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If we continue to live as we do now, then we disgrace the past, and don’t deserve a future. We must resist the humans wherever and whenever possible.

—David's opinion on the current state of the Vampire species

David is a Vampire and the pure born son of Thomas, the leader of one of the remaining Vampire Covens, and the Vampire Elder Amelia, as well as the progeny of Selene. He is also the only rightful heir to the Eastern Coven. He is one of the protagonists of Underworld: Awakening and Underworld: Blood Wars.

Background

Your mother and father spent many months within the safety of these walls. Viktor grew suspicious. Then your father spirited you away before Semira arrived with her troops.

Vidar, explaining David's birth

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Amelia's blood memory of David’s birth

David was born sometime around the year 1990 to the Vampire Elder Amelia and a Vampire named Thomas and is a pure-blooded Vampire. His age is unclear; however, it is suggested that he must still be quite young, as the Purges only occurred roughly twelve years before the film's events, yet he says he's only heard of the Death Dealers, a group of the Vampires' warrior elite, who were all but wiped out during the original Purge. This means that he was only 13 years old when the Lycans killed his mother Amelia and when the initial Purge began. One of his father's comments puts David's age at around or just under 25 years old.

Underworld: Awakening

Underworld - Awakening (2012)

David meets Selene


What remains of them, yes. They've been hiding down here like rats since the Purge. Diseased and starving, they rarely show themselves above ground. Which means that something has got them riled up. Something you're not telling me.

—David, speaking to Selene

David hears about a brutal Lycan attack and takes it upon himself to investigate it. While there, he catches sight of a female Immortal jumping down from the underside of an underpass. From her Death Dealer attire, he surmises that she must be Selene.

Following her at a distance, David witnesses her interrogate and kill an Antigen scientist then follows her into an abandoned building, where she confronts him, having known he was following her. David tells Selene about the current state of the Vampire and Lycan clans, and the two hide from a group of Lycans.

David and Selene discover a young girl hiding from the Lycans. Not knowing who the girl is, or why the Lycans are after her, they take her with them as they head to David's Coven. While driving away, they are pursued by Lycans, who brutally and single-mindedly attack the young girl. To the amazement of both Selene and David, the child shifts into a Hybrid form, and tears a Lycan's head in half with her brute strength.

While David drives the van out of the city, Selene speaks with the girl and learns that the child is her daughter. When they arrive at the Coven, David carries a weakened Eve in and has her tended to by the Coven's doctor, Olivia. He and Thomas then argue about the presence of Selene and Eve, with David disputing Thomas's accusations that Selene is responsible for the dismal state of the Vampire species. Unhappy with the current state of the Vampires and his father's ineffectual leadership, David is hopeful that he can continue to work with Selene, either at the Coven or outside of it.

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David being fatally wounded

Later that same night, when a force of two dozen Lycans besiege the Coven, David stands up and takes command when his father orders the Coven retreat to the shelters, ordering the use of the Coven's supply of silver ammunition when the attackers are revealed to be Lycans, and even engaging the Lycans in battle.

During the battle, David is fatally wounded and dies in Thomas's arms. Selene then uses her own Hybrid blood to revive David by cutting him open and introducing her blood directly to his heart, changing David into a Vampire-Corvinus Strain Hybrid.

After recovering from his injuries, David, armed with a shotgun and two blades, travels to Antigen Headquarters and joins the battle there. David arrives in time to save Eve from Doctor Jacob Lane, shooting him twice to no effect. However, David's intervention allows Eve to escape and resume her fight with the Lycan-Corvinus Strain Hybrid. Spotting more Lycan guards approaching, David turns his attention to them, killing several with his shotgun and the rest with his blades.

Underworld - Awakening (2012) David vs guards

David vs Antigen guards

After all of the Lycans are dead, David approaches Selene and Eve as they reunite. As the police get close, Detective Sebastian orders the three to leave while he misdirects the police. David agrees, telling Selene there is a Vampire safe house nearby they can go to and is surprised when she returns inside Antigen.

Selene, Eve, and David then rush to rescue Michael Corvin, Selene's lover and Eve's father, only to find his containment unit is empty. Eve senses her father on the roof, but Michael has already escaped.

Underworld: Blood Wars

Well, it's not finished with you. They could have killed you but clearly their mission was to capture you. Your daughter's blood, it's a prize. And if they find her, if they use it, Marius's power will be limitless.

—David, Underworld: Blood Wars

Selene and David in an abandoned warehouse and David telling Selene about Marius and his plan to capture Eve after an attack from Marius's Lycans (I) (Underworld Blood Wars)

David warning Selene about Marius

As Selene battles a force of Lycans led by Gregor, David shows up, knocks a transformed Lycan over with his car and shoots it dead. David tells Selene who is unhappy to see him that he's looking for Eve and that the Lycans have reorganized under a new leader named Marius. As the two discuss the situation, an injured Gregor shoots David before being subdued by Selene and sent back to Marius with a message that she doesn't know where Eve is. To both David and Selene's shock, his wound fails to heal, and Selene decides to help David treat it.

David and Selene travel to one of the few remaining Vampire Safe Houses where Selene discovers that David has been hit with a self-propelling bullet. Selene manages to remove the bullet in time to save David's life, unaware that it is also a tracking device and as the two rearm, the alarms sound. David backs Selene up as she faces off with Death Dealers led by Alexia only to have Alexia give David a letter from his father containing an invitation from the Vampire Council of the Eastern Coven and clemency for Selene killing Viktor if she will help them against Marius. David urges Selene to take the deal, stating that his father would not lie and has no grudge against Selene due to holding no love for Viktor. As Lycans arrive, Selene agrees and the two depart for the Eastern Coven with the Death Dealers.

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David frees Selene

At the Coven, the two are greeted by Varga and Semira who has thrown a party in their honour. During the party, Semira flirts with an uninterested David who breaks away from her to talk to Thomas. After some brief bantering, David berates Thomas for turning Eve over to the Lycans and notes that his protection of Selene is the least he can offer her in return.

A short time later, an alarm goes off and Thomas warns David of a breach. After being prevented from going to the training room by Death Dealers, David and Thomas realize something is wrong and Thomas leads David to Semira's private quarters through secret passages established centuries ago by the Vampire Elder Amelia. The two discover Selene hooked up to a contraption that is draining her blood and Thomas recognizes that Semira was always after Selene's blood and the power it contains all along. The two set about freeing Selene and Thomas orders David to take her to Var Dohr. Before they can finish, Semira and Varga show up and Thomas fights them to buy David the time he needs to free Selene. As a horrified David watches, Semira murders Thomas as he is distracted telling David to go. To Semira's shock, David is able to escape out the window into the sunrise unharmed, Semira having been unaware of David and Selene's UV immunity.

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David and Selene in route to the Nordic Coven

 After getting safely away in a stolen car, David feeds Selene his blood to heal her wounds. As she feeds, Selene sees several of David's blood memories, including Thomas's death. Selene offers her condolences to David and the two discuss David's distant relationship with his father and Selene's own troubles with Eve with David admitting that he sees Selene as a family and all he has left.

Following Thomas's instructions, David and Selene travel to the Nordic Coven where David is confused by the incredible speed displayed by Lena. David and Selene meet with the Coven's leader, Vidar who reveals he knows David's mother who is not a low-born who died giving birth to him as David had believed all of his life. Selene realizes that David's mother is the Vampire Elder Amelia, something Vidar confirms. Vidar presents David with his father's sword and tries to explain the circumstances of his birth to David, who is resentful and uninterested. Selene later brings David a ring left by Amelia containing a drop of her blood, allowing David to witness the events surrounding his birth through Amelia's blood memories.

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David with Lena at the Nordic Coven

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David and Lena

Moments after finishing with Amelia's blood memories, David spots the arrival of the Lycans and warns the Nordic Vampires. Rather than fleeing as Selene urges, David takes up his father's sword to help fight off the Lycan attack. During the battle, David kills several Lycans and saves Lena's life. The two fight together until the Lycans retreat from the battle. To David's sorrow, he finds Selene under the ice, apparently dead and helps Lena cocoon her. Though offered sanctuary at the Nordic Coven by Vidar, David refuses as he knows Marius will go after the Eastern Coven with nothing to stop him and David refuses to abandon his people.

David returns to the Eastern Coven as Semira is attempting to overthrow the Vampire Council and presents himself as the son of Amelia and thus her rightful heir as the leader of the Eastern Coven. Presenting the Council with vials of blood left behind by Amelia, David is able to prove his claim and Varga and the Death Dealers turn on Semira as, by law, they serve David, not Semira. David orders Semira locked up and warns the Council of Marius's impending attack.

Taking command of the Eastern Coven, David leads them in setting up a defence in the entryway as the Lycans break-in. Due to superior tactics such as riot shields and mortars, the Lycans possess the upper hand, blowing holes in the walls to let the sunlight in to use as a weapon against the Vampires. The only Vampire immune to sunlight, David stands in a direct beam of it as he tries to kill the mortar crew, shocking all around him with his immunity to sunlight. David and Marius attack each other, Marius with UV rounds and David with silver nitrate bullets to no effect, both forcibly ejecting the rounds from their bodies. As the two prepare to fight, Varga attacks Marius and is nearly killed before Selene returns with enhanced powers from the Nordic Coven's cocooning process and kills several Lycans, including the mortar crew.

Underworld - Blood Wars (2016) David kill Semira

David defeating Semira

Backed up by the Nordic Coven, the Eastern Coven battles the Lycans who transform following Selene's appearance while Selene and David hunt Marius through the Eastern Coven. As David goes after Marius, he is attacked by Semira who has escaped and is a match for David due to her drinking Selene's blood and becoming an Evolved Vampire herself. Despite David's best efforts, he's completely outmatched by Semira who gleefully taunts him. Seizing an opportunity, David throws a knife into the controls for the shutters in Semira's quarters, causing her to become distracted with her new immunity to sunlight. As Semira revels in her new powers, David stabs her through the back of the head and out of her mouth with Thomas's sword, apparently killing Semira.

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David holding Marius's severed head

Having won his fight with Semira, David makes his way to the training room where he discovers that Selene has killed Marius. David decapitates Marius and presents his severed head to his army. Declaring that the Lycan leader is dead, David forcefully orders the Lycans to take their wounded and leave, ending the battle.

Following the battle, David helps to treat the wounded and along with Selene and Lena, is elected one of three new Vampire Elders, taking his mother's place as her rightful heir.

Personality

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Your son died because he was fighting for all of you. Because he knew that running is not survival.

Selene, Underworld: Awakening

Although never formally trained as a Death Dealer, David is not a coward and will fight when situations demand it. While his father, Thomas, and most of his Coven belong to the school of thought that regards Selene as a traitor for her role in the deaths of Vampire Elders Viktor and Marcus Corvinus, David disagrees, recognizing that Selene was betrayed by the Elders first and that their defeat by her hands was in response to their own sins.

While having been raised during a time of great turmoil for the Vampire population, David has demonstrated himself as a rising and up-and-coming figure in his Coven. Despite that, he and his father do not see eye to eye. In recent years, they have clashed over the current state of affairs of the Vampires, and how the surviving Vampires should respond to the threat of both humans and Lycans. David is firm of the opinion that the Vampires should be taking a proactive stance against the humans and Lycans, while his father has been cowed into inaction and chooses to hide away underground. David's beliefs are so strong that he knowingly and willfully takes it upon himself to investigate any possible reports of Lycan activity, despite his father's objections and the widely-held assertion that the Lycans are all but extinct.

When Selene resurfaces after an absence of over a decade, David sees an opportunity for a resurgence. He clearly hopes that Selene will either take up the leadership of the surviving Vampires herself or that her presence may resurrect the Death Dealers. Despite the current attitude of surviving Vampires towards Selene, David is more open-minded, not being burdened by the hypocritical attitudes of the older generations of Vampires. He even seems to admire Selene.

David's desire to resurrect the "old ways" of his species is so strong that he was even willing to leave the Coven if need be in order to learn from Selene how to be a Death Dealer. When Lycans storm the Coven's refuge, David takes charge of the Coven's defences while his father advocates retreating to minimize losses. David's resolve to aid the Vampire species continues even after his death and subsequent resurrection with him following Selene to Antigen Headquarters and helping her to fight the Lycans who seek to destroy the Vampires.

In Blood Wars, David is angered to discover the truth of his parentage and at first, resists becoming a leader as Amelia's rightful heir to the Eastern Coven. After the Nordic Coven comes under attack and the apparent death of Selene, David puts aside his reservations, recognizing his people need him to lead them. During the Eastern Coven battle, David displays impressive leadership skills against the overwhelming force of Marius's Army. David's leadership ability is recognized with his promotion to Vampire Elder. He is also shown to care greatly for Selene, calling her his family at one point and comforting her over her decisions in regards to Eve.

Trivia

  • According to the filmmakers, David was not originally supposed to make an appearance in the final confrontation at Antigen, but they liked Theo James's performance so much they decided to give him a larger on-going part in the film and the franchise.
  • David can speak Russian, just like his father, as seen in Awakening.
  • According to the bonus features on the DVD/Blu-ray, the filmmakers compare David and his opinion of Selene to Lancelot and Guinevere of Arthurian legend, in that David is fascinated by Selene and the legend surrounding her as a Death Dealer.
  • It is also noted by the filmmakers that David is somewhat of a good influence on Selene, as he reminds her of her more idealistic nature in the past before the truth of Viktor's murder of her family disillusioned her.
  • How David knows the Elders betrayed Selene, or even that she was responsible for their deaths, is never explained. Similarly, it is left unexplained as to how David could have recognized Selene, especially given that there were multiple dark-haired female Death Dealers before the fall of the Vampires. These are both likely plot holes.
  • In Blood Wars, David's resurrection is stated to be unique, with Semira and Thomas expressing surprise over Selene's ability to bring him back from the dead.
  • At the beginning of Blood Wars, David may be just as much of a rogue as Selene is, as the letter from Thomas about the Vampire Council's offer is stated to offer safe haven to both Selene and David.


v · e
Characters
Major Characters
Selene - Eve - David - Jacob Lane - Quint Lane
Other Characters
Thomas - Lida - Alan - Michael Corvin - Detective Sebastian - Olivia - Edward Vronski - Officer Kolb - Corvinus Clan
Species
Vampire - Lycan - Hybrid - Immortal - Human
Weapons
Weaponry of Underworld: Awakening - Swords - Sleeping Gas - Silver Nitrate Bomb - Beretta 92FS - Whips - Shurikens - Silver - Silver Bullets - Death Dealer Uniform
Locations
Antigen Headquarters - Thomas's Coven - Cryogenic Chamber - Army Surplus Store - Pier 9 - Abandoned Building
Terms
Corvinus Strain - Death Dealer - Vampire Elder - Blood Memories - The Purges - Antigen - Infected Persons Unit - Vampire-Lycan War
Archives
Music - Quotes - Images - Soundtrack - Score
v · e
Characters
Major Characters
Selene - David - Marius - Thomas - Semira - Lena
Other Characters
Varga - Cassius - Michael Corvin - Vidar - Hajna - Istvan - Alexia - Gregor - Eve - Amelia
Species
Vampire - Lycan - Hybrid - Immortal - Human
Weapons
Weaponry of Underworld: Blood Wars - Swords - Beretta 92FS - Scorpion EVO 3 - Nightshade - Death Dealer Uniform
Locations
Nordic Coven - Eastern Coven
Terms
Var Dohr Cocooning Ritual - Corvinus Strain - Death Dealer - Vampire Elder - Vampire-Lycan War - Marius's Army
Archives
Music - Comic - Quotes - Images - Score
v · e
Champions
Selene - David - Semira - Quint - Gregor - Detective Sebastian - Marius
Other characters
Eve - Thomas - Jacob Lane - Olivia - Varga - Istvan - Hajna - Cassius - Dr. Lida - Edward Vronski - Nurse Sebastian - Lena - Vidar - Alexia
Species
Vampire - Lycan - Human - Hybrid
Archives
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