Vampiric Council

## The Vampiric Council

The **Vampiric Council** is the ancient governing body for the world’s vampires.

## Role

The Council holds trials for vampires suspected of heinous crimes in violation of the vampire code, including turning babies into vampires or killing other vampires. The Council has a global membership, representing vampires or half-vampires from around the world.

The Council summon vampires to trials using ravens as messengers, the vampires are expected to send a raven back in response. If the recipient does not respond, the Council may send a servant such as the floating woman to deliver the news in person. In accordance with their rules, every trial includes a guest representative from the nearby area. Council members act as both judges and jury and vote on decisions by raising their fangs. During trials, members wear white robes with a golden Council emblem around their necks. For serious trials, the Council may perform a ceremonial dance routine beforehand. Punishment for guilty vampires can include imprisonment for several decades or centuries or execution by exposure to sunlight.

## History

Sometime before 1932, Laszlo Cravensworth ran afoul of the **Vampiric Council** after turning a baby into a vampire out of boredom. Another vampire, Garrett, was incorrectly found guilty of the crime and sentenced to imprisonment underground at the Temple of Blood-Devourers in Staten Island. Laszlo passed the baby to an acquaintance in the Bronx, and they eventually became a member of the council themselves.

In 2019, Nandor, Nadja and Laszlo's actions led to the death of Baron Afanas. The Council put them on trial in the Temple of Blood-Devourers, with Colin Robinson serving as a guest representative judge. Despite the Council agreeing that they didn’t like the Baron, and Nandor's familiar Guillermo initially confessing to the murder, the vampires were eventually found guilty of premeditated vampicide and sentenced to death by sunlight exposure in a well. Meanwhile, Guillermo was left to escape the underground temple on his own and he accidentally impaled a vampire assistant, Ludwig, on an LED lamp holder after scaring him with his cross. When Guillermo reached the surface, he and Colin saved the trapped vampires by shielding the well from the sunlight with a beach umbrella. Guillermo freed the vampires by smuggling them out in a box while they were in bat form.

### Escalation

The Council discovered the vampires had escaped and blamed Ludwig's death on them. The Council sent at least twelve vampire assassins to the Staten Island residence to kill them, but Guillermo secretly disposed of all of them. When Guillermo killed multiple members of the vampire family the Hustle Dynasty, the Council again blamed the deaths on the Staten Island vampires.

#### Massacre at the Theater

Later, the Council invited the vampires (including Colin) to the exclusive *Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires* event. While they were away, Guillermo realised it was a trap after seeing the Vampiric Council logo on the invite, and headed to the the theatre. When the vampires arrived, they were bound to their chairs with silver rope and forced to watch re-enactments of their supposed killings of Afanas, Ludwig, the vampire assassins and the Hustle Dynasty (all of which were actually killed by Guillermo). They were then led onto the stage to be executed and Nandor exclaimed that Guillermo had killed all the vampires before being killed himself, but the actors and audience refused to believe this. Guillermo swung onto the stage and killed most of the cast and audience, saving his masters again.

### A New Administration

Viago, impressed with the group’s ability to kill 70% of the most powerful vampires in the Tri-State area, appointed them as the leaders of the Vampiric Council of the Eastern Seaboard of the New World. All the vampires, except Laszlo, accepted the offer.

## Known members

* Tilda, the Council leader
* Brad
* Danny
* Deacon Brücke
* Evan
* Kiefer
* Paul
* Rob
* Tom
* Vampire baby
* Viago
* Vladislav
* Wesley
* Nandor
* Nadja
* Colin Robinson

## Appearances

* *What We Do in the Shadows* (TV series)
	+ "The Trial"
	+ "Resurrection"
	+ "Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires"
	+ Season 3 centers on the Vampiric Council of the Eastern Seaboard of the New World

## References

Clement, Jemaine (writer) & Waititi, Taika (director) (May 8, 2019). "The Trial". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 7. FX.
Sawyer, Marika (writer) & Newacheck, Kyle (director) (April 15, 2020). "Resurrection". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 11. FX.
Naftalis, Sarah (writer) & Johnson, Liza (director) (April 29, 2020). "The Curse". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 14. FX.
Johnson, Sam, Robinson, Stefani & Simms, Paul (writers) & Newacheck, Kyle (director) (June 10, 2020). "Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 20. FX.