Bloodlines' endings are "canon but not necessarily true," says VTM boss

I consider myself to be, in many ways, the embodiment of chaos. My favored Dungeons and Dragons class is a bard (obviously), my favorite VTM clan is Toreador (obviously), and my favorite World of Darkness is, well, the Camarilla (didn't see that one coming, did you?) I've played Bloodlines many times before, and experienced its many endings. I've been LaCroix's right-hand blood mage, Ming Xiao's hopelessly obsessed sycophant, and Nines Rodriguez's hell-raising Anarch in arms; the night wears many faces (especially when it's Malkavian). But, during my preview of Bloodlines 2, I found an intriguing little lore titbit that inspired the question: "which ending is canon?" It's a query I pitch to WoD brand manager Jason Carl at Gamescom, and his answer is… interesting.

During my Bloodlines 2 preview, I parked my quest to uncover Fabien's body and impress the Prince to take a merry little jaunt over to the Makom, the RPG's premier cocktail lounge. While our host, Fletcher, tinkled away on his piano, I uncovered an Anarch manifesto, which loudly stated that Bloodlines' primary antagonist Prince LaCroix was "on the wind" following the "incident" - presumably the upheaval in Los Angeles that we see at the end of the game, as well as in later chronicles like Carl's live action play, LA By Night.

It begs the question, then: what if you let LaCroix live? Sure, the Ankaran Sarcophagus leads to a severe case of the brain scramblies (sorry, wrong franchise), but he did survive, albeit in body and not mind. Similarly, what if you found yourself tied to said sarcophagus after the absolutely not evil Ming Xiao strapped you to the bottom of it and dumped you into the ocean? Which of Bloodlines' five endings does Bloodlines 2 draw from? The answer is all of them, but also none of them.

"Here's how I'll answer the question," Carl says with a smile. "I think this applies not just to Bloodlines or Bloodlines 2, but to Vampire: The Masquerade and The World of Darkness [as a whole]. Everything is canon, but not everything is true."

He sees the confusion on my face. "Vampires lie, and they don't always know what the genuine answer is. So, I think it's fair to say that what's represented about the dear departed Prince of Los Angeles is certainly true from somebody's perspective. Is it actually true? I'm not sure - but it's definitely canon."

It's a similar story when it comes to Ming Xiao and her Kuei-jin. While an entire segment of the original Bloodlines is set in Los Angeles' Chinatown, when viewed through a more modern lens, several of its overarching themes could be considered products of a bygone era. As a result, we haven't seen the Kuei-jin since, with Vampire: The Masquerade's fifth edition lore officially stating that the group had simply upped and left.

The assumption, then, is that we won't see them reappear anytime soon, but given their importance in the original vampire game, I ask Carl for clarification. "The story of Bloodlines was a specific slice of time in a specific place," he says. "Decades ago in Los Angeles, the Kuei-jin were an important influence and presence in the city." Since then, he states that the "Kuei-jin have departed, and they didn't leave a forwarding address. So it's all canon, but not necessarily true."

"It's one of the problems of having a direct sequel," says narrative director Ian Thomas. "We all know movies carry on from the moment before in the previous movie, but with this sort of setting when you've got these branching choices, having a bit of an air gap is not a bad thing."

Having played The Chinese Room's latest both at Gamescom and ahead of the big Bloodlines 2 release date reveal at Opening Night Live, Seattle does feel like a unique, unliving entity that, while reminiscent of the neon grime of LA, stands on its own two feet. While my heart will always live in Santa Monica, I'm excited to see what the next chapter of the Bloodlines story looks like - hopefully no more mysterious sarcophagi.

If you, like me, cannot wait for Bloodlines 2, we have a rundown of the six (yes, six) Bloodlines 2 clans that'll be available at launch. Alternatively, if you're worried about your rig catching fire and sending you into a fury frenzy, check out the Bloodlines 2 system requirements - they're surprisingly tame.

What clan are you picking up at launch? Tell us in our dedicated Discord. I'm a hopeless Toreador, and I'm very excited to smooch some bad guys.