History Main / ReligiousVampire

* ''[[VideoGame/ChoiceOfGames Choice of the Vampire]]'' zig-zags this: some vampires are militant atheists, some have adopted a vampire-themed pagan belief system, and others are devout Christians, one of whom warns the PlayerCharacter against disregarding the Church's teachings. To muddy the waters, only religious vampires are affected by HolyBurnsEvil, raising the question of [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane what precisely is causing the effect]].

* ''[[Creator/ChoiceOfGames Choice of the Vampire]]'' zig-zags this: some vampires are militant atheists, some have adopted a vampire-themed pagan belief system, and others are devout Christians, one of whom warns the PlayerCharacter against disregarding the Church's teachings. To muddy the waters, only religious vampires are affected by HolyBurnsEvil, raising the question of [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane what precisely is causing the effect]].

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[spoiler:Armand]] is a vampire and a practicing Muslim. In [[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E4TheRuthlessPursuitOfBloodWithAllA episode 1.04]], Daniel Molloy snarkily asks him, "How does Muhammad feel about vampires?", but he refuses to engage.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[spoiler:Armand]] is a vampire and a practicing Muslim. In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E4TheRuthlessPursuitOfBloodWithAllA ...The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood with All a Child's Demanding]]", Daniel Molloy snarkily asks him, "How does Muhammad feel about vampires?", but he refuses to engage.

** Simon was raised Jewish before being turned into a vampire. He's not particularly religious but he does still go home to his family for Yom Kippur in "Day of Atonement" (and brings his werewolf girlfriend Maia). He manages to conceal the fact that he can't eat human food anymore, though the fact that blood isn't kosher doesn't come up for some reason.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[spoiler:Armand]] is a vampire and a practicing Muslim. Daniel snarkily asks him, "How does Muhammad feel about vampires?", but he refuses to engage.

** The Eater Shenkt has a significant amount of time in ''Literature/BestServedCold''. Though he is not currently affiliated with Khalul, it is heavily implied that he once was, particularly when he refuses to kneel for Grand Duke Orso, insisting that he no longer has a master and does not kneel. This implies that simply practicing cannibalism isn't enough to become an Eater and that they are all created in some fashion by Khalul.

** Depending on what addition you play, ''any'' vampire can take the True Faith merit at character creation, but it requires starting with 9 Humanity, which means pouring all your Virtue points into Conscience and Self-Control, and you'll lose it if your Humanity ever drops by even a single point -- not an easy balance to maintain in a game that runs on BlackAndGrayMorality at the best of times.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[spoiler:Armand]] is a vampire and a practicing Muslim. Daniel snarkily asks him, "How does Muhammad feel about vampires?" but he refuses to engage.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[spoiler:Armand]] is a vampire and a practicing Muslim. Daniel snarkily asks him, "How does Muhammad feel about vampires?" but [[spoiler:Armand]] refuses to engage.

* In ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'', "Magic Doll", Cobra meets with Dracula III, a descendant of Count {{Dracula}}, who's unmoved when Cobra puts his arms in a cross, since the vampire is Catholic (proven by the crucifix he's wearing). Further subverting expectations, he's also a dark-skinned, blond {{Daywalker}} and his coffin doubles as a UV tanning bed.

Occasionally to [[StereotypeFlip subvert expectations]], some vampires are featured as ''genuinely religious'' in spite of their nature or perhaps even part of TheChurch. Sometimes, this is {{hand wave}}d by these [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires not being affected by crosses, holy water and the usual suspects]] which explains why they can carry out their pious duties, but it's not always the case - sometimes they are [[DaywalkingVampire immune to sunlight too for good measure]]. Other times they're ''not'' immune to the typical vampire weaknesses to crosses and holy water, and simply [[{{Determinator}} endure the pain caused by performing their priestly duties]] because their faith requires it. Possibly as [[TheAtoner penance for evil they committed]] [[HeelFaithTurn before finding God]]. It's a good opportunity to combine vampires with [[CreepyCrosses crosses and other related imagery as they all seem "gothic"]], specially in Japanese fiction. Christianity is the most common example because of its prevalence in fiction, but any traditional religion can qualify including CrystalDragonJesus ones. On the other hand, [[ReligionOfEvil demonic faiths]] do not count for this trope, since it's generally assumed that vampires will be [[AlwaysChaoticEvil inclined towards evil anyways]] rather than being rejected by it like normal religions. Having said that, this trope covers both good and evil examples: [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire heroic vampires]] will have a tendency to be self-loathing monsters which is why they seek religion in search for comfort, self-control and/or atonement, while evil vampires qualify as {{Churchgoing Villain}}s or {{Sinister Minister}}s (though pretending to be one doesn't count, they have to believe it).

* A nun is traveling in Transylvania when a vampire jumps out and attacks her. Thinking quickly, she brandishes her cross. The vampire starts laughing and goes, "[[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Oy vey]], have YOU got the wrong vampire!" (A similar setup appears in ''Film/TheFearlessVampireKillers''.) Alternatively, the vampire brandishes their own, differently shaped cross and attacks the nun for belonging to a Christian sect opposed by that of the vampire's own.

* The originator of the entire vampire race in ''Literature/TheKurtherianGambit'' is a very devout Christian and makes a point when searching for a successor that he or she must likewise be so. Said successor, main protagonist Bethany Anne, [[InformedAttribute is said to be a devout Christian when she's introduced, but her faith doesn't really come up otherwise]].

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': After being turned into a vampire, [[spoiler:Simon]] retains his Jewish faith, but is still incapable of saying the word "God". Raphael Santiago also remained catholic after he got turned and even wears a cross that left a scar on his chest. In fact religious symbols only hurt vampires if they believe in the religion the symbol belongs to.
** [[spoiler:Simon]] eventually does figure out how to say the word "God," in the Latin translation, ''Deus''. Clary suggests to him that it's because [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre he no longer believes that he's damned.]]

* Thoth in ''Literature/StraightOuttaFangton'' is a Voodoo priest despite the fact vampires are explicitly harmed by religious symbols and invocations. Thoth explains that he is fully aware of the contradiction and that it is why it is doubly important to feel that way. He later mentions a NoodleIncident where he ''escaped hell'' thanks to his patrons.

* Creator/AnneRice has her vampires doing things like going into churches and cathedrals and praying - trying to work out their inner conflicts as to whether they are genuinely evil, or if any good remains, or if they have advanced beyond human dichotomies such as the good-evil thing. In the Rice universe, her vampires can handle crucifixes and holy water without ill-effects and can even encounter Angels and not be adversely affected.

** Depending on what addition you play, ''any'' vampire can take the True Faith merit at character creation, but it requires starting with 9 Humanity, which means pouring all your Virtue points into Conscience and Self-Control, and you'll lose it if your Humanity ever drops by even a single point - not an easy balance to maintain in a game that runs on BlackAndGrayMorality at the best of times.

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Carlisle was raised the son of an Anglican pastor (that also happened to be a VampireHunter), and it is his continued faith that drives him to help people as a doctor.

* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'':

** ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': The vampire Count Magpyr has managed to rid his clan of their ClassicalMovieVampire weaknesses (garlic, holy water, religious symbols...) through constant exposure to them (and being immortal, he's written several authoritative but misleading books about the weaknesses of vampires). This turns against them at the climax where their weaknesses are suddenly restored, and memorizing so many religious symbols (most of which are very simple, along the lines of [[{{UsefulNotes/Christianity}} two lines of different lengths intersecting at right angles]]) means they can see them everywhere.

* In ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'', "Magic Doll", Cobra meets with Dracula III, a descendant of Count {{Dracula}}, who's unmoved when Cobra puts his arms in a cross, since the vampire is Catholic (proven by the crucifix he's wearing). Further subverting expectations, He's also a DarkSkinnedBlond {{Daywalker}} and his coffin doubles as a UV tanning bed.

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'': The Lancea et Sanctum vampire religion is a twisted take on this, striving to become {{Fully Embraced Fiend}}s and {{Dark Shepherd}}s who drive humans towards God through fear. They venerate Longinus[[note]](The Roman soldier who stabbed Jesus during the Crucifixion)[[/note]] as an EmbodimentOfVice who was cursed with vampirism directly by {{God}}.

** Notably, after [[spoiler: he is exposed as a vampire and then destroyed]], his (non-vampiric) sidekick encounters the Crossbreed, a team of Christian superheroes. He assumes they'll be just as horrified that he was a vampire as the public is, but they reveal that they always knew what he was and didn't hold it against him, because he was "doing the Lord's work."
* ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'' had one obscure villain named [[http://marvunapp.com/Appendix4/draconisblade.htm Draconis]], an [[SinisterMinister vampire priest/assassin]] who overcame the typical weaknesses like sunlight, holy water and the crucifix through a combination of AcquiredPoisonImmunity, [[FoodChainOfEvil feeding on other vampires]] and more importantly, unshakable faith and becoming a match for the Daywalker.

* ''Film/SundownTheVampireInRetreat'': Mardulak, the leader of the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire colony, and many of his people believe in God (although considering how HolyBurnsEvil in this movie they do have some reason to) and strive to earn his forgiveness by abstaining from human blood [[spoiler: and in the end, they receive it]].

[[caption-width-right:299:[[https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R4WGX Art]] by [[https://www.artstation.com/aoart10 Ahmed Omar]]. Used with permission.]]

** On Ravnica, most vampires who join a Guild either join the Orzhov Syndicate or House Dimir; the former are usually this, though in typical Orzhov fashion it's a very CorruptChurch.