Lestat is the main character in most of the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and narrator of five of them. It's speculated that, in physical appearance at least, he's modeled on Stan Rice, Anne's poet husband. Lestat was Born to Darkness courtesy of Magnus. A self-acknowledged imp, he was responsible for the dissolution of the Paris coven, with which he clashed in his first year as a vampire, thereby earning both the hatred and love of the coven leader, Armand. He was also partly to blame for the awakening of Akasha, in the late 1980s, when he decided to become a rock star and chose as the subject of several of his songs the legend of Those Who Must be Kept. But His story goes much deeper than that, continue on and you will find the beauty and misery that is Lestat de Lioncourt.  

Mortal Life

Lestat, whose full name is Lestat de Lioncourt, was born in a small village in Auvergne (France) in 1760. He was the son of a country marquis. But as he couldn't claim his father's squandered wealth, nor the title meant for his eldest brother, Lestat's destiny seemed already written: he had to spend his life at the family castle, hunting to feed his family. But Lestat always rebelled against the established order. Twice did he tried to run away from the castle, but he was always brought back. His first desire was to take holy orders, to become a monk, but his father opposed this desire and Lestat was forced to come back to the castle. Then, he tried to run away with strolling players and discovered his real vocation: he wanted to be an actor. But his desire was once again thwarted by his family. So he made up his mind to spend his time hunting in his father's land and to kill the packs of wolves wandering in the nearby village. One day, he went with his horse and his dogs to the mountains, and killed a pack of eight wolves. For this act, the villagers showed a certain gratitude to him, and this allowed him to befriend Nicolas, the draper's son. In 1779, they decided to get away from Auvergne and to go to Paris together, where Lestat intended to become an actor and Nicolas a musician. They were both engaged in Renaud's Theater, located on Boulevard du Temple in Paris, where they could work for a while, and live their lives as they wanted. But Lestat's encounter with a strange and pale-complexioned man soon changed his life.

The Devils Road

Shortly after being engaged at Renaud's theater (which would soon become the Theatre of the Vampires run by Armand), Lestat was kidnapped by Magnus, an old vampire who wanted to find an heir before putting an end to his life. Magnus was charmed by Lestat, by his courage and his beauty, and in spite of Lestat's forceful refusal, Magnus forced him to accept his gift, i.e immortality, eternal youth, supernatural strength and powers, but also the unquenchable thirst for blood, the darkness of the night, the loneliness and the doubts. So he turned Lestat into a vampire, without his consent, and then he left him to throw himself in the blaze.

Being immortal, Lestat continues to love mortals and finds them fascinating ; he feels deep emotions towards them (in spite of what Louis says in 'Interview with the Vampire', who regards him more or less as a bloodthirsty beast that cannot feel anything.) 

Of course, it doesn't prevent him from killing people, because he is above all a supernatural being, a bloodthirsty vampire. It leads him to compare the world with a 'Savage Garden' in which only the aesthetic principles are ruling; he sees the world as a jungle, where the weaker is killed by the stronger, where the most beautiful is chosen to the detriment of the least beautiful ; the world is governed by strength and beauty. But because of the love he feels for mortals, he wants to become one of them again: paradoxically, while loving what he is, he is tortured by his vampire state, by his obligation to be evil in order to survive. However, when the opportunity to become mortal again arises, he realizes that he had deluded himself about the mortal condition and that he prefers by far to be a vampire. So, even if he hates himself sometimes, and hates the evil he can do, he loves his vampire state and doesn't want to give it up. Nicknamed 'the Brat Prince' or 'the James Bond of the vampires' by his equals, Lestat remains very impulsive and refuses to submit to the various rules laid down by the likes of him. Lestat has always been wild and never wanted to obey anyone. He always rebelled against the established order: During the first years of his vampire life, he starts by transgressing, without knowing it, the rules laid down by the vampires of the 'Theatre of the Vampires' in Paris, by strolling among mortals, going into churches, and creating a child vampire.

Lestat’s Nature