That is bizarre! Anyway, there IS a Denis in the book. Also I think Denis was too young to be Armand? Armand was supposed to be around 17, and Denis looks more like 13-14 to me. 

Not sure exactly whose theory it was (mine? whiningforcenturies? Both probably), but someone suggested that Antonio was actually Santino posing as Armand. Hence the not-teenage, not-red-head, not-cherubic appearance. 

I have a whole pile of theories about Antonio’s casting here: #Defending Antonio.

^Lookit this loyal cutie omg ❤ This is kind of an Armand expression, the lack of surprise in an under-pressure situation, the stiff upper-lip. 

That carriage is really rockin’. Don’t come a’knockin’. GDI Armand it’s wildly unfair to take advantage of a man who is turned on by the arson he’s just committed!

There were some comments on my post about Denis and basically, my feeling is that Denis was treated very well. He had a nice normal bed (looks like queen sized!), yes, he was locked in there, but who’s to say that the bars holding him in weren’t really meant to keep the other vampires in the Theatre OUT? It would be easy enough to get to Armand by torturing his pet; he needed protection.

We don’t know Denis’ backstory. Maybe Armand rescued him from a worse life, as Armand had been rescued by Marius. Maybe Armand was “paying it forward.”

We know Armand didn’t really click with any of the vampires in the Theatre. So why not have a little mortal companion who might love him unconditionally? We keep cats and dogs for similar reasons. We keep chickens and rabbits as pets knowing that we’re well some of us are capable of eating them someday. A human is another level of domesticated pet for a vampire!

Now the fact that Armand killed Denis does seem cruel at first glance, but it was probably because Armand had found what he longed for in Louis, a vampire companion. Hanging out with vampires for too long can distort your reality (just ask Daniel Molloy, lol) so Armand killing Denis was probably a mercy. What would have happened with that kid otherwise? Would he have tried to find Armand? Would he have killed himself anyway? If Armand didn’t want to turn or keep him, maybe Denis asked for death. 

These things are worth considering before you judge Armand as being cruel to Denis.