Armand is a very complicated character to explain. Armand was born as Andrei in Keiv, Russia (modern day Ukrain) where he had an extremely strong religious ambition, and even wanted to join priests who burried themselves alive, only taking food or water scarcely to keep themselves alive until it was their "time" to die. It was considered by him one of the most true forms of devotion. However, his family objected. You see, Andrei had a gift: He was the most talented person at painting the figures of christ on eggs or plates. This art was so beautiful it was said it couldn't have been made by "human" hands.
When riding w/ his father(a rich hunter by the name of Ivan), Andrei was captured by Tartan raiders who sold him to a slave trader at Constantinople who took him to venice and sold him to a local brothel there, where he was used as a male prostitute.
It was here, in Venice that a notorious and powerful painter, Marius, bought him, named him Amadeo (beloved of God), and took him as his apprentice, and inevitably his lover. Marius, a vampire child of the Millenia, grew very fond of Amadeo, and treated him w/ very special care, wavering on actually making him a vampire or not. Loving him too much to let him die, but too afraid it would ruin his life. When the time came, he had no choice...
As Amadeo grew older, he wandered about Venice, visiting a beautiful "hostess" Bianca Solderini, whom Marius had always been quite fond of; and took other lovers, mainly one Lord Harlech. This lord seemed overly attatched to Amadeo and when he left Harlech, it seemed an outrage to him. Lord Harlech starmed Amadeo and Marius' home, killing some of the other boy apprentices that got in his way, screaming and terraiding through the palace for Amadeo. Scorned for the loss of the boys who were killed, Amadeo persued a duel w/ Lord Harlech, in which he was injured, and began to die. Bianca stayed w/ him, nurturing him all she could, but it was obvious that he was not going to survive. Marius couldn't see him die. He made him into a vampire.
In 1499, a dark coven of vampires, run by the vampire Santino, stormed Armand and Marius' home, setting it on fire as well as Marius. Amadeo watched Marius being attacked and set aflame in disbelief and was taken prisoner, along w/ the other apprentices to their coven, burning all the boys, but one, alive in a bonfire, and imprisoning Amadeo for six months in a dungeon. Here they starved him in an attempt to break his spirit and convince him to join their coven. They even go the the extent of tricking him into killing one of his best friends among the apprentices, one who he considered a brother: Riccardo.
Afterwards, Amadeo breaks down and joins them. Learning their laws and becoming faithful to the coven. Santino then sends him to Paris to become a coven leader there. This is where he meets Lestat.
The Paris Coven, guided by Armand, capture Lestat and Gabrielle but Lestat conviences the Coven of the inefficiency of their ways, and Amadeo burns down the Coven. Amadeo takes to them, and tells them the story of Marius, and invites them to be his companions; however they decline saying they must move on and that he cannot join them. Lestat did, however, start the "Theatre de Vampires" while he was in Paris w/ one of his fledglings, Nicolas. Amadeo stays behind to run the theater and look after Nicolas, who is steadily going crazy.
Armand stays here in Paris w/ his new coven of the theater, and seldom hears from or of Lestat until he meets Lestat's fledglings of the New World: Louis de Lioncourt and Claudia. Armand immediately falls in love w/ Louis, later learning of their attempts to kill Lestat, who shows up at Armands door, seeking help to heal his wounds from their murder attempts. Still scorned from Lestat's rejection so long ago, Armand uses Lestat to convict Claudia alone of their crime and allows her to be placed in the sun's way, to be killed. He then brandishes Lestat from Paris, and runs away w/ Louis, become his companion in America.
Armand and Lestat do indeed see each other again. And eventually form a type of love/hate relationship w/ each other, which eventually leads to a genuine friendship. Louis and Armand grow distant, and part ways.
