Amadeo is the name given to Armand by his maker when Marius buys him from a Venetian brothel. In Marius’s palazzo, Amadeo lives with many other mortal boys his own age. Together they all receive an education from Marius and various other tutors in the arts and sciences. During the next two years while Amadeo lives with Marius, he becomes Marius’s paramour and discovers that Marius is a vampire. Instead of being repulsed by Marius’s true nature, Amadeo becomes even more fascinated with his master and implores Marius to transform him into a vampire also. Marius repeatedly refuses until the day Amadeo incites the jealousy of the Englishman Lord Harlech, who storms into Marius’s palazzo, slays several of the other boys, and mortally wounds Amadeo with a poisoned blade. Seeing no other option, Marius transforms Amadeo into a vampire to save his life. Unfortunately, the two do not have much time together, for soon afterward the vampire Santino and his coven, the Children of Satan, invade Marius’s palazzo, set fire to it, and nearly burn Marius to death. Santino abducts Amadeo and imprisons him in his coven, starving him for blood until he accepts the cult’s beliefs. During that time, Amadeo befriends the vampire Allesandra, who helps him accept the Great Laws and his new life as one of Satan’s children, since she too has suffered the same fate. Once released from his prison, Amadeo becomes one of Santino’s most devoted followers, impressing Santino so much that he encourages Amadeo to leave and begin his own coven in Paris. Allesandra joins him and changes his name from Amadeo to Armand.
The name Amadeo appears in The Vampire Armand (1998) and Blood and Gold (2001). For more perspectives on Amadeo as a character, read the Alphabettery entries Allesandra, Andrei, Armand, Benedict, Eleni, Eugénie, Everard, and Tartars.