izzy one more time. He congratulated them on becoming a couple and informed them that after the wedding, he would be moving to Mexico where he would start a new life as a priest.

## Personality

Raphael is elegant, ambitious, and cunning. He is also always well-dressed, typically in a crisp suit. Appearance is important to Raphael, both in the way he dresses and the authority he projects.

Due to being raised in a catholic family, he has a lack of interest in sexual relationships, but he still experiences romantic feelings and finds them worth pursuing. While cold to most, he can show himself to be warm and caring to people that tear down his walls.

Family is something that means a lot to him, and while he is not incapable of threatening someone else's family to get them to behave the way he would like them to, he has no tolerance for anyone using his last remaining family against him. Raphael still cares for his younger sister by making her dinner and spending time with her in her old age. He also cares for Magnus and has great respect for him. He also considers his vampire clan his family and would go to great lengths to keep them safe. This also goes for Simon despite him not being a part of his clan anymore. Despite the fact that the two of them have been a thorn in each other’s sides for a long time, Raphael and Simon think of each other as the brothers neither of them had. When Simon was taken to the same prison Raphael was in, the two reconnected after several weeks and had formed a real brotherly bond for the first time.

Raphael still has faith and his religion is part of who he is, even as a vampire.

## Skills and abilities

* ***Encanto***: Raphael has the vampire ability to mesmerize or hypnotize mundanes.
* **Superhuman strength**: As he is nearly a 100 year old Vampire, Raphael is considerably strong, able to level in combat even Shadowhunters. Because of how powerful he is, Raphael can even overpower other Vampires relatively easily.
* **Superhuman speed**: Raphael can run at speeds comparable to Shadowhunters. His reflexes are similarly heightened.
* **Immortality**: As a vampire, Raphael is immortal. However, this does not make him invincible; he is in fact prone to death by sunlight and fire, among others.
* **Intelligence:** Raphael is one of the smartest and most cunning vampires in the DownWorld. He is very good at calculating his steps to see what the consequences of his next move will be. He is also extremely charismatic and is a very skilled business acumen.
* **Combatant:** Raphael is a highly skilled fighter from spending years on the streets and training with his fellow vampires. Even after being turned back into a human, Raphael still had some pretty good moves, able to defeat several prison guards at once. Raphael fights very similarly to Simon, as they both use speed to outmatch their enemies.
* **Bilingual**: Raphael fluently speaks English and is shown to also speak Spanish.

## Trivia

* Raphael is asexual. Though he can experience romantic feelings with others, he is generally uninterested in pursuing a sexual relationship.
* Unlike most other vampires, Raphael was not killed and resurrected as one. This indicates there is more than one way to turn someone into a vampire. This is proven true when the Daylighter Vampire Cain told Simon Lewis that the demon Lilith used her demonic magic to transform Cain into the world’s first vampire.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 3x17: *Heavenly Fire*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2x09: *Bound by Blood*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 1x08: *Bad Blood*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 2x08: *Love is a Devil*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 3x15: *To the Night Children*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 3x03: *What Lies Beneath*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 2x04: *Day of Wrath*
8. ↑ 1x02: *The Descent Into Hell Isn't Easy*
9. ↑ 1x03: *Dead Man's Party*
10. ↑ 1x05: *Moo Shu to Go*
11. ↑ 1x09: *Rise Up*
12. ↑ 1x13: *Morning Star*
13. ↑ 2x02: *A Door Into the Dark*
14. ↑ 2x03: *Parabatai Lost*
15. ↑ 2x05: *Dust and Shadows*
16. ↑ 2x06: *Iron Sisters*
17. ↑ 2x12: *You Are Not Your Own*
18. ↑ 2x10: *By the Light of Dawn*
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 2x11: *Mea Maxima Culpa*
20. ↑ 2x14: *The Fair Folk*
21. ↑ 2x15: *A Problem of Memory*
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 3x04: *Thy Soul Instructed*
23. ↑ 3x01: *On Infernal Ground*
24. ↑ 3x11: *Lost Souls*
25. ↑ 2x10: *By the Light of Dawn*