The Kindred
- A secret society of vampires
living in the San Francisco region on the supernatural horror
drama KINDRED: THE EMBRACED/FOX/1996. The leader of the
Kindred was Julian Luna (Mark Frankel) a
handsome, reclusive industrialist (born in 1830) who ran an
criminal empire with the
help of other vampires who lived in clans. They paid tribute
to Julian as their Prince. The clans included five groups: The Ventrue
(blue-blooded aristocracy), Nosferatu (savage subterranean
clan), The Toreadors (artists and lovers of creativity), The Brujah
(mobsters), and The Gangrels (rebels, punks, rockers and
bikers),
as well as a The Assamite, a group of
assassins. The leaders of each clan were called Primogens.
Each sat on a counsel ruled by Julian who tried to
balance their way of life against the humans in the city and
maintain the Masquerade of their existence. Julian's mentor
was Archon Raine (Patrick Bauchau), the
former Prince of the City, now the Primogen for The Ventrue
clan. Archon had turned Julian into one of the Kindred in the
1800s after his wife was killed. Julian became Archon's
bodyguard and earned his trust to become one of his top
officers.
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Julian Luna |
Archon Raine |
Traits of the Kindred were many.
They can walk in the daylight (after a good feeding of
blood)), change shape and had the the ability to touch an
object of a dead person and see into their past. When the
Kindred feel strong emotions, their eyes change colors. They
also have the power to remove a memory from a human's mind.
And, can spontaneously heal from most wounds. Their lifespan
can be hundred of years. But they can be killed by a
phosphorus gun. They feed on blood to sate their Hunger and
can turn a human into a Kindred via "The Embrace" by nearly
draining the humans blood and then re-introducing it back into
the human host with a mixture of Kindred blood. The Embrace
requires permission of the Prince. Those ignoring the law were
put to death, if it so pleased the Prince.
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| Frank
Kohanek |
Alexandra
Serris |
Sonny
Soussaint |
Investigating the society of The Kindred was detective Frank Kohanek. (C. Thomas Howell) who learned of their secret order
from Alexandra Serris, a women he had once loved.
Julian Luna had also loved the same woman (she was Julian's
first Embrace) and made her a promise to
protect Frank from harm after she promised to sacrifice her
life for his
safety. She died for revealing the secrets of the Kindred
society to a human.
Despite his initial hatred of the vampires, Franks
accepts the clan of vampires and start to understand that they
have every right to exist in nature along humans (The Kindred
evolved alongside humanity since its earliest existence).
Franks later learns that his own partner, Sonny Toussaint (Erik
King) is one of the Kindred, as well.
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Eddie
Fiori, the Brujah Prinmogen |
Aspiring to take
over the Kindred clans in San Francisco was Eddie Fiori (Brian
Thompson), a ruthless, ambitious vampire with an eye on Julian's throne.
Currently, the Primogen of the Brujah Clan, he runs the unions
and workers around the San Francisco docks. He was "embraced"
by Cyrus, the Prince of Los Angeles.
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Lillie Langtry,
the Toreador Primogen |
Caitlin Byrne, Investigative
Reporter |
Sasha Luna, Julian's great,
great, granddaughter |
Add to the mix, human investigative
reporter, Caitlin Byrne (Kelly Rutherford) for the San
Francisco Times whom Julian found
extremely interesting as well rebellious 18-year-old Sasha
Luna, Julian's last direct human descendant, whom he protects
after the death of her grandfather (Julian's grandson). And,
let us not forget, Julian's consort Lillie Langtry,
the Primogen of the Toreador Clan who wants Julian for her
own. She owns The Haven, a nightclub that is neutral ground
for all the clans (as well as humans) where they can listen to
music, drink and otherwise enjoy the night.
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Daedalus,
the Nosferatu Primogen |
Cash, the Gangrel Primogen |
TRIVIA NOTE: The short-lived series (8
episodes) was based on the book The Masquerade by Mark
Rein-Hagen and the White Wolf role-playing game Vampire:
The Masquerade. In the Middle Ages, vampires were referred
to as "Kindred" and that label
was affixed to
"those" who dared live outside of society's rules.
