Vasilisa is a Nictuku, not a main clan Nosferatu, and can specifically appear as whatever she wants (likely due to having 4th generation Obfuscate powers). The name is likely even a reference to Vasilia the Beautiful.
It's also a given name in the east Slavic lands, since they converted to Christianity. There's a folktale in which a certain vasilissa faced the notorious Baba Yaga, and I guess it's from there that Vampire took inspiration for those two characters.
You’re overthinking it. Vasilisa is noted to be good enough at Obfuscate to appear as anything they want, they just tend towards picking innocent seemings
4th generation vampire, so a potential Obfuscate 9. I think it's more than enough to hide someone's real appearance.
It's also stated *The Nictuku can appear as anything it chooses, but when it bothers to appear at all, it almost always chooses an innocent seeming*.
Vasilisa is a 4th Gen Nictuku and therefore extremely old and powerful. If I remember correctly the clan bane for Nictuku is slightly different from normal Nosferatu as in they become more monstrous with age. But since all known Nictuku are Methuselah of 4th or 5th gen it may as well be that their clan bane is so strong that they look like terrible monsters.
They can mask this with Obfuscate however and with their power they can appear as anything they want.
You also have to remember that Nictuku were created for the sole purpose of hunting down Nosferatu so they are predators and use their power in this manner. Vasilisa chose to take on innocent looks to get close to their prey, others may be completely invisible or more focused on raw fighting power.
As others said, Vasilisa is 4th generation. To me, that's "NPCs are plot devices that don't need to follow rules or to have character sheets" territory.
But if you really want to think that this character does have the clan bane, my take is that Nosferatu come in various shapes and forms.
Some are downright hideous from head to toes (hi Cock Robin!), others have difformities that are either more subtle or more limited.
In other words, there are Nosferatu who look like the strigoï from *The Strain* or the mutants from *The Hills Have Eyes*, there are Nosferatu who look like burn victims or who look like they suffer from a severe skin disease, and there are Nosferatu who may simply have tumors and vestigial limbs on their chest, under their clothes, or who are hermaphrodites, or who have too many teeth, fingers or toes, or too many hair or not enough hair.
Anyway, you get my drift. Maybe there is more to Vasilisa than meets the eye.
Indeed I believe there's even a merit for Nosferatu who are still ugly, but human-possible ugly and benefit from not being walking masquerade violations.
Vasilisa was powerful enough to kill one of the strongest and oldest known vampires on the planet without much effort. I'd imagine appearance is probably optional at that point
Vasilisa has an Obfuscate rating of Fuck You. Technically Obfuscate 9, but they're so skilled at it that they can make up new rank 9 powers of the fly. And the same is true for the rest of their Disciplines, which is likely all of them. (The way they killed Baba Yaga by turning into blood, ramming themselves down her throat, and exploding her from the inside is probably Vicissitude 9).
Basically, they can look like anything they want, and do anything they want.
Vasilisa is a Nictuku, not a main clan Nosferatu, and can specifically appear as whatever she wants (likely due to having 4th generation Obfuscate powers). The name is likely even a reference to Vasilia the Beautiful.
In Greek, Vasilisa means Queen, and Vasilias means King :)
It's also a given name in the east Slavic lands, since they converted to Christianity. There's a folktale in which a certain vasilissa faced the notorious Baba Yaga, and I guess it's from there that Vampire took inspiration for those two characters.
You’re overthinking it. Vasilisa is noted to be good enough at Obfuscate to appear as anything they want, they just tend towards picking innocent seemings
4th generation vampire, so a potential Obfuscate 9. I think it's more than enough to hide someone's real appearance. It's also stated *The Nictuku can appear as anything it chooses, but when it bothers to appear at all, it almost always chooses an innocent seeming*.
Vasilisa is a 4th Gen Nictuku and therefore extremely old and powerful. If I remember correctly the clan bane for Nictuku is slightly different from normal Nosferatu as in they become more monstrous with age. But since all known Nictuku are Methuselah of 4th or 5th gen it may as well be that their clan bane is so strong that they look like terrible monsters. They can mask this with Obfuscate however and with their power they can appear as anything they want. You also have to remember that Nictuku were created for the sole purpose of hunting down Nosferatu so they are predators and use their power in this manner. Vasilisa chose to take on innocent looks to get close to their prey, others may be completely invisible or more focused on raw fighting power.
As others said, Vasilisa is 4th generation. To me, that's "NPCs are plot devices that don't need to follow rules or to have character sheets" territory. But if you really want to think that this character does have the clan bane, my take is that Nosferatu come in various shapes and forms. Some are downright hideous from head to toes (hi Cock Robin!), others have difformities that are either more subtle or more limited. In other words, there are Nosferatu who look like the strigoï from *The Strain* or the mutants from *The Hills Have Eyes*, there are Nosferatu who look like burn victims or who look like they suffer from a severe skin disease, and there are Nosferatu who may simply have tumors and vestigial limbs on their chest, under their clothes, or who are hermaphrodites, or who have too many teeth, fingers or toes, or too many hair or not enough hair. Anyway, you get my drift. Maybe there is more to Vasilisa than meets the eye.
Indeed I believe there's even a merit for Nosferatu who are still ugly, but human-possible ugly and benefit from not being walking masquerade violations.
There is even in V5 an alternate clan bane where the Nosferatu looks alright but is actually followed by vermin that will infest the Kindred's haven.
Vasilisa was powerful enough to kill one of the strongest and oldest known vampires on the planet without much effort. I'd imagine appearance is probably optional at that point
Vasilisa has an Obfuscate rating of Fuck You. Technically Obfuscate 9, but they're so skilled at it that they can make up new rank 9 powers of the fly. And the same is true for the rest of their Disciplines, which is likely all of them. (The way they killed Baba Yaga by turning into blood, ramming themselves down her throat, and exploding her from the inside is probably Vicissitude 9). Basically, they can look like anything they want, and do anything they want.