The Master Vampire, also known as Caligula, is a key minor villain in the 2014 dark fantasy horror-action film Dracula Untold. He is the world's first vampire who actually gave Vlad Tepes III his own blood to drink in order to become a vampire so he would be able to save Transylvania and his family.
Many years ago, a man known as Caligula went to a dark mountain in Transylvania called the "Broken Tooth Mountain". There, he made a deal with a mysterious and powerful demonic creature. As he sealed the deal, the creature betrayed him as he became an extremely powerful inhuman and fast humanoid creature with shining red eyes and pointed teeth. The man took the alias the Master Vampire and was punished by the creature; doomed to live in the darkness of the Broken Tooth Mountain forever.
Dracula Untold
At the beginning of the film, he first encountered Vlad after he and some of his soldiers entered his lair while looking for an Ottoman scouting party. The vampire kills all of the soldiers, but Vlad injures him with a silver sword and manages to escape.
Later, Vlad received a message from the Turkish Empire messenger that Sultan Mehmed II wishes to enlist 1,000 boys into his army to be trained as Janissaries, including Vlad's son. Having learned about the vampire from a local monk, Vlad returns to the mountain in order to make a deal with him in exchange for saving his family and his land. The vampire offers him some of his blood, which will temporarily give Vlad the powers of a vampire for the next three days. He also warns Vlad that, during this time, he will develop an insatiable thirst for human blood. If he is able to resist this thirst for three days, he will turn back into a human. Otherwise, he will remain a vampire forever, while the Master Vampire will finally be freed from his imprisonment and will one day Vlad to help him against the demon who betrayed. Vlad, after promising him that he will not give in, then drinks his blood and turns into a vampire.
He is not seen again until later on, when Vlad's time as a vampire is almost up. After Vlad's wife, Mirena, is fatally wounded while defending their son, she begs Vlad to drink her blood in order to become a complete vampire, knowing that this is the only way to save their son. While this is going on, the Master Vampire is seen inside, sensing what is about to happen and hoping that Vlad gives in. After Vlad reluctantly agrees and drinks Mirena's blood, the Master Vampire, finally free from his imprisonment, sets out to find the one who betrayed him.
Present Day
Many centuries later, the Master Vampire, now having assumed a more human form, watches as Vlad talks with woman named Mina and follows them, anticipating what he has planned for Dracula in the future and intent on holding Vlad to the deal that was made between them all those years ago, saying, "Let the games begin".
Personality
The Master Vampire is a very manipulative, cunning and malicious individual. Even if he is a monstrous vampire, he is very powerful and manipulative.
He managed to convince Vlad to drink his own blood so he would be able to get out from the mountain and kill the creature who betrayed him. Besides being cunning or manipulative, the Master Vampire is a very malicious being who killed hundreds of thousands of Turkish knights in his caves at the mountain.
Powers and Abilities
As a vampire, the Master had extremely powerful superhuman powers and abilities such as:
Powers
Superhuman Strength: After becoming the vampire he is today, the Master gained extremely powerful strength at superhuman levels.
Superhuman Speed: He can move at very amazing speed, a well-known power of the vampires.
Superhuman Reflexes: Although he is old and ancient, the Master actually had inhuman reflexes.
Superhuman Sight: He can see at very amazing thermical sight which giving him the power to see which individual has blood and who not.
Abilities
Intelligence: The Master is a very intelligent man ,he is smarter and sophisticated than any other human being, possibly much more than Vlad.
Feelings Sense: As he met Vlad for the first time, he asked whether he killed hundreds of innocent people, but when he lied, The Master told him that he knows when he is lying and tells the true answer; thousands.
Manipulation: In some scenes of the film, the Master managed to manipulate Vlad several times.
This was the second time Charles Dance portrayed a vampire. The first time was in Underworld: Awakening (2012).
In the 1993 action comedy fantasy film Last Action Hero, Dance portrayed the film's antagonist, Benedict. As Benedict, he told he would release many cinematic villains, and referenced Dracula in some point. In the film's trailers, we can see that the Master, portrayed by Dance, tells to Vlad that he had been waiting for him and referred to him as "Dracula".
