Vampire discussion: the technical aspects (A NaNoWriMo Post)

So, I’ve been reading all the Vampire Threads on NaNoWriMo, when I found this one on: Vampire discussion: the technical aspects, and it inspired me to spend the last 3 hours figuring out who and what my vampires are and than writing up an answer. Here is my answer:

There are different types of vampires in my way of thinking, but for the book I am currently working on there are just two types of vampires, which I refer to as: True Vampires and Common Vampires. As you will notice from my answers, my entire vampire system is based largely on Dracula the book and Bela Lugosi’s representation of the Dracula movie. So basically if it isn’t happening in either the book or Bela Lugosi’s version of the book, than you can bet it isn’t going to happen in my book either. my vampire’s are pretty much straight up Classic Dracula Style Vampires.

Creation:

“True Vampires” are evil men who were too evil for Hell and are cursed to walk the Earth forever, neither dead no alive and are thus Undead. They are humans whose souls have been condemned. Some men who are really black hearted, like Count Dracula (who is the main vampire in my book btw) can use black magic (aka super evil deeds and calling on demons for help) to turn themselves into a vampire. “True Vampires” are extremely rare, as few people are wicked enough to become one. They are immortal and can not be killed or defeated in any way, shape, or form, they can only be temporarily stopped, imprisoned, or delayed, which only lasts until they escape and rise again.

“Common Vampires” are people who became vampires by being bitten by a “True Vampire”. They do not turn with just one bite. It takes a series of bites over many days. With each bite they grow weaker and become paler and more mindless/hypnotized. These are more like zombies than vampires. They are mindless drones who do the bidding of the True Vampire that turned them. Because they are humans who bodies were possessed (as opposed to humans who’s souls are condemned) and thus are not actually 100% dead, but rather in a sort of animated coma, they are not immortal, can be killed, thus saving their souls from being lost.

For most Common Vampires, a stake through the heart will release them from the True Vampire’s spell. For those that have been under the True Vamps spell for a really long time, they may also require decapitation, because the True Vamp’s hold on them is very strong.

An added Note: Only the True Vamp that turned them into a Common Vamp has the power to control them. In other words an alternate True Vamp could not come in and give the Common Vamp orders, because they are hypnotized and will only obey the True Vamp whom they refer to as “Master”.

Physical Features:

“True Vampires” are usually men (as women rarely commit the horrendous acts of evil required to become a True Vamp). They look just as they did before they died, only their skin is much paler and their bodies are as cold as ice. However they dresses and acted when they were alive, is how they continue to dress and act as the Undead.

“Common Vampires” are not yet dead. They are zombie-like victims of a True Vamp’s spell. Common Vampires tends to be woman, because True Vampires have a tendency to go after female humans more often than male humans. They look exactly as they did before being bitten, except that they have a pale bloodless look to them, dark circles around their eyes, they have blood shot, blank, empty staring eyes. They look dead. They walk around in a trance, and no longer act like themselves. They kind of just stand around waiting for the True Vamp to give them orders and tell them what to do.

Do your vampires have growing hair and fingernails?

Not sure about the True Vampires, seeing how they are dead and all. I’ll have to think about that some more.

The Common Vampires do, because they are not actually dead.

How they Sleep:

The True Vamps: They sleep during the day. They can sleep where ever they want. They don’t have to sleep in their coffin, though some just seem to do so for some unknown reason. They must however have the dirt from their grave with them. Thus they may keep a box of dirt under their bed, or fill their coffin with dirt, etc.

It’s not so much that they actually NEED the dirt, as it is, they are very, extremely OCD and are compelled to have the dirt with them, otherwise they simply toss and turn, unable to sleep because all they can think about is how they need their grave dirt their with them. It’s a psychological thing sort of like the kid that can not sleep without a teddy bear and a night light.

The Common Vamps don’t really sleep, they just sort of stand there waiting for the True Vamp to give them orders.

Powers/Abilities:

Common Vampires do not have any special powers or abilities. They are just zombie-drone minions of the True Vampires.

“Regular” True Vampires have the following abilities:

Movement Abilities: -Inhuman Speed -Unearthly Reflexes-Vertical Ascension (climbs walls)-Gliding (with help of cape)-Bat Form -Mist Form -Flight -Move Silently Offensive Abilities -Fangs -Vampiric Claws -Enhanced Senses-Animalistic Frenzy -Superhuman Strength -Mind Control -Wolf Form-Horrific Transformation-Glamor Defensive Abilities -Fast Healing -Impervious to bullets-Intimidation

“Super Powerful” True Vampires (such as Dracula) also have these additional “rare” abilities:

Rare Movement Abilities -Clown Frenzy-Astral Projection-Dodge Daylight-Spider Climb-Cat’s Grace-Shadow Conceal Rare Offensive Abilities -Pyrokinesis-Corrosion-Control Mall Santas-Ironic Annihilation-Purge Blood-Pestilence-Mummification-Blood Soaked Vengeance (Carrie)-Hellfire-Demonic Familiar-Bloodletting-Vampire Lord-Summon Horseman-Shadow Transformation-Bone Spikes-Demon Summoning-Telepathy-Drain Youth-Raise Zombies-Invisibility-Shadow Manipulation-Blood to Ashes-Command a Wolf Pack-Command Rat Swarm-Cause Madness-Intoxicating Bite Rare Defensive Abilities -Veil of Thorns-Winged Guard-Premonition-Indestructible-Iron Skin-Create Illusion-Immunity to Religious Icons-Immaterial (can walk through solid walls)-Resistance to Sunlight-Immunity to Silver(This list of abilities was copied from the Zanga Game Vampire Wars, btw) I liked it so I decided to use it for my own vamps.

Weaknesses/Disabilities:

Holy waters: – Can burn skin and temporarily blind, but it depends upon the faith of the person throwing the water. Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, in the hands of an atheist, the holy water would have no effect at all, while in the hands of the Pope it may just disable the vampire for years.This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires. Silver: Silver is for werewolves NOT vampires. What do you think Dracula’s medallion (the one he always wears round his neck on a red ribbon) is made out of? Iron: Gives of strong energies, which can completely over power a weaker vampire. Even Dracula is effected by it some, though not much. Note that Iron only works on True Vampires, not Common Vampires.Iron horseshoes are hung over doors in barns to keep vampires from draining the cows and horses (real folklore, which I also use in my books).Iron boot scrapers are left on door steps to keep vampires out, because if a vampire (who are all extremely OCD) sees a boot scrape he is compelled to clean his boots and touching the iron sends him packing. (another real folklore that I use in my books.)Coffin nails are made out of iron (more real folklore) to keep a vampire from opening his coffin and coming out of it, thus trapping the vampire in the coffin until such time someone (most likly grave robbers) opens the coffin thus removing the iron nails from the lid.Any sort of coffin nails iron or otherwise will keep a Common Vamp locked in, because of their weakened state. Mirrors: It’s not that vampires do not have a reflection. It’s that they do not recognize their reflection. When they look in the mirror they expect to see themselves looking as they did when they were alive, and they are always shocked and horrified by their ghastly chalk appearance. Thus they refuse to have mirrors near them and will smash any mirror they see.Vampires can be deflected from an attack, by showing them their reflection, which causes them to attack the mirror and than run away in horror. This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires, as Common Vampires in their zombie-like state do not see their reflection or anything else for that matter. Healing: True Vampires heal very fast, mostly while they are sleeping. They can be wounded, injured, and weakened, and will return to their coffin to sleep and re energize. Common Vampires, being humans in an animated coma, are weaker than normal and thus are easily wounded, easily put out of commission, and have a very slow ability to heal. They are thus easily defeated, and their true purpose is to serve as a device to slow up any attack on the True Vampire and allow his extra time to escape. Sunlight: Because of their super pale skin, they have no resistance to UV rays and thus get super wicked horrendously awful sunburns, wick, do not kill them, but will weaken them something fierce. They do however get a stronger resistance to sunlight the older they get, so Count Dracula can go out during the day, providing the UV factor isn’t too high (ie – on cloudy, overcast, or foggy days).This applies to both True and Common Vamps, due to their pale skin. Crosses: Same as Holy Water, but not limited to crosses – any religious icon from any faith will work. Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, in the hands of an atheist, the cross would have no effect at all, while in the hands of the Pope it may just disable the vampire for years.This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires. Holy Land/Church: Can not enter if the congregation is holy and faithful. Same as Holy Water: Weak faith = weak effects. Strong faith = strong effects. In other words, if the congregation has a lot of hypocrites, sinners, and/or atheists in it, the church would have no effect at all and the vampire could walk right on in with no problems at all, while a congregation filled with super faithful orthodox devotees to their faith could keep a vampire at bay baring him from entering the church and if their faith was strong enough they may be able to weaken and thus disable the vampire for years.This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires. A True Vamp may send a Common Vamp into the church in his place.Also, even when entering a church full of unfaithful – the invitation to pass the doorway law still applies. See Doorways, below for more info on this. Garlic: A big bad super wicked extremely powerful no-no for both True Vampires and Common Vampires. But there is nothing magical about it, it’s an alergy thing. Due to their heightened senses, vampires (both True and Common) are wicked sensitive to strong smells. Garlic burns the flesh of a normal human, causes watery eyes, and stings the tongue. So when used against the sensitivities of a vampire the effect it a hundred times worse than it is on a human. Garlic is the number one way to keep a vampire at bay. They simply can not tolerate the “allergy effects”. You can disable and extremely weaken a vampire if you can trick them into eating garlic, and if you can get a string of garlic cloves around their neck. Doorways: They can’t cross if it’s personal property unless they are invited in. If the head of the household invites them in, they are able to keep coming back. If any one other than the head of the household invites them in, they must be re invited after each visit, until the head of the household invites them, and than they can keep coming back without farther invitation. This applies only to True Vampires.In most cases they can if it is public building. Say a grocery store or restaurant where “the public is welcomed” to just walk in. Welcome signs, Yes We Are Open Come In sings, ect, all act as an invitation, thus allowing the vampire to enter. However, when there is a sign such as “By Appointment Only”, they could not enter without an invitation.There is no magic or special powers involved in any of this. It’s an OCD thing and is purely psychological. The vampire simply truly believes he can not enter any place without an invitation and thus you could keep a vampire out of your house simply by hanging a sign on your door that says: “Sorry we are closed, come back later”.This also results in vampires only ever entering a public building during it’s open hours. If the sign says open 9AM to 5PM, than the vampire could only enter between 9AM and 5PM, otherwise he would need some one to specifically invite him in between 6PM and 8AM.Common Vampires, because they are humans in a trance are not effected by the invitation rule, and thus the True Vampire will often have a Common Vampire minion, which he can send into houses and do his bidding, without the need of gaining an invite into the house. Wood: Is only a minor deterant. Only sacred woods, such as Hawthorn, Dogwood, RoseWood, etc, have any real effect. It’s a combination of an allergy thing, and the faith of the believer thing. See Holy Water. Mustard Seeds, Matchsticks, Sunflowers Seeds, etc: Due to a True Vampires, extremely overblown OCD problems, you can easily escape an attack, by grabbing a handful of whatever small object is near by and tossing them into the air. When they scattered across the floor, the vampire will scramble to pick them all up and count every single one of them. Thus it is handy to keep a bag of mustard seeds, matchsticks, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pepper corns, marbles, gum balls, or and other small easily scattered object in your pocket.This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires. Knots and Shoelaces: Once again, due to a True Vampires, extremely overblown OCD problems, you can easily escape an attack, or otherwise slow down a vampire by hanging knotted ribbon or ropes in their path. A common real modern day myth/practice it to tie a pair of sneakers together and than throw them over the telephone wire in front of your house or place of business, to keep vampires out. (Ever wonder why you always see a pair of sneakers hanging from telephone wires in the city – well now you know.) If a vampire is chasing you and you have time, take off your shoes, tie them together and throw them over the nearest wire or tree branch.The purpose of this action is similar to scattered small objects. A vampire, due to his OCD, is compelled to stop whatever he is doing and focus all of his attention on untieing the knots and than placing the ropes, ribbons, or shoes in order, all lined up in a neat row.This only works with True Vampires, not Common Vampires.

Blood:

In True Vampires: They can eat and drink regular normal foods, but these do not seem to sustain them well. The nutrients are not absorbed the way they were when they were alive. As a result they drink blood to get the nutrients, because for some reason it’s the only way they can. No idea why that is, I don’t know much about medical/biology stuff so I didn’t bother to work out all the details. I simply said it and thus that made it so and my readers will just have to take my word for it.

In Common Vampires: They do not eat or drink unless told to by their “master” the The Vampire. Likewise they will only drink blood if told to do so by the True Vamp that controls them.

How they Bite:

Exactly like Bela Lugosi did in Dracula: Mesmerize victim with flashy wow factor.

*Runs down stairs flapping huge satin cape while jumping from the stairs pretending to fly like superman.*

Now that you’ve got their attention (and they are wondering what the hell a grown man is doing running around flapping his cape) hypnotize them.

“Looook intwo mah eyezzzzzz. You a undah mah conwrol. Ah vant your blood.”

While they stand there wondering what the heck this guy is saying, he takes the opportunity to grab their neck and bite.

I just love overblown over the top theatrical vampire stunts. I especially love it when they run by flapping their capes. I got a thing for guys in capes.

So the whole thing is basically “Look at the weird gorgeous guy in the cape running circles around me, I wonder what he’s doing, I wish I could understand what he saying, oh wait, why his biting my neck? Help, he mesmerized me with his flashy cape so long that I didn’t realize he was about to tear my throat out! AAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!. . . . yes . . . master . . . . anything you say . . . master.. . . I’m . . . coming . . . master.”

I love Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Any vampire that doesn’t act like Bela Lugosi isn’t a real vampire in my book.

So, vampires drink blood, but where does it go?

Uhm . . . in their stomach??????????? Seems like the logical place for it to go.

Do they use the bathroom?

I would assume they must. It never occurred to me to think about it.

How much blood are they drinking, anyway?

Who the hell knows. As much as they vant.

Killing One:

I sort of already explained that back when I was talking about how they are created.

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Off Topic P.S. To [quote=Cliff Richardson]…[/quote]

I LOVE YOUR SIGGIE GIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!
All Hail Bela Lugosi!

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