Warning: This contains spoilers for The Case Study of Vanitas
The corruption of true names and the ringleader of the Parade of Charlatan is not Vanitas, Vampire of the Blue Moon, like everyone believes. That honor goes to Naenia, a shadowy figure who, for reasons unknown, desires nothing more than to defile the true names of vampires. Thisboogeyman figureserves as the main antagonist in TheCase Study of Vanitas.
She hunts down vampires and haunt them, torturing them with visions, fears, and nightmares, until they give her their true name. Naenia takes their name and corrupts it, turning them into a curse bearer, a violent, bloodthirsty creature who will stop at nothing in order to kill everyone around them, similar to an akuma inD. Gray Man. She had followed Lord Ruthven during the war with the humans, and stalked Chloe d’Apchier after she and Jeanne parted ways. She had successfully tortured the true name out of Amelia Ruth, Louis de Sade, but Jean-Jaques gave his to her willingly in order to become stronger. Most of Naenia’s victims die at the hands of a Bourreau, putting them out of their misery and keeping other safe. It is only with the appearance of ahuman called Vanitasthat Naenia’s victims have some form of hope.
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Naenia, Leader of the Parade of Charlatan
Naenia’s appearance as being of pure shadow with red eyes and a twisted opaque smile match her monstrosity perfectly. She appears to have the ability to appear anywhere and interact with different people at the same time. Only the golden claws and bracelet on her right hand give a clue to Naenia’s true identity Queen Faustina, thefirst vampire of the Crimson Moon.
Not much is known about the vampire queen other than her incredible strength. Her power is so immense that no vampire of the crimson moon can disobey her. The only reason she is not currently ruling Altus is because she somehow became a curse bearer. Whether that was directly because of the Vampire of the Blue Moon or not, it seemed Queen Faustina could tell she was succumbing and so ordered two of her retainers, the Beastia Loki Oriflamme and Veronica de Sade, to kill her. The first vampire’s strength was too great, and the Beastias failed, the two of them only being able todestroy Faustina’s body. Her blackened, rotting corpse is kept in her room, tucked in bed, and the queen’s current condition is kept under wraps by the vampire senate, specifically Lord Ruthven.
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Even with her body decimated, Faustina became a curse bearer anyway. Her malnomen bears the name Naenia, the one and only of its kind. While Noe has fought her many times, Naenia has only ever been damaged by Chloe d’Apchier. Chloe already hated Naenia for stalking her for years, but it was only when Naenia took Jean-Jaques true name that Chloe decided to kill her. Chloe finished a machine called the Alteration Device based on her family’s research of the World Formula in order to solidify Naenia’s existence, to bring that shadow into the light. She succeeded, but by giving Naenia a physical body, Chloe accidently reminded Naenia of her true idenity as the vampire queen.
Queen Faustina, Awoken
Once awoken, Naenia took back Faustina’sappearance which bears a startling similarityto Luna, the Vampire of the Blue Moon. They share inverted colors, a bit like Vanitas and Noe, and the same long hair. The connection between the two is unknown as well as how Faustina became a curse bearer. Once the Alteration Device was turned off, Faustina’s visage faded away into the darkness, and Naenia laughed, leaving to go find more true names.
With her origins and goals unknown, Naenia works as the villain the viewers don’t see, almost like Michael Myers in her ability to appear and disappear. She could be anywhere at any moment, and currently there is no way to defeat her.Vanitas has not tried to heal Queen Faustina’s malnomeneither because he can’t or he doesn’t want to. He may only be able to heal her by finding her physical body, like with the kidnapped vampire in Dr. Moreau’s lab, and so he does not have access to heal her.
Vanitas is aware that the queen is being hidden away by the senate and so maybe biding his time before he defeats Naenia completely, another anticipated showdown to look forward to in TheCase Study of Vanitas.
