Lucian (Underworld)

Lucian is a fictional character in the film Underworld. He had a supporting role in Underworld, and later a protagonist role in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. He is primarily portrayed by actor Michael Sheen, while actor Alexander Carroll portrayed him as a teenager on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Background
Lucian was born a slave to an unknown captive werewolf. Born in human form, Lucian's Vampire owner Viktor initially intended to slay the infant, but decided against it when he saw in Lucian the possibility of creating a new race of slaves—a second generation of werewolf, (Lycans)--and raised him as his own personal "pet". First generation werewolves did not change back into human form until death and were little more than rampaging monsters. He was branded with Viktor's mark and rose to become the Lycan ruler (Under Viktor's command).

By the time Lucian matured the Lycans were kept as servants to the Vampires, acting as their guardians during the daylight hours. In return, the vampires locked them up at night, thus ensuring the survival of both bloodlines by not alerting the humans to their presence. Lucian's status within the Lycan slaves was a blacksmith, building weapons and shoeing horses for the vampires. He was continuously at odds with the slave masters (vampires), as he tried to protect his clan. He met Raze, a newly arrived human slave, and the two became close friends.

Lucian met Sonja, the daughter of Viktor when they were children, and the two began an affair after they reached their adulthoods, which led to Sonja later on becoming pregnant with his child. The only people who were aware of their affair before Viktor's discovery were Andreas Tanis, a vampire archivist who swore his silence of their secrecy and would aid Lucian's escape in exchange of Sonja's place within the Council, and Luka, a vampire servant and friend of Sonja. The plan was a success, but led Viktor to suspect Sonja of aiding Lucian which eventually led to the discovery of their affair. After Lucian was captured during a failed attempt to rescue Sonja, Viktor, who feared the blending of the bloodlines that Sonja's pregnancy entailed, had them both imprisoned. He then had Sonja tied up and exposed her to the sun which burned her alive, forcing Lucian to watch. When night fell, the full moon rose and shone down on Lucian, allowing him to change into Lycan form and escape before Viktor could kill him. Before escaping he managed to take Sonja's pendant with him, the sole monumental piece he would ever have of the love of his life. However, he was unable to escape Viktor's fortress's walls, instead being overwhelmed by Death Dealers. Lucian gave a loud cry and feral werewolves responded, attacking the castle and overrunning the vampires. Raze, along with both the first and second generations Lycans, arrive to aid the Lycan leader. Quickly recovered from his injuries due to his werewolf strength, Lucian engages in a battle with Viktor, intending to avenge Sonja and his unborn child. Despite the vampire elder being more powerful, Lucian used the vampire's aversion to sunlight to his advantage and then impales his sword through the vampire's mouth. Viktor fell to a river below but survived because of his regenerative capability as a Vampire Elder. The Lycans took over the vampires' stronghold in the absence of Viktor and the Vampire Council. Lucian knew that despite their victory, some of the vampire elders had survived and the vampire coven would rise again. His war was not over. Lucian later buried Sonja's remains from the chamber.

Accordingly with Lucian's success, the Vampires began to demonise him. Lucian was the "most feared and ruthless leader ever to rule the Lycan clan", according to Selene in the opening of the first movie. Lucian had been a terrible and dangerous Lycan war lord, and the major instigator of the war between the species. Vampiric lore says that he began the war himself almost a millennium ago. However, by the time the movie began, it was believed that the Lycan threat was over, and Lucian himself was dead. According to the historical record The Fall of Lucian and His Army, written by Andreas Tanis: "Of the scores of brave souls who entered Lucian's fortress, a single vampire survived; Kraven, who was richly rewarded for not only setting the great blaze, but for returning with evidence of the Lycan master's demise: the branded skin, cut from Lucian's very arm."

The quotation tells of an incident in 1609, where a brave team of Death Dealers attacked Lucian's stronghold, and a great battle ensued. When the vampires arrived, they were met by a force of Lycans much greater than they had expected. The Death Dealers were easily slaughtered. Kraven, a former Death Dealer, survived because he hid in fear of being killed during the battle. When Lucian found him, he offered him a deal: life, glory, and eventual leadership of both great covens, in return for claiming that Lucian was dead. As Kraven fled back to Ördögház, Lucian burned his fortress to the ground, and escaped into the night.

Underworld
Six centuries passed before anyone began to suspect that Lucian had indeed survived. During this time, Lucian had better control of his abilities, honed his fighting skills, and amassed significant resources in both money and arms. Lucian eventually once again allied with Andreas Tanis, who was exiled because he knew the truth of vampires' and Lycans' origins and what led to their conflicts. Tanis secretly acted as an armourer for Lucian, provided him various prototypes of weapons such as ultra-violet ammunition to aid in the war against the vampires (the ammunition acted as an artificial sunlight that burnt vampires apart from the inside-out), as both men shared a deep hatred of Viktor. In return Lucian provided Tanis with equipment, resources, women and first-generation Werewolves as guard-dogs.

Lucian's obsession with the Corvinus bloodline was later revealed to be a byproduct of his desire to recombine the bloodlines, using a pure sample of the immortality virus, which he believed could be found in the blood of Alexander Corvinus's mortal descendants. Lucian found a dying scientist named Singe sometime after World War I, and offered him immortality in return for cracking the genetic code of the Corvinus line. Lucian periodically sent out Raze, Pierce, Taylor, and Trix - his oldest and most trusted lieutenants - to capture members of the Corvinus family. At one point, Raze and Trix were sent to capture Michael Corvin, but were ambushed by three Death Dealers in the process. Raze kills Nathaniel later in the battle while Trix shoots Rigel. The third, Selene, escaped after killing Trix.

Hearing of Raze's failure, and frustrated by his continuing failures with other members of the Corvinus line, Lucian decided to capture Michael himself. He personally acquires a sample of Michael's blood and infects Michael with the Lycan virus, turning him into a Lycan and imparting his own memories to Michael. Until then, Lucian had appeared (through Selene's distorted, one-sided perspective) to be a vile and evil mastermind bent on the destruction of the coven and obsessed with the Corvinus line. However, as Michael came to terms with the visions he was experiencing, he came to understand the last six centuries from Lucian's point of view.

Despite the fact that Lucian's kind are not entirely civilized, it can be debated that Lucian is not the harsh leader that he seems. Taking into account his past and the concerned manner in which he treats Michael in Singe's lab, he feels Michael's pain. It is said in Underworld by Greg Cox that he did not want harm to befall Michael because he was now a brother Lycan.

Lucian's revenge required Michael Corvin, whom he planned to take both his blood and the blood of a Vampire Elder to turn Lucian into a powerful Hybrid. Lucian sent Pierce and Taylor to abduct Michael, and he sent Raze - and a team of fully transformed Lycans - to bleed Amelia, a Vampire Elder, dry. Before Raze could return with Amelia's blood, Kraven arrived, followed by Viktor and a horde of Death Dealers. Lucian was betrayed by Kraven, who shot him in the back with bullets designed to send silver nitrate straight into the bloodstream.

He regained consciousness several minutes later, just in time to see Michael and Selene together. Understanding how history was repeating itself, he realized that his part was finished. Lucian was almost prepared to accept his fate, until he saw Michael weak and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Lucian crawled on his hands and knees into an alcove behind Kraven. Although he could not reach him in time to stop Kraven from shooting Michael, Lucian stabbed Kraven in the leg and instructed Selene to bite Michael, since it would negate the effects of the silver, and finish his work of blending the two bloodlines. As Selene sank her fangs into Michael, Lucian proclaimed, "You may have killed me cousin, but my will is done regardless." Kraven then shot Lucian in the chest with multiple liquid silver nitrate rounds, killing him. However, Lucian died satisfied, knowing that his wife would be avenged and his aim had been achieved.

His will was fulfilled when Michael was fully transformed into a hybrid and Selene, seeking her own revenge, killed Viktor.

Personality and Traits
Lucian is portrayed as being significantly more sophisticated than his fellow Lycans. He usually makes a point of being polite and rarely gets angry. His calm and cautious demeanour contrasts with other Lycans. His species are not always civilized; an early scene in the first movie shows a pair of Lycans fighting while being cheered on by a group of other Lycans. Lucian berates them for acting like a pack of rabid dogs and it appears his leadership is what keeps them disciplined. Ironically Lucian's former life as a servant to Viktor is probably the reason for his greater sophistication. Even though he is at war with the Vampires, it is revealed in "Underworld" and "Rise of the Lycans" that his main goal was protection of his species and equal treatment from the Vampires.

At times Lucian appears to be quite demanding and reprimands his followers several times. He appears to use the leadership style of never asking anything of his men that he is not prepared to do himself, and as such the Lycans respect his leadership and abilities. When they fail at something he knows he could have done himself he is disappointed. For example, when Trix is killed and Raze fails to retrieve a sample of Michael Corvin's blood, Lucian decides to risk exposure and do it himself, getting the sample and infecting Michael, turning him into a Lycan. He leads by example by using his impressive fighting skills and resourcefulness.

Although he used his Lycan form to great extent in Rise of the Lycans, unlike the other Lycans seen in Underworld, Lucian never transforms while engaged in combat, instead using such technology such as wrist-mounted blades and firearms to engage his enemies. Despite this, by the time of Underworld he is shown to possess an ability never seen in other Lycans: when he is shot with silver bullets he is able to expel them from his body by concentrating on them. Also, although other Lycans died immediately after being shot with the silver nitrate rounds, which released fatal amounts of silver directly into the blood stream, Lucian survived for several minutes until being shot several more times by Kraven. This suggests he is not just an immensely powerful Lycan but also possesses great strength of character and will power.