Henry Fitzroy (TV and book character)
Encyclopedia
Henry Fitzroy is a character
in the Blood novels: (Blood Price
, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, and Blood Debt) and the Smoke novels: (Smoke and Shadows, Smoke and Mirrors, and Smoke and Ashes) by Tanya Huff
.
He is also a TV character in the 2007 television series Blood Ties
, based on the Blood novels, that aired on Lifetime
in the United States. On television, Henry is portrayed by Kyle Schmid
.
was a real person, the illegitimate son of Henry VIII
of England and Elizabeth Blount
, born in 1519 and died of what appeared to be consumption
in 1536. He was Henry VIII's only acknowledged illegitimate child. (The surname prefix "Fitz-" means son, and "-roy" is an anglicization of the French "roi", or king.) The premise of this series is that the real cause of his illness and "death" was a vampire
bite, and he rose from his grave to live on as a vampire, aging very slowly. He now lives in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, where he earns a living writing romance novels. He is the author of the graphic novel
"Blood Price", which is the title of the first novel of the series and of the pilot episode of the TV series. Henry has a complicated relationship with Vicki Nelson.
Henry lived in Venice
for some while (as Enrico), and fell in love with a woman named Ginevra Treschi. Ginevra was a young widow, who Henry had a year-long affair with. Ginevra eventually had to choose between remarriage and a convent, and she chose the convent. She was tortured and murdered by the Inquisition
in Venice, and Henry went on a rampage and killed everyone he could think of who was connected with her death.
Henry returned to England in the nineteenth century, where he lived as a fashionable young man of leisure. One of his adventures in "What Manner of Man" involved stopping traitors from assisting France to invade England. At some point while living in England, Henry visited Egypt with a wealthy lady, where he climbed a pyramid (it was all the rage at the time) and was approached by several Egyptians who informed him that they knew he was an afreet, and told him to be gone. Henry also assisted in the Resistance during World War Two. He met Peter Heerkens while running in the Netherlands.
He ended up in Toronto
, where he eventually met Vicki Nelson, an ex-cop turned private investigator when she began to lose her sight due to retinitis pigmentosa
. When Vicki began ending up with supernatural crimes, Henry assisted her. In Blood Price
, they dealt with a college student who was summoning a demon. While fighting the demon, Henry lost too much blood to be revived by feeding solely on Vicki without taking her life. Vicki then brought in a former street kid, Tony Foster, to help. Henry became Tony's benefactor and lover and helped him get his own place to live and a job. In Blood Trail, Henry took Vicki out to London, Ontario to assist his werewolf friends with finding out who was trying to kill them, as they couldn't approach the police.
Blood Lines involved an ancient Egyptian mummy, and Blood Pact had Vicki and Henry chasing after zombies in a non-traditional sense. Vicki was mortally wounded and Henry was forced to turn her into a vampire to save her life. Henry took Vicki and Tony and moved to Vancouver
, British Columbia
. At the end of their year together, Vicki returned to her mortal lover, Mike Celluci, in Toronto.
However, in Blood Debt Henry was then haunted by a ghost, and Vicki risked venturing onto Henry's territory to help him with the ghosts. It was difficult due to their constant urges to fight because of their predator instinct, but they managed.
In Smoke and Mirrors, Tony became trapped in a haunted house, and Henry was unable to help.
In Smoke and Ashes, Tony ran into a woman who was a demongate, and Henry stepped in again with knowledge of demons and his grimoire.
, Vicki is 5'6', Henry is 5'10", and Mike is 6'2" (essentially, Henry and Vicki have exchanged heights). In addition, the book describes Henry as having goldish-red hair, while the TV series depicts him with brown hair. Another difference is Henry's bisexual nature; though it's expressed somewhat periodically in the books, the TV series makes few, if any, references. Finally, Tony Foster, Vicki's assistant in the books, has been replaced by Coreen Fennel, a client with ties to the Goth community who becomes Vicki's assistant after the second episode. Unlike Tony, with whom Henry is involved, Henry does not feed from Coreen (although he does feed from both Vicki and Mike), perhaps in part because of her fascination with magic, which he abhors.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Blood novels: (Blood Price
Blood Price (Tanya Huff)
Blood Price is the first novel in Tanya Huff's series about private investigator Victoria Nelson, her new, immortal helper, bastard son of Henry VIII, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, or simply, Henry Fitzroy, and her former lover and colleague Detective - Sergeant Mike Cellucci...
, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, and Blood Debt) and the Smoke novels: (Smoke and Shadows, Smoke and Mirrors, and Smoke and Ashes) by Tanya Huff
Tanya Huff
Tanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science-fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood...
.
He is also a TV character in the 2007 television series Blood Ties
Blood Ties (TV series)
Blood Ties is a Canadian television series based on the Blood Books by Tanya Huff; the show was created by Peter Mohan. It is set in Toronto, Canada and has a similar premise to an earlier series also set in Toronto, Forever Knight, in which a Vampire assists Police in dealing with crime...
, based on the Blood novels, that aired on Lifetime
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
in the United States. On television, Henry is portrayed by Kyle Schmid
Kyle Schmid
Kyle Schmid is a Canadian actor who starred as Henry Fitzroy in Lifetime's series Blood Ties. He has also guest starred in a number of television series including Degrassi: The Next Generation, Odyssey 5, The Zack Files and CSI: Miami.In addition he has also appeared in a number of films like The...
.
Brief character history
Henry FitzroyHenry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset was the son of King Henry VIII of England and his teenage mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only illegitimate offspring whom Henry acknowledged.-Childhood:...
was a real person, the illegitimate son of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
of England and Elizabeth Blount
Elizabeth Blount
Elizabeth Blount , who was better known by her nickname of "Bessie", was a mistress of Henry VIII of England.-Early life:She was the daughter of Sir John Blount and Catherine Pershall, of Kinlet, Bridgnorth, Shropshire...
, born in 1519 and died of what appeared to be consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1536. He was Henry VIII's only acknowledged illegitimate child. (The surname prefix "Fitz-" means son, and "-roy" is an anglicization of the French "roi", or king.) The premise of this series is that the real cause of his illness and "death" was a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
bite, and he rose from his grave to live on as a vampire, aging very slowly. He now lives in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where he earns a living writing romance novels. He is the author of the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
"Blood Price", which is the title of the first novel of the series and of the pilot episode of the TV series. Henry has a complicated relationship with Vicki Nelson.
Blood Books
In the novels, Henry has a much more elaborate background, as there is more space in novels for background information. However, all of Henry's life before he met Vicki is seen only in flashbacks (and the odd short story), so it is rather sketchy. Henry was married to Lord Surrey's sister at age seventeen, but he met an intriguing woman named Christina, who turned out to be a vampire. Henry, wishing to spend his life (and more) with Christina, asked that she Change him. She did, and Henry spent a year with her, whereupon their territorial natures forced them to split company. Unlike most nobles, Henry was buried in a pine box in an unmarked grave, instead of a tomb that is "easier to walk out of".Henry lived in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
for some while (as Enrico), and fell in love with a woman named Ginevra Treschi. Ginevra was a young widow, who Henry had a year-long affair with. Ginevra eventually had to choose between remarriage and a convent, and she chose the convent. She was tortured and murdered by the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
in Venice, and Henry went on a rampage and killed everyone he could think of who was connected with her death.
Henry returned to England in the nineteenth century, where he lived as a fashionable young man of leisure. One of his adventures in "What Manner of Man" involved stopping traitors from assisting France to invade England. At some point while living in England, Henry visited Egypt with a wealthy lady, where he climbed a pyramid (it was all the rage at the time) and was approached by several Egyptians who informed him that they knew he was an afreet, and told him to be gone. Henry also assisted in the Resistance during World War Two. He met Peter Heerkens while running in the Netherlands.
He ended up in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, where he eventually met Vicki Nelson, an ex-cop turned private investigator when she began to lose her sight due to retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some...
. When Vicki began ending up with supernatural crimes, Henry assisted her. In Blood Price
Blood Price (Tanya Huff)
Blood Price is the first novel in Tanya Huff's series about private investigator Victoria Nelson, her new, immortal helper, bastard son of Henry VIII, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, or simply, Henry Fitzroy, and her former lover and colleague Detective - Sergeant Mike Cellucci...
, they dealt with a college student who was summoning a demon. While fighting the demon, Henry lost too much blood to be revived by feeding solely on Vicki without taking her life. Vicki then brought in a former street kid, Tony Foster, to help. Henry became Tony's benefactor and lover and helped him get his own place to live and a job. In Blood Trail, Henry took Vicki out to London, Ontario to assist his werewolf friends with finding out who was trying to kill them, as they couldn't approach the police.
Blood Lines involved an ancient Egyptian mummy, and Blood Pact had Vicki and Henry chasing after zombies in a non-traditional sense. Vicki was mortally wounded and Henry was forced to turn her into a vampire to save her life. Henry took Vicki and Tony and moved to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. At the end of their year together, Vicki returned to her mortal lover, Mike Celluci, in Toronto.
However, in Blood Debt Henry was then haunted by a ghost, and Vicki risked venturing onto Henry's territory to help him with the ghosts. It was difficult due to their constant urges to fight because of their predator instinct, but they managed.
Smoke Books
The Smoke novels focus on Tony Foster, but Henry is still a large part of his life, even though Tony moved out of Henry's apartment. In Smoke and Shadows, Tony, who works at a TV studio, discovered that the special effects technician was in fact a wizard from another world and that the Shadowlord from her world was invading Vancouver. With Henry's help, they defeated the Shadowlord.In Smoke and Mirrors, Tony became trapped in a haunted house, and Henry was unable to help.
In Smoke and Ashes, Tony ran into a woman who was a demongate, and Henry stepped in again with knowledge of demons and his grimoire.
TV series
In the television adaption of the series, Henry isn't a writer, but a graphic novel artist, and he assists Vicki in her various supernatural requests. One difference from the book version of the series is that Henry was originally 5'6", being about four inches shorter than Vicki; in Blood TiesBlood Ties
-Film:* Blood Ties , a 1964 film directed by Mikhail Yershov and starring Vija Artmane and Evgeniy Matveyev* Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann, a 1994 documentary film-Television:...
, Vicki is 5'6', Henry is 5'10", and Mike is 6'2" (essentially, Henry and Vicki have exchanged heights). In addition, the book describes Henry as having goldish-red hair, while the TV series depicts him with brown hair. Another difference is Henry's bisexual nature; though it's expressed somewhat periodically in the books, the TV series makes few, if any, references. Finally, Tony Foster, Vicki's assistant in the books, has been replaced by Coreen Fennel, a client with ties to the Goth community who becomes Vicki's assistant after the second episode. Unlike Tony, with whom Henry is involved, Henry does not feed from Coreen (although he does feed from both Vicki and Mike), perhaps in part because of her fascination with magic, which he abhors.