Whatās the main difference between Vladimir and Aro? How do you perceive them as rulers and individuals?
Oh I could go on forever about this question! Thank you! This is going to be long š
Iāll discuss rulers first and individuals second, but thereās a bit of overlap
The main difference is that one is a warmonger and the other is more of a pacifist, at least on the surface.
So as rulers theyāre very different. Vladimir is remembered for his brutality. Even Amun and his coven were afraid of the Romaniansā expansion. We know that the Volturi spread rumours about the Romanians which came to become modern Romanian vampire legends, but other vampires wouldnāt have believed and spread them if they didnāt have at least a substantial amount of truth behind them. The Romanian Covenās expansion across Central Eastern Europe worried Egypt; if the Volturi hadnāt destroyed both empires, the Romanians may have ended up annexing Egypt (or they would have liked to, it is doubtful they could have) or at least destroyed them. There were many more leaders of the Romanian coven than the Volturi, and also their mates. There was a lot of infighting and there was no Chelsea to control it all. Therefore Vladimir must have had to be very harsh with his own coven at times, as well as dealing with the countless human rebellions, because being Mr Nice Guy would land a coup on his plate instantly. He had no choice but to be strict, but he also enjoyed it. You can see his and Stefanās natures in their comments about gouging out the Volturiās eyes and their not-caring for whatever crime Carlisle committed. They want violence. They enjoy the violence. It is part of the euphoria and power that comes from ruling, and knowing that vampires are addicted to power (like how Laurent followed James and also Vladimir because of the power they emitted), it was something they eagerly participated in and still would, if they wouldnāt get executed.
I imagine that Vladimir mustnāt have been a very nice person as a ruler. I mean, he even tried to kill Caius before Caius joined the Volturi. Caius barely escaped with his life, and that was the reason he joined Aro - Aro could protect him from Vladimir and he could get revenge for Vladimirās attempted murder of him. Honestly, it could have been the event in Caiusās life that turned him into a nasty piece of work.
Then we have the humans rebelling against the Romanians. Imagine how desperate, starving, and just done the humans must have been to gather an army to march on Sarmizegetusa (the capital city citadel). They knew theyād die and the Romanians would have a feast, so they must have been living in absolutely horrific conditions to decide to commit suicide by vampire, all at once. Likely long working days in the fields with barely any rest, lots of violence and competition for food, the majority of food going to the humans who were āluckyā enough to live in the citadel.
On the other hand, due to the whole secrecy thing, we see Aro acting very differently as a ruler. However if he were in the same situation as Vladimir, he still would not be a murder-and-starve-everyone kind of ruler.
Aro let Caius join the Volturi because he didnāt like doing the executions himself. I think therefore we can assume that Aro possesses some form of ability to feel guilt. He wants to be in power and rule, and he knows it means he has to execute people (I mean, you tried putting vampires in prison? Or them learning a lesson when theyāre set in their ways?) but he doesnāt have the stomach for it himself. He has also, of course, let Bella live every time heās seen her, which he should not have. In New Moon, Edward, Bella & Alice should have been executed, but Aro gave them clemency! He does not like executions at all, but sees them as a necessary evil, the complete opposite to Vladimir.
Really, Bella should like Aro. He has let her live every time he thought she and Edward might have committed a crime, and heard them out about Renesmee when he was not originally prepared to. This is incredibly kind for a vampire ruler. If Vladimir had done that, he would have appeared weak. But Aro has Chelsea - as long as people see that his coven approves of his decision and thereās no in-fighting in the Volturi, there is a smaller chance of a rebellion as he can be trusted to turn up to a fight with a unified and well prepared army. He can do what he likes in his leadership style because his coven is not fractured or internally weak and volatile as the Romanian coven was.
He is also a much better strategist. With having implemented his law, itās so so easy to find people whoāve broken it without playing a finger pointing game and turning people against each other. Humans discovering the existence of vampires reaches the media, then that reaches Aro, and all he needs to do is send guards to the area to investigate and from human activities and chatter, they easily find the culprit without Aroās gift. Much easier than the torture Vladimir must have had to use to get people to confess or submit.
On a personal level, no matter their individual views on ruling and execution, I see them as quite similar.
Vladimirās personality is seen in Breaking Dawn and in his ruling style. He and Stefan would talk about people right in front of them, knowingly in earshot. They just donāt care how people see them as long as they get what they want.
Whereas Aro is more of a narcissist, but not from having an ego. He just knows how to portray himself in order to make his rule more stable, not that he actually is a narcissist - he makes himself think that way because it is to his benefit.
We have to remember that despite all the good things that came with Aro gaining power (like peace, far fewer mass slaughterings of humans, virtually no wars between covens (hence why they nowadays gain so much attention), the growing of the human population which lead to more hunting being done and a larger number of potential victims per vampire than before, and of course all the benefits humans have received in not being constantly killed and oppressed by vampires) he himself is a bad person.
This is a man whose rule is merciful, not just pretend like when he spared Heidi but actually merciful when he spared Bella in New Moon, but he killed his own little sister and helped her husband look for her killer. Until Marcus tried to kill himself, when after that Aro just turned Chelsea and Corin and enslaved Marcusās and Caiusās minds. Vladimir never did that; this action of Aroās is pure evil. Never mind that he did feel remorseful and guilty that he killed Didyme, he still did it.
He hides it well, but he is just as much of a snake as Vladimir. He covertly assassinates people himself, he is able to sit beside his brother in law every day and read his thoughts, knowing heās the reason behind his depression.
So while Vladimir is responsible for a lot more death, Aro is just as rotten at the core, perhaps even more than Vladimir is.
Vladimir nailed this exactly in Breaking Dawn when he said, āwe never put on white hats and called ourselves saintsā.
Vladimir showed the world what he is without restraint but Aro conceals it behind a wall of good-doing. In effect, the only thing stopping Aro acting exactly like Vladimir is the fact they had different laws. Thatās it. Aro would likely have been a similar ruler to Vladimir if in his shoes (minus only the slaughter of other vampires), he only isnāt because he managed to implement the law he wanted.
But as he is willing to do anything, hurt even his own family, and straight up lie to everyone he knows, to get and retain power, the two are more similar in personality than even Edward realises.
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