Nosferatu (World of Darkness)

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The Nosferatu are a fictional clan of vampires from White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages and Vampire: The Requiem books and role-playing games. They are uniformly hideous as a result of the flaw in their vampiric bloodline, though each individual's physical monstrosity is unique. Nosferatu frequently reside in catacombs, cemeteries, and sewers. The Nosferatu, also referred to as 'Nossies' or 'Sewer Rats', commonly take residence in sewers or underground tunnels, and are highly regarded as information-brokers.

Frustrated over their monstrous appearance, many Nosferatu will Embrace the very vain and/or very beautiful out of spite. Vampires Embraced in this way are often referred to as Cleopatras.

In Vampire: The Masquerade, the Nosferatu are associated with the Camarilla. Their symbol is a drama mask.

The clan of Nosferatu has several inspirations, most notably the film of the same name, wherein a very ugly vampire named Count Orlock plays out the role of Stoker's Dracula. The word itself is often used to refer to demons and the undead in general.

[edit] Nosferatu in Vampire: The Requiem

After Vampire: The Masquerade's demise in 2004 in the "Time of Judgment" storyline, White Wolf Game Studio launched a new World of Darkness, with a new vampire game as its launch title, Vampire: The Requiem. In this new game, the Nosferatu were revamped as one of the 5 major clans. See Clans in Vampire: The Requiem.