" 'You mean me harm?' I asked, only to hear the words mockingly obliterated.

'Trickster!' I said sharply, 'Buffoon!'

That word stopped him. Died on his lips even as he was saying it, and his face went hard."

~

"And again came that thought: I have wronged Lestat, I have hated him for all the wrong reasons. I whispered it now, trying to withdraw it from the dark, inarticulate pool of my mind, and the whispering made a scratching sound in the stone vault of the stairs.

But then a voice came softly to me on the air, too faint for mortals: 'How is this so? How did you wrong him?' "

~

"But Santiago, who was watching with his hands behind his back, intervened. 'Crime!' he said. 'Yes, there is a crime. A Crime for which we would hunt another vampire down until we destroyed him. Can you guess what that is?' He glanced from Claudia to me and back again to her masklike face. 'You should know, who are so secretive about the vampire that made you.'

'And why is that?' she asked, her eyes widening ever so slightly, her hands resting still in her lap.

A hush fell over the room, gradually then completely, all those white faces turned to face Santiago as he stood there, one foot forward, his hands clasped behind his back, towering over Claudia. His eyes gleamed as he saw he had the floor. And then he broke away and crept up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. 'Can you guess what that crime is? Didn't your vampire master tell you?'

And drawing me slowly around with those invading familiar hands, he tapped my heart lightly in time with its quickening pace.

'It is the crime that means death to any vampire anywhere who commits it. It is to kill your own kind!' "

Interview with the Vampire ~ Anne Rice

In IV, the vampire who follows Louis through Paris's Latin Quarter when Louis is trying to find others like himself. Santiago is sinister, strong-willed, possessive, territorial, and suspicious of Louis, qualities that provoke Louis into calling him a trickster. In appearance he is tall and gaunt, and has black hair. Dressed in vampire drag - black clothes and a black cape - he mockingly repeats Louis's words and imitates his actions. Annoyed and frustrated, Louis sees this behaviour as a challenge to his presence in Paris. He calls Santiago a buffoon and Santiago attacks, besting Louis until Armand's appearance puts an end to the scuffle.

Louis discovers that Santiago is a member of a vampire coven in Paris that resides in the Theatre of the Vampires. On stage, Santiago plays the part of Death (although it is Armand that initiates the kill). Santiago remains suspicious of Louis and tries to probe him for answers about his origins.

When the coven discovers that Louis and Claudia have broken vampire laws, it is Santiago who leads the coven to capture them. Santiago then orders Louis to be locked into a coffin, where he will starve for eternity. With Armand's assistance, Louis escapes. He then discovers that Claudia has been destroyed and sets fire to the theatre in retaliation. As he is leaving the burning theatre, he has one last confrontation with Santiago. Louis cuts off Santiago's head with a scythe, then leaves the corpse behind to be consumed by the fire.

The Vampire Companion ~ Katherine Ramsland