Vampires, vampirism, and vampiric creatures in fiction

You may discuss all things about Vampires, Vampirism, and Vampiric creatures here, trope-wise or in general fiction.

For what general information we already compiled, see Our Vampires Are Different.

For tropes, see Vampire Tropes.

That is all so far.

Now, first order of the day: Shinso vampires (真祖, lit. "True Ancestor").

1. Which character was the origin of associating the term with super-powerful and/or "pure-blooded" vampires? Is it really Castlevania's Dracula, or was he taking his cue from something else in turn?
2. What common characteristics are associated with Shinso/True Ancestors across the various works that they appear in?
3. And finally... Can you think of alternative, less-literal translations of the term?

Didn't Vampire Hunter D exist before Castlevania?

EDIT: Yep.

edited 29th Nov '12 1:35:46 PM by KingZeal

True, it came before Symphony of the Night, which AFAIK is the first installment of the series to refer to use the "True Ancestor" term. Vampire Hunter D uses "Sacred Ancestor", BTW.

So... That's one question answered: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night appears to have been making a Shout-Out to Vampire Hunter D's "Sacred Ancestor" with its usage of "True Ancestor".

Bumping, and adding a random thought that occurred to me: Have there ever been cases of part-vampires who haven't inherited any specifically vampiric traits from their vampire parent (as opposed to more common-to-many-unrelated-supernatural-races traits, like Super-Strength or magic/supernatural ability aptitude)? All examples of Dhampyr that I've ever come across so far seem to always have at least one specifically vampiric attribute, either a weakness or Vampiric Draining capability.

edited 25th Apr '13 9:02:04 PM by MarqFJA

Does anyone know where the idea of vampires as ageless and immortal came from?

It's probably a product of those handful of famous Lesbian Vampire stories — e.g. Carmilla — where the she-vampire in question derives her agelessness from draining the blood of her victims (which is possibly influenced by the real-life historical figure of Elizabeth Bathory, infamous for murdering young women to bathe in their blood under the delusion that it will preserve/enhance her youth and beauty).

edited 5th Oct '14 3:08:17 PM by MarqFJA

Dhampyr in Vampire The Requiem (well, one option for them) has them as completely human. What they inherit has almost nothing to do with standard vampiric traits. They're massively enticing to vampires, a combo of Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious and just plain beguiling in a Weirdness Magnet kind of way. The upshot? Drinking any of their blood cripples the vampire.

Turns out undeath hates being cheated to create life, and "punishes" all vampire kind by making the Dhampyr anti vampiric weapons dunjour. Often without them even knowing.

edited 26th Oct '14 8:08:58 PM by Earnest

Speaking of dhampyrs, how is that word pronounced? I read it as da-hamper.

Just "dampyr" with a hard and stressed d. Of course, I also pronounce 'y' differently than English do.

Actually, the "dh" is pronounced like "th" in this, according to the IPA pronunciation of the originally-Albanian word.

Man, that sucks.

edited 27th Oct '14 3:00:26 AM by MarqFJA