Tips for creating a vampire character

[yohainis2655]

good!! could you help me? I want to create a vampire character, but would like to know what powers are most common in vampires? and what colors are best for them, what I know is that black and red is essential. but will there be more?

thank you!

[DualDragons]

I've heard the stories about pure vampires and turned vampires that indicate the pure ones are more powerful due to their ancient bloodline whereas the turned vampire were usually more limited in their abilities.

(Turned = bitten by a vampire and became one instead of being born a vampire)

[Kelheor]

Black and red are not essential, your vampire can be a sweet 10 y.o. lolita in pink frills ¯_(ツ)_/¯
In addition to previously said things, they are also known to turn into mist, wolves, bats..(see Dracula for trivia) and they don't have a reflection (usually in mirrors, it's could be tied to the fact that mirrors previously were made with a silver coating).
I think it's better when vampires have definite weaknesses, like getting burned by sunlight, or being unable to cross the running water or have to count all the poppy seeds (or anything else) if you through a handful in front of them.
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All of those are really common facts though??...

[Inspector_Spinda]

Hooray! My favorite topic! Can I leave this here?

Plastic Teeth | Tapas

Skin doesn’t have to be white pale. We’re talking about a dead body here so it can even be pale green or something if you wanted. Creativity will make you stand out ️ Common powers are turning into a bat, psychic abilities, mind control, hypnosis, flight, super strength, super senses, super healing, controlling wolves, walking on walls and using shadows as pocket dimension

[Snickerdoodles]

If you like vampires, shouldn't you have consumed enough vampire-flavored media to have a general idea by now?

[DukeOfOool]

You should first decide a general direction on what sort of vampire you want.
-A sparkling human++ with slight weakness to light
-A species superior to humans, what feed on them like parasites
-A undead creature raised by some magic
-A even undeader creature and personification of aristocracy
-A bloated corpse filled with miasma bringing death and decay everywhere

Each of these routes comes with their own stereotypes and tropes, mixing and matching can obviously also be done, but a general outline should be given first.

[Inspector_Spinda]

Or a lazy immortal bastard who won’t get an effing job

[IdiotWithPencil]

read dracula he has some interesting powers, like turning into mist walking on moon beams and turning small and tall.... also moving a boat

[DukeOfOool]

xD, the most important of all vampire tropes.

[liamhernandezlucas]

Some more common traits

-Extreme strength
-Floating and wallclimbing
-Contortionism
-Shape shifting
-The ability to mentally weaken someone
-The ability to make someone their thrall by drinking their blood regularly over time
-Can turn someone into a vampire by making them ingest vampire blood
(This last one makes way more sense than if they would turn everyone they bite)
-Weakness to silver, sunlight, holy water, eucalyptus, piety, burning, petrification, destruction of the head
-Extreme endurance
-Fast healing
-Eternal youth (usually no aging, so children remain children if they're turned, and old people stay old)

[Iris-Grimoire]

I see purple and gold a lot in vampires. Gives that regal victorian look that follows a lot of the classic ones!

I agree with Kelheor that's it's more fun to make a vampire follow their weaknesses than to make them just this overpowered zombie virus. If your story has any room to be even slightly comedic, someone slightly annoyed with your vampire throwing a plate of rice at their feet can be gold.

[byelacey]

I'm all over vampires hell yeah!!! The vampires I write are very.... human? They're petty and flawed and not at all like ageless mythical sparkle people. I like it when monsters are relatable.

[gempompadour]

Vampires and their powers vary depending on the culture and era they were created in. Wikipedia has a nice section on different folklore/ fictional vampires and their powers/ appearance etc.

List of vampire traits in folklore and fiction

[MasterValkyrie]

So this is Ketsueki Alucard (I know it's a generic last name.) She's one of the major antagonist in my story. Anyways, she has two main abilities.

1st. Blood Manipulation, it allows her to manipulate her own blood. She can also manipulate other people's blood ONLY if it's mixed with her's. (It's a good way to limit her capabilities, otherwise she would be broken.)
2nd. It's a passive ability called "Can't Touch This." No matter what, she will never be hit by the same attack twice.

Tips: If your story already has a bunch of colorful looking characters, I'd say just pick colors that you think looks nice. As far as abilities go. Blood related abilities are the most common when it comes to anime/manga. Or you can just simply amplify their physical capabilities.

[Snickerdoodles]

also moving a boat

You mean the power . . . to move boats?

That's sailing, Kyle.

[Kelheor]

I just snorted

[darthmongoose]

The first step is always to decide what the rules are for vampires in your world. They vary hugely between different works.

What kind of blood they can drink and how often they need to drink will have a big impact on your vampires. If they don't need blood, but just like it, or if they can live off animal blood, then the vampires who go around sucking human blood or killing people are kind of assholes and not really tragic at all, and vampires are just kind of immortal people with an addiction problem.
BUT if vampires need to drink specifically human blood or they die or go into an uncontrollable bloodthirsty rage and therefore can't just choose not to, they become much more tragic and being a "good vampire" becomes extremely difficult. Do they choose to just drink from criminals or "bad people" for example? And is that okay? Much more complex.

Vampires immortal nature can be a fascinating insight into themes of time, purpose, mortality and age. It's a mine ripe for exploration.

As human-passing and alluring but cursed beings, they have long been used to explore people's feelings about sexuality, whether it's the predatory corruption of innocents with Dracula or Carmilla (noteworthy that both these characters prey on young women, lesbian vampires have been a thing for a long, long time, and queer vampires have been used both by straight creators to explore their fear and fascination with lgbtqia+ people AND by lgbtqia+ people to explore our marginalised place in the world as both human and yet seen as monstrous and tragic), or a person's desperate quest to find a fulfilling relationship like Lestat.

[IdiotWithPencil]

nonono he can move this

with 0 crew or wind =0 like he sailed it with no sails or engine

[Snickerdoodles]

That's telekinesis Kyle.

[Maps]

Watch Vampire Knight, Underworld, Twilight, Dracula, and 30 Days of Night. Am I saying any of these are particularly good or bad? Not really (okay... in some cases, yes). But it'll give you an idea of the different takes people have gone with for vampires.