Editing Kaiser Vlad

{{BW CO Infobox
|theme=xylvania
|name=Kaiser Vlad
|tabs={{CO Tabs
|Artwork BW=BW_Kaiser_Vlad_Artwork.png
|Artwork BW2=BW2_Kaiser_Vlad_Artwork.png
}}
|gender=Male
|faction=Xylvania
|relatives=[[Lord Ferrok]] (ancestor)
|status=Trapped in a Tundran fissure
|games={{Plainlist|
* ''[[Battalion Wars]]''
* ''[[Battalion Wars 2]]''
}}
|voiceactor=Wolf Kahler<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488497/fullcredits "Battalion Wars - Full Cast & Crew"]. ''IMDb''.</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2033953/fullcredits "Battalion Wars 2 - Full Cast & Crew"]. ''IMDb''.</ref>
}}
{{Quote|For too long, Xylvania has been the playground of Frontier warmongers and Tundran despots.<br>At last we will resume our rightful place in history as master of these inferior nations!|Kaiser Vlad (Battalion Wars, "Beachhead")}}
'''Kaiser Vlad''' is the main antagonist of the ''[[Battalion Wars (series)|Battalion Wars]]'' series, and leader of the [[Xylvania]]n forces. He has twice lured the nations of the world into war in order to reclaim Xylvania's former power and prestige.

==Background==
200 years ago, Vlad's ancestor, [[Lord Ferrok]] of the [[Iron Legion]], launched an offensive against the free nations of the world in his quest for global dominance. All but one nation, the [[Solar Empire]], fell to the supernatural might of the Legion. In the final days of the [[Lightning Wars]], Solar [[Empress Qa-Len]] ordered a tiny strike battalion to the Legion's stronghold, the Iron Tower. Activating the [[Staff of Qa-Len]] directed an orbiting Solar satellite to expand its solar panels, focus the sun's rays, and fire the intense beam directly down onto the Iron Lord's tower. Most Legion forces were obliterated instantly, and the survivors were frozen in stone for centuries.

Unable to accept this cowardly attack against his ancestor, the Kaiser had been secretly strengthening the [[Xylvania]]n military in order to march against the free nations, as his ancestor had once done. His goal is to re-establish Xylvania's power and influence on the global stage, and it seems that nothing but a crushing defeat will put an end to his delusions.

==In ''Battalion Wars''==
The [[Xylvania]]n military is not presented as an enemy in the earliest parts of the war. However, during the [[Western Frontier|Frontier]]-[[Tundran Territories|Tundran]] conflict, small groups of Xylvanians had been discovered in secretive mining operations. After [[Countess Ingrid]]'s surprise attack weakened both nations, the two called a truce to deal with Xylvania, forming the [[Alliance of Nations]]. After the Alliance destroyed his [[Nerocite]] extraction towers in the [[Dune Sea]], Vlad turned his attention to the [[Solar Empire]] in the Coral Atolls island chain. The Frontier-Tundran Alliance was able to liberate the Solar islands, driving the Xylvanian forces back inside their nation's borders. As dire as their situation is becoming, Kaiser Vlad refuses to play his trump card, knowing that the [[Iron Legion|Legion]] forces cannot be controlled.

In a desperate attempt to defeat the invaders, [[Countess Ingrid]] stole the [[Sword of the Kaiser]] from the Kaiser, and traveled with [[Kommandant Ubel]] to the [[Crater of the Sun]], where the [[Iron Legion|Legion]] forces slept. Climbing atop the monument, the Countess unleashed the Legion, who begin to attack both [[Alliance of Nations|Allied]] and [[Xylvania]]n troops. [[Western Frontier|Frontier]], [[Tundran Territories|Tundran]], and [[Solar Empire|Solar]] units steadily made their way to the Crater of the Sun, where they were able to destroy the Cenotaph, and the rest of the Legion forces. They advanced to the Vladstag, the Kaiser's ancestral homeland at the heart of Xylvania. The city was taken by siege and although Ubel was captured, Vlad managed to escape in his personal [[Air Transport]].

==In ''Battalion Wars 2''==
After Vlad's escape, the other nations quickly return to a life of peace. The Kaiser secretly continues his search for the [[Staff of Qa-Len]], and instigates another global war by supplying the [[Anglo Isles]] with faulty intel - intel that suggested that the [[Solar Empire]] plans to use their super-weapon against them. Anglo units attack, and Solar [[Admiral A-Qira]] soon launches his own war of retribution. It is not until the later stages of the game that the [[Xylvania]] military appears in force. The Tundran units were on the attack, and mobilized to destroy Vlad's fleet of [[Dreadnought]]s at the Novagrad Caves. Their next target is "Ice Station X", a seismic detection platform that has discovered the location of the ancient staff. With the Mining Spider drilling into a glacier to the north, the Tundran forces liberate Frontier and Solar POWs, re-forming the [[Alliance of Nations]]. As they assault the forces protecting the enormous machine, the single Tundran [[Battlestation]] fires the final shot of the war, destroying the Spider and any hope that the Kaiser had at claiming the Solar doomsday weapon.

Attempting a getaway, Vlad calls in an [[Air Transport]] to carry he and [[Kommandant Ubel]] to safety; however, Anglo [[Commander Pierce]] is able to quickly shoot it down. With nowhere else to go, Vlad and Ubel are forced to climb down into the fissure to escape from the Allies. Trapped behind a wall of boulders and rubble, the Kaiser orders Ubel to dig them out. He strikes a match, telling Ubel that "the torch of destiny still burns brightly for [[Xylvania]]", just before the light goes out.

==Trivia==
*As much as he longs to conquer the world for [[Lord Ferrok|his ancestor]]'s honor, among other things, Vlad is never desperate enough to unleash the slumbering [[Iron Legion|Legion]] forces against his enemies. A cutscene in the first game shows a desperate [[Countess Ingrid]] asking why he hasn't called upon the Legion, and he scolds her, telling her that they cannot be controlled.
*The sword that he always keeps nearby is likely a sort of family heirloom, passed down from [[Lord Ferrok]]. This may be why [[Countess Ingrid|the Countess]] was able to awaken the Legion forces with it; while she had no prior connection to the Legion, those forces responded to the presence of the sword, the symbol of the Iron Lord.
*Originally, Vlad's plan for global conquest involved the use of genetic engineering to create super-soldiers who breathed chemical gas. This was later dropped.
*When Kaiser Vlad offers the chalice of red liquid to [[Tsar Gorgi]] in [[Battalion Wars|the first game]], it is possible that the liquid is blood. This would further enforce the [[Xylvania]]ns' vampire-like appearance.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{BW CO Nav}}
[[Category:Battalion Wars characters]]
[[Category:Battalion Wars 2 characters]]