Vampires throughout history have been one of the most terrifying creatures. An inexplicable lust for human blood, surrounded by darkness, unknowable powers, massive strength, ability to create more of their kind, and perhaps the most terrifying trait of all was the ability to mask their true nature and blend in with humans. For centuries, the tale of vampires explained what could not be explained, and vampires were revered as some of the worst threats to humanity. In recent times however, the traditional view of vampires as truely bad has been twisted and skewed in every way from making vampires into good people with souls to portraying them as being voluntarily worshipped by humans. Modern concepts of vampirism are much more interesting though, because of the variation that for all intents and purposes was absent from old vampire lore.
Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian Countess born in 1560, and is rumored to be the original vampire. The Countess enjoyed the blood of virgins, laboring under the impression that their blood would keep her young. She bathed in blood and drank it, with many cruel forms of blood collection. Unafraid to get dirty and physical like most women of her time, the Countess did not let her servants do all of the collection. She would use torture devices, knives, axes, or even her own hands and teeth. This inhuman cruelty lead to the rumors that she was a monster. A monster of darkness no less, though she probably avoided sunlight as a means of retaining her beauty. After her village ran out virgins, she moved to noble children. The problem could no longer be ignored, so she was imprisioned. After her death in 1614, there were rumors that she lived on. Thus, the story of the first vampire was born. Countess Bathory was said to be part of Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula.
Dracula is the closest thing to a "classic" or "original" vampire by most accounts. Based in part on Countess Bathory, they share many characteristics. Love of virgin blood, biting the neck to get the most amount of blood from the smallest wound, and so on. As with the portrayal of most vampires, the skin is pale due to lack of exposure to sun. To turn humans into vampires, Dracula must take their blood, and they must in turn drink his. Dracula is the stereotypical vampire that was the standard for years. With the invention of the newer vampires, people have veered away from the image of Dracula being the only kind of vampire around.
One of today's most popular images of vampires comes from the Twilight bookseries by Stephanie Meyer. Her books show vampires as having personalities like humans, and the ability to choose between being "good" or "evil" in the classic sense of killing at random and so on. In these books it is uncertain if vampires have souls, but they choose between eating the blood of humans and that of animals. Their saliva infects humans to turn them, rather then the exchange of blood as afore mentioned. Some major differences other then having good vampires are that these vampires don't die in sunlight, and they sparkle in direct sunshine, they can have children with human women, they aren't hurt by crosses, and they have nothing against garlic except that, as with all human food to them, it smells and tastes disgusting. The only thing that can kill them is being dismembered and then burning the body parts. Some vampires have special powers, such as the ability to read minds or see the future. This portrayal was popularized mostly by teenage girls who fell in love with the romanticism of the series, in which a vampire overcomes the strongest carnal instincts he has ever had to kill a person, and instead they fall in love.
In the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires are shown to have no souls, though they can be cursed with souls. They have personalities, though not as varying as the Twilight vampires. For the most part they are cruel and revel in blood and pain. They die by stakes, sunlight and fire, and they are hurt by crosses. They may enter churches, but holy water also burns them. These vampires don't have to, but for the most part they sleep in coffins. They can blend in well with humans, or when they are ready to feed or they go into "battle mode", their faces twist and their fangs come out. Mostly, the vampires don't have any special powers, like they can't turn into bats or read minds. But their sheer strength and that most people in the world of Buffy don't know they exist makes them deadly. Differing from the movie the show came from, there are other creatures as well as vampires, such as werewolves, and there is magic and witches. They turn to ashes when they are staked or exposed to sunlight, and there is one chosen girl who must work to kill them.
The original movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer from which the show sprouted showed vampires as having common abilities, like the ability to fly. Their faces are mostly human looking, though they are very pale and have fangs all the time. When they are staked in the movie, they merely fall dead, and their bodies do not burst into ashes or blood and gore as in other portrayals. They vary in the movie, some having pointed ears, really obvious fangs, and more messed up faces then others. Some have minor powers of hypnosis as well.
Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz shows vampires in a whole other way. These are the some of the only vampires that aren't pale, and in fact, they enjoy tanning immensely. Blue bloods are vampires, and they must drink blood, but they are largely human. They are a single soul that has been passed down through the generations, living life after life, which at a certain point in each life, they start to remember the rest of. They do not kill humans by taking blood, and if they do they become abominations. These vampires are actually based a lot on the Bible. They are the angels that fell from heaven when Lucifer lost the war for heaven, and the two who willingly chose to come with them to earth. These vampires are attempting to get back to heaven, but mostly they are focusing on life. They are mostly the wealthiest people on the planet, having had years to gather money. They can die forever, however, if all their blood is taken from them when they die. Their history lives in their blood, which is blue. A physical sign of a blue blood is clear blue veins showing through their skin. When they tire of a life, their blood is collected and they are reborn sometime later. They are very unique among vampires.
Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian Countess born in 1560, and is rumored to be the original vampire. The Countess enjoyed the blood of virgins, laboring under the impression that their blood would keep her young. She bathed in blood and drank it, with many cruel forms of blood collection. Unafraid to get dirty and physical like most women of her time, the Countess did not let her servants do all of the collection. She would use torture devices, knives, axes, or even her own hands and teeth. This inhuman cruelty lead to the rumors that she was a monster. A monster of darkness no less, though she probably avoided sunlight as a means of retaining her beauty. After her village ran out virgins, she moved to noble children. The problem could no longer be ignored, so she was imprisioned. After her death in 1614, there were rumors that she lived on. Thus, the story of the first vampire was born. Countess Bathory was said to be part of Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula.
Dracula is the closest thing to a "classic" or "original" vampire by most accounts. Based in part on Countess Bathory, they share many characteristics. Love of virgin blood, biting the neck to get the most amount of blood from the smallest wound, and so on. As with the portrayal of most vampires, the skin is pale due to lack of exposure to sun. To turn humans into vampires, Dracula must take their blood, and they must in turn drink his. Dracula is the stereotypical vampire that was the standard for years. With the invention of the newer vampires, people have veered away from the image of Dracula being the only kind of vampire around.
One of today's most popular images of vampires comes from the Twilight bookseries by Stephanie Meyer. Her books show vampires as having personalities like humans, and the ability to choose between being "good" or "evil" in the classic sense of killing at random and so on. In these books it is uncertain if vampires have souls, but they choose between eating the blood of humans and that of animals. Their saliva infects humans to turn them, rather then the exchange of blood as afore mentioned. Some major differences other then having good vampires are that these vampires don't die in sunlight, and they sparkle in direct sunshine, they can have children with human women, they aren't hurt by crosses, and they have nothing against garlic except that, as with all human food to them, it smells and tastes disgusting. The only thing that can kill them is being dismembered and then burning the body parts. Some vampires have special powers, such as the ability to read minds or see the future. This portrayal was popularized mostly by teenage girls who fell in love with the romanticism of the series, in which a vampire overcomes the strongest carnal instincts he has ever had to kill a person, and instead they fall in love.
In the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires are shown to have no souls, though they can be cursed with souls. They have personalities, though not as varying as the Twilight vampires. For the most part they are cruel and revel in blood and pain. They die by stakes, sunlight and fire, and they are hurt by crosses. They may enter churches, but holy water also burns them. These vampires don't have to, but for the most part they sleep in coffins. They can blend in well with humans, or when they are ready to feed or they go into "battle mode", their faces twist and their fangs come out. Mostly, the vampires don't have any special powers, like they can't turn into bats or read minds. But their sheer strength and that most people in the world of Buffy don't know they exist makes them deadly. Differing from the movie the show came from, there are other creatures as well as vampires, such as werewolves, and there is magic and witches. They turn to ashes when they are staked or exposed to sunlight, and there is one chosen girl who must work to kill them.
The original movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer from which the show sprouted showed vampires as having common abilities, like the ability to fly. Their faces are mostly human looking, though they are very pale and have fangs all the time. When they are staked in the movie, they merely fall dead, and their bodies do not burst into ashes or blood and gore as in other portrayals. They vary in the movie, some having pointed ears, really obvious fangs, and more messed up faces then others. Some have minor powers of hypnosis as well.
Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz shows vampires in a whole other way. These are the some of the only vampires that aren't pale, and in fact, they enjoy tanning immensely. Blue bloods are vampires, and they must drink blood, but they are largely human. They are a single soul that has been passed down through the generations, living life after life, which at a certain point in each life, they start to remember the rest of. They do not kill humans by taking blood, and if they do they become abominations. These vampires are actually based a lot on the Bible. They are the angels that fell from heaven when Lucifer lost the war for heaven, and the two who willingly chose to come with them to earth. These vampires are attempting to get back to heaven, but mostly they are focusing on life. They are mostly the wealthiest people on the planet, having had years to gather money. They can die forever, however, if all their blood is taken from them when they die. Their history lives in their blood, which is blue. A physical sign of a blue blood is clear blue veins showing through their skin. When they tire of a life, their blood is collected and they are reborn sometime later. They are very unique among vampires.
