Laura (Lords of Shadow)



Laura was the "daughter" of Carmilla, who took her from her true parents and turned into a Vampire many centuries ago. She first meets and challenges Gabriel to a game of supernatural chess, in exchange for passage into Carmilla's castle.

After the defeat of Satan, Laura calls to a distraught Gabriel and enlists his aid against The Forgotten One, a mighty Demon that Gabriel released when he slew The Lords of Shadow, during which time, they develop a strong and deep bond.

Appearance
Laura's appearance is that of a young girl, possessing the pale complexion and crimson-colored irises exclusive to those afflicted with vampirism. Her hair is styled like an eleventh-century noblewoman's, forming two large, vertical curls on the top of her head and braids down either side of her face, hiding her unnatural hair length. She wears a black longcoat with  detached sleeves, pockets to hold silver daggers, and a red dress underneath. She also wears a pair of what seems to be black lace gloves and a choker with a purple gemstone attached to it on a chain. Intersestingly, Laura is barefoot in all of her appearances to date.

Powers and Abilities
Laura is capable of generating lightning in a manner similar to Carmilla. She is able to perfrom a lightning attack consisting of quick, successive shocks called Direct Lightning, a sustained bolt that drains the life force of its target and causes it to explode called Direct Heavy Lightning, and create a concentrated circular burst called Area Lightning. She is able able to activate electrical mechanisms. She uses her magic to create dolls and declares that she can create as many as she wants, and also shows the capacity to feel magical energy.

Laura exposes the ability of levitation, teleport and the transformation into a dark and purple mist with bats inside that screams while she moves. The use of her mist form allows her to pass through gates and avoid attacks, allowing her to become "untouchable", however, she also cannot attack in this form.

Her vampiric powers are very common, like the capacity of regeneration through the drinking of blood. But, she apparently shows some resistance against the sun and holy water, unlike the normal vampires, though she refuses to go into shrines or chapels as vampires are severely weakened when they enter.

Personality
This child-like girl has led many to their death. She is described as a ruthless killer who has murdered hundreds of innocents over many centuries to satiate her blood craving. Although she has the body of a child, she has the cunning and intellect of someone far older and can be cruel to the point where she treats the killing of her victims as a game, but she demonstrates some childish actions and cares about her dolls, as a child would their toys, to the point where she becomes angry if someone destroys one of them. She also has a fondness for games and exposes a little compassion when something reminds her of her past lost life, a time of warmth and comfort, and a woman's voice, singing to her.

She refers to Carmilla as "Mother", or just by her name. In Reverie, she apparently cares about the world. She still declares that she has "no humanity" nor feels love, but also exposes some regrets at being turned into a vampire, to the point where she sacrifices herself to allow Gabriel to survive passage into the dimensional prison and instigate his transformation into a creature of the night. In addition, she shows a degree of tenderness and vulnerability during her time with Gabriel.

Beyond all of that, during the quest, she hesitates to enter into the chapel of the castle.

Background
When Laura was but a young girl, she was taken from her parents by the Vampire Dark Lord Carmilla who turned her into her vampire "daughter." According to her the bloodlust bothered her at first but then she came to like its flavor. Centuries later during Gabriel's journey through Vampire Castle, Laura appears before him, asking him to "play" with her in a deadly variant of chess. After beating her in the game of Vampire Chess, Laura disappears until Gabriel reaches her room in the Chromatic Observatory, where she sets a trio of her Deadly Toys on him. Nearly killed by Laura after destroying the Toys, Gabriel has a conversation with Marie, which Laura witnesses. The display of love causes Laura to have a change of heart, and she spares Gabriel with the words, "I envy you... I envy you both. I don't want to play anymore." before she vanishes into thin air.

After Gabriel has defeated the Lords of Shadow, Laura summons him to the castle. She explains to him how his actions had weakened the bonds holding back the Forgotten One, a powerful demon whom the founders of the Brotherhood had imprisoned within the center the castle. They decide to confront the demon together, and open the entrance to the Brotherhood's fortress beneath the castle.

Laura and Gabriel travel through the ancient castle to gather the blood of the three founders, which will act as the key to open the gate to the Forgotten One's prison. Along their journey, an odd bond of friendship develops between the two, strengthened by their mutual feelings of loss and loneliness. Confronted with the portrait of her mother's human form, Laura reminisces on how her mother had been left with some humanity, unlike herself. The gate to the Forgotten One's dimension is opened, but only dark beings can enter alive. To bypass this, Laura asks Gabriel to drink her blood. Gabriel complies, and Laura begs him to continue until there is nothing left and free her from her eternal torment. Gabriel is reluctant to do this, but ultimately drains her dry, leading to her death and his transformation into a vampire upon stepping through the gate.

After that, the few remains of her were buried by Gabriel (now a vampire, additionally empowered by the demonic essence of the Forgotten One) in a tomb alongside Marie's.

Quotes
''I'll not going into to the chapel. I'll wait here.''

''Don't worry! I can summon as many toys as you need!''

Trivia

 * The opening gameplay of Reverie shows Laura fighting alongside Gabriel in the sunlit hallway before the Game Room without suffering ill effect. This could possibly be an oversight from the developers or indicate that Laura was more powerful than most vampires. If the latter is the case it is possible that Gabriel inherited this power as well.
 * Laura is the only playable character in the Lords of Shadow timeline who is not a Belmont. She is also the only female.
 * Laura's tomb is shown along Marie's in Lords of Shadow 2's E3 Trailer.
 * Like Carmilla, the name of Laura originally belongs to a character of a vampire novel written by Sheridan Le Fanu, "Carmilla." It is narrated by Laura, one of the two main protagonists of the tale. Both Laura and Carmilla had a dream where they met, only for that to occur in reality 12 years later. The lonely Laura longs for a companion and Carmilla stays with her for 3 months. They become close friends, and Carmilla even makes romantic advances toward Laura, who has nightmares of being bit on the chest by a cat-like beast who turns into a womanly figure (Carmilla).