Deacon Brücke

> *"I transformed into a dog and had sex."*
>
>

**Deacon Brücke** is a 183-year-old vampire originally from Germany. He is a main character in the film.

## Biography

### Early life

As a human, Deacon worked as a merchant. While passing a scary-looking castle during this era, Deacon was ambushed by a winged Petyr, who dragged him into a dungeon, bit his neck, and forced him to drink his blood, thus turning him into a vampire. Despite this traumatic event, the two immediately became “friends”.

During World War II, Deacon joined Hitler’s secret “Nazi vampire army”. After Germany's defeat, Deacon fled from Europe and migrated to New Zealand.

### *What We Do in the Shadows* (film)

At some point after World War II, Deacon moved into a flat in Te Aro, Wellington, with fellow vampires Vladislav, Viago and Petyr. As the youngest vampire of the group, he was seen as the rebel. He took on a familiar named Jackie and overworked her, making her maintain the flat while putting off turning her into a vampire for over four and a half years. One night in 2013, he requested that she bring some humans to the flat for him to eat, she brought her ex-boyfriend Nick. After being pursued by Deacon, Viago and Vladislav, Nick escaped from the flat, only for Petyr to ambush him and turn him into a vampire.

Nick was welcomed into the vampire group, where Deacon soon grew jealous of Nick’s new reputation as the youngest and trendiest of the group, causing the two to fight. Deacon, despite his arrogant nature, grew particularly fond of Nick’s human friend Stu as he introduced the vampires to new technology.

Shortly afterwards, Nick inadvertently led a vampire hunter into the flat, causing Petyr’s death. When Nick realised the hunter was a man he had recently met on a night out, Deacon became angry and fought him. Police officers O’Leary and Minogue arrived to investigate the noise, but under Viago’s hypnotism they didn’t notice Nick and Deacon hovering in the air mid-fight.

The vampires put Nick on trial for not only getting Petyr killed, but for copying Deacon’s style. Nick received the Procession of Shame and was banished from the flat.

Sometime later the vampires attended the Unholy Masquerade. There, they bumped into Jackie, who had been turned into a vampire by Nick, much to Deacon’s annoyance. When Pauline, the guest of honour, realised Stu was there, she attempted to attack him and the camera crew. Stu killed Pauline’s boyfriend, Julian, with a wooden stake. The vampires and camera crew escaped the ball, only to agitate a group of werewolves into attacking them as the full moon emerged. Stu was seemingly killed by the werewolves, leaving the vampires devastated.

A while later, Stu reappeared, having been turned into a werewolf, and helped reconcile the flatmates with Nick and the werewolves.

Possibly the last piece of footage the documentary crew filmed was of Deacon trying to hypnotise the viewers into forgetting everything they just saw.

### *What We Do in the Shadows* (TV series)

After the death of Baron Afanas, the vampires Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja were summoned to the Vampiric Council, of which Deacon and his flatmates were members. He and the other council members heard evidence from the Baron’s familiar and Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar. Guillermo confessed to the murder, which none of the vampires believed, and they plotted to eat him until Nandor confessed instead. Although Deacon and all the council members agreed that they didn’t like the Baron, the council sentenced the three vampires to death by exposure to sunlight in a well. The three however escaped with the help of Guillermo and their roommate, Colin.

## Other Appearances

### *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*

An early version of Deacon’s character prominently appears in the 2005 short film *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*, credited as Deacon Brugh. This version bears some similiarities to his film counterpart, most notibly his dress sense, shapeshifting abilities and background as a member of the Nazi party, but he is overall more bored with life as a vampire and is only 107 years old.

### *Vampire's Guide to Vellington*

Deacon briefly appears in the *Vampire's Guide to Vellington* promotional short film, exploring the nightlife of Wellington.

### *Deacon the Vampire Live*

Deacon is the lead character in the solo performance theatre show *Deacon the Vampire Live*.

### *Deacon's Podcast*

Deacon is the host of his own podcast series, *Deacon's Podcast*.

## Trivia

* A brief shot of Deacon’s old passport states his birthday as 18th July 1891, but his age at the time of the documentary filming suggests his real year of birth is 1830. The passport date is most likely a fake one to explain his youthful appearance.
* Despite his bad boy persona, Deacon enjoys knitting. His projects include a jumper he made for himself and a scarf made for Stu.
* While most vampires sleep in coffins, Deacon prefers to sleep hanging upside-down in a closet.
* Deacon is believed to be bisexual, showing interest in both men and women.

## Behind the Scenes

* Each of the main vampires of the film are similar to a vampire from a famous vampire movie. Deacon bears some resemblance to Bela Lugosi's 1931 portrayal of Dracula.

## Appearances

* *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*
* *What We Do in the Shadows* (film)
* *Vampire's Guide to Vellington*
* *What We Do in the Shadows* (TV series)
	+ "The Trial"
* *Deacon the Vampire Live*
* *Deacon's Podcast*

## References

Clement, Jemaine & Waititi, Taika (writers and directors) (19 January 2014). *What We Do in the Shadows*.
Clement, Jemaine (writer) & Waititi, Taika (director) (May 8, 2019). "The Trial". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 7. FX.
Clement, Jemaine & Waititi, Taika (writers and directors) (2005). *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*.
4. ↑  "Vampire's Guide to Vellington" - Wellington NZ
5. ↑  "Deacon the Vampire Live" - Bread & Circus
6. ↑  "Deacon's Podcast" - YouTube