SO... How DO you like vampires?

[WolfThomas]

Probably been mentioned but world of darkness vampires, they are actual damned beings (not mutants or evolved predators) descended from Cain in the bible, their very existence defies reason or science, they are a walking corpse not a person anymore, they can't go out in the sun (but UV light doesn't hurt them it's a more mystical reason), they can be destroyed by conventional means but it's very difficult, fire and decapitation may or may not work depending on how strong they are. A stake paralyses them, leaving them as basically a corpse until removed.

They crave blood, but can stop when feeding off someone and leave them alive, they're only created by removal of a persons blood and replacement with vampire blood. Can become more powerful by drinking their elder's blood but risk losing their personality and being an outcast. The less generations between them and Cain's children (in particular the third generation) the more powerful they are. Drinking vampire blood can create "ghouls", stronger than normal humans incredibly loyal to their master.

They have all of the abilities in folklore and pop culture spread over a dozen clans. So some vampires are sneakier and can turn invisible, others more regal and control mind, some transform and some are more magical. All of them are far stronger, faster and durable than a human though.

Oh and no sex (or it's not common and works differently), blood is the only thing they care for it's the tastiest meal, an orgasm and hit of heroin in one dose. Vampire are were human beings, just because they're undead they don't become an emos or nihilists or dress like goths, they retain most of their former personality.

Spoiler: So if someone's a former pirate and wannabe rockstar they remain awesome

Spoiler: Or a social activist who likes desert eagles

I like it because becoming a vampire is a bittersweet blessing/curse, you get great powers and immortality but lose what makes them human. They are damned being of the nights.

 

[oppp7]

No. We don't need cliches. There are variations on things and you people need to learn to accept it.

 

[zombiesinc]

I prefer the Interview With The Vampire & Daybreakers kind.

But I enjoy seeing all the different kind of interpretations.

 

[chinangel]

I...like twilight?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
/runs from the lynch mob

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I...like twilight?

Why are you asking us?

 

[MercurySteam]

.........when they're not made up by Steph Meyer.

 

[chinangel]

I...like twilight?

Why are you asking us?

half-responding to the OP's opening statement about everyone hating twilight.

 

[Rusty pumpkin]

i agree with the sunlight, bat, and anti angsty things. i think a vampire would end up burning painfully and horrendously into a pile of charred bones if they stay in sunlight, and if we're speaking fantasy then holy objects would hurt. also the corruption thing. a vampire is by no means friendly, and the mere presence of one would defile the ground, raise the dead, or send chills up ones spine and cause clammy sweat. in fact, i kinda think that being around a vampire for to long, willingly or not, will eventually infect your brain with its influence, making it easier for them to convert you. also, a vampire should be confident, even arrogant, cruel, cold, and intelligent. a vampire should be like the villain in a horror film who knows all the characters weaknesses, and creates death and pain to everyone he touches, that one villain who most spend nights wide awake, haunted by their maliciousness. if a vampire marked you, youd probably spend hours running around in a mansion or catacomb while the vampire stalked you, laughing and doing everything he can to drive you insane. based on this, you can see im a pretty big geek and that twilight quickly became my bane after it was released, especially because my sister kept on trying to convince me that vampires could be pale skinned emo misfits, who sparkle and have fights with other angsty misfits for the rights to stare lovingly into some girls hair.

 

[Daipire]

I'd like them to be explained scientifically.

Their blood circulation commonly reaches over double that of a normal human, making them very easily pissed off as well as having unbelievable speed and strength. However, they can't produce the blood themselves, and have to consume the blood of others.

Also, when they get shot (or the Protagonist goes at them with a samuri sword ) They SHOOT blood out of even the smallest of cuts.

 

[Aerodyamic]

Vampires are not emo-licious metro-sexuals.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I like my vampires in a lot of ways, best described by the different vampire Courts in The Dresden Files:

Spoiler: The White Court

This Court is the most human-like group of vampires. They are similar to succubi and incubi, feeding off the emotions and life force of their prey. They are born to their vampiric state, rather than being created (as is the case with Black and Red Court). They are for all intents and purposes human until their vampirism manifests sometime around the age of their maturity. As with the Red Court, their first feeding (with its subsequent and almost inevitable kill) usually marks their full transformation. However, under specific circumstances, individuals descended from White Court vampires may curtail their transformation into vampires; see Blood Rites.

There are different Houses within the White Court, each comprising a close-knit family. There is much in-fighting between the Houses, but House Raith is considered to be the most powerful. The Houses are mainly distinguished by their choice of emotion to feed upon, but this has been represented as a strong preference rather than a restriction.

Those of House Raith are sexual predators, using their supernatural good looks and psychic aura to attract both men and women. During intercourse, or any direct physical contact where emotions like lust are heightened, they feed off their prey. Victims of the feedings of House Raith grow to enjoy the experience and become bonded to their predator like a drug addiction.

House Malvora's members feed off fear. Most prefer very strong fear such as that of being in a potentially deadly situation, but some (such as Thomas's cousin Madrigal) satisfy themselves with smaller scares like those created by horror and slasher movies, of which Madrigal was a writer and director.

The vampires of House Skavis feed off despair, preferring to drive a victim into the depths of depression and in many cases driving them to suicide.

The White Court is not endowed with as much physical strength as the Red or Black courts under normal circumstances; usually, their physical performance levels (standing jump heights, endurance and so on) are slightly better than those an ordinary human of equivalent size and health, but they can channel unused emotional energy as fuel for performance boosts of limited duration. On the other hand, they make up for it by having far fewer vulnerabilities. Sunlight and symbols of faith do not harm them at all (Thomas feels "uneasy" at the thought of entering a church, but this is possibly due more to his own guilt than any objective vulnerability, as he was in fact able to enter the church). Their power derives from an internal demonic essence they call the "Hunger" which acts like a battery. If they refrain from feeding for too long, the "Hunger" drives them into a frenzy where they must feed (almost always killing their victims), and can drive them permanently insane. When needed, they tap this store of energy to augment their strength, speed, resilience, and healing ability far beyond normal; while doing this, they radiate waves of cold (possibly an illusory reaction of normal humans to their energy sink), their skin whitens, and their eyes turn an unnatural silver. White Court vampire blood is pinkish instead of red and has an euphoric effect if ingested.

Their largest weakness is true love: people who are, or have recently been, in real, affectionate and sacrificial love are highly resistant to White Court control, and can even physically burn and blister vampire skin. Also, White Court vampires are born, not turned like Red and Black Court vampires; if the offspring of a White Court falls in love with someone that feels the same way before feeding for the first time, the love can destroy the demonic side before it can manifest allowing the person to live a normal, mortal life.

Unlike the other courts, the White Court prefers to avoid direct confrontation. They are a court of schemers and prefer to stab each other in the back in exquisitely detailed plots to impress the others in the Court, to the extent that direct confrontation is looked down upon as socially damaging.

Spoiler: The Red Court

The Red Court of Vampires are less human-like than the White Court. Instead they are slimy bat-like creatures hidden behind incredibly sensuous human costumes (made of an outer skin). They use these costumes to trick their prey into being more comfortable and to hide in plain sight. They are incredibly strong and fast, and can shake off any injury quickly. The Red Court is vulnerable to sunlight and to having their bellies cut open, which can spill the blood they have drunk and eventually kill them. Their saliva contains a potent magical narcotic which gives the prey a euphoric feeling and is highly addictive, allowing the Red Court to control their victims rather easily. The narcotic lowers the victim's inhibitions while dulling the pain of the vampire's bite. Addicted humans have been shown to go to great lengths to protect their vampiric masters, and willingly provide information from the mortal community as needed.

The Red Court is also capable of transforming ordinary humans into vampires in a two-step process: the human is first infected with the vampiric thirst for blood (gaining supernatural speed, strength and endurance in the process) and then completes the change into the demonic form upon killing a human victim in their first feeding. Infected humans with sufficient strength of will have been known to refrain from feeding for an indefinite length of time (magical bonds, regular exposure to sunlight, and avoiding physical intimacy all help), but no cure has yet been found for the "half-vampire" infected state. It is intimated that the Faerie Queen Mothers, or a being of similar power, could cure, or rather completely destroy, the vampiric infection with a magic known as an Unraveling (see Summer Knight). Their hunger for blood makes controlling their emotions very difficult, and when in a situation where emotions run high (such as during a fight or when engaged in physical intimacy), it is much easier for them to lose control.

The Red Court is highly organized in a feudalistic system with a King at the top, followed by Dukes and other ranks. The Red Court began a war against the White Council in response to Harry's actions in Grave Peril, and the war is a long-running plot thread, continuing through subsequent books with the White Council on the defensive and struggling to against the Red Court and their allies, while being assisted only by a few smaller allied organizations and reluctant help from the Faerie world.

Spoiler: The Black Court

The Black Court comprises the most well-known kind of vampire, the reanimated bloodthirsty corpses popularized by Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact, in the Dresdenverse, the publication of that book at the behest of the White Council is believed to be the primary cause of the Court's downfall, as Stoker supposedly published the book as a "how-to" manual to hunt the Black Court. Black Court vampires still inhabit the human bodies that they lived in before they were turned into vampires, with the only difference being their bodies rotting like zombies in the time that they have been undead. Black Court vampires possess all the classic strengths and weaknesses of Stoker's Dracula: they can lift and throw cars with one hand and crash through concrete walls without harm; but must sleep in their native soil and fear garlic and objects of faith. Sunlight, while deadly to younger members of the Black Court, is merely an inconvenience to older members, weakening them significantly, as in Stoker's novel. Mavra, an ancient Black Court vampire, has demonstrated the ability to use magic in the same way wizards do. The Black Court is currently the smallest and (politically) weakest of the Courts, although those few who survived the purges caused by Stoker's book are among the strongest and most cunning monsters in the world by virtue of sheer Darwinian necessity. They also have the ability to enthrall humans to be passive and submissive, and cultivate "Renfields" (another Stoker reference and similarity to Stoker's Dracula). Where thralls may have their minds restored with minimal lasting effects, Renfields are thralls that have been altered to the point of psychosis, and their minds are too far gone to be returned to normal. A Renfield has had his strength and agility augmented and will kill in a berserker frenzy until put down. Until let loose by their controlling vampire, a Renfield will appear as a normal thrall in a trance-like state, however their true nature can be seen with a Wizard's Sight.

Those different Courts and their individual houses encompass a pretty wide variety of vampire types. In the end I have only one requirement for my ideal vampire: [HEADING=1]Be scary![/HEADING]
And absolutely at the top of this would be good ol' Nosferatu:

Just look at him! I'd shit my pants if that would stand in my doorway.

Honestly, I hate vampires. As a kid they always scared the shit out of me.

Y'know, that's kinda the point of a horror character. Means they were doing their job pretty good.

 

[KyoFox]

The Anita Blake type.

For those who don't know (taken from Wikipedia, the only true source of information):
"There are many different types of vampires discussed in Anita Blake's mythology. The only real universal trait, is that they are blood drinking former humans, risen from the dead to prey on the living, with a variety of diverse powers. That is about where the similarities end. Generally they are turned and then taught by their master on the rights, rituals and general rules of "living," which includes a blood oath between the master and subservient vampire (read: does not necessarily require a newly turned individual). This generally in turn leads to the vampire hierarchy of master to Master of the City. These master vampires in turn owe their allegiance to the top of the vampire hierarchy the Vampire Council.

Also included are feral vampires whom have either been without blood, tortured and subjected to holy items for too long. Once a feral state, the vampire loses its ability to reason and only becomes obsessed with feeding. When this state is reached by a vampire, it is impossible to reverse or control without being destroyed."

 

[0z0wen]

I quite liked the count dracula in Van Helsing (the Hugh Jackman one)

 

[Lunar Templar]

*Cough* Ahem. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Those are proper vampires!

you win!! *throws confetti and pops a few party poppers* and your prize * gives a whole bag of cookies and fresh apple pie* the pie can be substituted for a pie of your liking :3

but back OT: YES!! VTM ( what little i know of it) is vampires the RIGHT WAY, another good example of vampires done right, the Hellsing anime, dunno it, watch it, ether one and you get the idea,

and mind you, i don't even like vampires, and twilight STILL pisses me off

YAAY! PIE!!

This is definitely a personal record; got 7 guys to agree with me, on the internet, within 12 hours of posting my personal opinion!

I'm also getting cake tomorrow =P

gratz on the cake :3 and was bound to happen sooner or later

 

[Trivun]

Twilight vampires are pretty good, except for the sparkles. So I say I want my vampires to be like those in Twilight, except sunlight doesn't affect them in any way.

And don't look at me like that, aside from the sparkliness the Volturi in that series are pretty much the sort of vampires people do like (as in, people who hate Twilight like), including the biting of humans. Only problem is that they sparkle.

 

[Spinozaad]

They have to consume blood for sustenance.

Other than that, I could not care less. Whether they be suave British metal singerspretending to be Transylvanian aristocracy, beast-like creatures hanging around in crypts underneath Amn, Brad Pitt or sparkle in sunlight.

 

[deus-ex-machina]

I like pretty much all the versions of vampires I have read about or seen on my telly box.

I dislike the raging, brainless vampires like how most newborns are portrayed and I didn't really like 30 Days of Night for the same reason - although an awesome concept. I prefer the intelligent, usually ancient and apathetic kind. I loved how Anne Rice would reflect on how her vampires would be throughout different time periods. Behaving good or bad, depending on their whims, pretty much.

But yeah, I don't really care if they're all out ass kicking like Blade, or sneaky-sneaky I guess like Spike. As long as Sunlight kills them.

 

[Shadowfaze]

I prefer the "Salems Lot" style vampires. (Stephen King, look it up) just like regular people, have reflections, and seem normal enough. Until you make them angry, then they become mutated man munching monsters.

THAT IS HOW VAMPIRES SHOULD BE!!!!