Cecil Romano IV (alias: The Baron), a character in the Bloodbound series, was a crime lord, a vampire, as well as the leader of Clan Baron. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 4. His real name is not revealed until Book 2, Chapter 2.
Appearance
The Baron has black hair that is graying, a mustache, brown eyes, and tan skin. He wears a white shirt and purple tie underneath a green/gray waistcoat and a vertically striped, purple suit.
Personality
He is said to be extremely sadistic and ruthless. According to Adrian, he is the most powerful crime boss in New York. It is also mentioned that he had once flayed a man alive and sent the skin back to the man's widow simply because the man had insulted The Baron's hat.
Jameson states in his journal entry on him that he detests the Baron and finds him cruel, small-minded and disinterested in intellectual pursuits.
StoryLoom Description
"Cecil Romano IV, AKA The Baron, is a vampire, crime lord, and leader of Clan Baron. Cruel, small-minded, ruthless, and sadistic, he claims to have flayed a man alive only to send the skin back to the man’s widow."[2]
Background
He was a gangster in the 1920's, which was at the height of the Prohibition Era in the United States. According to Adrian, The Baron has his grubby hands on every last bit of organized crime in New York.
When the Pact was formed, he was one of the more powerful vampires in the city. He was given a seat in The Council in order to avoid a war and having him as an enemy.
Chapters
Bloodbound
Book 1
- Chapter 4: The Rebel
- Chapter 5: The Coffin (Mentioned; Determinant)
- Chapter 6: The Senator (Mentioned)
- Chapter 7: The Judgment
- Chapter 9: The Ball
- Chapter 10: The Massacre
- Chapter 11: The Den (Mentioned)
- Chapter 12: The Tribunal
- Chapter 13: The Dungeon
- Chapter 15: The Showdown (Mentioned)
- Chapter 16: The Dawn
Bloodbound: Dark Solstice
- Chapter 1: 'Twas The Night Before Solstice
- Chapter 2: He Knows When You're Awake
- Chapter 3: Silent Night, Unholy Night
- Chapter 4: And To All An Endless Night
Book 2
- Chapter 1: The Calm
- Chapter 5: The Summons
- Chapter 6: The Ambush
Book 3
- Chapter 2: The Unchained (Mentioned)
Bachelorette Party
Bachelorette Party
- Chapter 6: Raising the Stakes (Determinant)
Relationships
Douglas Courette
In Book 1, Chapter 3, it's revealed that the Feral that has attacked Your Character and Adrian had previously been a bartender employed by The Baron.
Your Character
He doesn't like you and tries to have you be kept a prisoner. He also mentions how you are just Adrian's type; being cocky, idealistic and human.
Adam Vega
After the tribunal in Book 1, Chapter 12, The Baron promised Vega his vote on who Clan Raines would belong to after Adrian's death. Although he states that turning on Vega "will have quite the cost", he is willing to do so anyway when a better offer is presented to him by Kamilah. In Book 1, Chapter 15, Vega reveals to Adrian in response to why he has been able to find him at his hideout that he "had The Baron plant a tracker" in Adrian's arm while he was in captivity, "just in case", suggesting the two helped each other out.
Jax Matsuo
The Baron and Jax have an agreement. The Clanless don't steal from the Baron and the Baron looks the other way when they sell the items they stole from the other Clans. In Chapter 10 to 16, he finds out that it was Jax who rescued Your Character and Adrian from his dungeons, he gets mad as he lost a couple of his good men. His hatred is intensified when Jax is taking Vega's place in the Council as he believes it would be the end of the world.
Gaius Augustine
In one of Jameson's journal entries that Your Character finds in Book 2, Chapter 2, it's revealed that Gaius Turned him for practical reasons. He needed enforcers and The Baron gave him control over the entirety of the city's criminal underworld. Even though Gaius had relationships with most of his proteges, it is unclear if their relationship was anything more.[3]
In Chapter 6, when Gaius returns, The Baron grovels to him, apologizing for the coup, blaming his actions on the others and how they tricked him. Gaius doesn't take his apology and kills him by yanking his head clean off his shoulders, effectively decapitating 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 The Baron.
- 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 The Baron.
- Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: As mentioned on loading screens across the whole series, vampires possess increased speed.
- 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 The Baron.
- 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. Taste is also amplified as mentioned in Book 3, Chapter 1: good things tend to taste better and bad things tend to taste foul. Thus we can assume the same can be said for The Baron.
Weaknesses
- Sunlight: Sunlight is one of vampires' weaknesses. As Adrian stated, sunlight does hurt him and can prove fatal after more than thirty minutes of exposure. It's akin to hypersensitivity; overexposure causes, as Adrian describes it, an accelerated heat stroke. This same weakness can be assumed for The Baron.
- 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.
Gallery
Trivia
- The name Cecil is of Latin and Welsh origin and means: Blind (Latin); sixth (Welsh).
- He shares the same name as Cecil from The Princess Swap.
- The surname Romano is of Italian origin and means "roman".
- He shares the same surname with Sally Romano from Mother of the Year.
- 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 The Baron has a similar distaste for it.
- He is the owner of the club, The Shrike.
- As stated by Lily, he has several similarities to the Batman villain, The Penguin; They are both crime lords, they both own a club, and both have thugs that wear Bowler hats.
- On June 29, 2018, in the Instagram livestream, it was confirmed by Andrew that The Baron is the youngest member of the Council.
- The Baron's original name was "The Butcher".
- In a premium scene in Book 2, Chapter 2, it's revealed that his real name is Cecil Romano the Fourth.
- His father was a wealthy merchant.
- He quickly became involved in organized crime and by 1919, was the single most powerful mobster in New York City known by many as The Baron of Brooklyn.
- In Dark Solstice, he argues with Priya and Lester that Eric from "True Blood" is the hottest cinematic vampire.