Lore
The Vampire King
"This is it. The final boss. Every hunter in Europe is assembled. Every fiber of our strength is here for the assault on Castle Volkov. I can feel his terrible gaze upon us.
- Anton, Commander of the Order of the Exalted Lion
"Idiots! I want the ghost wolf-bats on the parapets and the bat ghost-wolves guarding the drawbridge! Of course they are different! I don't care where the wolf bat-ghosts go. They're useless.
-Volkov, organizing the defenses of his castle
- Anton, Commander of the Order of the Exalted Lion
"Idiots! I want the ghost wolf-bats on the parapets and the bat ghost-wolves guarding the drawbridge! Of course they are different! I don't care where the wolf bat-ghosts go. They're useless.
-Volkov, organizing the defenses of his castle
As the story goes...
The Royal Castle of Batavia was constructed over a large hole in the ground that was a gateway to hell. In retrospect everyone agrees this was an unforced error.
The hole itself was no secret. At dusk, great clouds of infernal bats vomited forth from the gateway. At dawn, voices could be heard discussing infernal lunch plans. Haunted suits of armor walked the castle halls and zombies shuffled through the gardens.
Dashing Prince Volkov earned the love of his people as the fiery defender of Batavia. But as king, living over a hellmaw proved too much. Before long, the Batavian court was placing bets on whether their sovereign would wind up a lich, a werewolf, or some kind of hungry wraith. Volkov ignored their gossip, as he was too busy getting to know an enchanting fanged lady who visited his bedroom every night. That she appeared outside the window, fifty feet above the ground did not bother Volkov. Soon all bets were settled.
Volkov was fiendishly practical about his new unlife as a vampire. He removed his heart to prevent staking. Batavia's many foes did not know what had happened to make Volkov an even more ferocious warrior, but after Volkov put enough heads on pikes, they decided to go marauding elsewhere. Well, the Batavians thought, there's always a silver lining.
Valhalla is not at all where Volkov expected to wind up, given his resume. Here, few speak his name, calling him Das Vampyr, Wampierz, Upyri, or Gramps (Caspian only).
The hole itself was no secret. At dusk, great clouds of infernal bats vomited forth from the gateway. At dawn, voices could be heard discussing infernal lunch plans. Haunted suits of armor walked the castle halls and zombies shuffled through the gardens.
Dashing Prince Volkov earned the love of his people as the fiery defender of Batavia. But as king, living over a hellmaw proved too much. Before long, the Batavian court was placing bets on whether their sovereign would wind up a lich, a werewolf, or some kind of hungry wraith. Volkov ignored their gossip, as he was too busy getting to know an enchanting fanged lady who visited his bedroom every night. That she appeared outside the window, fifty feet above the ground did not bother Volkov. Soon all bets were settled.
Volkov was fiendishly practical about his new unlife as a vampire. He removed his heart to prevent staking. Batavia's many foes did not know what had happened to make Volkov an even more ferocious warrior, but after Volkov put enough heads on pikes, they decided to go marauding elsewhere. Well, the Batavians thought, there's always a silver lining.
Valhalla is not at all where Volkov expected to wind up, given his resume. Here, few speak his name, calling him Das Vampyr, Wampierz, Upyri, or Gramps (Caspian only).
Connections
Context
We already have a lich, a werewolf, even an evil alien overlord. It was only a matter of time before we got a vampire in Brawlhalla, especially since vampires have already come up several times before in the lore.
Before his full reveal on December 17, 2019, any Brawlhalla lore fans are indeed speculating that Volkov would be the name of a future legend, just like how Fait was teased way back in Isaiah's lore. For a while, I thought the Volkov in Lin Fei's lore might have just been a random reference to Alexander Volkov, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Russia who sometimes goes by the name "Drago" or "Sasha." Since I didn't see BMG collaborating with UFC or a similar company to get a real-life fighter, someone still alive and punching, into their game, I simply made a small Volkov page on this site and moved on. A Russian MMA fighter just sounded really random for someone that Lin Fei would have taught in Valhalla. Then again, she did tutor Cassidy, Azoth, Sir Roland, Thatch, and Wu Shang. Anything is possible in the warrior heaven. Maybe there was a big UFC or MMA fan in the BMG lore team. Turns out, there was, if the not one but two WWE crossover events are anything to go by!
This legend page is proof that my initial thoughts about this "Volkov" fellow did not age well...twice. But hey, I'm always happy to be proven wrong. It's all part of the research process. :)
The history and development of vampires is well documented. The concept has existed for thousands of years across various cultures worldwide. If you know anything about "vampire history," you've likely heard names like Vlad the Impaler, Mercy Brown, and—perhaps the most well-known of them all—Dracula. It should be noted, though, that the gruesome legends surrounding Vlad the Impaler was likely the main inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. Another well-known version of Dracula is Nosferatu (two versions: 1922 & its "stylistic remake" in 1979).
Of course, certain depictions of vampires in popular culture have changed in appearance and purpose since then (Twilight, anyone?). Thankfully, it seems BMG decided to rely more heavily on traditional Gothic horror in Volkov's design. His neutral, stoic expression gives way to a rather horrifying, almost bat-like visage while attacking. Indeed, Volkov's "scary face" reminds me a lot of the version of Dracula found in the Nosferatu films.
Volkov's lore concludes with several different names for him. Here is what I was able to discover about them:
Before his full reveal on December 17, 2019, any Brawlhalla lore fans are indeed speculating that Volkov would be the name of a future legend, just like how Fait was teased way back in Isaiah's lore. For a while, I thought the Volkov in Lin Fei's lore might have just been a random reference to Alexander Volkov, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Russia who sometimes goes by the name "Drago" or "Sasha." Since I didn't see BMG collaborating with UFC or a similar company to get a real-life fighter, someone still alive and punching, into their game, I simply made a small Volkov page on this site and moved on. A Russian MMA fighter just sounded really random for someone that Lin Fei would have taught in Valhalla. Then again, she did tutor Cassidy, Azoth, Sir Roland, Thatch, and Wu Shang. Anything is possible in the warrior heaven. Maybe there was a big UFC or MMA fan in the BMG lore team. Turns out, there was, if the not one but two WWE crossover events are anything to go by!
This legend page is proof that my initial thoughts about this "Volkov" fellow did not age well...twice. But hey, I'm always happy to be proven wrong. It's all part of the research process. :)
The history and development of vampires is well documented. The concept has existed for thousands of years across various cultures worldwide. If you know anything about "vampire history," you've likely heard names like Vlad the Impaler, Mercy Brown, and—perhaps the most well-known of them all—Dracula. It should be noted, though, that the gruesome legends surrounding Vlad the Impaler was likely the main inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. Another well-known version of Dracula is Nosferatu (two versions: 1922 & its "stylistic remake" in 1979).
Of course, certain depictions of vampires in popular culture have changed in appearance and purpose since then (Twilight, anyone?). Thankfully, it seems BMG decided to rely more heavily on traditional Gothic horror in Volkov's design. His neutral, stoic expression gives way to a rather horrifying, almost bat-like visage while attacking. Indeed, Volkov's "scary face" reminds me a lot of the version of Dracula found in the Nosferatu films.
Volkov's lore concludes with several different names for him. Here is what I was able to discover about them:
- Das Vampyr: German is one of many languages with gender-specific articles ("the" or "a" before a noun). Der is masculine, die is feminine, and das is neutral. It would make sense to use a neutral article when talking about any vampire, but we've got German speakers in Valhalla who are talking about a male vampire. I'm not sure why they say Das Vampyr instead of Der Vampyr. Maybe BMG wanted to avoid a reference to this opera? I don't know.
- Wampierz: My best guess is this is an archaic Polish word for "Vampires."
- Upyri: The plural form of Russian/Ukranian upyr. Spelling and pronunciations vary depending on which Slavic or Turkic region you come from.
- Gramps: I think this is self-explanatory. Volkov is very likely Caspian's grandfather (they're both Batavian royalty; the relationship seems pretty obvious to me), and the father of the Mad King who was thrice slain by Diana. Some lore nerds maintain that Volkov could be a great-grandfather or older, while others say he's actually the Mad King of Batavia himself (I find this doubtful, since Volkov doesn't seem to have any ghost qualities).
It's not exactly clear yet who in Valhalla would use each of the non-"Gramps" names and terms, but we do know that there are hundreds, even thousands, of warriors in Valhalla and the Grand Tournament, so chances are high that there are at least some German, Polish, and Slavic fighters there, even if they're not among the very best legends (the ones you play in the game).
Axe and scythe are both harsh medieval weapons that work well with Volkov's Gothic horror design. I had a hard time finding reasons for the specific designs of the blades, but they do both seem to be inspired by classic Gothic designs (as far as I can tell). You could say that both weapons are symbols of death, if you consider an executioner's axe, as well as the harvesting blade of Death's scythe. They are also both good weapons for a vampire to use to swoop down and swipe at his enemy.
Axe and scythe are both harsh medieval weapons that work well with Volkov's Gothic horror design. I had a hard time finding reasons for the specific designs of the blades, but they do both seem to be inspired by classic Gothic designs (as far as I can tell). You could say that both weapons are symbols of death, if you consider an executioner's axe, as well as the harvesting blade of Death's scythe. They are also both good weapons for a vampire to use to swoop down and swipe at his enemy.
I really like Volk's scythe design. It's a little bit square, different to the usual curved version. Is there any reason for the square-ish scythe?
ReplyDeleteA very good question! I haven't quite gotten to research Volkov and his lore just yet, but when I do (soon) I will certainly consider his weapon designs. :)
DeleteI really don't know where the scythe design got its initial inspiration. However in the hands of Volkov, the design for the weapon was first used in a concept design for Fait. I guessed they just recycled the weapon design.
Delete"Wampierz" is actually an archaic word for vampire in Polish, actual one is "wampir"
ReplyDeleteAh. Is it? Thanks for informing me! Do you have a source for that information? That way, I can correct this page and provide a source for the correction.
DeleteWell kinda quite late reply, but on this site https://culture.pl/en/article/polish-vampires-bloody-truth-behind-dark-myth after scrolling 6-7 time I found it mentioned in English. ;d
Delete"Some lore nerds maintain that Volkov could be a great-grandfather or older, while others say he's actually the Mad King of Batavia himself (I find this doubtful, since Volkov doesn't seem to have any ghost qualities)."
ReplyDeleteI tried to do a Battle Pass Weekly mission (which is "Win in 2v2 with legends that knew each other before going into Valhalla" in the 9th Week of Season One Battle Pass) with both Caspian and Volkov. For my surprise, it didn't counted as done after a win, so Volkov and Caspian actually never each other in life (or after life, because vampirism). This should nullify the argument that Volkov is the "Mad King of Batavia himself", and I think that this raises the possibility of Volkov being Caspian's great-grandfather. I think we should've expected a greedy behavior in his backstory if he really was Caspian's father.
PS: I managed to complete this mission with Fait and Azoth once, and with Xull and Jhala with another friend. I also tried with Brynn and Sir Roland, but obviously it didn't worked (after all, they would have met only at Valhalla, and not before). I have to say that I loved the way they added lore questions in the middle of the Battle Pass tasks, and I should've tested the mission bit more, with more people.
PS(2): It's me again. I decided to test this same mission with Mirage and Lord Vraxx. It counted as well (so it means that Vraxx and Mirage did met each other before going to Valhalla), so it probably confirms that he is the "One eyed alien" which she stole the Scythe of Horus from.
Delete