The Uber Lycan, Quint, in Underworld Awakening is super powerful as a result of the experiments conducted on Selene's family, the hybrids, Michael and Eve. Quint possessed immunity to silver, instant healing, and increased vastly in size after transformation...
That was possibly what Lucian and Raze had always strived to achieve in Underworld 1. They wanted to create a hybrid for study, and thereby enhance themselves. I don't think they actually wanted to TURN THEMSELVES into hybrids.
Gotta say, I'm not as much of a fan of the new one. But from what I remember, the lycans in it were much more about "lycan purity" (in an ironic echo to the previous vampire purity) than Lucian and his followers were. They distilled the desired traits but they wanted to remain lycans. Lucian just wanted enough power to gain revenge.
I think if any thought was put into the motivations of the new lycans it was to show that they're really not that different from vampires after all, and immortals on top can still be racist dicks, regardless of what flavor they are.
Lucian on the other hand was much more accepting. And I think if someone had offered both choices and explained them to him he would've picked hybrid because that's what his unborn child would've been.
For example, wikia writers consider Selene a hybrid as well! No, she became an ENHANCED VAMPIRE after drinking Alexander's blood, just like Quint was an ENHANCED LYCAN.
Eh, semantics. Selene can be called a vampire/pure immortal hybrid. "Enhanced" is a better fit for Quint because, well he is.
Remember the syringe containing Amelia's blood? That was meant for Michael. I believe Michael would be way more powerful than he is now, had he been injected with Amelia's blood instead of being bitten by Selene.
No, that was meant for Lucian. Lucian kidnapped Michael, extracted some of his blood and injected it into himself. This gave him the pure strain needed to support hybridization. He was waiting for Raze to return so he could inject himself and become a hybrid. Remember, that was the edge he thought he'd need to take down Viktor. Why would he trust a random person he kidnapped to pursue his agenda? Only when he was done for did he tell Selene to bite Michael, both to spite Viktor and Kraven and because he saw in them the potential to succeed and be happy where he and Sonja had failed. Really, the three of them should've had more scenes together, especially given Selene's stated resemblance to Sonja.
Otherwise you seem to assume that the Corvinus strain can only mutate once, either to bat or wolf and beyond that cannot work. But if this is true, hybrids wouldn't be possible at all. Between Lucian and Sonja's unborn child and Michael, we see that the different strains can combine, provided the host has the right genetic makeup to survive the procedure. Both Marcus and William have the right genetic makeup because they are original Corvinus descendants. Both vampire and werewolf bites are supposed to be lethal in most cases- this is something that's overlooked in the later films but stated outright by Selene in the first movie. So most people just wouldn't be able to take the shock of having not one, but two deadly viruses attacking their bodies (and vying for dominance). But the essence of the Corvinus strain is adaptability for the host's benefit. That's what started all this in the first place. So yeah, it makes sense that all Corvinus descendants with that gene would be able to make the best of any infection.
So why didn't he transform all this time? The covenant of the vampire coven must have included masquerade from the human world. After the establishment of the vampire coven, Markus' vampire bat form might have been forbidden by Viktor.
If Marcus could change at will all this time he would never have put up with Viktor's shenanigans in the first place. He might not have even needed Viktor's army to track down and contain William his way. In Underworld: Evolution, Marcus shrugs off SMG fire and pointblank shotgun rounds to the chest. Nothing they had in the 5th century would've touched him, not before he shredded any would be attackers, Viktor included. And Viktor would hold back at any rate because he believed the lie that killing Marcus would kill them all. Finally, every other case of immortals turning humans, be they vamp or wolf, has the new immortals having all the powers and traits of their makers, if not their strength levels. Werewolves/lycans all get the same ability to change forms, vamps get the same glowy eyes and fangs. If Marcus always had a bat form, why doesn't anyone else, especially the Elders who he turned himself? The only logical answer is he didn't have this power, it's a result of hybridization.
We really need another Underworld prequel that further explores the origins of both immortal races! I would name the movie "Underworld: Origins". I would love to see more Markus, Viktor, Amelia!
Agreed, particularly about Amelia. We know nothing about her. Damn shame.
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UnderworldRocks
8 years ago
Didn't like Underworld Awakening? Pity. That film is one of my favourites, along with Underworld 1 & 2.
Back to the main topic, the key issue is how the Corvinus strain mutates. Like I said, there needs to be more backstories.
Here is what I have always believed after watching the films:
Corvinus strain + bat virus = the original vampire (Markus)
Corvinus strain + wolf virus = the original werewolf (William)
The original vampire virus + human body = vampire (Viktor, who was turned by Markus)
The original werewolf virus + human body = werewolf (beings that could not transform back to human form until death.)
Vampire + human body = vampire (Viktor's army)
Werewolf + human body = werewolf (still savage beast, unable to take human form until death)
Later, lycans evolved out of werewolves with the advent of Lucian (the original lycan).
Lycan virus + human body = lycan (Raze)
Vampire virus + Lycan virus + human body with dormant Corvinus strain = vampire lycan hybrid (Michael)
Another way of Hybridization is through birth, for example, Sonja and Lucian's unborn child, and Eve. This is beyond the scope of the topic.
I hope that answers why Markus was bat like, whereas Viktor wasn't. Simply put, Viktor had a human body to begin with. The original vampire takes Corvinus strain and bat bites to create. The event of Markus being infected by bat alters the Corvinus virus and creates vampire virus. When the vampire virus is applied to a human body, the condition is totally different. The human bodies get transformed by the vampire virus, but they don't resemble their sire, Markus.
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UnderworldRocks
8 years ago
What also interests me is this question: what would happen if the bat that bit Markus had bitten Alexander the founding father instead? Would Alexander have changed into a vampire?
My hypothesis is: No. After Alexander bonded with the plague virus that made him the first Immortal, he became truly impervious. In fact, he became more than impervious. His blood was so powerful that it could significantly influence Selene, enhancing her, endowing her with the power of evolution.
Years after the plague, Alexander Corvinus lay with a human lady and gave birth to the twins, who inherited the Corvinus strain. However, Markus and William, were not exactly like their father genetically, because their DNA was a mixture of Alexander's and their HUMAN mother's.
It was the human part that made Alexander's children volatile and susceptible to the influences of bat and wolf viruses. Therefore, Markus and William, not as impervious as Alexander, became the blood leaders of vampires and werewolves.
Corvinus strain + bat virus = the original vampire
Corvinus strain + bat virus = the original werewolf
It should be noted that after these events, Markus and William became impervious.
After the combination reaction, they became the Vampire and the Werewolf; the compounds were no longer volatile, because the unstable features had been erased. It was human DNA that could be easily influenced. Had Alexander's third child been bitten by a bat or wolf, he wouldn't have been able to "walk the lonely road of mortality as a human".
Yes, the Corvinus strain mutates only once. You say this is not true, "Between Lucian and Sonja's unborn child and Michael, we see that the different strains can combine, provided the host has the right genetic make up to survive the procedure."
But it is important to remember that hybrid by birth is extremely rare, in Sonja's own words, "a miracle". We do not yet know the exact condition for hybrids to be conceived, but in the prequel it was the union of a pure blood vampire and a pure blood lycan. In the case of Selene's family, it was the union of a vampire lycan Corvinus hybrid and a vampire. So my guess is, to conceive hybrids, pure bloods or a Corvinus hybrid need to be involved.
The main topic here is the construction of a hybrid through artificial procedures. Like I said, a HUMAN descendant with positive Corvinus blood is necessary material. As mentioned earlier, humans are susceptible to viruses. Vampires and lycans are impervious. They have fast healing. Their bodies are strong enough to protect themselves from external influences.
Markus might have become a hybrid of vampire and lycan under one condition: right from the start, when he was bitten by bat, he was also bitten by the wolf that bit William. During the process of transformation while Markus was not impervious, his body might combine both bat and wolf viruses, making him Vamperewolf.
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