Character History
Lazlo is one of the three Grackleflints to attack Kevin Matchstick on the subway. He jumps out of the car to avoid them, and Lazlo and Emil take up posts on the subway stations on either end of the tracks to find him. Lazlo is later summoned the the Styx Casino to talk to their father, the Umbra Sprite, who wants him to focus on finding the Fisher King. Finding the Fisher King is the main goal of the forces of darkness; if they kill him, they can usher in an era of evil upon the earth. They don’t know what the Fisher King will look like, as he can change his shape. They only know he will be lame. Lazlo is very important to their goal, because his power allows him to recognize if someone is the Fisher King in disguise. Lazlo is at the Styx with Stanis when Emil arrives and berates Stanis for allowing himself to be beaten by Mirth.
He then leaves to look for the Fisher King. We see him follow up on leads from the street contacts, checking out any seemingly lame homeless people. When he finds one, he kills him regardless of whether he is the Fisher King or not. He later returns to the Styx and discusses the situation with Emil, where it becomes clear that Lazlo, like the rest of his brothers, is incapable of seeing his father’s faults.
Lazlo next leads a small team of three Redcaps against Matchstick and Mirth. They defeat the Redcaps fairly easily, and Lazlo retreats, using the elevator. Kevin tries to catch him by jumping down the elevator shaft, but is going so fast he fall straight through the elevator car and keeps going to the bottom of the shaft, letting Lazlo escape. Lazlo did not, however, escape his father’s anger at his failure; he said he should have gotten a whole tribe instead only three. He was punished in an unidentified way that had to do with baring his spurs, which put him out of action for nine days.
Five months pass. Realizing that the Grackleflints are targeting lame homeless people, the heroes set up ambushes, pretending to be lame themselves. Lazlo and Radu, along with a Redcap, happen upon one of these ambushes, and are routed by Matchstick and Edsel.
The heroes learn that the Umbra Sprite and the Grackleflints are based in the Styx Casino, and go to visit undercover. They don’t know that Piet can change the Grackleflints’ appearance. Lazlo and Radu, in disguise as red-headed humans, see the humans first, and wonder what to do. Emil joins them, and they begin to make a plan. Lazlo touches Sean, to get a sense of who he is, but he doesn’t register at all, which has never happened before. They wonder if Sean is really Mirth. Emil goes to speak to their father, who knows Sean must be a ghost. Emil asks if they should attack the heroes, but the Umbra Sprite doesn’t think they’re strong enough, and decides to summon some other creatures to do it. In order to do this, they will have to put off the party and announcement for Emil’s beloved homeless mission–once again proving to Emil that his father’s priorities are misplaced.
Radu, Piet, and Lazlo keep an eye on Sean and Edsel, while Kevin is ensorcelled by some fairies. Then Edsel and Piet manage to catch Piet and he shows them where the Umbra Sprite and Kevin are. Kevin is being held over an endless pit, and the Umbra Sprite, Emil, Radu, and Lazlo are on a plank projecting underneath him. Edsel runs in and knocks down all the Gracs, with Lazlo falling off into the pit. The Umbra Sprite wants to attack her, but Emil makes him save Lazlo, since falling into the pit can affect one’s mind, and they still need his powers to find the Fisher King. In the meantime, Kevin frees himself and falls onto the plank, knocking Edsel and Emil off it. Sean catches Edsel, and the Umbra Sprite gets Emil as he flies back up with Lazlo. Kevin punches out Radu again, and the heroes run out. The Umbra Sprite finally gets to the door, and he gets Piet out of the floor (where Sean put him earlier). Emil is in pursuit, however, and using the magic of the hotel, is able to phase through the walls. He catches Kevin by surprise, and spurs him in the chest, wounding him seriously. Lazlo, however, has in fact been badly influenced by his fall into the pit, and is now a nearly mindless invalid.
A year later, Piet and Emil are now the only two conscious remaining Grackleflints (Radu was killed by a trap set by Mirth). They have purchased a radio station, and are attempting to hook up Lazlo, who is in a vegetative state, up to its broadcasting beam, and thereby search the entire city for the Fisher King. However, the heroes finally return to our plane, and the Grackleflints try to escape to the Styx. Emil pushes Lazlo in his wheelchair, but they have a hard time getting through the city since they are not in disguise. As they wait, and as Emil once again despairs over his father’s lack of interest in the Fisher King, a cat rubs up against Lazlo’s leg, causing him to moan. Emil realizes that the cat is the Fisher King! He picks him up and spurs him, causing a great flash of eldritch energy, which kills Lazlo and horribly scars Emil.
Powers, Abilities, and Weaknesses
Lazlo has all the standard powers and abilities of a Grackleflint, including somewhat enhanced strength and durability, and highly poisonous spurs on his elbows. Water can cause them pain and even kill them.
Each Grackleflint also has a unique, individual power. Lazlo’s power is a kind of clairvoyance. He can tell someone’s true identity from close range. He has some small degree of clairvoyant power beyond this–for instance he could tell who was beyond the door at the police station–but exactly what else he can see is unknown.
Lazlo became a mental invalid after falling too far in the Umbra Sprite’s pit, which can apparently affect the mind. He retained his power, but could not consciously control it. His brothers intended to synch his power up to a radio transmitter and thus use it to search for the Fisher King over a wide area, but never got a chance to finish the project. He was finally able to feel the Fisher King upon contact with him, however.