If you missed my last article on werewolves, you can find it here.
Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying my Nerd Out series so far, maybe I will keep it going after Halloween. Today we are getting down on vampires. I promised you an article on vampires only in my Nerd Out article about the dead and the undead.
It seems as though all cultures have a form of vampire in it. Or at least their folklore does because not many people believe in vampires anymore. Do you? In any case, if I were to cover all of them, this article would be way too long, so I will only be covering a few of them, but here is the link to a more complete list. We can all agree that vampires are no longer among the living and that they feed off of humans, usually for blood, but others feed on other life essences of a human. Their powers vary from place to place, and even “regular” vampires have more or less the same powers across the board, but depending on who is writing, they might have some but not others.
You will find, if you look at the linked list, some are more animalistic, and others are more spirit-like or ghostly and everything in between. Some of them are hybrids or fall in more than the vampire category. All of them are evil with none of the redeeming qualities we see in some modern stories. Today we are going to look at some of the better-known types of vampires. Let’s get into it.
Vampire
Vampire~ Definition: a reanimated corpse that feeds on the living essence of humans or animals
The vampires we know today in media come from Europe. Early in Europe, they looked bloated and rough, kind of like a decomposing body. In the 19th century, they took on a more pale and gaunt look. They feed on blood and can be beautiful to look at. This form of vampire seems to have a better time controlling their bloodlust, but it can overtake them. Another name for this type of vampire is the nosferatu. Vampires are repulsed by the cross and other holy objects. If Harry Dresden is to be believed, any symbol you put your faith in is repulsive to vampires. He uses a pentacle with great success. Garlic is a turn off too, though, and holy water will hurt them. They can’t do sunlight either unless they are a day walker.
Powers: shapeshifting, turning into mist, mind control, making new vampires, flying, quick healing, the ability to heal humans with their blood, super speed, improved hearing, super strength, and more.
Found in: Where aren’t they found? Obviously, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Bram Stoker popularized and romanticized vampires. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, Underworld, and Vampires the Masquerade, the tabletop RPG. My husband is imploring me to add Jyhad, which became Vampire: The Eternal Struggle by White Wolf. It is a trading card game like Magic the Gathering. Unfortunately, it isn’t made anymore.
Strigoi
Strigoi~ Definition: a spirit that can shapeshift into an animal or just have a ghostly appearance. It is a troublemaker and drinks blood.
There are a few types of strigoi. Some are witches (strigoaica), others are sorcerers (strigoi viu). The last is the strigoi mort which is the vampire and is said to be the most dangerous of the three. To become one is different. It isn’t being bit, it’s much easier. Well, except being the seventh child of the same sex in a family, so a seventh son or seventh daughter. If you lead a life of sin, die without being married, get executed for perjury, die after being cursed by a witch, or suicide will all cause you to become a strigoi mort. They can drain blood by the obvious biting but also by tactile absorption or even psychic absorption. The normal holy objects and garlic repel the strigoi. They don’t like silver, and a poppet can shut it down. They aren’t fond of consecrated iron, either.
Powers: shapeshifting, invisibility, day walking, immortality, spell casting
Found in: Romania. The Vampire Academy book series by Richelle Mead and The Strain TV series, though much more loosely.
Dhampir
Dhampir~ Definition: product of the union between a vampire and a human, usually a male vampire and a human female. It happens with a female vampire and a male human, but it is even rarer than the first.
These vampire types are born rather than the traditional being made.
Powers: psychic powers, heightened hearing, sight, and smell. They have inhuman strength and healing, as well as a longer life than a human, and they can use magick.
Found in: the Balkans. Twilight and Rayne have them. In fact, Rayne, the main character of the BloodRayne movies, is a dhampir. In Twilight, the damphir saves the Cullens, most especially Renesme.
Moroi
Moroi~ Definition: mortal vampires
The moroi (female moroaică), which are also from Romania, are similar to the strigoi. The difference is strigoi are immortal, whereas moroi are mortal. They have also been defined as the live offspring of two strigoi. Moroi can be a person possessed by a demon, but a moroi can also be controlled by a Strigoi.
Powers: Mind control through both sight and touch, elemental magick
Found in: Romania. They can be found in Vampire: The Requiem, the tabletop role-playing game, The Vampire Academy book series,
Bruxsa
Bruxsa~ Definition: (also spelled bruxa) A Portuguese vampire type is both dead and a life thief, but also a magick wielder.
In the Iberian folklore (Spanish and Portuguese), bruxsas are usually women, though, males are called bruxso (bruxo). Bruxsa also translates to witch or bruja. I will cover them in my witch article. Bruxsas are tall attractive women, scantily clad in white. They are said to be the Devil’s lovers. Even though they prefer the blood of newborn babies, they will kill adults too. There is no killing a bruxsa. They don’t like garlic or crosses, though. You can also use a Seal of Soloman. They don’t like iron, and funny enough, they don’t like bread either. For some odd reason, you can touch a piece of bread for protection against the bruxsas.
Powers: flight, enchanting songs like sirens, shapeshifting, true immortality, invisibility, increased strength and speed,
