History Main / TechnicallyLivingVampire

* Creator/OctaviaButler's ''{{Literature/Fledgeling}}'' features the Ina, who are a separate species living symbiotically with humans. They drink blood, avoid the sun, and live a very long time. They reproduce biologically among themselves; there is no way for humans to become one.

* Creator/OctaviaButler's ''Literature/Fledgeling'' features the Ina, who are a separate species living symbiotically with humans. They drink blood, avoid the sun, and live a very long time. They reproduce biologically among themselves; there is no way for humans to become one.

* In Garfield Reeves-Stevens' vampire thriller novel ''Bloodshift'', vampirism turns out to be a virally-induced mutation that transforms a human being into a superficially-identical but radically different organism, with immense strength, speed and durability (enhanced by the vampire's internal organs all fusing into a single "generalized organ" that takes over the function of ''all'' the others, allowing any part of it to support any other injured part -- the single exception being the heart, which is why stake-sized weapons that transfix it are still fatal) and extremely slowed aging, but which also becomes dependent on human blood, fatally vulnerable to ultraviolet light (including sunlight), and capable of self-directed psychosomatic injury (vampires who believe in their own nature as damned undead are harmed by crucifixes because ''they'' believe they "should" be). Varies slightly from the trope in that additional, genuinely supernatural abilities seem to be accessible at later stages of vampiric existence (telepathy, precognition etc.), but the vampires themselves are still living organisms.

* In Garfield Reeves-Stevens' vampire thriller novel ''Bloodshift'', vampirism turns out to be a virally-induced mutation that transforms a human being into a superficially-identical but radically different organism, with immense strength, speed and durability (enhanced by the vampire's internal organs all fusing into a single "generalized organ" that takes over the function of ''all'' the others, allowing any part of it to support any other injured part) and extremely slowed aging, but which also becomes dependent on human blood, fatally vulnerable to ultraviolet light (including sunlight), and capable of self-directed psychosomatic injury (vampires who believe in their own nature as damned undead are harmed by crucifixes because ''they'' believe they "should" be). Varies slightly from the trope in that additional, genuinely supernatural abilities seem to be accessible at later stages of vampiric existence (telepathy, precognition etc.), but the vampires themselves are still living organisms.

* All vampires in ''Manga/CallOfTheNight'' are this. It is explicitly stated that most of the known weaknesses of vampires, such as garlic, silver bullets and crosses, are just rumors based on sightings of real vampires that became more fiction than fact over time.

* Vampires in ''Manga/InterviewsWithMonsterGirls'' is considered a HumanSubspecies who have some different biological features, such as needing to ingest blood for survival and heightened senses. They are also legally treated as humans and accorded human rights.

* Methuselahs of ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' have a bacterium that feeds on red blood cells in their bloodstream, which they need a regular supply off. They typically live for 300 years and most are born with the bacteria, which kicks in sometime in their [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty teens or twenties]]. Despite having supernatural abilities and WeakenedByTheLight, they consider "Vampire" to be a FantasticSlur.

* ''{{ComicBook/Vampirella}}'': Thanks to a '''''severe''''' case of DependingOnTheWriter, Vampirella is either the undead daughter of Lilith, or living HumanAlien Vampire variant. Sometimes she?s a mix of both. {{Lampshaded}} by ComicBook/RedSonja in a crossover, where she's confused about why she can see Vampirella's breath in the cold air despite being a vampire.

* ''Fanfic/FromFakeDreams'': At one point in the fic, Shirou Emiya is bitten by a True Apostle Ancestor (basically a type of elite vampire), but he never actually dies and his transformation is significantly slowed down by a magic artifact and sheer dumb luck. As a result he becomes an anomaly among vampires, because he now has vampiric traits while still being a living human and is referred to as "the Living Ancestor" which is impossible by normal standards. It should be noted that whether other characters acknowledge him as a true ancestor or not depends on their political agenda; ''Shirou'' wants absolutely nothing to do with all this.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'' is set in an {{alternate|Universe}} Franchise/DCUniverse starring radically different counterparts of familiar superheroes; with their version of "{{Franchise/Batman}}" actually being Kirk Langstrom (better known as Man-Bat in the rest of the DC Multiverse). Unlike most incarnations of Langstrom (who are usually [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent were]]-{{bat|People}} monsters), this one instead became an {{expy}} of {{Franchise/Marvel|Universe}}'s {{ComicBook/Morbius}}; a scientist who had accidentally turned himself into a quasi-vampiric mutant in a botched attempt to cure his terminal illness. Langstrom has several of the usual vampire traits, including [[HorrorHunger strong cravings for blood]] along with superhuman strength, speed and durability, though [[DaywalkingVampire sunlight doesn't seem to hurt him]].

* In the indie film ''Film/TheHamiltons'', the titular family are all vampires of the HumanSubspecies variety. In the film's world, the Hamiltons and any other vampires out there seem completely human, they're born, mature, live and die similar to humans, with the exception that they need to drink blood to survive. (One notable difference is that apparently for the first few years vampire children are somewhat feral, craving blood all the time, and capable of killing a grown man to get it. At least if Lenny, the youngest of the Hamilton siblings, is representative of vampire children as a whole and not just a result of his parents dying while he was a baby and then being raised by unprepared siblings.)

* In Creator/PeterWatts' ''{{Literature/Blindsight}}'', vampires were a HumanSubspecies that evolved to prey on other humans. But they went extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago, because right angles gave them seizures. The myths about the living dead stemmed from their ability to hibernate for decades at a time while their slow-breeding prey repopulated. And while they're assumed to have been capable of breeding normally, the fact that they were recreated in the 21st century by giving retroviral gene therapy to autists and sociopaths, suggests that there may have once been a natural virus that could turn ordinary humans, or at least half-vampires, into vampires.

*** They don't have the stereotypical vampire weaknesses, their only weakness is the emotion that opposes the one that they feed on and its symbols; it is either love, courage or hope.

* In ''Literature/TheSanguineChronicles'', vampirism and [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]] are both caused by a virus and the infectee is perfectly alive. As Marko has to convince [[spoiler:Aconite]] after her infection.
* ''Literature/TheStrain'' Trilogy: The ''strigoi'' are victims of parasitic blood worms that take over their bodies and put them under the Master's will. They're never explicity referred to as undead, and many traditional vampire characteristics are explained in biological terms. Even the Master's immortality is credited to his ability to BodySurf in parasite form, as opposed to vampiric eternal life. Subverted with The Master and his fellow ancients, as the final book confirms they are [[spoiler:undead pieces of a slain FallenAngel rather than a human.]]

* ''{{TabletopGame/Traveller}}'': In ''Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'' #16 Amber Zone adventure "The Day of the Glow", an epidemic of a disease called the "glowing plague" breaks out on the planet Purfyr. The symptoms include sunlight on the victim's skin becoming extremely painful, shrinking gums (which makes the victim's teeth, particularly the canines, seem to lengthen), an intense desire to consume iron-rich organic substances (such as blood) and insanity that can cause the victim to resort to murder and/or cannibalism to obtain blood. PlayerCharacters who participate in the scenario may come to the conclusion that vampires actually exist.

* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'': [[OurVampiresAreDifferent While not all vampires are the same]], with even the known members of the Alucard Clan (Rachel Alucard, Raquel Alucard and Clavis Alucard) seemly having a different nature even to each other, but they are far from undead. In fact according to Naoto Kurogane's [[MagicalEye Hunter?s Eye]], members of the Alucard Clan have an abnormally high Life Force Number, Raquel's number is well over a million and Clavis is registered as "Immeasurable". Curiously Rachel has no number, for reference if someone is dead or undead, their number is explicitly "0".

* Remilia and Flandre Scarlet of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' are explicitly called vampires, but it's noted that they are more closely related to {{Oni}} rather than the undead of any kind. They share many of the same weaknesses with oni, and they're also supernaturally strong much like the oni, but the key difference seems to be that vampires need to drink blood and can't stand in direct sunlight. They also lack several prominent vampire weaknesses, like vulnerability to holy imagery and the need to be invited inside of buildings.

* The vampires in ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' are born as such, since they can have children just as humans do. Maria Delacroix, in particular, has given birth to and [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/no_buts raised 13 children of her own.]] However, she explained that their aging process [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty begins to slow down]] during their [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/legions_of_admirers mid-late teens.]]

* Website/SCPFoundation: [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-742 SCP-742]] is a mutagenic retrovirus that transforms humans into vampire-like creatures. They bite their prey with a paralyzing venom, and instead of feeding on blood they drain stem cells from their victims' bone marrow, which allows them to become biologically immortal.

* Methuselahs of ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' have a bacterium that feeds on red blood cells in their bloodstream. They typically live for 300 years and most are born with the bacteria, which kicks in sometime in their [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty teens or twenties]].

* {{Website/SCP|Foundation}}-[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-742 742]] is a mutagenic retrovirus that transforms humans into vampire-like creatures. They bite their prey with a paralyzing venom, and instead of feeding on blood they drain stem cells from their victims' bone marrow, which allows them to become biologically immortal.

* Hunters in ''{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}}'' are not referred to as vampires, but they tick a lot of the boxes. They are not undead and can be killed by conventional weapons, but gain increased agility and strength after receiving a transfusion of Yharnam blood, and can also heal instantly by either injecting vials of blood or (via the Rally mechanic) by attacking enemies immediately after taking damage, presumably splashing blood in their wounds.

* Hunters in ''{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}}'' are not referred to as vampires, but they tick a lot of the boxes. They are not undead, but gain increased agility and strength after receiving a transfusion of Yharnam blood, and can also heal instantly by either injecting vials of blood or (via the Rally mechanic) by attacking enemies immediately after taking damage, presumably splashing blood in their wounds.

* The Remilia Scarlet and Flandre Scarlet of Franchise/TouhouProject are explicitly called vampires, but it's noted that they are more closely related to {{Oni}} rather than the undead of any kind. They share many of the same weaknesses with oni, and they're also supernaturally strong much like the oni, but the key difference seems to be that vampires need to drink blood and can't stand in direct sunlight. They also lack several prominent vampire weaknesses, like vulnerability to holy imagery and the need to be invited inside of buildings.

*** They don't feed on blood, they [[EmotionEater feed through physical contact on a particular emotion]], which is determined by their bloodline - the Raiths feed on [[VampiresAreSexGods lust]], the Malvora on fear, the Skavis feed on despair. However, the feeding process is dangerous, since it can drain the victim's life force and kill them. Also, the people who are the Whampires' regular "meals" become addicted to the experience. Also, if a Whampire is starving, they will inadvertently attract people to them as potential prey. This is especially visible in the case of [[ThePornomancer Thomas]] [[DeconstructedTrope Raith]], who couldn't get a steady nonmagical job because his female colleagues and clients sexually assaulted him.

* ''Literature/TheInnkeeperChronicles'': Vampires are a humanoid alien species that have given rise to many of the vampire legends. They have the fangs, though they use them to bite through an opponent's spinal column rather than suck their blood. They also tend to have paler, cooler skin tones than human normal, faster reflexes, and a great deal of muscle mass. They are human enough that if InterspeciesRomance ensues, HalfHumanHybrids are very likely to follow. Stranded vampires have, historically, waited for pickup in stasis pods that resemble glass coffins; and they used to bury these pods for extra security. Vampire armor is tough enough that the only hope that pre-technical humans had of getting through to even an incapacitated vampire was a stake - as in a sharpened ''beam or post'' - driven with a massive amount of force. Their supposed weakness to holy water comes from instances where the Catholic Church infused the defenses to its treasure chambers with quicklime and other caustic substances.

* ''Literature/TheStrain'' Trilogy: The ''strigoi'' are victims of parasitic blood worms that take over their bodies and put them under the Master's will. They're never explicity referred to as undead, and many traditional vampire characteristics are explained in biological terms. Even the Master's immortality is credited to his ability to BodySurf in parasite form, as opposed to vampiric eternal life. Subverted with The Master and his fellow ancients, as the final book confirms they are [[spoiler: undead pieces of a slain FallenAngel rather than a human.]]

* In Creator/ElephantGames' ''[[FracturedFairyTale Cursed Fables]]: White As Snow'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Literature/SnowWhite]] is a vampire. She exhibits absolutely no signs of being undead, however; she was found and adopted as a baby and grew up like any child, gradually maturing into a fully grown woman. In fact, until the bloodlust drives her to snap and start killing everyone, her father and stepmother believe her to be a perfectly normal, healthy human being, albeit one with an UndeathlyPallor. (And yes, she was a vampire from birth - it's discovered late in the game that she killed people throughout her childhood by drinking from them, but their deaths were mistaken for illness. [[spoiler:This includes her adoptive mother, whom she killed when she discovered the secret.]])

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Indexes: VampireTropes, IndexOfFictionalCreatures

* ''Literature/TheStrain'' Trilogy: The ''strigoi'' are victims of parasitic blood worms that take over their bodies and put them under the Master's will. They're never explicity referred to as undead, and many traditional vampire characteristics are explained in biological terms. Even the Master's immortality is credited to his ability to BodySurf in parasite form, as opposed to vampiric eternal life.