History ComicBook / BatmanVampire

* AscendedDemon: As revealed in ''Bloodstorm'', vampires who abstain from drinking human blood are immune to crosses and holy water. Joker finds this out the hard way when he lures Batman into a church filled with crosses.

* BeyondRedemption: In ''Crimson Mist'', Batman has fully succumbed to his vampire nature and feeds on his RoguesGallery before beheading them; he's fully aware of what a monster he's become, but is no longer capable of fighting it and is convinced he's taken in too much evil from his victims to be redeemed, reflecting he may very well destroy the world if he isn't stopped. Commissioner Gordon even insists to Alfred that they have to put him down, making the point that Batman killing ''anyone'' is proof that the good man he was [[ThatManIsDead no longer exists]].

* BittersweetEnding: Batman manages to [[spoiler: put an end to Dracula, the remaining vampires, and his own Rogues Gallery (in that order), but at the heavy cost of his own life and the lives of his allies, including Tanya, Selina, Gordon and Alfred]].

** As a direct result of his body's decay in ''Crimson Mist'', Batman is little more than a walking skeleton with [[RedEyesTakeWarning piercing red eyes]]. Not even drinking blood will restore him to a more human like appearance.

** The Joker whines that Batman should have already gone on a killing spree ever since he became a vampire, failing to take his moral fibre into account.

* FallenHero: By the time of ''Crimson Mist'', Batman has turned into a fiend who targets supervillains to sate his thirst for blood, but everyone else knows that it's only a matter of time before he runs out of criminals to kill and starts targeting innocents.

** Tanya herself is later {{retcon}}ned to be a half-vampire herself in ''Crimson Mist'' (although this may just be Batman's AlternativeCharacterInterpretation to 'justify' his own fall from grace).

* TheOnlyOne: When Batman goes on the rampage in ''Crimson Mist'', Gordon muses to Alfred that he's willing to risk his cops against Two-Face or Killer Croc, but feels he doesn't have the right to ask them to face the creature from Hell that Batman has become. Alfred suggests seeking federal aid, but Gordon rejects that, observing that they'd likely think he was crazy and send him to Arkham, and even if he could convince them it would take too long and they'd ultimately just run around Gotham and ultimately get killed anyway.

* ResistTheBeast: ''Bloodstorm'' sees Batman trying to do this as Tanya's blood substitute becomes increasingly ineffective, forcing Alfred to leave him so that he isn't tempted and turning to his new ally, Cat-Woman Selina Kyle, for help controlling his urges, until [[spoiler:her death drives him to despair as he drinks the Joker's blood in a moment of blind rage]].

* VegetarianVampire: Tanya and her pack survive on a specially made artificial blood substitute. Batman initially survives on it as well, but his bloodlust soon overtakes it (he speculates, but never determines, if this is because he's a more 'natural' predator, or if the fact that he was bitten by Dracula exposed him to a more virulent strain of the vampire 'virus'). Curiously, Tanya and the others had originally fed on blood and ''then'' were exposed to the artificial plasma, which turned out to be something Tanya herself ''developed'' after breaking ties with Dracula. This might have even been the only way the serum ''could'' work on a Vampire, as she is shown as being completely without any sign of bloodlust by the time she meets Batman. However, Batman never drank blood until the Joker, and never tried the serum afterwards. Meaning there's no way to know if exposure to the serum post-Joker would have helped him. It's also worth noting that Tanya subsisted on ''animal'' blood while conducting her experiments with the serum, so she didn't quite fit the 'vegetarian' side of the trope altogether.

* GunsAreWorthless: Against vampires, anyway.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Alfred spends months having nightmares over staking his master, but explicitly states this after he removes the stake and witnesses Batman's new insanity and rants for blood.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampires are of the old-school style, being that Dracula is involved; as a result, as well as the standard superhuman strength and speed and vulnerability to sunlight, silver and holy relics, they can also turn into bats, mist and wolves, although only Dracula, Batman and Creach are specifically shown transforming (another vampire is implied to have transformed while escaping Batman in his first encounter with one of the undead in ''Red Rain'', but is never explicitly shown doing so).

** In ''Bloodstorm'', Batman is basically an anti-hero, as he outright kills basically all of his opponents. However, every foe he kills is a vampire (he is shown sparing a group of human muggers in the opening scene), and while these vampires are more capable of planning and engaging in moral debates with him than his previous victims, they all make it clear that they will kill to feed and Batman knows there is no other way to stop them.

* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alfred lets Batman drain him so he can be strong enough to save James Gordon from Two-Face and Killer Croc, but Gordon winds up getting killed almost immediately after anyway by falling rubble from the destroyed batcave.]]

** This line from the final panel of Red Rain:

** In Crimson Mist, everyone in the story, including Batman himself, openly acknowledge that Batman is no longer the man he was, because Batman, no matter what, [[ThouShaltNotKill would never take a human life]].

* VillainousLegacy: Dracula is dead by the end of ''Red Rain'', but his legacy continues throughout the remainder of the trilogy. In ''Bloodstorm'', Joker takes control of the remnants of his pack, and Batman's fall to villainy and madness is entirely due to Dracula's bite.

* YouFool: Batman's first words to Alfred upon being restored in ''Crimson Mist''.

* JokerImmunity: Averted. Not just the Joker himself, but all of Batman's major enemies get killed off.

* FullFrontalAssault: Were-cat Selina Kyle and Killer Croc fight in the nude.

* FightDracula: The plot of ''Red Rain'' in a nutshell.

* KillEmAll: In ''Crimson Mist'', Batman has been so consumed by bloodlust and insanity that he makes it his duty to kill every last (homicidal) member of his RoguesGallery.

* StabTheSky: As Batman and Dracula are fighting, Dracula gains the upper hand long enough to raise his sword and get hit by lightning, stunning him long enough for Batman to throw him off so he ends up ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice.

* VegetarianVampire: Tanya and her pack survive on a specially made artificial blood substitute. Batman initially survives on it as well, but his bloodlust soon overtakes it (he speculates, but never determines, if this is because he's a more 'natural' predator, or if the fact that he was bitten by Dracula exposed him to a more virulent strain of the vampire 'virus'). Curiously, Tanya and the others had originally fed on blood and ''then'' were exposed to the artificial plasma, which turned out to be something Tanya herself ''developed'' after breaking ties with Dracula himself. This might have even been the only way the serum ''could'' work on a Vampire, as she is shown as being completely without any sign of bloodlust by the time she meets Batman. However, Batman never drank blood until the Joker, and never tried the serum afterwards. It's also worth noting that Tanya subsisted on ''animal'' blood while conducting her experiments with the serum, so she didn't quite fit the 'vegetarian' side of the trope altogether.

* VegetarianVampire: Tanya and her pack survive on a specially made artificial blood substitute. Batman initially survives on it as well, but his bloodlust soon overtakes it (he speculates, but never determines, if this is because he's a more 'natural' predator, or if the fact that he was bitten by Dracula exposed him to a more virulent strain of the vampire 'virus').

* StabTheStorm: As Batman and Dracula are fighting, Dracula gains the upper hand long enough to raise his sword and get hit by lightning, stunning him long enough for Batman to throw him off so he ends up ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice.

** In ''Red Rain'', Batman is obviously a hero as he only kills either feral vampires who would tear him and Alfred apart and gives the last of his human life to kill Dracula himself.
** In ''Bloodstorm'', Batman is basically an anti-hero, as he has started outright killing all of his opponents. However, every foe he faces here is a vampire, and while they are more capable of planning and engaging in moral debates with him than his previous foes, on the other hand they all make it clear that they will kill to feed and he knows there is no other way to stop them.
** By the final battle of ''Crimson Mist'', Batman has basically regressed to an 'anti-villain' as he has slain all of his human rogue's gallery, only able to restrict himself to killing those who are already killers, but makes it clear that he will start killing innocents if he isn't stopped here and now.

** In ''Crimson Mist'', after slaughtering every homicidal inmate in Arkham Asylum, Batman leaves a note to Dr. Arkham in blood. The note reads, "Go home. Your work is done."

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: The trilogy basically charts Batman's fall from grace, as he goes from an outright hero facing Dracula to an anti-hero killing other vampires to an anti-villain who's killing other killers but knows that he'll fall further and start killing innocents before too long.

Without its Dark Knight, Gotham has fallen prey to its villains. Fearing what may become and convincing himself that his master cannot be evil, Alfred removes the stake from Batman, which, since he wasn't beheaded, allows for him to be revived. Now a vicious monster, however, Batman takes to the skies, killing all of his rogues. He then enters Arkham and kills every inmate. Gordon and Alfred decide to team up with Two-Face and Killer Croc to stop Batman. In the end [[spoiler:everybody dies.]]

* AssholeVictim: In ''Crimson Mist'', Batman's RoguesGallery qualifies. All of them are purposely depicted as darker, more homicidal, and less humane compared to their regular versions and are even purposely drawn with creepy, warped features to reflect this. When Batman comes to kill them, it's depicted for [[AlwaysABiggerFish all]] [[BodyHorror the]] horror it's worth, with all of them save Killer Croc being reduced to [[VillainsWantMercy pathetically begging for their lives]], but it doesn't take away that most of them had it coming.

* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: Discussed between Alfred and Gordon in Crimson Mist, regarding the massive crime wave that has occurred since Batman's staking.

-->'''Batman''': I have lost all life, so I steal it. I am death, so I bring it. I am damned, and the world may be doomed, its sheep without shepherd, ready for its slaughter. And worst of all, the lost shepherd was me.

* BittersweetEnding: Batman manages to [[spoiler: put an end to Dracula, the remaining vampires, and his own Rogues Gallery (in that order), but at the heavy cost of his own life and his allies including Selina, Gordon and Alfred]].

* BreakingAndBloodsucking: A variation occurs in Red Rain. Tanya repeatedly visits Bruce in his sleep and bites him to infect him with vampirism, without actually drinking his blood. As a result, Batman gains vampire powers while still remaining essentially human, giving him the strength to fight Dracula.

** Killer Croc is the only non-vampire to give Batman any kind of trouble, as his tough hide makes it harder for Batman to bite him and he's strong enough to force Batman back for a moment, even if Croc isn't actually stronger than Batman.

** Tanya herself is later {{retcon}}ned to be a half-vampire herself in ''Crimson Mist'' (although this may just be Batman's AlternativeCharacterInterpretation).
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:While a FallenHero in ''Crimson Mist'', Bruce is among the many deaths in that story; in fact, his is the last death.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Selina and Tanya both sacrifice themselves to save Batman and stop Dracula, respectively, while Alfred willingly lets Batman drink from him to give him the strength needed to save Gordon from Two-Face.

* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Batman makes it a point in ''Crimson Mist'' ''not'' to kill innocents and just targets other crooks for their blood; he even reflects that most of the prisoners of Blackgate are in for theft or less and don't deserve to be drained by him. However, even Batman himself knows that it's only a matter of time before he runs out of criminals to feed on and turns to civilians.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampires are of the old-school style, being that Dracula is involved; as a result, as well as the standard superhuman strength and speed and vulnerability to sunlight, silver and holy relics, they can also turn into bats, mist and wolves, although only Dracula, Batman and Creach are specifically shown transforming (another vampire is implied to have transformed while escaping Batman, but is never explicitly shown doing so).

* RogueProtagonist: Batman, by the time of ''Crimson Mist''. He's failed to uphold his no-kill rule and succumbed to his vampire instincts, becoming a monster who hunts criminals and kills all of the patients in Arkham Asylum.

* SuicideBySunlight: Done by both Tanya and [[spoiler: Batman himself.]]

'''Batman''': Eliminating you from Gotham is not killing. You're not even alive.

* CurbStompCusion:

Without its Dark Knight, Gotham has fallen prey to its villains. Fearing what may become, Alfred removes the stake from Batman, which, since he wasn't beheaded, allows for him to be revived. Now a vicious monster, however, Batman takes to the skies, killing all of his rogues. He then enters Arkham and kills every inmate. Gordon and Alfred decide to team up with Two-Face and Killer Croc to stop Batman. In the end [[spoiler:everybody dies.]]

* CurbStompCusion: Batman and Dracula's fight. Batman finds himself unable to match Dracula's strength even with his own vampiric powers, but is able to do some damage with his silver Batarangs.

* BittersweetEnding: Batman manages to [[spoiler: put an end to Dracula, his own Rogues Gallery, and the remaining vampires but at the heavy cost of his own life and his allies including Selina, Gordon and Alfred]].

* CurbStompBattle: Batman and Dracula's fight. Batman finds himself unable to match Dracula's strength even with his own vampiric powers and relies on silver Batarangs to do any damage.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Batman goes through this in ''Crimson Mist'' after succumbing to SanitySlippage and his vampire nature. As he falls deeper and deeper into corruption, he reflects that he can no longer understand the {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s of Tanya and Selina, now regarding them as foolish actions rather than selfless and noble.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Invoked and Lampshaded with the Riddler, who has gone from extortion and robbery to drug trafficking and murder, combining the two by using a murder victim's body to store heroin. Within the work itself, both ''Bloodstorm'' and ''Crimson Mist'' are much darker than ''Red Rain'', both ending on near-complete downers compared to Red Rain's BittersweetEnding.

* DeathSeeker: During one of his private monologues in ''Crimson Mist'', Batman remarks that he isn't sure if he's killing people to sate his bloodlust or to provoke Gordon and Alfred into taking action against and killing him. He even consults Ariane, asking her if she knew for sure if there was any way vampires like him could truly die.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: The Riddler bears two noticeable question mark-shaped scars, one on his face and the other on his torso.

** Tanya herself is later {{retcon}}ned to be a half-vampire herself in ''Crimson Mist''.

** Gordon has the roof of the Batcave rigged to explode as part of a DeathTrap to defeat Batman by exposing him to the sun. Unfortunately, Gordon miscalculates the explosive force necessary to blow the roof, and [[spoiler: the resulting rockslide traps him in the cave and crushes him]].

* KillEmAll: In ''Crimson Mist'', Batman has been so consumed by bloodlust and insanity that he makes it his duty to kill every last member of his RoguesGallery.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: A good description of Selina's relationship with Batman in ''Bloodstorm'', as her affection helps to ease Batman's thirst for blood and restore his sanity.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Bloodstorm'', between Batman and the newly vampiric Cardona:

-->'''Batman''': How long before I can no longer bear the loneliness? How long before I stop [[OffWithHisHead taking their heads]]? How long before I start taking brides? Before I have spawned a 'family' even larger than the Cult of Dracula? ''Not long''.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Batman's tragic situation in ''Crimson Mist''. Restored from a paralyzed state as little more than a shambling, ravenous corpse, he barely maintains enough of a conscience to direct his vicious bloodthirst toward the super-villains of Gotham who have already killed themselves, all the while knowing that eventually he will run out of criminal victims to gorge himself on and turn instead on the innocent. He knows what a monster he has become, but no longer is capable of fighting it.

* NeckSnap: During their confrontation, Batman punches Joker in the face with enough force to snap his neck, but this doesn't immediately kill him; Bats drains him dry.

** In ''Crimson Mist'', Gordon and Alfred, in an EnemyMine with Two-Face's gang, set another one up for Batman in his new lair in the remnants of the Batcave, by planting explosives in the roof with the intention of setting them off and exposing Batman to the sun. [[spoiler:After a struggle that ends in the deaths of Alfred and Two-Face's gang, Batman willingly convinces Gordon to continue with his plan and set off the bombs.]]

* EnemyMine: Two-Face and Killer Croc's gang join forces with Commissioner Gordon and Alfred to stop Batman in ''Crimson Mist''. As soon as Batman appears to have been killed, Two-Face and Croc end the alliance and try to kill Gordon and Alfred.

* FaceMonsterTurn: Could basically apply to Batman, as he didn't choose to become a vampire (even if Tanya's original plan was just to make him ''stronger'' so he could fight Dracula rather than transform him completely) but eventually succumbs to his new instincts and finds himself unable to control the urge to feed.

** Tanya herself is later {{retcon}}ned to be a half-vampire herself in ''Crimson Mist'' (although as this came from a corrupted Batman without ever being mentioned in published material, it could just be his attempt to 'justify' to himself how he is irredeemable where Tanya was able to turn away from her 'addiction' to blood).

An Elseworld trilogy that involves Franchise/{{Batman}} becoming a vampire. There are three parts to it:

** In ''Crimson Mist'', Batman lets out a wordless roar of defiance as he realises how he may destroy the world in his new state as he succumbs to his thirst.

* FailureHero: This version of Batman failed to uphold his no-kill rule and succame to his vampire instincts. By ''Crimson Mist'', he becomes a monster who hunts criminals and kills all of the patients in Arkham Asylum.