Vladimir Giurescu was a powerful vampire, who was brought back to life by the goddess Hecate in the Late Middle Ages. He worked with and was ultimately betrayed by the Nazis during World War II. After the Nazis killed him, he was restored to life and finally defeated by Hellboy in the 1990's.
History
Life, Death & Rebirth
In 1492 Giurescu's father, Mihail, bought the dried out body of Hecate from some Greek fishermen. He restored the goddess to life and built her a temple.[1] When Vladimir was a child he fell into a frozen river. Hours passed before the body was recovered, Vladimir's father begged Hecate to restore him to life. He sacrificed all the dogs and half his servants during a three-day blood ritual. After three days, Hecate restored Vladimir to life by giving him a piece of her spirit. But this action turns Vladimir into a vampire.[2][3]
In 1525, Giurescu took over management of his family estate after his father reached at the age of 107 and was turned into a very old vampire by Hecate. Giurescu managed the estate for nearly three centuries, as the area surrounding Castle Giurescu fell under the rule of Hecate and paid tribute in blood. Between 1600 and 1800, Giurescu took at least six wives - all of whom were turned into vampires.
In October 1773, Giurescu made a deal with King George III of Britain in which he allowed Prussian vampire mercenaries to assist the British in the American Revolutionary War in exchange for a small amount of real estate in London - specifically on the land over a buried temple that is devoted to Hecate. Over the years he would use this land to develop graveyards that hid a vampire army he began to build in England.
Napoleonic Wars
When the Napoleonic Wars broke out, a restless Giurescu decided to leave his country and served as an military officer during the European conflict. In 1806, Giurescu commanded Prussian troops against Napoleon, and in 1809, he led Austrian forces during the Fifth Coalition. In the same year, Giurescu was mortally wounded at the siege of Halberestadt. Although camp doctors stated that he would be dead in an hour, his men however carried him to Castle Giurescu, where he was restored by Hecate in the light of a full moon. Two weeks later, Giurescu returned to battle. These resurrections occurred six more times in the next five years.
In 1811, Giurescu posed a portrait prior to taking part in the Battle of Redinha, and in 1812, he fought against Napoleon for control of Moscow, which after the battle he led Cossack guerrillas against the Grande Armée retreating out of Moscow; in which at this point Napoleon began to referring Giurescu as "Giurescu the Devil." In 1814, Giurescu was present in Paris to witness Napoleon's abdication. By 1815, Giurescu fought alongside with Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo.
Sir Edward Grey
In the 1880s, Giurescu arrived in England, where he apparently planned to settle. There were rumors that he had ambitions to "establish a secret, evil empire." However, his plans to taking over England were foiled and uncovered by the Witchfinder Sir Edward Grey, aided by the Heliopic Brotherhood, who forced the vampire nobleman to flee back to his homeland in August 1882.
World War II
In October of 1944, Giurescu was approached by a Nazi delegation led by Ilsa Haupstein to recruit him for Heinrich Himmler's proposed project "Vampir Sturm." Initially, Giurescu was displeased to see the approaching delegation and sent crows to attack them. But the birds failed to return, which Giurescu was prompted to investigate to find Ilsa Haupstein, sitting beneath a tree with the bodies of her dead companions that were pecked to death. Giurescu was intrigued by Ilsa and the two subsequently became lovers. Giurescu was persuaded by Ilsa to return with her to Germany, much to the displeasure of his father - who remained in Romania - and wives - who accompanied Giurescu and Ilsa to Germany.
On December 3rd, Giurescu met with Adolf Hitler at Wewelsburg in which the Nazi dictator was intimidated by the vampire. The next day Hitler ordered Giurescu and his six wives arrested. On December 16th, Giurescu and his wives arrived in Dachau, where they were killed. According to former guards all seven were impaled, decapitated and burned; however they were not entirely correct.[4] As it turned out, Giurescu's decapitated body was secretly smuggled out of Germany by Hans Ubler, a German nightclub owner, and ended up in New York City where he is kept by Ubler in a wax museum in Soho.[4]
Wake the Devil
- Main article: Wake the Devil
Giurescu's body was taken from Ubler's wax museum by Ilsa Haupstein, who in return killed Ubler. Ilsa took the body back to Castle Giurescu and had it prepared to be revived by the full moon, which required the deaths of her subordinates to supply the blood needed for the ritual.[4] However, Giurescu was attacked by Hellboy, who had discovered that the vampire ritual was conducted through the witch goddess Hecate, partly making Giurescu her "son". Giurescu escaped, but Hellboy had destroyed Hecate's body. But at the urging of Grigori Rasputin, Haupstein entrapped herself in an iron maiden brought by the Baba Yaga's Koku servant as a means to survive the Ogrud Jahad's coming. However, the event killed Ilsa and Hecate takes the woman's corpse and the iron maiden as a new body while using Ilsa's blood to reinvigorate Giurescu as he proceeds to attack a helpless Hellboy after he was tied up to a post at a crossroads. But it was later revealed by Hecate that she sacrificed Giurescu, allowing him to be easily defeated by Hellboy so that the fragment of her soul can transfer from his bones into the iron maiden to complete her resurrection.[5][6]
The skeletal remains of Vladmir Giurescu were gathered to be moved to brought to America for storage at BPRD HQ. But, while temporarily placed in storage at the Bucharest airport, the remains were secretly taken by Igor Bromhead.
Darkness Calls
- Main article: Darkness Calls
After Bromhead brings him to a crypt near Lucca, Italy, Giurescu provides man with knowledge that Hecate now bears the heart of Ilsa. This ultimately enables Bromhead to subdue Hecate and remove her from the iron maiden. From there as his arms embrace his one time lover's body, Giurescu and Ilsa's body, with Hecate soul trapped in it, are bricked up within in the crypt.
Powers
Giurescu is particularly difficult to kill, while silver builds wound him they cause no real damage, even a shot to the head proved insufficient, however as a vampire Giurescu avoids sunlight and is vulnerable to a stake in the chest. Even if an assailant succeeds in grievously wounding or even killing Giurescu, his body can be laid out in a special ritual room where the light of the full moon will revive him.[4] Giurescu can transform into a large dark eagle or a giant bat.[7] He also apparently had the power to give others the vampiric condition, such as his wives, but it is unknown if they too can transform into a bat or be resurrected by the full moon. Furthermore, it is implied by the vampire Baron Konig that Giurescu was more powerful that typical vampires as he refers to him as "a god." Though it could be that Konig meant all vampires were gods compared to humans, the fact that Giurescu seems to be much more resistant to common vampire weaknesses than others implies otherwise. Furthermore Giurescu's ability to repeatedly rise from the dead and his status as the chosen son of Hecate could mean he is different from the common vampire in the B.P.R.D. universe.[8]
Notes
- ↑ Wake the Devil #2
- ↑ Wake the Devil #2
- ↑ Conqueror Worm Epilogue
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Wake the Devil #1
- ↑ Wake the Devil #5
- ↑ Conqueror Worm Epilogue
- ↑ Wake the Devil #3
- ↑ B.P.R.D. 1946 #2