Secret File Vol.3 Bio series: Enzo
Welcome everyone to the second round of databook entries for The Dark Rituals Saga. With each release you will get character art, bios, behind the scenes information, character mixtapes and more for free! Much like the original you’ll get to know three characters that are major players in that particular book, but unlike the first you will get each character one at a time as opposed to all together. So, without further ado, enjoy our first entry Vincenzo Abbandonato II! (SPOILERS FOR PART 3 OF HECATOMB OF THE VAMPIRE BELOW. IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY THIS FEATURE TO THE FULLEST, PLEASE READ PARTS 3 AND 4 OF HECATOMB OF THE VAMPIRE.)
Vincenzo “Enzo” Abbandonato II
History - Born in 1919, Vincenzo Abbandonato II grew up sheltered from the outside world in the Montagna region of Italy. While war raged outside, Enzo was at conflict with himself. His family’s wealth and influence was dwindling, and so Enzo’s father, Aldo, commissioned an expedition to the heart of Egypt. In an attempt to compete with the Germans’ foray into the occult, Aldo had his men retrieve an ancient vampire from its resting place. Little did he know, the dreaded cult The Sight of the Third Eye wanted to harness the power of a vampire for similarly nefarious purposes. Enzo was torn between the horror of his father’s actions and his sense of duty and family, and his hesitancy turned him into a monster in his own right. He was mortally injured and turned into a vampire to save his life, and blinded by bloodlust, slew nearly everyone in the castle estate. In the present, The Sight of the Third Eye has awoken Enzo, who set his sights on revenge against the cult that ruined his life. After an initial misunderstanding, Enzo has joined forces with Jahari and Moriko and is now ready to do anything necessary to end The Sight of the Third Eye.
Personality: Grim, driven, impulsive, byronic. Enzo has never had much autonomy in his life and never got used to standing up for himself, so sometimes he defaults one extreme or the other. In his origin story he’s a sickly, gentle, and nervous person, and in his second life’s a man out of time. His natural humility can clash with the entitlement of his family history, but at his core he’s a good person.
Miscellaneous info: Enzo’s two dogs, Beatrice and Vergil are his familiars and were entombed with him in the sarcophagus in the first book. Beatrice appears in Enzo’s art and both dogs appear in the vampire art from the first book. He doesn’t have a favorite color. His favorite food is A negative blood, but before his death it was arancini, rice balls that are stuffed, breaded, and deep fried. He also liked Swiss chocolate. Enzo was named after his grandfather. The ghoul in the basement, Raneiro, is actually his half brother, fathered by Aldo with one of the maids of the castle.
Height: 5’11 (Normal form, but varies when blood starved)
Weight: 190lbs (Vampires are much heavier than they look.)
Hair: Sandy brown
Eyes: Reddish brown but becomes a violent red when feeding, fighting, or using abilities.
Age: 99, physically he’s in his mid 20s.
Birthday: April 15th
Star Sign: Ares
Likes: fables, libraries, math, whittling
Dislikes: hunting, zoos, soldiers
Special skills: dog training
BTS INFORMATION
Vincenzo is a funny character because I wrote him to be an unlikeable character. I have a lot of trouble interacting with indecisive people or people who are not very strong willed, so I created a character I knew I wouldn’t like to challenge the reader and see if they felt sorry for him. Enzo’s story is a complicated one. It boils down to how far is one willing to go for acceptance, for comfort, for “the norm,” even if it means losing oneself in the process. Enzo’s issues generally stem from inaction, and sometimes come from the consequences of his actions. He finds it hard to balance his reactions to situations, and is often times very all or nothing out of frustration or fear. There’s something compelling about a watching the way a person navigates the absolute deconstruction of their norm life and circumstances. He grapples with guilt a lot also, something that might’ve come from me honestly.
The funny thing about all of this is that my mom said he was her favorite character and a few other people really liked him too. I think Enzo fans will be happy with this second book. I became a big fan of him myself because of book 2. I guess you all just have to stay tuned.
Enzo’s nickname comes from the Ferrari guy, I always thought his name sounded cool. Abbandonato was a name I found on a list of common Italian surnames by translation and region, but somehow I doubt it’s very common after all. I’ve googled the surname since and apparently there’s a hockey player who has it, which is cool. It translates to something like “abandoned,” or “neglected,” which seemed fitting. His dogs are named after the characters Virgil and Beatrice from Dante’s Inferno. I chose to make Enzo Italian for two reasons. The first was I took 3 semesters of Italian in college and had enjoyed what I learned so I wanted to use it somehow. The second was Hellboy. The historical fiction in Hellboy had such a profound effect on me; it was so rare to see fantasy do historical fiction, especially in a series that leaning towards horror. I’ve talked about this a little in Jahari’s BTS breakdown, but I’d cooked up this really juvenile series as a teen (14 or 15 maybe) that borrowed so much from Hellboy and Naruto and some other series I like. Most of it was scrapped, but a little bit survives here and there in this saga. I did a lot of research to get to the historical part of Hecatomb, and it was a lot of fun. I feel like it was very creative, and in a way is my homage to Hellboy and his creator, Mike Mignola.
