Content Warning: This section references child murder. It also discusses outdated terms for racial and religious groups of the Arabian Peninsula and India and the misogynistic depiction of women.

Vathek is an Abbasid caliph and the protagonist of the novella, the plot centering around his fall from grace. An indulgent ruler, he descends to hell in a quest for ultimate knowledge and wealth—a fate that illustrates The Dangers of Excess.

Vathek is described at the start of the novella as a well-liked ruler, if not the most faithful. He “[does] not think […] that it [is] necessary to make a hell of this world to enjoy paradise in the next” (1), instead focusing on the satisfaction of his senses and the expansion of his mind. Encouraged in his pursuits by his mother, Carathis, Vathek shows keen interest in the arcane and forbidden: “He had studied so much for his amusement in the life-time of his father, as to acquire a great deal of knowledge, though not a sufficiency to satisfy himself; for he wished to know everything; even sciences that did not exist” (3). Offered omnipotence and otherworldly riches, Vathek is willing to commit heinous acts to obtain them, including killing children, betraying his people, and breaking his faith.