Gaius Augustine

Gaius Augustine, a character in the Bloodbound series, is a major figure in the Vampire history and the former King of Vampires. He is the main antagonist of Book 2 and, in a sense, the entire story. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 2.

Appearance
Gaius has chin-length dark brown hair and light blue eyes. He wears a navy cape over a striped suit with a lavender ruff underneath. His eyes turn scarlet when he is in his vampire form.

His appearance changes dramatically as a result of his incarceration; his arms were amputated by the Council as shown in a flashback in Chapter 16 (presumably to prevent him from using his powers as an elder Vampire) and he was imprisoned in the Onyx Sarcophagus in the Musea Sanguis under the supervision of Scholar Jameson. In Book 1's bonus scene, it is revealed that Jameson betrayed the Council, working for Gaius secretly. When Jameson releases him from the Sarcophagus, Gaius appears different. His skin is pale and gray, his eyes are white, and his head is mostly bald.

In Book 2, he wears a black robe and a gold mask. After drinking the blood of the First Vampire in Chapter 6, he transforms back to his youthful and handsome appearance.

Personality
"'The most terrifying thing about Gaius wasn't his capacity for evil... but rather, his ability to make it so tempting. So dark and delicious that you wanted... no, needed... to take part in it.'- Kamilah to Your Character about Gaius in Book 2, Chapter 5."

Gaius is calm and collected, keeping his cool as he speaks with a bemused Adrian and only getting provoked when the latter attacked him. Even afterwards, he speaks with no hostility towards the man whose life he saved, demanding only that he show some gratitude. He is nevertheless merciless as he urged Adrian to quench his bloodthirst by feeding on the nearest human: a lost and dying British soldier. He shows little concern for humans and cares only for his kind, as he did not force Adrian to betray his morals, but rather waited for him to betray them himself. Adrian and Kamilah describe him as awe-inspiring, seductive, charismatic, powerful, brilliant, and cunning. He either instills fear in his subjects (such as Adrian, Kamilah, and the rest of the Council) or adoration (such as from Jameson). In Book 2, Chapter 2, Gaius states that despite their betrayal, he can't bring himself to hate Adrian and Kamilah, going as far as to say that he loves them.

He has a derogatory viewpoint towards humans, seeing them as prey while Vampires are the predators. He views Vampires as gods who shouldn't be forced to hide and wants to create a New World where Vampires are the dominant species. In a flashback in Book 1, Chapter 13, it is revealed that Gaius had planned to wipe out humanity with a biological weapon called The Reaper virus.

Background
His name and his age suggest that he is of Latin heritage. In Book 2, Chapter 1, it is revealed that he is from the 8th century, B.C., and the city-state of Mydiea, which resided in the Mediterranean. In Book 1, Chapter 9, a history book about vampires refers to Gaius as the "Second Son". He is the Vampire who Turned Adrian (Book 1, Chapter 2) and Kamilah (Book 1, Chapter 12). In Chapter 10, it is revealed through a premium flashback that he is more powerful than Adrian, Kamilah, or any of the Council members. In Chapter 14, if you ask Adrian about the First Vampire, Adrian will explain that each succeeding Vampire generation that is Turned is weaker than their maker due to their blood being farther removed from the First Vampire. He explains that his maker (Gaius) was turned by the First Vampire herself, making him almost as powerful as she is. However, she has some abilities that Gaius lacks namely immunity to sunlight and the ability to absorb sunlight to draw power from the sun itself. The portrait fragment in Book 2, Chapter 8, shows that he wanted to start a better world for vampires after a gala he attended was attacked by the Order of Dawn, a secret society of ruthless vampire hunters.

Book 1

 * Chapter 2: The Vampire
 * Chapter 5: The Coffin (Determinant)
 * Chapter 10: The Massacre (Determinant)
 * Chapter 12: The Tribunal (Determinant)
 * Chapter 13: The Dungeon (Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: The Dawn (Determinant)

Bloodbound: Dark Solstice

 * Chapter 1: 'Twas The Night Before Solstice (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 2: He Knows When You're Awake (Determinant)
 * Chapter 4: And To All An Endless Night (Mentioned, Physical Appearance Determinant)

Book 2

 * Chapter 2: The Bloodkeeper
 * Chapter 3: The Collector  (Determinant)
 * Chapter 4: The Collected (Determinant)
 * Chapter 5: The Summons
 * Chapter 6: The Ambush
 * Chapter 8: The Crypts (Determinant)
 * Chapter 9: The Slaughter (Determinant)
 * Chapter 10: The Plan (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 11: The Legend
 * Chapter 13: The Compound (Determinant)
 * Chapter 14: The First (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 15: The Devastation (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 16: The End

Book 3

 * Chapter 1: The Hunger
 * Chapter 2: The Unchained
 * Chapter 3: The Mission
 * Chapter 4: The Return (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 5: The First (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 6: The Legend (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 7: The Bacchanalia (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 8: The Truth
 * Chapter 9: The Five
 * Chapter 10: The Test

Adrian Raines
In Book 1, Chapter 2, Gaius is hinted to have turned Adrian into a vampire in the 1700's. He acted as his mentor, teaching him basic vampire facts such as bloodthirst and superhuman powers. In Book 2, Chapter 2, Adrian states that Gaius liked to give everyone roles to fulfill and his role was Gaius' soldier. Gaius honed Adrian's skill until he became a beast on the battlefield.

British Soldier
In Book 1, Chapter 2, he goaded Adrian into killing this unnamed British Soldier, disregarding his life by claiming that he was going to die anyway. Also, when Adrian hesitated, Gaius told Adrian that things would be different if he was in the soldier's place. The soldier proved Gaius correct and triggered Adrian's vampire instinct to kill him.

Kamilah Sayeed
In Book 1, Chapter 5, he helped Kamilah fight off a mob of angry villagers who wanted to kill her along with Banner Westbrook and Marcel Lafayette. A scene in Book 1, Chapter 13 reveals he met and turned her in a war involving Rome and Egypt, most likely the Last War of the Roman Republic (~32 BCE). In a flashback scene in Book 1, Chapter 10, it is revealed that they were lovers at one point. In Book 2, Chapter 2, she says she was his queen and that she loved him and he loved her.

Banner Westbrook
Banner was one of Gaius's soldiers. Gaius was his creator as he was responsible for Turning Banner into a vampire. But as in Book 1 Chapter 10 flashback scene, he instructed Adrian to kill him due to Banner's disloyalty.

The Baron
The Baron was working as Gaius' bodyguard during the flashback to the 1920s in the fifth portrait fragment. In Book 2, Chapter 2, it is revealed that Gaius was responsible for The Baron's Turning.

Rheya
"'I will love her until the world crumbles around us, until I am nothing but ash. She made me who I am. What I am. Without her, I would be nothing.'- Gaius to Kamilah about Rheya in Book 2, Chapter 11."

A flashback scene of Book 2 revealed that Gaius was the soldier who was tasked to bring the Priestess Rheya to the Caves outside of the ancient city of Medeia where she was forced into exile. Gaius took pity on the priestess and cut her restraints and gave her the knife. In a premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 4, Xenocrates and Gaius pledged loyalty to Rheya when she had become the First Vampire. Rheya then promised eternal life for both. In Book 2, Chapter 6, when he drinks the blood from the vial, he refers to Rheya as his "Goddess". A premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 9, reveals that, while Xenocrates started to have doubts about Rheya and her motives, Gaius didn't question her.

Vlad Tepes
In Book 2, Chapter 10, it is first mentioned by Adrian that Gaius and Vlad Tepes used to get into all kinds of debaucheries. In a premium scene of the following chapter, Adrian also reveals that Vlad was a close disciple of Gaius and one of his first. Through him, Vlad became obsessed of Rheya, the First.

Your Character
In Book 2, Chapter 1, Gaius comes to your apartment and abducts you. In Chapter 2, you do not see his face as it is covered by a mask, but he has Scholar Jameson extract information from your memories as to where the vial of Rheya's blood might be. When you tell your friends that he has returned, you and your friends race to find the vial first but doing so and bringing it back to New York was his plan all along. At the end of Chapter 5, he ambushes you and your friends, and you all manage to escape in Chapter 6. After finding the means to "kill" him -a stake made from the Tree of Life- you and your friends take the fight to him in Chapter 16. You are able to stake him and he transforms into a Tree, but he kills you with Jax's katana. Your love interest Turns you to prevent your "death".

In Book 3, Chapter 8, Gaius shows up freed from the Tree and attacks you and your friends on the plane. You are able to overcome him with your psychic powers, diving into his memories and feelings from long ago, which stun him and give your friends enough time to push him out of the plane. In Chapter 9, you tell Kamilah that you think you saw a glimpse of who Gaius truly is, more like the origin of the monster, the things that twisted and unmade him. You saw a chasm of loneliness, pain, and fear inside of him.

Powers and Abilities

 * Immortality: In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian confirms that he does not age. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Gaius.
 * Super Strength: In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian confirms that he is strong enough to lift a car. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Gaius. In Book 1, Chapter 5, a flashback revealed that he once punched through a Knight's armored chest and removed his still beating heart.
 * Healing Factor: Accelerated healing is an ability that vampires possess that allows them to heal from physical injuries at supernatural speeds. If a vampire uses their blood such as when Adrian was done feeding on Nicole, they can heal the bite mark as well. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Gaius.
 * Heightened Senses: In Book 1, Chapter 6, Lily mentions how she can feel the slightest air currents, how she can even see the tiniest pores in Your Character's skin and can hear the water running through the pipes three stories up... Thus we can assume the same can be said for Gaius.
 * The Mark: Gaius is an elder vampire and is referred to as the "Second son" of the first vampire in Book 1, Chapter 9. This means he is much more powerful than the six council members. For those who have his blood flowing through their veins, Gaius is able to control their bodily movements telekinetically, stopping them in place or mangling their limbs. This is shown in Chapter 10 when he froze Banner Westbrook, preventing him from moving when Banner refused to recognize Gaius as king of the vampires, and again in Chapter 16 when he fought Adrian and the Baron, vampires who bear his mark.
 * Pyrokinesis: Gaius has the ability to conjure blue fire from his hands as seen in a flashback scene in Book 1, Chapter 10. As of now, he is the only seen vampire to wield this ability. Another vampire with this ability is only mentioned in Jameson's notes in Book 2, Chapter 2.

Weaknesses

 * Sunlight: Sunlight is one of a vampire's known weaknesses. As Adrian stated, sunlight hurts his kind, describing it as painful and fatal if exposed to it within a half an hour or so. Its effects to vampires are akin to hypersensitivity or accelerated heatstroke.
 * Decapitation: Dismembering or manually removing the head of a vampire will result in instant and permanent death.
 * Heart Extraction: Removing and subsequently destroying the heart of a vampire will also result in permanent death.
 * Unquenched Bloodlust: When Adrian first became a vampire, he felt the powerful thirst for blood which no amount of water can relieve. In the brief period where he resisted the urge, Adrian experienced severe discomfort whereby he eventually gave in to his instincts. It is unknown yet how long a vampire can remain thirsty or what the extent of pain is when this need is unmet. When vampires don't consume blood for extended periods of time, they tend to give in to their instincts and attack the nearest human nearby in order to suppress their thirst. Newly turned Vampires like Lily are the ones mostly affected by this problem.
 * A Feral's Bite: A bite from a feral vampire is infectious to regular vampires because it can turn them feral too.

Trivia

 * In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian mentions that garlic gives him a minor distaste, rather than kill him. This, in turn, means that it is not a real weakness for vampires as a whole and we can assume Gaius has a similar distaste for it.
 * He bears a resemblance to American actor Billy Zane.
 * Adrian and Kamilah both have the mark of Gaius's brand.
 * If the player collects all six of the portrait fragments, the bonus scene reveals that through Scholar Jameson, Gaius was behind several of the major events throughout Bloodbound, Book 1, thus cementing him as the series' big bad.
 * On April 26, 2019, during the livestream, it was stated that Gaius’s name was originally going to be Gaius Constantine, but they changed it because of the king in The Royal Romance.
 * His crimes include murder, conspiracy, and kidnapping.
 * In a premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 9, in files that Serafine took from The Order of the Dawn, Gaius is referred to as "father of abominations" and called "the greatest evil this world has ever known".
 * In Book 2, Chapter 10, it is revealed that he is bisexual when Adrian mentions that he used to hook up with Dracula.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 14, Xenocrates confirms that he never Turned anyone and that all vampires save himself and Rheya trace their existence back to Gaius.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 16, he is staked in the heart with a branch carved from the Tree of Life. This petrifies him.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 6, Rheya revealed that Gaius is still alive, but trapped in the Tree of Life.
 * It is revealed in Book 3, Chapter 8, that Rheya had freed him from the Tree of Life.
 * It is revealed in a premium scene in Book 3, Chapter 10, that he was originally more compassionate and sympathetic towards humans before Rheya used her mind-control to strip him of his empathy.