Our Vampires Are Different / Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

• The Marvel Universe has a large variety of vampire types, from Dracula himself to those based on the patterns of insects to "pseudo-vampires" created by science. (See here for a full list.) Dracula and other traditional, magical vampires beginning with the Atlantean Varnae (Shout-Out to Varney the Vampire), originate from a Black Magic spell cast from the Darkhold, a magical tome written by the demonic Elder God Chthon. Great strength, speed and healing as long as they get blood are kind of universal. Dracula's line has most of the powers he had in the novel. They can control wolves, rats and bats as well as transform into mist, more powerful ones can manipulate the weather. Sunlight weakens almost all types, destroying most on contact. Wood can disrupt their healing and they also are very weak to silver and garlic. A believing Jew can use the Star of David to ward off a vampire just as well as a Christian using a cross can. Conversely, a cross won't work for an atheist or a Jew. If you're an atheist, it might be a good idea to keep some garlic or one of those little Darwin fishes handy.
  • A sample of some others: Nosferatu's ilk are like Dracula but look ugly when using the full extent of their power. Adze, found primarily in Guyana, ignore pain to the point they keep going even as they burn away. Charniputra mostly fly above the Himalayas with their great wings, spending almost all non feeding time in the sky. Charniputra also have a tough hide that's hard to damage without the weaknesses. Yuki Onna, the snow vampires of Nippon, spend their time as clouds of razor sharp ice, turning into a humanoid form to feed. Tryks drink other vampires and have none of the weaknesses, they also have retractable claws and spikes. The spikes inject venom that stops vampires from fading away after dying and the drained corpse becomes Tryk larva, which find human hosts to leech off of until adulthood. Queen Tryks have wings and can fly. Aqueos are more like fish people, spending most of their time in the ocean depths where the sun can't get them. Runaways has vampires that specifically don't work like vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The only weakness they carry is sunlight and aliens that taste like rainbows.
  • Some variations are limited to individual characters:
    • Blade's Dhampyr birth made him immune to being turned by every type in the sample but he was eventually bitten by Michael Morbius, a science-created vampire instead of a supernatural one, and his powers have changed some. Spitfire's vampire turn was mostly rejected and the few traits she has are suppressed, they come out when she's angry.
    • Morbius's skin is deathly pale, he needs to drink human blood to survive, he is superhumanly strong and heals fast, but his similarities to the standard vampire begin and end there. Typically, Morbius doesn't even consider himself a vampire so much as a man with an unfortunate condition.
    • Hunger was formerly HYDRA agent Crown, another Spider-Man villain, but not nearly as memorable. He was also a "scientifically created" vampire who was not undead.
• The Mighty Thor: In one story in Marvel Comics Presents, the Thunder God answers the distressed prayers of a colony of Vikings settled on an island off the coast of what will be the New World. However, he's too late, and they're all vampires. Some attack him on sight, and instantly turn to dust. Their master, Comic Book/Dracula's Atlantean predecessor as Vampire Lord, Varnae, however, is almost invulnerable to him, since the gods of Atlantis that he worshipped are long gone, leading to a savage brawl that only ends when Thor uses Mjolnir to open a portal to the sun — and even then, Varnae merely makes a Tactical Withdrawal, mildly remarking that he'd almost forgotten what pain felt like. In a Marvel Conan story set millennia earlier, a sorcerer manages to turn Varnae away with incantations spoken in the names of gods of his time. Additionally, it's worth noting that while Dracula generally looks either like his classic evening dress wearing Bela Lugosi type depiction, albeit sometimes with yellow eyes and pointed ears, or a bit more bestial but still human-ish, with red armour, long white hair and clear and obvious fangs, Varnae looks utterly animalistic, like a stereotypical beast-man, despite his loquacious dialogue.
• Spider-Man: The biggest Dark Secret of Ravencroft, home of the criminally insane, was that in 1945 there was an experiment done in a secret underground lab beneath the asylum. Dracula and Baron Blood had a deal with the American government where they would join the Allies along with the vampires they command and in return the government would develop a cure for their weakness to daylight. Homeless people were kidnapped and experimented on with a mix of vampire blood and varying strange concoctions. The result were monstrosities that looked nothing alike and were freaks out of B&W horror comics, so they were locked down while Dracula rescinded the deal. There were monsters with slug bodies, blob monsters, things with tentacles, some had too many eyes etc. They were still vampires, albeit extremely weak ones and survived into the 21st century occasionally feeding on unlucky inmates as they learned the duct system of the asylum. They would eventually be wiped out when they broke out in full force and faced a counterattack from Misty Knight, The Punisher and the supervillains who were the new Ravencroft administration.