Zachary Kralik
Appeared in "Helpless"
Information Name Zachary Kralik Status Deceased Classification Vampire Portrayed by  Jeff Kober

"I have a problem with mothers. I'm aware of that"

―Zachary Kralik^[src]

Zachary Kralik was a serial killer who had been turned into a vampire.

Biography

"My mother was a person with no self-respect of her own, so she tried to take mine. Ten years old and she had the scissors. You wouldn't believe what she took with those..."

―Zachary Kralik^[src]

Kralik was a serial killer who tortured and murdered more than a dozen young women before being arrested and put in a asylum for the criminally insane, where he was sired by another vampire. At some point, Kralik killed and ate his own mother, who had abused him emotionally and perhaps sexually. Kralik hinted that she had castrated him as well. This left him with "a problem with mothers", of which he was aware.

As a vampire, Kralik continued to kill and torture, though he was shunned by other vampires because of his mental state. Additionally, he was dependent on anti-psychotic medication, without which he suffered extraordinary pain. He was captured by the Watchers Council and held for six years until he was chosen to be used in the Cruciamentum of Buffy Summers. They weakened Buffy and locked her with him inside the "Sunnydale Arms" where she would have to defeat him using her brains and wits.

However, Kralik managed to release an arm from his restraint, killing a Council worker named Blair, whom he sired in order to be released. He and Blair then killed and drained Hobson. He then kidnapped Joyce Summers in order to lure Buffy, whom he wanted to sire and then turn loose on Joyce. Buffy was able to trick him into drinking a glass of Holy Water with his pills, disintegrating from the inside and killing him instantly.

Personality

Due to his mental state, Zachary Kralik was a sadist who enjoyed placing psychological torture. He graphically slaughtered Hobson and took dozens of photos of Joyce and placed them in a single room at the Sunnydale Arms. Kralik was also shown to be something of a masochist, gaining personal pleasure and even arousal from the sensation of a cross burning his torso.

Behind the Scenes

• He was portrayed by Jeff Kober.

• Kober would later portray the warlock, Rack.

Appearances

• "Helpless"