Requiem Vampire Knight 9: Sources of Inspiration

I tend to be inspired by real life people rather than fantasy characters. The vampire Dame Holodomor was inspired by descriptions of Ukrainian history

I’ve often wondered what Olivier’s sources of inspiration for Requiem are. There’s the central character of Requiem himself, who may be visually inspired by Moorcock’s Elric. A couple of years back, Glenat, our publisher, asked Moorcock if he would write an intro to the Requiem series but, unfortunately, he was too busy. Then there’s the aerial city of Pirates on magnificent display in this volume – I have no idea where that might have come from. But the Samurai and Lord Tengu are undoubtedly homage to Lone Wolf and Cub. I haven’t read the manga series, so I based Tengu on an especially garrulous and dominant person I know.

In fact, I tend to be inspired by real life people rather than fantasy characters. Thus, the vampire Dame Holodomor in Requiem 9 was inspired by descriptions of Ukrainian history related to me by Oksana, a West Ukrainian friend of mine. She told me with great passion how ten million Ukrainians were starved to death on the orders of Stalin. That figure and Stalin’s intention is disputed, but undoubtedly millions died and the exact numbers are surely secondary. I had no idea of the extent of this terrible tragedy so I featured it in the opening sequence of Requiem 9. It features FBI chief J Edgar Hoover, who is openly gay in this sequence.

3. Clyde escorts his wife Hoover – holding file - over to the dinner table. The servants have laid out food (and left)

CLYDE: COME AND EAT, EDGAR.

HOOVER: IT’S A BAD BUSINESS, CLYDE. WORSE THAN YOU THINK. AS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, YOU WON’T BE AWARE OF THE EVIDENCE IN THIS FILE.

4.They sit down to eat

HOOVER: IN PARTICULAR, REGARDING THEIR LEADER... ZACHAROV.

CLYDE: HE’S THE COMMIE, RIGHT?

5. Hoover helps himself to food.

HOOVER: WHEN HE WAS ALIVE IN RUSSIA - YES.

(2); ONE OF THE NKVD AGENTS WHO ORGANISED THE HOLODOMOR - THE UKRAINIAN HOLOCAUST. TEN MILLION STARVED TO DEATH ON THE ORDERS OF STALIN.

Oksana felt so strongly about the Holdomor that – at a dinner I attended at the Ukrainian club in London – she stood up and grimly insisted the guests held a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Holodomor.