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  1. Imaginarily

    Imaginarily Disparu en Mer Contributor

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    Vampire powers

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Imaginarily, Oct 2, 2015.

    Just curious what your favorite (and most hated) vampire powers are. What can your vampires do? What are their limits? Have you always wanted to see a vampire with a specific ability?

    :-D
     
  2. Australis

    Australis Active Member

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    Hate Twilight. Ok, so that goes without saying.
     
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  3. Imaginarily

    Imaginarily Disparu en Mer Contributor

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    Yeah I think we can all agree (or most of us anyway) that sparkling vampires is not a thing the world needed. :rofl:
     
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  4. Sifunkle

    Sifunkle Dis Member

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    In this day and age of social media and camera-phones, I think I'm most envious of their ability to not appear in photographs...
     
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  5. Imaginarily

    Imaginarily Disparu en Mer Contributor

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    You've reminded me of my favorite pun ever (found it on Tumblr).

    A vampire masturbating in front of a mirror.
    Bet you didn't see that coming!
    :rofl:
     
  6. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I almost passed by this comment without giving it much thought, but I think you're on to something here. In a story about vampires, the current obsession that is being indulged by those with technological access would seem a boon to a creature whose image cannot be captured or reproduced. I am reminded of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene in the film Warm Bodies, which clues you in to what the whole film is about (hint, it's not about zombie-zombies at all).

    Screen Shot 2015-10-02 at 10.32.04 AM.png

    A vampire walking around in a world where everyone's face is glued to a screen, and where digital-life is more real than flesh-life, would probably feel like a kid in a candy store and the shopkeep has stepped out for an indefinite break. ;)
     
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  7. Aidan Stern

    Aidan Stern Active Member

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    To me, a vampire's physical body is dead, but their original soul still resides within, therefore, giving "life" to the vampire. Physically, this should not allow them to have light-fast speed, or superhuman strength, but spiritually/metaphysically, this could allow the human spirit, the energy, as it's no longer so limited by physical means, to be able to accomplish things that are normally not possible. Vampires wouldn't be able to physically sense anything, so their ability to sense their surroundings would be different. As the only part of them alive is their energy, they would only be able to sense the energy of other things. And this is a really nit picky technicality, but the whole vampires don't need air... One needs air to produce sound, therefore, if the vampire wants to ever make a sound again, they need to take a little breath.
    Vampires are ruled by beliefs, usually their own. In many stories, vampires are considered damned and are repelled by the holy symbols of their beliefs. I read somewhere though, I forget where, that a vampire is not damned if he does not believe he is. I, personally, am fascinated by this idea. I like it. It makes sense. If vampires are ruled and limited by their beliefs, the vampire could change their influenced beliefs and become freed from the whole "eternally damned" concept. Though, it would take the vampire some time. One's beliefs are harder to change than one would think, especially if they have been taught that concept from a young age. The idea of vampirism is very interesting. I like to wonder how it would be possible scientifically (with a little bit of magic in the mix).
     
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  8. Imaginarily

    Imaginarily Disparu en Mer Contributor

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    You may like my story. :bigwink:
     
  9. Aidan Stern

    Aidan Stern Active Member

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    I will check it out.
    Vampires can be a very, for lack of some better words, cheesy,cliche, and can have a little too much teenage angst, hence the Twilight series. But vampirism can also be a very fascinating subject. I am interested in the topic, but it has to be well written and with good taste.
     
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  10. Theoneandonly99

    Theoneandonly99 Member

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    Am honestly pretty intrigued with the sex elements that often come with anything related to vampires.
     
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  11. Doctore

    Doctore Member

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    As I mentioned before I love period pieces, and this goes the same for vampires. I like the old world vampires, the one's who were meant to be scary and dark. I like their hypnotic/seductive power for one. This power being needed because the vampire was so ghastly and pale that NORMAL people wouldn't get close to them. For this reason they had to hypnotize them and then they could make them a bride/husband/slave etc. The vampires of today look more like super models, who for some reason all like to dress in dark leather because...yea they look so cool and badass. Secondly, I like their power to turn into things, bats, wolves, smoke in some cases. Those were the days, when a vampire was ACTUALLY a vampire and not some pretty teen- that buys all their clothing at Hop topics.
     
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  12. FadedSpectrum

    FadedSpectrum New Member

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    The first thing I advise is, whatever lore you have for your vampires, make certain it's consistent. By Meyer's own rules, Edward having sex with Bella should have turned her into a vampire too, not made her have a demon half-vamp baby.
    If I had a dollar for everything wrong with Twilight...

    For me, with vampire lore, I prefer the common powers like speed, strength, and levitation that are a norm for the whole species.
    For "special" powers that only certain individuals have, it's all over the place. I've read so many different iterations of what "special" or unique" powers vampires could have, it's not even funny. Telekinesis, mind reading, controlling water... Are they even vampires? It also leaves room for annoying abominations that end up with multiple powers; these tend to be handled badly. Tackle that kind of a thing at your own risk.
    An angle on special powers that I do approve of would be select, definite abilities that one could learn as they grow older and more experienced with the powers of their kind. Animal transformation and hypnosis fall into this category most of the time.

    The not-showing-up on mirrors, photos, or videos is an interesting one. A double-edged sword. On one hand, people couldn't record "proof" of you. You wouldn't show up on security cameras. And to the online world, you are essentially invisible. On the other hand, you couldn't ever see your own likeness yourself. If you live long enough, you might forget what you yourself look like. If someone realized you weren't showing up in a mirror or a picture they took with you in it, they might get suspicious. And getting ready in the morning might be tricky business...
     
  13. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    There's no hard and fast rules regarding vampires, but my picks would be:

    Strengths:
    Enhanced speed, strength and durability, particularly after drinking blood.
    Ability to turn into a bat.
    The ability to turn enemies into allies by infecting them with vampirism.
    Effective immortality, assuming the vampire has a regular supply of victims and does not succumb to any of the following weaknesses.

    Weaknesses:
    Cannot last more than a few seconds in sunlight without bursting into flames (none of that sparkling nonsense)
    Identity can be revealed by not casting a reflection.
    Can be killed by a wooden stake through the heart.
    Can be harmed by Holy water.
    Can be repelled by the scent of garlic.

    The only thing I don't like seeing in a vampire is being able to last more than a few seconds in sunlight - Twilight got this wrong, and the Dracula character in Hotel Transylvania was also able to survive quite a few minutes of direct sunlight without burning to a cinder.
     
  14. Fernando.C

    Fernando.C Contributor Contributor

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    Vampires are a passion of mine, they have always hold a sort of dark allure for me. I have very distinct ideas about how I like my vampires. I like my vampires to be a mixture of the classic and modern vampires. vampires have to be sinister, dark. Even the good vampires should be dark, it should be explicitly clear that they are NOT human. this is my biggest problems with vampires in modern TV shows and books, they're too human.
    As for strengths, there's immortality, super strength and speed. Mind control's also a very cool power, there are lots of different direction you could go for the mind control depending on what fits your story.
    I don't really like the turning into bat thing, or any other animal for that matter. It's cheesy.

    for the limitations and weaknesses, there's the classic wooden stake in the heart which is one of the common things in almost all vampire stories. In many stories, beheading in also fatal to vampires. Fire is also harmful to vampires. There's also holy water, another favorite classic of mine. the garlic thing is also way too cheesy for me, it's kinda campy and cartoonist really.
    Having no reflections and not being captured on camera is another of the classic vampire weaknesses, I'm kinda conflicted about this, it can be cool if done right but I mostly prefer to do without it.
    one of the things I really like, is vampires not being to enter a mortal house without invitation. this works really well for a story and could be a nice plot device too in some cases. there are different ways to do this, for example in The Vampire Diaries (both tv and book series) once you invite a vampire into your house they can come and go as they like from then on; but in True Blood, you can actually rescind your invitation in which case the vampire is literally thrown out of your house by an invisible force and can't enter unless you invite them in again.

    if you want to go really old fashion, there's the cross thing too, where vampires are repelled by the very sight of the cross. Or vampires can't cross the threshold of a church. Or they can't cross running water. This last one is not very common but could be cool to use.
    In some stories silver also hurts vampires, although this is more werewolf territory than vampire.

    Ha! I just realized I left out the most popular vampire weakness, the Sun. vampires burst into flames within minutes if not seconds of exposure to sun. In my WIP though, the sun does not effect vampires, that would put too much restriction on my characters, especially since two of my protagonists are vampires. It works for my story and doesn't take away from the awesomeness of my vampires.
     
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  15. X Equestris

    X Equestris Contributor Contributor

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    Fun fact: the original Dracula was only slightly hindered by sunlight.
     
  16. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    Thanks for the information. I've probably seen too many movies where they spontaneously combust on contact with sunlight.

    Perhaps it could be a variable among the vampire population - some can handle sunlight longer than others. But no sparkling. No thank you.
     
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  17. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Turning into a bat, obviously.

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Shbooblie

    Shbooblie Senior Member

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    Just wondering if anyone has seen the film 'Afflicted'? That's probably my favourite portrayal to date. Vampires are strong and fast, but burn very badly in the sun. There's no turning into bats, no aversion to crosses, no hypnosis and vampires do still have reflections.

    I'm boring in that I prefer my vampires to be mostly powerless (apart from being very durable and perhaps a bit of night vision). I like 'em dirty and diseased rather than seductive and alluring - definitely no sparkling!
     
  19. Fernando.C

    Fernando.C Contributor Contributor

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    @Shbooblie I'm your opposite in that I actually like my vamps alluring and beautiful - unnaturally beautiful. For me their beauty actually makes them even more dangerous because it hides their true nature, the monster within them. Their Charm and allure makes it easier for people to fall for them. My vampires are master manipulators. I also like them powerful; inhuman speed, inhuman strength and immortal. This is scarier for me than ugly, monstrous vampires, not that they're not cool.

    The one thing we can agree on is absolutely no sparkling. I don't know what the hell Stephenie Meyer was thinking.
     
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  20. Imaginarily

    Imaginarily Disparu en Mer Contributor

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    Jack could kick your vampire's ass, then. :whistle:
     
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  21. Shbooblie

    Shbooblie Senior Member

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    Haha I'd imagine he probably could! My guys not a well man. He can't fight for shit but he's excellent at taking a beating. Most of his nerve endings are fried so pain's not a problem. He'd gladly be Jacks punching bag! XD

    Even though I'm not big on more "fantasy" type elements in my vampires, I still enjoy reading about them in other people's work...provided there's no turning into bats.
     
  22. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    The bat transformation could be a misdirection technique - the vampire drops a smoke bomb and releases a real bat from under his cloak, escaping while the hero is distracted.

    Or is that a ninja?
     
  23. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    I kind of like the idea of vampires who are essentially just a little bit ... edgy. Like, sure, they've got the eyes, the teeth and the light-sensitivity type stuff, and maybe even the sparkliness *shudders* , but they're not really particularly badass or even special at first glance.

    At the moment one of my side projects is a story where the MC, a teen boy, falls in love with a gorgeous lesbian vampire who enlists his help to help her girlfriend break out of the prison in Hell where the Devil holds forty-odd vampires captive, and hopefully rescue them as well and kill him while she's at it. In this story vampires are basically merely heightened humans. They're stronger, more vigilant, more beautiful and more mysterious. They're also sort of partly angelic. They're more chaotic evil than anything, but they have redeeming qualities stemming from their obsure, ancient origins. I find this much more appealing than some two-dimensional Transylvanian cape-wearer with characteristics such as sleeping in a coffin, being several centuries old and having an exaggerated maniacal laugh. It's so predictable, boring, simple and uninteresting.

    I want for every character to be someone you can identify with. Making them superhuman and/or putting them through otherwordly perils and general adversity only increases the level to which the audience is able to perceive their core qualities as sentient beings. Bad becomes worse and good becomes better. That makes them and the story more interesting and relatable. It's in moments of great danger and import that we show our true colors. And those colors shine even brighter if to begin with you have a strong, yet still complex, personality.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2016
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  24. Fernando.C

    Fernando.C Contributor Contributor

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    This'll be an interesting twist on the bat thing. still it's too flashy for a vampire. Your're right that it's more right up ninjas' alley. a vampire doesn't need a smoke bomb to escape, in my opinion, he's far faster than any human - my vamps are at least - he can simply run away or better yet he can stay and fight in which case his opponent's screwed!

    See my vampires are extremely powerful, basically they're superior to humans in almost every aspect. Sometimes I think I go too far with my vampires, that I make them too powerful for them to have any real challenge, but that's how I like them, powerful, alluring in their sheer power. I want my humans to envy them, to secretly desire to be like them even while they resent them.
    Ah! I'm a sucker for vampires (Yep pun intended!)
     
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  25. Greenwood

    Greenwood Active Member

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    I would find it kind of refreshing to have a vampire that is in fact inferior to humans for a change. Some kind of twisted upside down horror story, in which the vampire is hunted down and in which the humans are the ones to be afraid of. No resistance to sunlight, garlic, holy water and crosses, and the need to feed while he or her is physically (though not mentally) inferior to the humans would make an interesting tale I think.

    Besides that, my favorite power would be the changing into a swarm of bats, with the sneaking up to unsuspecting humans standing in front of a mirror good second place.
     
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