History Main / OurvampiresAreDifferent

The sheer number of different and contradictory myths that have built up around vampires over the years have made it difficult to explore all of them in great detail. To deal with this, writers have started [[VampireVarietyPack putting multiple types of vampire into their setting, with the explanation that different myths describe different types of vampire]]. These are often referred to as "bloodlines", although any term suggesting shared descent or culture may also be used. Particularly common types include a more refined and high-class one with little beyond tasteful fangs to mark them outwardly, sometimes embodying the more recent view of vampires as seductive predators; a more bestial, highly monstrous one, typically called "strigoi" or "[[LooksLikeOrlok nosferatu]]", which may be visibly batlike even in human form; and an especially corpse-like one that puts particular weight on vampires' undead nature.

* Modern updates of the vampire legend may [[NotUsingTheZWord completely avoid using the word "vampire"]] to describe them; see the "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric Curse of Fenric]]", ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'', and ''Preacher'' examples below. The protagonists of TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade are called vampires, but do not like to call themselves such: they prefer "Kindred" or "Cainites", thank you very much.

** [[WeakenedByTheLight Direct sunlight]]. This is actually a modern invention; much [[NewerThanTheyThink newer than you'd think]]. In old legends, they actually had to [[VampiresSleepInCoffins sleep in their coffin during the day]], but sunlight wasn't ''[[DaywalkingVampire fatal]]''. They were merely dormant during the day, making it "easy" to sneak up on them. Nowadays, they just hole up inside, and sunlight literally has the power to make them [[ManOnFire spontaneously combust.]] Sometimes this is specifically [[PostModernMagik ultraviolet radiation]]; sunlight is dangerous, but a light-bulb is not.

The sheer number of different and contradictory myths that have built up around vampires over the years have made it difficult to explore all of them in great detail. To deal with this, writers have started [[VampireVarietyPack putting multiple types of vampire into their setting, with the explanation that different myths describe different types of vampire.]]

Some works reconcile the immense variety of potential vampires created by mixing together the various fictional rules and historic portrayals by including multiple different varieties of vampires at the same time. These are often referred to as "bloodlines", although any term suggesting shared descent or culture may also be used. These groups will typically each have some distinct trait or gimmick, often fully embodying a particular take or tradition of vampires by themselves -- even in a single setting, Our Vampires can be very Different indeed. Particularly common bloodlines include a more refined and high-class one with little beyond tasteful fangs to mark them outwardly, sometimes embodying the more recent view of vampires as seductive predators; a more bestial, highly monstrous one, typically called "strigoi" or "[[LooksLikeOrlok nosferatu]]", which may be visibly batlike even in human form; and an especially corpse-like one that puts particular weight on vampires' undead nature.

-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''

** [[MustBeInvited They cannot enter a home unless invited in by someone.]] This can range from killing them to simply that they physically can't enter. However, it is still a large [[WeaksauceWeakness disadvantage]]. The original Dracula was able to skirt around this problem if he had already drunk the blood of someone inside (Lucy sleepwalked, so he bit her when she left the house at night). Some versions allow the invitation to be revoked in an instant, others require elaborate ceremonies, while some do not allow the invitation to ever be revoked. In any case, locked doors are never an obstacle to an invited vampire. In other cases the invitation may need to be renewed every time the vampire returns. In some modern versions (''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'') the Vampire will begin to spontaneously combust if he crosses a threshold without an invitation, though elder Vampires are completely immune to this. ''Series/TrueBlood'' showed the logical downside to this flaw: all restrictions are lifted if the vampire ''[[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buys]]'' the house.

** Religious ''music'' can have this effect too. In ''Film/VampireInBrooklyn'', when Maximilian impersonates the heroine's pastor, the gospel choir's singing---even humming--causes him discomfort. And in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', it's suggested that Native American tribal songs and drums can drive away vampires.
** Holy water (drinking or total immersion in holy water often IS lethal).

Some works reconcile the immense variety of potential vampires created by mixing together the various fictional rules and historic portrayals by including multiple different varieties of vampires at the same time. These are often referred to as "bloodlines", although any term suggesting shared descent or culture may also be used. These groups will typically each have some distinct trait or gimmick, often fully embodying a particular take or tradition of vampires by themselves -- even in a single setting, Our Vampires can be very Different indeed. Particularly common bloodlines include a more refined and high-class one with little beyond tasteful fangs to mark them outwardly, sometimes embodying the more recent view of vampires as seductive predators; a more bestial, highly monstrous one, typically called "strigoi" or "[[LooksLikeOrlok nosferatu]]", which may be visibly bailie even in human form; and an especially corpse-like one that puts particular weight on vampires' undead nature.

* Creating too many Vampires generally 'spreads the bloodline thin' and leads to too many weak or crazy vampires.

* Canadian wrestler [[Characters/WCWFinalYears El Vampiro]] made his name in Mexico. His FinishingMove is called The Nail in the Coffin.

* Vampires are usually [[TheVirus viral]]. In many tales or stories, their affliction is treated as a curse or supernatural corruption that can be spread to normal humans (or other creatures if there are other races besides humans). Of course this lead the a chicken or the egg scenario where one questions where vampirism came from in the first place. This is usually explained in the form of MonsterProgenitor or PatientZero who somehow became the first of their kind and spread it to others. While the simplest and most common way to become a vampire is by infection, Other methods which may have cause the first of the species to come about could be due to a DealWithTheDevil by making a pact with dark supernatural forces, RitualMagic that calls on dark powers to change someone into a vampire, or just being [[CompleteMonster such an evil monsterous bastard]] That GodIsDispleased and curses them or the final act that caused the transformation was symbolic and so depraved that it make the person a magnet for evil mystical energy that transforms them. Suffice it to say, Vampires created by these methods are usually much stronger than the average vampire and may have additional abilities or their weaknesses are reduced with some of them even being removed.

* Vampires are usually [[TheVirus viral]]. In many tales or stories, their affliction is treated as a curse or supernatural corruption that can be pread to normal humans (or other creatures if there are other races besides humans). Of course this lead the a chicken or the egg scenario where one questions where vampirism came from in the first place. This is usually explained in the form of MonsterProgenitor or PatientZero who somehow became the first of their kind and spread it to others. While the simplest and most common way to become a vampire is by infection, Other methods which may have cause the first of the species to come about could be due to a DealWithTheDevil by making a pact with dark supernatural forces, RitualMagic that calls on dark powers to change someone into a vampire, or just being [[CompleteMonster such an evil monsterous bastard]] That GodIsDispleased and curses them or the final act that caused the transformation was symbolic and so depraved that it make the person a magnet for evil mystical energy that transforms them. Suffice it to say, Vampires created by these methods are usually much stronger than the average vampire and may have additional abilities or their weaknesses are reduced with some of them even being removed.

* Vampires are usually[[TheVirus viral]]. In many tales or stories, their affliction is treated as a curse or supernatural corruption that can be pread to normal humans (or other creatures if there are other races besides humans). Of course this lead the a chicken or the egg scenario where one questions where vampirism came from in the first place. This is usually explained in the form of MonsterProgenitor or PatientZero who somehow became the first of their kind and spread it to others. While the simplest and most common way to become a vampire is by infection, Other methods which may have cause the first of the species to come about could be due to a DealWithTheDevil by making a pact with dark supernatural forces, RitualMagic that calls on dark powers to change someone into a vampire, or just being [[CompleteMonster such an evil monsterous bastard]] That GodIsDispleased and curses them or the final act that caused the transformation was symbolic and so depraved that it make the person a magnet for evil mystical energy that transforms them. Suffice it to say, Vampires created by these methods are usually much stronger than the average vampire and may have additional abilities or their weaknesses are reduced with some of them even being removed.

* Vampires are [[TheVirus viral]]:

* Vampires are almost always [[SuperStrength inhumanly strong]], [[SuperSpeed fast]], and [[SuperToughness durable]], often to the point of being ImmuneToBullets and most other mundane weapons. For some, especially more modern ones, this is where it ends, making them effectively little more than intelligent (and stylish) super-zombies.

[[folder: Music]]
* "Hate the Day" by Behind the Scenes paints the vampire narrator as a AntiVillain suffering from the dreadful sunlight, HorrorHunger, and killing their loved ones.
-->''Like a lover, like a beast we catch you in your sleep\\
The lips approach your neck again\\
Her skin smells so sweet, it smells so sweet\\
Despair after the deed as I've been the beast again\\
Each night the raid repeats\\
Our nature drives me on\\
We kill what we love''
* "The Vampire Waltz" by Hannah Fury, sung from the persrective of a hypnotized vampire victim.
* "Slaying the Dreamer" by Music/{{Nightwish}}.
-->''Put a stake through my heart and drag me into sunlight''
* "The Man Who Swallowed My Soul" by Persephone describes someone who [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld looks young except for the eyes]], hypnotizes the narrator with his voice and [[KissOfTheVampire kiss]], and sucks her blood.
* "Follow Me Into Madness" by Music/{{Tarot}} is narrated by a vampire turning his lover into other vampire and waxing lyrical about the beauty of the night.
* "Unsterblich" by Music/SubwayToSally is about an immortal, [[HorrorHunger ever-hungry]] creature. Once, someone gave him his blood; now, he is about to change another human being into a vampire.
* "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Vampire]]" by Xandria.
-->''Follow her until her thirst is sated\\
An immortal lie, heartblood\\
Can't help yourself, she's got you paralyzed\\
So would you kiss the sun goodbye?\\
And give your life to never die?\\
She's a vampire''
[[/folder]]

** WoodenStake through the heart. In most modern depictions, this is fatal; in the original folklore, it merely stops the vampire from leaving his coffin. In most of the older stories, one had to use a hammer or a gravedigger's shovel to drive the stake in, which meant that vampire stakings mainly happened during the day when the vampire was asleep, but recently, it's become [[MadeOfPlasticine oddly easy]] to do by hand. Remember, the ribs are there to prevent just such an occurrence. In some cases, a special specimen of wood is needed for the stake to be effective, commonly Hawthorn, and occasionally it needs to be blessed or enchanted, but not all vampires are this picky about what goes through their chests.

* "Follow Me Into Madness" by Music/{{Tarot}} seems to be narrated by a vampire turning his lover into other vampire and waxing lyrical about the beauty of the night.

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Vampire"]] by Xandria.
-->Follow her until her thirst is sated\\

She's a vampire
* "The Vampire Waltz" by Hannah Fury, from the persrective of a hypnotized vampire victim.
* "The Man Who Swallowed My Soul" by Persephone describes someone who [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld looks young except for the eyes]], hypnotizes the narrator with his voice and [[KissOfTheVampire kiss]], and sucks her blood.
* "Follow Me Into Madness" by Music/{{Tarot}} seems to be narrated by a vampire turning his lover into other vampire and waxing lyrical about the beauty of the night.
* "Slaying the Dreamer" by Music/{{Nightwish}}.
--->Put a stake through my heart and drag me into sunlight

* "The Man Who Swallowed My Soul" by Persephone.
-->He sucked the lifeblood\\
Out of my veins

* Can turn into bats, wisps of smoke, or wolves for travel. (Bats are by ''far'' the most common.) A rare transformation featuring prominently in early literature (such as ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'') was the ability to turn into ''elemental dust in moonlight''. A connection to bats isn't part of older vampire folklore because all vampire bats are native only to the New World, and wolves aren't used today because of the [[FurVersusFang rivalry between vampires and werewolves]].

** Cannot bear the touch of special symbolic items, like silver, similar to [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] or other supernatural beings; [[SilverHasMysticPowers silver is toxic or burns them]]. This may relate back to the days when silver was thought to be [[HardLight solid-light]], and as a symbol of the light, would harm anything non-human. Silver isn't alone, however, as some folklore also mentions [[VampiresHateGarlic garlic]] for its pungent scent, which spirits both good and ill are normally repulsed by (although in some variants it's the ''flowers'' of the garlic plant, for their flowery sweetness) or maybe just because it smells bad to people with really sensitive noses, pure rough wood for its connection to nature, and salt for its ability to ward off spirits and other nasty beings as it represents purity of soul. Garlic and salt are also used widely as preservatives, especially in pickling; driving off and preventing decay is [[ReviveKillsZombie anathema to their kind]]. They also can harmed by [[HolyHandGrenade magically augmented weapons and ammunition]].

* There are two social profiles for vampires. The first is a loner who may keep a cadre of vampire slaves and possibly a mate. {{Dracula}} fits this profile. The second is a "vampire society" where houses of vampiric lineages act and compete within a {{Masquerade}}.

The "baseline rules" below are strongly influenced by Hollywood tradition, and not "real" vampire folklore, or even classic vampire fiction. For instance, as (properly) shown in the 1992 ''Dracula'' with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, and in 2003's ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', {{Dracula}} and other "folkloric" vampires were at the most [[WeakenedByTheLight inconvenienced by sunlight]], not killed instantly. More to the point, sunlight didn't cause vampires to go up like flash paper in [[{{Literature/Dracula}} the original novel]], nor in earlier vampire lore. Sunlight causing a vampire to suffer pain and damage, burst out in glitter, smolder, or go up like a one-man pyrotechnic show was created by the movies, from ''Nosferatu'' (1922) and onward.

Modern vampire treatment in popular culture is usually divided into cycles. The Malignant cycle (1931 -1948), the Erotic cycle (1950 -1985), the Sympathetic cycle (1987 -2001), the Individualist cycle (2003- present day). Malignant, meaning vampires are treated as creatures of pure horror, as popular in the early films like Nosferatu, and Universal films. Erotic, meaning they were considered evil but alluring, such as the the Hammer films. Sympathetic, meaning they were seen as tragic monsters that were to be pitied, but still feared, although they could sometimes be redeemed usually by becoming human once more. And Individualist meaning that they could be bad, good, or in between, much like humans, and their transformation to vampirism did not imply a change in morality.

The "baseline rules" below are strongly influenced by Hollywood tradition, and not "real" vampire folklore, or even classic vampire fiction. For instance, as (properly) shown in the 1992 ''Dracula'' with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, and in 2003's ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', {{Dracula}} and other "folkloric" vampires were at the most [[WeakenedByTheLight inconvenienced by sunlight]], not killed instantly. More to the point, sunlight didn't cause vampires to go up like flash paper in [[{{Literature}}/Dracula the original novel]], nor in earlier vampire lore. Sunlight causing a vampire to suffer pain and damage, burst out in glitter, smolder, or go up like a one-man pyrotechnic show was created by the movies, from ''Nosferatu'' (1922) and onward.

The "baseline rules" below are strongly influenced by Hollywood tradition, and not "real" vampire folklore, or even classic vampire fiction. For instance, as (properly) shown in the 1992 ''Dracula'' with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, and in 2003's ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', {{Dracula}} and other "folkloric" vampires were at the most [[WeakenedByTheLight inconvenienced by sunlight]], not killed instantly. More to the point, sunlight didn't cause vampires to go up like flash paper in [[{{Literature}}/Dracula the original novel]], nor in earlier vampire lore. Sunlight causing a vampire to suffer pain and damage, glitter, smolder, or go up like a one man pyrotechnic band was pretty much wholly created by the movies, and specifically, by F.W. Murnau in ''Nosferatu'', the first film to use this idea and probably its inventor.

** [[HolyBurnsEvil Crosses]], and possibly other religious symbols depending on the belief of the wielder. Originally, it had to be a full-blown crucifix (that is, a cross with a figure of Jesus on it). In modern renditions, this is usually subject to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve the power of belief]] of the wielder, the vampire, both, or neither. For instance, if a character is a devout Jew, then they could use the Star of David to ward off a vampire, and in one ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, a devoted [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] member used a Soviet star to repel vampires. Then you can have a vampire who carries their own crucifix, being [[NotSoDifferent a believer too]], like Henry Fitzroy in ''Blood Ties''. He also prays and goes to confession (he figures that he is subject to the same sins as humans, and needs to do penance for them). Fortunately, he is a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire. But sometimes just being in an old church or some other holy ground can harm the vampire even if no living person is present. Sometimes, the religion the symbols represent have to have been around during the vampire's lifetime to have any effect. If a vampire predates all modern religions, don't go reaching for your crucifix.

* Cannot be heard over phone lines.
* If there are any actual Holy Relics, these things will kill a vampire even if they're just in close proximity. However, these are rarely used. Some variations have the relics only being effective when the faith of the wielder is strong. In other variations, the relic is only effective if the vampire [[YourMindMakesItReal believes that it can harm them]].
* Can turn into bats, wolves, or wisps of smoke for travel. (Bats are by ''far'' the most common.) A rare transformation featuring prominently in early literature (such as ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'') was the ability to turn into ''elemental dust in moonlight''. A connection to bats isn't part of older vampire folklore because all vampire bats are native only to the New World.
* Can turn into other creatures that drink blood: vampire bats, mosquitoes, ticks. (Sometimes they become a single creature, more rarely a whole flock/swarm.)

The "baseline rules" below are strongly influenced by Hollywood tradition, and not "real" vampire folklore, or even classic vampire fiction. For instance, as (properly) shown in the 1992 ''Dracula'' with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, and in 2003's ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', {{Dracula}} and other "folkloric" vampires were at the most [[WeakenedByTheLight inconvenienced by sunlight]], not killed instantly.

In Stoker's novel and earlier vampire lore, sunlight did not cause vampires to go up like flash paper. Several times in the novel, Dracula appears in broad daylight with no ill effects. He is simply incapable of using at least some of his vampiric powers during the daylight (he cannot change form except at dawn, noon and dusk, but still seems to be able to charm wolves to some degree). Sunlight causing a vampire to suffer pain and damage, glitter, smolder, or go up like a one man pyrotechnic band was pretty much wholly created by the movies, and specifically, by F.W. Murnau in ''Nosferatu'', the first film to use this idea and probably its inventor.

* Vampires are [[TheVirus viral]], or are capable of turing others into vampires.
** They are [[SuperEmpowering capable of changing human beings into other vampires]]. Folkloric vampires were not so: one became a vampire after being cursed by one's parents, or dying by suicide, or after practising witchcraft, or being a werewolf or being born dead. Some say that Stoker's {{Dracula}} needed to go through a more elaborate process to make another vampire, but that {{bowdlerize}}d versions removed the detail where he made the victims drink ''his'' blood to begin the transformation, but there is really no indication of this in the text---Mina is forced to drink his blood to establish a stronger psychic bond, and it is explicitly stated that a victim will, at natural death, become a vampire from just a bite.

* Vampires are [[TheVirus viral]].