The Record of a Fallen Vampire
The Record of a Fallen Vampire is a Japanese manga written by Kyo Shirodaira and illustrated by Yuri Kimura. The story centers around Strauss and follows his search for his queen who has been sealed away by humans unable to defeat her thousands of years ago. As this takes him to his set-aside Kingdom of the Night where he encounters dhampirs, and humans out to stop the reuniting of the King and Queen at any means possible.
The story was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Gangan and has been collected into nine tankōbon published by Square Enix. VIZ Media released The Record of a Fallen Vampire from May 13, 2008, to May 4, 2010.
Plot
Having cast aside his Kingdom of the Night a thousand years ago, the vampire king Strauss wanders the lands in search of the place where his queen was sealed. Dogged by the dhampires who are out to kill him, Strauss is fighting against time as he must continuously face humanity's curse, the Black Swan.Initially, the story focuses on introducing Strauss and his quest for the seal, while fighting against the Black Swan and the dhampires. The main plot, which gradually emerges after volume two, revolves around repelling an alien invasion. The humans plan to use Strauss' powers and Adelheid's powers to repel the invaders before having the Black Swan finally dispose of them.
Bridget, Strauss, and Adelheid use flashbacks to convey their perspective on the events a thousand years ago. The writer, Kyo Shirodaira, indicates that this method of deriving different truths from the same set of facts was inspired by Christianna Brand's storytelling techniques.
Characters
Vampires
Akabara "Red Rose" StraussAdelheid
'''Gottfried'''
Dhampires
Those who have both vampire and human blood are referred to as dhampires. All dhampires, except Laetitia, have united under Bridget against Strauss and his quest for the seal.Bridget Irving Frostheart
Jin Renka
Tessenji Fuuhaku
Ethelbart Takahashi
'''Laeticia'''
Black Swan
The Black Swan is a curse created by humans to seek out and destroy Strauss. It is a spiritual parasite; its host is usually young, beautiful girls. It travels from host to host, forcing the wielder to hunt Strauss or die within five years, and it carries the memories and spiritual power of all previous hosts. The Black Swan will continue to exist until the Vampire King and his queen are eliminated; thus, the only way for the host of the Black Swan to survive is for both Strauss and Adelheid to die. The initial catalyst for the spell was Stella and her unborn child, who were killed by Maria Saberhagen to create the Black Swan.Kayuki Hirasaka
Yuki Komatsubara
Emily
'''Cynthia'''
Humans
GM GozenMerill Morishima
Nazuna Hagi
Li Honhuei
Stella Hazelberg
'''Maria Saverhagen'''