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Vladislav the Poker is one 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 862-year-old ex-tyrant vampire residing in New Zealand alongside his flatmates and fellow vampires Viago and Deacon.

He was created by Taika Waitti and Jemaine Clement, being portrayed by the latter who also played Nigel in the Rio franchise, Tamatoa in Moana, Fleshlumpeater in The BFG, and Boris the Animal in Men in Black 3.

History[]

Early Life[]

Not much is known about the life Vladislav lived prior to becoming a vampire, other than he was born in Romania and was turned at the age of sixteen.

Following his transformation Vladislav gained a reputation for being a ruthless, perverted and powerful tyrant who should be feared, only ever known to have been bested by his ex-partner Pauline, who traumatised him so severely that many of his powers had weakened to the point of uselessness and he was no longer seen as threatening.

Sometime in the 20th Century he met Viago, Deacon and Petyr and moved in with them.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)[]

By the time of modern day Vladislav had significantly mellowed down in his endeavours and although respected in the vampire community to some extent was often a laughing stock to the humans of the area and had dropped his more brutal behaviours, merely becoming a slightly rude and arrogant figure, the only thing he maintained was his perversion and kinks.  He would spend his days clubbing alongside Viago and Deacon and searching for humans to feast upon.

After allowing a documentary crew to watch and follow the actions of the everyday lives of he and the others they attempted to feast on a young man named Nick of whom they invited into their home via Deacon's familiar Jackie, to their disappointment however Petyr ambushed the man first.

Begrudgingly Vladislav and the others agreed to allow the freshly transformed Nick to live with them in the flat although quickly found themselves irritated and embarrassed by him especially Deacon. This was somewhat remedied after meeting Nick's best friend Stu however of whom the group instantly adored including Vladislav.

The group were finally tipped over the edge and kicked Nick out of the flat after he told a vampire hunter who he was in a drunken attempt to impress the man, this led to the hunter breaking into their home, killing Petyr and in return getting killed himself. This left Vladislav distraught and enraged at Nick and the group decided to perform the procession of shame upon Nick, although offered Stu to come back any time he wanted.

Sometime later the group were given invitations to the Unholy Masquerade and an excited Vladislav was quickly put into despair after it was revealed that the guest of honor to the event was Pauline. The stress from this resulted in him aging and becoming decrepit rapidly for a brief period of time. Although reluctant to go at first he eventually turned up halfway into the dance and confronted Pauline. After a heated argument he and the others engaged in a battle with Pauline's new boyfriend Julian only for Vladislav to be rescued by Stu stabbing and killing Julian with a stake.

Following their hasty exit from the ball the group encountered their rivals, a group of werewolves and Deacon began agitating them although quickly decided to stop after realizing it was their transformation night. This was futile however as the werewolves got agitated at the sight of Vladislav's fur coat, although their leader attempted to cool them off and make them go back to their tree posts it was too late and the werewolves began transforming. The vampires ran and presumed Stu dead.

The group remained devastated until Stu returned as a werewolf, revealing that he had been transformed into one and was accepted into the group with open arms. Stu's transformation actually created peace between the two groups. Vladislav also got back together with Pauline and the relationship was visibly toxic.

What We Do in The Shadows (2019)[]

Vladislav made a guest appearance alongside Viago and Deacon as a member of The Vampiric Council where the three joined their fellow council members in sentencing the three vampires Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja to death for murdering Baron Afans. The trio evaded their fate however and returned home safely.

What We Do in The Shadows (2020)[]

Vladislav was present at the Unholy Masquerade and hosted the event. He surprised Nandor, Lazlo and Nadja that they were to be executed on stage for their supposed murder of other vampires. He showed their supposed crimes though a dramatic play. When Guillermo intervened and began murdering vampires he turned into a bat and fled the scene.

Trivia[]

• Jemaine Clement cited Gary Oldman's portrayal of Dracula as his inspiration for Vladislav, the character also directly parodies several other vampires in fiction, such as Lestat.
• The character Laszlo in the 2019 series appears to be a counterpart of sorts to Vladislav.
• Vladislav is perhaps the most sinister of the trio.