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{{Character
|image=[[VanCaseFiles.jpeg]]
|jname=ヴァン-フェム
|aka=Van (by [[Merem Solomon]])<br>Van-Fem of the Demonic Castle<br>Demon Lord of Finance<br>The Devil
|franchise=[[Tsukihime series]]<br>[[Tsukihime Remake series]]<br>[[Fate]]
|appearances=''[[Fate/strange Fake]]<br>[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]<br>[[Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-]]<br>[[Mahoutsukai no Yoru]]'' (Mentioned)
|voice=
|age=2300+
|type=[[Dead Apostle/Remake|Dead Apostle]], [[Magus]]<br>[[Human]] (Formerly)
|organization=[[The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors/Remake|The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors]] (''[[TsukihimeR]]'')<br>[[The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors]] (''[[Tsukihime series|Tsukihime]]'')<br>V & V Industry
|daanumber=14
|principle=Unknown
|gender=Male
|Magecraft = [[Puppets]]
|acquaintances=[[Merem Solomon]]<br>[[Mesala Escardos]]<br>[[Ziz]]<br>[[Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg]]
|Creation = [[Cupola]] (Youngest "Daughter")<br>[[Matri]] ("Daughter")<br>5 unnamed "Daughters"
}}
{{nihongo|Valery Fernand Vandelstam|ヴァレリー・フェルナンド・ヴァンデルシュターム|Varerī Ferunando Vanderushutāmu}}, better known as {{nihongo|Van-Fem|ヴァン＝フェム|Van-Femu}}, is an [[Elder Title]] [[Dead Apostle/Remake|Dead Apostle]] known for running the casino event [[Fem's Casa]].

In [[Tsukihime World]]s, he is the fourteenth of [[The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors/Remake|The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors]].<ref name="CM"/> In [[Fate World]]s, the title of Dead Apostle Ancestor does not exist.

==Profile==
===Background===
Van-Fem is an [[Elder Title]], one of the original [[The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors/Remake|Dead Apostle Ancestors]] who has lived since the [[Age of Gods]]. He became a [[vampire]] through his own [[magecraft]], rather than being bitten by another vampire. He chose to become a Dead Apostle as a result of taking his magecraft to its ultimate conclusion.<ref name="Adv6C1">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 1</ref>

Known as an eccentric vampire who held interest in humans, he sought to increase his worldly influence through non-vampiric methods after the {{WPlink|World War I|First World War}} as part of a rapid rise in the last few hundred years to become one of the world's leading conglomerates.<ref name="CM">{{#lst:Encyclopedia/Character material|CMVanFem}}</ref> [[Jester Karture]] refers to him as the leader of a pro-humanity faction among Dead Apostles.<ref name=FSF6/>

Most recent rumors about him said that he had recently constructed buildings in the celebrity town Monaco and started running a weekly casino event, {{nihongo|Fem's {{ruby|Boat Party|Casa}}|フェムの{{ruby|船宴|カーサ}}|Femu no {{ruby|Funaen|Kāsa}}}}, aboard his ship the ''[[Joie de Vivre]]'' where he challenged other visitors on a weekly basis.<ref name="CM"/><ref name = FHAMimic>''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'' - 10/09 - Streets - Mimic Rin/Tohsaka Lvl 2</ref><ref name="Adv6C1"/> There are multiple casino buildings installed on Joie de Vivre's streets, but the main one is Van-Fem's very own ''L'Empire du Jeu''. Fem's Casa can vary depending on Van-Fem's mood, from lasting several days in a row to going more than a year without occurring, but generally he holds it weekly. Winners of the event can ask Van-Fem for anything they wish, but in the century since the game's creation the number of winners can be counted on one hand. It's a public event that has run for a century, so people without knowledge of [[Mystery]] and Dead Apostles think that "Van-Fem" is a character who multiple actors have played over the years.<ref name="Adv6C1"/> 

At some point, Van-Fem killed one of [[Francesca Prelati]]'s bodies, an encounter that was one of Francesca's most memorable deaths.<ref name=FSFV3Pr>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 3 - Prologue VIII: "The Star Performers' Feast (Part 1)"</ref> In the distant past, he knew [[Mesala Escardos]], and refers to him as an "old friend".<ref name=FSF6/> Van-Fem is also old friends with [[Ziz]] of the [[Wandering Sea]],<ref name="Adv6C2"/> having seen the early stages of the Ergo project 2300 years ago in real time despite not having faith that the project could survive the transition to the Age of Man. He's also acquainted with [[Iskandar|Alexander the Great]] and his [[Ionioi Hetairoi|army]], having witnessed the {{WPlink|Wars of the Diadochi}} with his own eyes.<ref name="Adv7C3">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 7: Fem's Casa (Middle) - Chapter 3</ref>

===Appearance===
Van-Fem has red eyes and blond hair, a long bang of which hangs over his right eye. He wears red gloves, a white suit with a blue tie, and a matching white top hat. During the [[French Incident]], he is seen carrying a cane.

His voice is described as elegant but giving an impression of incredible depth.<ref name=FSF6>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 6 - Chapter 20: "Fantasy Becomes Reality"</ref>

===Personality===
Van-Fem, nicknamed the {{nihongo|Demon Lord of Finance|財界の魔王|Zaikai no Maō}}, is a "man of the world", who has an intense interest in human society and holds a prominent position in public society. He even goes as far as worrying about global affairs. He is fond of "trivial things."<ref name="CM"/><ref name="+"/> [[Merem Solomon]] is friendly with Van-Fem, calling him {{nihongo|Van|ヴァン}}. Merem considers him to be fresh, new, and smart among the Dead Apostles, knowing when to step away from a situation. He finds it strange that Van would have anything to do with such an old-fashioned ritual as the Aylesbury Valesti, but he feels that Van isn't serious about it like [[Trhvmn Ortenrosse]].<ref name="Prelude"/>

He speaks like an amiable old gentleman, but behind that is the intimidating air of a powerful king. His voice gives an impression of someone reminiscing about the past. Van-Fem regards humans in a very different light from most Dead Apostles despite the nature of vampires being to deny humanity. He lives by a very strict code which he holds other Dead Apostles to, with zero tolerance for hypocrisy. He once considered [[Jester Karture]] a "fellow affirmer of humanity" admirable for his view of humans as "worthy enough to plan a murder-suicide with" despite his decadent and destructive nature, but upon learning of his obsession with [[No Name Assassin|a Heroic Spirit]], he completely severed ties with him. If Jester had become obsessed with his Servant without making a claim to "deny human history", he would not have cared, but since Jester changes his very way of being based on who he's dealing with, Van-Fem considers him an "unnecessary bug in the world".<ref name=FSF6/>

He claims to be ecologically conscious, not desiring to waste energy on such things as a lengthy phone call, though this may be a mere joke as he gave it as a response to [[Hansa Cervantes]]' snide comment about him making a donation to the Church.<ref name=FSF6/> He is also concerned about global warming.<ref name="Adv6C2"/>

He has an interest in [[Flat Escardos]] in part due to his descent from his old friend Mesala and his nature as a product of the Escardos family's 1800-year-old dream, going as far as to give Flat his phone number. He briefly becomes involved in the [[True and False Holy Grail Wars]] purely due to being "invested" in him.<ref name=FSF6/> While he gives a toast to the fulfillment of the Escardos family project upon Flat's death, he was interested in Flat as "a young man with a future", and sees it as regrettable that he died in order to bring [[Thia Escardos|this dream of "the past"]] to fruition.<ref name=FSF6Bridge/>

Van-Fem levitates when outdoors because he doesn't like stepping on dirt. In order to speak at eye level with someone when he's doing this, instead of landing he'll stand upside-down in midair.<ref name="Adv6C2"/>

In [[Fate World]]s, where the 27 Ancestors don't exist, he ends up having a slightly different atmosphere.<ref name=FSF6Aft>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 6 - Afterword</ref>

Van-Fem has extravagant tastes, decorating his casino with "augmented reality" decorations via magecraft that are only visible to people with [[Magic Circuits]]. According to Flat, his preference for AR over VR is related to how Flat's {{WPlink|Virtual Boy}} managed to give him motion sickness despite him being a Dead Apostle.<ref name="Adv6C1"/>

He has as a personal rule to not leave his boat during a Casa.<ref name="Adv7C3"/>

==Role==
===Tsukihime Remake series===
[[File:VanFrenchIncident.png|thumb|300px|Van-Fem's silhouette during the French Incident.]]

Van-Fem is shown to be listed as one of the Ancestors on the list possessed by [[Arcueid Brunestud/Remake|Arcueid Brunestud]].

During the [[French Incident]], he appears as one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors involved in the event.<ref name=Mirage>''[[Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-]]'' - Midnight Rainbow route - Day 13: "Mirage"</ref>
{{-}}

===Tsukihime series===
In the original setting, Van-Fem, one of the longest-serving Dead Apostles, felt that [[Trhvmn Ortenrosse]]'s ideas were too old-fashioned and broke away from his faction.<ref name="+">{{#lst:Encyclopedia/Plus Period|24DA+.}}</ref><ref name="Prelude">Character material - Prelude III</ref> At some point, [[Fina-blood Svelten]] captured Van-Fem's fifth Demonic Castle {{nihongo|Matri|マトリ|Matori}} during an engagement, so Van-Fem started to harbor a long-held grudge against [[Altrouge Brunestud]]'s faction.<ref name="+"/><ref name="KT">{{reference|[[Kagetsu Tohya]] - 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors Series, １４／Van-Fem|<poem>27 Dead Apostle Ancestors Series, １４／Van-Fem
One of the top Dead Apostles. Has amazing attention to detail, and has a talent at creating large things.
Posseses seven magical castles. But one of them fell to the White Knight Blood and his ghost corps. Now both are eyeing each other.
Original name Vandehlsteim. A wealthy firm's top. A demon king that resides in light.
Seeing a rapid rise during the last few hundred years.</poem>|<poem>二十七祖シリーズ。
１４／ヴァン＝フェム
最古参の死徒の一人。精巧さにかけるものの、巨大な物を作り上げるという面では最高の人形師 。
七大ゴーレム“魔城”を誇るのだが、うち一つは白騎士ヴラドの幽霊船団によって攻落とされた。以来、ヴラ ドとは犬猿の仲である。
本名ヴァンデルシュターム。世界有数の巨大財閥のトップであり、闇の世界ではなく財界に君臨する魔王と言 われる。
ここ数百年のマイブームはエコロジーだとか。</poem>}}</ref>

Despite his falling-out with Ortenrosse, he was still participating in the [[Aylesbury Valesti]], but only in the way of providing legitimate capital to build up [[Aylesbury]] through legitimate means. In form of {{nihongo|V & V Industries|V＆Vインダストリィ|V&V Indasutory}}, a company which is owned by him. More so than even Ortenrosse, [[Merem Solomon]] credited Van-Fem as the reason it has been able to proceed as far as it has without the [[Church]] being able to be involved.<ref name="Prelude"/>

In ''[[Prelude]]'', [[Merem Solomon]] and [[Gransurg Blackmore]] discuss the coming Aylesbury Valesti ritual. While discussing Trhvmn Ortenrosse, Merem declares him to be incompetent and says that Van-Fem is the reason the ritual has been able to proceed. Due to his capital being provided through legitimate means, neither the [[Church]] or [[Mage's Association]] can directly interfere with the ritual until the ritual begins. When wondering why Van-Fem would be involved despite his dislike of Ortenrosse, Merem learns that Van-Fem is simply providing capital and that he has been spending time on his casino boat. Merem says Van-Fem was a "bit hard-headed" for a time, but now "he's back to being lazy." Merem wishes to remain friends for longer, and because he is of the side that plans to destroy the ritual, he feels that it is fortune Van-Fem isn't serious about the ritual.<ref name="Prelude"/>

===The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II===
====Fem's Casa====
[[File:VanFem LEMA6.png|thumb|left|300px]]
While the party of [[Lord El-Melloi II]] is attending Fem's Casa, Van-Fem meets [[Gray]] and [[Ergo]] when he goes out to his garden for a stroll. Surprised that Gray can see through his invisibility and intrigued by what he sees of Ergo, Van-Fem invites the two of them to join him in his office. There Van-Fem reveals he knows about the events that their group has gone through since [[Singapore]], except for what happened in the [[Library of Alexandria]]. He plays a short game with three cups and a coin featuring [[Iskandar]]'s face, with the promise that if Ergo wins he'll tell them something important. Ergo has Van-Fem lift two cups, revealing that all three cups had coins under them and it was rigged so Ergo would always win.<ref name="Adv6C2"/>

Based on what he knows about them and the Iskandar coin, Ergo asks Van-Fem if he was involved in the Ergo Project 2300 years ago, and Van-Fem says that [[Ziz]] is an old friend. Because Ergo won the game, Van-Fem tells them that he knows both how to stop Ergo's memory saturation and how to fix Gray's frozen body so that her physical age matches her chronological age. He refers to Gray as "Gray [[Blackmore]]", but when Gray tells him that she didn't inherit the Blackmore family name, Van-Fem's expression changes slightly.<ref name="Adv6C2"/>

Van-Fem has provided a potential solution to both Ergo and Gray's problems, which he will tell them if they win the Casa. He also wants them to help him find a missing person: [[Shirou Emiya]], who won the previous Casa but has since gone missing before he could claim his prize. While El-Melloi II is suspicious of this, he agrees to take up the case in exchange for Van-Fem paying his entrance fee for Fem's Casa, which Van-Fem agrees to.<ref name="Adv6C2"/>

[[File:LEMA8 Waver Ruo Van.jpg|thumb|300px]]
When Ziz is shot and killed by a sniper, Van-Fem confirms his death and mourns his old friend by making the sign of the cross. After [[Melvin Weins]] performs a funeral for Ziz, Van-Fem affirms on his authority as an Elder Title that what Melvin performed was Age of Gods magecraft. Some time later a massive spell begins to converge on Monaco from the sea, which could only be Ziz's doing, and Van-Fem laments that if he were only 700 years younger he could have figured out what Ziz was up to.<ref name="Adv6C4">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 4</ref>
{{-}}

===Fate/strange Fake===
During his childhood, [[Flat Escardos]] sneaked onto Van-Fem's casino boat as a minor, but Van-Fem let him stay in return for Flat showing him his magecraft.<ref name=FSFV2Ch3>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Day 1, Early Dawn "Ensemble Versus Illusion"</ref> After learning of Flat's exceptionality, Van-Fem also noted that he had achieved the 1,800-year old dream of the [[Escardos|Escardos Family]]. [[Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg]], the Second [[Magician]], also noted this, using the exact same words.<ref name=FSFV4Ex>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 4 - Extra Chapter: "-"</ref>

As they are confronted by a projection of [[Jester Karture]] while captive of [[Pale Rider]]'s ward-world, Flat secretly calls Van-Fem on [[Hansa Cervantes]]'s cellphone, who reveals to them Jester's real name, which distracts him enough that Flat can trace back his spell and affect Jester from where he is hiding through his illusion. Van-Fem states that he did not do this for Hansa, his natural foe, but because he invested in Flat, the descendant of an old friend. He asks as compensation that they dispose of Jester.<ref name=FSF6/>

===Other appearances===
In ''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'', [[Shirou Emiya]] and [[Luviagelita Edelfelt]] of an alternate universe are shown to be planning to investigate Fem's Casa. Shirou is to act as Luvia's representative in gambling.<ref name="FHAMimic"/>

In ''[[Mahou Tsukai no Yoru]]'', he is briefly mentioned by [[Alice Kuonji]], who recounts the rumor that he sucks the blood of all his employees to create a network of perfect information sharing, and that he became a vampire in order to create a mentally united company with no internal conflict.<ref name=Mahoyo8>''[[Mahoutsukai no Yoru]]'' - Chapter 8 Extra Story: "Whiteboard"</ref>

==Abilities==
===Dead Apostle Ancestor===
In [[Tsukihime World]]s Van-Fem is a [[Ancestor|Rank IX]] Dead Apostle, possessing one of the [[Idea Blood]] and a currently undisclosed [[Principle]]. As such, Van-Fem is among the very pinnacle of Dead Apostles above the [[Dead Apostle/Remake|Successors]] who not even [[True Ancestor]]s can lay a finger on.<ref name=“CielDay10”>''[[Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-]]'' - Midnight Rainbow route - Day 10: "Arc en Ciel II"</ref> He is a big name that would require the [[Burial Agency/Remake|Burial Agency]] to take on.<ref name=FSFV2Ch2>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 2 - Chapter 2: "Day 1, Before Dawn A Battle Without Heroic Spirits"</ref> Being at the apex of Dead Apostles, he naturally has all the standard abilities of a Dead Apostle such as levitation and the ability to turn invisible. A suitably powerful spirit medium, such as [[Gray]], can see through his invisibility.<ref name="Adv6C2"/> Furthermore, as an Ancestor he is able bestow additional power to Dead Apostles in his lineage. Jester Karture's lineage as a Dead Apostle originates with Van-Fem, and his action of abandoning Jester causes Jester’s vampiric abilities to degrade.<ref name=FSF6/>

In [[Fate World]]s Van-Fem only reaches [[Dead Apostle/Remake|Rank VII]] as the rank of Ancestor does not exist. As a Superior Dead Apostle, Van-Fem is regarded as a monster spoken of in fairy tales, beyond human understanding.<ref name="Adv8C2"/> [[Jester Karture]] believes that a Dead Apostle Ancestor, like Van-Fem, is able to compete with [[Ishtar (Fate/strange Fake)|Ishtar]] who had manifested her Authority on an even level.<ref name=FSFV7Ch23>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 7 - Chapter 23: Day 5, Morning "The Age of Gods and the Modern Age (Daybreak)"</ref> In a short battle with [[Bai Ruolong|Zagreus]], a weakened, but living [[God]], Van-Fem held the upperhand although neither of them went all out.<ref name="Adv8C2"/>

===Magecraft===
<gallery type="slideshow" widths="300" position="left">
UnknownDAA1.png|Van-Fem surrounded by his "daughters" in ''[[Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-]]''.
Cupola.png|Van-Fem's youngest "daughter", Cupola.
</gallery>
Van-Fem was a fully accomplished high level [[magus]] who turned himself into a [[Dead Apostle/Remake|Dead Apostle]] by taking his [[magecraft]] to its ultimate conclusion. As a result, the foundation of his existence changed. While normally not a serious problem for Dead Apostles who are a few hundred years old, Van-Fem, being one of the oldest Dead Apostles, has a completely different label on his [[soul]], as such he's not very good at magecraft anymore due to poor compatibility with [[human]] [[Mystery|Mysteries]].<ref name="Adv6C2"/> Due to having turned himself through magecraft he does not need to resort to bloodsucking as a medium to turn people into Dead Apostles, with his method even those with low aptitude can be turned into Dead Apostles. The entire staff of Fem's Casa are Dead Apostles.<ref name="Adv6C1"/>

He is a [[Puppet]] Master who is the greatest in terms of making large constructs.<ref name="CM"/><ref name="+"/><ref name="KT"/> Earning him the nickname {{nihongo|Van-Fem of the Demonic Castle|魔城のヴァン＝フェム|Majō no Van-Femu}}, as he has [[Golemancy|created]] seven giant [[Golem]]s known as {{nihongo|[[Demonic Castle]]s|魔城|Majō}}.<ref name="CM"/><ref name="+"/> They normally take the form of human sized women that are referred to as his daughters. The youngest daughter is named Cupola, and seems to be able to transform at will, making her arm gigantic to envelop a magus' hand and [[Mystic Code]] so the magus' spell destroyed their own hand.<ref name="Adv6C2">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 6: Fem's Casa (Upper) - Chapter 2</ref>

Due to his advanced age his spells became very personalized to his tastes with the years. Which is noticeable in his [[Bounded Field]] which delivers varying layers of magical Augmented Reality depending on the customer's spiritual sensitivity. People without enough Magic Circuits for Spiritual Sight are unable to see things like the trumpet-shaped tropical flowers between slot machines functioning like real trumpets, or the butterflies releasing pyrotechnical animations of the casino mascots. [[Gray]] notes that his Bounded Field is much harder to notice compared to the ones in [[Lord El-Melloi II]]'s apartment or [[Garan no Dou]].<ref name="Adv6C1"/> His poor compatibility with [[human]] [[Magecraft|foundations]] renders him unable to use his magecraft in most cases, however as his seven Demonic Castles were creations from back when he was still compatible, they can use the magecraft he studied if they have access to his [[Magic Circuit]]s. By allowing himself to be controlled by their strings, Van-Fem is able to cast his magecraft therefore it can be said that he has more value as a puppet manipulatee rather then the puppet manipulator himself.<ref name="Adv8C2">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 2</ref>

He was able to sense the death of Flat Escardos in [[Snowfield]] and the emergence of [[Thia Escardos|"it"]] from Flat's body all the way from his base in Monaco.<ref name=FSF6Bridge>''[[Fate/strange Fake]]'' Volume 6 - Bridge Chapter: "Clink Clank"</ref>

Van-Fem spells he has used so far are;

*'''Fantasia No. 17: Vermilion Tremor:'''  A two or three bar spell that resignifies seawater and turns it into blood to exert pressure on his opponent. Van-Fem is normally unable to use the spell but is able to cast it by having Cupola control him with her strings. It requires the incantation "''We exalt the vermilion world''" to activate. While it does not use a lot of magical energy, the spell is incredibly powerful: it converted a large part of the Monaco sealine into a sea of blood, which began exerting enormous pressure on Zagreus, equal to the the pressure of the deep sea at 8000 meters depth. Van-Fem states that the pressure it exerts is enough to kill even powerful [[Phantasmal Species]] in just a few seconds. It was able to shatter Zagreus's divine steel exoskeleton he tried to form by using his Authority of transformation, and would have completely crushed Zagreus if he hadn't rearranged his insides like that of abyssal fishes living in the deep sea.<ref name="Adv8C2">''[[The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]'' Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 2</ref>

==References==
<references/>
{{vampires}}
{{Tsukihimechar}}
[[Category:Characters in Tsukihime]]
[[Category:Dead Apostles]]
[[Category:Dead Apostle Ancestors]]
[[Category:Vampires]]
[[Category:Authorities]]
[[Category:Magi]]
[[Category:Characters in Fate/strange Fake]]
[[Category:Characters in Tsukihime Remake]]
[[Category:Characters in Mahou Tsukai no Yoru]]
[[Category:Introduced in 2001]]
[[Category:Characters in The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II]]
[[Category:Van-Fem (topic)]]