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Viago Von Dorna Schmarten Scheden Heimburg is one of the three main protagonists of the 2014 Mockumentary comedy horror film What We do in the Shadows and a guest character in its 2019 spin off TV Series of the same name.
He is an 379 year old Dandy vampire residing in New Zealand alongside his flatmates and fellow vampires Vladislav and Deacon. He is revealed in the What We Do in the Shadows TV series to be a high ranking member of the Worldwide Vampiric Council.
He was portrayed by Taika Waititi, who also played Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok, Adolf Hitler in Jojo Rabbit, IG-11 in The Mandalorian, Ratcatcher in The Suicide Squad, Antwan Hovachelik in Free Guy, and himself in The Simpsons.
History[]
Early Life[]
Viago was born in Germany in the 18th Century and was a dandy prior to becoming a vampire. After being turned into a vampire he fell in love with a woman named Katherine, she had to move to New Zealand however and bidded him goodbye with a silver locket, although wearing it would burn him Viago occasionally briefly wore it to remind himself of her. Soon however he had his familiar Philip send him to New Zealand via boat travel, unfortunately however due to a mistaken address Viago's arrival was delayed by over a year, and by the time he arrived Katherine had moved on and fell in love with another man much to Viago's dismay.
In New Zealand he moved into a flat with fellow vampires Vladislav, Deacon and Petyr.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)[]
Viago became the uptight responsible leader of the flat and would often lecture his flatmates regarding chores and work that needed done, although Vladislav played his part the two were often at odds with Nick and his laziness regarding doing the dishes. When a documentary crew turned up to document their lives Viago was welcoming and friendly in his manner of introducing the crew to himself and the other vampires as well as their pass times, culture etc.
The crew would usually follow Viago on his usual endeavors such as clubbing with Vladislav and Deacon during the night, feasting on and draining humans (particularly women), as well as staring into a now elderly Katherine's window longingly for her love.
Viago and the group requested to Deacon's familiar Jackie that she get them sacrifices who were preferably virgins to feast upon. She does so by offering them two women and a man named Nick, the three set their targets on Nick and chased him out of the house only for Petyr to catach him instead and turn him much to their annoyance. Nick was welcomed into the vampire group although was disliked by them, this was soon remedied by Nick’s best friend Stu who the group all adored, particularly for his introduction to new technology for the group. Stu helped Viago reconnect with his elderly familiar Philip via online chat, the conversation turned south however after the latter brought up Viago's failure to keep his promise to turn him into a vampire.
Shortly afterwards, Nick inadvertently led a vampire hunter into the flat, causing Petyr to be killed, much to the utter distraught of the group especially Vladislav who was comforted by Viago. In the chaos the vampire hunter was killed by debris and landed under a table. A fight broke out between Deacon and Nick which Viago attempted to stop, soon resulting in concerned neighbours calling the police, soon the group was met with the arrival of two police officers named O'Leary and Minogue. Viago successfully hypnotized them into not noticing anything unusual, which resulted in the two pointing out several mundane and ordinary health and safety issues, even merely thinking the dead vampire hunter was just blackout drunk.
Viago and the group then carried out the Procession of Shame upon Nick and banished him from the flat although offered Stu to come back whenever he wanted.
A few months after this the three vampires were invited to the Unholy Masquerade, an event Vladislav was deeply looking forward to up until he had heard who the guest of honour was, that of his ex-lover Pauline, a woman who deeply humilated and traumatised him years prior. As Viago and Deacon prepared to go they advised an ill and stressed Vladislav to stay home and rest. Once there they soon encountered Nick and panicked as he had brought Stu along. The group then tried to hide Stu from Pauline, the guest of honour and others who would want to feed on him. Vladislav soon arrived to confront Pauline shortly before she attempted to attack Stu and the camera crew. Vladislav and Pauline's boyfriend Julian engaged in a battle ending when Stu killed Julian, with a wooden stake. The vampires and camera crew then fled the ball, only to encounter their werewolf rivals. Alhtough Viago and Vladislav meant no trouble Deacon's annoyance and Vladislav's choice to wear a fur coat agitated the pre transformation werewolves long enough to distract them and their leader who was attempting to get them to concentrate on restraining themselves into attacking as the full moon emerged. Although all of the vampires and camera crew successfully fled Stu was nowhere to be seen presumed dead, leaving the vampires devastated.
A while later, Stu reappeared, having been turned into a werewolf, and helped reconcile the flatmates with Nick and the werewolves. Viago then finally gained the confidence to reconnect with Katherine and turned her into vampire so they could be together forever, despite their large age gap in a physical sense for Viago and literal sense for Katherine.
What We Do in the Shadows (2019)[]
After the death of Baron Afanas, the vampires Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja were summoned to the Vampiric Council, of which Viago and his flatmates were members. Viago served to introduce the members of the council. Upon hearing evidence Viago and the others saw enough evidence to have them executed, in spite of this trio evaded their deaths and returned home.
What We Do in the Shadows (2021)[]
After the massacre at the Unholy Masquerade Lazlo, Nandor and Nadja receive a video message featuring Viago telling them that they were impressed by their power and gave them power of the Vampiric Council in that part of the world.
Having done so well in their Vampiric Council duties another recording featuring Viago is delivered inviting Nadja to join the Worldwide Vampiric Council, a position she accepts.
Trivia[]
- Taika Waititi cited his own mother as his main inspiration for his portrayal of Viago.
- The character Nandor in the 2019 series appears to be a counterpart of sorts to Viago.
- Viago is by far the most sensitive and friendly of the three vampires.