Vampires

Dracula, master vampire.

Vampires are a class of immortal undead demonic beings, known in the for being the primary antagonistic forces that threaten to cover the world in darkness and chaos.

History & Analysis

Vampires are undead, supernatural beings, whose origins come from Slavic and ancient world folklore. Believed to have originated from the reanimating corpses of restless souls of the dead, heretics of established religion, users of black magic, or even those that have sold their souls to be the incarnate of dark gods and deavas, they are known to feast upon the life essence of living beings, are endowed with dark powers, like shapeshifting, flight, great strength, incredible speed, and immortality. They are able to grant vampirism to others by feeding their blood to their victims, and can only be slain by sunlight, with anointed and holy items, or by destroying their hearts.

Dracula has also demonstrated a power unique to be able to channel and absorb the evil and malice of humankind to resurrect himself every 100 years, summon lesser demons, curse lands around him to rot, plague and famine, and corrupt men's hearts even further. It is likely that this power is given to him as he is chosen by Chaos to be a Dark Lord, and only available to chosen beings.

Their history in the world portrays them as a great evil that terrorize mankind. Where their origins are not clearly established, nothing is truly known about them other than the fact that vampires have existed long before the rise of Dracula and are beings born of Chaos. Vampires tend to come in two flavors, the cunning, beguiling ones using charm, wit and their centuries of unlife to plan ahead and carry through, or able to use dark magics; or the more powerful, physically overwhelming vampires, able to use their innate magical ability for combat and carnage.

Known Vampire Bloodlines

DRACULA

The most notorious of all vampire lines, and arguably the most powerful. Dracula's brood is neither the oldest nor the most widespread, but when any of them make an appearance, it's a major event (as noted below). The vampires of Dracula's Bloodline are versatile and cunning, both physically, magically and mentally powerful.

• Type: Anything.
• Gifts: Teleport, Fireball, Shapeshift, Demonic Form, Death, Seduction.. it goes on..
• Weakness: Running water. (It burns to the soul)

Carmilla: Lady loves and lovers of ladies, this bloodline is exclusively female.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: Magic Use, Shapeshift, Seduction, Illusions.
• Weakness: Object of Power. (Power tied in to a single item)

Bathory: Known for their unending cruelty and sadism, noblemen and women of the Old World.

• Type: Physical.
• Gifts: Elementals, Teleportation, Mind Control, Flight.
• Weakness: Blood Baths. (Requires incredible amounts of blood to survive)

De Rais: Child Killer by foundation, very young vampire bloodline. Usually serial killers, or victims.

• Type: Physical.
• Gifts: Shapeshift, Illusions, Spider Power, Animal Control.
• Weakness: Young, Tradtional Banes (Garlic, Water, Crosses, etc, all hurt them).

Fang Clan: Vampiric Nazis, formerly known as the Blood Clan, usurped their enemy's name after the war.

• Type: Any
• Gifts: Shapeshift, Blood Magic, Necromancy.
• Weakness: Sunlight, Traditional Banes.

WALTER

Ancient vampire bloodline, traditional in every way, chooses only the strong.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: Psychic Power, Mind Control, Fireball, Teleportation. (Yes, powerful)
• Weakness: Suicidal Ennui (Will take deadly risks), Ice.

ORLOCK

The oldest vampire line, monsters by appearance with a noble bearing and magical power.

• Type: Physical.
• Gifts: Demonic Form, Fireball, Illusions, Mind Control.
• Weakness: Sunlight, (Litterally dies by sunlight) Monstrous.

METROPOL

A new line of Vampires, mingling with mortals and controlling their affairs for power.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: ESP, Animal Control, Seduction, Mind Control.
• Weakness: Victim of Fortune (Power depends on their influence and money).

ARTISTE

Vampire artists and beings of beauty, moving within social circles like beautiful predators.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: Fetish, Seduction, Illusion, Flight.
• Weakness: Art Trap (Must bind a part of themselves to their art, making them vulnerable)

DEMENTE

Driven insane by their gifts, this bloodline seems irrational, but is often deadly.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: Insanity, Illusion, Mind Control, Spider Power.
• Weakness: Insanity, Out of Touch (If the vampire is lost in his own world, he's vulnerable)

SANGIOVANNI

Family of vampires who breed amongst themselves and traffic with the true dead.

• Type: Mental.
• Gifts: Death, Seduction, Animal Control, Flight.
• Weakness: Image of Shame (Mirrors cause deadly damage)

Notable Vampires

Master Vampires

Powerful vampires who answer to no one.

• Dracula
• Walter Bernhard
• Brauner
• Marivel
• Orlock
• Alucard
• Mosquiton
• Jiang Shi

Pillar Men

Ancient Meso-American creatures born from pillars which generated Mayan masks which could transform its wearer into vampires. They are not undead in the strictest sense, and are actually somehow part of nature, making them less prone to suffer from Holy or other Divine attributes.

• Santana
• Eisideisi
• Whammu
• Cars
  • Dio Brando

Dracula Follower Vampires

Ancient vampires devoted to Dracula. Their contract with Dracula allows for them to be reborn with the Castle.

• Carmilla
• Gilles de Rais
• Elizabeth Bathory
• Alexander Vlado
• Andrei Konstantin
• Harry
• Laura
• Ozul Sandor
• Bartholemew Hardestadt
• Emmanuelle
• Damasu Otashi
• Schneider Abendroth
• Felicity

Half Vampires

Half human half vampire dhampirs who can choose whether to follow the ways of the vampires or the ways of the humans.

• Alucard (the half-human son of Dracula)
• Lacroix (the half-human son of Soma Cruz)
• Elizabeth Marie Farenheights (daughter of Alucard and Lady Marivel)

Victims of Vampirism

Humans who were turned into vampires either against their will or when left with no other choice, often to the great lament of their loved ones. These victims were unable to return to being humans and were usually slain by heroes.

• Joachim Armster - Circumstances of his turning by Walter are unknown
• Gwendolyn - Eric Lecarde's love interest
• J. A. Oldrey - Henry Oldrey's father. Turned by Gilles de Rais
• Camilla Fernandez - Carrie Fernandez's cousin, turned by Gilles de Rais
• Charles Vincent - In the bad ending of Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
• Sara Trantoul (not completely turned) - turned by Walter
• Rinaldo's daughter - turned by Walter.
• Laura - Taken from her familly and turned unwillinglly by Carmilla

Cured Vampires

On rare situations a vampire can be cured from their Vampirism, so far only those who have been unwillingly turned to vampires seem to have been cured. When using the vampire cures on other undead it has been known to destroy them (such as using the Undead Killer or Sanctuary spell).

• Rosa
• Stella
• Loretta
• Vincent Dorin

Vampiric Traits

Vampires, while creatures of darkness and evil, are also known to be incredibly powerful, just one part of the corruption of the soul that occurs when one is cursed with vampirism. How powerful an individual vampire is depends mostly on her age, but other factors also come into play, such as the power of their sire and the power of their bloodline. Aside from pale skin and a lack of life, most vampires also have a sharp, predatory gaze. One should note the vast majority of vampires will, in fact, be mindless thralls with none of the special Gifts.

Vampire Type: The Blood of vampires grows a certain way. All Lines have distinct advantages.

• Physical: These vampires will grow into physical powerhouses as the centuries go on. Super Speed, Monstrous Strength, Invulnerability.. all this awaits Physical vampires.
• Mental: These bloodlines will eventually become wise and allknowing, able to learn all sorts of magics and trick demons into binding contracts. While these appear less overwhelming than their physical brothers, their powers of deduction and mysticism will more than make up for it.

Common Traits

All vampires will possess the following abilities, regardless of bloodline.

• Undeath: Drinking the blood of mortals makes a vampire near immortal. Also, is dead.
• Blood Healing: Contact with human blood makes a vampire heal immediately.
• Supernatural Strength: Inhuman strength, far above even the mightiest of men.
• Supernatural Reflexes: The ability to react and move at bullet*like speed, faster than any being.
• Supernatural Resistance: Immunity to casual weapons.
• Mesmerise: A vampire's gaze can entrance any mortal into being unable to move or think.
• Silence of Death: Vampires no longer breathe, blink, twitch, or any such mortal tick. As such, all vampires have an eerie, relatively obvious lest they mask it, but utterly quiet presence. This may not seem like an advantage, but having a vampire right behind you with no way to hear him is a good way to die. Or join them.

Common Weaknesses

Vampires all share another thing. Weaknesses to certain things.

• Sunlight: All vampires must rest during the day, for their powers are very low when the sun is up.
• Stakes: A stake through the heart will kill a vampire.
• Garlic: The purifying effect and the powerful smell will destabilise a vampire.
• Holy Power: Any holy item will cause vampires massive and likely fatal pains.
• Vampire Killer: Kills vampires dead. Period.

Common Gifts

Gifts not all vampires can use, depending on bloodline.

• Mind Control: The ability to override a victim's willpower, and make them act according to the user's wishes. this creates a less than willing victim, but incredibly useful for servants or pests.
• Seduction: The ability to influence a victim's emotions. Less direct than mind control, but often can be used with a subject's darkest nature, bringing out their sins and making them lust after the vampire.
• Illusions: Vampiric disguises and combat*borne after images both stem from this power, the ability to beguile an enemy with the image of a loved one, or the power of invisibility.
• Spider Power: The vampiric ability to stick to walls, move unnaturally (for a human body), and be absolutely silent in their stalking.
• Animal Control: The ability to summon or subdue animals, using them as spies, weapons or other such advantages. Vampires with this power never fight alone.
• Flight: The ability to defy the laws of gravity much like a vampire defies the laws of life, a vampire with this power can glide anywhere, anytime, making them much harder to hit, and much easier for them to hit a hunter.

Uncommon Gifts

Gifts shared, but not 'casual' among vampire bloodlines. These are slightly stronger.

• Shapeshift: Traditional vampire power, the ability to assume the shape of bat, wolf or mist, each with it's own advantages and weaknesses.
• Teleport: The ability to instantenously (or after a fashion) disappear and reappear somewhere else. The mechanics of this power depends mostly on the bloodline, but the effect is the same.
• Fireball: A vampire's traditional bane turned against their usual users. The vampire with his power can create a various number of fire balls and hurl them at their foes. A stronger version of this is the Ball of Destruction, firing twin flaming orbs of darkness.

Unique Gifts

Those Gifts only a certain bloodline of vampire has access to.

• Psychic Power: The ability to move things (including oneself) with the mind, creating shields out of every day items and weilding several weapons. This is Walter's most potent Gift.
• Extra Sensory Perception: The ability to see the invisible, read minds, use telepathy and other such powerful scrying belongs to the 'Modern' vampire bloodline, for dealing with rivals and mortals.
• Fetish: Imbuing an item with powers, using them to influence the real world, is the 'Artiste' bloodline's true power. From portraits to songs, these affect the world according to the vampire's will.
• Demonic Form: A truly powerful gift, vampires who can attain the form of a demon get an astronomical increase in fighting power, and lose most of their vampiric weaknesses. Orlock's blood is the only one known to attain this power, but for Dracula himself.
• Insanity: The 'Crazies' most terrifying power, the ability to curse others with their very own insanity. This power, coupled with Illusions, can drive even the mightest will into a fractured mess, forever.
• Death: The arts of Necromancy, blood Gift of the Sangiovanni bloodline, able to raise the dead, and what's worse, affect the state of the living AND the dead. This bloodline's mastery over this art surpasses any other, save for, once more, Dracula himself.
• Magic Use: The ability to use magic as if it were a mere weapon, this is the power of the Carmilla line of vamipresses. Flight, teleportation and other powers are useable from just this, as well as powerful summons and defenses.
• Elemental Control: The Gift of the Bathory bloodline, tied in to the Chernozen of the Carpathians. This Gift allows the vampire to erect barriers and create joint elemental attacks from which it's near impossible to defend, in the shape of powerful magic orbs.

Trivia

• While they are a present theme in Castlevania, the vampires don't have much fullfilment in the series, unless assisting Dracula in his resurrection or ascension to power. Their appearences and attributes vary from game to game, but they usually appear as antagonists throughout the series, fighting against the heroes or taking someone they care about away. The vampires have enhanced strength and senses, and being undead, they are virtually immortal. As children of the night, it is said they have power over darkness.

• They are shown to possess advanced powers, but are no match to the Dark Lord himself, although they vary among their appearances, such as teleportation, shapeshifiting into bats, and mental powers. Other attributes are their pale skin and different colored eyes (varying between scarlet red and light blue) in their appearances, some of them being of demonic nature such as Olrox or J.A. Oldrey.

• Some can say vampires lack souls and therefore lack a conscience for their acts, explaining why their indiscriminate killing of the humans and why they have to be destroyed. In contradiction, it's said the Crimson Stone can turn the souls of vampires into power for its master, indicating that they indeed have souls but do not connect to their "evil" behavior.

• In the games (just like the vampire lore), they are highly vulnerable to Holy Water and the Cross subweapons, as they cause great deal of damage to the vampires. They also are affected by sunlight, being creatures of the darkness.

• Vampires: Gilles de Rais, Blackmore and Olrox are all parodies of Dracula.