JayBezz wrote:

Zombie-like parasitic relationships exists in fungi, it's only a matter of neccesity, time and evolutionary fine tuning until the same is shown in macro-organisms.
The ability to receive sustenance off of blood exists in a number of Terran organisms already.
The ability to "live" long after your organs have mechanically failed exists today with both micromachinery and macromachinery.
Why would these sciences not have a cross-section? It's still fiction but that's the difference between science fiction and fantasy fiction. I read very little of the latter. We know that there is fundamental "magic" in Titan City but that does not mean vampirism need be enveloped in it.

Interesting point

Cordyceps Fungi takes over the brain of insects completely. There is strains for many species of insect already...The Last of Us gives us a strain of this zombifying fungi that infects humans, causing a wide scale continental apocalypse of North America (other countries are not mentioned but one can assume Canada and South America were overrun with infected). There is already microbes that can infect and take over the brain anyway.

Mosquitoes, Ticks, Leeches and a few other species of all kinds live solely off of animal and (if you are in there territory) human blood. There is some animal species out there (like crocs and [b]even catfish out of all things[/b]) that can get a taste for humans and subsequently grow much bigger as a result.

And of course immortality is also a possibility in the future too because science

Hmm didn't Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad Dracula/Vlad the Impaler) have some basis on the original vampire myths? He was very much feared back in the late 1400s by Turkish soldiers for his execution methods being forcing you bottoms up on a giant wooden stake ....and it would slowly impale you overtime. The actual impalement wouldn't be what kills you, a super infection would....

I did read that Count Dracula was made in the late 1800s and it was indeed based on him but I think the vampire myths existed before that as something used to make children behave.....

But Elizabeth Bathory is an occasional poster on CoH and related forums! So she might not be all-dead, yet. Only mostly-dead. *grin*

Be Well!
Fireheart

There are mention of demons and beings that had vampiric qualities from the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. It became wildly popular in the Medieval periods in Europe. All races have some form of mention of beings that are Vampires or Vampire like. Basically as long as it has the same quality of drinking blood it could be considered as a Vampire. There are a wide variety of descriptions as to what Vampires look like as well, again it all relates to the people that are associated with the legend.

As with all mythological creatures there will be a crowd of people that will be sympathetic and will tell the tale from a different perspective. There are stories of good demons, good vampires, good werewolves, etc. To some the creatures are inherently good, just misunderstood so therefore feared and treated as if they are evil. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, Angel, Harry Potter, Underworld, Teen Wolf, Being Human, etc. are all examples of having good werewolves and vampires in them. It's becoming more and more accepted that there are good vampires and werewolves as there are bad ones. I even believe that there is a Gold Elf Vampire in Forgotten Realms from DnD that is actually a good vampire as well, Jander Sunstar.

Taking all points on board, I'll add my thoughts. I hope that vampires in CoT universe are dealt with in a Marvel Blade-style fashion, ie in some kind of scienctic sense or sci-fi/psionic sense rather than purely magical. All the superstition built up around them is just that: superstition, although if THEY themselves believe it, then it becomes (para)psychosymatic and has a real physical effect. This would imply that certain vamps might be able to eventually overcome the limitations through force of will or by beign intelligent enough to rise above the effects, yet this would be incredibly difficult and so would be extremely rare. Compare it to a human being trying to overcome instincts such as fear of death or disgust at sight of decay, or a psychopath trying to appreciate emotional reactions which normally they just can't -- a vampire trying to overcome aversion to the cross or need to count seeds thrown on their coffin lid would be the same. Ultimately, though, vamps are like a psychic parasitic lifeform, not just demons in human corpses.

This would be the best way of makign the fluff surroundign them strong and compelling in storytelling terms yet non-committal and non-restrictive, IMO.

I also feel that making vampires just evil and monstrous for the sake of it would be weak in terms of storytelling, and please, please, please avoid the cheesy cliches. I also think the Bela Lugosi gothic vampire imagery, when done well, is pretty cool, but let's face it, that isn't easy in a game, and more to the point it's already been done a million times. Please try something different.
I also feel that making vamps not merely 'evil' but psychotic and emotionally redundant in a pure and strict sense would be by far the best way to characterize them. Hannibal Lector, as a good example, is not strictly 'evil' as in he only has interest in doing harm, but he just lacks the ordinary emotional responses that everyone else has, meaning he is immune to remorse or pity and virtually incapable of regret, and this frees him to do literally anything, no matter how cruel or sadistic, without feeling anything during or afterwards.

Because remember that the problem with the notion of 'evil' in human behaviour and, by extension and in this case, in vampire behaviour too is that in order to truly be evil and make an evil decision, you have to be able to do the opposite as well, and consciously make a decision not to. Otherwise, if you cannot choose to be good even if you'd like to, then what you do is according to your nature and you can't really be blamed for it since you didn't have a choice.

So this means you have two ways to go with vamps:
1: either make them evil in a traditional, conventional sense with a strong, sadistic desire to do harm inbuilt in them as an instinct, which inevitably means that some of them CAN and SHOULD sometimes do good or refrain from doing harm if it please them or if they can overcome their base instincts somehow, since they have free will over the matter, so 'good' or antiheroic vampires should exist in the canon. That would be essential to effective characterization and good storytelling, IMO.
(For a superhero anthology universe I was co-writing for, I made Dracula a superhero akin to the Superman/Aquaman role. I wrote him as having redeemed himself over years since his temporary 'death' at the hands of Mina Harker, and now was a regal and proud but gallant and charming crusader against destructive humans, now able to drain part of the (replenishable and sustainable) lifeforce of a person instead of their blood. He was also passionately protective of animal rights, and could command the loyalty of beasts easily. Yep, Dracula was now the man of steel (or gold, rather). He still didn't like god, though).

Or 2: have them psychotic in a pure sense, and thus unhibited from doing harm in any way that seems amusing or 'just' to them. They are capable of good if the mood takes them, but if they think they've been slighted or wish to make a point, there is nothing in their personality or psyche to prevent them doing something that a normal person would find reprehensible or far, far beyond possible justification. They have no concience, and what is 'good' or 'just' to them is simply what they can get away with. (I realize writing this that in short, they are quintessential mobsters! But in this case, they would be psychologically, not just morally).

PS, fort he record, Anne Rice didn't create sympathetic vamps or much of the stuff she is credited for here, like transferring vampirism by drinking the blood. I did used to like some of her books, though, and Twilight makes her look like William Shakespeare.

Thoughts?

HornetsNest wrote:

Bleddyn wrote:
Brand X wrote:
And still looks human!

He would eat Edward alive.
No seriously do not screw with that guy if you want to keep living. He has super strength and speed too. This guy comes up to the level of Alucard (Yes that is intended to be Dracula backwards and yes he is actually Dracula) from Hellsing in terms of power

"the Bird of Hermes is my name...
...eating my wings to keep me tame"
Alucard is in the thrall of the Helsing family, no reason given. He is kind and genteel to them. And the most dangerous being in the world when ordered to be. He's not even the most evil monster in the anime

Oh of course. That award goes to the Major and the Doktor. Alucard would definitely be a villain if he wasn't obligated to serve Hellsing though. A lot of civilians die via crossfire when he was fighting Tubelcain and I recall that he killed a Special Ops unit that were just doing there jobs (albeit he was trying to draw another Nazi vampire out of hiding) in a really sadistic way It was implied from the sheer number of familiars that he has when he was fighting the Millennium and the Iscariot that he has been killing civilians before (there was a lot of soldiers in the mix as well). He does definitely have the capacity to care about people at least to a certain degree though considering his relations with Integra and Seras

Essentially he's a monster fighting monsters and [b]he knows it[/b].

No doubt about that. He runs off of bloodlust and would likely have way too much fun fighting heroes and other villains.

The only vampire-like being that I know of (sadly I don't know many) and that I can possibly imagine would be a hero is Kaneki Ken/Centipede from Tokyo Ghoul. Provided he kept his sanity in check and only ate suicide victims...

Pffft...vampires were romance fodder back in the 80s. So why anyone thinks this is a recent trend is just silly.

Also, should be mentioned, vampires in Twilight could be scary, they just weren't the focus of the story. They had the blood sucking killers people want vampires to be in those stories, they just weren't the main characters. :p

As the saying goes...

Boys want a good girl who is naughty for them. Girls want a bad boy who's good to them. :p

Brand X wrote:

As the saying goes...
Boys want a good girl who is naughty for them. Girls want a bad boy who's good to them. :p

Still scratching my head on some of that stuff. I hope it's just the case of the stupid media giving young women/men of my age unrealistic depictions of how that would pan out.....

No comment on that

I must excuse myself on further commenting on this somewhat vulgar conversation that started from vampires portrayed as sex symbols as I am still an awkward shy teenager on matters such as-

.....Wait....I doubt that will change as I get older and get another girlfriend.....