Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans chronicles how werewolf warrior Lucian (Frost/Nixon’s Michael Sheen) broke his chains of bondage and led a revolution against his species’ Vampire enslaver, Viktor (Pirates of the Caribbean’s Bill Nighy). But without Kate Beckinsale around to guide you, how are you to know the monsters without a scorecard? We’re here to help.
First, the vamps:
10 Things You Need to Know about the Vampires
1. They trace their bloodline back to the first immortal and genetic father of the Lycans and Vampires, the sixth-century Hungarian warlord Alexander Corvinus. He survived a plague that killed all other residents in his village and inexplicably left him immortal. He passed on a genetic anomaly, later known as the Corvinus Strain, to two of three sons, including Marcus. Bitten by a bat, Marcus became the first true Vampire.
2. They’re led by three Elders: Marcus, the mysterious princess Amelia and Viktor, a Hungarian general who 1,400 years ago made a deathbed bargain with Marcus to turn him into an immortal in exchange for using his army to capture Marcus’ rampaging Lycan brother, William.
3. The clan is split into two covens: One resides in the Old World, where Viktor and Marcus hibernate, the other in the New World.
4. All possess superhuman strength, speed and senses. They fry to a crisp in sunlight.
5. Vampires are forbidden to feed on human blood. As far back as the 13th century they satisfied their thirst by bleeding dry livestock, though the taste left Viktor so sickened that he often broke his own rule and gorged on human blood. Today, the vampires drink a self-produced synthetic blood that they plan to patent.
6. The tainting of Vampire blood results in the creation of a hybrid. Awoken by the blood of a Lycan scientist, Marcus transforms into a winged, bat-like Vampire Hybrid with the ability to change back to human form at will.
7. Each Elder takes turns to rule the clan, a tradition known as the Chain. “One awake, two asleep, that’s the way of it,” as Viktor describes the order. Only an Elder may conduct the dangerous ceremony of awakening another Elder through the use of their blood — and the memories contained within — to allow for the proper regeneration.
8. Marcus perpetuates the lie that his death would automatically result in the deaths of all Vampires. This fabrication was created and spread to prevent the power-hungry Viktor from plotting to kill Marcus.
9. The Vampires believe that they have all but killed off their Lycan enemy thanks to the tireless efforts of the Death Dealers. Marcus created these elite Vampire warriors from Viktor’s army to hunt down and destroy the Lycans. With the Lycan numbers believed to be dwindling, Death Dealers face an uncertain future and are looked upon by their debauched civilian brethren as relics of a bygone era.
10. The Death Dealers, led by their commander and weapons master Kahn, develop new bullets against the Lycans that, upon impact, release lethal doses of silver nitrate into their target’s bloodstream. Unlike the old silver-tipped bullets, which in some instances a Lycan can force out of their bodies, these new bullets result in certain death. Viktor is so powerful, though, that he can crush a Lycan with his bare hands.
KEEP READING: Now, the Lycans…
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10 Things You Need to Know about the Lycans
1. Like the Vampires, the Lycans can trace their bloodline back to Alexander Corvinus and his son William, Marcus’ twin brother. A bite from a wolf, combined with the Corvinus Strain he received from his father, turned William into the first Lycan.
2. William and those infected from his bites were too savage to change back to their human form. Generation after generation came and went before the Lycans learned to channel their rage, enabling them to transform back and forth.
3. The current generation is able to transform at will, regardless of whether a full moon is out.
4. “We were slaves once, the daylight guardians of the vampire,” Lycan leader Lucian reveals. Rather than hunt down and slaughter all the Lycans who had the ability to transform themselves back to human form, the vampires tried in vain to enslave and train their former enemy to serve as their protector while they were vulnerable during the daylight hours.
5. As with any master-slave relationship, a vampire could not fall in love with a Lycan. Viktor executed his own daughter, Sonja, for carrying Lucian’s child by burning in sunlight. This prompted a grieving Lucian to breaks his bonds and lead the Lycan to rise up against their vampire enslavers, launching a war that has raged for 1,000 years. “I did what was necessary to protect the species,” Viktor justifies.
6. The “abomination” — as Viktor called it — in Sonja’s belly would have been the first birthed Vampire-Lycan hybrid in the two species’ history. Lucian’s plan to inject himself with the blood of Vampire Elder Amelia and pure-born Michael, and transform himself into a hybrid, is partially in honor of the unborn child who died at Viktor’s hands.
7. A werewolf bite would kill a normal person. Not Michael, who as a human descendent of Alexander Corvinus, possesses a latent variation of the Corvinus Strain and takes on Lycan traits. It is believed that no one’s ever survived a bite from both species, though Michael later proves otherwise.
8. A supposedly savage species like the Lycan aren’t afraid to embrace new technology to slay vampires. They even utilize stolen military weapons that fire ultraviolet bullets, effectively harnessing daylight as a weapon against their nocturnal foes.
9. Unlike the Vampires, who display aristocratic traits, the Lycan remain savage beasts — despite their evolving ability to control their transformations.
10. Nor are they above fighting each other for sport, much to Lucian’s concern. “You’re acting like a pack of rabid dogs, and that gentlemen, simply won’t do, not if you expect to defeat the Vampires on their own ground. Not if you expect to survive at all,” Lucian implores.
KEEP READING: The cast & crew on Underworld 3
