Is Roose Bolton = Dracula

[Kittykatknits]

What do you think?

I dunno. Does he sparkle? Does he act like a tortured soul whose only wish is to be human again?

[Lala]

I dunno. Does he sparkle? Does he act like a tortured soul whose only wish is to be human again?

Does he creepily stare at sleeping girls? Does he date women a few thousand years younger than him?

[Jamie Lannister]

To be fair, his wife is like thirty years his junior...

[Khal Porno]

Is Wyman Manderly The Blob? Film at 11.

[Kahl Trollo]

Bloodraven is going to get Jaime Lannisters hand ,plug it into a weirwood tree, and use it to send Robert Strong back in time to kill everyone named 'Rhaella'.

[Crowford]

So, what exactly are we trying to discuss here? If Roose Bolton has magical powers that might or might not include immortality?

Or are we seriously discussing if he is a vampire and thus conforms to some arbitrary "rules", like being weak to sunlight or controlling wolves, that some other work of fiction or mythology has set? Because that's a completely meaningless conversation as long as being a vampire and what that entails has not been established in the story. Might as well argue if Hodor is Bigfoot.

But back to the point, I do not think that Roose is immortal. If he is, he hasn't been for long. I doubt that it would be possible to pull the "I am my own son" off, at least not for long. All animosity aside, House Bolton ist still one of the most important Houses in the North, and has been for generations. That would mean that for hundreds of years Roose has married noble women of other houses, killed them after they gave birth to a son (or silenced them in some other way), then killed the sons and let a few decades pass in which neither he himself nor his supposed sons have any contact with the outside world, only to emerge with the news that the old Bolton has died and that the new one would now succeed him. Even if he has a circle of confidantes that support him (and that's a big risk right there), there is no way he can pull this off. Not while ruling the Dreadfort. He has to at least meet with his liege lord from time to time, and there are always people who reach very old age, and those would remember if three generations of Boltons looked exactly the same.

Obviously, that might be coupled with some kind of glamour, but then it makes no sense why he would appear ageless to Theon. If he had the power to adjust his appearance, he would make sure that he always looks exactly the age he is supposed to be right now.

To be honest, I don't think he has any magic powers, though I could imagine that he is using some blood magic to prolong his life - but then I would assume that as of now he is still within his natural lifespan.

[Theda Baratheon]

You have no idea how much I want this to be true.

[Theda Baratheon]

I'm not sure about Roose being a vampire, but Martin puts at least one nod to Bram Stoker in the map of Westeros. The body of water right next to the Neck of Westeros, is called the Bite. And in the Bite are three islands called the Sisters. In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, the three female vampires that live in Dracula's castle, are only referred to as the Sisters.

Also the name of Dracula's castle? Castle Bran.

The name of the ship that brings Dracula to England where it crashes is the Demeter. Demeter is the Greek goddess of the Harvest. The name of the ship that brings Illyrio to Westeros is called the Bountiful Harvest. The Bountiful Harvest also wrecks during Saan's trip around Westeros.

Wow! Cool observations!

How would nobody notice? Does he just withdraw into Dreadfort every 50 years until everyone who recognizes his face is dead?

No, he is clearly a faceless man, when he gets too old, he fakes his death, then kills his heir, steals their face and continues to rule under their identity! That also explains the flaying.

A vampire FM, love this.

I don't know if the concept of "vampire" exists in the ASOIAF world, but I deffinitly think there is some blood magic going on here. No scars/blemishes or even wrinkles on his skin? Deffinitly odd considering every other male in the story who is of fighting age (and some who aren't) have scars/pox marks/deformaties of some kind. And Roose faught in both RR and Wo5K. Maybe his practicing bloodmagic learned form the CotF or from Essos that grants him longlivity, which is why is unconcerned about sireing an heir before Ramsey inheits - he will outlive him.

There is definitely something very unnerving and almost ethereal about Roose, from his agelessness, unblemished skin and whispering voice. Something isn't quite right.

[Mladen]

You have no idea how much I want this to be true.

OH, where is butterbumps when you need her? :). She will do this much better, but, alas, let me try

Since we know Roose uses leeches as medication, and we found this from several ARya chapters in ACOK, and were confirmed later in ADWD, we also have to track his leeches. These leeches, having Roose's blood in them answered to Melisandre's call when she needed royal blood. They traveled through the God's eye, via Trident and later to Blackwter and all the way to Melisandre, so she could use them for woodo magic. In secret arrangement between Melisandre and Roose, foreshadowed by his bloody banner, Melisandre used leeches containing a single drop of Roose's blood to kill the Kings. This all, of course, indicates that Roose's power is supreme than of the King's blood, that served only as dillution to mega-powerful Roose's blood. So, it is safe to say, he is immortal.

[Theda Baratheon]

OH, where is butterbumps when you need her? :). She will do this much better, but, alas, let me try

Since we know Roose uses leeches as medication, and we found this from several ARya chapters in ACOK, and were confirmed later in ADWD, we also have to track his leeches. These leeches, having Roose's blood in them answered to Melisandre's call when she needed royal blood. They traveled through the God's eye, via Trident and later to Blackwter and all the way to Melisandre, so she could use them for woodo magic. In secret arrangement between Melisandre and Roose, foreshadowed by his bloody banner, Melisandre used leeches containing a single drop of Roose's blood to kill the Kings. This all, of course, indicates that Roose's power is supreme than of the King's blood, that served only as dillution to mega-powerful Roose's blood. So, it is safe to say, he is immortal.

LOL. I love it. Of course, of course!!

I'm waiting for him to reveal his ~gothic~ demon wings and to fly away expressionless into the ether when the army invades, leaving Ramsay to be killed.

[Fire Eater]

Dracula is killed by Jonathan Harker; Jonathan being a lengthened version of Jon. It will be Jon who kills Roose, possibly by cutting his throat.

[zaphodbrx]

But back to the point, I do not think that Roose is immortal. If he is, he hasn't been for long. I doubt that it would be possible to pull the "I am my own son" off, at least not for long. All animosity aside, House Bolton ist still one of the most important Houses in the North, and has been for generations. That would mean that for hundreds of years Roose has married noble women of other houses, killed them after they gave birth to a son (or silenced them in some other way), then killed the sons and let a few decades pass in which neither he himself nor his supposed sons have any contact with the outside world, only to emerge with the news that the old Bolton has died and that the new one would now succeed him. Even if he has a circle of confidantes that support him (and that's a big risk right there), there is no way he can pull this off. Not while ruling the Dreadfort. He has to at least meet with his liege lord from time to time, and there are always people who reach very old age, and those would remember if three generations of Boltons looked exactly the same.

Obviously, that might be coupled with some kind of glamour, but then it makes no sense why he would appear ageless to Theon. If he had the power to adjust his appearance, he would make sure that he always looks exactly the age he is supposed to be right now.

To be honest, I don't think he has any magic powers, though I could imagine that he is using some blood magic to prolong his life - but then I would assume that as of now he is still within his natural lifespan.

We don't know the perspective from Roose's side. The idea of flaying skins and wearing them might be to induce small changes in his physical appearance, so that the next generation of Bolton would look different from the previous.

The leeches, weird book burning in Harrenhal, the calm, detached mannerisms.. they all have to lead to something eventually. I think this is the best explanation.

By the way I don't mean a literal vampire as in Bram Stoker's Dracula. More like a supernatural being perhaps connected to the others.

[The Bastard of Summer]

Dracula is killed by Jonathan Harker; Jonathan being a lengthened version of Jon. It will be Jon who kills Roose, possibly by cutting his throat.

I love how you always come in with foreshadowing and random facts. Put them together and we have our solution boys and girls.

[Sweet-N-SourRobin]

GRRM has brought seemingly every other classic monster type into Westeros and given them his own personal twist so as fit them with the lore of his world and make them "his" in a way. To Wit:

Ser Robert Strong is a flesh golem akin to Frankenstein's Monster.

Mirri Maz Dur is a witch of a fashion.

The Stark Kids being skinchangers and having the direwolves as pets/familiars make them very close to Werewolves, and it's no accident that rumors swirl around Robb actually literally being one

Zombies come in several different flavors for your convenience: seemingly mindless shambling hordes in the Wights, and more autonomous revenants such as Beric Dondarrion and Lady Stoneheart. And whatever Melisandre really is.

The Others are the analogue for space aliens.

The Vampire remains curiously absent in the Westeros monster roll call. But we do have the consistent theme of the magical power of blood and sacrifice. "There is power in king's blood." [though there's an awful lot of "kings" running around. Seems more likely there's magic in blood, period, whether the bleeder calls themself a king or is related to a "king" or not.] "Only death can pay for life."

And the not-at-all-suspcious-coincidence pointed out earlier in this thread about "The Bite" being south of "The Neck" on the Westeros map. Or Harrenhal, the cursed "dead" Castle of Westeros being previously held by Lady Lothson (who bathed in the blood of others, just like history's own Lady Bathory, who partially inspired the vampire mythos) and by house Whent, whose sigil was a Bat. It is, of course, Harrenhal where Roose Bolton engages in behavior that rings suspicious for proponents of this theory: the reading and burning of that book. What was he researching, and why didn't he want anyone else to know what it was, or learn what he learned? We already know he is preoccupied with extending his life span by more mundane means (leeches, eating prunes, drinking only hippocras).

Bolton's infamous reputation for being fascinated with brutal torture echoes the aforementioned Vlad The Impaler, even though Roose has selected a different pet torture method (again, Martin making it his own). Vlad, even moreso than Bathory, shapes the classic vampire myth.

If GRRM doesn't intend to unveil Roose as ASOIAF's Vampire Counterpart, he's deliberately skirting close and having a lot of fun with it. :) He sure hasn't been shy about harping how "odd" and "off" Roose is, with his unnatural smooth skin for his age, colorless eyes, and everyone who hangs out with him remarking on how just plain spooky he is.

The burned book at Harrenhal leads me to believe that he's not Immortal yet, but he's trying to become such through sorcery and blood magic. Which, by it's nature in this setting, is going to resemble vampirism (i.e. it's the blood/life of other people that will sustain him).

EDIT: TL;DR version -- not a vampire, but Near Enough As To Make No Matter.

[Corvinus85]

Nope, don't believe it. Roose has gotten himself too involved in the politics of the day, and if this is something he has done all his "immortal" life then people would have remembered him.

[Greymoon]

[King Tyrion VIII]

I don't know about Doran Martell, but Robert Strong is at least loosely based on the concept of Frankenstein's monster, and Robb Stark is a skinchanger, only a few steps away from lycanthropy. Heck, the case for them is much stronger than the Bolton vampire thing:

Clearly werewolf.

The only thing interesting about Bolton is that unlike most true vampires he actively seeks to remove blood from his body rather than consume it.

We witnessed the Red Wedding. Robb did no such thing.

[Nucky Thompson]

How would nobody notice? Does he just withdraw into Dreadfort every 50 years until everyone who recognizes his face is dead?

No, he is clearly a faceless man, when he gets too old, he fakes his death, then kills his heir, steals their face and continues to rule under their identity! That also explains the flaying.

This would explain his amusement with Ramsey - his previous heirs have all served their purpose, but now for a change, he has a real heir, although baseborn, who takes an active part in his dominion over the North. The question is, wouldn't Roose find it unsettling to take the appearance of a bastard? This would make the Bolton line lose some of its prestige - at least in the eyes of the other lords, his smallfolk would be too terrified to object. Perhaps the answer is that he plans to use Ramsey to do his dirty work in the process of subjugating the North, then outlive him and take the place of his next trueborn heir - from Fat Walda, most likely. This would make Roose's speech about not seeing another son grow to adulthood quite literal - he won't see it because he will kill him and take his place... It would also explain his apparent disinterest in Ramsey's mischief - if Roose saw him only as a temporary tool, his behaviour wouldn't be much of a threat to Bolton dominance...

The only thing interesting about Bolton is that unlike most true vampires he actively seeks to remove blood from his body rather than consume it.

An anti-vampire?

[Fire Eater]

Dracula is killed by Jonathan Harker; Jonathan being a lengthened version of Jon. It will be Jon who kills Roose, possibly by cutting his throat.

Or by piercing him in the heart.

[The Dragon King]

This would make Roose's speech about not seeing another son grow to adulthood quite literal - he won't see it because he will kill him and take his place... It would also explain his apparent disinterest in Ramsey's mischief - if Roose saw him only as a temporary tool, his behaviour wouldn't be much of a threat to Bolton dominance

It could be that Roose knows there won't be any men around soon because the Long Night 2.0 is on the way. He's really working for the White Walkers.