History Literature / TheVAMPIRECHRONICLES

TropeCodifier for the modern day interpretation of VampiresAreSexGods. Before ''Interview'' the general public's image of vampires was based on {{Dracula}} via Creator/BelaLugosi and Creator/ChristopherLee, who, while a sex god in his own right, was mysterious, distant, threatening, and a metaphor for rape. Rice's vampires in contrast were modern, petulant, deliciously angsty, incredibly [[{{Camp}} fabulous]], and dripping with bisexual eroticism. These were vampires you were supposed to find attractive. The {{Goth}} scene owes a ton to ''Interview with the Vampire''.

* LineageComesFromTheFather: Inverted with the Great Family. Maharet traces her descendants only through the female line, since in the ancient times [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe reliable verification of paternity was impossible.]]

Of course, this led to everlasting animosity from fans of old school vampires who didn't like that their favorite movie monster were "sissified" and no longer threatening. That continued for years until the Anne Rice vampire craze wore off. Eventually ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' came along and provided a much worse example of lame vampires, though really harsh critics will blame the former for setting the stage for the latter to be created. Nowadays the cultural importance of ''The Vampire Chronicles'' has been forgotten by everyone except hardcore vampire fans, though said influence itself remains all-encompassing and is likely to persist in the zeitgeist for a very long time.

** At one point Lestat bites his tongue so he can both make out with and feed Gabrielle. Y'know, [[OedipusComplex his mother]].

* PlotThreads: Unlike most of the books, ''The Queen of the Damned'' includes multiple POVs filtered through Lestat's, which results in a lot of these, including not only Akasha's attempt to conquer the world, but also Marius's entrapment in ice; Daniel's self-destruction; Armand's adjustment to the modern world; the Akasha/Lestat, Lestat/Louis, Armand/Daniel, and Marius/Pandora romances; Mekare's emergence from seclusion; the origins of Egyptian mummification; and Baby Jenks's whole life story.

Of course, this led to everlasting animosity from fans of old school vampires who didn't like that their favorite movie monster were "sissified" and no longer threatening. That continued for years until the Anne Rice vampire craze wore off. Eventually ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' came along and provided a much worse example of lame vampires, though really harsh critics will blame the former for setting the stage for the latter to be created. Nowadays the cultural importance of ''The Vampire Chronicles'' has been forgotten by everyone except hardcore vampire fans, though said influence itself remains all-encompassing and is likely to persist in the zeitgeist for a very long time.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Not massively, but you'll often find people confused about whether Lestat has a long or short "a". ('If they quit reading before ''Memnoch the Devil'', where Lestat specifies that it's long.) Also, is Akasha AH-kah-shah, or uh-KA-shuh? Nicolas is almost always pronounced like the English name, including in TheMusical, but the French pronunciation would be more along the lines of nee-koh-LAH.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: None of the major ones, but we get cameos from Botticelli, Savonarola, and Marie-Antoinette, to name a few.

* VampiresAreRich: Or at least, they can be if they choose. Being immortal, telepathic and willing to kill people makes the accumulation of wealth fairly easy. Some vampires do eschew money or property. But over time the older ones in particular just find it convenient to be rich, if only because they develop a taste for lavish lifestyles. Plus, one year's regular consumer product can be a priceless antique a century later.

* ''Interview With the Vampire'' (1976)
* ''The Vampire Lestat'' (1985)
* ''The Queen of the Damned'' (1988)
* ''The Tale of the Body Thief'' (1992)
* ''Memnoch the Devil'' (1995)
* ''The Vampire Armand'' (1998)
* ''Merrick'' (2000)
* ''Blood and Gold'' (2001)
* ''Blackwood Farm'' (2002)
* ''Blood Canticle'' (2003)
* ''Prince Lestat'' (2014)
* ''Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis'' (2016)
* ''Blood Communion'' (2018)

* OddFriendship: Even Lestat seems a little bemused by his friendship with human Talamasca director David Talbot. The weirdness reaches an apex when Lestat [[ItMakesSenseInContext sleeps off a sunburn on one of David's hunting trophies.]] [[HoYay Naked.]]

** Although it can be debated whether Vampire Chronicles fits this trope at all, as we're not talking about one narrator who is inconsistent, we're talking about two completely different narrators within the series (not counting the multiple points of view of ''The Queen of the Damned''). Of course a depiction of Lestat from the perspective of Louis (who resents him) is going to be more harsh and critical, and a depiction of Lestat from his own point of view is going to be more forgiving. No one sees themselves as being "stupid, cruel and petty." Lestat knows and fully understands the motivations behind his own action and Louis doesn't, which would account for any seeming inconsistencies in Lestat's characterization.

** Debatable: Many of the main characters do not kill humans, but instead survive by the "little drink" (taking small amounts of blood from several humans instead of completely draining one) or at least only kill people who seem to deserve it (murderers rapists etc.) and a vampire who kills without discretion is usually depicted as being (at least somewhat) worse than one who is selective about who he kills.
** This is usually chalked up to the fact that a vampires mind simply doesn't work the way a humans mind works and the fact that, if you look at it subjectively, humans really are below vampires on the food chain. Lestat himself alternates between idealistic and pragmatic on the matter throughout the books.

* WouldHurtAChild: Lestat kills a child for its blood shortly after becoming a vampire; Louis, while starving, drinks from the human Claudia;Lord Harlech kills two children in his pursuit of Armand; and Akasha's army of brainwashed women kills male children alongside the grown men.

* WritersCannotDoMath: In ''Queen of the Damned'' Lestat tells Akasha, "And by this you mean kill forty percent of the population of the earth? Ninety percent of all males?" Supposedly this is based on assuming males are 50% of the world's population. If this is true, ninety percent of all males is fourty-five percent of the total population, not forty. Ninety percent of the male population would correspond to forty percent of the world's population, if the male population was around 44-45% of the total. Also, earlier in the book Akasha says she is leaving one male in a hundred alive, so it is unclear where the 90% comes from in the first place.

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: How [[spoiler: Mekare]] becomes the queen of the damned.

** Though this didn't seem like genuine criticism on the authors part, but more as a means of illustrating how [[OurVampiresAreDifferent her vampires are different]] than Bram Stokers Dracula (who is most commonly regarded as the "traditional" model of a vampire.)

A [[Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022 television adaptation]] of ''Interview With the Vampire'' is scheduled to premiere on October 2, 2022.

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Almost any dark-haired vampire will become this, but it's clearly indicated that Louis, Eleni, and Enkil qualify. Akasha takes it UpToEleven in ''The Queen of the Damned''.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Louis's mystic brother.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Claudia goads Louis, who prefers to make his kills as quick and painless as possible, into cruelly teasing human victims for her enjoyment.

* ForcedIntoEvil: Khayman rapes Maharet and Mekare pn Enkil's orders. It's implied that even worse consequences would have resulted had he refused.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: EXTREMELY old vampires are sometimes depicted as having lost the ability to understand human morality or emotions, instead making decisions based on their own philosophies.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Merrick

* ''Merrick'' (2001)

* IncestIsRelative: Turns out [[spoiler:Quinn and Mona]] are related.
** Don't forget Lestat and Gabrielle: at one point, she actually describes him as her penis, and he describes them (post-change) as lovers.
*** Lestat and Gabrielle are unusually close for a mother and son, but they never have sex, so the presence of this trope is debatable.
*** Though it's hard to make an argument for the presence of incest when most of the characters are incapable of having sex.

* IAteWhat: After being starved by the Children of Darkness, Armand drains the human they provide him before realizing that it's his friend Riccardo.