Who is Nandor the Relentless in What We Do in the Shadows?

Show

What We Do in the Shadows

Played by

Kayvan Novak

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired March 27, 2019

Role

Main cast

Network

FX

Occupation

Ancient warrior vampire, self-styled house leader

Show run

2019 to 2024

Also known as

Nandor

Nandor the Relentless is the oldest of the vampire roommates on What We Do in the Shadows and the one who calls the house meetings. Played by Kayvan Novak, he boasts of bloody conquests while secretly longing for love, friendship, and his familiar Guillermo's approval.

On What We Do in the Shadows, Nandor the Relentless's story runs through Guillermo de la Cruz (Familiar), Laszlo Cravensworth (Housemate), Nadja (Housemate), and Colin Robinson (Housemate).

Other FX sitcom characters from around the same time include Frank Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).

Who is Nandor the Relentless?

Nandor was once a ruthless warrior from the fictional kingdom of Al-Quolanudar who fought for the Ottoman Empire, and he still tells stories of the villages he pillaged. Centuries later, he lives in a crumbling Staten Island mansion with fellow vampires Laszlo and Nadja and energy vampire Colin Robinson, and he considers himself the head of the household.

In practice, his authority is mostly imaginary. His long-suffering familiar, Guillermo, runs his life, and Nandor depends on him for nearly everything while rarely saying thank you. Their relationship, part master and servant, part best friends, is the emotional core of the series.

Personality and comedy

Nandor's comedy is the gap between his fearsome past and his soft, childlike present. He is earnest, easily bored, prone to sulking, and endlessly confused by modern things like the internet, citizenship tests, and gym culture. He takes up hobbies with huge enthusiasm and drops them just as fast.

Under the bluster, he is deeply lonely. Nandor keeps searching for meaning and romance, from a wellness group to resurrected wives, and Kayvan Novak plays his heartbreaks with such sincerity that the warrior who once beheaded his enemies becomes the show's most lovable vampire.

Key storylines

In season one, Nandor learns he has more than 200,000 living descendants, and a visit to one of them goes badly. In season three, he sinks into an existential crisis, joins a cheerful wellness group whose members have given up their fangs, and moves out to try becoming human until Guillermo drags him home. By the end of the season he sets off alone to travel the world.

In season four, Nandor finds a djinn in a lamp and uses his wishes to bring back all 37 of his dead wives so he can pick one to marry again. He chooses Marwa, though his later wishes to improve the marriage keep backfiring. In season five, he is furious to learn Guillermo secretly had himself turned into a vampire by someone else, hunts him down, and then helps him become human again by staking his sire. In the final season, the two team up in a new partnership.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Kayvan Novak, a British actor and comedian known for prank and character comedy, played Nandor for all six seasons on FX from 2019 to 2024. He received several Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.

The series, created by Jemaine Clement and based on the 2014 film by Clement and Taika Waititi, earned dozens of Emmy nominations, and Nandor's wide-eyed earnestness made him one of its biggest fan favorites.

Nandor the Relentless: frequently asked questions

All What We Do in the Shadows charactersEssential What We Do in the Shadows episodesWhat We Do in the Shadows triviaMore 2010s sitcom characters

All sitcom characters A to Z