TV-Series
Description
Catherina Sforza is a central figure in the Vatican, holding the powerful positions of Cardinal Secretary of State and the Duchess of Milan. She is also the founder and the unseen leader of the Papal State's special operations group known as AX, or the Arcanum Cella Ex Dono Dei. Her background is rooted in tragedy and political maneuvering. As the illegitimate daughter of the previous Pope, she witnessed the massacre of her family, the House of Sforza, when she was fourteen years old. She was saved from this attack by Abel Nightroad, an event that forged a lasting bond between them and set her on her life's path. Following this, she abandoned her legal studies to pursue theology in Rome, skillfully leveraging her lineage as the Pope's daughter to build influence and rise rapidly through the ecclesiastical ranks. She later formed a crucial, albeit temporary, political alliance with her half-brother, Francesco di Medici, to secure the papacy for their younger, more controllable half-brother, Alessandro XVIII, outmaneuvering a radical contender.
Personality-wise, Catherina is most often described as a strong-willed and resolute "iron lady". Her public persona is that of a cold, calculating, and supremely competent political operator who is not afraid to use manipulation and deceit to achieve her goals. However, this exterior masks a more complex and often guilt-ridden interior. She shows genuine warmth and maternal care towards her younger brother, the Pope, and a familial, protective attitude towards her subordinates in AX, often shouldering the burden of her decisions. She is driven by a deep-seated desire for revenge against the Rosenkreuz Orden, the mysterious organization responsible for her family's murder. This quest for vengeance pushes her to make morally ambiguous choices, a source of inner conflict. Her core motivation in the larger political arena is to foster a path of coexistence between humans and the Methuselah, or vampires, believing it to be the only way forward. This moderate stance puts her in direct and constant opposition to her hawkish brother Francesco, who advocates for the complete extermination of vampires. This internal conflict, and the secret nature of her true goals, means she is constantly walking a political tightrope.
Within the story, Catherina serves as the primary benefactor and mission controller for AX, deploying her agents, including the protagonist Abel Nightroad, to resolve crises and combat vampire threats. Her most significant relationship is with Abel, having known him since her childhood rescue. She is one of the few people who knows the truth about his nature as a Crusnik, a vampire that feeds on other vampires, and she harbors deep, though mostly unexpressed, romantic feelings for him. Another key relationship is with her brother Francesco, their sibling rivalry and ideological clash forming the central political dynamic of the Vatican. Her bond with her gentle younger brother, Pope Alessandro, is one of her few sources of emotional vulnerability and she is fiercely protective of him.
Throughout the narrative, Catherina's character undergoes a harrowing development. She suffers from a debilitating collagen disease that causes her to cough blood, slowly weakening her physically. The traumatic death of her beloved brother, Alessandro, sends her into a deep spiral of despair and self-destructive guilt. In her grief, she appears to join the very organization she swore to destroy, the Rosenkreuz Orden, alongside the android agent Tres Iqus. However, this turn is later revealed to be a desperate, last-ditch gambit. She infiltrates the Order with the intention of destroying it from within, manipulating one of its key members, Dietrich von Lohengrin, into betraying the cause. Her most notable abilities lie almost entirely in the political sphere. She is a master strategist, an exceptional diplomat, and a shrewd manipulator of people and events. In direct contrast to her political genius, she is portrayed as inept in practical, military, and even domestic matters, such as being unable to cut an apple properly. This limitation forces her to rely on the combat abilities of her AX agents to execute her plans.
Personality-wise, Catherina is most often described as a strong-willed and resolute "iron lady". Her public persona is that of a cold, calculating, and supremely competent political operator who is not afraid to use manipulation and deceit to achieve her goals. However, this exterior masks a more complex and often guilt-ridden interior. She shows genuine warmth and maternal care towards her younger brother, the Pope, and a familial, protective attitude towards her subordinates in AX, often shouldering the burden of her decisions. She is driven by a deep-seated desire for revenge against the Rosenkreuz Orden, the mysterious organization responsible for her family's murder. This quest for vengeance pushes her to make morally ambiguous choices, a source of inner conflict. Her core motivation in the larger political arena is to foster a path of coexistence between humans and the Methuselah, or vampires, believing it to be the only way forward. This moderate stance puts her in direct and constant opposition to her hawkish brother Francesco, who advocates for the complete extermination of vampires. This internal conflict, and the secret nature of her true goals, means she is constantly walking a political tightrope.
Within the story, Catherina serves as the primary benefactor and mission controller for AX, deploying her agents, including the protagonist Abel Nightroad, to resolve crises and combat vampire threats. Her most significant relationship is with Abel, having known him since her childhood rescue. She is one of the few people who knows the truth about his nature as a Crusnik, a vampire that feeds on other vampires, and she harbors deep, though mostly unexpressed, romantic feelings for him. Another key relationship is with her brother Francesco, their sibling rivalry and ideological clash forming the central political dynamic of the Vatican. Her bond with her gentle younger brother, Pope Alessandro, is one of her few sources of emotional vulnerability and she is fiercely protective of him.
Throughout the narrative, Catherina's character undergoes a harrowing development. She suffers from a debilitating collagen disease that causes her to cough blood, slowly weakening her physically. The traumatic death of her beloved brother, Alessandro, sends her into a deep spiral of despair and self-destructive guilt. In her grief, she appears to join the very organization she swore to destroy, the Rosenkreuz Orden, alongside the android agent Tres Iqus. However, this turn is later revealed to be a desperate, last-ditch gambit. She infiltrates the Order with the intention of destroying it from within, manipulating one of its key members, Dietrich von Lohengrin, into betraying the cause. Her most notable abilities lie almost entirely in the political sphere. She is a master strategist, an exceptional diplomat, and a shrewd manipulator of people and events. In direct contrast to her political genius, she is portrayed as inept in practical, military, and even domestic matters, such as being unable to cut an apple properly. This limitation forces her to rely on the combat abilities of her AX agents to execute her plans.