History OurVampiresAreDifferent / LiveActionTv

* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'', vampires need to eat, sleep and use the restroom in spite of being dead and having no heartbeat. They don't need to drink blood, but do experience intense cravings for it akin to an incurable drug addiction. They have to drink quite a lot of it to stave off their cravings, virtually assuring that they kill their victims. Blood that is not fresh gives them almost no relief. Their eyes go completely black when they're angered or feeding. Vampires are attached to their creator and are able to locate them from a distance. Sunlight causes them no ill effects, but they seem to have a mild dislike for it. A stake through the heart kills them. People wielding signs of faith can ward them off, such as the Christian cross and recitations from the Bible, or for the [[InformedJudaism lapsed Jew]] George the Star of David works as well; Vampires can overcome this problem for a short while after feeding. They need an invitation to enter homes, although the "Old Ones" have found out ways around this, and cannot be seen in recordings or reflections in silver-backed mirrors. Their reflections can, however, be seen in windows and on the chassis of cars. They can sense werewolves instinctively and see ghosts without effort. They are stronger and faster than humans, but not immensely so. They turn into dust when killed.

** It has been established that articles of faith work if the person wielding them consider the vampire a threat. For instance, Aidan keeps watch over Josh's Star of David when Josh transforms, and it causes him no harm. Later in the series, Josh is able to repel some antagonistic vampires with the symbol. The reason given for it not harming Aidan is their close friendship and Josh not considering him a threat.
** Garlic doesn't harm them but does force their GameFace on. Werewolf blood cause them to regurgitate all the blood out of their body, which turns out to be the unexpected cure for a disease that's ravaging the vampire community. However this permanently causes all their future sires to be exceptionally ravenous and exceptionally powerful; they're also monstrous in appearance until they can drink enough blood to glamour an attractive appearance.

* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'', vampires need to eat, sleep and use the restroom in spite of being dead and having no heartbeat. They don't need to drink blood, but do experience intense cravings for it akin to an incurable drug addiction. They have to drink quite a lot of it to stave off their cravings, virtually assuring that they kill their victims. Blood that is not fresh gives them almost no relief. Their eyes go completely black when they're angered or feeding. Vampires are attached to their creator and are able to locate them from a distance. Sunlight causes them no ill effects, but they seem to have a mild dislike for it. A stake through the heart kills them. People wielding signs of faith (including holy symbols and recitations from the Bible) can ward them off, but they can overcome this problem for a short while after feeding. They need an invitation to enter homes, although the "Old Ones" have found out ways around this, and cannot be seen in recordings or reflections in silver-backed mirrors. Their reflections can, however, be seen in windows and on the chassis of cars. They can sense werewolves instinctively and see ghosts without effort. They are stronger and faster than humans, but not immensely so. They turn into dust when killed.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice "The Vampires of Venice"]] features [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin vampires. In Venice.]] [[spoiler:Except they're actually stinkin' alien fish disguised as humans with ugly teeth.]]

* Vampires in''{{Series/Preacher}}'' can eat, drink and sleep, aren't affected by holy objects, garlic or stakes. Their fangs are retractable and only ever come out when they feed. They need blood to heal, but it seems they don't necessarily need human blood. Vampires can acquire super strength, flying and the ability to shapeshift, but [[spoiler:only if they turn lots of other people]].

* ''Series/Dracula2020'': Most vampires are animalistic, decaying undead that don't last long. Dracula is the main exception, having survived for 400 years and is able to keep a human appearance. It mostly boils down to him carefully selecting his victims and feed on not just their blood, but also their knowledge. As he says, "You are what you eat". Vampires in this show alsow have some of the classic weaknesses, like being weakened by sunlight, repelled by holy objects or being unable to enter a house without an invitation, but nobody knows exactly why these things work, and it is frequently lampshaded that it makes no sense.

* ''{{Series/CSI NY}}'' meanwhile, had a group of otherwise regular humans who belonged to a [[ReligiousVampire vampire church/religion group]]. Blood exchange was from consensual donors, and when someone is initiated into the group, they get a tattoo on the arm. It's based on a group that exists in RealLife.

*** The original ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' footage had her counterpart Vancuria, who serves as a spy for the villains and is fairly similar to Necrolai in most ways. Unlike Necrolai though, she was also able to transform into two mischievous girls dressed as {{Elegant Gothic Lolita}}s named Nai and Mea.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay "State of Decay"]] has traditional vampires... [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!]], on a PlanetOfHats version of {{Uberwald}}. The Great Vampire, however, is a giant bat-monster, the last of a race wiped out by the Time Lords. In this episode, while Romana tells a soon-to-die ally that vampires can only be killed by a wooden stake, the Fourth Doctor offs the Great Vampire [[spoiler:with a dart-shaped shuttlecraft, like the bowships the Time Lords used on the Great Vampires long ago]]. How he managed to hit the heart is probably one for [[ImprobableAimingSkills another trope]]. Oh, yeah -- [[NoOntologicalInertia when the Great Vampire dies, all the vampires created by it go to dust as well]]. Gotta love efficiency.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric "The Curse of Fenric"]], "Haemovores" can be repelled by a focus of belief. A Soviet soldier is therefore able to ward them off with a red star, while the Doctor can summon enough belief without a focus, by thinking of his companions. The doubting priest on the other hand has some trouble.

*** In the Fourth Doctor Adventures story "White Ghosts", we meet [[spoiler: humans who have genetically spliced themselves with bats in order to survive on a dark, low-oxygen planet — side effects include vulnerability to light and a taste for blood...]]

* Vampires in ''Series/DarkShadows'' have retractable fangs that only appear when they're about to feed. The curse that causes people to become vampires is a powerful form of black magic that also causes its victims to do unspeakable evil as a compulsion; it can be resisted, but not all the time as it eats at the psyche. During the day, they die whether in sunlight or not, but rise again at night. Despite being undead, they appear to be otherwise normal humans most of the time. Their powers include hypnotic stares, incredible strength, regeneration, and immortality unless their bodies are excessively damaged. They can also shapeshift and teleport.

** The Strigoi are traditional vampires, though during AncientGreece. Unlike the Bacchae, they have no ties with the gods and can be kiled with normal wooden stakes. Though they don't appear to shapeshift, they can levitate and their master vampire [[{{Dracula}} Vlad]] is capable of turning into mist and teleport. They are particularly vulnerable to hemlock and are weakened greatly if they ingest blood laced with hemlock.

* ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''. The episode "Space Vampire" has a creature called a Vorvon. It has the abilities of HypnoticEyes, ShapeShifting (to a floating red ball of light), VampiricDraining (of LifeEnergy), {{Invisibility}} to electronic viewing and turning the humans it killed into zombies. It can be fended off by a "power lock" instead of a crucifix and is WeakenedByTheLight of the sun.

-->'''Buffy:''' I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!\\

** In the serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric "The Curse of Fenric"]], "Haemovores" can be repelled by a focus of belief. A Soviet soldier is therefore able to ward them off with a red star, while the Doctor can summon enough belief without a focus, by thinking of his companions. The doubting priest on the other hand has some trouble.
** In the new series story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones"]], the blood-sucking Plasmavore (not the same kind of vampire) is impervious to sunlight, looks completely human, shows up on scanners as whatever species it most recently drank from, and drinks blood from human necks ''with a plastic bendy straw''.

** The serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay "State of Decay"]] has traditional vampires... [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!]], on a PlanetOfHats version of {{Uberwald}}. The Great Vampire, however, is a giant bat-monster, the last of a race wiped out by the Time Lords. In this episode, while Romana tells a soon-to-die ally that vampires can only be killed by a wooden stake, the Fourth Doctor offs the Great Vampire [[spoiler:with a dart-shaped shuttlecraft, like the bowships the Time Lords used on the Great Vampires long ago]]. How he managed to hit the heart is probably one for [[ImprobableAimingSkills another trope]]. Oh, yeah -- [[NoOntologicalInertia when the Great Vampire dies, all the vampires created by it go to dust as well]]. Gotta love efficiency.
** ExpandedUniverse explains the Vampire taint entered the Universe by [[NiceJobBreakingItHero primitive experiments in time travel]] by the JustForFun/{{Time Lord}}s, and the Great Vampires are equated with [[EldritchAbomination infinitely horrific beings]] called the Yssgaroth. An interesting tidbit is that ''Literature/FactionParadox'', a ''Doctor Who'' spinoff, makes it quite clear virtually '''''anything''''' can be infected with Yssgaroth taint. Up to and [[OhCrap including]] [[LivingShip timeships]].

*** In the Fourth Doctor Adventures story "White Ghosts," we meet [[spoiler: humans who have genetically spliced themselves with bats in order to survive on a dark, low-oxygen planet -- side effects include vulnerability to light and a taste for blood...]]

** They are vulnerable to fire, sunlight, garlic, stakes and crosses (and other holy objects...the Egyptian sun disk affected Divia the same way as a cross would have).

* ''Series/TheLWord'' introduces the character of Uta Refson (Nosferatu backwards) a BDSM gothic-looking lesbian who Alice thinks is a vampire. Of course, as it's a realistic series, the exact nature of her vampirism is left for the audience to figure out. For example, Alice thinks Uta doesn't have a reflection but it's just because of a mistake. On the other hand Uta does seems to have superhuman strength.

* Series/MurdochMysteries: In the episode Bloodlust students of a girl boarding school have gone to meet a mysterious man in a nearby cemetery and have woken up in a crypt with puncture wounds on their necks and having lost blood. This happens at the time of the publication of Dracula and George Crabtree thinks a vampire is involved. As it turns out the Headmistress was hidding a haemophiliac son and using a physician and the girls' fascination with the Dracula story to drug them and transfuse their blood the her son.
* 60s family sitcom ''Series/TheMunsters'' has friendly vampires. The Dracula part of the family is made of vampires and werewolves. Lily Munster, the family's matriarch and her father Sam Dracula a.k.a. Grandpa are vampires. Marilyn presumably is a vampire too as she is the daughter and granddaughter of vampires (though she is a "deform" vampire and therefore looks like a perfectly normal human girl for her family's dismay). Eddie, Lily's son, is a werewolf but has some vampiric behaviors. Vampires in this universe have no problem with sunlight, seem to be immortal but can grow old with time and don't need human blood to survive though, they do like it. The Grandpa in particular can also turn into bat and wolf.

* ''Series/TheOrville'' has a race called The Krill, the resident bad guy race of the first season. They have pale skin and vampiric features, are hypersensitive to light to the point that ultraviolet rays can burn them alive, they have a violent and murderous culture that sees all other races as soulless and free to be killed at leisure, and culturally they follow a ReligionOfEvil built around blood sacrifices and worship of an OmnicidalManiac deity called Avis, who are basically space vampires.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Man Trap", there was a "salt vampire" (a FanNickname for what was officially called "the M-113 Creature") that could look like its victim's ideal love/sex object. This allowed it to find victims when straight salt wasn't available.

* ''Series/SoWeird'': Fiona's family nearly falls victim to a group of vampires. None of the traditional vampire wards work -- she tries crosses, holy water, and garlic. What ''does'' work is an angel necklace given to her brother by his girlfriend. Later, Fiona speculates that it worked because the pendant was a symbol of love.

* ''Series/TheStrain'' has somewhat traditional vampires (burned by sunlight, vulnerable to silver, etc.), except that the vampirism is spread by virus-carrying worms. The vampires also have long, tongue-like "stingers," and appear on video and in reflections (although their images seem to vibrate in silver mirrors). The show hasn't yet addressed the effects of crosses or garlic.

* The vampire in ''Series/TheVampyrASoapOpera'' has a special condition for remaining a vampire: he must kill three women in three nights, or he is doomed to hell. This idea comes from John Polidori's "Literature/TheVampyre" and its theatrical adaptations, especially the opera ''Theatre/DerVampyr'' upon which the miniseries is based. Additionally in ''Der Vampyr'' (and originally from ''The Vampyre''), vampires can be injured by normal weapons, but heal when they lay in the moonlight.

* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and its spin-off ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' have [[VampireVarietyPack two distinct examples in the same setting]]:
** The Bacchae are the servants of Bacchus, the evil god of debauchery. They are shown to be always female since Bacchus prefers to [[CorruptTheCutie take the purest girls and corrupt them into their twisted monsters]], have the power to shapeshift into wolves and can only be killed with dryad bones. If a Bacchae drinks from her master's blood, then the transformation will be irreversible and they are doomed to never pass on to the afterlife after their deaths.
** The Strigoi are traditional vampires, though during AncientGreece. Unlike the Bacchae, they have no ties with the gods and can be kiled with normal wooden stakes. Though they don't appear to shapeshift, they can levitate and their master vampire [[{{Dracula}} Vlad]] is capable of turning into mist and teleport. They are particularly vulnerable to hemlock and are weakened greatly if they ingest blood laced with hemlock.
* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': Vlad is a Divine Executioner that landed on Transylavania and served as origin for all vampire myths on Earth. She is practically indestructible, has superhuman strength, speed, can fly using bat-like wings, preserves her youth by drinking protoblood and can turn individuals into her thralls by biting them. Its unknown if this is a common trait among Divine Executioners as Vlad is the only one ever seen in the series, but one of the main protagonists Kai (a Divine Assassin, a rank below the Executioner) also vaguely resembles a vampire, being undead/immortal.
* ''Series/WynonnaEarp'' has a particularly unusual variant in that, physically, their vampires are downright feeble -- easily killed by regular humans, and showing no sign of superior strength or speed. On the other hand their glamour powers are so effective that a single touch can completely enthrall a human, to the point that within a day the entire town is standing around talking about how awesome it is that they're going to be murdered by these creatures. They're also immune to sunlight and can generate a purple fog which quickly fills up a room, enabling easy ambushes of their victims.

* ''Series/{{Charmed}}''[='=]s Paige was partially turned into a vamp. They have a hierarchy similar to bees. In order to save Paige before she finished transforming, her sisters killed the vampire queen, freeing Paige and causing every other vampire in that clan to die instantly. They have the standard vampire weaknesses and their eyes are extremely sensitive to light making them wear sunglasses in bright places.

** Religious symbols are useless (Henry wears a crucifix).

* ''{{Series/CSI NY}}'' meanwhile, had a group of otherwise regular humans who belonged to a vampire church/religion group. Blood exchange was from consensual donors, and when someone is initiated into the group, they get a tattoo on the arm. It's based on a group that exists in RealLife.

* ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'': Comic relief simian-looking villain Totbat is a vampire. He doesn't need blood, given that he's never drank it even once, but he wants to. Sunlight has no ill effect on him or anything, and the fact that he's a vampire only comes up one time. In fact, it was such a minor aspect that it was dropped from his ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' counterpart Baboo.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':

* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and its spin-off ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''
* The Bacchae are the servants of Bacchus, the evil god of debauchery. They are shown to be always female since Bacchus prefers to [[CorruptTheCutie take the purest girls and corrupt them into their twisted monsters]], have the power to shapeshift into wolves and can only be killed with dryad bones. If a Bacchae drinks from her master's blood, then the transformation will be irreversible and they are doomed to never pass on to the afterlife after their deaths.
** The Strigoi are traditional vampires, though during AncientGreece. Unlike the Bacchae, they have no ties with the gods and can be kiled with normal wooden stakes. Though they don't appear to shapeshift, they can levitate and the master vampire is capable of turning into mist and teleport. They are particularly vulnerable to hemlock and are weakened greatly if they ingest blood laced with hemlock.

** ExpandedUniverse explains the Vampire taint entered the Universe by [[NiceJobBreakingItHero primitive experiments in time travel]] by the {{Time Lord}}s, and the Great Vampires are equated with [[EldritchAbomination infinitely horrific beings]] called the Yssgaroth. An interesting tidbit is that ''Literature/FactionParadox'', a ''Doctor Who'' spinoff, makes it quite clear virtually '''''anything''''' can be infected with Yssgaroth taint. Up to and [[OhCrap including]] [[LivingShip timeships]].

** They are immune to crosses, holy water, can travel freely, don't need to sleep in coffins, and can be seen by cameras and mirrors. Garlic, while not lethal, is very irritating to them. Bill Compton explains that most vampiric rumors were actually invented ''by'' vampires themselves in order to trick potential victims into lowering their guard or use them as a proof of their humanity if they were forced to prove it. Vamps are still allergic to the sun, and their weakness to it actually ''increases'' with age. They have to sleep somewhere during the day, preferably underground, though Bill sleeps under old floorboards in his closet. Silver burns their skin and completely paralyzes them. In the first episode, Bill is essentially chained to the floor by a silver necklace draped across his wrists and neck.

*** However, nothing prevents a vampire from forcing a human to invite him or her. In one episode, Bill hypnotizes a little girl into inviting him when her father refuses invitation. It's unclear if one denizen of the residence can rescind an invitation given by another. In another episode, Eric physically threatens Sookie (who is on her porch) and demands to be allowed in her home. However, this is only because he hears a noise inside and believes someone wants to hurt her. He's right; there's a werewolf hiding inside.

* The lore of ''TheVampireDiaries'' takes some major turns from other vampire tales.

* ''Series/TheLWord'' introduces the character of Uta Refson (Nosferatu backwards) a BDSM gothic-looking Lesbian who Alice thinks is a vampire. Of course, as it's a realistic series the exact nature of her vampirism is left for the audience to figure out, for example Alice thinks Uta doesn't have a reflection but it's just because a mistake, on the other hand Uta does seems to have superhuman strength.

** They're known to have a great weakness: a virus that makes a human not only immune to Wraith feeding, it also kills the offending Wraith. Plus, although they have a hive-like hierarchical society, they are quite willing to kill each other or resort to cannibalism if there's not enough food for all of them (as in the case of the show). In a sharp difference to vampires from other fiction, Wraiths can actually reverse the feeding process and transfer their own life force into someone else to heal them and restore their youth. They never do this lightly and reserve it to their closest worshippers and comrades only. Another weakness is revealed later: Wraith children are omnivores and can sustain themselves on any kinds of normal food but once they reach puberty, their digestive tract reverts to a dormant state. Hence the need for vampirism. In the final season, a modified version of the Wraith-to-human retrovirus is available to leave the subject as a Wraith but removes their feeding orifice, reactivating their digestive tract instead.

* In ''Series/TrueBlood'', the invention of synthetic blood by a Japanese scientist (ostensibly for transplant patients) has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" to the mainstream public. All they have to do is drink [=TruBlood=] (now sold as a soft drink in most restaurants) and can "mainstream" more or less successfully, though a human notes "Imagine you suddenly can't eat any of your favorites foods, and have to spend the rest of your life drinking [=SlimFast=]." There are references throughout the series to a Vampire Rights movement, along with a Vampire Rights Amendment (VRA) working its way through Congress. Much of the conflict of the show deals with people's well-intentioned desire to treat vampires like normal people, but begrudging acceptance that they are still instinctive predators, and thus have to be evaluated on an individual basis. Vampire traits:

*** However, nothing prevents a vampire from forcing a human to invite him or her. In one episode, Bill hypnotizes a little girl into inviting him when her father refuses invitation. It's unclear if one denizen of the residence can rescind an invitation given by another. In another episode, Eric physically threatens Sookie (who is on her porch) and demands to be allowed in her home. However, this is only because he hears a noise inside and believes someone wants to hurt her. He's right, there's a werewolf hiding inside.

** Vampires can subsist off animal blood, but are stronger, have better senses, and have more abilities when they regularly consume human blood. They're supernaturally fast and strong, and only get stronger with age. They also have greatly [[SuperSenses enhanced senses of hearing and smell]] and the ability to [[HypnoticEyes compel people]]. Vampires can even [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase memories]] if they've been drinking enough human blood. When affected with bloodlust they [[GameFace grow fangs, prominent veins appear around their eyes, their irises turn black, and their sclera turns red.]]. To top this off, they can turn their feelings and emotions on and off as they please, which lets them be as moral as is convenient.
** As for weaknesses, crosses, silver, and holy water aren't a problem, but any kind of wood implement causes pain. [[KryptoniteFactor Although garlic doesn't affect them, vampires have a weakness to the plant vervain]], but they can build up an immunity if exposed to small amounts over a long period of time. When humans wear or ingest vervain they can't be compelled or have their memories erased. Vervain is also toxic to vampires; contact causes pain, and ingesting or having it injected causes pain and paralysis. Drinking the blood of someone who's recently consumed vervain has the same effects of consuming vervain itself. They must also be [[MustBeInvited invited at least once into dwellings with living inhabitants before they can enter, but killing the inhabitants also works]]. While they're still vulnerable to direct sunlight, indirect sunlight doesn't do them any harm and a few vampires even have special rings that allow them to walk during the day. The rings need to be enchanted by witches and the original creator can remove the ring's conferred sunlight immunity at any time they choose. [[FurAgainstFang Werewolves are the natural enemies of vampires]], and their bites are horribly lethal.
** To turn someone into a vampire they must first drink vampire blood and then die, but they're not out of the woods just yet. After death they will be in a stage called "transition" which lasts about a day before the person in question either dies or chooses to drink human blood and thus completes the "transition", becoming a full vampire. On top of this, drinking vampire blood causes humans to gain a temporary sort of HealingFactor. The reverse is true for vampires, who ordinarily have a HealingFactor (they can even regenerate their eyes), but heal even faster after consuming human blood.

* ''Series/VanHelsing2016'': A single bite can turn a regular human into a vampire within seconds. There are roughly two main types: ferals, which are more like zombies than vampires, and feeders, which are more intelligent. It's implied that a vampire might become feral if it isn't able to feed soon enough. They do have a HealingFactor but can be killed by conventional weapons. Vanessa also encounters a more bestial vampire in the sewers that apparently feeds on its own kin as well as humans, though it's not clear if this is an actual sub-type.