Editing Vampire (section)

==Defining Abilities==
Though vampires as a species have gone through the gamut in regards to what powers they do or don't have or how to identify one, there are some very common powers that a great number of vampires possess.

*'''Bloodthirst''': ''THE'' defining feature.  It occurs usually because vampirism is a product of black magic or demonic involvement, so it's either the price for all their powers, blood fuels their powers or something demons added because well... they're evil.  Regardless of reasons such as simple survival, slaking an addiction or just sadism, almost all vampires have to drink blood. Depending on the artist some vampires suck the blood out with their fangs, while others just rip their prey in half and gulp it right down their throats. Also comes with bad side effects if they don't such as going blood-crazy like a rabid dog, weakening until they're paralyzed or dying.  It also serves as the main source of conflict for vampires, as it can potentially lead to a conflict in conscience or morality by putting another's life at risk (if not ending it altogether) in order to preserve their way of life.
**'''Healing Factor''': Like any self-respecting BBEG, a vampire's gotta have regeneration if they plan on living past one fight. Usually, drinking blood hastens the process. Anything that causes continuous harm (such as drowning or burning) might overwhelm the healing factor, and a few things may be shown to cancel it out or bypass it entirely.
*'''Immortality''': Another defining feature - vampires generally don't age at all, though some works add the caveat of "so long as they're well-fed on blood." Particularly powerful vampires may have this upgraded to "complete" immortality, rendering them functionally impossible to kill outside of extremely specific and difficult to achieve circumstances while also being incapable of aging.
*'''Hypnotism''': As part of their drop-dead sexy, vampires tend to have some sort of hypnotic power, usually in the form of some entrancing gaze (For an example, look at [[Mephiston]]'s Transfixing Gaze or [[Jojo's Bizarre Adventure|DIO]]'s flesh buds).
*'''Shapeshifting''': Vampires tend to have some form of shapeshifting, even if it's just to conceal their less human features from unsuspecting eyes. There are also those vampires who can shapeshift into animals (typically bats, but they can also turn into wolves, rodents, and even mist). Some vampires can also shapeshift into more monstrous forms, reserved for when they're truly pissed off (Both Hellsing's and Castlevania's interpretations of Dracula come to mind).
*'''No Reflections''': For whatever reason (usually related to silver, see below) vampires do not show up on mirrors. Whether a vampire's clothes show up in mirrors is up to the artist. Sometimes this is played with, like making it that they only show up on mirrors not lined with silver, or making them not show on photos (and this sub-rule can be taken further, since not all cameras use mirrors). It's usually a dead giveaway that vampires aren't human.
**'''No Shadows''': When in a room without mirrors (which can happen quite a bit depending on setting), a vampire's inability to cast a shadow might be a giveaway. Just pray that said shadow isn't planning on double-teaming you. Shenanigans with multiple shadows from multiple light sources are surprisingly rare.
*'''Shadow Magic''': Whenever vampires are allowed to use magic, they tend to focus on using shadows or necromancy, sometimes blood manipulation. Telepathy is another frequent power, especially when communicating to lackeys/vassals.
*'''Super Strength/Speed''': Another common power for vampires is some kind of enhancement to their natural strength and/or speed, particularly if the writer is aiming to play up the vampire as an inhuman predator or outright monster as opposed to a human that doesn't age and gets severe sunburns easily.

===Weaknesses===
Just like the features of vampires, their weaknesses have also gone through various interpretations, but they usually follow some common tropes.

*'''Sunlight''': Despite what pop culture says, sunlight doesn't always kill vampires. Even in Stoker's classic, sunlight really just hampered Dracula's power to the point that he's effectively a normal human. Again, thank Nosferatu for that particular bit of suck sauce. Of course, some settings have vampires be resistant enough to sunlight that it just irritates, if it bothers at all. And then there are those that just...[[RAGE|turn into fucking sparkles]] upon exposure to sunlight. Whatever the case, sunlight's not a nice thing to a vampire, so they tend to sleep in their coffins to pass the time until night falls.
*'''Stakes''': Yes, the other trademark weakness. By piercing a stake (usually of either silver or wood) through a vampire's heart, sometimes at a crossroad, you can effectively cancel out their blasphemous regenerative properties and kill them for good. This aspect of vampirism is often criticized on the grounds that it's just as lethal to normal folks and [[Wikipedia:Bocksten Man|tax collectors/recruiters]], but in the original lore the implication seems to be that the heart is the ''only'' spot that shoving a stake into will do you any good. In the event that this doesn't kill them, it may still put them in a coma-like state until it is removed, eliminating the immediate threat and allowing one the time to perform a method that will dispose of them more permanently.
*'''Decapitation''': Another weakness that's just as lethal to normal people!
*'''Woodchipper''': Vampires can tank a lot of damage, but there is usually a ceiling on it. If nothing else, having everything below the neck ground into hamburger is technically decapitation.
*'''Holy power''': Since vampires are almost universally unholy creatures if not being demonic themselves, the power of God or gods is a major weakness of theirs.  This includes things such as holy water, holy objects (some vampires can't even touch a copy of the Bible) and symbols; Crosses are a popular choice, especially if there's a demonic/Satanic element to vampires, though in some settings it's based on faith rather than divine power, or else it just don't work.  These can repel, hurt or even outright kill vampires.  Certain substances can also be effective such as thorns - like Crosses, deriving power from Christ's crucifixion ala the Crown of thorns - or salt because the purifying properties of salt extend to the supernatural or it just repels evil spirits.  Sometimes this ties into staking, because for the Stake to kill them it has to be from wood that's either blessed or considered holy. Most modern versions nerf this to require someone use these objects to channel [[True Faith]] in order to avoid asserting a single religion is correct. This can even extend to non-religious faith, like to communism, being able to do the job.
*'''Silver''': Silver works fine enough on [[werewolf|werewolves]], why not use your silvered weapons here too?  Interestingly, in some stories werewolves could change into vampires, giving another reason for the shared weakness; other pre-Christian Pagan myths also connect it to the Sun, for a more obscure link. It's also traditionally linked with concepts of purity and health due to its antimicrobial properties, which provides a neat contrast to the concept of the vampire as a corrupt, disease-spreading figure.
*'''Running Water''': For some vampires, running water, be it rivers or aqueducts, is an effective way to block them off, even when they could just fly over it. Maybe it's because it reminds them of blood flowing in veins. Maybe it's because water's acidic to them, as is the case in the Legacy of Kain series. Maybe it's because disease tends to breed easier in stagnant water than running water. Interestingly, this can be overcome according to some stories - Dracula himself explicitly could cross running water "at the slack or flood of the tide" (i.e: low or high tide).
*'''Garlic''': A persistent weakness involved vampires having a phobia of garlic, originally because superstition (a lot of cultures thought garlic was a symbol of health or holiness) and nowadays because it's frankly hilarious. Expect vampires to be crippled by it either because of how it smells awful or because it has some sort of property that's lethal to them like some supernatural food allergy. Then again, some vampires can't taste a thing and wouldn't even notice.
*'''Arithomania''': In case you ever wanted to mention a very petty or stupid weakness, there's spreading sesame seeds somewhere - some vampires have a obsessive-compulsive need to count the fuckers, like the Count from Sesame Street - even when it leads to them counting until sunrise.  This plays into the demonic factor, as in some folklore and mythology demons are very OCD.  
* '''Knots''': Coupled with the OCD theme above, another stupid weakness comes from the idea that vampires are obsessed with out-of-place or messy knots, and will pause whatever they are doing to untie them upon sight. Apparently this is a weakness that is tied with fairies who will also fall for this trick according to old-time legends.
*'''Permission''': Another very unusual habit some vampires have is their inability to enter a residence without permission. This usually plays hand in hand with their hypnotic factor, but if denied, they'll just pace around angrily until they can try again if they don't decide to go to greener pastures. It's actually important to define what does and doesn't count as permission in your work, as one common joke involves a vampire pointing to the Welcome Mat at a confused victim's front door. Revocation of permission may or may not be a possibility, and it's unclear whether they can come and go as they please after being given permission once.
* '''Fire''': Fire is another common weakness for vampires, usually due to it being connected to the Sun or due to causing dead things (like vampires) to burn faster. In some versions it can cause outright panic attacks in vampires, sending them running away from fires in blind terror, while in others it's just very, very dangerous for them to get set on fire.
* '''Roses''': [[What|Yes, really.]] The original Dracula couldn't open his coffins at night if a wild rose was laid atop the coffin while he slept during the daytime, essentially meaning that he could be trapped in one if careless. This is understandably one of the less-seen weaknesses, though for those of you folklore nerds there IS an explanation: the weakness is not specifically a rose, but all thorned flowers, usually hawthorne (wild rose is just more romantic). When a recently deceased folk was suspected to turn into a vampire, he was buried with said plants, sometimes even bound with them, so that it was difficult and painful for him to climb out from a coffin (that's ALSO an alternative explanation for funeral wreaths tradition, with them being made from evergreen, thus prickly branches).
* '''Limited Shapeshifting''': Another weakness from the OG himself, Dracula could only shape-shift at exactly noon, sundown, or sunrise - for the rest of the time, he's stuck as whatever form he chose to take. Needless to say, this could be a problem if the vampire shifts into a form inappropriate for something they need to do urgently.
* '''Homesickness''': Of a sort - some works portray vampires as needing to sleep on soil from their homeland or be incapable of resting, which will weaken their abilities (see: [[Tzimisce|Clan Tzimisce]] and Dracula himself). The easiest way to get around this is to do as the OG did and keep large amounts of homeland dirt in several (dozen) different places, since there's no rule that it has to be ''part'' of your homeland.
*'''Everyone Just Fucking Staying Inside At Night''': If both the sunlight rule and the permission rule are in play, then this is all you'll need to do to starve out a vampire. But this makes for a fucking lame villain, so no character ever thinks of this.