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Lestat de Lioncourt is a vampire originally from eighteenth century France, and the primary protagonist and point of view character in The Vampire Chronicles. First appearing in Interview with the Vampire in a more villainous supporting role, in subsequent novels he developes into an anti-hero and the series' central figure.
The Vampire Lestat is Lestat's autobiography, following his exploits from his youth as a mortal in France, to his early years as a vampire fledgling. Additionally, Lestat is the main narrator of The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, Blood Canticle, Prince Lestat, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, and Blood Communion. Within the universe of the book series, he is the primary author of The Vampire Chronicles.
Description[]
"I'm six feet tall, which was fairly impressive in the 1780s when I was a young mortal man. It's not bad now. I have thick blond hair, not quite shoulder length, and rather curly, which appears white under fluorescent light. My eyes are gray, but they absorb the colors blue or violet easily from surfaces around them. And I have a fairly short narrow nose, and a mouth that is well shaped but just a little too big for my face. It can look very mean, or extremely generous, my mouth. It always looks sensual. But emotions and attitudes are always reflected in my entire expression. I have a continuously animated face." - The Vampire Lestat
Lestat stands at six feet tall (by his own description), with thick, rather curly blonde hair that appears white under fluorescent lighting. He has grey eyes that can absorb the colors blue or violet from surfaces around them. His nose is fairly short and narrow, while his mouth is well shaped 'though slightly too large for his face.' His skin is deathly white, and like all vampires, he has glazed fingernails which give the impression that they are made of glass. In the modern day, he often wears purple sunglasses to obscure the unnatural luminesce of his eyes. He became a vampire at the age of twenty.
Lestat’s appearance changes slightly throughout the series, first becoming more unnaturally pale following the events of The Queen of the Damned, then burning himself to a dark tan in The Tale of the Body Thief. After the events of Memnoch the Devil, Quinn Blackwood notes in Blackwood Farm that one of Lestat's eyes is slightly larger than the other.
Lestat dresses in an eclectic style, often wearing frock coats, lace, and vintage jewelry alongside more contemporary clothing like jeans in the modern day. In Blackwood Farm, he cheekily refers to himself as a "goth" to Aunt Queen to explain his style of dress.
Personality[]
A bold, enthusiastic, and defiant being, who occasionally delights in his own arrogance and conceited attitude, Lestat carries himself with the aura of richness and entitlement, gaining him the affectionate title "the Brat Prince" from his vampire elders, a title he takes great pleasure in. However, underneath his cheerful façade, he is a tortured soul often preoccupied with existential questions and periods of despair. Lestat often curses his own impulsivity and blames many of his mistakes on his tendency to do things just to see what will happen. In books he narrates, he is described as weeping or crying easily, and he notes his tendency towards frequent, and sometimes inappropriate, laughter. Lestat notes that he is, "good at being what he is."
Lestat is greatly concerned with fashion, taking the time to pause mid-narrative merely to remind the reader what he is wearing, a trait he makes fun of himself for in later books in the series. As a human, he was an actor in Paris, performing primarily in the role of Lelio, a stock character in the Commedia dell'arte, a cheerful and aristocratic romantic who mirrors Lestat's personality. After transforming into a vampire, Lestat originally struggles with his desire to return to performing, as he is incapable of appearing human, but a need to be seen authentically leads him to form the rock band The Vampire Lestat in the 1980s and to return to the stage.
Having been illiterate as a human, after becoming a vampire, Lestat learned how to read first in French and then in English, developing a great love of literature that made him quite the academic with a fondness for colloquialisms. He chooses to write his novels in English and notes that, despite his French accent, he speaks English "like a cross between a boatman and Sam Spade." Many of the terms used to describe vampiric existence throughout the series are coined by Lestat.
Lestat is primarily an atheist, though his relationship with religion changes along with the author's throughout the series. As a young man, he sought to study in a monastery but admits it was not out of any true belief in God, but rather from a desire to learn to read and study. He refers to the world as "the Savage Garden," as he considers the only true laws of the universe to be aesthetic laws, the laws that govern the natural beauty we see all around us on the planet. In Memnoch the Devil, he refers to himself as a sensualist, meaning that he prioritizes the wisdom of subjective experience over abstract ideology.
Originally described by Louis in Interview with the Vampire as vain, cruel, and often hysterical, in The Vampire Lestat, Lestat does not contradict most of Louis's framing of the events in the prior novel, but notes that Louis made assumptions about pieces of the story for which he didn't have the full context, and clarifies that there were more positive times in their relationship which were not included.
Lestat has romantic and sexual relationships with both men and women as a human, and romantic relationships with both male and female characters throughout the series. Lestat quickly falls in love with fellow vampires, humans, and even his victims with an overwhelming emotionality, often very shortly after first meeting them, regardless of their morality or actions towards him.
Tom Cruise as Lestat (in Interview with the Vampire)
Lestat shows concern for the welfare of others, exhibiting a strong altruistic nature at several stages in the series. Upon being made a vampire, he sent large gifts to his family and friends, purchased the theatre where he once worked and settled the debts of his old manager, Renaud. Later, following the murder of his brothers and family in the French Revolution, Lestat stepped forward to care for his ailing father, the only surviving member of his family, despite their hate-filled relationship. Lestat also displays a moral inclination, frequently hunting evildoers instead of feeding on innocent victims, although he does not always abide by this rule.
Biography[]
Early Mortal Life[]
Lestat de Lioncourt was born November 7, 1758, during the reign of Louis XV, in Auvergne, France. He was the youngest of three sons, although his mother had given birth to four other boys and one girl, none of whom survived childhood. Though his father was a Marquis, the family did not have a significant amount of wealth, and being the youngest of three, Lestat was not in line to inherit any significant assets or his father's title.
At the age of twelve, Lestat is sent by his mother, Gabrielle, against his father's wishes, to be educated in a monastery. After he declares his intention to become a priest, his father and brothers have him removed from the monastery, leaving him only literate enough to read and write his own name and a few prayers. At the urging of his mother, he instead develops his skills as a hunter. When Lestat reaches the age of sixteen, a band of travelling Italian actors comes to his village to perform a play about two lovers: Isabella and Lelio. Lestat takes on the part of Lelio and decides to go with the actors, but after several days on the road, he awakens to find his brothers waiting for him and all the actors gone.
When Lestat is twenty, local villagers come to him complaining about wolves in the area. Lestat goes out to kill the wolves with his two mastiffs and mare but quickly discovers that there were more wolves than he anticipated, and the situation quickly spirals out of his control. Though he ultimately kills eight wolves, both of his dogs and his horse are killed in the attempt, and Lestat is shaken by the experience. The people of his village later congratulate him, and he is presented with a cloak made from the hide of the wolves by Nicolas de Lenfent, a friend of his from childhood who has recently returned from Paris, where he was studying the violin. Gabrielle reveals that she is dying and encourages Lestat to start a friendship with Nicolas, who Lestat calls Nicki, and the two become close, spending long nights drinking and talking together. Gabrielle encourages Lestat to leave the village with Nicolas and go to Paris, as she wants to die knowing her son is free.
Lestat gets a job in a theatre in Paris as a backstage assistant. After several months, he is given the chance to go on stage and then offered an ongoing job as a professional actor, due to the audience's initial adoration of him. Lestat becomes popular both with audiences and with critics who describe him as, "the blond-haired rogue who steals the hearts of the ladies in the third and fourth acts." Lestat revels in his life onstage, though becomes disturbed as he begins to notice a mysterious white face in the audience that is continually watching him. One night, Lestat is taken from the bed he shares with Nicki by his mysterious stalker, a vampire named Magnus, and is held prisoner until Magnus decides to make Lestat into a vampire, as his one and only fledgling. Lestat refuses Magnus's demand that he ask to be made a vampire, and instead begs to be allowed to die, ultimately being transformed against his will.
Early Years as a Vampire[]
Immediately after turning Lestat into a vampire, Magnus commits suicide by throwing himself into a fire, leaving Lestat on his own with little knowledge of what he is and the powers he possesses. Despite his initial horror at his transformation, Lestat soon revels in his new powers. Left a large fortune by Magnus, Lestat sends money and gifts to his family and to Nicki, who he avoids so he will not discover Lestat's changed nature, and purchases Renault's, the theater where he used to perform. When he attempts to return to the theater and perform onstage again, he frightens the audience with his supernatural abilities, and decides to shut the theatre down. Lestat hunts the streets of Paris and the surrounding villages while living in the tower where Magnus transformed him, learning as he goes, while occasionally sensing an unknown menacing presence.
Lestat continues this way until his mother, Gabrielle, arrives in Paris, dying from consumption. Knowing he can save his mother from her imminent death, he makes her a vampire like himself, and she becomes his first fledgling. Lestat discovers that he can no longer hear her thoughts, and that in the experience of transforming her, seeing an onslaught of her memories in drinking her blood, he has ceased to view her as his mother and instead sees her primarily as Gabrielle. He instructs Gabrielle in what little he knows about his powers, and teaches her to hunt.
Shortly after Gabrielle's transformation, the presence that has stalked them both attacks them at Magnus's tower on the outskirts of Paris. They manage to fend them off and soon learn that the presence a group of other vampires. Lestat and Gabrielle rest in a church during the day, as the vampires that attacked them appear to fear churches and anything associated with Christianity. When they awake the next night, they hear mortals in the church and use their vampiric abilities to frighten them in order to escape, only to be attacked again by the same vampires when they reach Paris, where they also realize the vampires have taken Nicki. They take shelter in the church of Notre Dame, but their surprise, a vampire from group, young in appearance, enters the church and telepathically tries to convince them to come out. Eventually, the confrontation becomes physical, and Lestat and Gabrielle are thrown out of the church and taken to Les Innocents, a cemetery in Paris where Nicki is being held.
They are labeled by the coven of Satan worshiping vampires, The Children of Satan, as outcasts and blasphemers for not living by their code and for associating with humans. Lestat attempts to convince the coven that their way of life, living under a cemetery and worshiping the Devil, is pointless. When Lestat's reasoning begins to resonate with the other vampires, Armand, the vampire young in appearance who stands as the leader of the coven, counters by questioning Lestat on his beliefs and his lifestyle. The two argue about the nature of evil, humanity, and the purpose of vampiric existence, and Lestat and Gabrielle rescue an Nicki and leave the coven in chaos.
Back at Magnus's tower, Lestat makes Nicki into a vampire, ignoring Gabrielle's warnings and witnessing the true depths of the darkness within Nicki's mind, leaving him disturbed. Nicki refuses to speak and Lestat can no longer hear his thoughts, so in order to try to draw Nicki out of his silence, Lestat goes back to Paris to retrieve Nicki's beloved violin. In Paris, Lestat finds four vampires from Armand's coven who ask for his help, as Armand has been destroying the scattered coven members, and Lestat gives them access to Renault's theater. Lestat goes to Nicki's flat where he does not find the violin, but encounters Armand robotically reading all of the books in the apartment, and Armand begins to taunt him telepathically.
Lestat visits his lawyer, Pierre Roget, and while Gabrielle and Nicki wait outside, Nicki runs away. Lestat and Gabrielle find him at the old theatre, and Lestat finds the violin there, and gives it to Nicki. Nicki begins playing the violin and soon the vampires who Lestat allowed into the theater arrive and begin singing and dancing as Nicki plays the violin. Nicki's music takes a dark and twisted turn, and he declares the theater the "Theatre of the Vampires." Lestat is horrified by the idea, and Nicki tells him that he has always hated him for his noble status and his optimism. Lestat agrees to leave Nicki and the other vampires the theater.
Soon after, while Lestat is attending a ball at the Palais Royale, he sees Armand, who spellbinds him with a mixture or images both comforting and horrifying. The spell is broken when Armand bites and begins drinking from Lestat, and the two fight, Lestat ultimately giving pity to a heavily injured Armand. He takes Armand back to Magnus's tower, and Armand begs Lestat and Gabrielle to allow him to join them and teach him their ways. Lestat and Gabrielle deny him repeatedly and ask him to reveal to them what he knows about vampires and their origins. He eventually telepathically tells them the story of his life, and of his maker, Marius, who lived among humans. Lestat becomes obsessed with the idea of Marius, and Gabrielle convinces Armand to join the other vampires at the theatre to figure out a purpose for himself. Lestat writes the first of his messages to Marius in stone, asking Marius to contact him in some way, and leaves Paris with Gabrielle.
Gabrielle and Lestat travel together for a total of 10 years, leaving messages for Marius, but, soon after leaving Paris, Gabrielle starts leaving Lestat on his own for months at a time. Gabrielle conceals a letter from Paris telling Lestat that his family has all died, save his father who waits for him in New Orleans, and Lestat is furious once he discovers it. In letters from the theater in Paris he learns that Nicki's madness has only become worse, and eventually learns that Nicki has thrown himself into the fire. Lestat receives Nicki's violin, and in Cairo Gabrielle expresses her desire to leave civilization, which Lestat refuses to do. The two separate, and in his despair about the death of his family, Nicki, and the loss of Gabrielle, Lestat buries himself in the earth to starve.
Marius finds Lestat in the earth, allows him to drink his blood to regain his strength, and takes him to a Greek island where he lives. Lestat is in awe of Marius and hears the story of his vampiric transformation, and how he came to be in possession of Those Who Must Be Kept. Marius shows Lestat Akasha and Enkil, Those Who Must Be Kept, the first vampires and rulers of their kind. Akasha and Enkil rest inanimate, appearing as living statues, a sight which horrifies Lestat. Marius has to leave Lestat the next night, and Lestat decides to go to Akasha and Enkil himself to try and wake them by playing the violin, despite Marius' warning not to go into their sanctuary alone. Akasha awakens to the sound of the violin and allows Lestat to drink her blood as she drinks his, until Enkil rouses and attacks Lestat in a jealous rage. Before Enkil crushes Lestat to death, he is saved by Marius, who begs Enkil for mercy and threatens to take Akasha away from him if he doesn't spare Lestat.
Marius tells Lestat to leave the island the next night to give Enkil time to calm down and forget about hurting him. Lestat leaves the island reluctantly and heads for New Orleans to join his dying father.
Arrival in New Orleans[]
Lestat arrives in New Orleans and soon falls in love with Louis de Pointe du Lac, a young plantation owner who reminds Lestat of Nicolas. Lestat makes Louis into a vampire and moves into his plantation house outside of New Orleans along with his dying father. Lestat's father's condition worsens, but Lestat refuses to spend time with him until he is near death, at which point, and at Louis's insistence, he says he forgives his father. Lestat tells Louis to kill his father which Louis does reluctantly. The slaves of the plantation gradually get suspicious and Lestat and Louis are eventually driven away from the plantation. Lestat flees with Louis to the Freniere plantation, after which the two finally move on to New Orleans.
Lestat & Louis in Interview with the Vampire
Lestat finds that Louis has fed on a young girl who he left on the edge of death, and transformers her into a vampire. He names the girl Claudia and declares she will be his and Louis's daughter, binding Louis to stay with him. Lestat, Louis and Claudia remain together for 60 years, until Claudia's unhappiness about Lestat's refusal to answer her questions about vampirism and other interpersonal conflicts create tension. Lestat begins spending time with a young musician, who is eventually revealed to be named Antoine, who he confides in about his troubles with Louis and Claudia, and who he attempts to get Louis to meet. Claudia attempts to kill Lestat, first poisoning him and then slitting his throat, and Claudia and Louis take Lestat to a swamp and dump his body there, unaware that he is still alive.
Lestat manages to get out of the swamp and appears to Antoine, who he turns into a vampire in his damaged and weakened state. Lestat returns to the his flat, and he and Antoine are beaten back by Louis and Claudia, who escape from the house leaving it on fire. Lestat, scarred from both attempts on his life, spends several years hunting in the shadows of New Orleans in his disfigured state, before he ultimately decides to go to Paris to seek help from Armand, whose powerful old blood will speed up his healing. Armand is found in apparent high spirits still in charge of the Theatre, and, after hearing Lestat's story of what happened in New Orleans, where Lestat omits the detail of Claudia's physical age, tells him that Louis and Claudia are still alive and in Paris. Lestat is held captive by the vampires of the theatre, starved, and forced to testify that it was Claudia who attempted to kill him, leading to Claudia's execution by the vampires of the theatre. Armand tells Lestat that Louis has also been killed, and Lestat realizes that Armand never had any intention of helping him. Armand takes Lestat to Magnus's tower and blames him for the destruction of the Children of Satan and his faith and sense of purpose, before throwing Lestat from the tower, shattering is bones.
Two years pass until Lestat is healed enough to return to America. Lestat spends the rest of the nineteenth century alone in a house in New Orleans, feeding on rats. In the 1920's, Armand finds Lestat in New Orleans, and tells him that Louis has left him, revealing to Lestat his original lie about Louis's death. Armand again attempts to spellbind Lestat with illusions of his body and home restored, and offers Lestat his blood if Lestat will only be with him. Lestat denies him and throws him from the roof of the house, and a few months later, in 1929, goes down into the earth to sleep.
Re-emergence in the 20th Century[]
Reawakening from his long sleep in 1984, he comes across a band called Satan's Night Out rehearsing nearby. Lestat explores the new decade, and eventually returns to the band, explaining that he is a vampire and that if they allow him to join, they will find fame and fortune. When he finally gives them his name, he is stunned to find they've already heard of him because of a novel named Interview with the Vampire. Reading the book, Lestat becomes more determined that he must become famous and spread his name across the world. He takes charge of the band and renames it "The Vampire Lestat," which will also be the name of the autobiography he is writing. The band becomes popular based on their album and music videos, and a live concert is scheduled to take place in San Francisco at the Cow Palace on Halloween Night, 1985. The night before the concert, Lestat is reunited with Louis, who begs him not to go ahead with the concert. Louis explains that Lestat has angered many of the other vampires by revealing the secrets of their existence to the entire world, but Lestat dismisses this and decides to go ahead as planned. Louis accompanies Lestat to the concert, which is attended by a sold out crowd of humans and vampires, both friendly and antagonistic, and Lestat hopes that many of the vampires he has lost track of through time have been drawn there. Lestat is ecstatic at the concert, likening it to a religious ritual, divorced from the real evil in the world through art. After the concert ends, vampires start being killed off by an unseen force. Lestat and Louis have to run to escape the crowd at the concert, and are saved by Gabrielle, who drives them away from pursuing vampires, enraged at Lestat. The vampires are destroyed by the unseen force, who Lestat hopes is Marius.
Lestat & Claudia (Interview with the Vampire)
Lestat, Gabrielle and Louis discuss the events back at a safe house outside San Francisco, and both Gabrielle and Louis agree that the force they felt seemed wild and uncivilized, which does not match the description of Marius. Gabrielle and Louis go to rest, and Lestat calls to Marius with his mind. Lestat discovers that Akasha has risen and killed Enkil, trapping Marius, who calls out in distress. Just as the sun rises Akasha, comes to Lestat and takes him away.
Lestat briefly dreams of a set of red haired twins, and awakens to find himself in the castle in France where he was born. Akasha tells him that she has destroyed the majority of all vampires all over the world, but that the vampires he cares for have been spared. Akasha and Lestat exchange large volumes of blood, and she teaches him to use the Sky Gift, or the ability to fly, and the Fire Gift, the ability to light objects on fire with his mind.
Akasha takes Lestat to a temple in the Himalayas where the vampire Azim is worshiped as a god by humans. Akasha kills Azim, and then proceeds to start killing all the men in the temple. She instructs Lestat to join her, and after being initially reluctant, he eventually joins in with the massacre and finds that he enjoys it. Akasha takes him to a war torn village, and then to an island where she slaughters the male population. Akasha explains to him her plan: to destroy 90% of the earth's male human population, creating a society free of war, rape, and violence, where she will be worshiped as a goddess. When Lestat asks why she wants him as her consort, she explains that she sees him as the essence of masculinity, "aggressive, full of hate and recklessness, and endlessly eloquent excuses for violence," which can be beautiful if under her control.
Akasha finally brings Lestat to see the remaining vampires, including those he loves, who have gathered in Sonoma in the home of one of the red-haired twins from Lestat's dream, the vampire Maharet. Akasha asks the vampires to become her avenging angels in her mission, and the gathered vampires, including Lestat, argue for humanity to be allowed to make its own destiny. Akasha refuses to accept this, and the other twin, the lost vampire Mekare, appears and kills her.
Lestat goes with the majority of the remaining vampires to Armand's "Night Island" near Miami. Lestat stays in his room for a month writing the story of The Queen of The Damned. Lestat eventually leaves the island to find Louis, who has returned to New Orleans, and the two reconcile. Lestat flies Louis to the Talamasca offices in London, where he taunts the elderly Superior General David Talbot, and Lestat gives him his phone number.
By 1990, in The Tale of the Body Thief, Lestat is living in New Orleans and hunting in Miami. Lestat becomes distracted by an innocent woman while attempting to hunt an evil doer, and cannot keep himself from killing her. He is given a book by a mysterious figure, who runs off. Overwhelmed with despair about his vampiric nature, Lestat visits David Talbot, who he has become close to, and informs him that he plans to end his life. Despite David's protests, Lestat flies to the Gobi Desert, and lies in the open, hoping to be burned to death by the rising sun. Lestat does not die, and after a few days and nights in the desert, he manages to lift himself into the air and fly to David's home. Lestat is severely burned, and sleeps in David's home until he is almost completely healed and left with a slight tan, which makes him look less inhuman. Lestat realizes he is still being followed by a the mysterious figure, who hands novels and videotapes. David points out that the novels and videotapes are all about the same thing: body switching. Lestat finally catches hold of the man, Raglan James, who explains that he has the power to transfer bodies, and is not in his original body any more. He offers him a deal where Lestat will take possession of Raglan's current human body, and Raglan will get to experience Lestat's vampiric body for a few short days, after which they will trade back, and Raglan will be paid ten million dollars for completing the exchange. After consulting David and Louis, who both advise him against it, Lestat agrees to the deal.
He meets Raglan in Georgetown, and stumbles across a dog who becomes his companion, Mojo. The exchange is completed, and Lestat quickly is unhappy about his mortal form, having to experience human bodily functions, and experiencing the weather. Lestat is helped by a waitress, who agrees to take him home with her, and the two have sex. The encounter begins consensually, but Lestat ultimately proceeds without stopping to put on a condom as the waitress asks, and Lestat realizes immediately afterwards that he has committed rape, and leaves her home apologizing. Lestat is starts experiencing the symptoms of a cold, which gradually worsen. Lestat is taken to hospital, where he deliriously speaks to a hallucination of Claudia, who taunts him for his misfortune. As his condition improves, and meets a nun named Gretchen who has been watching over him, and offers to continue to help him recover at her home after he is released from the hospital. Lestat tells Gretchen about who he is, but she does not believe him, and she tells him about her life. Planning to soon move to a remote area to run an orphanage, Gretchen asks Lestat to take her virginity, so she will know what she is giving up by more fully committing to her vocation. Afterwards, Lestat decides to find a way to become a vampire again, as Raglan has run off with his body and not returned, and Gretchen commits to returning to her vocation.
Lestat returns to New Orleans with Mojo and goes to Louis, who initially attacks him, not recognizing him in Raglan's body. Louis refuses Lestat's plea to turn his human body into a vampire, and Lestat burns down Louis's home in retaliation. Lestat finds David, and the two conspire to get Lestat's body back. David teaches Lestat how to take possession of another person's body, and Lestat unsuccessfully attempts to seduce David. They manage to track Lestat's body to a cruise ship where Lestat confronts Raglan James and pushes him out of the body just before sunrise. Lestat awakens the next night to find David waiting for him, and David tells him that Raglan James is now gone. David asks to be turned into a vampire, something Lestat had previously offered to him, and which David had originally turned down. Lestat drinks David's blood, only to discover that it isn't David at all, but Raglan James in David's body. Lestat, in a deep rage, kills him Raglan, also killing David's original body. Some time passes, and Lestat eventually finds the real David in the human body he had previously possessed hiding in Barbados.
Lestat in the narration informs the reader that if they do not stop reading at this point, they may come to find they will regret that they hadn't. Lestat finds David, happy with the opportunity his younger body offers, and tells him he was wrong to doubt Lestat's assertions about his own evil nature. Lestat tells David he intends to turn him into a vampire against his will, and drains him of blood in a drawn out, violent, elongated process, while David begs him to stop, finally telling Lestat he loves him as his heart slows. Lestat forces his blood first into David with a kiss, eventually passing as much of it as possible into David. When Lestat begins to recover, David is concerned for Lestat, and Lestat offers to teach him to hunt for human blood, which David refuses, leaving Lestat alone. Lestat returns to New Orleans a few nights later to see Louis, and finds David waiting for him. David forgives Lestat for turning him, suggesting that Lestat knew, on some level, that the love between them would allow David to forgive. David suggests that he, Louis and Lestat should travel together, and the three leave for Rio as companions.
Between the events of The Tale of the Body Thief and Memnoch the Devil, as later revealed in Prince Lestat, Lestat meets a group of vampire scientists and participates in an experiment that allows him to have intercourse with a human woman, Dr. Flannery Gilman, while in his vampire body. Lestat does not discover until twenty years later that the experiment resulted in a pregnancy, and the birth of his biological son, Viktor, who is raised by his mother and the vampires Fareed Bhansali and Seth. In 1995, Lestat saves a girl named Rose from an an earthquake in the Mediterranean, and she becomes his ward, though he disappears from her life leaving her with guardians for years at a time.
In Memnoch the Devil, Lestat kills a criminal called Roger, only to be met by the man's ghost, who tells him the story of his life and asks Lestat to look after his daughter, Dora. Lestat contacts Dora, a religious television personality, and tells her of her father's passing. He is stalked by a mysterious being, who reveals himself to be the devil, who goes by the name Memnoch, and offers Lestat a role as his assistant. Memnoch claims his function as the ruler of Hell is to redeem evil souls so they can go to heaven. He takes Lestat to Heaven, back in time to ancient Earth to see the evolution of life, and to the time of the crucifixion, and tells him the story of how he came into conflict with God. Seeing Christ on the road, Lestat briefly drinks his blood, and is overwhelmed with visions of a holy light. Lestat ends up holding the Veil of Veronica, a holy relic used by Christ to wipe his face, leaving a bloody imprint of his likeness. Lestat is finally taken to hell, where he refuses to be part of God and Memnoch's design for humanity, and frantically calls out to the souls of Nicki and Claudia, who do not answer. Attempting to flee Hell, a soul rips out Lestat's eye. Back on earth, he returns to Dora's apartment, where he left David and Armand to watch over her, and tells them the story of what he has seen. When they are shown the veil, Dora and Armand are overcome with religious certainty, and Dora reveals the veil to the world while Armand steps into the sun, killing himself. Lestat watches as a religious fervour overtakes humanity, and returns to a chapel he is gifted by Dora in New Orleans, uncertain what to make of what he's seen. Memnoch mails Lestat his missing eye back, and he becomes more unstable, and Maharet restrains Lestat with chains made from her hair. After returning to his right mind, Lestat wanders the streets of New Orleans briefly.
Catatonic State and Reawakening[]
Lestat takes to resting on the chapel floor in a catatonic state. No one, not even his mother Gabrielle, can rouse him. Ancient vampires gather to protect him from younger vampires, who, having read The Vampire Chronicles, are seeking him out for his powerful blood. Armand returns to New Orleans, having survived his suicide attempt. Armand drinks Lestat's blood and whilst Lestat himself doesn't respond, something pushes Armand away. Lestat is eventually awakened by Sybelle, Armand's companion, playing piano. Lestat helps Armand rid New Orleans of the young reckless vampires before returning to sleep. Most vampires leave, and only Lestat, Louis and David remain in New Orleans. Lestat remains primarily unconscious, while sometimes Louis reads to him, or plays music to him on a CD player in the chapel. Lestat also sometimes sleeps at the flat in the Rue Royale, where David and Louis live. Lestat is eventually awakened properly to heal Louis after his suicide attempt. Lestat heals Louis with the help of David and Louis' new fledgling, Merrick Mayfair. Lestat receives a letter asking that Merrick and David be returned to the Talamasca, and Lestat refuses, leaving New Orleans with his new coven.
In Blackwood Farm, Lestat returns to his flat in New Orleans one night, finding a vampire, Quinn, feeding on a Talamasca member, Stirling Oliver. Lestat pulls Quinn away and warns Stirling Oliver and all other members of the Talamasca to stay away from the vampires. When Stirling leaves, Lestat turns his attention to Quinn, a young vampire who broke into his home. Quinn explains that he is seeking Lestat's help with a spirit who has followed him since birth, but who has recently become violent towards him.
Lestat takes Quinn hunting, where they kill two women. Lestat witnesses something invisible, the spirit Goblin, drain Quinn of the blood he had just taken from the women. Lestat goes with Quinn to Blackwood Manor, and Lestat meets Quinn's Aunt Queen, an elderly women with a fixation with cameos who Lestat is instantly affectionate towards. Lestat listens to the story of Quinn's life and falls in love with him, calling him "Little Brother," and agrees to try to help him with the spirit. Aunt Queen is murdered by Goblin, and Lestat seeks the help of Merrick Mayfair, who he parted ways with at some point prior. Lestat and Merrick return to Quinn and attend the funeral of Aunt Queen, which is held at night. The same night they confront Quinn's mother, who admits that Quinn was born with a twin and the ghost of that twin is the spirit who has been haunting him.
Merrick and Quinn take part in a ceremony involving the dead twins corpse to get rid of the spirit Goblin. Merrick throws herself into a fire with the corpse, getting rid of the spirit but also killing herself. Mona Mayfair, Quinn's terminally ill love, arrives at Blackwood Farm, intending to die there, and Lestat transforms her into a vampire on Quinn's behalf.
In Blood Canticle, Lestat tries to educate Quinn and his new fledgling Mona about vampirism, but finds himself clashing with the strong willed Mona. Lestat is conflicted between his desire to become good, which he expresses as a fantasy where he becomes a saint, and his vampiric nature and the actions of his past as he encounters vampires who look up to him. Lestat encounters ghosts, and finds he is able to help them pass into the light and leave earth. He attempts to hide the change to Mona from her guardians Rowan Mayfair and Michael Curry, and finds himself drawn to Rowan. After Mona reveals her vampiric nature to Rowan and Michael, Lestat hears the story of the Taltos, and offers to try to find Mona's lost Taltos daughter. Lestat is able to find the location of the Taltos with Maharet's assistance, but discovers it has been overtaken by drug dealers, and most of the Taltos have been killed. After recovering the remaining Taltos and taking them to Mayfair Medical Center, Mona and Quinn leave Lestat to be educated by Maharet, leaving Lestat alone.
Rowan finds Lestat at Blackwood Farm, and they express their desire for each other. Rowan begs Lestat to turn her into a vampire, and he rejects her, claiming her work at Mayfair Medical and her role in her family is too important. The two part ways, Lestat reassuring Rowan that he loves her and that one day he will give her the Dark Gift.
The Prince Lestat Series[]
Between Blood Canticle and Prince Lestat, Lestat wanders the world avoiding other vampires, occasionally watching Armand and Louis from afar, and oversees the restoration of his childhood home in Auvergne. By the beginning of Prince Lestat, The Vampire Chronicles published in-universe have made Lestat a celebrity amongst vampires, and Lestat repeatly rejects calls for him to step into a leadership role. He begins hearing a Voice speaking to him, and learns that The Voice is also speaking with other vampires, making them wipe out large portions of the vampire population. The Voice is eventually revealed to be Amel, the spirit that inhabits the Queen of the Damned (originally Akasha, now Mekare), who has become restless in the body of Mekare, and who seeks to find a new host. After a failed attempt by Amel to transfer into the body of Rhoshamandes, Mekare willingly offers for Lestat to consume her brain, making him the new host of the Sacred Core. Lestat accepts a leadership role amongst the remaining vampires, but rejects any title comperable to the Queen of the Damned, instead accepting the title of Prince Lestat, a play on his nickname as "the Brat Prince." Lestat also reunites with his ward Rose and meets his biological son Viktor, and makes arrangements for the two to be transformed into vampires by Marius and Pandora. When Rose's transformation goes awry, Lestat steps into assist, becoming her Maker.
In Prince Lestat and The Realms of Atlantis, Lestat has set up a Vampire Court at his childhood home, the Chateau de Lioncourt, and is closely protected as the holder of the Sacred Core. Lestat, having briefly reunited with Louis at the end of Prince Lestat, asks Louis return with him to the chateau in France as his companion and confidante, and Louis becomes his consort. During the conflict between the vampires and the replimoids, Lestat struggles with his leadership role, rejecting warnings about the replimoid's possible ill-intentions. Louis and Dr. Fareed develop a plan to disconnect all vampires from the Sacred Core, which is successful, but leaves the spirit of Amel in Lestat's body. Lestat is later kidnapped and knocked out by the replimoids, who manage to separate Amel from Lestat's body, and give him an artificial body of his own.
In Blood Communion, Lestat continues to struggle with his role as the leader of the vampires, and his occasional disgust with his fellow blood drinkers. Lestat chooses not to punish Marius for murdering the vampire Arjun, and comes into conflict with his advisors for refusing to act against Rhoshamandes for the murder of Maharet, and for refusing to move against the replimoids, who are increasing their population. Lestat is disgusted by the vampire Benedict's request to be destroyed and consumed by younger vampires, but allows the ceremony to proceed. Because of Lestat's presumed involvement with the death of his lover Benedict, Rhoshamandes kidnaps Louis, Gabrielle, and Marius from the Chateau, and Lestat assumes the three have been killed. Lestat offers to go with Rhoshamandes willingly to stop any further death, but uses the element of surprise to fight against and destroy him, bringing Rhoshamandes pulverized remains back to the Court to be consumed by the court.
After Louis, Gabrielle, and Marius are found alive buried in the countryside, Lestat holds a grand ball at the Chateau, finally fully accepting his role as a leader, and concluding that his recognition and love amongst the tribe of vampires has finally redeemed the loss of his mortal life.
In Adaptations[]
In the film Interview With the Vampire, Lestat was portrayed by Tom Cruise. Initially, Anne Rice was displeased when she heard of his casting, but after seeing the film made a complete reversal and proclaimed that Tom Cruise captured Lestat perfectly.
In the film Queen of the Damned, Lestat was played by Stuart Townsend. The film was very loosely based on the novel, omitting central elements of the plot which brought on negative reactions from author Anne Rice and fans of The Queen of the Damned novel.
Lestat was portrayed by Hugh Panaro in Lestat the Musical, and by Sam Reid in the 2022 AMC television series Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
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