Vampire houses in Blade

In the Blade universe, vampires are grouped into clans called Vampire houses.

Whereas the films each feature only a single house - though one is subdivided into twelve tribes -, refers to twelve houses, of which five are explicitly mentioned.

Vampire Houses in Blade

=Chthon=

The House of Chthon is the focus of the series and first appears in the pilot. One of the most powerful vampire houses, the Chthonians are elitists who consider themselves the leaders of the Vampire Nation, though this position is not universally accepted and especially challenged by the Armayans. The house was founded by Lord Chthon, and his sword became their sacred relic. The House of Chthon has a violent history, and many of their purebloods were slain in a past war against the House of Erebus. [cite web|url=http://www.comicmonsters.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=8|title=Blade on ComicMonsters.com|accessdate=2006-09-06]

"Chthon" is an ancient Greek word meaning "earth" and, by extension, "the underworld".

In parallel to film's depiction of the Shadowy Council of Erebus, Chthon is headed by a council of six pureblood vampires, which is called the "Conclave".

*Location: Detroit, Berlin, (possibly Prague, Toronto, Moscow and Paris)
*Notable Members:
**Purebloods: Charlotte (ashed by Blade, using one of his UV glaives), Overlord Rusk and four Elders (killed by the Aurora Virus)
**Turnedbloods: Marcus Van Sciver, Chase, Krista Starr, Fritz (beheaded by Krista), Glynnis (ashed by Krista, using a silver backed mirror)
**Unknown: Sabine, Thorne (ashed by Blade with two silver stakes to the head), Winston (ashed by Cain with a silver crossbow bolt)
**Familiars: Tucker Moffet, Dr Vonner (committed suicide instead of dealing with Blade), Brian Boone (turned by Krista, now unaffiliated)

Leichen

First mentioned in the series' pilot and then in the episodes "Descent" and "Bloodlines", the House of Leichen consists of vampires that have sworn off of killing humans, and drink only cloned blood. They believe that murdering to feed is wrong and pollutes vampires. They are the only house to conduct the Blood ritual which connects a vampire with those they have turned.

"Leichen" is the plural form of the German word "Leiche", which means "corpse".
*Location: Oregon
*Notable Members:
**Turnedbloods: Frederick

Armaya

First mentioned in episode "Descent" the House of Armaya is an exiled house with only one pureblood and no seat on the vampire council. They were the catalyst of the civil war that divided the Vampire Nation. After the uprising was quelled, the Armayans were scattered throughout the world and became largely associated with organized crime. They are considered the "gangsters and thugs" of the vampire world. The house of Chthon uses members of Armaya in their experiments to create Aurora, which triggers further conflict between the two houses.

*Location: Louisiana (possibly Detroit)
*Notable Members:
**Purebloods: Damek (ashed by Marcus with Tomahawk to the Head)

Erebus

This house first appears in the film 'Blade' and is the house that the antagonising vampires belong to. It is ruled by a "Shadowy Council" of 12 purebloods, it also treasures the book of Erebus (a vampire bible)

The House of Erebus reappears in the series as one of the twelve vampire houses, playing a minor role in the episode "Turn of the Screw". In keeping with the depiction in the film, the house is described as "conservative". The house was planned to have a major role in the series' second season.

*Location: Chicago, Illinois (Blade)
*Notable Members:
**Purebloods: Gitano Dragonetti (exposed to sunrise by Frost), twelve further elders (sacrificed in the ritual of La Magra, one elder killed by Mercury), Alex (exposed to Aurora virus)
**Turnedbloods: Deacon Frost (killed by EDTA after becoming La Magra), Mercury (killed by Karen using Vampire Mace), Quinn (Ashed by Blade), Vanessa Brooks (Ashed by Blade)
**Unknown: Pearl (burnt by Karen using a UV Lamp, dies in explosion of vampire library), Sands (Experimented on with Aurora now unaffiliated)
**Familiars: Officer Krieger (killed by Frost)

aqqara

First mentioned in episode "Bloodlines", the House of Saqqara, has lower standards than the average vampire house, and will let outcasts join their ranks.

Saqqara is the modern name for the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis.

Falsworth

Mentioned on sneekpeaktv.com, and other webpages that were discussing the details of the series, the House of Falsworth was supposed to be in the pilot. There was a vampire killed in Russia that was not linked to a specific house; and this house was not mentioned in the pilot. [cite web|url=http://www.sneakpeektv.com/id351.html|title=Blade: Series on Sneakpeaktv.com|accessdate=2006-08-18]

Varney and Tiamet

About the Houses of Varney and Tiamet nothing is known. The names appeared on a piece of tape on a wall behind Blade in the episode "Hunters".

"Varney" is probably named after Sir Francis Varney, one of the first modern fictional vampire antiheroes, while "Tiamet" probably comes from Tiamat; a monstrous Babylonian water goddess.

Byron(possibly)

It is unknown if this is actually a house but it appears as a clan of vampires in the Blade 2 video game. This clan has links to the Karkovs and the Arcans so it's possible they could be 3 clans in the same house (like the 11 clans of Erebus)

This group appears to have reapers in it and appears to be involved in genetic engineering. Project Vorpal was an experiment that they were carrying out at the Gaunt Moor Asylum to create the perfect vampire. They also appear to be involved in dark rituals as they are harvesting dark energy from the lifeforces of human beings.

Arcan(possibly)

This is a clan of vampires from the Blade 2 video game however it is unknown if it's one of the 12 houses or not.

This clan is supposedly one of most extreme groups of vampires there is as they use suicide bombers and some of the vampires in this clan have cybernetic limbs. They are also heavily involved in genetic engineering as the player encounters many of their test subjects throughout their mountain base as well as embryo cases similar to the ones Damaskinos uses in Blade 2. They might also be involved in dark rituals like the Byrons because they have dark energy stored in their mountain base.

Unknown house (Blade II) (possibly house of Damaskinos)

In the film "Blade II", the overlord "Eli Damaskinos" is depicted as leader of the "vampire nation", apparently heading an independent house. The position in regard to other houses mentioned in the films or the series is unclear. In the Blade 2 video game a pureblood from the Karkovs mentions Damaskinos as their former overlord so it's possible this is the House of Karkov, or this is the house that the Byrons, Karkovs and Arcans belong to.
*Location: Prague (possibly London, Moscow, Romania)
*Notable Members:
*Purebloods: Eli Demaskinos (killed by his son Nomak), Nyssa (exposed to sunrise), Jared Nomak (turned a "reaper" and staked by Blade), Reinhardt (ashed by Blade), Asad, Priest, Chupa, Lighthammer, Snowman, Verlaine (all killed directly or indirectly by Reapers)
**Unknown: Rush (ashed by Blade)
**Familiars: Karel Kounen (shot by Whistler), Scud (killed by Blade)

Unknown house (Blade Trinity) (possibly house of of Talos)

In the film "Blade Trinity", the antagonizing vampires are grouped into an unnamed house. This group is involved in genetic engineering, the draining of humans in blood farming facilities, and is also responsible for resurrection of Drake.
*Location:New York city
*Notable Members:
**Patriarch of Hominus Nocturna: Dagon/Dracula/Drake (killed by Daystar Virus)
**Turnedbloods: Danica Talos (killed by Daystar virus), Asher Talos (ashed by Abigail), Pac-Man (vampire dog)
**Unknown: Jarko Grimwood (Ashed by Hannibal King)
**Familiars: Dr. Edgar Vance (killed by Drake), Police chief Martin Vreed (killed by Blade)

Unaffiliated

*BadBloods: Steppin' Razor (ashed by Blades father) and three other members (ashed by Blade and Shen)

*The White Prince (Thrown before sunlight by Blade), Familiar: Bartender (killed by Shen)

*Brian Boone

*Sands

Concept

*The concept of the vampire clans resembles that found in the "" role-playing game created by White Wolf, Inc. Many of the tribes also have similarities to some of the clans of said game (i.e. the Dragonetti are sorcerers like the Tremere, the Lemure are seductive and passionate like the Toreador, the Kobejitsu and Von Esper are bloodlusting assassins like the Assamites, etc).
*The 1999 video game uses the concept of vampire clans and respective vampire glyphs, each clan with their own different abilities and weaknesses.

References

External links

* [http://alexisjax.tripod.com/id4.html Erebus glyphs]