By Stephanie Takes-Desbiens
Are
they shiny or do they have a sun allergy?
Born of Lilith or alien fathers?
All blood diet, any red liquid, or food with a blood supplement?
Any
and all of these are characteristics of popular vampires in books, TV or film.
I think this is one of the more fascinating aspects of fantasy world building.
The
next time you find yourself reading a vampire novel, or watching a vampire TV
Show or film, take a look at the vampire characteristics.
Special Powers:
Some vampires have no special powers beyond the ability to rock a red satin
lined black cape.
But
many do have a special power, or the world building in the book or series allows
vampires certain enhanced abilities.
Get Misty for me:
Some vampires, including Christine Feehan’s Carpathians and Dana Marie Bell’s
Gray Court vampire, Jaden, can turn to mist and/or take other forms. Other vampires like those on True Blood or Lynsay
Sands Argeneaus are pretty much solid. If the Nanos living inside the Argeneaus
could figure out how to do it they would because their job is to faciliate survival
and create the abilities that would help.
Charlaine Harris’ and True Blood’s Eric Northman can
both fly as can Christine Feehan’s Carpathians. In the past, this flight was
imagined as a bat form. Lately I haven’t seen vampires who turn into bats.
Feehan’s vampires also have an animal form they can take. While this is not entirely unique, This is
not the most popular of special powers and most creators of vampire universes
leave the shifting to other species.
Mind Reading, pre-cognitive visions and other ESP: A good example of this would
be the Cullen family in Twilight: Jason can influence mood, Alice has visions,
and Edward can read minds.
Daytime:
Vampires
are known for a severe allergy to sunlight, but the issue really goes from it
being a non-issue to there being no light at all that is tolerable.
The Cullens never sleep, don’t have coffins in their basement, and are able to
go out in the sunlight, but don’t expose their skin on sunny days because they
sparkle. This is why the Cullens live in the Pacific Northwest and call in sick
on sunny days.
Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampire friends in the Anita Blake series can’t run about
in the daylight but older vampires can wake up before sunset. Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland vampires are also
adverse to sunlight.
The Argeneau clan can go out but their particular physiology uses blood to
repair all types of damage. If you’ve had skin cancer you get this one big
time.
Origins:
Some
authors don’t offer explanations for vampirism.
In some books the vamps are a separate and unique species that coexists with
humans. In most of these cases they are not turned from humans. Often their
human mates share their longevity. They are still the top of the food chain.
Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed are this type of vampire. They are the result of a
alien ship which crashed on earth. Only
males can be Midnight Breed and there are a special set of human females
capable of breeding with these males.
They can have children and until very recently those children were
always male.
Some vamps are created, mystically, magically,
bloodily
or via virus, chemical or technology:
Lynsay Sands’ vampires, sorry—they prefer Immortals,
were the result of medical
experimentation that either went really wrong or really right. You can be born
or turned, and it is possible to have children.
The Immortals in this series were created in Atlantis when
nanotechnology went beyond repairing the infection or disease they were
designed to cure. Those “nanos” stayed
active and continued to repair someone with the little Artifical
Intelligentsiae running around in their bodies. The nanos use blood to do their
repairs and they also gave the immortals the enhancements they would need to
stay fed.
Lilith, Cain and other biblical origins.
Jaye Wells’ recently ended series featuring the vampire/mage hybrid Sabina Kane
and her sister Maisie arose from biblical origins. Cain was cursed because of his fratricide, to
roam the earth forever and bear the mark of Cain—red hair.
The Brotherhood
of Blood Vampires were Templar Knights who found the false Grail which then
turned them all into vampires.
We recently had a season of TRUE BLOOD when the vampire
bible is taken literally and Vampires were created in God’s Image. I am uncertain
where Lilith came into being and what she had to do with vampires. Some have her as Adam’s first wife who was put
aside. They are the Undead.
Often
Vampiric origins are just assumed and not explained.
Progeny:
Vampires considered Undead are rarely able to breed so vampires create
progeny by turning humans into vampires.
This can be
Classic/mystical: via tranfusion and
exchange, or
Modern/Bloodstream: insertion of whatever chemical or
technology causes vampires into the bloodstream.
Food and Drink:
As Edward
demanded from Bella, Ask what do we eat!
This runs the gamut from a full blood diet to everything. In a Katie MacAlister
book I read a while ago vampires, or Dark Ones can slowly start eating again if
they find their beloved.
Twilight’s vampires can’t eat anything but blood. Nor
can Laurell K. Hamilton’s or Molly Harper’s (although Molly’s can drink other
liquids if blood is included.
Lynsay Sand’s Argeneaus can eat, however they tend to lose interest after a few
hundred years. One sign that they have found their lifemate is a renewed
interest in food. Chloe Neill’s
Chicagoland Vampires can eat. Of course they never gain weight and, other than
the sun, they have no allergies or digestive disorders.
Dentition:
There are two types of teeth, pointy fangs or
straight.
Twilight vamps have straight teeth which, as Bella says, they are really sharp.
The classic vampire is fanged.
Some vamps have fangs that retract, like the vampires
on True Blood. Others just have to be careful when they smile because they are
already there.
What did I miss? What have You
noted?
What
special vampire characteristic is most interesting to you? What have I left
out?
Thank you so much Stephanie, for the fabulous post!
You have been a such an inspiration and mentor
and have a very special place in my heart.
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I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and have lived in western Massachusetts, the Chicago area, Northern California, upstate New York, and Southern California. In other words, I’ve lived in three out of five time zones in the US! I’ve also lived in the United Kingdom in the cities of Oxford and London.
