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This article is about Santiago from the AMC adaptation. You may be looking for Santiago from the novel or film.

Santiago is a main character on the AMC gothic horror drama, Interview with the Vampire. He is portrayed by Ben Daniels.

Santiago, born with the name Francis, was a vampire and the leading actor for the Théâtre des Vampires.

Biography[]

Meeting Louis and Claudia[]

As he would any other night, Santiago headlines the show, flying around the theater, assuring them that a great show awaits. During the last play of the night, Santiago plays Death, who is about to claim his latest victim when the play is seemingly interrupted by a distraught and rope bound woman running on stage pleading for help, crying that the vampires are real and that they're trying to kill her, but the crowd is under the impression that this is merely part of the show. Santiago suggests the possibility of letting Annika go, but someone would have to take her place, though this is merely a trick. Santiago then turns his attention back to Annika, bears his fangs and drinks from her, much to Claudia's amazement and Louis disgust. He then leaves Annika to be fed upon by his fellow coven members, who drag her to the floor and feast upon her body. The play concludes, and they receive applause from the crowd. After the show, he confronts Louis and Claudia for ignoring custom and practice by not introducing themselves when they first arrived in Paris five months ago.[1]

When asked by Claudia how he gets his victims to accept death, he explains that the first thing he does is have a chat with his partner for the night. Muck about in their heads, find their shame. He asks about her life in Chicago before becoming a vampire. Claudia claims that she was in Springfield, selling little trinkets at the train station. She was an orphan, which she and Santiago have in common. Claudia was under the impression that Armand made Santiago after Estelle told her Santiago was the youngest, but he's also the strongest, so she figured he got the best blood, but that is not the case. Santiago's maker lies in the walls downstairs. Armand put him there, though he deserved his death. Later that night, during his performance, he and the coven encourage Armand to deal with Louis, who refuses to join the coven and is drawing too much attention to them.[2]

Staging a mutiny[]

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Santiago breaks into Louis’ apartment

Santiago comes to Claudia's defense as she's being accosted by Armand for her poor performance. She's grown tired of her role, and Santiago feel similarly to her. Armand hasn't noticed because he's only been periodically attending their performances and instead spending time with Louis. He further questions Armand for disciplining Claudia while allowing Louis to run wild. Later, after being attacked at dinner by Louis for accusing him of lying about his origins, Santiago sneaks inside of Louis' apartment whilst Celeste plays look out from outside and Tuan follows Louis to the park, where he meets with Armand. Santiago steals a journal and tells them to meet him back at the theater, with them both referring to him as "Maitre."[3]

Santiago keeps Armand distracted whilst Celeste and Estelle carry out his plan, meeting with Pierre Roget at the firm, where they discover that Lestat has been missing since February 1940. His last known whereabouts were New Orleans, where Santiago suspects Louis is actually from, leading him to conclude that Louis and Claudia killed Lestat. With this information, he takes over the coven and confronts Armand, forcing him to help set a trap for Louis and Claudia so that they may stand trial for their crimes.[4]

Trial at Théâtre des Vampires[]

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Santiago swears Lestat in

Santiago leads the trial against Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine, introducing Lestat as their primary witness to the jury, which is, in actuality, a large group of unsuspecting humans under the impression that they're watching a play. As evidence of their crimes, Santiago has collected Claudia's diaries, which he claims details the alleged premeditation of Lestat's death. After swaying the jury in Lestat's favor throughout the trial, the time has come for sentencing. With Madeleine being nothing more than a bastard fledgling, she is given the option to join the coven, but she chooses Claudia instead. And so both she and Claudia are found guilty and sentenced to death. As for Louis, he too is found guilty, but much to Santiago's displeasure, the jury, through Armand's intervention, decides to banish him. After Louis is taken away, Santiago pulls the curtain and burns Claudia and Madeleine to the point where nothing remains but ashes and the clothes that were on their body, which Santiago makes it a point to recover.[5]

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Santiago is killed

Santiago awakens to discover the theater on fire and most of the coven dead. He escapes through the tunnels but is distraught once he realizes that Estelle and Celeste have died as well. It's only then that Louis makes his presence known. As Louis calls Santiago towards him, Santiago attempts to get under Louis' skin by telling him all the degrading things they allegedly did with Claudia's ashes. Now in Santiago's head, Louis repeatedly refers to him by his birth name of Francis, saying he took the name Santiago to compensate for what God denied him. The joke between his legs and the farm girl Lenora, who couldn't keep quiet about it. Santiago retorts that she only thought it was small because his testicles are so enormous. Louis also knows about the limp applause he got during his initial performances in London. Or perhaps it was the nature of his transformation that made Santiago change his name. The desperate begging, the urine racing down his leg as Santiago desperately tried to take back his wish to be a vampire. Filled with anger and rage, Santiago tacks Louis down whilst traversing the tunnels. He emerges from the sewers and is immediately decapitated by Louis, who wields a machete.[6]

Appearances[]

Season 2[]

Gallery[]

References[]

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