Armand (The Vampire Chronicles)


Armand is a fictional character in The Vampire Chronicles novels written by Anne Rice. At the end of the series, he is approximately 500 years of age. His outward appearance is that of a beautiful adolescent boy, 5’6, with curly auburn hair, large brown eyes and slender fingers. His features are at times compared figuratively to those of Cupid or a Botticelli angel.

Fictional biography

Armand is born in 1481 in the former Kievan Rus' to the acclaimed hunter Ivan. His original name is Andrei.
As a child he can paint vivid pictures of Jesus Christ, Madonna, and the Eastern Orthodox Saints. His astonished parents eventually reveal his gift to the monks in the Monastery of the Caves, who live ascetically underground, sustained only by water and small amounts of food.
When their ruler, Prince Michael, orders Andrei to paint an icon and bring it to the castle of his brother, the supposedly dead Prince Feodor, Andrei is captured by Tartars, brought as a slave to Constantinople, and subsequently sold to a Venetian brothel, where he is sexually abused and develops amnesia.
Marius, a 1500-year-old vampire living as a painter in Venice, rescues Andrei and gives him an education and a luxurious life, and renames him Amadeo. Marius is in love with a courtesan named Bianca Solderini, yet cannot bring himself to turn her into a vampire. Instead, he chooses Amadeo for his beauty, youth, and painting skills to educate "in the way of the blood", so as to eventually make him a vampire.
Amadeo loves Marius single-mindedly and is eager to become a vampire. He does not understand Marius' hesitation to turn him, and in an act of rebellion and anger he seduces an English lord whom, after a few nights, he eventually abandons. The English lord becomes obsessed with Amadeo and, enraged by his betrayal, wounds him with a poisoned blade, forcing Marius to turn Amadeo into a vampire to save his life. Amadeo is 17 years old at the time of his transformation.
After the incidents in Interview with the Vampire, Daniel Molloy tries to find Lestat but is instead found by Armand. Daniel links Armand to the new time, and they form a relationship. Daniel grows more impatient, longing to be turned to a vampire, and he and Armand become estranged. By 1985, Daniel destroys his health to the point that he is near death, so Armand finally turns him into a vampire. Daniel is Armand's only fledgling to date, and they cannot stay together afterward.

Portrayal in other media