In Harry Potter, one can assume that Vampires are real, J.K. having mentioned so in the books. In a thought that I have been having that I want to write out, I thought it would be interesting if I was to put a Vampires in the story. However, I want to hear what everyone’s views on Vampires, and what they expect out of them.

Vampires:
1. Undead (Immortal)
2. Drink Blood
3. Can turn others into Vampires (Thus Reproduce)
4. Vulnerable to Light
5. Faster/Stronger then Humans
(Tell me if I've missed anything)

Undead: They do not age, and can heal quickly. Normal life threatening wounds for a human is but a scratch to them. They don't have to sleep, and they don't have to eat.

Drink Blood: The reason they do not eat, blood is their only essential sustenance. It is their life force, and it is what keeps them alive.

Can turn others into Vampires: They can turn others into vampires....

Vulnerable to Light: Light is the only thing especially dangerous to a vampire. Left in the light long enough, it will prove fatal and kill them.

Faster/Stronger then Humans: Vampires are always described as better then humans. They are faster, stronger, have better vision, etc. Better in everything, except the fact they cannot walk in the sun.

Now I want to hear your guys’ views on this. From what I have read mostly, (Apart from fan fiction.) Vampires are described, as beings that hearts don't bleed. Thus they need to drink blood of others, to replenish their old un-replenishable(sp) supply. This in turn, creates other vampires from their feeding.

Their body, both inside and outside is dead, hence the reason as to why they don't age. There is nothing in their body that is still alive thus they can't. So I pose the question to this, if it seen like this by others. Why is it that Vampires are naturally associated with sex? If they are dead on the inside as well as outside, does that not mean that their sex organs would be dead as well? Because honestly, if there is no blood circulation in the body, I really don't see how a male vampire intends to get a hard on.... The other thing is, if they are able to have "sexual activities" then why are they not able to reproduce in that way? Unless of course, if you want to say that their sperm cells are dead or something.

So in the Harry Potter Universe, if I was to put Vampires into it, what would you expect?

1. Immortal (obviously, but what do you think, are they able to reproduce sexually, have sexual activities what?)
2. Vulnerable to Light (I am of course going to have to put this in. And honestly, I can't stand stories, where Harry either meets, or is the special type of Vampire that can stand the sun. Why? Because that vampire is a cross between a whore vampire and a slut vampire.
3. Stronger/Faster then Humans (How much stronger/Faster. Are they able to rip a wiz head off before he can blink, or what?)
4. Are Vampires capable of magic? (Do all vamps have magic, some do some don't, etc.)

So if you guys could give me your views on Vampires, I would much appreciate it. I would like to write them not too powerful, and believable. Not like such stories as "Second Chance at Life" or such, where Vampires are capable of destroying the earth with minimal effort.

-Void

P.S. Sorry for grammar and punctuation, I really suck at it. So do your best to make sense of my rambles…

 

Im sure someone will correct me here but the reasons that fannon vampires vary so much is because rice vampires are different to anita blake vampires are different to Sieges Vampires are different to BtVS Vampires are different to......

You get my point.

I say, get the basics right and then do whatever fits into your story. If clan blood magic is appropriate to your story go nuts.

There is no right or wrong.

 

What I would personally like to see:

1. Immortal/undead whichever way you play it.

2. Sensitive to light.

3. Should have significant advantage over wizards in speed and strength. Otherwise every witch/wizard capable of casting a lumos solarum could be a potential vampire hunter.


4. I would love to see Vampire specific magic, but alternatively it would be a fun twist to have only half-breed vamps who have a magical parent be able to do magic; sort of a caste of vamp mages within the ranks of vampires.

5. Number 4 is only possible if they can, in fact, reproduce like humans, so no dead eggs/sperm. Only if you want to use above idea.

I am not certain but I think most vampire fictions are strictly against them being able to reproduce. But it's your story, if you can make it work, that would be great.

 

maybe that's why all the female vampires in fanfiction are always so horny

Honestly though, I would, in my own stories, write vampires sort of like the ones in the movie Underworld. I mean, they're vulnerable to light, etc. The only thing that pissed me off about that movie was how utterly useless any vampire was without a weapon, I mean, they should at least put up a decent fight in hand to hand combat with a werewolf.

So I would make my vampires probably how nuhuh described them to be, undead, super fast, super strong, vulnerable to sunlight blood sucking monsters. Of course they wouldn't actually be monsters. I think after hundreds of years of existence, they would have to be charismatic and cunning.

 

Vamps need to have a signifigant weakness or they would over populate. I don't think they should be able to do normal magic because they have the speed strenght bonus. Maybe limited magic. They need to be leveled out for every up side there needs to be a down side.

 

Scientifically, 'vampires' do exist. Their DNA is just really fucked up.

Historically, vampires are as misconstrued as they could possibly be.

We'll start with the original vampire, Dracula. I have no idea how he came to be, but he is truly immortal. He cannot be killed in any way, shape, or form.

Other vampires are a completely different story.

1) Immortal- only until they literally decompose. If your blood and organs don't work anymore and just sit there, they will begin to decompose until there is nothing left. Of course, removing the head of a vampire will probably kill it.

2)Drinking blood. Blood is rich with hemoglobin (thing that makes blood red) and is exactly what vampires are lacking, since their hearts are not making anymore of it. Drinking it would do nothing, since their metabolic and anatomical processes shut down when they died.

3) Vampirism is (in real life) a genetic disorder and cannot be passed via casual or intimate contact. In theory, assuming that it's a virus (think Dawn of the Dead), then it is possible for vampirism to be spread. Of course, the virus would be required to kill the host, marking the begginning of the end for the host and virus.

4) This actually has a bit of realism behind it. When humans are exposed to sunlight and UV rays, chemicals immediately react to prevent being burned, which is why we tan. Vampires are dead, and therefore do not have these chemical processes taking place.

Vampires would not just burst into ashes, but rather slowly cook, eventually baking from the outside in. It would take a couple hours I would think. So really, vampires could go out on cloudy/rainy days and be as fit as fiddles.

5) I don't see any reason for vampires being any stronger or faster than normal humans. If vampires are dead, and they are, their joints and muscles would slowly decompose, meaning it would be child's play to literally rip them limb from limb after a month or so.

Also, vampires cannot get drunk, high, or feel any stimulation from cigarettes. Their blood is not flowing, and therefore cannot transport the chemicals to the brain.

Likewise, vampires cannot have sex. Males cannot get erections as, again, there is no blood flow to cause erection. Females cannot become aroused as they are dead as well, and blood is needed to engorge the vaginal tissues to prepare for sex.

Vampires would be pale, extremely even, as their blood is not flowing. But they would also have massive bruising on the hands, feet, backs, buttocks, chests or any part of the body they lie on for an extended period of time.

When a person dies, even if they jump right back up as a vampire, the blood in their veins settles, and gravity pulls it down, meaning it a person was bitten and left face down, their chests and fronts of their legs would be a dark purple or black.

If they got up and started running around, the blood would slowly travel down to the feet and hands, causing them to swell and become bruised as well.

Now as to the Potterverse, vampires are magic. Either that or just a big plothole that JKR threw into HPB to fill it out a bit. She made it seem like the vampire at Sluggy's party was craving blood like the dickens. If this were true, then there would be lots of vampires.

 

Hmm, well, I'm not sure where you are getting all that. You may be talking about something you read and believe to be the authority of the subject, but it sounds like you believe all that to be factual. The Dracula bit works against you there.

There are some diseases that cause sensitivity to sunlight and hemogoblin deficiency, but there are no actual vampires.

In fanon, I would suggest you just use the myths that you like best. If you like the old stories, or even the vampires from the new Val Helsing movie, use them.

 

I think you should write them how you wish. As the author it is your decision. However, my advice would be not to over power them like Miranda Flairgold in the 'A Second Chance at Life Series'

 

1. Undead (Immortal)
2. Drink Blood
3. Can turn others into Vampires (Thus Reproduce)
4. Vulnerable to Light
5. Faster/Stronger then Humans

IMO, Vampires are already over-used. However, if you try to create your own kind of vampire totally different from all precedents then it would be pretty nice.

Undead? No. I prefer 'cursed' (having immortality but unable to feel the pleasures of mortality)> -> (They don't eat, they can't stand prolonged exposure to sunlight, etc.)

Drink blood? Yes. Why? I don't know why (probably recharge their energy since they don't eat).

Turn others? Yes, but try to figure out a way that their process of turning others into vampires won't result in overpopulation. (Like they can only turn virgins, who, in turn, have difficulty adjusting so that only a few actually survive to become vampires)

Vulnerable to light? Yes, if exposure is prolonged.

Faster? Yes. How much? Not uberly much that it can't be seen by the naked eye. Just enough that would set them apart from humans.
Stronger?
Physically? Yes. Again, just enough to set them apart from humans. Magically? No. They should be weaker in this aspect to balance abilities/weaknesses.

It would come out something like this:
Normal person (Speed/Phys.Str/Mag.Str): (x1/x1/x1)
Vampire (Speed/Phys.Str/Mag.Str): (x2 to x3/x1.5 to x2/x0.5 to x0.75)

That's all I want to say.

 

I don't think I'm the authority, I was just using common sense. Take everything you know about vampires and look at it critically, you'll see that being a real, "I was bitten, died, and came back" vampire is stupid. They would literally fall apart.

Dracula is the one exception to the rule. I don't know where Stoker got all his ideas, but I'm thinking that Dracula was a super-human with actual super strength, speed, immortality and etc, and carried a benigne version of the vampirism virus, and it became deadly when he bit someone.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. There are people out there who, like you said, have hemoglobin deficiency, but they will take the step and actually kill and drink the blood/ground up organs of people in order to slow the ravaging effects of their disease.

On another note: Wouldn't it make for a good fic if Harry was bitten, came back, and them someone told him that he had only a month to live before he literally decomposed?

 

Personally I like the way vampires are described in the Anita Blake novels. Several of the main characters are vampires, and there is a lot of vampire politics involved, but you also see them from different perspectives.

 

Condolences, by your definition of a vampire, they cannot exist. You state that their sexual organs can't work because they're dead. Well, if their heart isn't pumping, then no blood is going to the brain, no signals are being sent from the brain to the muscles, and the corpse can't walk around. Not to mention that the blood won't be taking the oxygen to the muscles, either. If they don't need the blood to go to the brain or muscles, then there is no reason that the hemogoblin deficiency would bother them.

And there are no immortals.

Now, in fanon, there are plenty of ways to explain all this because magic does all the explaining for you. The magic sustains the vampire, and they get it from blood. That's why, maybe, they prefer to drink from wizards/witches, but will settle for muggles (muggleborns have to come from somewhere, so I'd say that all muggles have at least some magic in them). Really, as long as it is either explained well, or not explained at all, any definition of "vampire" is fine in fanfiction.

 

As Vampires are my favorite 'monsters' I would really like to see a decent fic, I'd love to read whatever you come up with.

Now onto my views of Vampires:
1. The Immortality aspect as always been a fascinating idea with Vampires, I think it's basically because their body stops changing. I mean while you're alive you lose hair and skin all the time, where as if you were a vampire the skin you have would forever stay as it is.

Wether you have wrinkles or scars, they would forever be imprinted on your body. Very much like the vampires of Anne Rice.

I think the sexual aspect is usually because the whole mythology of Vampirism is sexual in itself, I mean the whole seduction of victims for blood, and the biting of the neck being very sexual symbology.

Same with the exchange of fluids in making a Vampire, although it's blood it's still a bodily fluid like in normal sex. So although they may not be able to have normal sex, they would still be sexual creatures (otherwise they would find it very difficult to maintain their food supply).

2. The vulnerability to light has always been a good thing in my opinion, I'm very much a night creature myself and think it's a nice quirk. Although I think this should be written how you want, because it will have to depend on what type of social structure you want to create for your Vampires.

3. I think they would be stronger than Humans, because despite vampires being undead they wouldn't need to breathe so would have increased stamina etc. They're basically animated corpses so all their muscles wouldn't require oxygen anymore, because they would be magically/spiritually animated.

4. Again I think this should be left for you to decide, but I think limiting their human magic in my opinion doesn't make sense, I mean if werewolves can still use all their magic then so should Vampires.
I mean they must be feared for a reason, werewolves seem to be more snubbed than feared. So I think they should be able to keep the magic level they had as a human, but have equal power in Vampire magic.

So if they're almost squibs then they'd be almost squib vampires (if you get my meaning).

That's all I can think of at the moment, sorry for going on so much .

Good luck with your fic,

Litha

 

DarthBill, that's my point. Vampires, in the traditional sense of the word, can't exist. The excuse of magic is very poor excuse for overcoming the metabolic and anatomic facts of life that prevent vampires from existing.

Wetnurse had the right idea for what a 'vampire' is. A cursed being unable to stand sunlight and being forced to consume blood, with the benefit of super-speed and strength.

 

Well, if magic is capable of conjuring a turkey out of nothing, and then giving it life, then I don't see why it couldn't sustain life for a vampire.

And that wasn't the point you were making when you were arguing that vampires exist in real life.

 

The original Dracula was a man called Vlad Tepes and is known now by the name Vlad the Impaler (for his habit of impaling people on large spikes) or Count Dracula - for more information, check out;

http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm#Name

 

Vampires:
1. Undead (Immortal)
2. Drink Blood
3. Can turn others into Vampires (Thus Reproduce)
4. Vulnerable to Light
5. Faster/Stronger then Humans

1) Whilst Vampires are Undead, mostly you could constitute that they are not Immortal, and will die of old age. In the most obscure myths about Vampires their origins in some form can be traced back to ancient Egypt, before the Pyramids and Imhotep.

The legends often go that high priests of the numerous gods would live for longer than others due to the fact they sacrificed other people and took pleasure to spill their blood.

For living a long time I am talking that in those days the average life expectancy was in their early thirties if they were lucky, whilst the priest lived to nearly three times this. It isn't as far fetched as it sounds, there is documentation that Ramses II ruled Egypt as Pharaoh for eight two years, and lived to be over 100.

The myths about the priests probably became distorted by time to the point where people believed that the spilling of blood was the drinking of blood. Given that from the end of the Roman empire till fairly recently the answer to any problem was something was wrong with your blood, the fact blood was seen as the reason for humans living and what let them live, it is no surprise that people would assume drinking blood would grant them long life.

Traditionally Vampires can have an "expiration date" on them, which once is reached they simple would die, this is something that cannot be stopped, only delayed. The arguments often went that the two ways for a Vampire to delay it's "expiration date" was to drink blood, what was believed to be the source of all life at the time, or age. Given age the Vampire was supposed to become more powerful and more in tune with the unholy energies that powered them, granting them resistance to holy water and sunlight, it could still be fatal, just took more effort.

If that is taken then Vampires are in a sense Immortal, that they die from few things and if left to their own devices and fed properly they will live forever, but that is in a perfect world.

2) Drinking blood I already mentioned in that for most of the surviving literature since the end of the Roman Empire blood was seen as all life, so drinking it would give an excess of blood, and there for an excess of life.

3) To Turn another individual into a Vampire the Vampire must make a conscious decision to Turn said individual, and feed off them temporarily. The turning supposedly would involve the transferal of some of the Vampires saliva into the victims body, and applied most literally when they bit them. The saliva of Vampires is not produces from glands but is an accumulation of anything impure in any blood they drink, like waste. It would have been in the Vampires body and contracted what ever makes the Vampire a Vampire and when put into someone through bite marks then it could Turn them into a Vampire.

4) Being vulnerable to light started when stories of "blood sucking fiends" in parts of Eastern Europe started in the Middle Ages. During that time everyone was fiercely religious, believing in God and the Devil, light was God's time to rule and night was the Devils. As anything that would drink someone else's blood was clearly not a good thing then the "blood sucking fiends" were to the people then, obviously agents of the Devil, and as such they stuck to the night and avoided daylight as that was when God's power could supposedly strike them, by burning them, religion seems to like burning things in the Middle Ages.

5) Again being faster and stronger than humans was seen as a sign that the Devil favoured them, sometime as having signed a pact with the Devil to gain their power, other times as committing atrocities in the Devils name so the Devil would in return grant them the capabilities to commit them. Sort of like a free advertising service, don't annoy the Devil, he can empower evil beings to kill you.

At least that is what I have gathered from reading old scripts, but it would be your story, feel free to ignore them, or use them as you see fit.

 

Vampires, in the medical sense of the word, do exist. Real 'vampires' are living creatures. They need hemoglobin, which they lack, to live. If they dont get enough of it, they suffer horredous mental and physical reprecussions. There have been cases where a 'vampire', aka crazy guy, has killed someone and consumed thier organs and blood for sustenence.

Vampires, like the kind you find in the legends, do not exist. They are normal people who were bitten, died and were reanimated as bloodthirsty ghouls. There is a distinct difference.

I don't wanna argue the same point over and over again Darth. Let's just agree that vampires are not dead, but cursed. It makes more sense than the magic argument.

Rainstorm: I didn't mean where did Stoker get the basis for the character, I meant where did the powers come from. Vlad Tepes did not (to the best of my knowledge) have the ability to turn into a wolf or bat, and was not immortal. He did drink and eat the cooked remains of his victims, I believe.

 

traditionally the Vampires are the undead, not the dead and not the living. The idea being they are stuck someway twixt the two, neither living or dead. Since they are part dead then they struggle to be killed, and since the are partially alive then they can be killed.

Sort of like mixing two different magical creatures together and getting the good parts, and the bad parts, say a new deadly creature, that knew it was deadly and was aggressive, a plus side and a down side if you will.