Editing Vampire (section)

==Vampires As We Know Them==
===in Tabletop Games===
====Deadlands====
In [[Deadlands]], vampires first appeared in the story/adventure module combination "Dime Novel" series, where the third volume "Night Train" featured the Great Rail War getting bloodier because evil Voodooist Baron LaCroix has gathered up a bunch of [[nosferatu]] and allowed them to set up shop in trains he's smuggled onto his rivals' tracks, allowing them to ravage the [[Weird West]]. The second major source was "Rascals, Varmints & Critters 2", which reprinted Nosferatu stats alongside states for Cinematic Vampires, Penanggalans and Ustrels. It also provided stats for Dracula himself and rules for playing a vampire in the Deadlands Classic system. Finally, "The Great Maze" introduced the [[Jiangshi]] and issue #3 of the official magazine "The Epitaph" finished the deal with Nachtzehers, Shtrigas and Upirs.

Vampire strains known to exist in the Deadlands universe consist of the following:
* [[Nosferatu]] (with a more powerful variant called the "Ancient Ones")
* Cinematic Vampire (your Gothic Horror style vampire, also a playable "race")
* [[Jiangshi]]
* [[Penanggalan]] (spelled with two Ls here)
* Ustrel (a child vampire born from a child who died of neglect, which prefers to feed on animals and has a voracious appetite)
* Nachtzeher (a fangless, ghoul-like vampire that chews on corpses to extract blood and which is marked by its heavily gnawed extremities, a result of its initial hunger upon rising)
* Shtriga (a female witch who feed on blood to fuel her magic and preserve her youth, characterized by her tendency of gorging herself until her belly bloats up like a pregnant woman's and she messily vomits up what she can't fit near the site of her kill)
* Upir (powerful vampires who prefer to strangle their prey before feeding from their tongue)

==== Dungeons & Dragons ====
Vampires have been around in pretty much every edition of the game.  They get a full smorgasboard of powers, including the ability to shapeshift into animals and mist, climb up walls, fast healing, and the ability to not only drain blood but inflict negative levels with their touch, though they usually can't fly unless they shapeshift into something that can.  There're also vampire spawn, which are lesser vamps subservient to their creators and reduced versions of most vampiric powers.  Most vampires have special weaknesses, but can also be killed by good ol fashioned damage, though a few require extra steps to stay dead.

2nd Edition [[Ravenloft]] introduced separate monster entries for [[demihuman]] vampires: [[elf]], [[dwarf]], [[halfling]], [[gnome]], and even the dreaded [[kender]].

The gameline also includes a variety of special custom vampires reflecting the dizzying array of bloodsucking undead monsters in world mythology.  

Special mention to everyone's favorite master vampire villain, [[Strahd von Zarovich]], and to the Vampire, the awnsheigh from [[Birthright]] where monsters tend to be unique, a tragic figure who hunted down the monster that slew his father, only, in a conflux of different factors, to lose his humanity in the process and become a tyrannical awnsheigh in his own right.

=====Ravenloft=====
Being a [[Gothic Horror]]/[[Dark Fantasy]] setting for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], and considering AD&D's general approach to monster design (aka "let's turn as many alternate names as possible into unique monsters!"), you better believe that [[Ravenloft]] was ground zero for an invasion of an absolute ''fuckton'' of vampire variants!

Firstly, there's the ''Oriental Vampire'', which is native to the Domains of I'Cath and Rokushima Taiyoo. This one is a weird blend of the "classic" D&D vampire given an Asian reskin and the [[Jiangshi]]; in 3rd edition, it would lean slightly more towards the latter and become known as the ''Chiang-ahi''.

Secondly, there's the ''Cerebral Vampire'', an artificially created vampire that is only found in the domain of Dominia, a corrupted insane asylum. They feed on cerebro-spinal fluid, hence the name. In AD&D, they caused madness and their victims would die and return as [[ghoul]]s, whilst in 3e, they cause permanent Intelligence loss and can reproduce this way.

''[[Nosferatu]]'' are a variant strain of vampire who actually feed on blood (drain Constitution) rather than sapping levels like other AD&D vampires. Otherwise, they're largely interchangeable. Ironically, [[Mystara]] has its own Nosferatu variant which is based more on novel!Dracula or Varney the Vampire, and the 3e update of Ravenloft rewrote the Ravenloft nosferatu based on the abilities of the Mystaran nosferatu.

Most famously, Ravenloft would introduce an array of [[demihuman]] vampires, as well as two monstrous vampires; the [[drow]] and [[illithid]]:
* [[Drow]] revere the transformation into vampires, referring the change as "The Kiss of [[Lolth]]". They can transform into giant spiders and clouds of poisonous vapor, but cannot cross a line of salt and are ''incredibly'' light vulnerable; even moonlight burns their flesh, whilst a single shaft of sunlight is instant death. Vampire drow can be placed in a death-like torpor by staking them through the heart with rock salt, but can only be killed by exposing them to sunlight, immersing them in a waterwall, or binding the torpid vampire in cords of silver thread, smearing it with oil, and burning it for at least 12 hours.
* [[Dwarves]] '''loathe''' vampires of their kind, who can pass through stone as if it were air and are unimpaired by sunlight. They can't transform, but they can command burrowing and subterranean creatures. They can't enter a home unless it's at least partially made of earth or stone, nor can they cross a line of powdered metal, and water from natural springs scorches them like acid (but holy water has no effect). Dwarven vampires can be rendered torpid by staking them with a natural stalactite or stalagmite. Actually ''killing'' them requires cutting out their heart, soaking it in oil for 3 days, then burning it to ashes.
* [[Elves]] regard their vampires with pity, for they are metaphorically and literally hideously warped, twisted, ugly creatures. These Charisma-draining undead can only walk about during the day, and perish if they remain abroad at night or if forced underground, in a reversal of the standard vampire. Their touch kills plants, and they possess a number of twisted [[druid]]-like abilities, such as assuming the form of an eagle and commanding forest creatures. They are burned by the sap of deciduous trees and repelled by fresh flower petals. They can be made torpid by staking them with a stake of charcoal, but to permanently kill them, the torpid elf's head must be cut off and burned for 24 hours in a fire made of flowers and flowering shrubs.
* [[Gnome]] vampires are twisted, perpetually silenced creatures with faces twisted into rictus grins. They can transform into the form of a will o' wisp and can freely command (but not summon) animals. Their touch slowly petrifies their victims. Though they hate sunlight, only natural sunlight hurts them. Defeating them is tough; once rendered torpid by pounding a stake of Blessed silver into their heart, their hands must be cut off and boiled in a natural hot spring for 24 hours whilst the gnome is placed in a wooden coffin. Once their hands have finished boiling, their eyes must be gouged out and replaced with high quality precious gems; once that is done and the coffin is nailed shut, the vampire is dead.
* [[Goblin]] vampires are weaker than most vampires, and are created artificially from the goblins of Tepest by its [[hag]] darklords. Oversized brutes with distended fangs and claws who feed on both blood and fear, they are mindless killers with few supernatural talents or resistances, although they prefer to hunt during the day, as goblins avoid the day. They can be killed by hammering a stake of obsidian into their hearts.
* [[Halfling]] vampires have a surprising array of magical abilities, including freely transforming into and commanding small woodland creatures, assuming a sweet-smelling smoke form, exuding an aura of fatigue and creating high-quality food and drink at will. They cannot approach somebody smoking a pipe, nor enter a room where a fire is burning in a hearth. They can be destroyed by sunlight and rain. To render one torpid, impale it with a burning length of wood taken ''directly'' from a hearth. To kill it, chop off its hands and feet and then burn them in a hearth for 3 hours.
* [[Illithid]] vampires were a mistake that went ''horribly'' wrong, creating mindless blood-and-brain-sucking brutes with no more than animalistic intelligence. Whilst they lack most of the sundry supernatural powers of both races, they are, to all intents and purposes, indestructible; nobody knows the method to truly kill them yet. They returned in 5e with a major overhaul; no longer technically indestructible, they also now serve a purpose - where as the original Vampiric Illithids were a failed attempt to create a weapon against the God-Brain, in 5e they are ''agents'' of the God-Brain. These short-lived creatures are sent to harvest cerebrospinal fluid from humanoids, then return to the God-Brain and are [[Ripper|dissolved into its nutrient-pool to infuse their life-energy and stolen bounty directly into the God-Brain]], which is the only thing slowing the God-Brain's decay into death.
* [[Kender]] vampires are only found in the domain of Sithicus, and in fact are destroyed instantly if forced over its border. Wracked with permanent rigor mortis, they are surprisingly easy to turn by [[cleric]]s and [[paladin]]s. They are repulsed by shimmerweed, and the sight of moonlight shining on shimmerweed can actually  destroy them. But the most effective weapon against them is their own iconic hoopaks; if a warrior can snatch away a kender vampire's hoopak, not only can they swiftly beat the creature into submission with it, but impaling the kender vampire through the heart with it (easier than it sounds) will instantly destroy the kender vampire forever.

3rd edition would introduce the only new Ravenloft vampire to this list, the disease-carrying, [[ghoul]]ish [[Vrykolaka]], and update all of the above, sans the [[Drow]] and [[Kender]] vampires.

In addition, Ravenloft also introduced three "vampire-adjacent" monsters; the Japanese-flavored [[Kizoku]] (a supernatural womanizer that lures women to commit evil acts, then turns them into willow trees), the [[Vampyre]] (a "living vampire" flavored monstrous humanoid), and the [[Vorlog]] (a human partially warped into a vampire).

But that wasn't enough for fans, so they got together and came up with the [[Aswang]] (based on Filipino vampires) and the [[Upir Lichy]] (Russian heat vampires).

=====Other D&D Vampire Strains=====
Whilst [[Ravenloft]] is home to the largest array of vampires and vampire-like monsters, AD&D at least had its share of other vampires to be found in other settings.

The [[Forgotten Realms]] is home to the ''Lhiannan Shee'', an all-female vampire strain created from [[human]], [[elf]] and [[half-elf]] women that specializes in preying on [[bard]]s and artists. It is, quote, "thought to be the undead spirit of a woman who killed herself for the unrequited love of a bard or other artistically talented and desirable, but unobtainable or callous man."

[[Mystara]] is home to both the ''Velya'', an aquatic vampire strain, and to its own distinct strain of [[Nosferatu]], which ironically became the basis of the Ravenloft version in 3e.

The [[Fiend Folio]] introduced the [[Penanggalan]] to generic D&D as a whole.

=====[[4E|4th Edition]]=====
Vampires are now a class in 4e. They were introduced in the Heroes of Shadow book, and yes, they are in fact a CLASS now, no longer a template or curse. There is also detailed in the book a new race, "[[Vryloka]]," which are basically vampires in their own right so [[Derp|WHY MAKE VAMPIRE A CLASS]], [[RAGE|I MEAN SERIOUSLY]]. Only in the [[fluff]], Vryloka have the power of vampires, just without the bloodlust. Really? That just sounds stupid on paper. And also stupid in general. We got a fucking ''cornucopia'' of stupid going on here.

The Vampire class has the Shadow power source, and is also a striker, which is apparently all Shadow is good for in 4e, being that all it consists of is Assassins, Executioners (variant Assassins from the ''Heroes of Shadow''), Vampires, and [[Blackguard]]s, all of which are strikers for fuck-all reason. WOTC explained that they named the class Vampire because they really wanted the players to feel like they were playing one, as most of the powers are based on vampiric lore (turning into bats, mist, wolves, drinking blood to gain healing surges). If so, they still could have come up with an original fucking name either way and kept the fluff relatively the same. This also means that Vampires (the class, that is) cannot be mages or knights without using hybrid classes.

Then there's the ''Vampiric Heritage'' feat, which lets any humanoid gain +2 to Perception and Insight checks to find undead while also getting Blood Drain (Encounter Attack; Str/Dex/Con +2/tier vs Reflex when grabbing someone, deals 1d4/tier + Con Mod damage and lets you spend a [[healing surge]]). This already is a step above the class by not hamstringing you with the shittiest number of surges in existence and an absolutely pitiful selection of powers. You also get access to the Blood Knight [[Paragon Path]] and a few extra feats, though some of them are kinda naff:
*Vampire Alacrity (+1 Speed)
*Mist Form (Requires level 10; replace a level 10 or lower utility power with Mist Form, a sustainable daily power that renders you insustantial with a hovering speed of 8 squares but forbids you from attacking)
*Night's Sight (Gain darkvision)
*Bloodied Regeneration (Requires paragon tier; replace a level 10 or lower utility power with Bloodied Regeneration, a daily utility power that grants you regeneration 5 until you aren't bloodied anymore)
*Domineering Gaze (Requires level 15; replaces a level 15 or lower utility power with Domineering Gaze, a daily ranged 5 attack that uses a mental stat +4 (+6 in epic) vs Will that inflicts either save-ends Dominated (downgraded to save-ends dazed after making the save) or save-ends dazed)
*Savage Bite (Requires paragon tier; you can now use your power on anyone you have combat advantage over)

This also raises a question: Since vampirism was already present in 4e by way of heritage feats (which was already a decently-received idea that enabled for diversity in builds), why not simply expand on that idea instead of introducing both a race AND class that are both vampires? Or better yet, why not make vampire a race in the same way that [[Revenant]] is (that is, you choose which race you are a revenant of and can select that race's feats)? As the system is, it is possible to make a Vryloka with Vampire class and the Vampiric Heritage feat, meaning you can gain utility and attack powers that all relate to being a vampire from three different sources with one character.

Another, better idea than they did was themes: optional features that give players a bit more unique character fluff, that came with at least one additional power and others to choose from as you leveled up. Why couldn't they have done this with Vampire? It would have cut down on the feat expenditure, enabled access to unique powers without being shoehorned into any crap class, and offers all the benefits of each without any drawbacks.

[[Tl;dr]] There's a Vampire class, it is stupid, blame Essentials.

{{D&D4-Classes}}

=====Pathfinder=====
{{dnd-stub}}
======2e======
Most of the time, a vampire sucking out your blood means the end of your PC. Thanks to '''Book of the Dead''', however, your now blood-less character can become a bloodsucker themselves and remain under your control! This is thanks to the ''Vampire'' archetype. Your bite now does a d6 of damage, and you can grapple with it. You even get an action to drink blood, granting you temp HP and leaving your opponent with the drained condition.

However, it's not all sunshine and roses, as now you are allergic to said sunshine. You gain the slowed condition in sunlight, and if you reach slowed 3, you die. Also you are repulsed by religious symbols and garlic until you pass a will save.

Like all other archetypes, there is a feat tree that grants you awesome abilities. There's even one called ''Daywalker'', a level 6 feat which allows you to not die in sunlight! You still get slowed though, so you still have a chance to lose all your actions and be still as a statue.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

=====Gallery=====
<gallery>
Vampire MM 1e.jpg|1e
Vampire monster card.jpg
Vampire MC 2e.jpg|2e
Vampire MM 2e 1.png
Vampire MM 2e 2.png
Vampire 3e.jpg|3e
Vampire 4e.png|4e
Vampire 5e.jpg|5e
Vampire B1.png|Pathfinder
2e vamp.PNG|Pathfinder 2E

Dwarf vampire MC Ravenloft 1.jpg|Dwarf vampire
Elf vampire MC Ravenloft 1.jpg|Elf vampire
Gnome vampire MC Ravenloft 1.jpg|Gnome vampire
Halfling vampire MC Ravenloft 1.jpg|Halfling vampire
Kender vampire MC Ravenloft 1.jpg|Kender vampire
Demihuman vampire DoD1.jpg|3e Demihuman Vampires
</gallery>

====Vampire: the Masquerade====
[[File:Themasquerade1.jpg|100|thumb|right|THE quintessential vampire game.]]
[[VtM]] from White Wolf had a pretty good take on Vampires, consisting of an entire campaign setting surrounding Vampires, covering a range of playable clans from the uber-seductive Toreador (presumably what inspired the Twilight books though) to the feral Gangrel, the fucking ugly as shit Nosferatu to the batshit mental as fuck Malkavian. So pretty much the setting allowed players to play the vampire of their dreams.

The setting was real-world too, fitting into real-word mythologies using elements from biblical canon to explain itself away, using the origin story of Cain(e) & Abel and making Vampires to be Caine's cursed descendants, after learning how to master his blood magic from the equally outcast Lilith ''(Adam's first ex-wife according to Hebrew canon)''

====Vampire: The Requiem====
Essentially a reboot of VtM above, VtR removed the Christian backstory and made vampires more mysterious, and condensed the vast array of playable clans down to five clans that embodied strong vampire archetypes and myriad sub-clans, "bloodlines", that further refined those archetypes.

====Warhammer Fantasy====
{{main|Vampire Counts}}

[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] plays up the horror aspects of the vampires to 11, knowing that it's what makes them a compelling force to play - after all, the one nice thing about being an undead lord of the night is that you get to be a [[Ork|right and propa]] evil overlord about it. vampires in WFB are both hard as nails and are wizards to boot, meaning they cover most bases that other armies have to pick and choose, however being masters of necromancy and all, if the general dies then the rest of the undead army under his command usually starts crumbling to dust (not so much after the return of [[Nagash]] though) unless another vampire/Necromancer can step in and take over. Steven Sevile's vampire trilogy - ''Inheritance'', ''Dominion'', and ''Retribution'' - are great for showing just how monstrous these fiends are.

====Warhammer Age of Sigmar====
The spiritual successors to the [[Vampire Counts]] in [[Warhammer: Age of Sigmar]] are split between the [[Soulblight Gravelords]] and the [[Flesh-Eater Courts]].

The Soulblight pretty much represents the classic counts as they were formed. They're still incredibly dangerous spellcasters, they still have skills in combat, but their more monstrous aspects do get drawn out a bit, with a particular dynasty of them becoming infamous for literally starving themselves until they forcibly transform into crazed half-beast monstrosities. The other major difference is that instead of being a bunch of loosely affiliated families largely uninvolved with each other's business, the majority of the vampires are now unquestionably servants of [[Nagash|that dastardly skelepope]], though the vampires themselves will privately gripe about having to serve such a colossal asshole.

The Flesh-Eaters, on the other hand, take the old Strigoi lineages and transformed them into an army of delusional lunatics who've convinced themselves that they're actually noble knights and kings rather than a bunch of insane ghouls wearing literal flayed skin wielding bones as weapons. This all is the result of [[Ushoran]] himself going insane while imprisoned, only to be unwittingly freed by [[Sigmar]] and left to spread his infectiously deranged mindset to various other ghouls and other fools desperate for some sort of power that they'd willingly sacrifice their sanity and humanity to become such ghouls.

====Warhammer 40,000====
There were once actually rules for Vampires ''(spelled Vampyre)'' in the 40k universe, taken as supplementary rules for [[Necromunda]] they represented an abhuman subtype who drank blood, had superhuman statlines and raised gangs of thralls to do their bidding. Even a young, pony-tailed [[Gav Thorpe]] got involved with the rules and [[Stat me|wrote up]] a counter character: [[What|B'Ufi the Vampyre Slayer]] which was somehow part of the 40k canon.

Though 40k has generally left Necromunda behind(Lol, Lmao even), mention of blood sucking mutants can still be found in [[Dark Heresy]] and one of the [[Imperial Knight|Freeblade Knights]] (the Crimson Reaper) is rumoured to be a Vampyre. Rogue Trader has vampires as [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Vampires Warp-Spawned entities] that change shape and drink the lifeforce of societies they inhabit.

Also, several tabletop factions drink blood as part of their fluff.
[[File:Angelsofblood1.jpg|250px|thumb|right|''"I will drink your blood!"'']]
*[[Blood Angels]] A first-founding chapter who includes blood in many of their chapter themes and rituals (and their successors usually follow this), basically what would happen if you threw Catholicism, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the zombie trope of "still technically alive" in a blender and pressed puree. The Blood Angels have a lot of modern vampiric themes mixed with angelic elements: looking eternally youthful, being long-lived (even by Astartes standards), and having a chance of developing a need to quench their partially dormant bloodthirst. Failure to do so can reduce the Astartes in question to a devolved gorilla-like mutant that goes berserk. These are kept in stasis until they are needed.
*[[Blood Drinkers]] A Blood Angels successor chapter. They have a literal need to drink blood, although unlike their more angelic cousins they do not do this out of ritual; instead they do it as a way to sate their chapter's innate bloodlust.
*[[Flesh Eaters]] Crappy [[Space Marines]] who like to eat flesh. Especially if it's raw. While the Blood Drinkers had collectively fallen to the curse and were declared renegade until they sacrificed themselves to save fellow Blood Angel successors (and even then were not rebuilt as they thought the name was too tainted and just recorded them as martyred and posthumously restored their reputation), the Flesh Eaters don't give into it by being berserk rage all the time so actually being used to it and knowing when to unleash and when to hold it.
*[[Dark Eldar]] While not bloodsuckers, although they might drink their victim's blood if it fancies them; the Dark Eldar partake in a sort of "emotional vamprism" on their hosts to sustain themselves. Said vamprism is carried out usually by ''slowly'' torturing the host until he's dead.  They also follow the "classic" vampire aesthetics, being a bunch of long-lived, crazy arrogant, pale and nimble wannabe-aristocrats. They even come back from dead in a process which involves crystal coffins.

Finally, see [[Night Lords]]. (Seriously, how were these not in here before??)

===in Literature===
====The Vampyre====
A short story written by John Polidori published in 1819, the Vampyre basically spawned the vampire genre. All of it. It's the Adam and Eve of vampire stories. The story concerns a guy called Aubrey who runs afoul of one Lord Ruthven, who is the title vampire and set the standard used to this day; rich, charming, secretive, handsome, seductive with the ladies, it's all here. He's also an asshole who kills Aubrey's girlfriend and then his sister after seeming to die. Because he's the first vampire in popular fiction, Ruthven predates like... all the normal vampire stuff. He's fine walking around in daylight, can be seriously wounded by things other than garlic and stakes, doesn't shapeshift, but also can be healed by moonlight, and to stay immortal he must kill three women every year. He might also hold some kind of supernatural sway over Aubrey after swearing him to secrecy, so there's that. If you want to be old-school, make your vampires like this guy.

====Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter====
A alternate history franchise about the Civil War being caused by a vampire masquerade trying to establish a vampire homeland in the deep south. Campy as hell, but an intriguing story setup that works pretty well.

====Dracula====
''The'' vampire. No other vampire is more iconic than Dracula himself who, since his debut in Bram Stoker's novel, has become one of the most iconic villains in horror. In the original book, Dracula is very much implied (but not outright confirmed) to be Vlad the Impaler, though most adaptations make them one and the same. Dracula's abilities in the novel include shapeshifting into a bat and wolf, climbing up walls like a spider, hypnosis, turning into mist, being able to walk around in daylight (though weak while doing so) and a variety of others which he doesn’t use because it’d make him too OP to fight. Dracula was an OG powergamer. 

Notably, Dracula is written as an elderly aristocrat at the start, but as time goes on, he seems to regain his youth as he kills more victims and demonstrates himself as being fairly competent and dangerous, while being fairly ruthless. Any work dealing with vampires that's set in the "real" world will reference him in one way or another. Strangely, [[Castlevania]] is pretty much the only thing that actually gives him the mustache the book describes him as having, probably because Bela Lugosi is so iconic. However he also has a tendency to become a demon as well. Hellsing also busts out the mustache for when its version of Dracula drops the Alucard facade.

====The Dresden Files====
A number of species (or "Courts) of vampires exist in the [[The Dresden Files RPG|The Dresden Files]]. While the RPG isn't on the neckbeard's essentials list, the novel series is on /tg/'s approved literature list, and the rich background made from the 17 and counting books, numerous short stories, and a few other forms of media is rife with nasties. This includes a number of species that fall under the umbrella of vampires. It should be noted that while they're largely unrelated, vampires have a few thing in common: each Court is essentially a family clan or a close-knit set of family groups; they feed on humans in various ways; they're agelessly immortal; the older they are, the more powerful and more influential in court politics they are.

=====The Black Court=====
The Draculas. Meant almost unironically. The Black Court are what we normally think of with the pop cultural vampire: blood drinking, moldering corpses with superpowers. In addition to the expected super strength, super durability, and super speed, Black Court vampires have a grab bag of superpowers, including subverting the will of humans to make them docile and compliant, or as a Renfield, a physically-empowered beast who is fanatically loyal to their master. Black Court vampires are the most powerful, but have the most weaknesses, and it adds up to them being the hardest to fight and easiest to kill. While older, more powerful vampires have some protection against the traditional weaknesses, young vampires have to remain dormant during the daytime. Garlic, sunlight, and getting staked are all lethal, and holy relics are an anathema, and necromantic magic is rumored to be a potent weapon against them. They are also notably vulnerable to more modern means, such as flamethrowers and high explosives. Out of the vampire species, they reproduce the fastest, with victims of their bite getting back up in a matter of minutes and able to create even more Black Court vampires; but the greater their presence means the more attention they draw, meaning the sooner a whole group comes to extinction. 

Their rivals in the White Court commissioned Bram Stoker to write the novel ''Dracula'' as an expose on their strengths, weaknesses, and signs that a group (or more correctly, a "scourge") of Black Court vampires have taken up residence in an area. This has lead to the court has largely dying out, and natural selection has left the most powerful, the most cunning, and/or the most discreet vampires being left alive, with the odd exception of a young Black Court vampire popping up to cause trouble when an older vampire finds them useful.

The original vampire of the Black Court has the title of the Black King, and in this case it appears to be the original Dracula. His father, Vlad Dracul was ironically even worse, since he was some ''thing'' of incredible evil that was trapped in human form (most fan theories posit that he was a demon or a dragon, but juries out if he was something else entirely), and since he was incredibly evil, he was a dick to his son. So out of daddy issues, little Vladdy joined the Black Court according to a snarky magical database, but he might have been mistaken about Dracula having ''joined'' the Black Court rather than ''creating'' it, as Word of God later posits that Dracula was the Black Court O.G. Whoever the creator was, the Black Court was apparently created when they had made a deal, if not with the Devil, then with a creature of comparable evil and power. Notably, if Dracula was indeed the founder, that would make this Court just more than 5 centuries old, making them the youngest Court.

=====Red Court=====
The Red Court are Central American, anthropomorphic bat monsters. Unlike most [[Furry|depictions of anthropomorphic creatures]], Red Court vampires are grotesque creatures with flabby bodies, pot bellies, spindly limbs, and slimy skin. For them, blood is both sustenance and a drug, sometimes having a narcotic effect with dependence potentially being a very real issue; and instances of insanity and mental instability occurring in Red Court vampires in much greater frequency than in other Courts and human populations.

Red Court vampires are less powerful than Black Court vampires, but also have fewer weaknesses. There are a higher number of magic users in the Red Court than in the Black (though thats a given and its unknown if that's per capita, since only about two vampires of the Black Court showed up, and literally hundreds of Reds). They have super strength, but the fact that they still have a mass comparable to a human has been leveraged against them. Their main weaknesses are divine symbols, fire, and sunlight, being damaging against them, and lethal only with sustained exposure (with fire, of course, requiring slightly less sustained exposure). They can also heal pretty quickly, given they have enough blood to metabolize. They can also pose as regular (albeit incredibly attractive) humans with a second skin called a flesh mask, which can be formed at will over a few seconds, and it provides them with some protection from sunlight. Elder vampires are hinted to be able to alter their flesh masks, allowing them to disguise themselves, and occasionally they happen to have other abilities (one vampire could mesmerize people with a look in the eyes, making them see the things she wanted them too). Lastly, they have narcotic saliva, which can be used to make prey more compliant and willing (imagine an incredibly hot individual who has a tongue than makes you feel great, numbed, and willing to go along with their suggestions), and they can create "renfielded" individuals by making them dependent on the effects of their saliva.

Most members of the Red Court are survivors of another Red Courts vampire's bite. These "dhampirs" have super strength, immortality, and super senses. Unfortunately, they also have a huge hankering for blood that they need to resist unless they want to become a vampire themselves. A group of rebellious Red Court dhampirs have gathered together as the Order of Saint Giles and are conducting a centuries-long  guerrilla war on the Red Court. If a Red Court dhampir ever drinks blood, that is to make or fail to resist the choice of taking the life of another to sate their thirst, then they become a vampire.

The leadership is based around hierarchical system of nobility, the very top is a council of twelve who took the name of the Lords of Outer Night, and the Red King being placed above them, and he having taken the title of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukulkan Kukulkan]. Kukulkan has been the Red King for at least 4,000 years, ruling Central American civilizations from the shadows all the while, and nobody is quite certain where he comes from. The Lords of Outer Night have posed themselves as gods, members of one of the Central American patheons (probably Mayan, going by "Kukulkan"), for several thousand years, and the worship and devotion of mortals has allowed them to become deities in their own right; this means they become much more powerful, and exerting their force of will is like a form of telekinesis that most humans don't have a prayer of overcoming. While considered a nation unto themselves, they control several human nations in Central and South America, mostly through secretly pushing their cult and compulsion of key individuals through intimidation, addiction, or promises of vampirism. As a nation, they have several billion dollars worth of resources and entire villages of humans bred like cattle for consumption and occasionally proliferation, [[Grimdark|including children]].

Kukulkan has ruled the red court for his entire life, though through the novels, his subordinates think that it's about time for his tenure to end. By the "present" in the novels, with the possible exception of a few sequel hooked individuals, the Red Court has been driven to extinction.

=====The White Court=====
Incubi and Succubi. The White Court are psychic vampires that mainly feed on psychic energy, mostly lust and desire. They appear the most human, having no secret form and no distinction except for glowing silver eyes when their powers are activated or their hunger is stoked. White Court vampires are more born than created; the son or daughter of a White Court vampire is a human born with a demonic symbiote called a "Hunger", and it manifests at puberty, and is awakened only when it sates itself for the first time the nascent vampire makes love for the first time. The effect is that their partner is drained to the point of death and the human scion of the White Court is transformed into a vampire. Female White Court vampires appear to be sterile (though this isn't confirmed).

The White Court is, in a few ways, the weakest of the Vampires. They're still physically superior to humans in every way, have an ability to regenerate from injury that's superior to the Red Court and much better than the Black Court, and when their power is activated, their strongest vampires can go toe-to-toe with a Black Court vampire. But every time their power is used, it draws from their Hunger, draining their "battery" each time, and one of the best ways to beat them is to exhaust their Hunger. They can inspire lust and devotion in their prey, advanced vampires or vampires with a long term relationship with their "food" being able to take the life force from their prey with a touch. At least one of their more humane vampires has developed a semi-functional romantic relationship with his prey, even with the predator-prey dynamic. To compensate the fact that they generally aren't as powerful and that they don't have the sustained power as their counterparts, the White Court has developed a culture of [[Just As Planned|scheming and manipulation]]. (On the other hand, their relative weakness and tendency to act indirectly means they aren't enough of a threat to be worth exterminating like the Reds or Blacks were.)

The White King is the patriarch of the Raith family, known only as Lord Raith, and he maintains his position at the top of the heap with a long-earned reputation of being the most powerful White Court vampire and being the entire court's best manipulator. There are other families, presumably derived from Lord Raith's siblings. While House Raith feeds on and can inspire lust and desire, the lesser houses of Malvoras and Skavis have a similar relationship with fear and despair respectively, and it is implied in the RPG books there is another house that feeds on anger. The White Court derives at least as far back as the Etruscan civilization, which was one of Rome's neighbors about 21 centuries ago, and the ancient Etruscan language is still utilized by the Court in the present.

=====Jade Court=====
The only court that hasn't appeared directly in the novels. The Jade Court are Asian vampires that have the least details known about them, due to the fact that they're extremely secretive and isolationist, they largely constrain themselves to their bases in China's Yangtze River basin and the area around the South China Sea, and that most of the series takes place in North America. They likely date back to the Qin dynasty. (221-206 BC) They're currently holding themselves up in their homes while they see if the new People's Republic will collapse like previous Chinese governments. While very secretive, they have a reputation for being honorable and respecting the supernatural equivalent of the Geneva conventions. Next to nothing is known about their nature, but fan consensus is that they're ''[[Jiangshi]]'', and probably feed on a victims ''qi''.

=====Other Courts=====
There are reputedly at least 3 other courts in the 'verse, but they're fleas compared to the others, and thus not really worthy of mention.

====Monster Hunter International====
[[Monster Hunter International]] has two types of vampires: Standard and Master. Vampires move faster than humans, drain blood, are weak to silver (like most monsters), holy stuff, faith, sunlight, can't enter buildings unless invited (though invitations are forever and welcome mats count), can be paralyzed with a stake and must be beheaded to kill. Master Vampires are all around stronger and have a few extra powers including only being weakened by a stake, mind reading, hypnotism, more powerful spawn and, rarely, turning to mist. How exactly master status is determined remains unclear, though they are only below Lich (who are very rare) in PUFF value. The second RPG implies normal vampires become masters through age, and in-character speculates the only young master known to exist got that way by using her monster hunting knowledge to feast on other monsters. Normal humans fed on by a vampire will spawn new vampires from their corpse if they die, regardless of how much time has passed, unless it is cremated or beheaded.

Vampires in the Monster Hunter International verse are, like all non-ghost undead, universally evil. Such universal ethics is notable, as there's at least one non-evil ''demon'' in the verse (though if he still counts as one is questionable), and at least one other reformed enough for a PUFF exemption. Fiction portraying sparkly, "friendly" vampires is well loved by vampires in this universe: It makes getting victims so much easier. The running jabs are, at least in part, Larry Correia's way of distancing himself from the ''other'', much worse, Utah Mormon urban fantasy writer (though the work of Anne Rice gets a few jabs as well).

===in Television & Film===
====Nosferatu====
The classic 1922 silent film is essentially a bootleg version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a more copyright-friendly name. That doesn’t stop it though from coming up with a few original ideas; it’s notable for inventing the entire idea vampires burn in sunlight, something which has stuck with them ever since. The filmmakers' attempt to dodge copyright was notably unsuccessful; the Stoker family sued them and won, leading to most copies of the film being destroyed. We can still see it today thanks to bootlegs that escaped the litigation. However, the character of Count Orlok is a classic example of vampires being terrifying monsters which prey upon the living. Not much backstory is ever really given about him or vampires in this setting, but to defeat a vampire here, a pure maiden must sacrifice herself in order to vanquish him by exposing Orlok to sunlight. Orlok also has a noticeable rat motif going on, bringing rats with him when he moves to a new town, rats which spread the plague. His powers include telekinesis, levitation, some kind of mind control and turning into his own damn shadow. However, what everyone remembers is his appearance, which is now so iconic it's a go-to for making an especially creepy vampire.

===in Video Games===
====Castlevania====
The big one. The [[Castlevania]] series' main plot focuses around a generational conflict between Dracula and his monsters against the Belmont clan of vampire hunters sworn to oppose him. Notably, Castlevania's interpretation of vampires has them gain supernatural abilities beyond the usual repertoire such as various black magics, teleportation, and the ability to transform into a much greater variety of forms than just bats. They retain several classic elements as well.

====Darkest Dungeon====
In the videogame [[Darkest Dungeon]], "Bloodsuckers" as the game insists on calling them for some reason are people who, depending on the person, suffer from/revel in what's called "The Crimson Curse," although the game doesn't make it clear whether this is a disease, an actual supernatural curse, a supernatural disease, or whatever (though the fact it can eventually be cured at the hamlet's sanatorium suggests the latter). 

The most notable feature of this setting's vampires is that they actually turn into mosquitoes instead of bats (and yes, even the guys suck blood), though there are a handful that turn into ticks instead.

====Legacy of Kain====
A series of [[/v/|video games]] from the 90's to the mid 2000's by Crystal Dynamics which has itself some rather unique ideas about vampires and their particular place in the dark fantasy setting of Nosgoth.

While the first game (''Blood Omen'') plays vampirism rather straight with a few extra tricks like telekinetically sucking blood, there are some vampires that do look rather monstrous when compared to the pale-skinned human the protagonist Kain is. Then came ''Soul Reaver'', which sets itself in a distant shithole of a future where the world's about to end and the vampires are now all very inhuman, each with some very unique evolutions based upon their progenitors (like spider-vampires, mer-vampires, bat-like vampires with sonic blasts, etc.) alongside a developed immunity to sunlight. Even Kain himself looks more like a life-sized gargoyle than a person by this point. Raziel, the second protagonist, makes things even weirder by being an ''undead'' vampire who has to feed on souls because he lost his jaw.

Later games expanded upon this by revealing that vampires only became the bloodsucking monsters they are because of an ancient curse by a long-banished enemy that corrupted all vampires and stripped their reproductive abilities from them. With no way to sire vampires or cure their curse, they had to resort to necromancy (Which only made the corruption worse) and eventually became hunted down by greedy fuckwad humans. None of this is helped by the fact that everything's been run by the machinations of an eldritch Lovecraftian entity whose ultimate goal is to own all life in his cycle of life and death.

===in Anime & Manga===
While Japan may have their share of silly vampires, they mostly respected the traditional image of modern vampires. here are some of the traits you may find when looking through weeaboo media:
*Undulated light-colored hair (white, blueish white or light blonde) when it isn't pitch-black
*Red eyes (may brighten when showing strong emotions)
*Long sharp nails
*Pallid skin with fair if slightly sickly features
*White fangs (duh!)
*Bat wings (sometimes may be feathered wings)
*Very very rich (because long term interests are easy when you are a couple of centuries old, may or may not even be the bank owners)
*Preference of early modern age European customs and dresses (may feature black and red)
*Usually of British or west Slavic ascendancy
*May or may not be real nobility
*Crosses (Apparently it doesn't affect them since they aren't christian...)
*Mockingly suave in times of peace, very cultured
*Ferociously sadist when fighting, the beast is unleashed
*Extremely strong close combat and lighting speed
Of course not all anime and manga or [[Touhou|vydiagaem]] vampires fit to the T with this list, but they will have most of this characteristics, expect them to be proficient fighters with all the advantages of old vampires and enough brains to not to fall to cheap tricks such as exposing themselves to the sun due some silly accident.

The most famous of vampires, Dracula, also pops up in weeaboo form a good amount. The most popular portrayal among these is [[Meme|THE CRIMSON FUCKER]] aka Alucard of Hellsing (Ultimate) fame, which portrays ol’ Drac as having changed sides after being defeated by the OG Hellsing and still serves his descendants, [[Awesome|massacring other vampires and monsters instead of humans]], as well as having a pretty good reason for turning to the darkness (spoiler: [[Rape|it’s the result of something very Slaaneshi]]). His Abridged version, courtesy of the beautiful bastards at TFS is even better, due to him gaining dark humor fitting of someone who doesn’t give a shit about anything anymore.