Vampire
The vampire is the most influential species of yāoguài/yōkai in the European sphere. The progenitor of the vampire race is Vlad “Dracula” Tepes who became a vampire unintentionally through black magic. All other vampires are either humans turned vampires (through injection of vampire blood into the humans) or his descendants.
Etymology
The English term was derived (possibly via French vampyre) from the German Vampir, in turn, derived in the early 18th century from the Serbian вампир (vampir).[1,2]
Appearance
In general, vampires are virtually identical to humans in appearance with the exception of longer fangs and sharp claws. Like humans, there are variance in hair color, eye color, stature, physical build, etc. among the vampires. The only other commonality among them is the appearance of red eyes with slitted pupil when the vampires activate their hypnosis skill or manifest their full power. Pure-blood vampires also don’t have any reflection or show.
History
The origin of vampires begins with Count Dracula, or simply known as “The Count.” Before becoming a vampire, the Count was Vivoide of Wallachia, Vlad III. In his childhood, he and his younger brother were held hostage by the Ottoman Empire to secure their father’s loyalty. Hungary later invaded his country, and his father and elder brother were killed in the invasion. The Hungarian regent-governor assigned Vlad’s second cousin to the throne. Vlad sought refuge with the Ottoman, and slowly fought to regain the throne with the help of the Ottoman and later Hungary. After regaining control of his nation, Vlad came into conflict with Transylvanian Saxons, so he pillaged their villages, kidnapped the people, and executed them by impaling them. This incident gave rise to his epithet, Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad faced many challenges in his later years and once again, came into conflict with the Ottoman (this time, of his own doing by killing two Turkish envoys with a message from the Sultan). He is remembered for having led an army against the Turk across the Danube; the last battle he ever fought as he was shortly murdered afterward. However, Vlad wasn’t a fool. He knew that living in constant conflict would inevitably spell his doom, and thus, he had prepared a spell for his own resurrection.
It was said that he had studied the dark arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and obtained a deep knowledge of alchemy and magic. After his supposed death and burial, the spell would activate and reanimate his corpse by calling his soul back into the body. Fortunate or not, the spell was imperfect, and his soul became tainted. The result was a superpowered soul containing demonic powers that when paired with the body made the body undead (eternally young, perfect regeneration, and undecaying). This was the start of Vlad’s second life.
After discovering his newfound and unusual hunger for human blood, especially of beautiful blonde female, Vlad sought refuge in an abandoned castle and preyed in the young maidens in a nearby town. As it turns out, with a single bite from the Count, the females would come under his control and eventually turn into a creature of the night like him. The Count loved his new servants, and after a few year of living together, one of them bore him a child, a boy named Alucard. At this time, legends of the Count had spread throughout the area, through the Count’s manipulation of the town’s inhabitants. He and his three mistresses eventually controlled the entire town.
As Alucard was growing up, he began to notice his powers compared to normal humans but saw that they were nowhere as impressive as his father. He also respected and admired his father’s authority while at the same time, desired that authority to be his own. Alucard, with the unwitting help of one of his stepmother, discovered his father’s weakness and exploited it to kill the Count. Alucard then drank his father’s blood, absorbed his father’s power, and declared himself the Nosferatu, which will become the title for inheritors of Dracula’s blood.
After killing his father, Alucard was attacked by his mother and stepmothers, forcing him to flee the country. He traveled as far as Japan, kidnapped young maidens, imprisoned them, and impregnated them to raise an army of faithful followers. Alucard’s children eventual learned the truth and rebelled against him. The eldest of the group, a fifteen-year-old Andres, became the second Nosferatu, and given the title its Japanese equivalent, Shinso (真祖, "true ancestor").
Having seized power, Andres declared himself the “King of the Night,” leader of vampires and all night creature, nominated his youngest brother and most Asian-looking of his siblings to stay in Japan, while taking the rest of his siblings and servants on a trip back to Europe. Andres established his domain in their grandfather's homeland, now Transylvania, while the rest of his siblings spread across Europe and established their respective houses. For the next two centuries, the descendants of Dracula kidnapped their spouse, turned them into vampires, and had children with them, but starting with Dracula's great-great-grandchildren, inbreeding became popular as they noticed that further outbreeding diminished their vampiric powers. The vampires became a meritocratic society, and because their powers were related to blood purity, they valued pure blood families and inbreeding. The cycle of patricide ended with Andres, and succession of leadership was peaceful thereafter. Lucinda became the first female Nosferatu after their father declared his successor would be the winner of a battle royale.
War broke out among the vampires when Lucinda wanted to marry a male of the Fernandez family. While the Fernandez were also descendants of Dracula, the Castillo did not want to give up the blood of Dracula and authority over all vampires to the Fernandez. This prompted a three-faction war, and Lucinda gave up her life after killing the head of each house. She gave a warning to all vampires to not start another war and declared her then twelve-year-old daughter “Queen of the Night” and made her husband the Queen's advisor and right hand.
Variants
Pure-blood
Pure-blood vampires are the offsprings of full-fledged vampires (pure-blood or converted vampire). They are the strongest among the vampires and possess the widest array of abilities.
Nosferatu/Shinso
The Nosferatu or Shinso is a pure-blood vampire that also inherited Dracula’s blood, either directly from Dracula or from the previous Nosferatu. Through possession of the originator’s blood, they are able to unlock additional abilities, the most fearsome being Daywalker (immunity to sunlight).
Dhampire
Dhampire are half-blood vampires, offsprings of a full-fledged vampire and another species (typically human). Dhampire are weaker than pure-blood and have limited abilities (superhuman physique and limited regeneration however, they can be resistant to sunlight (if their non-vampire parent is not affected by sunlight).
Converted vampire
Converted vampires are humans turned vampires and serve the vampire who turned them; they have a telepathic connection with their vampire master. Converted vampires gain a boost to their physical abilities and have enhanced healing but not regeneration. In contrast, due to formerly being human, they are immune to sunlight, and thus, are very useful to their vampire master. Converted vampires require the blood of their master to sustain their life and power.
Ghoul
Ghouls are humans who could not become vampires after being injected with vampire blood. They are mindless, violent creatures with sharp fangs and claws whose only instinct is to destroy.
Abilities
Pure-blood
- Supernatural physique
- Super regeneration (in case of Nosferatu, instant regeneration but cannot regenerate the head if completely destroyed)
- Night vision
- Sustain body by blood
- Prefers blood of spiritually-powerful humans
- Each vampire has a specific preference for blood (based on personality)
Dhampire
- Superhuman but sub-supernatural strength
- Limited regeneration
- Resistant to sunlight
Weaknesses
- Wooden stake through the heart
- Silver (bullet, knife, etc.)
- Holy cross when wielded by an exorcist
- Holy water
- Sensitivity to garlic (and other strong-smelling objects)
- Sensitivity to sunlight
- Can't cross running water
- Wild rose atop their coffin prevents them from leaving
Related Articles
References
- ^ "Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm. 16 Bde. (in 32 Teilbänden). Leipzig: S. Hirzel 1854–1960" (in German). Retrieved 13 June 2006, from https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215950/http:/germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemid=GV00025.
- ^ "Vampire". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 13 June 2006, from https://web.archive.org/web/20060614081137/http:/www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/vampire.
Vampire
(Mandarin: xī xuè guǐ
Cantonese: kap1 hyut3 gwai2)
Alucard
Lucía Fernández
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