Mr. Quinlan

Quintus "Quinlan" Sertorius (or Mr. Quinlan) is a main character and ultimately the secondary protagonist of the series. also a member of The Born, a rare vampire/human hybrid (dhampir). Despite being the "son" of the Master, he despises his father intensely, and so serves the three American Ancients as their chief bodyguard and hunter.

History
Around AD 40, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Caligula (AD 37-41), the Master, then only a few centuries old, served as his chief adviser under the name Thrax. In exchange for his counsel, the Emperor supplied Thrax with young women to feed on.

The Master insisted on these women being virgins, but in one "crop," a newly pregnant mother was mistakenly included. The Master sensed this as soon as he stung her, but she took advantage of his surprise to fight him off and escape. The Master demanded that she be hunted down and killed, but the palace guard was thrown into an uproar by Caligula's latest false alarm of assassins in his bedroom. The Master searched for the woman, but was unable to locate her before she bore her child; one of the born.

As a hybrid, this child shared many attributes of the vampire race, but not their vulnerability to sunlight or the blood worms. The physical appearance of the child was slightly different than that of a full Strigoi, as well. As the Master's "son," the child also shared a telepathic link with his father. This telepathic ability made him aware of the Master's whereabouts and actions, but unlike the rest of the Master's strain, he was not subject to his control.

In the Season 3 episode, 'First Born', Quinlan was revealed to be held captive and was exhibited as a feral, human leech in a 58AD Roman freak show. His freedom was purchased by a woman, Ancharia, who was specialized in strigoi lore. She rehabilitated, named, and educated Quinlan. Two years later, the Master tracked them down, forcing Quinlan and Ancharia to evict their current residence, setting off on foot to another location. They stopped to rest in a cave, at which time the Master appeared, trapping them inside and forcing Quinlan to drain his adept foster mother for survival, attempting to cause Quinlan to question his affinity for humanity in regards to his true nature.

Carrying the given name signifying his status as the fifth Born, he became recruited as a gladiator and later served in the Roman legions as Quintus Sertorius''. ''Evidently, over his long history traversing Europe, his name became Gallicized (former Roman territory that become France) into its modern usage, Quinlan, meaning "fit and strong". When they became aware of his existence, The Ancients tried to recruit him, but he wanted no part of their feud with the Master, and instead settled for a life as a farmer. However, this attitude changed after the Master murdered Quinlan's human wife and adopted daughter. Subsequently, Quinlan spent his entire life in search of the Master, seeking to destroy him.

TV Show
Since Vaun wasn't named in the season one, it was presumed that Vaun was Quinlan, as his introduction mirrors that of Quinlan in Book 1. After the first episode of season two, Vaun introduced himself to Setrakian, confirming that the hunter from season one was not Quinlan. At the close of episode 5 of Season 2, "Quick and Painless", Quinlan is revealed as he is flown to New Jersey on a light aircraft, either dispatched or summoned from abroad, following the demise of Vaun. Quinlan is seen being picked up by a human female chauffeur. Quinlan carries a sword with a hilt that is crafted from a femoral bone, but it is not said whether the bone is human or Strigoi.

Quinlan is driven into New York in the back of a food truck, wearing a hood that conceals his non-human features. He immediately meets the Ancients and reminds them of the seventh, the Master, and that they had many opportunities since time immemorial to stop him, but failed to do so. It appears that Quinlan and the Ancients are well-acquainted with one another, given the manner in which Quinlan freely speaks to them. In contrast to the books, where Quinlan shares the reverence of Vaun toward the ancients, he, instead, expresses audacity and exasperation, almost as an equal. He requests the services of the Sun Hunters in the Ancient's employ, so as to handle business during the daylight, sarcastically regarding the possibility that the Ancient's may not even have any left alive. He further states that he felt the Master's presence when the Master was under attack, thus making Quinlan aware of the existence of the humans who dealt with the Master. He adds that he is the only one left from the Born. Quinlan expresses to the Ancients that he is not impressed with New York City, regarding it as a factory. In his view, it lacked the grandeur of the capital cities of Old like Rome, Baghdad, or Constantinople. According to him, this is the reason why the Master chose it, possibly referring to the vast underground networks where he can take refuge during the day.

Quinlan stalks Setrakian and Fet while they are searching for the Master's facility used to create the Feelers. They are spotted by a Stoneheart employee, but Quinlan stepped in and knocked him unconscious before he could radio for assistance.

Setrakian and Fet go down the stairs, where they discover a pile of loam and walking sticks, deducing that the abducted children were actually blind children, now turned Strigoi thrall. Several feelers with broken necks were culled from the herd. Before they can act, they are detected and quickly converged upon by the Feelers. Due to poor lighting and the feelers' accelerated speed, Fet is unable to land a shot upon his quarry. The Feelers sense Quinlan's presence as he emerges from the shadows across the room, at the top of a staircase. As he descends, he draws his sword and easily dispatches several of the Feelers. One of the Feelers had his torso severed, but managed to crawl backwards, only to be stopped by Quinlan's sword. Other Feelers who swarmed him were eliminated by his silver bullet laden Uzi gun.

Quinlan greets Setrakian by addressing him as the "Professor without introduction." He exchanges a few words with him while being held at gun point by Fet, who is visibly disturbed by the Strigoi-hybrid, until Quinlan threatens to tear him in half if he discharges his weapon. They part ways in pursuit of the Master, who is within the confines of the facility. Quinlan leaves. Fet rigs the building with dynamite to trap the Master within it.

Quinlan finds the Master accompanied by Eichhorst, and after a brief exchange of words and the Master's taunts about the murder of his mother, Quinlan charges. However, before he can reach the Master, he is stopped by the falling debris from the roof, caused by Fet's explosion. The Master and Eichhorst use Fet's explosion to their advantage, and escape without harm. Quinlan is enraged, seeing Fet's explosion as a mistake and an obstacle that would merely serve to prolong the fight.

Quinlan reappears when Augustin Elizalde (Gus) tries to convince the Gupta family to abandon their restaurant and leave New York, due to the ever-growing danger and the government's inability to thwart the Strigoi threat. Quinlan is in need of his assistance, but advises that he must learn to let go of things such as love. Gus is reluctant to comply with Quinlan's words, and so draws his sidearm, but is disarmed quickly, making him realize that he does not have much of a choice. Quinlan returns his weapon and reveals his identity and motivation to Gus. Moreover, he states that he was a trainer to Vaun and the other Sun Hunters. He insists that Gus, who is smitten with the Gupta's daughter, can only save her by joining in Quinlan's quest to destroy the Master.

Quinlan tries to obtain the necessary travel papers to allow the Gupta's safe passage to transit the city gates. Gus' attempts to leave the city with the Gupta's fails when Eve, Quinlan's adjutant, appears to grease the palms of the sentry. Thus, Gus has no chance to escape and must stay within New York in Quinlan's employ. Quinlan sends Gus to Riker's Island to free the inmates, where Gus was once incarcerated, with the intention of recruiting more fighters for the cause.

After Gus successfully completes his task, Quinlan tasks him with the procurement of the Occido Lumen. Setrakian will purchase it from Alfonso Creem. Quinlan does not trust Setrakian completely, however, and tells a reluctant Gus to kill Setrakian if he does not hand over the Occido Lumen.

Quinlan is introduced to the felons as the responsible party for their "early release" from prison. He shows his face, which closely resembles the Master's Strigoi, when one of the inmates steps forward, drawing his gun and denouncing him as another monster. Quinlan initially remains calm, but proceeds to move quickly, disarming the aggressor and breaking his neck, killing him. After this display, Quinlan commences a sort of "pep talk" to the remainder of the felons. He emphasizes that he witnessed the death of many people, good and bad, and that each death is the same in its nature. Issues such as race or pedigree do not matter anymore, and that it is, rather, the type of blood that matters: red, or white. According to Quinlan, they can choose to be killed in their fear and hiding, or they can choose to die as warriors. This raises the spirits of the felons, who then decide to join Quinlan's fight against the Master.

Quinlan arrives just in time to foil Eichhorst's attempt to take the Occido Lumen from Setrakian and Fet. The felons open fire and remove Eichhorst's vampires from the board. Quinlan sneaks up to Eichhorst, as the latter is about to enter Fet's truck in pursuit of Setrakian. Quinlan addresses the master directly, who immediately possesses Eichhorst. They taunt one another before Eichhorst flees at a speed that has, until now, only been seen demonstrated by the Master. Quinlan attempts to chase him down, but to no avail.

Gus tracks down Setrakian to compel him to honour his agreement with the Ancients. Quinlan arrives on scene shortly thereafter, but Setrakian refuses to give up the book, revealing Quinlan's true motivation. He calls Quinlan's bluff, stating that he is not convinced of Quinlan's loyalty to the Ancients, and that he only works for them to further his own agenda in destroying the Master, himself. Setrakian offers him an alternative, saying that he wants to study the Occido Lumen and use it as bait, as the master will hunt down anyone who posseses the Lumen. Quinlan agrees and Setrakian and Fet join forces with Quinlan

Quinlan and Setrakian translate the Lumen, but the task proves slow and Quinlan has begun to grow frustrated. He wishes to strike the Master as soon as possible, however Setrakian is adamant about not acting to hastily. He later visits the Ancients and assures the that he is still on their side. He defends his theft of the Lumen by saying he is taking action while the Ancients are not. He later walks in on a conversation between Fet and Setrakian concerning Fet s plan to track down the Master using Navy Seals. Quinlan offers his assistance, but Fet refuses it due to his distrust of Quinlan as he is part Strigoi.

Quinlan encounters Ephraim Goodweather as he comes to the club to meet with Setrakian and Fet. At first sight Eph tries to shot, but Quinlan quickly disarms him. Fet then arrives and defuses the situation. After learning from Setrakian that Ephraim had lost his son and that a friend of theirs had recently died, Quinlan suspect that Eph is up to something. He questions Eph over his visit and point out several holes in his story. Ephraim attempts throw him of but is unsuccessful. Quinlan proceeds to inform him of that he has a keen sense for treachery and it makes him wonder what his true intentions. Quinlan suspicion is later proven true, when he catches Ephraim trying to steal the Lumen. He asks him what the Master offered and Ephraim reveals that he will get his son back for the Lumen. Quinlan then offers Eph the option to work together to use the Lumen to lure out the Master so that he can kill him. Ephraim agrees and together they take the Lumen.

At Fet's loft, Ephraim is questioning whether to trade the Lumen for his son. Quinlan point out that Ephraim is not only doing it for his son but also for revenge. Quinlan states the book will offer them a solution to both of their problems; Eph will have his son back and Quinlan will kill his father. While driving to the exchange site, Ephraim is curious as to how The Master can be Quinlan's father. Quinlan reveals that he was conceived by two humans and his mother was stung by the Master while he was in utero, which caused him to be part Strigoi. Ephraim then proceeds to question how   The Master's death will cause Quinlan's own demise. Quinlan assures him that the mythology is correct and confirms that killing  The Master is a suicide mission for him.

At a store, Ephraim contacts The Master through one of his strigoi minions while Quinlan restrains it. Ephraim demands to make the exchange with The Master himself at Coney Island. The Master agrees to the terms and Quinlan breaks the communication by snapping the strigoi's neck. Quinlan made his entrance to the exchange by firing his Uzi's at  the S.E.A.L:s, turned Strigoi's minions. He tells The Master that after thousands of years hunting it will finally end. Before Quinlan can make his move, four additional Strigoi S.E.A.L:s arrive and open fire on Quinlan. He takes several hits, but is able to fire back and kill one of his attacker. Setrakian and Fet then arrive on scene and disperses Silver grenades at the S.E.A.L:s and The Master. The silver incapacitates The Master long enough for Quinlan to behead him with his remaining strength, he then collapses due to his wounds.

Later that night, Eph removes the bullets from a slumbering Quinlan and sows his wounds together allowing Quinlan to regenerate. During the procedure Eph expresses his dismay towards Quinlan, as he didn't get his son back. When he awakens Setrakian is there and he asks if Quinlan could have been wrong about the Master's death bringing the demise of his strain as it had not happened yet. Quinlan is not certain and both of them are unconvinced so they decide to ask the Ancients. Once at the Ancients, Quinlan informs them that he has slain the master, but they tell him that the master is simply formless and while eventually take a new host. Setrakian tells the Ancients that he saw a crimson worm and the Ancients reveal that since the crimson worm was not killed the master is not dead. A distressed Quinlan the asks what the Crimson worm is and the Ancients explain that the worm is the essence of the Master's being. The realization that the Master still lives because the Ancients had withheld the existence of the crimson worm, enrages Quinlan. It causes him to sever ties with the Ancients and promise that they will never see him again.

A week after severing ties with the Ancients, Quinlan and Setrakian are reading through copied pages of the Occido Lumen. Quinlan takes note of a chapter about Strigoi hunters and tells Setrakian of the similarities between the hunters. Namely, they have a tendency to act alone and seem to be gripped by madness. The two express that it's good that the madness does not apply to them. Quinlan later informs Setrakian of a Egyptian hunter who buried a plague. Setrakian is then reminded of a reference to the seven plagues and it becomes clear that the plague is a reference to the Ancients. Setrakian wonders how the Egyptian buried the plague and Quinlan explains that it does not say how. Setrakian says that there must be some hidden meaning and fetches the Occido Lumen to discern from the real article. They are still unable to decipher the article and Setrakian begins to speculate that elaborate steps were taken to prevent strigoi from reading the book. Setrakian then realizes something and has Quinlan follow him to the roof.

On the roof, Setrakian directs the article against the sun and more text begins to show. (The Lumen could only be read under sunlight to prevent a strigoi from reading it). The new text reveals that the Egyptian hunter trapped the Ancient inside a box lined with silver and lead, thus trapping the Crimson worm inside. Quinlan later asks Setrakian if he believes the Egyptian hunter really trapped an Ancient and Setrakian replies that he does as he had done something similar with a sentient strigoi when he was closest to mad. Quinlan then appreciates the madness as they now know that the answer to defeating the master is imprisonment.

Trivia
Quintus Sertorius is the 5th member of the Born, and, as of the 21st century, is the only one that remains in existence. In his nearly two thousand years of life, he has primarily been a gladiator, defeating every human and every beast that was pitted against him.

As a hybrid, his body is free of blood worms, and so he is incapable of infecting other humans. He shares most other traits of the Strigoi, including the need to drink blood to survive, but retains independent thought and human emotions, such as love. His stinger is also much shorter than common strigoi. Quinlan also retains a human nose, unlike other Strigoi, all of whom lost theirs as they matured.

In comparison to other strigoi, sunlight does not burn Quinlan, but his skin and eyes are still sensitive to it. To operate in sunlight, he covers his skin with hooded clothing, and has previously covered himself in sand. As his eyes are also vulnerable, he requires goggles to see properly in daylight.

Quinlan dons hooded attire to also conceal his less than human features, such as his pointed ears.

His physiology further mirrors the Strigoi as he is shown to bleed the same. This was shown in the flashback to Quinlan as a gladiator in ancient Rome. He calmly participates and parry's the thrust of another gladiator, easily wounding him. He does not show any relish, but, instead, shows disgust when he complies with the wish of the audience to slay the defeated gladiator by slicing his throat.

His age is unknown, but he is speculated to be around 1500-2000 years old.

His participation in the gladiator games was recorded so that even Setrakian was able to identify him, since Quinlan did not bother to introduce himself in the proper sense.

Quinlan's calm demeanor is his most striking feature. He has no need to be aggressive towards other people, for most of his opponents have not been a match to his speed and strength. A human with an automatic gun is no match for Quinlan, since his speed allows him to dodge the bullets, and his physiology can withstand multiple gun wounds. It is unclear what it would take to kill Quinlan, but decapitation probably will kill him just like any other human or Strigoi, except the Ancients. Despite his calmness, Quinlan displays anger and is about to engage the master in a melee when the Master gloats about Quinlan mother's murder (the scene in the TV series implied the Master committed the kill, but it is later revealed that it was not Quinlan's true biological human mother but a woman who took care of him and who possessed knowledge about the strigoi and the Master).

Quinlan has hunted the master for two millennia and possess knowledge about him that is only second to the other Ancients and surpasses the lore Setrakian gathered, which he acknowledges when he encounters Setrakian and Fet when they approach the Master underground lair. He addresses Setrakian as Professor showing deference to him.

Although Quinlan harbors a desire to kill the Master once and for all, he does not show any hatred towards the other Ancients which leaves room to interpretation to the mutuality of their relationship. Quinlan is willing to kill Setrakian if necessary in his quest to hunt the Master for them which shows hints that the millennia of experience has let him grown callous to some degree even when he has not been shown butchering humans so far. His calm and peaceful attitude does not render him hesitant when facing a human that openly threats him as proven when one of the felons Gus freed on his account unwittingly raised his guns and decided that he will kill him since he is just one of them, referring to the strigoi. Quinlan insists on the distinction as he harbor some dislike for vampire kind and the seventh or the master in particular. It is unclear why his hatred does not extend to the other ancients and why he keeps some company with them