Vampire

31. Vampire

A vampire is a creature from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighborhoods they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures; the term vampire was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism. Local variants in Eastern Europe were also known by different names, such as shtriga in Albania, vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania.

Characteristics

They live forever, and several depicted vampires are hundreds of years of age or older. They also mate for life. Their diet is based strictly on blood. Although they prefer human blood, humans aren't the only animals that they can drink from. Vampires must keep their victims alive or else their blood becomes toxic to them. However, some vampires will live off of donated blood bags because they don't want to kill a living being. Vampires can only be killed by beheading, where they leave behind a corpse that can be examined to find their vampire teeth. In some tales, Vampires are typically organized into nests, with eight to ten vampires residing in each, with a mate for life. However, some nests are smaller, and some vampires prefer to live solitary lives. The younger members of the nest typically do the hunting for their elders, bringing back humans to be fed upon for days or even weeks. Each nest has a leader, typically the oldest vampire and most often the one who turned the others.

Power and Abilities

• Super Strength - Vampires possess strength that is greater than humans. Young vampires experience a formidable increase in physical strength; able to lift heavy objects and overpower grown humans. Older vampires, however, can overpower their own makers and other creatures.

• Fangs - Vampires possess a set of retractable fangs. Their teeth are superhumanly strong and can rip open a human's neck and leave huge bite marks on the corpse of the victim it has fed on.

• Super Speed - Vampires can move at greater speeds than humans. It is possible that a vampire's speed, like their strength, increase with age.

• Super Agility - Vampires possess amazing agility. They can climb up walls and jump off buildings without hurting themselves. Vampires also have greater reflexes than humans.

• Super Senses - Vampires have extremely keen senses that are superior to those of humans. They can see in the dark, hear a human's heart beat, and possess enhanced sense of smell. A vampire can track a human's blood over long distances.

• Immortality - Vampires can potentially live forever. They can't grow old and don't acquire conventional diseases that affect humans.

• Invulnerability - Vampires can not be killed by conventional methods, such as stab wounds or gunshots. Vampires have an extreme resilience to pain.

• Regeneration - As long as they have enough human blood, vampires can quickly heal any wound that does not include amputation.

• Super Stamina - Despite their hunger, vampires don't tire easily.

• Stealth - Vampires are often shown sneaking up on their victims without making a sound.

Weaknesses

There are different weaknesses of the vampires in different stories.

• Dead man's blood - The use of blood from the recently deceased can also be used as a method to incapacitate vampires briefly.

• Sunlight - While sunlight can hurt them. For this reason, vampires are primarily nocturnal, and will not go out while the sun is still on the horizon. They can also find other types of light uncomfortable, as vampires have increased sensitivity to light.

• Scent-blocking Mixture - A mixture of saffron, skunk cabbage, and trillium into a fire or dusting one's clothes with the ashes of this mixture will cover a human's scent to attack vampires. This will even cover another vampire's scent. However older vampires with their stronger senses, may be able to overcome this.

• Serious Physical Injury - While vampires can't be killed by serious physical injury and can heal, they are still susceptible to harmful injuries.

Killing

• Decapitation - Beheading is the most commonly used method to kill vampires, considered the only method for a long time. The head does not necessarily need to be removed; doing sufficient damage seems just as effective a method of killing, if somewhat more elaborate.

• Stake in heart

• Burn with silver

• Burn with fire

• Sever the head

• Strike with holy symbols

• Repel with garlic

• Bite by werewolves