Larten Crepsley



Larten Crepsley, to whom the protagonist of the Cirque Du Freak/Darren Shan Saga series refers simply as "Mr. Crepsley", was the vampire who blooded Darren Shan in the Darren Shan series. Consequently, he became the mentor to the Vampire Prince, forming a father-son bond between him and the young Prince.

Character History
Throughout the series, several facts about Mr. Crepsley's past are revealed. He was born the fifth child in a poor family in the 1800s, and went to work at the age of eight. He never learned to read or write, but can recognize numbers, certain words, sign his name, and read maps "quite accurately". Although his reason is never revealed, he became Seba Nile's apprentice during his late teen years (between 17 and 20). At first, he was irritated by the customs of vampires, having called the vampire generals "backwards imbeciles", and thought that they should be moving towards the future rather than wallow in the past, but adapted soon enough. He learned to manipulate spiders from Seba and eventually (possibly on Seba's recommendation) found his way to the Cirque Du Freak. After years with the Cirque, he left to journey to Vampire Mountain. During his time there, he won the respect of his peers and quickly became a Vampire General. Years later, they nominated him for the Vampire Prince. Only months from joining the Princes, Larten gave up the title of General and rejoined the Cirque.

Mr. Crepsley, according to the series, had a special mate, Arra Sails, whom he had unable to find any other female vampires to replace her after the vampaneze ambush caused by Kurda Smahlt. This went on to haunt him, as seen in the book Hunters of the Dusk where Evanna gave Mr. Crepsley nine frogs, together forming a picture of the fallen female vampire, to make up for giving him the well-recognized facial scar years ago.

Mr. Crepsley was one of the vampires selected to go and hunt for the Vampaneze Lord besides Darren Shan and Vancha March. In the battle against the supposed Vampaneze Lord, Gannen Harst, and Steve Leopard in the Cavern of Retribution. Mr. Crepsley took over Darren's place to defeat the three vampanezes, putting others first before him as always, which caused all pacts agreed before amongst the two groups to go off. Mr. Crepsley had defeated the Lord, but was then pushed towards his death by Steve into the fiery-stakes pit. His death had been for nothing as Darren later discovered that Steve himself was the true Vampaneze Lord, the vampaneze that Mr. Crepsley had killed had been a decoy.

Mr. Crepsley's soul had been unable to be contacted by Evanna in the Lake of Souls, which the daughter of Desmond Tiny hoped was a sign indicating that he had gone to Paradise.

Mr. Crepsley was among the cherished and idolized characters in the series, thought to be as wise, mature, quick-witted and cunning. He was the one who helped Darren in learning the ways of the vampires besides teaching the Vampire Prince in dealing with his life as a vampire. In the beginning, he seems to be a very cruel character, but quickly becomes likeable.

Powers and Abilities
Like all vampires, Mr. Crepsley has super strength, speed, and endurance. His senses are also vastly improved by his transformation into a vampire. His teeth and nails are much harder than those of any human. He can flit, or move faster than even the eyes of vampires can follow. Larten can heal wounds with his saliva and breathe a gas that can knock its victims unconscious for 30 minutes (longer if the victim is not in good health).

Darren often mentions that Larten has powers that exceed those of normal vampires. He has the vampiric form of telepathy stated in the books, and can control certain animals, such as spiders. Wolves are naturally drawn to a vampire. In Tunnels of Blood he shows Darren his power to dabble with illusions. Up to then, Darren thinks Mr. Crepsley is telekinetic, but the truth is, he is not. He snaps his fingers out of habit and to distract the eye, and then rapidly snatches the object away from where it is. He does it so fast, it is impossible for humans to see, and vampires have to struggle to be able to see him. Trials of Death it is shown that he is exceptionally strong and fast, even for a vampire. In Trials of Death, it is also revealed that he is among the most skilled of vampires at hand-to-hand combat and is most likely considerably better than most with weapons because he nearly became a prince. His other talents include lock picking (by using static electricity he builds up when flitting to force a lock open), playing a flute, and creating illusions.

Relations with Other Characters

 * Darren Shan: Larten has always had pride and confidence in Darren, although Darren initially hated him. Between Tunnels of Blood and Killers of the Dawn, Darren and Larten slowly develop a father-son relationship.


 * Vancha March: Larten and Vancha have a strong mutual respect. It is likely that they are old friends because of the many memories they share.


 * Arra Sails:Larten's ex-mate is still very close to him even after their mating time ended, but they continue to have a somewhat romantic relationship. When Darren questions their relationship, he promptly changes the subject as he is not the forward type to confess to his relationship. Maybe he still had some feelings for her he wouldn't even admit to himself?


 * Gavner Purl: Gavner seems to be Larten's closest friend among the vampires. Although they respect each other, they get endless joy from embarrassing one another, and one will often make insulting jokes about the other.


 * Steve Leonard: Their relationship is one of pure hatred ever since he said Steve's blood was evil and they have both demonstrated that they are willing to die if it means that the enemy will die.

Trivia

 * Mr. Crepsley carries bottled blood taken from corpses in Morgues to use in emergencies.
 * Mr. Crepsley has no nose hairs because he burned them out with a hot rod. (He had told Seba he wanted to be just like him, so his instructor pulled out a hair every time Mr. Crepsley spoke incorrectly. Especially when he used words such as "don't" or "can't" instead of "do not" or cannot") and so his instructor pulled out ear hairs instead although Crepsley refused to tell Darren this as he found it too embarrassing.
 * Mr. Crepsley's reason for leaving before he became a Prince are never specifically stated. Gavner, however, believes he left because he was tired of fighting and killing. Mr. Crepsley also shows a dislike of politics.
 * Mr. Crepsley got his scar from Evanna scratching him with her nail for trying to kiss her (when in one of her beautiful forms) while he was drunk.
 * Mr. Crepsley is the only hunter without a bond to one of the Vampaneze Lord's allies. Vancha had his brother, Gannen, Darren had his former friend Steve. Although they are not official hunters, Alice had her colleague Morgan James and Harkat indirectly caused R.V.'s grudge against Darren, because Harkat was hunting with Darren when their battle began. Arguably Mr. Crepsley's experiences with Steve in the first novel, his bond to Darren, and the mutual hatred he shares with Steve could count as a different connection between himself and the Vampaneze Lord.
 * Mr. Crepsley usually wears red,(his favourite color), especially when he has visitors, as he wants "to look his best for them". (Another characteristic which he shares with Seba Nile)
 * Mr. Crepsley owns some pots and pans which he got from Evanna. They're special, as they can be compressed for safe- keeping when traveling.
 * Mr. Crepsley thinks everyone should know how to cook, and he teaches Darren how to cook a stew.
 * Mr. Crepsley used to "dabble with illusions" he loved doing tricks when he was young, and still likes to practice.
 * Mr. Crepsley does not know how to read or write. He was never taught.

In the Movie
Larten is almost the same as in the books but, there is one major difference. He is currently dating Truska. He also seems to have known Murlough before they fought. He is also said to have helped create the Vampire sedation used on their victim to drink the blood from them.

Larten first appeared on stage at The Cirque du Freak in Darren's home town. There, he supposedly lost Madam Octa and decided to pull a rabbit out of his hat instead. He took Madam Octa out and they sort of danced around the stage, went on his mouth etc.

After the show, Darren went to steal Octa from Crepsley's dressing room. There, Darren saw another vampire, Gavner Purl, come to see Larten and chat about the Vampires and Vampaneze. Steve later turned up and demanded to become a vampire but was said to have bad blood. So, Steve left. Darren finds a secret passage out of the wardrobe he was hiding in and escaped with Octa.

Later, Crepsley appears in Darren's room and then breaks Darren's neck after giving him a potion to put him to sleep and slow his breathing. After Darren wakes up, Crepsley tells Darren to fill in the grave before fighting Murlough at the graveyard. They both escape.

Darren and Larten join up with the Cirque again where he talks to Mr. Tall about Desmond Tiny and his interest in Darren. At the Cirque, Crepsley tries to teach Darren to fight but Darren is too weak.

Later on, Larten comes to Darren's rescue when he finds out Darren has gone to save Rebecca, Annie, Dermot and Angela. Here is when he fights Murlough for the final time and kills him after getting a knife in him but surviving.

Background Information

 * Darren Shan revealed at the Edinburgh Festival that Mr. Crepsley would be the star of a four part mini-series, revealing his life before he met Darren.

Books

 *  (first)
 *  (death)
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Movies

 * Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant