Vampire

Category:Species
* Aristocrats Are Evil: She cares very little for peasants and wishes a violent punishment on the hunchback salesman who unintentionally insults her teeth.
* Anti-Villain: While it may not have been the author's intention, Carmilla does come off this way. What keeps her from being a total monster like, say, Dracula, who killed without remorse, Carmilla appears to feel guilt occasionally over what she does, and genuinely cares for Laura.
* Brainy Brunette: Carmilla is very intelligent and educated, and tends to favor scientific explanations over superstition. One good example is how she explains to Laura that the anti-vampire charm she purchased has natural properties based on the material it is made of (or covered with) rather than any higher power. It's quite ironic, as she is a bona fide vampire.
* Cats Are Mean: Her default nonhuman form is a creepy-looking cat, and she mostly uses it when she's preying on people.
* Cute Little Fangs: Subtle enough that the only character who even notices their sharpness has knowledge of dentistry.
* Dances and Balls: Carmilla was murdered by a vampire after one ball. She remembers it vividly.
* Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Carmilla is described as a beautiful brunette, and while she is usually fair skinned, the book actually averts the trope of pale vampires, because Carmilla is often rosy-skinned after having a meal.
* Ethereal White Dress: She leaves the schloss late at night in her white nightgown and heads back to her tomb, moving as if in a trance. Those who have witnessed her mistakenly believed she was sleepwalking.
* Kiss of the Vampire: Her feeding on Laura is described as literally feeling like someone is kissing Laura's throat, and only barely leaves a mark. It takes a very long time for anyone including Laura herself to realise Laura is being fed on at all.
* Lesbian Vampire: Trope Codifier.
* The Lost Lenore: She is this for the Moravian nobleman who was in love with her when she was alive. His fear that she will experience a Fate Worse than Death if she is killed as a vampire leads him to hide her tomb and enables her to murder young women for more than a century and a half.
* Manipulative Bastard: Manipulates her entrance into her hosts' lives, manipulates her victims into befriending her and even tries to lull Laura into a false sense of security by purchasing an anti-vampire charm and gushing over how effective it is.
* Mood-Swinger: She goes from serene to angry for no apparent reason in Laura's perception (in truth, some of it is her guilty feelings of killing girls).
* Mysterious Woman: To the extreme. Carmilla refuses to tell her hosts her family name, her armorial bearings, the name of her estate or even the country she is from. Understandable, as the truth is something she wants to keep a secret, for the sake of her survival.
* Obfuscating Stupidity: Is fond of doing that, especially with Laura's father. It helps her project an image of helplessness and innocence.
* Our Vampires Are Different: Carmilla can walk in sunlight, has a rosy complexion, and can shapeshift into monsters. She also breathes and has a slight pulse, even when asleep in her coffin.
* Politeness Judo: As befitting a noblewoman, she is impeccably polite and it helps to force her unwilling hosts to drop any questions about her background or her date of departure.
* Serial Killer: She claims that she cannot resist her predatory nature, but she chooses to drain her victims to death when she could feed once and leave the victim alive.
* Strong Family Resemblance: Laura finds a very old painting of a pretty woman who looks just like Carmilla, and tells Carmilla she is surely a descendant of the woman. Of course, it's Carmilla itself.
* Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Carmilla is quite polite to most people and very affectionate to Laura. However, she can be cold as well, even sometimes to Laura when she doesn't want to answer her questions about her past, and expresses disdain towards the lower classes.
* The Thing That Would Not Leave: Once Laura's father asks her if she knows when her mother will return, implying that she should be leaving (although mostly for fear of the malady), she quickly applies some reverse psychology and convinces Laura's father to keep her in his schloss longer.
* Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Her modus operandi. She pretends to be a fragile, helpless and lonely girl in order to ingratiate herself to her intended hosts.
* Appeal to Nature: When Laura's father brings news of another peasant woman falling sick from the mysterious disease and tries to reassure Laura and Carmilla by asserting that even the disease must be within God's will, Carmilla in constrast puts forth her belief that the disease is natural, and that "all things in the heaven, in the earth, and under the earth act and live as Nature ordains". As it is strongly implied the disease of the peasant woman is caused by Carmilla feeding on her, Carmilla is transparently justifying her vampiric predation as a part of the natural order of things.
* Aristocrats Are Evil:
** When a mountebank who is selling charms remarks, in good will but with little tact, on Carmilla's pointed teeth, she flies into a rage and declares "My father would have had the wretch tied up to the pump, and flogged with a cart whip, and burnt to the bones with the cattle brand!"
** Carmilla reacts with contempt towards Laura's empathy for a peasant girl who died of the mysterious illness (that is to say, a vampire feeding on her), stating that she doesn't "trouble her head about peasants." This remark becomes even more callous when it is revealed that it is Carmilla who had been feeding on her.
** Downplayed with Laura's father and his associates. They aren't outright villainous, nor are they aristocrats themselves, but while they're nominally sympathetic to the "illness" sweeping through the local peasantry, they aren't actually concerned about it until Carmilla's predations start showing their effects on the daughters of landed men.
* Author Vocabulary Calendar: Le Fanu (or is it Laura?) sure uses the words "languid" and "languor" an awful lot.
* Big Fancy House: The schloss where Laura lives. One floor alone has about twenty-five rooms.
* Blood Bath (evoked): When the grave of Mircalla Karnstein is opened, her body is found in a leaden coffin perfectly uncorrupted, and floating in seven inches of blood.
* Boy Meets Ghoul: Laura is captivated by Carmilla. While she thinks of Carmilla as a friend, without any apparent eroticism, Carmilla declares several times that she is in love with Laura.
* Break the Cutie: Laura is traumatized by her experience, and even many years later, thinks about Carmilla and startles when she imagines Carmilla might enter her drawing-room.
* Bury Your Gays: Of course at the end of the story the lesbian vampire dies, out of necessity as part of the lesbian vampire thing.
* Byronic Heroine: Carmilla is not devoid of morals — she looks for arguments to justify her actions. She appears to feel great affection for her victims, becoming their close friend before killing them. Carmilla is seductive, charming, intellectual, self-critical, and intense in her anger and passion.
* Cassandra Truth: The peasants claim that the disease in the region is caused by oupire attacks, but initially Laura's father refuses to believe them.
* Cats Are Mean: Carmilla can assume the shape of a monstrous cat. This makes her an interesting counterpart to the more famous Dracula, who could take the form of a dog or wolf.
* Claimed by the Supernatural: Laura seems to inspire an undeniable fascination in Carmilla.
* Combo Platter Powers: Carmilla has supernatural strength and speed, can evaporate into thin air, appears to be able to pass through doors without opening them, and can transform into a monstrous cat.
* Dark Is Evil: Carmilla's mother wears black velvet in the chariot scene, Carmilla is described by Laura as having black eyes and dark hair with "something golden". Also, Carmilla can assume the shape of a black cat.
* Daywalking Vampire: Carmilla is not hurt by sunlight, although even going for a short walk will exhaust her physically. However, she does appear to be more powerful at night.
* Delicate and Sickly: When Carmilla shows up, she is sickly and weak; this only seems to enhance her attractiveness, and a lot of her quirks are forgiven on this basis.
* Eating Optional: Carmilla drinks wine and hot chocolate on several occasions, although she is never mentioned to eat anything.
* Evil-Detecting Dog: The mountebank's dog will not cross the drawbridge into the courtyard of the schloss, and howls continually while the mountebank converses with Laura and Carmilla. For added irony, the mountebank is eager to sell his vampire-repellent charms, but scolds his dog for howling.
* Evil Feels Good: Carmilla, although she did not become a vampire of her own free will, obviously fully embraced her vampiric existence. She is, however, not totally without moral reflection, as she tries on several occasions to justify or rationalize her behavior. (Naturally, nobody gets it.) Some of her strange fits of agitation could even be the effect of feelings of guilt.
* Exposition of Immortality: Among the old paintings which Laura's mother inherited from her family is a portrait, dated 1698, of Countess Mircalla Karnstein, who Laura recognizes is the spitting image of Carmilla. While Laura is astounded by the perfect resemblance of Carmilla to the portrait, her father, though taking note of the similarity, chalks it up to coincidence.
* Fate Worse than Death: The Styrian nobleman who was in love with Carmilla when she was still alive believed that if she would be killed as a vampire, she would suffer one of those, although he never elaborated on what that meant. It was one of the reasons why he hid her tomb.
* Femme Fatale: Carmilla. A gorgeous and seductive young woman, she uses all tools in her feminine arsenal to charm everyone around her, especially her intended victims.
* Foreshadowing: The evening Carmilla is taken in at the schloss, Laura, her father and her two governesses go for a walk in the moonlight, and Madame De Lafontaine opines that the intense moonlight indicates "a special spiritual activity", and underpins her claim by remarking that the windows of the schloss reflect the moonlight "as if unseen hands had lighted up the rooms to receive fairy guests". She also tells a story of how her cousin on a moonlit night dreamt of "an old woman clawing him by the cheek", and woke up with "his features horribly drawn to one side" and "never quite recover[ing their] equilibrium." Moments after, a troupe of (so we must assume) vampires stages a carriage crash in front of the schloss (vampires are ghosts, i.e. spirits, hence "a special spiritual activity"); Carmilla is taken in at the schloss (a "fairy guest" received); and finally Laura is attacked (physically and figuratively) by Carmilla, and, like the cousin's face, never recovers her former balance again.
* Genre Blindness: To some extent, Laura can be forgiven her naïveté — she lives in a time when the vampire genre barely existed, and folklore was still very regional. Still, she seems overly willing to give Carmilla the benefit of the doubt even as her behaviour grows increasingly suspicious: showing fear and hatred towards religious symbols and ceremonies, disappearing from her room every morning and returning in the late afternoon — even after Laura herself turns up with bite marks on her chest, it never occurs to her that the odd stranger in her house whose appearance coincided exactly with her disturbing dreams and sickness might be to blame.
* Ghostly Glide: The first night that Carmilla enters Laura's bedroom at night, Laura wakes up and sees "a female figure" standing at the foot of her bed. Though the figure stands perfectly still, she seems nevertheless to change its place and move out by the door.
* Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Laura is portrayed as a sweet and innocent but naive and inexperienced young woman. Her golden hair and Innocent Blue Eyes are used to emphasize this characterization.
* The Hecate Sisters: The carriage which crashes in front of the schloss contains Carmilla, first described as a "young lady" resp. a "slender girl", and a middle-aged lady in a black velvet dress who claims to be Carmilla's mother and who is described as "tall but not thin" and having a "commanding air and figure"; only the governess, Mademoiselle De Lafontaine, observes a third person looking out of the window but not leaving the carriage, and whom she describes as a "hideous black woman" with "gleaming eyes and large white eyeballs", and who is "nodding and grinning derisively". We never find out who Carmilla's companions really are, but together the three fulfill the "maiden, matron, hag" triad.
* Hide Your Lesbians: The facts that Carmilla obviously only stalks women, preferably girls of her own age, and is eager to form a romantic relationship with Laura (instead of finishing her off within days, as she does with her other victims), are superficially glossed over as just a peculiar manifestation of vampiric bloodlust. Carmilla is never stated to be lesbiannote , and which might be justified insofar as she only seeks to quench her thirst for blood, not seek satisfaction for sexual desires. However, the erotic subtext is pretty explicit (and most readers seem to take Carmilla's homosexuality as a given).
* The Ingenue: Due to her isolated upbringing, Laura is very naive and tends to believe the best in people, even when her instinct tells her otherwise. For example, after the carriage accident, she felt that Carmilla's mother was putting on a show but brushed it off as being just her theatrical personality.
* Innocence Lost: At the end of the book, it is clear that Laura never really recovered from her experience. [..] and to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations—sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie I have started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing room door.
* Inspiration Nod: In the last chapter, Laura names several of the books in Baron Vordenburg's vampire library, one of them being Phlegon de Mirabilibus. The book thus referenced, the Book of Wonders by Phlegon of Tralles (2nd century CE), contains the story of Philinnion, about a beautiful young woman who dies young and returns as an undead in order to satisfy her erotic desire for a living target.
* Irony: The mountebank sells anti-vampire charms to Carmilla, the very vampire responsible for the malady plaguing Styria. She buys it immediately, and gushes to Laura about how well it supposedly works. This serves to lure Laura into a false sense of security.
* Kiss of the Vampire: Laura (who is not aware that she is being fed on by a vampire) perceives Carmilla's bites in a semi-conscious state as "a hand [...] drawn softly along my cheek and neck", followed by a feeling "as if warm lips kissed me, and longer and more lovingly as they reached my throat, but there the caress fixed itself". Despite Carmilla's apparent wish to make her bite painless, maybe even pleasurable to Laura, this is not truly successful; the actual bite (which is not felt by Laura) induces physical reactions that are evocative of orgasm ("my heart beat faster, my breathing rose and fell rapidly and fully drawn"), only to pass over into "a sense of strangulation", a "dreadful convulsion", and loss of consciousness.
* Last-Name Basis: General Spielsdorf, Madame Perrodon, Mademoiselle LaFontaine and Baron Vordenburg. This is of course normal for the period.
* Lazy Alias: Carmilla seems fond of using transparent anagrams of her name as aliases. Her real name is Mircalla, and General Spielsdorf knows her as Millarca. Laura speculates that this behaviour may be part of her vampiric nature.
* Left Hanging:
** Carmilla apparently converted Laura's cousin. What happened to her?
** Also, what happened to the lady in black velvet, believed to be Carmilla's mother?
** Who was the old ugly woman that never left the coach that brought Carmilla?
** Who (or what) were the repulsive-looking servants that handled the coach?
** Who was the tall, pale man in black who took Carmilla's mother away from the masquerade? If all these were vampires, why is the threat thought to be at an end, when only Carmilla has been destroyed? Although it's possible they were merely human accomplices.
** Did Bertha and Laura come back as vampires?
* Lesbian Vampire: Trope Maker, if not Trope Codifier. Note that the novella never makes it clear whether Carmilla's attraction to Laura is erotic in nature ... or gastronomical. The ambiguity, however, is quite unambiguous.
* Lipstick Lesbian: In an aside explaining why she doesn't think Carmilla is a man dressed as a woman to woo her, Laura says that despite Carmilla's "passionate declarations," her habits and mannerisms are female, and contain nothing indicating masculinity.
* Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Laura and Carmilla. Laura is a fair-haired innocent and child-like young woman, while Carmilla is a dark-haired sophisticated, worldly and seductive Femme Fatale. And essentially a serial killer.
* Lonely Rich Kid: Due to so rarely having company of her own age, Laura eagerly accepts that of Carmilla. The "rich" bit is somewhat downplayed, though: while Laura clearly belongs to the upper layers of society and lives in a Big Fancy House, her family can only afford it due to the low cost of living in Styria.
* Manipulative Bastard: Carmilla and her accomplices. She manipulates various noblemen to host her for free in their castles, and preys on their daughters or wards. She also manipulates her victims into trusting her. In one instance, she even encourages Laura to purchase an ineffective anti-vampire charm in order to lull her into a false sense of security.
* Masquerade Ball: General Spielsdorf and his young ward first meet Millarca (one of Carmilla's aliases) and her mother at a masquerade ball. The mother acts as if she's an old friend of the general's, but to his frustration refuses to remove her mask or divulge her identity. During the party, the general agrees to host Millarca while her mother is out travelling.
* Missing Mom: Laura's mother died from an unspecified cause when Laura was an infant. Laura shares this trait with other victims of Carmilla: Bertha Rheinfeldt is implied to be an orphan, and the coffin of the peasant girl whose funeral Laura and Carmilla watch is followed by her father only.
* Must Be Invited: Subverted in that Carmilla's desire for an invitation doesn't seem to stem from any particular restriction but from a desire to live legitimately with her next victim and nurture a relationship with her.
* My God, What Have I Done?: A nobleman from Upper Styria, who had been deeply in love with Carmilla when she was still alive, hid all traces of her tomb after she died because "he conceived a horror, be she what she might, of her remains being profaned by the outrage of a posthumous execution." When he grew old, he realized that he had made a terrible mistake, and left behind tracings and drawings which would eventually be used to find Carmilla's grave and put an end to her.
* No Full Name Given: That Laura is on First-Name Basis with her friend Carmilla is not surprising. It seems a bit unusual, though, that nobody else uses her full name either, until the reveal at the end of her true name and title, Countess Mircalla Karnstein.
* No Time to Explain: Laura's father tells her not to ask questions after the doctor has told him of the possibility that a vampire is responsible for her illness.
* Not Using the "Z" Word: The word "vampire" is not used up to chapter 13 (of 16), when it is used by the woodman who relates how the village of Karnstein came to be deserted. Before that, there is only ominous talk of the "oupire", the equivalent of vampire in the North-Slavic languages.
* Oblivious to Love: Laura seems not to notice that Carmilla's feelings are deeper than friendship, even when she says that she loves her. She does, however, express discomfort with Carmilla's wilder utterances, perhaps indicating an awareness that she doesn't want to acknowledge. Other alternatives are that she acts oblivious to mask her fear of Carmilla's passion (and deny her own?), or because she is telling this story to a man, Dr. Hesselius, who she believes would judge her harshly.
* Our Vampires Are Different: Le Fanu's vampire facts: Can walk around in daylight, but are "languid" and quickly exhausted physically (not mentally), and appear to be much more powerful during the night. They are able to shapeshift, pass through closed doors, and move too quickly for the human eye to follow. They possibly can even turn invisible or dematerialize. The grip of their hands is unnaturally strong and can cause human limbs to grow stiff. Moonlight, especially, enhances their powers. They have to return to their grave at least for some hours every day and are unable to relocate their own gravesite on their own account, making their activities somewhat territorially restricted. Other than some special long, thin, pointy teeth that are hard to notice, they appear indistinguishable from living human beings, and have a faint pulse and respiration even in their dormant state. They suck blood only from sleeping victims. They may kill a victim in a single night, but usually return to the same person for a few days up to (rarely) several weeks. If not hindered, they always continue their visits until the victim dies, causing the victim to become a vampire themselves. Vampires are not peculiarly pale — on the contrary Carmilla is admired for her beautiful, brilliant, rosy complexion ... especially when she has fed on blood the previous night.
* Overprotective Dad: Although Laura never blames him, there are clear hints that her father is afraid of letting go of her. Even though Laura is suffering from loneliness at the castle, he does not take her to balls, send her to a boarding school, or consciously prepare her for a life outside of the castle. When Laura's father tells her of the death of Bertha Rheinfeldt, General Spielsdorf's niece whom Laura was looking forward to meet, he adds that he is "very glad" that Laura never got to know Bertha, because this way she has been spared the grief of losing a friend. Taken to its conclusion, this reaction indicates that he prefers his daughter not to have friends at all rather than to risk grief from experiencing loss; obviously not a very wise precept, as this in turn makes Laura starved for friendship and affection, making her easy prey for Carmilla.
* Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Played with. Carmilla is very affectionate towards Laura, telling her how much she loves her and that she wants them to be together forever. Laura sees Carmilla as a dear friend, and has no sexual attraction to her, and initially she believes that the same holds true for Carmilla, and that she's just using pseudo-romantic language to express her friendship (as was, indeed, common at the time). Laura soon senses something deeper in Carmilla's affections, though (whether sexual or predatory), which is worrying and somewhat repulsive to Laura.
* Rasputinian Death: According to the local vampire expert, the following must be done to prevent a vampire's resurrection: first they have to be impaled, then decapitated, burned, and then have their ashes thrown into a river. This is Carmilla's ultimate fate.
* Science Is Wrong: Laura's father thinks that the deaths in the region are caused by an epidemic or plague, and he is skeptical of the peasant superstitions proposing alternate explanations. What he does not realize is that the deaths really do have a supernatural cause, the peasants are right, and the killer is his guest.
* Secondary Character Title: Carmilla is not the protagonist, but the story is named after her.
* Serial Killer: Carmilla moves around through Styria and leaves a large number of bodies behind her. Theoretically, she could only feed once on a victim and leave her alive, but she seems perfectly content to drain them until death.
* Shared Dream: Laura and the title character recognize each other from a shared dream in their childhoods upon first encountering each other. It later turns out, however, that Carmilla is a vampire who used her powers of suggestion on Laura in order to make her remember a dream she's never had and thus to get into her confidence.
* Significant Anagram: Carmilla apparently creates new aliases for herself by anagramming her original name Mircalla; a previous victim knew her as "Millarca."
* Stalking Is Love: In Carmilla's head. She says: "You will think me cruel, very selfish, but love is always selfish; the more ardent the more selfish. How jealous I am you cannot know. You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me and still come with me, and hating me through death and after. There is no such word as indifference in my apathetic nature."
* Sympathy for the Devil: Laura still nourishes some affection for Carmilla, even after it has been revealed that Carmilla is a vampire who is not only responsible for the death of many people, but also wants to kill Laura. It is not clear whether this is a true remainder of their friendship or just an effect of the vampire's power over her victims.
* A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Carmilla preys on her victims while they are asleep and helpless. She herself is helpless and asleep when the vampire hunters find her in her tomb and execute her.
* Together in Death: Carmilla frequently says things like "But to die as lovers may — to die together, so that they may live together" to Laura. Laura first thinks of this as hyperbolic expressions of their Pseudo-Romantic Friendship, but as Carmilla's true nature is revealed, it seems that this was her literal plan for Laura. Unlike some of her other victims, which she just discarded and let die, Carmilla wants to kill Laura so they can stay together, probably raising her as a vampire.
* Tsundere: Laura to Carmilla. She admits that she feels pleasure in Carmilla's arms, but also disgust.
* Überwald: Styria lies a bit further west than conventional Überwald (it was a duchy in Austria in the 19th century, and is today divided between Austria and Slovenia), but otherwise it fits the trope: complete with Gothic ruins, a Haunted Castle, Lesbian Vampire and superstitious peasants.
* Undead Barefooter: The novella's stage adaptation uses bare feet as a visual indication of vampirism.
* Vampire Hickey: The doctor who examines Laura because of her deteriorating health is certain that she is being visited by a vampire when he discovers "a small blue spot, about the size of the tip of [a] little finger" on her upper chest, only a "little below [the] throat". Later we are told that a different doctor found a like "small livid mark" in the same spot on Bertha Rheinfeldt before she died. While these blue spots mark the points where the victim has been bitten by the vampire, the actual punctures left by the vampire's teeth are so small as to be almost invisible. Laura also one time mentions off-handedly that Carmilla has a "little mole on her throat"; it seems possible that the "mole" is actually the mark left by the vampire who killed her.
* Vampire Hunter: Baron Vordenburg is likely the Trope Maker. He is an eccentric old nobleman who has devoted his life to the study of the lore of vampires and the tracking down and extermination of them. He also has family history with Carmilla: his ancestor was an admirer of Countess Mircalla during her life and did some research about what became of her. The Count doesn't physically track down Mircalla's grave (that is done by Laura's father and the General) and only appears after the grave has been located, but he has assisted with information throughout the hunt.
* Vampires Are Sex Gods: Although there is no actual sex in the story, everyone is smitten by Carmilla's beauty and charm (well, until The Reveal). Also, her "mum" is definitely a looker.
* Your Vampires Suck: In the last chapter, Laura recounts some of the vampire lore she learned through Baron Vordenburg and mentions that the "deadly pallor" sometimes attributed to vampires is "a mere melodramatic fiction". This is likely a swipe at Varney the Vampire (1845-47), in which the titular vampire is often described as unnaturally pale.
* Adaptation Dye-Job: It’s generally considered she had darker hair and most adaptations agree. However she was depicted with red hair in Dracula: Dead and Loving It, in the comic adaptation drawn by Dick Giorando she’s blonde and she’s also blonde in Hellsing... and a teenage girl.
* Affectionate Nickname: Van Helsing takes to her in a very fatherly sort of way, and consistently refers to her as "our dear Madam Mina."
* Ambiguously Bi: Downplayed (Obviously. Victorian Era, after all), but not even getting into her relationship with Lucy, the first time she sees Dracula, she mentions that they were admiring the same woman, whom Mina also describes as quite attractive.
* Badass Bookworm: She's pretty smart and organized, not to mention she holds it together MUCH better than her husband and is determined to help.
* Break the Cutie: A bit, her best friend dies, then she's attacked by Dracula and terrified of the possibility of becoming a vampire. But she eventually subverts it and stays strong for the sake of the hunters.
* The Chick: After Lucy's death, she becomes the only female main character, and the dudesquad cares deeply about her.
* Chickification: Arguably happens in many movie adaptations of the original source material. In the novel, she was a well-educated assistant schoolmistress who took care of Lucy early on and kept her from sleepwalking, nursed Jonathan back to health when he was sick and functioned as the secretary of the group, organizing the notes on Dracula. After being attacked, she uses her new-found psychic link to help the males keep track of what the Big Bad was doing. All this changed in the 1931 movie adaptation and many later versions in which she was turned into a weeping, hysterical Distressed Damsel who is on one occasion in love with Dracula.
* Good Scars, Evil Scars: The wafer imprint on her forehead that Van Helsing blesses her with after Dracula's attack. An indication that half of her has become a vampire and she's still in danger of joining the undead (it could be argued she practically is undead at that point, it's just her mindset that hasn't converted to bloodlust yet). It goes away once Dracula is killed.
* Nerd Action Hero: Both she and her husband arguably qualify. She doesn't engage in violence to the same extent as some of the male characters, but Mina is ready and willing to take action against Dracula and his female vampire cohorts in defense of her loved ones and arguably even leads the pursuit against them. She also gets super excited about the latest modern inventions and train schedules.
* Psychic Link: Develops one with Dracula after he attacks her. While it's a sign that she's infected with vampirisim, in danger of turning and coming under control of Dracula, the hunters and she realize they may be able to track him through this link by putting Mina under hypnosis and figuring out where he is.
* Rail Enthusiast: She describes herself as "the train fiend".
* Red Right Hand: When Van Helsing tries to set a holy wafer to Mina's forehead, it burns her and leaves a red mark. When Dracula is defeated, the mark vanishes.
* Suspiciously Specific Denial: During the trip to Dracula's castle, she shows Van Helsing a shortcut trail towards it. When Van Helsing asks her how she knew, she claims it was in Jonathan's journal. But Van Helsing severely doubts that since Jonathan was in the castle most of the time and never took note of which specific way he went. And what's more the trail hardly seem used at all, leading Van Helsing to believe the vampire change is growing in her and giving her information to reach her "master".
* Stay in the Kitchen: Well-intentioned example. The men don't let her in on what's going on for her safety and because they don't want to scare her. It becomes moot when Dracula focuses on her as his next target, and by then Mina is inflicted with vampirism and on the verge of suffering Lucy's fate.
* Stockholm Syndrome: She doesn't develop Sympathy for the Devil until after he's bitten her, and after she previously decided that the Thing that did that to Lucy doesn't deserve a drop of pity. She still believes that he should be killed; not only to save mankind, but to save Dracula's own soul. She turns out to be right. Justified, since she develops a psychic link with Dracula, and gets more of his perspective after being bitten.
* Sympathy for the Devil: Mentions that she does pity Dracula. Not the monster that he is, but rather for his soul and how it could be looking for peace from his curse.
* Team Mom: It's a little muddled at times, what with her also being the Distressed Damsel, but it really shows at the beginning of the third act. With team morale failing, Mina talks to each of the men and convinces them to keep fighting, not just for her sake, but to avenge fallen friends and to cleanse the world of evil.
* Token Super: She's the only member of Van Helsing's Vampire Hunter crew who has supernatural powers, due to an, uh, close encounter with the title villain half-way through the book. These allow her to "tune in" into Dracula's head, letting Van Helsing track his movement. Of course it's a double-edged sword since it's tied to the curse that is slowly changing her.
* Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Lucy's Girly Girl.
* Transhuman Treachery: Defied. The three vampiresses and Dracula try to force Mina to help them, but she refuses. Albeit with a little help from Van Helsing via his charms (she's still under Dracula's spell after all and the charms counteract his hold on her).
* Vampire Hickey: Dracula bites her in conjuction with making her drink his blood, leaving the telltale puncture marks on her throat. It's a downplayed example though since Helsing explains that the blood exchange is the more important concern since it means Mina's already on the path to becoming a vampire. Though the hunters keeps tabs on it as well as wafer mark on her forhead to gauge how far along she is, with the fear that if the bite marks disapper before they kill Dracula, she'll turn.
* Vampire Refugee: Unlike Lucy, she was fed Dracula's blood as well as bitten. Inflicting her with vampirism which, as long as Dracula's alive, will slowly turn her even if she dies (which would just bring the change on instantly). Though since she knows what's happening, she tries her best to fight against the change.
* Virus-Victim Symptoms: After being bitten, she has a psychic connection to Dracula which Helsing uses to his advantage to track where Dracula is going. However As the trip to Dracula's castle goes on; she loses her appetite for regular food, becomes lethargic and falls asleep during the daytime with Van Helsing unable to wake her, yet disturbingly becomes more active and perky at night (at one point just staring at Van Helsing through the night to his nervousness), the hypnotic suggestion starts failing, she begins to showcase knowledge of routes to the castle that shouldn't be possible and, when Van Helsing makes a holy circle around her, she finds herself unable to leave it. All which are signs of changes from vampirism. Needless to say, Mina is terrified of this prospect, as not only will she be no longer human, but be corrupted by the undead curse whom Dracula can easily command. This is increased even more when the vampire sisters try to claim her, as she can sense them and a part of her wants to join them. Additionally some adaptations have fangs start forming in her mouth (it's left ambiguous in the book if this happens or not).
* Adaptational Villainy: In various adaptations she's portrayed as anything from a Femme Fatale to The Vamp (no pun intended) thus introducing a rather unfortunate Madonna/Whore comparison between herself and Mina, with Lucy as the silly flirt who "deserves" to be vamped and staked.
* Brainwashed and Crazy: What some interpret her vampire form as, albeit one that can't be reversed since she has been stripped of her humanity via her death and thus her free will, with the only things that matter to her now being to feed, spread vampirism and serve Dracula.
* Came Back Wrong: Due to dying under vampirisim, the curse resurrects her as a vampire herself. But as the men see for themselves in the graveyard, she's nothing like the Lucy they know, only concerned with feeding on blood and more animal like than anything. While she does seem to have some familiarity with Arthur in this form, it's likely the corruption in her calling upon memories of her old life. It's noted that she never calls for Seward or Quincey. Vampire Lucy: Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!
* Composite Character: With Mina in several adaptations.
* Corrupt the Cutie: In life, a kind and sweet individual who wouldn't hurt anyone. As a vampire, a being who displays bits of lustful behavior and lures away children to feed on them.
* The Corrupter: By association of having been turned into a vampire herself. Not long after she resurrects, she starts going after children and takes their blood little by little, infecting them with vampirism. While the children don't show any abnormal signs outside of a bite mark on their neck, Helsing noted if she was allowed to continue, it wouldn't be long until they eventually died of blood loss and rose as vampires themselves, perpetuating the undead curse.
* The Cutie: Lucy has three men ask for her hand in marriage in one day, and they then all pledge to protect and avenge her. She was also written to be sweet initially so it would be more shocking when she does turn up as a vampire both to the reader and her suitors and tie back into to the vampire women from earlier, giving a very clear understanding what likely happened to them (and how close Johnathan was to becoming a vampire himself).
* Damsel in Distress: A failed example. Despite the men's attempts, Dracula ultimately feeds on her enough that she dies and changes into a vampire under his command.
* Eats Babies: As a vampire, she primarily goes after children. Though oddly never draining any of them fully, just enough to leave them dazed. It's still a danger, though, as she is inflicting them with vampirism and if they died as she did, they would turn into vampires themselves. Van Helsing surmises she's just testing the waters of her new powers and, if not stopped, she'll soon go into full draining.
* Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: For some odd reason, her hair darkens when she turns into a vampire. Added to her pale skin, she becomes this.
* Empty Eyes: Just as she begins to turn on her deathbed, Seward notes her eyes look "dull and hard" when she tries to ask for a "kiss" from Arthur.
* Ethereal White Dress: Her "Bloofer Lady" forms is often described like this, having been buried in a funeral gown. More often then not, it's usually white in most media.
* Fog Feet: Some adaptations have her vampire form follow this trope to make her more ethereal.
* Game Face: Inverted in this case. When the men spot her vampire form, they notice how monstrous and feral she is. When they get her attention and she spots Arthur, her stance suddenly changes and she appears more beautiful to them.
* Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In the original novel, she's a blonde. Interestingly, eyewitnesses later describe vampire Lucy as having dark hair to signify more of her corruption.
* I Am a Monster: Very briefly when she begins turning, as she somehow knows the vampirism in her is taking over. She uses the last of her humanity to ask Van Helsing to protect Arthur from her vampire self.
* The Ingenue: She's an absolute sweetheart with the purest, most innocent heart imaginable. note  Which is why it's all the more shocking when she turns into a vampire as she's the complete opposite of her human personality: Cruel, lustful, and seductive.
* "Join Us" Drone: When the hunters confront her, she tries to get Arthur to come to her so they can "rest together". Apparently it's hypnotic, as Arthur nearly does till Helsing flashes a cross at her.
* Kill the Cutie: Twice over. The first time is her death at Dracula's hand; as it wasn't a natural death, however, she resurrects into a corrupted form. The second time is when the hunters kill her vampire form to free her from the undead curse.
* Last Request: As the vampirism takes hold and she manages to snap out of the change after abruptly shifting into a seductive form for a brief moment. Her final request as a human has her ask Van Helsing to look after Arthur and give him closure after her death. Van Helsing makes good on his promise.
* Liquid Assets: When Lucy becomes a vampire, she looks healthier "dead" in her coffin than she did alive.
* Madness Makeover: She gets all slinky and sensual as she falls under Dracula's spell. Oddly, this is not considered an improvement by her faithful suitors, likely because it's not really in her personality and the vampirism is corrupting her.
* Madonna-Whore Complex: Big-time subverted in the book, since she's far more of a Madonna than Mina, yet this doesn't save her from Dracula. She only started showing signs of the Whore after becoming a vampire, and thus not herself. Adaptations tend to overlook this and make her a Whore from the beginning.
* Marry Them All: In a letter to Mina, Lucy wishes this were an option, as she hated having to turn away Seward and Quincey when she chose to be with Arthur. She's at least happy they can all still be friends.
* Meaningful Name: Her name means "Light", and she is beloved by all for her sweetness and kindness. So when Dracula doesn't just kill her, but turns her into an evil vampiress, it casts a dark pall over the rest of the characters.
* Ms. Fanservice: In most adaptations despite never showing herself naked or else she's still a very beautiful and sensuous woman who loves to tease with suitors.
* Not Herself: As the vampirism fully takes hold of her, she nearly tries to "kiss" Arthur before Van Helsing prevents her, with the others noticing how feral and seductive she's suddenly become. She briefly reverts to her usual demeanor and indicates she knows what she's becoming before dying. When the men later confront her in the graveyard, she's akin to a wild animal with only the lustful side of her present. Showing that the Lucy they know is indeed dead and is now just a supernatural monster acting on Dracula's will.
* Power Floats: Implied just before the men confront her vampire form head on in the graveyard, Seward noting she seemed to be gliding through the area. Most likely floating thanks to her newfound power.
* Really Gets Around: Averted, despite what most adaptations would have you think. She has attracted the attention of three suitors because she's so pure and innocent and sweet. She remarks that she wishes that she could marry multiple men, but that's because she loves them all deeply, and doesn't want to turn any of them away (she settles on Arthur), not because she's lustful.
* Red Baron: Dubbed "The Bloofer Lady" by her child victims, which is just their way of saying "The Beautiful Lady".
* Rubber Man: Slightly, when Helsing fends her back with the cross and forces her to flee back to her coffin. The others watch in awe as she slips through the doorway to her crypt via a small crack as if her body was made of putty.
* Sacrificial Lion: Killed to show the effects of vampirism on a fully drained victim. As well as to show the curse isn't limited to Transylvania and does not exempt the innocent: anyone can become undead and the danger Dracula poses for modern day society who're unaware of the supernatural threat is real enough. As far as it's known, Lucy is the first non-Transylvanian, English-born vampire.
* Single Woman Seeks Good Man: One of the main reasons she accepts Arthur's proposal is because he's such a Nice Guy.
* Sleepwalking: Said to suffer from it now and then, which makes her an easy target for Dracula once he reaches England's shores. It's implied all the time afterward to be Dracula mind-controlling her after he manages to first bite her.
* Spoiled Sweet: She comes from a high class Victorian Era family, and enjoys all the perks and privileges that come with being of this class, yet still is a kind and sweet individual who treats her lower class best friend Mina, with the same respect and decency she shows the Lords and Ladies in her life. The Maven of the Eventide compares her directly to Charlotte "Lottie" LaBouffe, the Tropes Pictured representation, when reviewing her.
* Stepford Smiler: Her initial diary entries hint at this with her mentioning that Arthur and her mother are distressed at how her Dracula-induced nightmares affect her mood. She resolves to act more cheerful around them so they won't have to worry about her.
* Super Senses: After being bitten the second time, she notes how her eyesight and hearing have gotten oddly better to the point she can see specks of dusts in the air and hear her servants in other rooms and mice moving around the walls. While fascinated by it, it likewise scares her a bit since she isn't sure why it happening to her and it ties in with the nightmares she keeps having.
* Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Mina's Tomboy.
* Too Dumb to Live: For some odd reason, her vampire form flees to her crypt after Van Helsing repels her rather then just fleeing the cemetery entirely and finding another place to hole up. This could also be a consequence of her vampirism, similar to how Dracula needs his boxes of earth, and her vampire form is not free to flee the cemetery after Van Helsing repels her.
* Transhuman Treachery: Depends on the adaptation. In many she's mostly just animal-like due to the vampirism (usually implied she is still a newborn and hasn't got control of her powers yet). But in a few others, she seems fully aware what she's doing once turned and goes along with it willingly.
* The Vamp: The only time she speaks as a vampire, she tries to seduce Arthur before trying to go for his neck. Van Helsing stops her just as she about to reach him.
* Vampire Hickey: After Dracula first bites her, there are two notable puncture wounds on her neck. Mina thinks she pricked her with a pin, but Lucy states she oddly doesn't feel it. As her health declines, Seward does find them but can't make the connection that it's linked to her illness until Van Helsing arrives and eventually points this out as the cause of a vampire attack. After Dracula's third attack and the doctor's attempt at a blood tranfusion, the wounds suddenly disappear, to Van Helsing's grim realization that Lucy's beyond saving.
* Virus-Victim Symptoms: It's through her we see the process of vampirism at work. After she's bitten, she becomes more susceptible to Dracula's control and is controlled into opening the window so he can feed on her more. She becomes more pale and weak, plus she keeps having nightmares. But it's noted her senses becoming more enhanced that she can hear her servants in other rooms beyond her bedroom and even mice in the walls. And of course, her canines are noted to have gotten oddly sharper. She also reacts negatively to sunlight and has the blinds closed. By the third bite, the curse has progressed enough that blood transfusions no longer work, she looks stronger while sleeping at night than she does awake, and at one point she rips up a note she was writing in a trance and, when it's taken from her, keeps doing the motion. Ultimately, the men see the bite wounds on her neck suddenly close up on their own and briefly her personality becomes seductive as she calls for Arthur to kiss her. When Helsing denies her, she reacts in a feral manner before going back to normal. After some final words, she dies and the corruption completes the transformation.
* Would Hurt a Child: Goes after children after turning into a vampire, largely to show how corrupted she is now.
* Adaptation Deviation: A lot of adaptations change his appearance considerably, typically getting rid of his moustache and his Big Ol' Eyebrows.
* Ambiguous Disorder: He's presented as intelligent but strangely mentally impaired. He is charismatic, good with languages and capable of planning, but also rigid in his thoughts, overly habitual, incapable of higher abstract thinking, selfish, and emotionally unbalanced, ranging from shallow affect to violent fits of rage. Professor Van Helsing speculatively characterizes him as a "criminal personality" in the novel, a now-obsolete diagnosis which is in some ways similar (but not equivalent) to the modern idea of sociopathy.
* Archetypal Character: Count Dracula himself, setting the standard for many vampire works to follow.
* Aristocrats Are Evil: Even boasts to Jonathan about his great lineage. Likewise he has the castle, title and is pure evil.
* Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Sort of a twisted version with the vampire women. The dialogue implies they were women he loved in at least some sense(possibly in a familial sense for the dark-haired two who are hinted to possibly be relatives, compared to the blonde who with her portrayed status may have been his wife). Later the love was lost and he keeps them simply for company. They disobey him when it comes to Jonathan but otherwise there's a reason the vampire women stay in the castle and serve Dracula (either from fear, respect, or just total control over them). Dracula bringing them a baby to eat shows he does somewhat still care for them.
* Ax-Crazy: Zigzagged. He (almost) never acts like a true psychopathic murderer as he's more sophisticated and cunning. On the other hand he has an unconfirmed but surely large bodycount of men, women, and children which probably lasted for centuries.
* Badass Cape: Described by Jonathan at one point as akin to a bat's wings.
* Balkan Bastard: The Ur-Example. A malicious nobleman from Eastern Europe (Romania, to be more precise) who travels west to kill people. And he was possibly based on the historical Vlad the Impaler.
* Batman Gambit: His master plan to infiltrate England and spread his vampire curse was only foiled by the Deus ex Machina of asylum doctor John Seward just happening to be the former student of Professor Van Helsing, the only person in the country who'd recognise a vampire attack and know exactly what to do. Dracula's meticulous setup and coverup of his lairs and his later manipulation of Mina as a weapon against his pursuers was only matched by Van Helsing's counter-plan of hypnotising her to deduce the Count's location.
* The Beastmaster: Displays the ability to control wolves during Jonathan's time at his castle, even using it at one point to dissuade him from leaving early. More disturbingly, he also uses it at one point to have them devour a mother who came at his castle's door after he took her baby. Once he reaches England this power becomes rather less useful as wolves had been eradicated in the wild 200 years earlier. He's forced to break a wolf out of the local zoo to send to attack the Westenra household.
* Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Averted. Despite it being a popular modern theory that Bram Stoker based the character on the historical Vlad Dracula the Impaler, in reality almost nobody in the whole of Western Europe had ever heard of the guy at this point in history, and the only loose connection was that Stoker came across the name "Dracula" in a book once and decided it sounded cool (particularly since it's the Romanian word for 'dragon/devil') so changed his "Count Whampir" to Count Dracula. There were in fact several men called "Dracula" at that point in time (and many were indeed soldiers and warlords like Vlad), so we can't even say for sure that it was Vlad the Impaler he was based on and not another one.
* Big Bad: Is responsible for everything evil that occurs during the story.
* Big Fancy Castle: His castle used to be this, although traces of its ancient wealth could still be found in the sumptuous interior furnishings.
** It is now more of a Haunted Castle, with broken battlements, few lights, and no residents except the Count himself and the three women.
* Big Ol' Eyebrows: Jonathan Harker notes that the Count's eyebrows are: "very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion."
* Blood Lust: He goes from being a charming gentleman to a raging fiend with the flip of a switch — and the switch is Jonathan cutting himself shaving.
* Cold Iron: Capable of being destroyed by this.
* Combo Platter Powers: His powers include that of the Intangible Man, Mind Control, turning into Super Smoke, Super Strength, and Voluntary Shapeshifting, at the risk of Shapeshifter Mode Lock depending on time and location.
* The Corrupter: A given being a vampire, anyone who dies under his bites turns into an evil monster. The three vampiresses are a foreshadowing of this. It comes into full play when Lucy falls victim to him and rises as a vampire.
* Dastardly Whiplash: His black attire and long moustache give him this appearance.
* Daywalking Vampire: Granted, he's weakened in the sunlight and can't use his powers (it's stated if he is in a certain form when the sun comes up, he's stuck till nightfall). But otherwise sunlight isn't fatal to him and just the equivalent of staying up past his bedtime, allowing him to move about in daylight with no ill effects.
* Death Seeker: Somewhat implied by Mina, who thinks that secretly he just wants an end to his undead existence having lived so long unnaturally, but has gotten so used to his ways that he can't stop himself.
* Depraved Bisexual: Also implied, but more strongly and overtly; while most of his victims are female, he all but openly flirts with Jonathan and at one point tells the other vampires of his castle that Jonathan "belongs to him and him alone"
* The Dreaded: While they don't have anything beyond suspicions, the locals in his village are all wary of him and with good reason.
* Eats Babies: Implied though he mostly goes after women. He's willing to feed a child to others though, so no morality points here.
* Evil Old Folks: Resembles an old man when first introduced.
* Evil Overlord: He's the fearful vampiric count of Transylvania after all.
* Evil Smells Bad: He has foul breath, almost certainly due to his diet, and areas where he stays are, well, to quote the book: But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it? It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt.
* Evil Sorcerer: He is said to have been a Solomonari, a dark wizard taught by the Devil himself at Scholomance. Its also heavily implied that dark magic was the source of his vampirism, rather than being bitten like all of his victims.
* Famous Ancestor: Gives a very impassioned speech on his heritage to Harker over dinner, in which he claims to be descended from Attila the Hun.
* Faux Affably Evil: Acts every inch the affable host while Harker is playing into his hands, but drops the act the second Harker turns against him.
* Funny Foreigner: Very explicitly defied. Dracula: Well I know that, did I move and speak in your London, none there are who would not know me for a stranger. That is not enough for me. Here I am noble; I am boyar; the common people know me, and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men know him not—-and to know not is to care not for. I am content if I am like the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his speaking if he hear my words, ‘Ha, ha! a stranger!’ I have been so long master that I would be master still—-or at least that none other should be master of me.
* Frozen Fashion Sense: Averted. His attempts to prepare himself for his move to England explicitly include acquiring clothes in the latest fashionable English style he can get his hands on in order to blend in better.
* Genius Bruiser: In addition to his physical abilities, which include what is described as "the strength of twenty strong men", he is an exceptionally crafty and intelligent opponent, trained extensively in magic, sorcery and alchemy among other disciplines. One person describes says of him when he was alive: "He had a mighty brain, a learning beyond compare, and a heart that knew no fear and no remorse... there was no branch of knowledge of his time that he did not essay".
* Hide Your Otherness: He poses as an ordinary human nobleman for most of the first half of the story, as part of his evil plot to get some Londoners to nosh on.
* Hoist by His Own Petard: Inflicting Mina with vampirism as a way to see what the heroes are doing while slowly turning her into a vampire. However he didn't think Van Helsing (at Mina's own suggestion) would use it to track him.
* Immune to Bullets: Not really shown, but Helsing states as much when prepping the hunters to go after him, citing since Dracula's pretty much a walking corpse, bullets will barely make him flinch.
* I Gave My Word: He promises the vampire women they can have Harker once his business transaction is concluded. And indeed, once Dracula heads to London, he locks Harker in the castle for them to do as they see fit with him the following night. Harker just narrowly escapes before the undead women can arise from their slumber to find him.
* Informed Ability: Van Helsing mentions a number of powers Dracula never uses, like controlling corpses (though he might mean the people he's turned since they're technically corpses) and using the tombs of victims as alternative sanctuaries.
* Kavorka Man: His physical description shows him as being rather ugly, even after he grows younger, and he has hairy palms. However, he has three vampire wives and manages to put several women into his hypnotic spell. He's more of a Dirty Old Man/sexual predator than the more modern Vampires Are Sex Gods trope.
** It should be noted that aside from the women in his castle, there are no women interested in him. His 'hypnotic spell' is a violent assault that turns women into vampires.
* Kiss of the Vampire: Dracula's bite has some very sexual overtones to it, with the process described as "seduction" on more than one occasion.
* Lean and Mean: For adding slimming power he could slip through the cracks of doors if necessary.
* Liquid Assets: He starts off as an elderly man and becomes younger in appearance over time through drinking blood.
* Manipulative Bastard: He gets very far on nothing but his charm. He's so good at it that its all but stated that he has some sort of hypnotic powers.
* Missing Reflection: The Trope Maker. Soon after his arrival at Castle Dracula, Harker observes that the building is devoid of mirrors. When Dracula silently comes into Harker's room while he's shaving, Harker notices that Dracula, who is standing behind him, does not appear in the shaving mirror as he should. The Count reacts violently and flings the mirror out a window. The missing reflection is the first solid evidence of his vampiric nature that Harker directly observes.
* Monster Lord: He's a count, and the other vampires mentioned in the book clearly view him as superior... but this may be less to do with his title and more to do with the fact he's implied to be their husband and/or father and also happens to be a badass.
* Monster Misogyny: He feeds on men to survive, but the only new vampires he creates are women. Many critics note the sexualized nature of the violence between men and women throughout the story, with blood-sucking and stalking being seen as metaphors for sex. Then again the story never stays with him long enough to showcase him attacking others either.
* Monster Progenitor: It's known he's the original vampire of his line of vampire, but not if he is the first vampire ever.
* My Grandson, Myself: Implied. When meeting Jonathan Harker for the first time, Dracula boasts descent from a famous local warlord from the medieval period, with Jonathan noting a Strong Family Resemblance. However, Van Hellsing speculates that the Count "must have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk," implying that the warlord Dracula claims descent from was Dracula himself.
* Mysterious Past: We don't know much about him other than that he's long lived, came from the medieval era, that his family were nobles (hence the castle) and that he studied the black arts. Past that, everything is very vague, he's implied to be Vlad Tepes but this is just speculation on the part of Van Helsing, never outright confirmed. Likewise how he became a vampire himself with the most implication that it was through said black arts that changed him.
* Non-Action Big Bad: In the final showdown, due to being confined to his coffin. Justified, though, as Van Helsing states they could never take him while he's active and have to get him when he's weakened.
* Obviously Evil: Looks and sounds the part; likewise his home is a big tip-off. However he is charming enough to honestly make it still a bit of a surprise just how evil he really is.
* Old, Dark House: Carfax Abbey is essentially this for him and the London equivalent to his castle. Though it's not so much a house than a run down cathedral-like manor (was even said to have it's own lake). He specifically requested it because, not only was it big enough to hide his coffins, but because it was dark and derelict similar to his castle. Likewise it was a bit of ways from London, not too far but enough to venture there for his needs and still be in an isolated area, making it a perfect hideout while he worked to spread his curse. Really the only reason he targets Lucy was because the summer home Mina and she were staying in happened to be close by and Lucy had the misfortune of sleepwalking outside while he was starting his hunting, figuring "Hey lovely native girl with fresh blood who's wandering about unaware of what's goin on, might as well feed while it's a freebie and make a new bride while I'm at it".
* Our Vampires Are Different:
** Mostly because he predates a lot of other vampire fiction. Later stories Flanderized some of the details in this book, and blended them with the traditional folklore. For instance, Dracula sleeps during the day... but he can stay up all day if he wants, like a human staying up all night, and he doesn't burst into flames in direct sunlight.
** Also the fact that his bites are indeed what infect people with vampirisim, no blood sharing involved. The only reason he did it to Mina was as revenge for killing vampire Lucy and as a means to spy on the hunters, as well as to curse Mina with vampirism meaning she'll turn regardless if she lives or dies unless he himself is killed.
* Politically Incorrect Villain: Not to any malicious degree, and really only noticeable to modern readers, but he waxes philosophical about how his Proud Warrior Race Guy ancestors routed foreign invaders and insists that peasants need to be led by the nobles. This showcases how out of touch with the times he is due to having led an unnaturally long life and apparently having never attempted to leave his land before now. His attempt to spread his vampirisim is to keep his sense of monarchy alive.
* Proud Warrior Race Guy: He boasts about his warrior heritage to Harker, saying how his family historically defeated the Turks in combat.
* Psychopathic Manchild: Mina Murray draws upon the new science of Criminology to profile him and describes him of being of the "typical" criminal mind- childish, in thought and behaviour.
* Really 700 Years Old: Fairly obvious he's very long lived mentioning in his conversation of "his ancestors" driving away the marauding Turks and citing that the land around the castle was much more grand in its heyday. His vampirism allowing him to live a more than normal lifespan as a walking corpse.
* Red Eyes, Take Warning: When he gets seriously angry, his eyes shift to red. Jonathan describes them as akin to a raging inferno.
* Red Right Hand: Described as having a large nose, a uni-brow, a 'cruel-looking' mouth, and hairy palms. Hot! To elaborate the mouth-bit, he is described having unusually red lips and a mild overbite, emphasizing his ever so slightly sharp teeth. And giving Jonathan his first clue there is something inhuman about him.
* Revenge by Proxy: He goes after Mina when he realizes her husband and friends are hunting him.
* Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Unlike modern vampires, he is not killed by sunlight. However, he is unable to change shape from sunrise to noon, and from noon to sunset. He can only change shape at noon exactly and, of course, any time at night.
* Small Role, Big Impact: He actually only appears "on screen" in a handful of scenes, but he dominates practically everything that happens in the book.
* The Sociopath: He's a charming but nevertheless wicked vampire who feeds on human blood with no remorse at all and it's implied he plans to extend his reign of terror to other parts of the world.
* Supreme Chef: When Harker is staying at Castle Dracula, he notes in his journal that the food is very good. Later, it's revealed that there are no servants (it would be tough to get people to work for a, y'know, vampire) and Dracula has been doing all the work, such as cooking. Apparently, when you're an undying abomination you have time to pick up a culinary hobby. Either him or his wives.
* Surprisingly Good English: He not only speaks English very well, but also keeps Harker around for a long time in an effort to become fluent. He explains that if he doesn't speak English fluently he will be seen as just another Funny Foreigner, and he is far too proud to let that happen.
* Take Over the World: Somewhat implied, though its possible he was just looking for a new hunting ground.
* Terms of Endangerment: Unfailingly polite to all of the men, and downright tender with the women. In context, it comes off as extremely menacing.
* Transhuman Treachery: Implied. Van Helsing presumes that he initially was looking into occult magic to help his country during the war and turned himself into an undead. But as time went on, he forgot the reason he did so, became corrupted by said power and now seeks to spread the vampirisim.
* Unskilled, but Strong: He is said to have the strength of 20 men, but when placed in direct hand to hand combat, Renfield, an abnormally strong mental patient, is able to fight him evenly until he makes the mistake of looking into the count's eyes. Makes sense considering that with his powers,infectees, and animal minions, he would rarely need to fight in hand to hand combat and thus felt no need to hone any real skill in it.
* Vampire Monarch: He's described as the "King Vampire", with direct control over other vampires. While this nobleman only has three vampire women who do push their luck against him with attacking Jonathan , it is beyond doubt all vampires in the story only answer to Count Dracula.
* Vampire Vords: Subverted. He speaks excellent English, and has called Harker to his castle to, more than anything, help him get rid of his accent so that he won't be seen as another Funny Foreigner when he has moved to England.
* Vampires Are Rich: He lives in a big castle and summons Jonathan Harker to Transylvania to help him buy land in England. Harker notes that Dracula doesn't have any servants, but we later find out that it's because no local will come near the place. (Least no human servants in the castle, he employs some loyal Romani to help him load up his coffins for his move. You can kinda say the three vampire women are somewhat servants of his, but he can barely control them and, unlike him, don't move about during the day.) Dracula's continuing source of income seems to be buried treasure that is marked by Will-o'-the-Wisps one night out of the year.
* Villainous Widow's Peak: He does have one, though it's given less attention than his other, more strange features.
* The Virus: His vampirism "disease." Downplayed in that Dracula himself is the driving force behind its spread rather than the disease itself, but its effect on its victims drives them to turn others.
* Wall Crawl: What confirms Harker's suspicions of him that he's not quite human when he spots him outside his room's window scaling a wall as if he was a lizard. The vampire women attacking him is just the icing on the cake.
* Was Once a Man: Implied by Van Helsing that he turned himself into a vampire through occult and black magic.
* Would Hit a Girl: He violently removes the blonde vampire from Jonathan by grabbing her by the neck and throwing her off.
* Would Hurt a Child: One of his most monstrous actions in the book is feeding a child he has just abducted to the other vampires of the castle. Said child is even kept in a sack.
* Wound That Will Not Heal: The wound to the forehead that Harker gives him early in the novel never heals. Whether this is because Dracula, being already dead, cannot heal wounds, or simply because not enough time passes, or something else, is never made clear.
* Academy of Evil: Dracula is mentioned to have studied at the 'Scholomance', which was known to be a school devoted to the black arts, leading into the theory it was the teachings he learned there that led to him turning into a vampire. Freda Warrington's unofficial sequel Dracula the Undead has the now-abandoned Scholomance play a big role in the plot.
* Accidental Truth: When Mina Harker asks Dr. Seward to let her listen to his phonograph diary, he's worried that she won't be able to stand hearing what happened to her best friend Lucy and tries to deter her by saying he doesn't know how to go to any specific part of the recordings. No sooner are the words out of his mouth than he realizes he really doesn't have any idea how to find any specific part of the diary, and they therefore can't use it to find clues about Dracula. He now has no choice but to grant Mina's request to listen to the whole thing and transcribe it on her typewriter.
* Admiring the Abomination: According to Van Helsing, the Count "must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest'."
* Affably Evil: Dracula is a most polite and charming host. Although he loses the affability in his later encounters with the other characters.
* Affectionate Nickname: Van Helsing takes to Mina in a very fatherly sort of way, and consistently refers to her as "our dear Madam Mina."
* Agent Mulder: It doesn't take much to convince Quincey Morris that there are vampires about.
* Agent Scully:
** Dr. Seward originally disbelieves in vampires since it sounds pretty fantastical. Van Helsing personally shows him first-hand by visiting Lucy's grave before showing the others.
** Arthur Holmwood also doesn't really believe in the vampire story. At least until the confrontation with the vampirized Lucy later on.
* Alas, Poor Villain: Renfield's death invokes this trope. He's mostly unsympathetic for most of the novel — he nearly beats a man to death and attacks one of the protagonists with a knife — but when he realizes that Dracula had lied to him, he attempts to defend Mina Harker from him and is fatally injured because of it. The graphic description of his injuries doesn't help.
* All First-Person Narrators Write Like Novelists: Pretty blatant example. The novel is presented as a collection of diaries, telegrams and newspaper clippings, the diaries being kept by characters like Jonathan (a lawyer), Mina (a lady of society), Seward (a psychiatrist), etc. Not only do all of them write in very much the same style, but all of them make use of florid, poetic language, despite none of them being professional writers. They also include long pages of dialogue that any real journal keeper would simply summarize, and even official documents are phrased as prose.
* Amazon Brigade: As short a role as the vampire women had in the book, they certainly show they're fearsome creatures. It's only because of Dracula that they're prevented from feeding on Harker; it's clear if they had the chance, Harker would've been drained instantly and most likely turned into a vampire. And it's only due to Van Helsing's wafers that they were kept at bay from taking Mina. And even then, they don't give up on trying to get her till the sun rises, even killing the pair's horses. If it was anyone else looking after Mina, the women would've most likely overpowered her protectors and claimed Mina easily.
* Americans Are Cowboys: The one American character, Quincey Morris, is a wealthy Texas cattle rancher who carries a large bowie knife. In one moment, Morris leaves a meeting with other heroes where they're trying to figure out how to cope with vampires; a few seconds later, bullets come flying through the window. Quincey: I'm sorry, I thought I saw a bat out there.
* Animal Motifs: Howling wolves are a sign of Dracula's presence, and he's repeatedly associated with (and has power over) wolves, bats, rats, and at one point lizards. However, horses are terrified of vampires.
* Animorphism: Dracula has the power to shapeshift into wolves, bats and smoke, and probably other things.
* Antagonist Title: It sure ain't named after the old man who hunts him.
* Apocalyptic Log: The journal of the captain on whose ship Dracula came over is chilling.
* Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Of the four men trying to track down Dracula, three of them are extremely wealthy by last act (two of them having inherited large estates, the other being a wealthy ranch owner), which means they can spend money and hand out bribes freely without having to worry about the expense.
* Aristocrats Are Evil: Except for Lord Godalming, AKA Arthur, who is one of the protagonists, but not treated any differently from the rest. Dracula, however, is dead straight. Conversely, every vampire is aristocratic. Lucy starts off as a subversion but obviously becomes a straight example once she's a vampire.
* Artistic Licence – History: Stoker was clearly trying to imply that Dracula is the historical Vlad III of Wallachia, but has mixed him up with John Hunyadi, a contemporary and sometime enemy of Vlad. It was actually Hunyadi who ruled Transylvania (Vlad was from Wallachia), held the title of Count, and had connections to the Székely peoples.
* Artistic License – Medicine: There are a metric ton of blood transfusions, which was the hot new technology at the time, but blood types were unknown, so there's no concern for bad transfusions; instead, it's assumed that strong young men have the best blood.
* Ascended Fanboy: Van Helsing is either this or Retired Badass, depending on how one reads the hints in his backstory. A "metaphysician and philosopher" who has spent a good chunk of his life gathering arcane knowledge on vampires, then throws himself enthusiastically at the chance to put that knowledge to practical use.
* As Long as It Sounds Foreign:
** Stoker uses the word "nosferatu" as an appealingly foreign-sounding synonym for "vampire", and identified as his source a work that cited it as the Romanian translation of "not living". Unfortunately, the word doesn't exist in Romanian, and no alternative etymologies (a Greek word meaning "disease-bearing," a Latin word meaning "you are our wild beast," or a mis-transcription of a legitimate, but unknown, Romanian or Slavonic word) have gained anything like consensus.
** At times, Van Helsing's speech is just a random string of words without any resemblance to Dutch syntax. But every once in awhile, he sounds perfectly Dutch ("He infect you in such wise, that even if he do no more, you have only to live" is a very Dutch structure, for example). Less forgivable are his occasional, very much not Dutch, very much German, exclamations of shock or horror (he says Mein Gott! instead of Mijn God!)
* Author Avatar: Jonathan Harker is the character most critics believe is Stoker's Author Avatar. Van Helsing might be an avatar for Stoker's father, who was also named Abraham.
* Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Sort of a twisted version with Dracula and the vampire women - who it is said he held love for once, but no longer (accused by the blonde and affirmed by Dracula). They disobey him when it comes to Jonathan but otherwise there's a reason the vampire women stay in castle and serve Dracula (either from fear, respect for him, or just total control over them). Dracula bringing them a baby to eat shows he does somewhat still care for them.
* Babies Ever After: The novel ends with an epilogue set a few years after the main action, with the surviving heroes all together along with Jonathan and Mina's first child, who was born on the anniversary of Dracula's defeat. And they call him Quincey.
* Badass Bookworm: Professor Abraham Van Helsing. The fact that he has "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." after his name yet still helps defeat Dracula should attest to this.
* Badass Unintentional: Van Helsing isn't a Vampire Hunter or even an adventurer, but rather just some Dutch scholar who's knowledgeable enough about the natural world to come up with a way to defeat Dracula.
* Balkan Bastard: The novel can be considered an Ur-Example of sorts of what’s generally a more modern trope. Dracula is from broadly the right part of the world, and is a deadly killer who travels west to carry out his evil schemes. And if he is correctly identified with the historical Vlad the Impaler, his ruthless personality was shaped by the brutal wars of that region...
* Batman Gambit: The Count's master plan to infiltrate England and spread his vampire curse is only foiled by the Deus ex Machina of asylum doctor John Seward just happening to be the former student of Professor Van Helsing, the only person who'd recognise a vampire attack and know exactly what to do. Dracula's meticulous setup and coverup of his lairs and his later manipulation of Mina as a weapon against his pursuers is only matched by Van Helsing's counter-plan of hypnotising her to deduce the Count's location.
* Bavarian Fire Drill: While searching ships for Dracula's coffin Jonathan and Arthur notice that one crew becomes more compliant after mistaking them for government officials. The duo decide to take advantage of this by purchasing a Romanian flag for their ship. Jonathan states in his diary that every crew they met afterwards raised no objections to them searching the cargo.
* Beauty Equals Goodness:
** Zig-zagged with Lucy. In life, she is notably gorgeous and very sweet and kind, and her beauty persists even after her death. Van Helsing explains that most vampires uncontrollably revert to a hideous appearance whenever they go to sleep because they're so malign, but because Lucy was a good person in life and was being hypnotized when she was turned, that doesn't happen to her. However, the "Bloofer Lady" is a monster, and her lovely, innocent appearance is only a reminder of who she was, which makes staking her emotionally difficult.
** Throughout the novel, characters linger on facial features in particular and make judgments about an individual's character based on them. Nearly all of the positive assessments turn out to be on the mark.
* Bedlam House: Averted. While a lot of Seward's knowledge might be outdated by today's standards, it would be highly scientific at the time, and from what we see of his clinic, it appears to be a genuinely well-equipped facility. Even Renfield, who's shown himself to be violent, is mostly kept in a clean, normal room, and only put in a straitjacket and secure cell when he becomes a threat to himself and others.
* Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: It's strongly implied that Dracula is Vlad the Impaler himself. Stoker changed his villain's name from "Lord Vampyr" to Dracula after researching Vlad's grim reputation as a torturer.
* Big Good: Abraham Van Helsing. The viewpoint characters do much of the action themselves, but it's clear that Van Helsing leads the fight against Drac and they would be helpless without him.
* The Big Guy: Quincy Morris the Boisterous Bruiser Texan is the Class 4 Big Guy for Professor Van Helsing's vampire hunting team.
* Big Ol' Eyebrows:
** Jonathan Harker notes that the Count's eyebrows are "very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion."
** Van Helsing's are described as very thick too.
* Blade Enthusiast: Quincey Morris carries around a large bowie knife as part of his characterization as an American cowboy. Later he's upstaged by Arthur Holmwood, who busts out a kukri from his days in the military.
* Bland-Name Product: The Dailygraph newspaper (Daily Telegraph) and Kingstead Cemetery (Highgate Cemetery, near Hampstead).
* "Blind Idiot" Translation: In the German translation. In the pivotal scene where Mina is visited by the Count at night, she tells the reader that she "couldn't resist him." In the original, she says that she "didn't want to resist him" (she thinks that's part of his terrible power) — a small, but important difference.
* Blood Lust: Count Dracula goes from being a charming gentleman to a raging fiend with the flip of a switch — and the switch is Jonathan cutting himself shaving.
* Blood Magic: In contrast to his animalistic thralls, Dracula was originally just as much a sorcerer as he was a vampire.
* Blood Transfusion Plot: Van Helsing attempts to treat Lucy's anemia from Dracula's feedings with transfusions from her three suitors and himself. When the book was written, the concept of blood transfusions was radical, cutting-edge science, and the possibility of an allergic reaction to someone else's blood wasn't known. Thus, Lucy can get transfusions from four different men without anyone worrying about blood type compatibility.
* Blunt Metaphors Trauma: As a result of his difficulties with English, Van Helsing's attempts at figurative speech are rather interesting. Van Helsing: Well, the milk that is spilt cries not out afterwards, as you say.
* Boisterous Bruiser: Quincey Morris fills this trope to a T.
* Brain Fever: Jonathan Harker suffers from brain fever when Mina finally finds him after he somehow escaped the vampire's clutches.
* Break the Cutie: Mina. Her best friend dies, then she's attacked by Dracula and terrified of the possibility of becoming a vampire. But she eventually subverts it and stays strong for the sake of the hunters.
* Breaking and Bloodsucking: The Trope Codifier with a helping hand from Pop-Cultural Osmosis. Dracula never technically enters Lucy's bedroom the first few times he bites her. On the first occasion, he hypnotises her to leave the house and go down to the park. Thereafter, he goes to her bedroom window as a bat and she climbs partway out of it to be drained. Only when the escaped wolf breaks the window is he able to enter (presumably after hypnotizing Lucy's mother into inviting him in). When vamping Mina, he was able to enter because an inmate of the asylum she was sleeping in gave him leave.
* Buffy Speak:
** Appears in the definitive vampire story: Dr. Seward: [Renfield] seems so mixed up with the Count in an indexy kind of way...
** Lucy's vampire self is known as the 'Bloofer Lady' by the children she feeds on, who can't quite say the word 'beautiful'.
* Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Vampire hunting expert Van Helsing has quite the disturbing sense of humour.
* The Cake Is a Lie: Dracula's deal to get Renfield to invite him in. And the deal Dracula reneged on; he offered Renfield thousands of rats. To eat. Renfield's insanity was a fixation on eating living creatures to absorb their life. Dracula going back on this deal is part of what instigated Renfield's Heel–Face Turn.
* Cannot Cross Running Water: A stated weakness of vampires, except during "the slack or flood of the tide". It proves instrumental to slowing Dracula down near the end of the book.
* Cassandra Truth:
** The peasants in Transylvania beg Jonathan not to go to the castle. He pretty much laughs them off.
** Averted by Professor Van Helsing, who doesn't tell anyone vampires are involved until they see incontrovertible proof, because he knows they'd never believe him.
* Cassette Craze: Probable the Ur-Example: Dr. Seward uses a phonograph to record his observations.
* Casts No Shadow: Just part of the creepiness of both Dracula and the vampire women is that they cast no shadows.
* The Cavalry: This role is played by three terrier dogs when our heroes are attacked by a horde of rats.
* Central Theme:
** Sexual predation and the conflict between lust and repression.
** More broadly, it's the classic Romantic VS Enlightenment argument; specifically "old world" (magic/superstition) VS "new world" (science/technology). Dracula is a gothic novel after all, which leans heavily towards romanticism. Dracula himself has the edge throughout most of the story because his existence is not even fathomable by members of this "new world." The most terrifying ability of Dracula (to a Victorian Brit) is his ability to cause sophisticated modern women to slip back into "savage" sexuality.
* Character Title: Fittingly, too, since Dracula would eventually become the most famous vampire in all of fiction.
* Chekhov's Gun: Arthur's dog whistle.
* Child Eater: Dracula's vampire companions and Lucy after she turned, though the latter never really fully drained her victims because circumstances would force her to leave them behind before she could.
* Children Are Innocent: The vampire Lucy preys on children. Although she doesn't kill them, the children's innocent inability to understand that she was harming them — some even wish to meet her again — is horrific.
* Christianity is Catholic: Prof. Van Helsing, the one guy who knows how to deal with vampires, is a devout Catholic. Jonathan Harker, however, is at least nominal Anglican. This results in a few misunderstandings, when the Englishmen have a hard time taking Catholic crucifixes seriously and Van Helsing responds to their bemused surprise at his use of crushed communion hosts by explaining he has an indulgence. Although they are quite correct to be bemused, as indulgences don't work that way at all.
* Circular Reasoning: "I am satisfied that Lucy's body is not in that coffin, but that only proves one thing: That it is not there."
* Clap Your Hands If You Believe: By the time the book was written, vampire lore included an aversion to a cross. This, in different series, can be either the product of the vampire's belief in the cross, or the product of the wielder's belief in the cross. In Dracula itself, it only really works for the Catholic Van Helsing; the others, mostly Church of England members, just can't take the idea seriously. Often, it also works with another strong symbol of belief — for example, a rabbi using a Star of David to hold a vampire at bay.
* Clerk: Jonathan Harker is a clerk, though by the time the story starts, he has risen high enough in the company to be trusted with dangerous foreign missions, and he's made a partner in the firm on his return.
* Cold Iron: Dracula is slain by a knife through the heart and decapitation by a second knife, drawing on the use of sharp iron and/or steel tools like knives and needles as protection against vampires. It's never stated that iron is important, though.
* Collateral Angst: Dr Seward observes several times that Jonathan seems to find Mina's metaphorical rape harder to bear than she does, and she, ironically, seems to be the one comforting him.
* Combo Platter Powers: This vampire can scale walls like Spider-Man, control the weather, control wolves and rats, turn into a wolf and a cloud of dust in addition to a bat, and has Super Strength.
* Contrived Coincidence:
** The boat that Dracula is on arrives at Whitby, where Mina Murray, the fiancée of the man who's unwittingly helped him, is by a strange coincidence on holiday at the time; in a twist of fate, his first victim is Lucy, Mina's best friend. What's more, one of Lucy's admirers runs the lunatic asylum right next door to Dracula's new house. He also has a friend and mentor who, while not a vampire hunter, certainly knows a lot about how to deal with them or ward them off. Honestly, if Drac had landed anywhere else, his plan would've gone off without a hitch.
** In Chapter 2, Harker notes that Whitby is circled on Dracula's map of England, implying that the Count's arrival there is not strictly coincidental; why he would have chosen that place, even before he learns of Mina, is a bit of a mystery (some adaptations, such as the 1970s BBC version, have Jonathan mentioning Mina staying at Whitby beforehand, so when he learns of Dracula circling it, he knows it was a deliberate choice, and otherwise it may be inferred that Dracula somehow knew about Mina beforehand and had already chosen her).
* Cool Boat: Not so cool by the time Dracula is done with it, though...
* The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much:
** After Lucy and her mother die during an attack by Dracula (Lucy for vampiric reasons, her mother by fright-assisted heart failure), Dr. Seward undertakes to sign the death certificates and fudge the circumstances enough to avoid an official enquiry, since it would hold up the hunt for Dracula and nobody would believe the truth anyway.
** When Renfield is killed by Dracula, Seward does the same again. This is a more extreme example: Renfield suffers multiple cranial and spinal injuries, such that he'd have been paralyzed for life if he'd lived, but Seward marks down the maner of death as "misadventure in falling from bed".
* Creepy Cemetery: Van Helsing and Dr. Seward keep vigil at the cemetery where Lucy is entombed (and from which her body has disappeared), discovering she has become a vampire, and ultimately dispatch her with a stake through the heart after she returns to her coffin.
* Crimefighting with Cash: While tracking down the Count, the private fortunes of the Harkers, Dr. Seward, Quincey Morris, and especially Arthur Holmwood (being, respectively, a partner of a law firm and sole inheritor of the estate of the other partner, a physician and sole owner of a mansion which he converted to an insane asylum, an American entrepreneur who regularly travels the world, and a British lord) are used to rapidly equip the entire party with whatever tools they need nearly instantaneously, as well as fund several necessary bribes both in England and abroad. At one point in the novel, Mina lampshades the incredible utility of cold, hard cash.
* Culture Clash: Discussed; Seward is reluctant to have Van Helsing go over Lucy's papers, fearing that he may misinterpret English and Dutch legal requirements. It turns out that Van Helsing is completely aware of English legal practices, so there is little to worry about on this point.
* The Cutie: Lucy has three men ask for her hand in marriage in one day, and they then all pledge to protect and avenge her.
* Damsels in Distress: Lucy and Mina. Mina, however, does something about it.
* Dark Is Evil: Dracula's castle is a dark and oppressively gloomy place, and the Count himself dresses in black.
* Dastardly Whiplash: Dracula's black attire and long moustache give him this appearance.
* Daylight Horror: Dracula walks freely during the day. This is a staple of the Victorian vampire fiction. The idea of vampires dying in sunlight only became prevalent in the early 20th century thanks to Nosferatu.
* Daywalking Vampire: Dracula walks freely during the day, though he's more powerful at night. This is something that was eventually lost in vampire lore and did not return until recent years.
* David vs. Goliath: Dracula vs. Renfield
* Dead Guy Junior: Jonathan's and Mina's child is named after all of the group, but goes by Quincey.
* Deadpan Snarker: The "laconic" Quincey Morris. Van Helsing gets his fair share as well, and Seward has his moments (especially when describing Renfield).
* Death of a Child: Dracula has no compunction feeding a baby to his three vampire wives. Then the baby's mother to a pack of wolves. And one of his victims, Lucy Westenra, gains a reputation for preying on children.
* Deconstruction: The book takes several staples of the Gothic tradition and previous horror novels and reimagines them. Instead of Creepy Catholicism, the Romanian peasants whom Jonathan encounters while travelling to meet Dracula are aware of the danger he's in and try to warn him, when he manages to escape Dracula's castle he's nursed back to health by a hospital full of nuns, and the Roman Catholic Abraham Van Helsing is initially the only one of the main cast who has any inkling of what they're dealing with and how to fight it. John Seward, who is technically a 'mad doctor', is also one of the major protagonists. Rather than Science Is Bad, as is the case with Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it instead gives the heroes an edge over their enemy.
* Dedication: "To my dear friend Hommy-Beg".note
* De-power: This is the only effect of sunlight on Stoker's vampires.
* Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Sure, there's clearly something creepy going on, but it takes a while before Jonathan Harker actually decides he wants to leave, and the Count remains friendly around him right up until he starts attempting escape.
* Disease Bleach: Jonathan's hair begins to go grey after his imprisonment at the Count's castle. It's believed by some to be another way in which he grows to mirror Dracula himself, similar to his personality change and growing fixation on his weapons. Of course, this gets even more patently ridiculous later on: after Mina explains all the deprivations the Count has been secretly putting her through and the fact that he's setting her up to become another vampire thrall, Jonathan's hair is explicitly stated as going stark white right then and there, grown hair and all.
* Does This Remind You of Anything?:
** The scene where Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood reads like a rape scene.
** Vampirism in general. It's especially obvious in the situation when Lucy has been ravished and drained by the monster, and the men who love her have one option to restore her purity: to inject their own precious bodily fluids into her. This is lampshaded by one of the characters mocking the idea of the blood transfusion being a metaphorical sex act.
* The Dog Bites Back: Renfield, albeit at the cost of his life.
* Dramatic Irony: When the heroes go on the offensive against Dracula, Van Helsing insists on leaving Mina out of it to protect her. Subsequently, there are diary entries from Mina and Jonathan each saying that they hate Mina being excluded and are only going along with it because (they think) the other agrees with it, and scenes where Van Helsing, Seward, and the others congratulate themselves on keeping Mina safe from the horrors they've been experiencing, even as it becomes apparent to the reader that by isolating her they've made her vulnerable to even worse horrors.
* Driven to Madness: The Count leaves poor Jonathan a complete psychological wreck, convinced that what he'd seen couldn't possibly be real.
* Dual Age Modes: Dracula appears much younger when he's recently fed. He also disguised himself with a fake beard, and claimed to be a just a coachman working for the count.
* Dude, Not Funny!: After Lucy is vamped, and subsequently staked, Arthur gives a heartfelt speech about how, though they were never married, the transfusion of his blood into her veins made them more than husband and wife. Doctor Van Helsing is suddenly overcome with giggles and has to excuse himself. When Seward follows him out, Van Helsing giddily explains that since Lucy had transfusions from four men (including himself), then by Arthur's logic, Lucy was a bigamist. Doctor Seward finds it much less funny.
* Due to the Dead: What makes Seward so uneasy about investigating Lucy's vampirism.
* Dungeon Crawling: There are some scenes reminiscent of this trope, although they omit the "and take the monster's stuff" step once the monster (Lucy) has been tracked to her underground crypt and dispatched. Amusingly, Jonathan finds a pile of gold coins (all of it at least 300 years old) in Dracula's room, and helps himself as he flees the castle in case he needs it on his journey. And this after he escaped a metaphorical dungeon (he'd been locked in his room in the castle), climbed a wall, explored a chapel converted for evil purposes, and attempted to kill a vampire.
* Dying as Yourself: This happens with each of the vampires, including Dracula himself (in the moment before he crumbles into dust). It happens in the first stage adaptation as well, but for some reason tends not to happen in movie versions. "There was, on the face, a look of peace."
* Eagleland: Quincey Morris is presented as a cowboy-type from Texas, informal but friendly and honorable. Strangely, although repeatedly described by his friends as a man of action, he doesn't engage in all that much of it until he suffers a mortal wound fighting the Romani that protect Dracula's coffin at the end and striking one of the fatal blows to kill Dracula.
* Eats Babies: It's implied that the three vampire 'sisters' ate a baby: they're after Jonathan's blood, but Dracula tells them to leave him alone because he's still needed for the big real estate deal. One of them whines, "Are we to have nothing tonight?" and they are subsequently contented with a small, writhing bag. A peasant woman arrives at the castle gates later, screaming for him to return her child. And when Lucy Westenra rises as a vampire, she preys upon very young children, though thankfully none of them were seriously harmed before the heroes manage to put her to rest.
* Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Two of the vampire women are brunettes and Lucy, when she turns, has her hair color change from blonde to brunette as a sign of her corruption. Naturally, being undead, they all have pale skins.
* Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Van Helsing is an interesting quasi-example of this. He speaks the English in syntax quite broke, but he's really quite eloquent even then, in that he has a great vocabulary.
* Empathic Environment: Immediately after vampire Lucy is slain, the weather is described as sunny and pleasant.
* Everything Is Big in Texas: Lucy likes Quincey Morris' funny turns of phrase, so when he proposes to her, he consciously hams up the quaint cowboy-themed metaphors to an almost sickening degree.
* Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Thanks to his royal lineage and centuries of isolation, Dracula is only able to view mortals as pawns or food, and he fancies himself a god made flesh whose destiny is to rule the entire Earth. This makes it inconceivable to him that anyone would be able to resist his will, let alone outsmart him.
* Evil-Detecting Dog: Dogs and horses are frightened by the Count's presence, but he can control wolves.
** When he goes out to meet Jonathan Harker, the horses pulling Harker's cart panic, though the jet-black beasts pulling his own carriage obey him without hesitation.
** At a funeral for one of Dracula's victims, a dog belonging to one of the guests refuses to go near the grave.
** A wolf at a zoo in England snarls and lunges at the bars of his cage when the Count comes near, but calms down when he gets closer. And later escapes and breaks through Lucy's garlic-protected window.
* Evil Smells Bad: Dracula has foul breath, almost certainly due to his diet, and areas where he stays are, well, to quote the book: But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it? It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt.
* Evil Sorcerer: Dracula is said to have been adept in the dark arts due to being trained as a Solomonari, a dark wizard from Eastern European folklore. It's heavily implied that he rose as a vampire in the first place through magic rather than being bitten like all of his victims, and his more famous powers like turning into mist, bats, wolves, or summoning storms are likely the product of his black magic rather than inherent vampire powers.
* Exposition of Immortality: In chapter III, Jonathan Harker converses with the Count on Transylvanian history, and observes that the Count speaks of "things and people, and especially of battles, [...] as if he had been present at them all." As the Count is really a centuries-old vampire, it is possible that he has been present at them all.
* Extremely Dusty Home: Appears all the time, notably in the old wing of Castle Dracula and in his purchased mansion.
* Faint in Shock: Jonathan Harker pulls one of these fairly early on. He has just been overtly harassed by three beautiful vampire-ladies and apparently his own host.
* Famous Ancestor: Dracula namedrops nobody less than the Hun himself when describing his Székely heritage: What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins?
* Fanboy: Dracula is revealed to be one for his own homeland's history. When Jonathan asks him about the country, he gladly starts going on and on about how badass his people were way back when.
* Fangs Are Evil: The better to drink your blood.
* Faux Affably Evil: The Count gives a polite and inviting first impression, if somewhat unsettling. The guest usually dismisses the last part under cultural/foreign differences. Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will. Go safely and leave something of the happiness you bring.
* Foe Romance Subtext: Some interpret there to be romantic tensions between Dracula and Lucy, Dracula and Mina, and/or Dracula and Jonathan. Literary scholars regularly debate whether any of this was intentional or not. Not only was Stoker a rather old-fashioned type writing when the social and sexual liberation movements were just beginning to take off, but it is generally taken as fact by historians that Stoker himself was a heavily closeted self-hating gay man, and further, commonly assumed by literary scholars that Stoker used the story of Dracula to work through some issues, so the sexualized nature of the vampires took on a whole new meaning as an unsubtle appeal for restraint. (Scholars also note that while Dracula is knifed, female vampires are killed by having something long and hard stuck in them. This is discussed in SERIOUS SCHOLARLY WORKS.)
** When the female vampires in the castle attempt to "kiss" (read: bite) Jonathan, Drac shows up and chases them off, saying, "He belongs to me!" There is little to no heterosexual explanation for the passage that follows: "How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me." The fair girl, with a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him. "You yourself never loved. You never love!" On this the other women joined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the room that it almost made me faint to hear. It seemed like the pleasure of fiends. Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper, "Yes, I too can love." - Dracula, chapter 3, Jonathan Harker's Journal, 16 May.
* Foil: Van Helsing to Dracula: Both are confident, knowledgeable, and affable, with a slight hint of a generic strange accent, and refer to people as "friend".
* Food Porn: Jonathan Harker devotes a lot of attention to what he's eating at the beginning of the book.
* Foreshadowing: The vampire women are a bit of foreshadowing in regards to the aftereffects of vampirism due to their seductive, beautiful, yet off-putting nature. Indeed, when Lucy turns, she's shown to have the same traits and Mina likewise starts exhibiting some of these after she's bitten.
* Forgets to Eat: One of the worrying symptoms Helsing notes of Mina after she's bitten by Dracula, due to the fact her appetite has suddenly disappeared during the journey to Castle Dracula. A sign that she's becoming closer to turning into a vampire.
* Forgotten Trope: Dracula is described as having hairs in the centre of his palms, which is an aspect of werewolf and vampire lore that has almost completely disappeared.
* Frozen Fashion Sense: Averted. Dracula's attempts to prepare himself for his move to England explicitly include acquiring clothes in the latest fashionable English style he can get his hands on in order to blend in better.
* Funetik Aksent: The old Yorkshireman, various cockneys, and of course Van Helsing himself. Stoker prided himself (without much justification) on his ability to do these.
* Funny Foreigner:
:* Quincey Morris, to an extent, with his picturesque Texan slang. Lucy notes when she introduces him to Mina that he's playing it up because he knows it amuses her, and that he's perfectly capable of speaking standard English if the occasion calls for it.
:* Dracula himself defies it, stating that he is too proud to allow himself to be treated as such, and invites Jonathan Harker to his castle both to polish his accent and learn about everyday life in England, so he won't stick out like a sore thumb and be a target for mockery.
* Fur Against Fang: Inverted. Dracula can control wolves as well as all creatures of the night, and even turns into a wolf as a slightly less conspicuous way of breaching the English shore.
* Gaslighting: Whether it was his intent or not, Dracula did this to Jonathan Harker while he had Harker imprisoned in his castle. Harker was convinced he'd hallucinated the whole thing for a long time afterward. By the end of his stay, not only is Jonathan a psychological wreck, but he's practically become nocturnal to match the Count's own sleeping habits.
* The Generic Guy: Jonathan Harker doesn't have an interest in science like Van Helsing or Seward, tragedy like Lucy and Arthur, madness like Renfield, or a Heroic Sacrifice like Quincey Morris, so he's historically been written off as merely a generic handsome guy who serves as the Count's Chew Toy in the first part of the book and a Satellite Love Interest to Mina after the Count becomes obsessed with her. Many adaptations either condense his part or remove him completely.
* Genre Refugee: Quincey P. Morris. Nothing like the presence of an American cowboy in a Gothic Horror story set in Britain to make you go "Say again?"
* Genre Savvy: Van Helsing is a scientist, but having recognized that they were fighting a monster out of legend, he goes to those legends to learn how to fight it.
* Gentleman and a Scholar:
** Despite being "one of the most advanced scientists of his day", Abraham Van Helsing has nerves of steel, an open mind, a kind heart, and a wry sense of humour.
** John Seward is a doctor by profession, although he is implied to be independently wealthy and does not need to work for money.
* Ghost Ship: The Demeter runs aground at Whitby with all the crew missing except the captain, whose corpse is found lashed to the helm. However, a ship's log is found which provides clues as to what happened aboard the vessel.
* Girl Posse: The three vampire women always work in a unit.
* A Glass of Chianti: Dracula doesn't eat or drink, but Harker comments very favourably on the food and wine the Count serves.
* Good Scars, Evil Scars: Mina gets an evil one that the Transylvanians recognize. Dracula gets one from Jonathan early on, but it's inconsistently described in the text.
* Go Out with a Smile:
** Vampirism is a curse, so vampires who are killed are implied to be relieved.
** Quincey also seems remarkably chipper for one who has thirty seconds to live — but he dies knowing Dracula is dead and Mina is saved.
* Gotta Kill Them All: The heroes have to track down and destroy Dracula's lairs so he will have no place to go to change shape or rest in his native soil.
* Gratuitous German: Van Helsing sometimes offers examples, though he is a Dutchman rather than a German. Some of it may be justified, however, since German was famously the great language of science (and medicine, especially) in the late 19th century, so a learned professor should be quite familiar with it no matter his own national origin.
* Grave Robbing: Committed a couple times by the protagonists, since vampires sleep in their coffins. Some of them really take issue with it at first.
* Greater-Scope Villain: It is openly stated that Dracula's vampirism is the result of a damning Deal with the Devil and part of the dark sorcery that he was taught as a disciple of Satan in the occult academy of Scholomance. This black magic that has transcended the natural limits of life and death makes him come across as a mere sinner who was tempted into becoming one by the powers of darkness and still serves them by crawling in the shadows of his hideous unlife.
* Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Interesting variation. Lucy, befitting her treasured English Rose status, is described as blonde (Seward refers to her hair lying on her bed pillow in "sunny ripples"), but as a vampire, is described by eyewitnesses as having dark hair. Especially fitting as her childlike innocence before getting attacked by Dracula is absent from her vampire form.
* Haunted Castle: Dracula greets Jonathan Harker: "Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!"
* Have a Gay Old Time:
** "As he did so he started back, and I could hear his ejaculation, “Mein Gott!” as it was smothered in his throat".
** When the letters between Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra contain such titillating turns of phrase as "I am longing to be with you", "We have told all our secrets since we were children; we have slept together...", and "I wish I were with you, dear, sitting by the fire undressing, as we used to sit", it's very easy for modern readers to get the wrong idea about the nature of their relationship. They're just good friends. Honest. Specifically it's a devoted Pseudo-Romantic Friendship quite normal for those days. There were Romantic Two-Guy Friendships too and even church services to solemnize these unions.
** Lucy is in "gay spirits" at one point using the old meaning of the word.
** van Helsing's remarks about the "smuts of London" i.e. the dirty marks on buildings etc. from soot caused a fair bit of amusement on Tumblr during the 2022 'Dracula Daily' run.
** "Poor fellow. He looked desperately sad and broken. Even his stalwart manhood seemed to have shrunk somewhat under the strain of his much tried emotions."
* The Heart: Mina keeps the men's morale high and reminds them of why they're fighting.
* Hemo Erotic: A rather vague passage suggests that a new vampire can only be created if a bite victim somehow ingests vampire blood. Then again, the book was criticized for its "sucking sounds" which many readers interpreted as suggestive of oral sex rather than blood drinking.
* Heroic BSoD: Jonathan Harker suffers one after his imprisonment in Dracula's castle and no wonder. His physical health breaks down right along with the mental, and he doesn't even know if everything he saw was real or in his head until Van Helsing confirms it.
* Heroic Sacrifice: Quincey Morris.
* Herr Doktor: Professor Van Helsing is Dutch, but constantly peppers his English with German.
* Hide Your Otherness: Count Dracula poses as an ordinary human nobleman for most of the first half of the story, as part of his evil plot to get some Londoners to nosh on.
* The Hilarity of Hats: Dracula turns up to book passage on a ship out of England wearing a straw hat in October, a major fashion faux-pas at the time and utterly unsuited for the climate at that time of year. It's a very odd image that has yet to appear in any adaptation.
* Hiss Before Fleeing: When confronted by Van Helsing and company and beginning to feed on a small boy, the newly turned Lucy throws the child to the ground, "growling over it as a dog growls over a bone." Shortly afterwards, the vampiric Lucy is driven back by Van Helsing's crucifix. She isn't described as hissing at this point, but does have a mouth grown "to an open square, as in the passion masks of the Greeks and Japanese."
* Historical In-Joke: Protestant England is saved from Dracula in part thanks to the use of Catholic paraphernalia such as crucifixes. During his stay at Castle Dracula, Harker notes the irony of seeking solace in a crucifix having been taught since childhood that it is a symbol of idolatry.
* Holy Burns Evil: Crosses and communion wafers (the Host) repel vampires. Dr. van Helsing seals up a vampire's tomb by filling in the cracks of the door with putty containing ground up Host. After Mina is forced to drink Dracula's blood, van Helsing attempts to bless her by placing a wafer on her forehead, but it burns her skin, leaving a scar that remains until the Count is slain.
* Hollywood Heart Attack: How Mrs. Westenra dies in the story; as the wolf Dracula sent bursts through the window, the shock of the attack gets to her heart. Lucy tries to get help, but the maids have been drugged and Dracula soon descends on her.
* Hooked Up Afterwards: The epilogue, set seven years after the rest of the story, mentions in an aside that Lucy's remaining suitors are all married now. There's no detail given about who they married, or how they met their wives, or whether their wives know about the history of Lucy and Dracula: just the bald assertion, as the minimum necessary compliance with contemporary audiences' expectations that a man's happy ending must include a wife.
* Hope Spot: When Jonathan Harker demands to be permitted to leave Castle Dracula, the Count tells him that of course he won't be kept one minute longer, and even opens the front door for him... only for a pack of ravenous wolves (obviously summoned by Dracula) to immediately show up at said door. Harker has to beg Dracula to close the door and "let" him remain.
* Human Mail: When he travels to England, Dracula avoids any issues with customs and immigration by arranging to have himself transported as cargo inside a sealed crate, taking advantage of the fact that he doesn't need to breathe and can mist in and out of the crate whenever he needs a snack. After Lucy's friends make London inhospitable to him, he returns home using the same method.
* Hypocritical Humor: Mina mocks the "New Woman" a few times in her journal. For those that don't know, "New Woman" at the time was when females were starting their movement for independence and becoming more assertive which was a big deal at the time. The reason it's ironic is because Mina becomes assertive after her encounter with Dracula and is both able to resist his influence (with some help) and coming up with the idea to use her newfound psychic link with Dracula to lead the hunters to him.
* Hysterical Woman: There aren't any in the book, but Dr. Seward certainly believes in this trope. At one point he remarks, "Men and women are so different in manifestations of nervous strength or weakness!". Mina seems to exist to defy this trope, as no matter how distressed she gets, she has it together better than her husband. She does go into hysterics at one point, but it's for a very good reason and she gets over it with amazing quickness. Several of the men also have brief hysterical episodes.
   I-Y
* I Cannot Self-Terminate: After Mina is infected by Dracula, she contemplates suicide, but is dissuaded by Van Helsing because she'll only become a vampire if she dies while Dracula still lives. So instead she makes all the men promise that if she becomes a vampire, they'll kill her. Fortunately, this never needs to happen, as they kill Dracula first. This is also a possible interpretation of Lucy's dying words before becoming a vampire, as she begs Van Helsing to protect her fiancé Arthur and "...give me peace!"
* Idiot Ball:
** The main characters know that a vampire can only enter a house into which he is invited, but they still keep his victim in a house that they know Dracula can already enter. Also, they know that Lucy died and rose as a vampire after becoming paler and weaker over many days. When Mina's not feeling well and looking rather pale, they write it off as a simple illness.
** Luckily, Dracula has it too. Van Helsing concludes that Dracula is doing what he did when he was a mortal man — raising an army and invading another country, only it's England this time and not the Ottoman Empire. Dracula goes about this by attacking and attempting to turn a grand total of two women. He fails miserably with both. And once Harker, Seward, Van Helsing, and the rest of the party learn of Dracula and start taking steps to thwart him, he doesn't bother to do anything but attack Mina to use her as a spy (which backfires spectacularly because she can spy on him) and to burn their notes while they are all sleeping when he could have killed them.
* I Do Not Drink Wine: While the famous line doesn't appear in the book, Jonathan Harker does notice that he never sees the Count drink or eat... food. The line that does appear in the book is "I have dined already, and do not sup", meaning that he has already eaten an early evening meal, and does not eat late. However, Dracula does apparently keep a good wine cellar for guests, as Harker comments very favorably on the "excellent bottle of old Tokay" he is served with his first supper at Castle Dracula. Dracula: You will, I trust, excuse me that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup.
* I Have You Now, My Pretty: Dracula's attack on Mina in her bedroom reads very much like a rape scene, particularly when he reveals that this isn't the first time she has... sated his thirst.
* I Made Copies: The Count breaks into the heroes' headquarters and burns the Scrapbook Story they've been keeping of the ordeal. How is the reader still able to read it? They had a backup copy in a safe. All this before the days of hard drives!
* I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Dr. Seward and Quincey lose to Arthur in wooing Lucy, but they're good sports about it. Both of them give blood to save Lucy without hesitation.
* Immortal Immaturity: Dracula is a bit complicated in this respect. As explained by Professor Van Helsing: "Well, in him the brain powers survived the physical death. Though it would seem that memory was not all complete. In some faculties of mind he has been, and is, only a child. But he is growing, and some things that were childish at the first are now of man's stature. He is experimenting, and doing it well."
* Informed Ability: Vampirism is really vague in this story and it's not really clear what it does besides what's shown. Most known is that it turns the victim into a monster, they gain a few powers, and they drink blood. Okay, fine, but outside that, we only get hints that it's the worst thing ever for the victim, because apparently their souls are either trapped in their bodies or taken over by the monster they become (Lucy's sudden shifts in demeanor as she's dying lends some credence to this). Or the person becomes corrupted and evil just from turning. Outside of feeding on humans, it never really goes into too much detail on the specifics of what's causing the change. But that might just add to the mystique for the sake of horror. Dr. Van Helsing also mentions a few vampire powers that are never used, like using a victim's tomb as an alternative sanctuary or animating normal corpses to do their bidding.
* Insane Troll Logic: One of the things that clues Jonathan in that the good count might be a little eccentric is when he cuts himself shaving. Dracula goes on a sweeping monologue about how the mirror that Jonathan was using to help shave caused Jonathan to cut himself (one point of using a mirror is so you DON'T cut yourself), and then throws it out a window.
* Instant Sedation: Averted when Van Helsing gives Lucy a sedative before her first transfusion. Seward states in his journal that it actually took longer than he expected for the sedative to work, which he takes as a sign of just how weakened Lucy has become.
* It's a Small World, After All: The Count's identity and nature are exposed because his lawyer's wife's best friend's ex-suitor's one-time mentor just happens to be an expert on vampires.
* "Join Us" Drone:
** Lucy, after having been turned, beckons this to Arthur when Helsing, Seward, Quincy, and he confront her vampire form in a graveyard. Lucy: Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!
** Near the end of the book, the three vampire women happen upon the camp where Van Helsing and Mina are stationed. A makeshift holy barrier Helsing made keeps them from getting near the two. But this doesn't stop them from calling out to Mina and trying to appeal to her growing vampire transformation to join them, citing her as their "sister".
* Kiss of the Vampire: The kiss/bite of the vampire is an analogy for rape. Dracula tricks Renfield into inviting him in and physically forces Mina to drink his blood against her will, leaving the traumatized girl to go through periods of denial, anger, and depression while viewing what she suffered that night as a Fate Worse than Death than which nothing could possibly be worse. Since most Gothic literature of the 18th and 19th centuries used the word "seduce" where we would use "rape", Stoker gets major points for being possibly the first author since Edmund Spenser to recognize the difference between seduction and force.
* Kukris Are Kool: Jonathan Harker wields a kukri and attacks with enough ferocity to force Dracula to retreat. Then decapitates the Count with it after Quincey Morris stabs him in the heart with a Bowie knife.
* Language Fluency Denial: When he's at the inn on the last stage of his journey to Castle Dracula, Jonathan has no trouble communicating with the innkeeper until he starts asking questions about the Count, at which point the innkeeper suddenly can't understand him.
* Lean and Mean: Dracula himself. For adding slimming power he could slip through the cracks of doors if necessary.
* Lip Losses: When she gets staked, Lucy wildly gnashes her teeth, resulting in her fangs tearing up her lips.
* Liquid Assets: The Count starts off as an elderly man and becomes younger in appearance over time through drinking blood. Also, when Lucy becomes a vampire, she looks healthier "dead" in her coffin than she did alive.
* Love Dodecahedron: Arthur and Lucy become engaged, but Dr. Seward and Quincey Morris are in love with her as well. Van Helsing seems to grow to love both Lucy and Mina, and there's plenty of chemistry between him and Dr. Seward. Mina marries Jonathan, and the surviving six form a True Companionship where they all love everybody.
* Madness Makeover: Lucy gets all slinky and sensual as she falls under Dracula's spell. Oddly, this is not considered an improvement by her faithful suitors.
* Madonna-Whore Complex:
** Lucy fills the role of the Madonna — a sweet pure girl who is beloved by all for her innocence. When she becomes a vampire, she's now a Whore — described as voluptuous and far more sexual.
** Overall, the novel averts this big time (though later critics would frequently miss the subversion entirely). Lucy, the sweet and innocent girl who doesn't have a flaw other than naïveté, ends up killed by the monster, which her virginity and purity did not protect her from. Mina, the more liberated and independent woman who's also not a virgin (she's married and most likely had a wedding night), on the other hand, survives, and is vital to taking down Dracula.
* Madwoman in the Attic: Doesn't appear, but Van Helsing reveals he's married to a madwoman. Well, what would a Gothic horror novel be without one?
* Magic Versus Science: One of the themes in the novel is the old age of superstition and magic embodied by Dracula versus the new age of science embodied by the protagonists. Initially, magic aka Dracula has the edge because the scientific worldview has no place for him and refuses to accept that vampires exist. Dracula does not work the way science says the world works so he can act with impunity. Ironically, only by getting rid of the conflict and combining the two in Van Helsing is Dracula defeated. Van Helsing accepts things outside of the scientific worldview and uses those unorthodox methods to fight Dracula. At the same time, he uses modern scientific advances such as technology and criminal theory to predict Dracula's movements and eventually defeat him.
* Make Sure He's Dead: After staking Vampire-Lucy, Van Helsing has her head removed and her mouth filled with garlic. It appears, given later Vampire-deaths, that removing the head of a dead vampire removes their immortality and they revert to a human corpse of appropriate age. Since Lucy's corpse was too fresh to immediately rot (as, for example, Dracula himself did), filling the mouth with garlic is probably a way of making sure it doesn't come back as something undead in the meantime.
* Manipulative Bastard: Dracula gets very far on nothing but his charm. He's so good at it that its all but stated that he has some sort of hypnotic powers.
* Manly Tears: The men in this novel cry as much as, if not more than, the women:
** Jonathan Harker cries when trapped in Dracula's castle (after seeing a baby being devoured by the three monstrous women) and then cries a lot after Mina is attacked.
** Arthur Holmwood breaks down several times during Lucy's illness and when grieving for her, including one memorable scene where he becomes hysterical and is comforted by Mina.
** Van Helsing also has crying fits including an episode of hysterics after Lucy's funeral.
** Seward and Morris are relatively stoic. But both shed tears after Mina is attacked, and Seward has to pause his recording at one point because he chokes up while describing an emotional scene: Seward: I cannot go on...words...and v-voices...f-fail m-me!
* Man of Wealth and Taste: This was one of the first stories to treat vampires in this way, as opposed to the earlier depictions of them (from various myths and legends), in which they were more animalistic and demonic in nature.
* Mercy Kill: The staking of Vampire-Lucy is framed this way by Van Helsing: not only will it stop her from harming anyone again, it will free her spirit from corruption and send her to heaven. This is why the group agrees that her fiancé Arthur should do the deed, because he was the one who loved her best.
* Mind Control: Dracula intends to do this with Mina, but it backfires on him once he realises that if she can show him whatever the heroes are up to, she can also show them whatever Dracula is up to.
* Mind Rape: Dracula is never openly shown sexually assaulting his victims but his invasion of their mind through hypnosis, rendering them powerless to resist his bite, is portrayed much the same way.
* Missing Reflection: The Trope Maker. Soon after his arrival at Castle Dracula, Harker observes that the building is devoid of mirrors. When Dracula silently comes into Harker's room while he's shaving, Harker notices that Dracula, who is standing behind him, does not appear in the shaving mirror as he should. The Count reacts violently and flings the mirror out a window. The missing reflection is the first solid evidence of his vampiric nature that Harker directly observes.
* Monster Lord: Dracula is a count, and the other vampires mentioned in the book clearly view him as superior... but this may be less to do with his title and more to do with the fact he's implied to be their husband and/or father and also happens to be a badass.
* Monster Misogyny: Dracula feeds on men to survive, but the only new vampires he creates are women. Many critics note the sexualized nature of the violence between men and women throughout the story, with blood-sucking and stalking being seen as metaphors for sex.
* Monster Progenitor: Dracula is this, of course. It's known he's the original vampire of his line of vampires, but not if he is the first vampire ever.
* Monstrosity Equals Weakness: While never exactly weak, Dracula is an unnatural and horrifying old man in the first act when all he had to feed from were slaves and Transylvanian commoners that were in low supply. After gorging on the blood of the crew of the ship he stowed away on, and several weeks of terrorizing Londoners, he became stunningly attractive and seductive.
* Motif: The imagery of red-against-white is repeated over and over again — wolves with red tongues and white teeth, Dracula's red blood-stained lips against his pale white skin, a red wound on a white shirt, etc.
* Multinational Team: The group protecting Lucy and Mina from Dracula consists of three Englishmen (Harker, Seward, and Holmwood), a Dutchman (Van Helsing), and an American (Morris).
* Must Be Invited:
** Tricking one of the inmates of an insane asylum into inviting you in apparently counts.
** Also Inverted: The Count is apparently forbidden from doing anything that could be construed as forcing Jonathan Harker to enter his castle or forbidding him from leaving, so stays firmly behind the threshold until he chooses to "Enter freely and of your own will," and when Jonathan insists on leaving, Dracula is quite willing to open the gates, but when Jonathan hears the wolves outside, he asks Dracula to close the doors again. Or Dracula could've just been a dick on a power trip.
** Another possibility is that since it's ambiguous whether Dracula (at this early stage of the book) is genuinely Affably Evil or Faux Affably Evil, his invitation might be some form of courtesy that modern readers don't get; while his famous invitation may stand out a lot nowadays, Jonathan does not seem to think there is anything strange about it.
** It's possible that Dracula doesn't realise that humans are not bound by similar rules about invitations; Van Helsing talks at some length about how Dracula is ignorant about the full extent of his own abilities (something which never seems to make it into the films), so maybe this applies to his limitations equally and Dracula thought Jonathan required an invitation just like he would.
** Dracula's invitation to Jonathan is never brought up again, not even in the form of Jonathan lamenting the irony that he willingly entered the castle, so it might not have been intended to be particularly important. As noted in the intro, the idea that The Fair Folk etc. could not exercise their full power over humans without some kind of consent is Older Than Dirt, so maybe Stoker was deliberately trying to invoke this trope. Dracula has certain other traits normally associated with The Fair Folk, and it's apparent between this and other elements of subtext that the Dracula story is in at least some part an allegory of the relationship between imperial England and Ireland.
* Naïve Newcomer: Jonathan starts the story as a simple solicitor on a business trip, unaware that the supernatural even exists. Naturally he's horrified that he practically gave Dracula a pass to spread his evil to modern day society.
* Name Order Confusion: The Count accidentally calls Jonathan Harker "Harker Jonathan" and explains that he slipped into his country's tradition of giving the family name first. Transylvania was part of Hungary at the time, and Dracula claims to be a Székely note  in the same chapter.
* Narrative Profanity Filter: A scene where the team questions a group of foul-mouthed dock workers is narrated by Van Helsing, who remarks whimsically that "they say much of blood and bloom, and of others which I comprehend not, though I guess what they mean", and paraphrases their replies. Whereupon the captain tell him that he had better be quick—with blood—for that his ship will leave the place—of blood—before the turn of the tide—with blood. Then the thin man smile and say that of course he must go when he think fit; but he will be surprise if he go quite so soon.
* Never a Self-Made Woman: The only women in the main cast are the fiancées to others in the team. Also something of an inversion in that most of the team is composed of "Lucy's suitors" and in most of the bits of the book happening after Transylvania, Jonathan appears as "Mina's husband" rather than the other way around, even though Mina does first appear as "Jonathan's fiancée".
* Never Speak Ill of the Dead: During one of Mina's entries, she records a long rant by an old man concerning the practice of this. Remarking the grave (which the girls are close to, having to decide to picnic in the church yard) belongs to a sorry sourpuss and wasn't even missed by his "hellcat of a mother."
* Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The five male members of the party insist that Mina Harker stay home while they do the dangerous work and frequently talk about what a relief it is that she's safe at home while they're hunting down the vampire because a woman surely couldn't handle it. Dracula deliberately takes advantage of this as an opportunity to bite Mina and metaphorically rape her. Nice job with the chivalrous misogyny, heroes!
* Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Nice job giving the heroine a VIP pass to your mind, Dracula.
* No Body Left Behind: Dracula and the female vampires are said to crumble into dust on death. Justified in text as a side effect of their unnatural preservation being removed and centuries of decay catching up with them. Averted with Lucy, whose body remains intact, as her mortal death had occurred only a few days before her Vampiric one. This opens a plot hole that dozens of stories by other authors are built on: turning into a dust cloud or mist and traveling in that form is explicitly one of Dracula's powers.
* No Immortal Inertia: Dracula rapidly dissolves into nothing when stabbed in the heart. Notably, none of the other vampires in the story did this, and although it isn't explicitly stated the implication is that it's because he was so much older than them, and that when he was stabbed centuries of decay instantly caught up with his body.
* No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Dracula plays host (and after Jonathan realizes he's a prisoner) and jailer to Jonathan Harker, and provides him with delicious meals. Although it's more than likely that Dracula does not eat... food, he's apparently a Supreme Chef (or else the women in the castle are), since there are no human servants at the castle.
* No Ontological Inertia: Killing the original vampire before its bitten victims die (and subsequently resurrect as vampires) returns them to normal. Otherwise it's permanent (Can't exactly bring a walking corpse back to normal after all). Justified, in that bitten victims will simply heal naturally. Mina was bitten a few times and survived, and even Lucy required multiple, increasingly violent visits from Dracula, thanks to Doctor Van Helsing successfully resuscitating her.
* Not Afraid of Hell: According to one of the old sailors that frequented the cemetery, one of the tombs was built for someone who was more afraid of his mother than of Hell: "I've often heard him say masel' that he hoped he'd go to hell, for his mother was so pious that she'd be sure to go to heaven, an' he didn't want to addle where she was."
* No Time to Explain: Prior to needing to stake Lucy, Van Helsing's answer for everyone's confused questions amounts to, "I can't explain now, just trust me. You'll know everything soon enough, but you'll wish you didn't. Did I mention within the last five seconds that you just need to trust me?"
* Non P.O.V. Protagonist: Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is the Big Good who leads the manhunt for Dracula, but we never get to see his POV, except from brief glimpses of it from the narrators' accounts and his sparse letters.
* Not Himself: Lucy when she becomes a vampire. It's implied she's even aware of it when the transformation nears completion and the vampire part of her briefly surfaces to try and seduce Arthur as she's dying.
* Not That Kind of Doctor: Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is that kind of doctor (and a professor of medicine), and not a vampire hunter, as adaptations often turn him into; he's just smart enough to know enough about them to improvise.
* Occult Detective: Dr. Abraham van Helsing is the Trope Codifier. Although he doesn't start this way, he quickly becomes one. Yet while most adaptations portray Helsing as an adventuresome monster hunter, in the book he is just a doctor with very eclectic experience, who approaches vampirism as he would any other disease, albeit one that has symptoms including supernatural belligerence and fantastic powers and weaknesses.
* Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Jonathan Harker's escape from Dracula's castle. Justified because Jonathan was in no condition to write about that experience in his diary afterward, and nobody else was there to write about it either. The only snippets he manages to reveal is that he got out by crawling down a castle wall and was chased by something (either the vampire women or wolves in the area or both) before managing to elude them.
* Old-School Chivalry: Van Helsing and the rest of the heroes decide it's best if Mina Harker stays safe at home while they go out each night vampire-hunting. They do it because they think it's for her own good, in her best interest, the right/gentlemanly thing to do and they'd be cruel and reckless if they included her. It backfires and they learn their lesson.
* Omnidisciplinary Scientist:
** Van Helsing is a doctor, scientist, occultist, detective, lawyer and holy man. This all comes in handy for hunting vampires. It's also stated that he has at least three doctoral degrees, one of which is an MD.
** Dr. Seward is a general practitioner, every type of surgeon and a psychiatrist to boot.
* Omniglot: When semi-delirious and first approached by the three women, Harker can fully understand their language, as they speak to each other, and the Count's furious rebukes. Harker is said explicitly to know good German, but no mention of him knowing either literary Romanian or Hungarian, leave alone an ancient dialect spoken between themselves by beings undead for 400 years. Also when Mina is approached in the forest by the same women calling her "sister", both she and Dr. van Helsing understand their speech with no effort.
* One Degree of Separation: Dracula's first victim just happens to be Lucy Westenra, the best friend of the fiancée of Jonathan Harker, who is probably the only living human who's seen him for what he really is. Not only that, but Dr. Seward, one of Lucy's former suitors and the good friend of her husband, not only owns the mental institution right next door to Dracula's new house, but is also the protegé of Dr. Van Helsing, perhaps the only practitioner of modern medicine who can recognize vampirism and knows how to treat it. Also, one of Dr. Seward's patients, Renfield, happens to have a strange psychic connection to Dracula.
* One-Steve Limit: Dr. John Seward is often called Jack by the other characters so as not to be confused with Jonathan Harker. Of course, it doesn't help that Van Helsing still refers to him by his given name.
* O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Van Helsing is a Funny Foreigner, but when all matters vampire come up, he drops the act and becomes deadly serious.
* Orient Express: When Dracula escapes from England to Varna by sea, the cabal sworn to destroy him travels to Paris and takes the Orient Express, arriving in Varna ahead of him.
* Our Vampires Are Different:
** Dracula does not follow the standard rules, largely because he predates most of them. The Count is stated to be a student of Satan, having been turned into a vampire through his own necromancy rather than through The Virus, and his classic vampire powers are implied to all be more black magic rather than innate to the vampire's body.
** Dracula establishes the idea of vampires mixing blood with humans à la Interview with the Vampire, The Lost Boys, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though this is bastardised by them into becoming the method of turning a victim into a new vampire. In the novel, blood mixing is purely for Dracula to be able to link his mind directly with Mina's. What is actually stated in the book by Van Helsing is that all it takes for a vampire to make more vampires is to bite a victim and their death whether swift or eventual will be enough to make them rise again, which is the version seen in From Dusk Till Dawn, John Carpenter's Vampires and Blade.
* Painting the Medium: The book is a series of letters between many of the characters. The reader is intended to interpret the novel as a bound collection of letters, and each includes headers with dates and signatures. It's very effective at drawing some readers in, especially since the viewpoints sufficiently show different characters' personalities, but it can also seem disjointed, since it switches around a lot and (usually) looks like normal fonts pretending to be letters.
* Parental Substitute: Mr. Hawkins for Mina and Jonathan.
* Poirot Speak: Van Helsing's style of Poirot Speak is more the "Dutch grammar, English vocabulary" type.
* Politically Incorrect Villain: Not to any malicious degree, and really only noticeable to modern readers, but Dracula waxes philosophical about how his Proud Warrior Race Guy ancestors routed foreign invaders and insists that peasants need to be led by the nobles. This showcases how out of touch with the times he is due to having led an unnaturally long life and apparently having never attempted to leave his land before now. His attempt to spread his vampirisim is to keep his sense of monarchy alive.
* Poor Communication Kills: The characters come up with lots of logical reasons to not tell each other things, which always ends up biting them in the...neck.
** Van Helsing is understandably reluctant to tell anyone his theory that Lucy is being attacked by a living corpse each night, and additionally doesn't want to let on to Mrs. Westenra how serious things really are due to the fear it will spook her into a heart attack, but she surely wouldn't have tossed out the garlic had she known the stakes.
** Had the gang seen fit to include Mina in their conferences, she might have been saved from Dracula's attacks. The moment she is included in the discussions, she puts the pieces together that leads the group to finally confronting Dracula. An Aesop on the importance of including women in important conversations?
* Power Born of Madness: Renfield tries to Exploit this. "It is said that madmen have incredible strength. I am mad, or was, and I resolved to use all of my mad strength to attack him".
* The Power of Blood: Types A (binding), B (symbolic), and O (disturbing).
* Powered by a Forsaken Child: Dracula — and most other vampires since him — have to drain the blood, or life force depending on variation, of living people just to survive.
* The Precarious Ledge: How Harker gets into Dracula's room at the castle.
* The Professor: Van Helsing. Is there nothing he doesn't know about? Could also be seen as a forerunner of the idea of the genius with the funny foreign accent (he's Dutch) as well as a medley of eccentricities.
* Proud Warrior Race Guy: Dracula boasts about his warrior heritage to Harker, saying how his family historically defeated the Turks in combat.
* Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: In the early chapters of the novel, the private correspondence between Mina and Lucy are very passionate, they almost read like love letters, as both girls express their love and adoration for one another. In one letter Lucy writes: "Mina, we have told all our secrets to each other since we were children. We have slept together and eaten together, and laughed and cried together..." and "I wish I were with you, dear, sitting by the fire undressing, as we used to sit, and I would try to tell you what I feel." Later in the novel, when Mina and Lucy are together, they sit on a bench by the seaside and are so moved by the beautiful view that they hold hands.
* Psychic Link: Dracula forms one of these with Mina Harker as a step towards Mind Control. Unfortunately, he's forced to block the link himself when he realizes that, if he can spy on the heroes through Mina, Mina can spy on him and share information with the rest of the heroes, which is how she eventually leads them to him.
* Psychic Radar: This goes both ways with the link between Mina and the Count. He can use it to spy on and know the movements of the heroes, but they can do likewise if they place Mina into a hypnotic trance; so she can sense the Count and his surroundings and roughly how far away he is.
* Psychopathic Manchild: Mina Murray draws upon the new science of Criminology to profile Count Dracula and describes him of being of the "typical" criminal mind—childish, in thought and behaviour.
* Rail Enthusiast: Mina Harker describes herself as a "train fiend".
* Reading Ahead in the Script: A variation. After Mina transcribes everyone's notes and voice recordings, Van Helsing orders the vampire hunters to read the compiled book. Because the book is epistolary at that moment, the reader and the characters have both read the same 2/3 of the novel.
* Red and Black and Evil All Over: Count Dracula has black and red. He's the Trope Codifier for what the description talks about this trope and vampires in their capes.
* Red Eyes, Take Warning: Dracula has red eyes. His houseguest, Jonathan, being British, does not comment on this.
* Red Right Hand: When Van Helsing tries to set a holy wafer to Mina's forehead, it burns her and leaves a red mark. When Dracula is defeated, the mark vanishes.
* Rejected Marriage Proposal: Lucy Westenra gets three marriage proposals in one day from Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood and Dr John Seward. Although she's fond of all her suitors, she declines Morris and Seward's proposals and chooses to marry Holmwood; unfortunately, she dies and comes back as a vampire before the wedding can take place. Even though she rejected them, Morris and Seward still love Lucy; Seward does what he can to nurse Lucy when she falls gravely ill after being fed on by Count Dracula, and Morris also donates blood to her. Seward and Morris join forces with Holmwood and Van Helsing to kill the vampirized Lucy so her soul can rest (they let Holmwood be the one to stake Lucy as he was her betrothed). The three suitors then help hunt down Dracula partly to avenge the woman they all loved.
* Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Decapitation is actually the only way to kill a vampire. Driving a stake through the heart is used to immobilize the vamps so it's easier to take the head off.
* The Renfield: Trope Namer, but is actually an Unbuilt Trope here, seeing as he attempts to foil Dracula twice, the second ending with the loss of his own life. While he certainly seems willing to become Dracula's slave, being locked in at Dr. Seward's sanatorium rather limits his options and the Count seems to more or less ignore him throughout. (Until he finally visits him in his cell and kills him.) Renfield at one point demands that he be moved so that Dracula will not compel him to let him into the house to attack Mina. When this fails, the second time Dracula enters, he grabs Dracula and tries to kill him with his bare hands, while the Count is in mist form. And he would have succeeded, too, if Dracula hadn't used his Hypnotic Eyes.
* Revenge by Proxy: Dracula goes after Mina when he realises her husband and friends are hunting him.
* Robbing the Dead: A thief steals the crucifix placed over Lucy's mouth, disrupting one of the plans Van Helsing had.
* Roguish Romani: Romani form the majority of Count Dracula's villainous retinue, which was par for the course in most of Victorian media, but particularly appropriate in a work predicated upon the fear of evil Eastern Europeans invading Good Ol' England.
* Rousing Speech: There's a speech from the Count himself. Though the context is wrong for this trope, the content is certainly worthy of a particularly good one. Plus, after the discovery that Dracula used to be a human lord who was also a great general, one can very easily imagine him giving a true Rousing Speech that could have said many of the same things.
* Sanity Slippage: Jonathan Harker and Renfield both experience this thanks to the Count. Harker recovers; Renfield, not so much. Renfield starts out as a mental patient with a fixation on eating live creatures to extend his own life. Dracula makes him considerably worse, but Renfield does recover enough to try and save Mina from Dracula, though he's killed for his trouble.
* Satellite Love Interest: Lucy's suitors function in the story as little more than that. Arthur (who is the one that gets the girl) only hopes for Lucy's affections and then mourns her death. Quincey doesn't get the girl and only contributes owning a hunting knife to the fight with Dracula and getting killed off so Dracula could kill someone. Lucy's third suitor Jack avoids this. He is more developed, as he works in a mental hospital where the patients sense Dracula's presence and it's he who first notices something wrong with Lucy.
* Savage Wolves: Made even more threatening by being at Dracula's command.
* Scarpia Ultimatum: Although Dracula can put women in a trance before he bites them, the third time he bites (and metaphorically rapes) Mina, he leaves her completely aware and instead threatens to kill her unconscious husband lying next to her if she resists or screams for help. For the Evulz?
* Science Hero: Van Helsing is an eminent scientist and a makeshift Vampire Hunter. Rather than the action-hero he's portrayed as in other media, he approaches the conflict like a clinician encountering a new disease.
* Scrapbook Story: The book is presented as a collection of letters, ship's logs, and diary entries, compiled by Mina.
* Sex Is Evil: The story is often interpreted as a metaphor for female sexuality and how a sexually active woman is dangerous to civilized Victorian society.
* Shaped Like Itself: When Van Helsing opens Lucy's coffin, revealing it empty, to try to prove to Dr. Seward that she's now a vampire: Dr.Seward: I am satisfied that Lucy's body is not in that coffin, but that only proves one thing. Van Helsing: And what is that, friend John? Dr. Seward: That it is not there. Van Helsing: That is good logic, so far as it goes.
* Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Dracula, unlike modern vampires, is not killed by sunlight. However, he is unable to change shape from sunrise to noon, and from noon to sunset. He can only change shape at noon exactly and, of course, any time at night.
* Shoot the Dog: Quincey mentions that he had to shoot his horse when he was in the Pampas after vampire bats drained its blood.
* Shovel Strike: Jonathan Harker strikes the Count with a workman's shovel while he is sleeping in his coffin. This proves ineffective at slaying the vampire, merely creating a large scar on Dracula's forehead.
* Shown Their Work: Few books in Victorian England covered Eastern Europe with any kind of precision, so some of the details revealed about the region in the novel display Stoker's efforts to research on it (having never traveled there) - especially the extended speech of the Count revealing his connections to Vlad the Impaler and the House of Draculesti.
* Sizable Semitic Nose: One minor character is a Jewish merchant named Hildesheim who is described as having "a nose like a sheep".
* Skeleton Crew: The ship that transports the Count to Whitby runs into the docks with its crew missing and the captain's decomposed body lashed to the wheel by his hands, while holding a crucifix.
* Skeptic No Longer:
** Harker at first thinks the village is just being superstition despite being an outsider to Transylvania (though they don't really tell what the danger is, just that it's a really bad idea to go to Dracula's castle). But after meeting the count, finding how strange he and his dwelling are and ultimately nearly being bitten by three vampires, it doesn't take long for him to become a believer.
** Later after Lucy dies from Dracula succeeding in draining her blood, Van Helsing tries to convince Seward, Arthur and Quincy that she will become a vampire and be a danger to all. Naturally they think he's cuckoo, so Van Helsing decides he needs to show them first. He starts with Seward, his trusted student, as they watch Lucy's coffin and indeed find it initially empty then after waiting a bit, find it filled again with her body, only to discover she hasn't decayed since she was interred and in fact much more beautiful then ever. The following night, Van Helsing gathers the rest of the men and confront Lucy directly as she prowls the night. Indeed, seeing her bearing fangs with bits of blood on her lips, acting not at all like the Lucy they know (feral and seductive instead of kind and caring), acting fearful of a cross and using her powers to flee back to her coffin is more than enough proof to the men that vampires, and the threat they pose, are real.
* Slashed Throat: Half of Dracula's fate (the other half is being stabbed in the heart.)
* Sleepwalking: Lucy is a chronic sleepwalker who sleepwalks all the way across Whitby to the cemetery overlook the night she's first bitten by the eponymous vampire.
* Slow Transformation: Due to Dracula's nightly visits to feed on Lucy, she becomes weaker over time and observes that her senses have suddenly become keener but she continues to have nightmares of dark beings. By the third visit, she's lost so much of her blood that her bite wounds eventually close up on their own, she gains fangs and her demeanor is uncharacteristically more seductive, signifying to Van Helsing it's too late to save her from becoming a vampire. Mina's transformation is slightly different due to Dracula feeding her his blood, cursing her to turn regardless if she stays alive or dies as long as he's alive. Indeed, she starts showing signs due to losing appetite for food, her canines slowly turning into fangs, sharing a psychic connection to Dracula and being unable to stay awake during the day but being much more lively at night.
* Small Role, Big Impact: Dracula himself. He actually only appears in person in a handful of scenes, but he dominates practically everything that happens in the novel.
* The Soulsaver: The vampire-hunting protagonists are said to be saving the souls of the undead from a presumably rather uncomfortable state of limbo. Granted this is just what they believe, it's never really stated as fact.
* Southern Gentleman: Quincey Morris, Texan, and a very positively portrayed American; typical in British works of the day but surprising today.
* Staking the Loved One: Van Helsing shows the men first hand of Lucy's undead form after she "dies" and seeing she's more monster then human. He forces her fiance Arthur to do it, claiming a loved one should set her soul free.
* Stay in the Kitchen: The males think it's best if Mina is shielded from knowledge of their plans to kill the villain. This enforced ignorance means she's a sitting duck for the very man they wanted to protect her from. After their actions lead to Dracula attacking her, they quickly change their philosophy. (This, after Seward and Van Helsing have already witnessed how keeping one of Dracula's targets in the dark ended up costing her life, as Mrs. Westenra unwittingly makes it easy for Dracula to attack Lucy again.)
* Stockholm Syndrome: Mina doesn't develop Sympathy for the Devil until after he's bitten her, and after she previously decided that the Thing that did that to Lucy doesn't deserve a drop of pity. She still believes that he should be killed; not only to save mankind, but to save Dracula's own soul. She turns out to be right.
* The Strength of Ten Men: The Count himself is said to have the strength of twenty men as one of his many powers.
* Super Window Jump: Dracula only does this once despite his preference for windows above doors. In other instances, he either slides into cracks between the window and frame, or he has something else break the glass for him. In the example of this trope, however, it's daytime and he can't change forms, but is still tough enough to just leap through the pane.
* Supreme Chef: When Harker is staying at Castle Dracula, he notes in his journal that the food is very good. Later, it's revealed that there are no servants (it would be tough to get people to work for a, y'know, vampire) and Dracula has been doing all the work, such as cooking. Apparently, when you're an undying abomination you have time to pick up a culinary hobby. Either him or his wives.
* Surprisingly Good English: Dracula is remarked on as speaking very good English, and spends a lot of time with Jonathan Harker in an attempt to become not only good, but fluent as well. He explains that if his handle on the language isn't perfect, he would just be seen as another Funny Foreigner in England, and he is too proud to let that happen.
* Suspiciously Specific Denial: During the trip to Dracula's castle, Mina shows Van Helsing a shortcut trail towards it. When Van Helsing asks her how she knew, she claims it was in Jonathan's journal. But Van Helsing severely doubts that since Jonathan was in the castle most of the time and never took note of which specific way he went. And what's more the trail hardly seem used at all, leading Van Helsing to believe the vampire change is growing in her and giving her information to reach her "master".
* Switching P.O.V.: The novel is composed of a collection of journals. It slips up in one case, where Mrs. Harker refers to herself in third person in chapter XXVI (where she is writing a journal but mentions the others made details that she didn't hear.)
* Sympathy for the Devil: Mina mentions that she does pity Dracula. Not the monster that he is, but rather for his soul and how it could be looking for peace from his curse.
* The Team Benefactor: Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming, aids in funding the hunt for Dracula by providing transportation, lodging, and the like. While Abraham van Helsing helps with his knowledge of vampire lore.
* Team Dad: Van Helsing. It helps that he's the oldest by a fair bit.
* Team Mom: Mina. It's a little muddled at times, what with her also being the Distressed Damsel, but it really shows at the beginning of the third act. With team morale failing, Mina talks to each of the men and convinces them to keep fighting, not just for her sake, but to avenge fallen friends and to cleanse the world of evil.
* Team Spirit
* Terms of Endangerment: Even when threatening him, Dracula refers to Jonathan as "my friend".
* This Is My Name on Foreign: The Count poses as a Count de Ville (Dracula = "son of the Dragon", de Ville = Devil - get it?
* Through the Eyes of Madness: There are a couple long stretches that read like this. Notably, Jonathan's diary entries get like this, especially if read taking into consideration exactly how his sense of time passing has been screwed up. It's definitely a viable interpretation that the main cast are all pretty cracked.
* Token Super: Mina is the only member of Van Helsing's Vampire Hunter crew who has supernatural powers, due to an, uh, close encounter with the title villain half-way through the book. These allow her to "tune in" into Dracula's head, letting Van Helsing track his movement.
* Token Wizard: Mina Harker is the only member of Van Helsing's Vampire Hunter team who has supernatural powers, owing to her unpleasantly close encounters with the title villain.
* Took a Level in Badass: Jonathan goes from terrified vampire victim to hunting Dracula with a kukri.
* Tomboy and Girly Girl: Mina is a "New Woman" of the times of emerging feminism, while Lucy is far more sweet and girly. They're best friends.
* Tongue-Tied: This is one of the things Count Dracula does to Mina Harker after biting her and forming a Psychic Link so he can spy on the heroes (Dr. Seward observes that her "tongue seems tied" and she seems desperately to want to speak at certain times but can't), undoubtedly to prevent her from turning the tables on him and sharing his plans with her teammates. Unfortunately for the Count, Mina finds a way to break his control during the magically-critical times of sunrise and sunset and provides very helpful Psychic Radar.
* To the Pain: Dracula's speech to Mina.
* Tragically Misguided Favor: Seward, Holmwood, Quincey, and Van Helsing stretch their limited time and resources to the breaking point to protect Lucy from vampire attacks, and restore her strength from the previous attacks. Keeping watch over her at night, giving her blood transfusions when necessary, making sure all the windows are sealed tight, etc. When Van Helsing procures some garlic flowers, they can relax a little, because the garlic will protect Lucy without anyone having to watch her. Unfortunately, Lucy's mother — kept in the dark due to a heart condition, and thus completely unaware of the gravity of the situation or the importance of the garlic — removes the flowers because they're making the room stuffy, and also opens the windows to let fresh air in. This leaves Lucy with absolutely no protection that night, and she gets attacked again, requiring yet another blood transfusion. After all the setbacks they've faced already, to be set back again by Mrs. Westenra's well-meaning interference is so frustrating that for the first time in his life, Dr. Seward sees Van Helsing break down. Van Helsing: This poor mother, all unknowing, and all for the best as she think, does such thing as lose her daughter body and soul; and we must not tell her, we must not even warn her, or she die, and then both die. Oh, how we are beset! How are all the powers of the devils against us!
* Transhuman Treachery:
** Defied. The vampires try to force Mina to help them, but she refuses. Albeit with a little help from Van Helsing via his charms (she's still under Dracula's spell after all and the charms counteract his hold on her).
** Van Helsing presumes that Dracula initially was looking into occult magic to help his country during the war and turned himself into an undead. But as time went on, forgot the reason he did so, became corrupted and now seeks to spread the vampirisim.
* Trope Maker/Trope Codifier: Defined most of the standard vampire tropes; vampire folklore varies wildly throughout the world, but Stoker's winnowing of these inconsistent myths results in the standard set of vampire powers and weaknesses. However, some of Dracula's attributes didn't catch on, most notably his unhandsome appearance and weakness to Cold Iron (probably cribbed from Irish vampire-like fey the dearg-due).
* True Companions: Jonathan and Mina Harker, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming, and Quincey Morris form one when they vow to slay the vampire that killed Lucy. Later, after Mina gets an evil scar following her own encounter with the Count, as Jonathan embraces her in her anguish, their friends silently join them: "Then without a word we all knelt down together, and all holding hands, swore to be true to each other."
* Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Abraham Van Helsing, M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., etc.
* Überwald, with tastes of Ruritania, and even a bit of Oireland.
* Unbuilt Trope:
** The book was published when "vampires" were ghoulish specters of Satan rather than rape allegories, and Stoker was more than happy to deconstruct both at the same time; as such the Count bears little resemblance to the vampires we know and love today. Dracula is less suave master of the night and more old cranky warlock. He was only handsome if he could be arsed enough to shapeshift; his default form was a wrinkled hairy man. He was bad at seduction and resorted to hypnosis or kidnapping for most of his food, and his female victims were setups for tuberculosis imagery instead of anything sexual. He was a Daywalking Vampire. His vulnerability to the old medieval superstitions (requires soil from his homeland to rest in, cannot cross running water without a boat, Must Be Invited, etc) leaves him easy pickings for Van Helsing and makes him easy to track when he tries to flee back to his castle. Most egregiously, he's not killed by impaling stake or silver, but an (admittedly pretty cool) beheading by kukri knife!
** A lot of media paints Abraham Van Helsing as a hardcore expert in vampires and knowing how to deal with them. In truth in the novel, while somewhat composed, even he knows he's in a bit over his head since the supernatural isn't something simple that medical science will explain or have a concrete solution to. When he sees Lucy, it takes a while for him to come to the conclusion that she's being attacked by a vampire and, by then, Dracula has bitten her twice. His counteractions are just simple wards at best and it doesn't take much for his efforts to be ruined and Dracula to finish feeding on Lucy. Van Helsing is just as horrified when Lucy starts turning on her deathbed and even more so when having to actually confront her vampire form in the cemetery, just barely preventing Arthur from being bitten by her (twice!). He's likewise just as shaken when he finally confronts Dracula at night and does indeed become scared for Mina during the trip up to Dracula's castle. Heck, the whole encounter with the vampire women when they attack the camp Mina and he were in was an on-the-fly plan since he wasn't really sure if the makeshift holy circle of wafers he made would really protect the two of them, which luckily for him, it did. The point of all this is that, at the end of the day, Van Helsing isn't a professional vampire hunter; he's just a simple doctor trying hard to keep up with the situation as best he can.
* Undeath Always Ends: Dracula, the vampire "sisters" (who were probably turned years beforehand) and Lucy Westenra (changed into a vampire) are all killed.
* Unreliable Narrator: Within the context of the novel, the story exists as a series of transcriptions of letters and newspaper clippings about the eponymous vampire; about midway through the novel, Dracula destroys the originals by tossing them into a fireplace in order to discredit the protagonists should they ever wish to make their story public. The transcriptions are kept by Mina Harker, a trained secretary, who foresees the usefulness in keeping backups. However, Mina herself undergoes some pretty severe trauma throughout the course of the novel; apart from the whole vampire-hunting thing, her best friend is turned by Dracula (and then staked by her friends), and she very narrowly escapes being turned into a vampire herself, which brings her mental state and her reliability as a recordkeeper into question.
* Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Lucy's mother is partly responsible for killing Lucy by opening the window and removing the garlic so that Dracula can get into the room.
* The Vamp: Dracula's three vampire companions, and Lucy when she becomes a vampire.
* Vampire Hickey:
** When Mina finds Lucy outside after she sleepwalks from their bedroom. She barely catches a glimpse of Dracula hunched over her before he flees, not knowing what he is at the time. So when she retrieves Lucy and brings her back, she sees the marks on Lucy's neck and assumes she pricked her with a safety pin though Lucy notes she doesn't feel any pain. As she starts to fall ill from later attacks, Seward can't make the connection that the mark is related to her declining health and it's only till Van Helsing is brought in, that mark signal him of a vampire attack. Alas, when Lucy is drained too heavily a third and final time, the marks heal on their own, which Van Helsing cites is too late for her.
** Mina gains her own when Dracula bites her after forcing her to drink his blood, this combination is so she'll turn regardless if she's alive or not as long as Dracula lives. The book downplays this though for the imprint wafer that's burned into her skin, but the bite marks are likewise noted to be a sign of if she's in danger of turning if they close.
* Vampire Hunter: Van Helsing is never described as a vampire hunter; he's merely a doctor with knowledge of exotic diseases. It's never explicitly said, but Van Helsing clearly demonstrates perfect knowledge of vampire weaknesses and is instantly willing to make use of his knowledge after noting that Lucy's symptoms match those in the legends, without so much as a hint of skepticism. This would seem to imply that he has some previous experience with vampires or other supernatural phenomena, even in the original novel. On the other hand, he doesn't recognize Lucy's symptoms on sight, he has to periodically return to Amsterdam to do more research, and it takes him a while — too long, in fact, to prevent Lucy's death — to understand what's going on.
* Vampire Monarch: Count Dracula is described as the "King Vampire", with direct control over other vampires. While this nobleman only has three other vampires in his castle, it is beyond doubt all vampires in the story only answer to Count Dracula, and the fact that the person whom he was named after, Vlad the Impaler, was an actual monarch.
* Vampire Procreation Limit: The exact details are unknown, but it seems that, contrary to popular belief, not every victim from a vampire bite becomes a vampire him/herself since none of the ship's crew Dracula ate on his journey to London rose as vampires. The Count forces Mina to drink his blood, forming a mental link between them, but he's not shown doing this to any of the other women he turned.
* Vampire Refugee: Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker. For Lucy, it wasn't known what was weakening her till Van Helsing was called in. She would've probably been cured were it not for a few too many bad circumstances. Mina is a bit more fortunate, since Dracula has to flee before he can fully transform her. She feels his presence within her spying on the hunters. And, when confronted by the vampire 'sisters' near the end of the story, senses the vampirism welling up in her.
* Vampire Vannabe: Renfield seems to be trying to emulate vampirism, though with less understanding of the mechanics as we know it today... by eating flies, spiders, and small birds. And at one point he asks for a kitten...
* Vampire Vords: Averted. Dracula speaks excellent English, and has called Harker to his castle to, more than anything, help him get rid of his accent so that he won't be seen as another Funny Foreigner when he has moved to England.
* Vampires Are Rich: Count Dracula is the go-to example. Dracula lives in a big castle and summons Jonathan Harker to Transylvania to help him buy land in England. Harker notes that Dracula doesn't have any servants, but we later find out that it's because no local will come near the place. Dracula's continuing source of income seems to be buried treasure that is marked by Will-o'-the-Wisps one night out of the year.
* Vampires Are Sex Gods: While Dracula is more of a personified venereal disease, his wives seem to become impossibly beautiful and seductive.
* Vampire's Harem: Dracula is the Trope Codifier, though it's something of an Unbuilt Trope since the three female vampires are merely implied to be his wives, but never outright confirmed. If anything, it's heavily implied they might be blood-related since two of them share the same physical resemblance to him. Of course, this doesn't cancel out the other alternative, since vampirism is used as an metaphor for sexual deviancy in the book.
* Vampires Hate Garlic: Van Helsing attempts to protect Lucy from Dracula by giving her a garland of garlic flowers to wear, and rubbing garlic around all the entrances of her bedroom. Unfortunately Lucy's mother, who wasn't informed of why it was there, removes the garland leaving her daughter vulnerable again.
* Vampires Sleep in Coffins: The rules in Bram Stoker's original novel were actually way more complicated. Dracula lost his powers in the daylight and still had to rest sometime. He could only do so in a coffin containing soil from his homeland, and leaving a fragment of blessed Communion wafer in the coffins ruined them for his use. A large part of the early hunt for Dracula was eliminating all his coffins and safehouses in England.
* Vasquez Always Dies: Inverted. The sexually curious yet feminine Lucy is killed by the eponymous villain. However, Mina, the maternal yet logical wife of Jonathan Harker, survives. Indeed, Van Helsing even describes Mina as having a 'man's brain'.
* Victorian Novel Disease: Parodied, or Played for Drama, or used as a Red Herring, depending on how you read the novel. In classic literature, tuberculosis was used as a stock disease. It was rarely referred to by name, but the symptoms were always the same: a young lady would become pale and sleepy, and a blush would show on her sickly face. When Van Helsing refuses to name Lucy's illness, the reader of the era would have assumed that she has tuberculosis. But actually, Van Helsing realizes that she's becoming a vampire.
* Viewers Are Geniuses: Stoker seemingly overestimated widespread knowledge of vampire lore, creating a situation where the fandom rather than the author is widely Sadly Mythtaken. Dracula is destroyed by a knife through the heart rather than a stake. Sharp steel or iron objects like needles or knives are effective vampire kryptonite in Slavic mythology, yet adaptations, sequels, and even "scholarly" annotated versions of the novel jump on the lack of a wooden stake as proof that Dracula is Not Quite Dead.
* Villainous Incest: Dracula has three companions called "sisters": one blonde and two brunettes. The two brunette vampires are described as having facial features similar to Count Dracula. Meanwhile, the blonde bride is described as having authority over the other two. Many readers have speculated that the blonde bride is the mother of the two brunettes, and that Dracula is the father.
* Villainous Rescue. Jonathan is almost bitten by one of the vampire women, when Dracula arrives to stop them. Of course, Dracula has has no intention of letting Jonathan live, but he still needs him.
* Villainous Widow's Peak: Dracula does have one, though it's given less attention than his other, more strange features.
* Virus-Victim Symptoms: We see it gradually with Lucy as more of her blood is taken. Starting with becoming weak and pale, then becoming susceptible to Dracula's power. And finally, as she dies the first time, the bite marks on her neck suddenly heal, her canines become sharper and her demeanor suddenly becomes more lustful.
* Wacky Americans Have Wacky Names: Quincey P. Morris. Although he isn't exactly comic, he is a rootin', tootin' and shootin' American man of action.
* Wall Crawl: One of the first obvious hints that Dracula is something other than human occurs when Jonathan Harker witnesses the Count crawling down the castle walls face first. In a twist of irony, it's implied Jonathan actually escaped from Castle Dracula the same way (although probably not face first).
* Weakened by the Light: Averted. Dracula is weak only at sunup and sundown. Being in sunlight has no direct harmful affect on him (he's seen approaching Lucy before the sun goes down), though he does suffer from Shapeshifter Mode Lock during daytime. However since he's weak at sunup and sundown they use this to great effect when they open his coffin just as the sun sets.
* Weaksauce Weakness: The book averts most of the popular traditional vampire weaknesses; for example, Dracula can't be killed by most conventional means, and can use his shapeshifting powers during dawn, noon, and dusk. However, he does have unique weaknesses; he can only cross running water during high or low tide (this amounts to 12 hours and 25 minutes per day), needs to keep a small amount of Transylvanian soil in his home, and needs to be invited inside before he can enter a building (considering this is Victorian era England and he is a noble, this is a non-matter).
* The Weird Sisters: Invoked by Jonathan Harker in his journal, when he refers to the three vampire women as "those weird sisters".
* Who You Gonna Call?: Van Helsing, though originally as a consultant on abnormal medical phenomena rather than a vampire hunter. Luckily, he also happens to be the latter, too, and formally initiates his 5 new friends into a team of vampire busters.
* Wicked Cultured: Dracula comes across as a fairly refined, rich old gentleman before he's revealed as a vampire.
* Wine Is Classy: Dracula does not drink... wine. He does serve it to his guests, however. Jonathan Harker even comments on the "bottle of excellent Old Tokay"note  he is served with his first dinner in castle Dracula.
* Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: All the vampires, whose souls are unable to find peace until their bodies are destroyed, and who are described as bearing tranquil expressions once they have been "purified". Mina even grows to pity Dracula, and to consider his destruction a mercy.
* Worth It: Two of the protagonists' group of True Companions rush at Dracula's coffin in the climax in a risky bid to finish him off before he has a chance to regroup. They succeed, but Dracula's hired goons fight back before scattering, mortally wounding one of them. His last words were declaring that it was worth dying to see that killing Dracula successfully removed a vampiric curse on one of his friends. Quincy and Jonathan are the men who rush the coffin, Mina has her curse removed, and Quincy is the one who dies, with Mina and Jonathan naming their children after him.
* Would Hurt a Child:
** After Lucy was turned into a vampire, children were her favorite targets.
** One of Dracula's most monstrous actions in the book is feeding a child he has just abducted to the vampire women of the castle. The child is even kept in a sack.
* Wound That Will Not Heal: The wound to the forehead that Harker gives the Count early in the novel never heals. Whether this is because Dracula, being already dead, cannot heal wounds, or simply because not enough time passes, or something else, is never made clear.
* Writers Cannot Do Math: Most of the dates in the journal entries make no sense when compared with characters' descriptions of events in the text.
* You Are the Translated Foreign Word: One extract has four of them. In this case though, he's not saying the same thing twice himself, just reporting something he heard and providing a translation, presumably for his own future reference. "I must say they were not cheering to me, for amongst them were "Ordog" — Satan, "Pokol" — hell, "stregoica" — witch, "vrolok" and "vlkoslak" — both mean the same thing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is either werewolf or vampire. (Mem., I must ask the Count about these superstitions.)"
* You Are Too Late: When Seward summons Van Helsing, he notices the bite marks on Lucy's neck getting bigger (due to Dracula exacerbating the wound with his bites). After his third attack, they try to give her a blood transfusion but by then they notice she's much paler then usual. When Arthur comes near her, her demeanour changes to being uncharacteristically lustful and Van Helsing notices her bite marks have vanished and fangs have formed in her mouth. This confirms, to his dismay, that she is beyond saving and is becoming a vampire.
* You Are Worth Hell: Vampirism is considered inevitably a Fate Worse than Death (becoming undead, change of personality to evil, feeding on living blood, etc). Which makes it a rather disquieting when Jonathan Harker, faced with the possibility that his Vampire Refugee wife might not be saved, resolves that, no matter what, she will not meet that fate alone.
* You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Mina knows something is wrong when Jonathan calls her Wilhelmina.
* You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: This, along with He Knows Too Much, is presumably why Dracula keeps Harker prisoner in the castle and then leaves him there to his (presumed) demise at the hands of the vampire women that he also leaves behind.
== Abilities ==
Vampires are also much stronger and faster than humans, displaying impressive strength to jump and leap great distances and deliver blows and strikes that can knock a full grown man across a room and moving fast enough to side-step bullets. Their pounces and throws can make concrete crack. They possess impressive physical resilience, shrugging off injuries that would kill a normal human, with the wound only slowing them down. Injuries they receive recover quickly, taking less time than it would for humans or even regenerating lost body parts, a process which is sped up by the consumption of blood.[citation needed]
Vampires can perform amazing feats of superhuman agility. Vampire senses are also heightened to a very levels. Vampires can perceive things in the ultraviolet spectrum. Depending on what Tribe they come from, Vampires will possess specific strengths and drawbacks, in addition to their inherent abilities. These vampires, especially the Reapers, have also been shown to be able to scale almost any surface, in the same manner as spiders.[citation needed]
All vampires share common superhuman abilities regardless of whether they were born a vampire, or were once human and were subsequently turned into a vampire. The only exceptions are vampire offshoots such as half-vampires (Daywalkers) and those who are carriers of the Reaper Strain.
* Vampirism: Vampirism is the physiological act of becoming and/or turning another human being into a vampire. Despite its roots in European folklore, vampirism exists in nature, and there are many such creatures who are actually born as vampires. Pathologically, vampirism is likened to a virus, carried in the saliva of predators. The vampire enzyme is carried through a victim's bloodstream and within seventy-two hours, mutates the subject's physiology, creating new parasitic organs. It has been described as "cancer with a purpose".
* Immortality: Vampires are immortal creatures whose bodies cease to physically age beyond a certain point. Pure blood vampires will age into adulthood, while turned vampires maintain the physical form they had when they were still human. Theoretically, a vampire can live forever providing that it is not destroyed.
* Protractile Fangs/Claws: Vampires possess adapted musculature around the canine teeth that can extend these to become fangs. Similarly, they can also extend their fingernails to claw-like proportions.
* Superhuman Strength: Most vampires possess superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires are capable of lifting from 1,000 lbs to 4,000 lbs. A vampire's enhanced strength also enables them to perform other superhuman feats such as leaping great distances. Supplementing their strength, vampires are naturally heartier than normal humans and can withstand severe physical exertion with no ill effects. It is unknown if vampire strength levels differ between pure bloods and turned vampires.
* Superhuman Durability: With the exception of certain restrictions, vampires are essentially invulnerable to most forms of bodily harm, including the effects of disease, and the natural cellular mitosis that comes with aging. Vampires are not living creatures, and as such, they do not require oxygen to breathe. Vampires can exist without undue stress in oxygen free environments such as being submerged under water or buried beneath the earth. Excessive force will cause physical damage to a vampire, but their bodies will regenerate damaged tissue providing they can supplement themselves with regular supplies of blood.
* Superhuman Reflexes: A vampire's reflexes, agility and reaction time are many times greater than a normal human being. At maximum optimal capacity, a vampire can move more quickly than the human eye can perceive.
Elite vampires, such as Level B and Purebloods are known to have special powers. The following powers have been demonstrated:
* All vampires display an accelerated healing. The purer the vampire blood, the stronger the healing factor.
* Decelerated aging: the purer the vampire blood, the longer the life of the vampire. Purebloods are immortal. They age very slowly and they can only be killed if someone cuts off their head or if they are continuously immobilized and shot/stabbed in the heart with an anti-vampire weapon.
* Ability to erase memories.
* Ability to use animals as a familiar, to watch and listen.
* Telekinetic powers, able to use these highly destructively.
* Aristocrats most commonly display the ability to control an individual element, such as fire, ice, lightning, etc.
* All vampires have heightened senses like their ability to smell blood from a great distance.
* Super strength, vampires can tear through flesh with ease and destroy large concrete structures (walls, pillars, etc.) and can leap great distances
* All vampires have accelerated speed, they are able to appear beside someone instantly.
The full extent of their powers are only known amongst their Pureblood companions. Their true powers remain a mystery. They have ethereal (extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world) beauty of the Purebloods and they are immortal, meaning they live forever unless an anti-vampire weapon is used to cut off their heads or pierce their hearts. Any other injury is healable, including having one's head cut off or blown to pieces, if a Pureblood uses the blood of another Pureblood to heal them. When a Pureblood vampire is killed, their bodies slowly disperse into small sparkles before shattering into shards of glass.
It is heavily implied that each vampire has a unique power such as Rido Kuran's ability to manipulate his blood or Shizuka Hio's control over plants. Their blood is highly prized and many have attempted to drink their blood, this includes both humans and Noble vampires. The blood of a Pureblood can give vampires new powers. Aside from the standard powers shown by other vampires, Purebloods have also demonstrated the following:
* They can form shadow puppets/spies using parts of their flesh which are capable of shape shifting.
* They can transform parts of themselves into animals.
* Purebloods can create familiars of any form they choose, use their powers and control them.
* Powers to perform spells to seal off the vampire side of vampires, thus making them a normal human. The spell also erases all of his/her memories of being a vampire. However this spell comes at the price of their life. (The vampire converted to human, eventually must return to his/her true nature, if not, he/she descends into madness. However, this was only in Yuki Kuran's case as Isaya Shoto said his son died human).
* Ability to control lower vampires physically.
* Ability to put vampires and humans to sleep for a short time.
* Erasing Memories and can control elements.
* Telekinesis and can cast spells.
* Morph the flesh and bodies of others transforming them.
* Ability to possess the bodies of other vampires.
* They can also put themselves to sleep for a very long time, even hundreds of years, and be resurrected through a blood sacrifice.
* Purebloods can transform themselves into the form of a baby and grow into their body.
* Purebloods can become each other's masters if one is awakened by another from slumber.
* Enhanced sense of smell.
* Enhanced strength, speed, and stamina.
* Enhanced durability, agility, and senses.
* They can feel and see memories of others by drinking their blood.
* Their blood can heal human illnesses and give them a small amount of strength. (But for a human to drink pureblood's blood, might die due to their blood being highly poisonous to them).
* Ability to turn humans into vampires and retain complete control over them by becoming their master, rendering the vampire unable to kill them. The blood of their master will also prevent an ex-human from becoming a Level E vampire.
The Kurans are unique among Purebloods as some members of the family possess and display the ability to handle anti-vampire weapons. Juri Kuran, Yuki Kuran, Kaname Kuran (although he can hold such weapons, it does harm him) and Rido Kuran have demonstrated this ability.
The Ancestors like Purebloods are the strongest type of vampires who are blessed with incredible powers. Although they were born from human parents, they have no human blood in their lineage.
Like their descendants, the Purebloods, the Ancestors had the ability to turn humans into vampires. If a lower class vampire (level B, C, and D) continually drinks their blood it will make their abilities more powerful and increase their lifespan. While their blood and flesh is toxic for humans to consume, the rare few who survive end up gaining accelerated healing capabilities and the ability sense vampires. These select few later become known as Vampire Hunter.
=== Powers ===
A vampire is a human being who has died but has been resurrected by specific supernatural means and possesses a variety of supernatural abilities and specific limitations, most notably to frequently ingest fresh blood in order to maintain their own existence. Vampires have often been referred to as "undead" throughout the centuries since, even when active, they were not truly alive in the same sense as ordinary human beings. Technically, they can be classified as actually being dead.[citation needed]
==== Sustenance ====
Vampires require the fresh blood of living beings, preferably the blood of humans, in order to sustain their physical existence and, usually, obtained it by biting their victims and draining their blood. The bite of a vampire transferred a very mysterious enzyme found only within the saliva of a vampire into the bloodstream of the victim. If the vampire drank enough blood to cause the death of the victim, this enzyme would trigger an unusual metabolic change within the victim's body, beginning with the production of an unusual green liquid referred to as ichor into the bloodstream.[citation needed]
After roughly three days, there would be enough of this liquid in the victim's body that it would begin to course through the victims veins in the same way their blood once did. The victim then returned as a vampire and was capable of all the basic capabilities of ordinary humans, with the exception of being able to have children, plus a number of superhuman abilities. However, if the victim retained sufficient blood to survive the vampire's attack, he or she would begin to show signs of anemia because of the presence of the enzyme in his or her bloodstream. The victim would not die under such circumstances. Until a newly created vampire's body metabolized the enzyme, a process that might take as long as several months in some cases, he or she would be extremely weak and highly susceptible to hypnotic suggestions, verbally or through long range mental contact, by the vampire responsible for the attack. There was also a distinct possibility of the newly-turned vampire developing a perverse sexual attraction for the vampire responsible for the transformation.[citation needed]
A new vampire is not created unless the attacking vampire wishes to do so, or loses control and injects too much enzyme.[citation needed] The attacking vampire can free its victim from becoming a vampire before the final transformation.
==== Summoning and Shape-shifting ====
Vampires could summon and control certain creatures such as bats, wolves, and rats. Vampires could also transform themselves into bats, and in the case of some vampires, wolves, while retaining their human intelligence in these forms. Some vampires could even become human-sized bats. Vampires could also transform themselves into mist at will, while still retaining their normal consciousnesses in that form.[citation needed]
==== Mind Control ====
A vampire can control the will of those it bites, even before the victim fully transforms into a vampire, although those with great willpower can defy control; Dracula was amazed when Storm did so twice. A vampire can make most human beings into its temporary slave if he or she could catch their gaze for a sufficient amount of time, usually only a matter of seconds. The exact length of time needed to mesmerize the victim depends on the strength of will of the vampire and that of his or her victim.[citation needed]
==== Health ====
Vampires were rendered immune to the ravages of disease and of aging. However, if deprived of blood for a lengthy period of time, a vampire would begin to show distinct signs of aging, such as his or her hair turning gray. Upon ingesting fresh blood, the vampire would revert to the age in which he or she had been at the time of death.[citation needed]
In most cases, vampires were able to heal themselves from minor injuries within a very brief period of time. Some vampires, such as Count Dracula, could heal from severe burns or broken bones within the span of a few hours, where as most other vampires might require several days to heal the exact same injury. Vampires were not able to regenerate missing organs or severed portions of their anatomy, with the exception of hair. Apart from periodic inconveniences, injuries like these would not critically impair a vampire's effectiveness. Because the ichor was similar in function to blood, poisons and other toxic substances that were circulated in its bloodstream would adversely affect a vampire, although no dosage was large enough to cause death.[citation needed]
=== Abilities ===
* Will Power: The overall extent of a vampire's abilities depended upon the strength of the vampire's will. Exceptional vampires with powerful wills, such as Dracula or Varnae, were capable of summoning and controlling thunderstorms, even though the mystical concentration required to do so left them extremely weak for a certain period of time. The vampire's willpower could also determine the extent to which he or she could master their craving for blood and retain the same personality they had in life. However, most people that became vampires quickly found themselves unable to resist the all consuming craving for blood. They quickly degenerated into cruel and animalistic hunters of ordinary human beings, even if these new vampires had been kind and sensitive people in their mortal lives.[citation needed]
=== Average Strength Level ===
Most vampires possessed superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires were capable of lifting from 1,000 lbs to 4,000 lbs, with only Count Dracula and his predecessor Varnae being known to lift more at 4 and 7 tons respectively due to their special stance as ruler of Earth's vampire race.[citation needed]
=== Strength ===
Vampires possessed superhuman physical strength, though the exact extent and limits of this strength are debatable and often varied from individual to individual in the same way that it does in humans; either because of their age, what supernatural blood they had consumed, or how long they'd been a vampire.[citation needed] Some vampires were capable of deforming metal with their hands, while others were held back by wooden doors (that were barricaded from the other side albeit).
Angel was able to break out metal chains after hours of trying, tear a man's heart out with his bare hands, rip a demon's limbs off, and claimed he could literally rip a man's head off his body.
Spike and Drusilla were able to kill enemies by punching a hole through their torsos, while Angel and Dracula had decapitated opponents with a single blow. Spike had even at one point single-handedly flipped over a car in anger.
The vampire's strength also appeared to increase when in their "vamp face," as Buffy ordered Angel to assume it before he fought off vampires to keep them from butting into Buffy's fight with the Master. Furthermore, after assuming his vampire face, Angel was able to briefly overpower the Beast in fight and force him to his knees before he was overwhelmed by the latter's superior strength.
The blood of enhanced human and human-like beings augmented their strength to a great degree. Vampires also derived pleasure from the act of feeding off such humans. Examples of vampires feeding on superhumans and gaining a charge include:
* The Slayer's blood was the only cure for a poison called the Killer of the Dead. Feeding off Slayers provided a temporary "high" as well; Spike likened it to an aphrodisiac on his first taste. Slayer (Buffy's) blood also provided enough temporary strength to enable the Master to escape his mystical prison.
* Angel, while inadvertently feeding from Connor's blood, who had supernatural qualities himself, was strong enough to rip a demon's arm from its body effortlessly.
* For his initiation in the Circle of the Black Thorn, Angel was given "supercharged warrior juice": Drogyn's blood.
* Angel's strength was greatly augmented after drinking from Marcus Hamilton, a supernatural humanoid being infused with the power of the Senior Partners and dramatically stronger than Angel.
=== Speed ===
Vampires could move much faster than normal humans. They could flash across distances in an instant and perform actions very quickly in complete silence; the Master disappeared from Buffy's line of sight when she briefly looked away before hearing his voice from afar, Spike drained and hid the bodies of two fully grown men in a few seconds without alerting the girl they were walking with, and Angel entered and exited Buffy's bedroom from her window without her noticing.
Angel could run at such speeds that he appeared to teleport. On one occasion, Angel moved so fast that as he was chasing down Jennifer Calendar he appeared in front of her even after she slowed him down from another direction. Penn took out a room of armed police officers so fast that he was perceived as a fast-moving blur from the perspective of Kate, a human.
Vampires had incredible reaction speed; Angel once spun around and caught a crossbow bolt fired at his back from point-blank range, side-stepped a tranquilizer dart fired at a close range and dodged bullets fired from multiple riflemen. Even a lesser vampire could bat away crossbow bolt fired less than 10 feet away.
=== Agility ===
Vampires possessed greater athleticism and maneuverability than normal humans and could leap great heights and distances. A newly-risen Darla effortlessly rose up to the ceiling with Angel in hand to smash his head against the glass plane above.
Angel possessed the ability to jump over 10 feet in the air. He once jumped over a tall gate, and reached an airborne helicopter by leaping from within inside a building. On occasion, he could jump almost 100 feet in the air.
=== Durability ===
Being undead, vampires could endure and survive near-limitless amounts of bodily damage so long as they were not decapitated or staked through the heart (see #Weaknesses). Their bodies appeared more durable to blunt force trauma than humans and could shrug off otherwise mortal wounds. However, a certain degree of damage could cause visible or debilitating effects.[citation needed]
Drusilla was once hit by a car, but instantly got up completely unfazed. A member of the Order of Aurelius was also hit by a bus and had no difficulty in killing the bus driver and the passengers afterwards. Angel and Spike could take multiple gunshots to the torso and still escape. Spike even using his body as a human shield to protect Gunn and Lindsey McDonald from a Uzi sub-machine gunfire which bloodily shredded his back but didn't slow him down in the slightest. Explosives could kill vampires, but older vampires like Angel and Spike could withstand explosions within close range to the source with their bodies intact and fully mobile. Vampires could fall from high altitudes (such as skyscrapers) and land with little to no injury. Vampires could also have live surgery preformed on them with little preparation or equipment.
=== Healing ===
Vampires could heal more quickly than humans, though the process could vary depending on the severity of the injury (from months to mere seconds). After a brutal fight between himself and Faith, Angel was barely scorched the next day, while Faith was still healing herself. Some vampires could receive permanent scars (see #Injuries); in his battle against Xin Rong, Spike left with a permanent scar on his eyebrow. Although, modern vampires were unable to regenerate lost limbs by themselves.
Angel was beaten several times with a crowbar, but recovered in slightly over a minute and was able to engage in a full-blown sword fight with Buffy without any physical handicap. Similarly, Angel was run over by a truck and beaten with a sledgehammer several times across his chin and mid-section, and recovered to fighting form in mere seconds. Angel once took a shotgun blast to the back which pained him for the next few hours, but was completely healed and ready to fight the following night.
Spike was capable of regenerating his spine after a wound that made him unable to walk. He could also have both of his hands surgically reattached after being cut off, demanding minimum physical therapy to regain its function. Spike once had his eardrums poked out, but regenerated them seconds later amidst fighting a siren.
Darla's hand was impaled by a stake and it completely healed moments later.
=== Senses ===
Being primarily nocturnal, vampires had enhanced hearing, smell and night vision. They were especially sensitive to the scent of blood, and could distinguish individual humans and vampires by scent, as shown by the newly sired Gunn. There were exceptions: Spike was unable to identify Charlotte, nor Harmony with Tamika before they showed their vamp-face (Tamika suggested she would have if she "wore less of that tacky perfume"). Alphonse and his minions took some time to distinguish between both Willow and her alternate reality counterpart. The vampire Carl was also taken aback by Spike's resistance while they were in confrontation.
Spike in particular had an acute sense of smell; when the Scooby Gang turned on Buffy and forced her to leave, Spike tracked her down by scent alone at least several hours after she had left. He was also able to track down the demon Gnarl and the Slayer Dana. Angel could tell by scent that Wesley had sex with a bleached blonde the night before, and also tracked the scent of a Triune demon across the city of London. Dracula recognized Giles when he was his child self based on the scent of his blood. Vampires apparently were attracted to bright colors, and the Sunnydale citizens in an alternate reality were careful not to wear brightly colored clothing.
Vampires possessed a highly advanced sense of hearing which allowed them to pick up faint noises from far distances. Members of a vampire cult were able to overhear Fred whisper something to Darla, who then informed her: "vampires have great hearing." Angel heard a bloodthirsty demon hiss from the top floor of the Hyperion. Darla used this when she spied on Buffy and Willow through a window of the library.
Vampires appeared to possess some degree of night vision. When the Mayor turned the school's lights off, Angel assured Buffy that he could "see all right." The Order of Aurelius vampires also had no problem navigating the dark sewers in pursuit of Buffy and Xander who had to use flashlights (in fact, vampires in general would normally use sewer systems to transverse during day time without any lighting aids). Additionally, the Aurelius vamps' eyes illuminated in the dark in a similar manner to many animals do which help them see in low-light environments. However, unlike their other senses, a vampire's night vision appeared to be inconsistent; Angel at one point used night vision goggles while working a case with Kate Lockley, while Spike needed a flashlight to see in the abandoned Initiative base.
Their powers of perception were so great that they were capable of perceiving certain minuscule details that most beings would easily overlook. An example of this was when Illyria used her time-slowing powers to facilitate her and Knox's escape from the Wolfram & Hart Science Lab, Spike was the only one who "saw a blur" just before Illyria vanished, leading to him, Angel, Gunn, and Wesley to speculate that her inexplicable disappearance stemmed from altering time rather than teleportation.
Several vampires, including Dalton, Penn, and Marcus, wore eyeglasses. According to Angel, if a vampire required glasses as a human, they still needed them after their siring. Spike wore eyeglasses as a human, but as a vampire he discarded them; however, he showed difficulty reading a journal that Dawn read with ease and held the object away while reading a book and a letter.
=== Immortality ===
Vampires could live for centuries without the passage of time deteriorating their health or physically aging their previous human appearance from the point they were sired. However, older and experienced vampires were capable of strengthening their powers, and their advanced age would eventually manifest more demonic features (see #Age).
=== Combat ===
It appeared that, upon being sired, vampires gained inherent combat capabilities, even if they were never formally trained before. Indeed, Maloker created the first vampires to be his army against humans.
When being taught how to slay, Dawn hoped that the newborn vampire pitted against her might not "know all the fancy martial arts they inevitably seem to pick up," though she was proven wrong. On one occasion, Angel, even while suffering from amnesia and believing himself to be a teenager, managed to defeat Connor by fighting purely on instinct. Spike also fought off and killed multiple vampires while suffering from a memory loss spell.
One exception appeared to be Harmony, who had poor fighting skills during her first year as vampire, equally matching up against the human Xander in a fight. Over time after her first break-up with Spike, the newly-independent Harmony eventually began honing her instincts, holding her own in fights against Riley, Spike, and fellow Wolfram & Hart employee Tamika.
=== Sharp fingernails ===
Vampire fingernails were much sharper than human ones. Vampires like Drusilla and Dracula had killed by slashing their victim's necks with their nails, and a random vampire caused Jasmine heavy bleeding by sinking his nails into her arm for a brief moment. Additionally, Darla, Drusilla, and Dracula had used their nails to draw their own blood to feed the person they wished to sire.
Spike mentioned his desire to turn his fingernails into claws to incorporate into his fighting (saying it was "always more Dru's thing"), and did use them to tear a demonic entity posing as his mother into shreds.
=== Rare or unusual powers ===
There were several instances of vampires possessing unusual abilities, either by practicing magic or through some other force:
* Some vampires, including Lothos, the Master, Drusilla, and Dracula, were able to hypnotize their victims.
* Drusilla's precognitive powers came to her as a human, and she retained them as a vampire.
* Marcus, the vampire torturer, sensed Angel's soul and that he had known love.
* Darla sensed Angelus's soul when he was first cursed. Wesley confirmed that some vampires were capable of sensing Angel's soul.
* Angel had a photographic memory. He used it to recall all the people present at an event which he visualized in front of him. However, he claimed that this wasn't an automatic reflex.
* Dracula was able to take the form of a wolf, a bat, a panther, a swarm of bees, and mist. Spike claimed these powers stemmed from gypsy magic. At first, Dracula said these powers were part of "the ancient magics" and that he had risked his soul to achieve them, but he later revealed the spells were mere window dressing, intended to strengthen his power of will. He gained his shapeshifting powers literally by willing it to be so, although it took him decades to achieve them. This meant that potentially any vampire could do this but, as with hypnosis, required sufficient willpower and even then it seemed it had to be amplified first.
* Dracula could reassemble himself after being dusted, as shown when Buffy staked him and he reconstituted shortly after. The only way to permanently kill him was decapitating him and burning the head and body separately.
* The vampire Marissa, whom Connor chased, scaled up the side of a building like a spider, moving very quickly once she made contact with the building.
* When Drusilla dreamed of Archaeus, she levitated in her sleep.
=== Absolute invulnerability ===
: “Not stakes, not fire, and best of all — not sunlight.”
: ―Allen Francis Doyle[src]
Vampires could achieve invulnerability to all their weaknesses mentioned above in at least three ways:
* Wearing the Gem of Amara. The Gem of Amara was destroyed by Angel in the year 2000.
* Having a procedure that removed the vampire's heart and infused his/her body with mystical potions. While rendering the vampire invulnerable, its effects only lasted for six hours. After these passed, the vampire instantly dusted.
* Replacing the heart with one artificial. A human scientist improved the procedure created a replacement artificial heart, extending a vampire's invulnerability indefinitely, or at least until the artificial heart was removed or damaged. However, the scientist warned the vampire not to get his head cut off.
* Becoming the host for Twilight. Angel became a candidate for this prophecy and was endowed with superpowers, which included enhanced strength, flight abilities, and absolute invulnerability. While experiencing this invulnerability, Angel was unable to be staked with an entire tree. However, being in the proximity of the Seed of Wonder allowed him to be hurt.
: "[...] He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses."
: —Rebekah explains the powers of a vampire to Elena.
The supernatural forces that sustain vampires also endow them with superhuman physical abilities as well as powers of mind control. Their physical abilities such as strength, speed, agility, durability, healing and senses all grow stronger with age and experience.
* Super Strength: Vampires are noticeably much stronger than Supernatural Hunters, immortals and humans and slowly grow stronger as they grow older. Even new vampires who are still in transition can toss an average-size, fully-grown human across a room with great speed and force. Their other feats include single-handedly lifting grown men high off the ground by the throat and snapping their necks, cutting off a person's head with their bare hands, and ripping out internal organs such as hearts with little to no effort. Their strength is also more powerful than that of werewolves in their human form and, depending on the age of the vampire, can be equal to that of Evolved werewolves. Their strength allows them to jump higher and further than any natural creature. Vampires who feed on humans are stronger than those who feed on animal blood. In Fifty Shades of Grayson, Damon, a 173 year old vampire, was seen smashing his hand continuously into a stone wall, causing a large portion to chip off. However, young vampires may have difficulties while dealing with truly heavy objects, such as when Caroline, who had been a vampire for roughly three years at this point, couldn't move a large safe by herself in The Cell and asked for Stefan's help, though this could be because the safe was taller and wider than Caroline was, making it more difficult for her to wrap her arms around it to lift it. Although noted that a vampire's strength enhances with age, it can also be noted that the emotional status of the vampire takes a toll on the strength. For example, Caroline was able to fight on par with Damon after only being recently turned, this was according to her, because she was "angrier." This happened again in a fight between the newly-turned Elena and the 500+ year old Katerina Petrova, since Elena was both furiously enraged for her role in her brother, Jeremy's death and managed to catch Katherine off-guard in the fight.
* Super Speed: Vampires are much faster than various other human and supernatural beings such as supernatural hunters, immortals, and werewolves in human form. Vampires can accelerate their movements to cover short distances in an instant, usually faster than the human eye can see. When running across long distances, they appear as vibrating blurs of motion allowing them to appear or vanish quickly and quietly. Their reflexes and dexterity are similarly heightened, allowing them to catch certain projectiles such as arrows and thrown stakes in the air with ease.
* Super Agility: Vampires possess super-human agility, such that they can react quickly, jump very high, climb, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion. For example, Stefan picked up Elena and jumped high enough to propel both of them to the top of a Ferris wheel at a carnival. Similarly, Elena jumped from the ground up onto the roof of a two-story school, and she also jumped down into a ravine that was hundreds of feet deep, landing on her feet with no injuries whatsoever.
* Super Senses: Vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight, smell, and taste that far exceed those of humans and werewolves. They can hear whispered conversations, even ones in far of buildings and on phones, though most vampires typically learn how to tune out most ambient noises when it's not necessary to hear them—Josh, a newborn vampire, explained that vampires can turn their enhanced hearing off, which explains why they can occasionally miss auditory warnings, such as the footsteps of approaching enemies, when they're paying attention to other things. Vampires can also smell blood from several meters away, and see in total darkness. Their senses of taste are also enhanced as well, allowing them to detect the presence of drugs, alcohol, or vervain in someone's blood.
* Super Durability: Vampires can take a great amount of physical damage without being slowed down. Even vampires who have been shot with wooden bullets, which have a weakening effect on vampires, have been seen to continue fighting so long as they were not shot in the heart or the head. Vampires still react to physical force in a human manner, particularly young vampires, who will occasionally be affected even by human-strength-level force. Vampires can also still be stunned and dazed by strikes and trauma, though their tolerance for it will increase as they get older.
* Healing Factor: Vampires recover tissue from any form of physical damage to their bodies within seconds to minutes, though they still feel the pain of a wound before it heals. Vampires can snap their bones back into place after they have been broken and have been seen to fully recover from gunshots, stab wounds, and torso impalement very quickly, so long as they had consumed a regular diet of human blood prior to the injury. Those vampires who feed on animals will still heal much faster than a human, but their injuries, especially severe ones, will take much longer to heal than a vampire who feeds on human blood. The only injury a vampire can sustain that cannot be healed on its own or by consuming more blood is a werewolf bite, which requires Klaus' or Hope's blood or a very rare scientifically-created serum to cure. Also, a vampire's enhanced healing is limited to physical damage to their bodies—many forms of magical damage (such as the damage caused by The Phoenix Sword) and psychological damage are beyond its capability. Vampires cannot grow back body parts, though they can reattach the severed limb with some effort, as evidenced when Bonnie cut off Enzo's hand to use it to get into the basement of the Armory and Alex reattached it while he was passed out.
* Immortality: A vampire stops aging once turned. Upon their transformation, vampires become immune to all conventional illness, diseases, viruses and infections. While vampires who were cancer-free as humans will be immune to cancer after they are turned, those humans who were turned while they had cancer will not only still have it as a vampire, but their newly-enhanced healing factor will accelerate the progression of the cancer cells over two-fold, nearly always causing the cancer-stricken vampire to kill themselves to end their suffering.
* Enhanced Emotions: Vampires experience emotions more powerfully than humans. Emotions like love, joy, and happiness are magnified for vampires, allowing them to live life more intensely. This ability allows vampires to feel emotions at their peak regardless of their age. Conversely, sadness, depression, guilt, fear and anger are also amplified, causing many vampires to become so overwhelmed that they "turn off" their humanity. Turning off their humanity allows them to block out their more negative emotions, such as fear and guilt, allowing them to feed and kill without remorse, go against any opponent without fear, and relieve themselves of painful feelings such as grief, loss, depression, and shame. A vampire without their emotions is far more calculating and direct than one who keeps them on. However, the vampire can become a remorseless killer, and are almost unrecognizable from the person they truly are, as blocking out negative emotions also causes their positive emotions to become dulled or nonexistent as well. Vampires are capable of turning their humanity back on and bringing back their emotions, but it is difficult as a result of the fact that they will be bombarded with all of their repressed emotions in addition to the guilt of anything they did without their humanity with enhanced intensity. This ability fades with time and vampires who are over 500 years old have said that they have lost the ability to turn off their humanity altogether. After time and practice, the overwhelming sensations of heightened emotions fade as the vampire learns to overcome their emotions without turning off their humanity all together.
* Mind Compulsion: Vampires have the ability to influence and control thoughts, emotions, and behavior and can alter or erase memories. There is a sort of hierarchy as to how this ability works and have a weaker form than that of Original vampires and can only compel humans and cannot compel other supernatural beings..
* Sire Bond: Although rare among them, sire bonds can be formed when a human is turned with the blood of the vampire for whom they had strong romantic feelings before they were turned. Those vampires with a sire bond are supernaturally loyal to their sires to the point that they will go out of their way to do whatever their sire asks them to do, even if they don't actually want to do it. However, this bond doesn't affect how they truly feel about their sire, it only affects their behavior.
* Telepathy: Vampires have a limited form of telepathy that allows them to easily enter the minds of humans, and with more effort, the minds of other supernatural beings. Other ways to weaken a vampire to use telepathy on them are to starve them or drain them of blood, inject them with vervain, or expose them to werewolf venom. It is one of the hardest abilities to master, and because of this, it is usually the last of the mind-control-related abilities a vampire learns after becoming proficient in mind compulsion. Normally, this ability works through tactile contact, usually by the vampire placing the palms of his or her hands on the temples of the vampire whose mind they want to enter. The vampire then closes their eyes and focuses on the information they wish to seek, allowing them to sort through their victims' memories until they see what they're looking for. However, Damon and Elijah have been shown to mentally communicate with others from a short distance without tactile contact in order to send distress calls and mental images during emergency situations. Like their physical attributes, a vampire's mental strength increases with age, making it difficult for a vampire to invade the mind of an ancient vampire or even that of the Originals.
** Dream Manipulation: Vampires can also use their power of telepathy to control dreams and the subconscious. This is an aspect of telepathy that is much easier to learn, and with it, a vampire has the ability to produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares and lucid dreaming, distort people's perception of reality and trap someone in their dreams. Vampires can manipulate and enter the subconscious of other vampires and even an Original vampire if they are vulnerable enough. However, this is a learned skill that requires practice to achieve.
** Illusions: Vampires have the power to trick the minds of other younger vampires into seeing or feeling things that aren't actually happening, such as when Lexi made Stefan believe he had been starved of blood for years.
* True Face: A vampire's true face is the appearance they are hiding under their normal human face. When a vampire's true face is revealed, the sclera of their eyes turns blood-red, dark veins appear under their eyes as the blood pumps forcefully through them, and their canine teeth extend into razor-sharp fangs. On some occasions, a vampire's fang teeth can include both their canines and their lateral incisors, in the case of Katherine, Elena, Isobel, and Lexi, or both their canines and their premolars, such as in Klaus, Lucien, Damon, and Tyler's case. A vampire's true face can be revealed whenever they wish, but it will appear against their will whenever they are aroused by the scent of blood, or are feeling intense emotions such as fear, anger, lust, sadness, etc. A vampire's fangs are extremely sharp which gives them the ability to tear into almost any substance and tear off limbs. A vampire's true face will appear for the first time either while they drink human blood for the first time or shortly afterward. With the fangs come the darkened veins under the eyes as well.
== Former Powers and Abilities ==
Originally, vampires had additional powers in the early episodes of the show, but these powers were later written out of the plot by the writers after they were deemed "too supernatural." These powers were:
* Weather Manipulation: Damon was able to create fog, haze, and mist from nothing, and then return the weather to normal later. (In the novels, Klaus, Katherine, and Damon also used this power).
* Compelling Animals: Damon was able to compel a crow to spy on Elena, to send a message to Caroline, and to go through the window in Stefan's room. In the novels, Damon was able to transform into a crow.
* Flight: In Pilot, a female victim was carried into the sky by an unseen Damon.
Like werewolves, they possess superhuman strength, grace, and speed, and are able to heal quickly from most mundane injuries. They also have enhanced senses—smell, sight, and hearing. They can easily adjust their eyes to seeing in the dark, as well as almost instantly adjust when shifting between light and dark. Vampires also gain sharper eyesight than humans, and any fledgling who wore glasses in life will no longer need them as a vampire.
Vampires also have the power of the encanto—the ability to mesmerize and essentially control others. They can also shapeshift into bats, rats, and dust, while maintaining their intelligence in any form.
Power from a sire—the one who gave them the vampire blood that enabled them to turn—is also seemingly shared or transferred to some extent, mainly because it is through blood that vampires pass their powers to each other.
Vampires are resistant to large temperature differences due to their undead nature. Extreme heat no longer matters to them. However, extreme cold does not affect them either. Vampires can also cope with physical exertion and deprivation much better than mundanes or Shadowhunters.
Vampires can climb something quickly and skillfully.
* Supernatural Healing Factor - Strigoi heal and recover near instantly from any injury besides a silver stake in their heart, decapitation or being burned by fire or sunlight. Blood can make recovery even faster and easier.
* Immortality - Strigoi are unable to be killed by natural causes (e.g. age, disease, heart-failure, suffocation, etc.) except by staking them in the heart with a silver stake, fire, sunlight or decapitation.
* Superior Senses: They can see, taste, touch, and hear better than moroi and dhampirs.
* Darkness Adaptation - They possess perfect night vision and can see clearly even in perfect darkness.
* Superior Strength - Strigoi are significantly stronger and more fit than dhampirs or Moroi. A single strigoi can brutally beat even a well-trained dhampir into submission.
* Superior Endurance - Strigoi can maintain physical performance longer than Dhampirs and Moroi and not be greatly fazed by attacks.
* Superior Speed - Strigoi are faster than dhampirs and Moroi. They can easily catch up to their Moroi, dhampir, or human prey.
* Enhanced Bite - Strigoi have an animalistic bite and jaw strength that allows them to shred and rend flesh.
* Pain Tolerance - Strigoi can feel pain, though the older and more powerful they are the higher their pain tolerance. Strigoi have the ability to heal from any injury within seconds.
* Vampirization - Strigoi can make a human, Dhampir, or Moroi into another of their kind if any one drinks any amount of their blood, usually by force. Moroi can turn themselves into Strigoi by killing or draining their victim when they feed.
* Heightened compulsion - Strigoi can control the minds of humans, Dhampirs and Moroi to a certain degree through eye contact and verbal commands.
* Species detection - With ease they are able to distinguish Strigoi, dhampirs, Moroi, the witch and ordinary people. Although dhampirs look almost like humans they are recognised with ease by Strigoi via Enhanced Vision and Enhanced Smell.
* Supernatural Beauty - Similarly to Moroi, Strigoi are attractive by human standards. It is unclear whether this applies to human-turned Strigoi, however Moroi and Dhampir-turned Strigoi are described to retain their attractiveness, which is ampliefed even further by their newfound grace.
* Regenerative Healing Factor - Moroi heal easier and quicker than humans, allowing them to recover from injuries quickly so long as they feed.
* Enhanced Immune system - Moroi don't get sick like humans. Although they can contract diseases, especially terminal diseases, it is unusual for Moroi to get sick or catch viruses.
* Enhanced Senses - Moroi have stronger senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch than humans. Moroi are shown to be able to distinguish Moroi/Dhampir/Human blood by taste.
* Enhanced Speed - Moroi are faster than humans, but aren't as fast as Strigoi and dhampirs.
* Limited Darkness Adaptation - Moroi possess better night vision than humans, able to see even in very dim illumination such as starlight.
* Supernatural Beauty - Moroi are known to be highly attractive. They are immensely beautiful, slim, and tall; their skin is pale. However Moroi Do not need to have all of theis features
* Hunger Resistance - Moroi do not have to kill in order to feed, unlike Strigoi who always kill their bite victims, and instead feed in small non-lethal increments.
* Elements - Moroi have magical abilities that allow them to control the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. Moroi often specialize in one element in particular.
* Compulsion - Moroi are able to control the minds of humans, dhampirs, and other Moroi to certain degree through eye contact and verbal commands. Spirit users are the strongest in this ability.
* High life expectancy - Moroi not are immortal like Strigoi, but they still live longer than most humans. Most Moroi live up to 100-110 years old, although some Moroi can far exceed that.
Full upirs, possess abilities that half upirs do not. A full upir's healing and durability are strengthened by their diet and their ability to recover fr most injuries can be diminished or even completely taken away for months if they lose vast amounts of blood.
=== Full Upir ===
* Enhanced Strength - Upirs are arguably the strongest beings in the series, or at least equal in strength to Vargulfs and reanimated beings. Upirs are able to overpower, beat, lift, launch, incapacitate, mutilate, and kill humans bare handed and with inhuman force and ease. Upirs can tear off body parts and mutilate them, as well as can bend and break bodies in lethal ways. However, such unnatural feats are only possible with greater physical effort. Upirs are strong enough to bludgeon someone to death with their bare hands, however this kind of trauma would not kill an Upir. Using maximum effort, Upirs can easily send humans flying 20 or more feet through the air, as well as overpower other beings with enhanced strength, (I.e. Johann Pryce; a human with constant hysterical strength). A full Upir is considerably stronger than a half Upir; This was made evident when Roman Godfrey, as a full Upir, casually grabbed Johann by the neck and forcibly pinned him against a wall, yet he had been similarly overpowered by Pryce when he was still only a half Upir. A full Upir can even lift up and rend a transformed werewolf or vargulf with little effort; such as when Roman did this to Peter's wolf body to pull him out of it. Upirs also need to exert some effort when lifting others off the ground and sending them flying into the air, however they can easily grapple and overpower humans in a second. Upirs can pin people down with no effort and great ease, and with enough effort rip apart flesh and send people flying at the speed of a moving car. It is possible that reanimated beings such as Shelley can be equal in strength to a full upir or even surpass them in strength. Olivia was briefly held in a choke hold by Norman when he tried to kill her, though she then got the upper hand when she broke out of her surprised state and broke his arm and tore out his heart. Some Upirs possess the strength to strike with equal force and damage as a hammer; allowing Upirs to bludgeon humans or other Upirs with their fists. Upirs can also tear and shred flesh in a similar way to digging through sand or dirt. The Upir Virus seemingly causes an upir to be able to overpower, shove, and shred through their own kind with little to no effort.
* Heightened Senses - Upirs possess heightened predatory senses. When having a hunger attack, their vision will become more saturated and their sight will focus on living creatures. They can also hear the heartbeat of a human from a few feet away, and can clearly see the veins and blood vessels in their necks and skin. Their senses seem to be primed to their predatory nature; focusing on prey and food. When Roman was experiencing a hunger attack, his senses were focused on peoples' heartbeats, and Olivia was unable to sense a bird that flew into a window. This suggests that Upirs' senses can be controlled until they are overwhelmed with hunger, or that Upirs have no control over their heightened senses, and the enhancement to their senses is predatory, and primed by overwhelming hunger.
* Regenerative Healing - Like all other abilities possessed by full Upirs, healing and all forms of physical recovery are greatly enhanced. Upirs are able to physically recover from trauma in a matter of hours, with little to no medical treatment. This allows Upirs to make a rapid and full recovery from almost any form of injury, with the exception of decapitation, severe mutilations to the heart, head or brain, and immolation. Marks caused by self-inflicted mortal wounds that transition a half Upir into a full Upir will appear when an Upir transforms, leaving them healed. The scars, if any, from the physical trauma that transitioned a full Upir seem to remain; as Olivia still has a scar on the small on her back where her tail like deformity had been, before she cut it off and bled to death. Roman awoke minutes after slicing his forearms down to the tendons and bleeding to death, with only scars were the wounds had been, however these scars seem to have disappeared or have faded. Desiccation and some chemicals can stunt their healing. Olivia's rehabilitation made it so that her tongue did not heal immediately, she also cut herself while shaving her legs and it did not heal immediately, though she stated that it would heal soon, probably in an hour or more. Being struck in the heart while it is being drained of blood and tissue pieces could kill an Upir; as Destiny was able to kill an Upir infected with the Upir Virus using a body cavity vacuum inside a mortuary. Liquidating or heavily mutilating an Upir, especially on the inside, can kill them, as well as vacuuming out or removing tissues and organs, such as the brain or heart, or grinding or shredding them. Permanent damage can be dealt to an Upir, though it may not be fatal. Roman was at the risk of being made permanently deaf when a syringe was near a tube connected to the inside of his hearing organs. If Upirs are attacked by someone or something of similar strength to their own, they will be more vulnerable to the trauma; as Roman suffered a seizure after sustaining a concussion when attacked by a creature stronger than himself.
* Enhanced Durability - Upir skin is incredibly strong and tough; making Upirs highly resilient to physical trauma. Upirs can survive significant trauma such as falling on hard stone and being shot in the heart, however, this form of trauma can daze Upirs; as Olivia was half conscious and fatigued after being shot in the heart by Clementine Chasseur. Trauma such as smashing through glass, or smashing their head into a mirror at full force won't even break Upir skin. When Roman was struck with a metal pole at full force, the blow did nothing, as though it was hitting metal; this was while Roman was feeding on a homeless man named Gaber. Roman then able to choke the man that hit him, making cracking noises from his neck. Upirs can survive and recover from almost any injuries inflicted on them, however they can suffer permanent injuries. The only confirmed means of fatality are removal or destruction of the heart, decapitation, immolation, and the Upir neurotoxin.
* Mesmerisation - All Upirs, half or full, have the ability to mesmerise others and gain full control over their minds, actions, and overall perception of reality. Upirs achieve this effect by looking into a person's eyes. It is shown that full Upirs are capable of using this ability on half Upirs; as Olivia used it on Roman to have him impregnate Letha Godfrey. Vargulfs are not susceptible to mesmerisation while transformed, however it remains unknown if this is the case for regular werewolves or when werewolves are in human form. Upirs can even mesmerise themselves, usually by gazing into a reflection of their eyes; such as when Roman made himself see Shelley in visions, like his Catabasis, which also seemed to be some form of self-inflicted mesmerisation to put the pieces of a metaphysical puzzle together and defeat his inner demons. However, this was only when he was a half Upir.
* Immortality - An Upir can potentially live forever; while they will mature into adulthood, at some point they will stop ageing and their lifespan will be endless. Upirs are effectively invulnerable to most conventional causes of fatality and are immune to all earthly diseases and illnesses. Despite this Upirs still possess certain weaknesses and limitations that are capable of killing them.
=== Half Upir ===
* Superhuman Strength- Roman was shown to be strong enough to fend off a transformed vargulf with an axe handle, which she then threw away. He was easily overpowered by Johann Pryce when he was half upir, showing his limitations. Also, the elderly Magdalena, who was seemingly half upir at the time and then mesmerized by an Upir Nazi, was able to almost rip the throat out of Nicolae, his running away being the only thing that saved him from death.
* Regenerative Healing - Half upirs appear to heal faster than humans. This is demonstrated by Roman, as he left several cuts on his body that were gone after a while. Although, half upir, while not requiring medicine, Roman did place bandages over the cut on his face. Also he felt no pain from cuts, probably due to having cocaine in his system at the time, and was perfectly healthy throughout his life despite having consumed several drugs and heavy smoking, and possibly was likely to be at risk of second hand smoking, as Olivia was also a heavy smoker.
* Mesmerization - All upirs have the ability to mesmerise people, though half upirs suffer nosebleeds and severe head pain.
=== Basic powers ===
The basic powers of every vampire include:
Immortality: Vampires are immortal beings, in the sense that they do not age past the date of their transformation, are immune to all forms of disease, they cannot die from natural causes, nor can they be killed by mundane methods that can easily end the lives of mortal beings such as gunshots, stab wounds, poison, or suffocation.
Supernatural Endurance: The power to withstand tremendous amounts of mental and physical abuse and neglect and fully recover. Vampires can exert themselves physically far longer than any human being can before they require rest and fresh blood, and they possess great tolerance towards physical pain, only ever feeling it in its full effect when they have not fed properly for a long time.
Supernatural Health: The power to exhibit exceptional weight, height and fitness as well as an immunity to all mortal diseases. The transformation from human to vampire, enhances and refines the body, leaving them nearly always more physically appealing and attractive. If a vampire suffered from any ailment as a human, they will find that it has been fully healed and corrected during their transformation, leaving them with superior health and physical condition.
Supernatural Intelligence: The power to efficiently absorb knowledge and utilize it efficiently at a mastered level. They possess the ability to learn and master new things such as languages or techniques with inhuman ease and speed.
Supernatural Memory: The power to possess an enhanced memory capable of easily remembering all details and facts with absolute clarity. Vampires possess vault like memories, able to always remember a face and voice, recall a memory or information with perfect detail regardless of any amount of time that has passed, and they can learn inhumanly quick and fast due to their enhanced intelligence and memory working in concert when attaining new information and knowledge, such as that of languages or techniques.
Supernatural Senses: The power to hear, see, smell, taste and feel far beyond the range and capacity of any human or animal. The senses of a vampire are enhanced and refined by many times during their transformation. They can hear the heart beat of their prey from several yards away, the pulsing of the blood in the vein of their prey, and can also hear conversations through thick walls in other rooms with great clarity. They see with superhuman levels of clarity and detail, making even colors brighter. They can keep track of things too fast for mortal eyes to accurately perceive, see further than any human eye is able to, as well as magnify things visually, allowing them such perks as seeing through fog, clouds, light pollution, and darkness. Vampires can also perceive energy, so even in darkness, their vision is unhindered. They can smell like bloodhounds, able to track the scent of blood for miles, can identify humans through their unique scents, as well as emotional states by smell and if it's human or animal. They can taste different blood types and what their prey has recently consumed whether it be food, drink, or illegal substances, and can tell if the blood is human or animal through taste as well as scent. They can feel the smallest of vibrations and can feel the slightest drops in temperature.
Supernatural Speed: The power to not only jump, move and run far beyond the capacity of any human or animal, but to also mentally and physically react to one's environment with inhuman precision and celerity. With time they grow physically faster.
Supernatural Strength: The power to carry, lift and throw outstanding amounts of weight and mass with little to no strain or struggle. Even newly created vampires possess strength far superior to that of a mortal human beings; they can break and snap bones with a single hand, lift and throw fully grown men across a room or through walls with a simple push or kick, and are capable of flipping over an entire vehicle. With time they grow physically stronger, though a vampires' physical power can be increased without the need of greatly accrued age by drinking the blood of those older than them, such as the blood of a Child of the Millenia.
Bestowal of The Dark Gift: All vampires possess the ability to pass on The Dark Gift/vampirism to mortals should they wish to do so, by undergoing the proper method of reproduction. The longer a vampire lives and goes without creating one of their own, the more powerful their creation will be when they finally decide to create a vampire, as was the case with Magnus when he turned Lestat after not having turned anyone for 3 centuries. This resulted in Lestat being much more powerful than the average vampire of his age, something that many ancient Immortals take note of.
=== Other Powers ===
These abilities have only been exhibited by vampires at least one thousand years of age or those who are said to have been sired by "pure-blooded vampires". These powers include:
Elemental Manipulation: The power to control and manipulate the elemental forces of Nature, including air, earth, fire and water.
* Pyrokinesis: Children of the Millennia or those who have drunk directly from Those Who Must Be Kept, exhibit the ability to mentally set objects and beings of lesser power alight with flame. They also possess the ability to guide, manipulate, and extinguish flames with their mind.
* Aerokinesis: Usually Children of the Millennia or vampires advanced in age by several centuries possess the ability to manipulate air currents for the purpose of riding them and achieving simulated flight, which they can perform with great speed and skill, allowing them to fly far above clouds and around the world as well.
Matter Manipulation: The power to control and manipulate solid matter with the mind, especially for the means of telekinetic movement. Usually reserved for Children of the Millennia or those very advanced in age by several centuries.
Mental Manipulation: The power to control and manipulate the actions, behaviors, memories and perceptions of others through the transmission of telepathic commands. Marius employed this ability when moving Those Who Must Be Kept to new lairs and hiding places. He also caused the servants he hired to forget that they ever saw them or helped him move their heavy statuesque bodies.
Telepathy: The power to see into the minds of others, hear their thoughts and search their memories for any personal or private information that one might require. A vampire with this power possesses the ability to read the minds of not just mortals but immortals as well, unless they put up psychic defenses. One can also find a friend by seeking out their psychic wave length mentally. Vampires with this power also find that they can no longer read the minds of those who are descended from their vampiric blood, as is the case with Lestat and Louis, and Claudia as well later on.
A vampire's physical and mental abilities far exceed those of a human being. These traits vary between different vampires depending on what they were more capable of as humans. Certain vampires also develop one extra supernatural power manifested from their strongest trait as a human.
=== Speed ===
One of the most amazing among their abilities is their speed. They are able to run in excess of a hundred miles per hour, substantially faster than the human eye can see. When vampires run, they become "all but invisible". The Shape-shifters are noted to be one of the few things that can keep up with them. This suggests that vampires are meant to move to a new location every so often. We see the speed of all the Cullens again during the baseball game. Emmett is described as "a blur around the bases", and Edward can move so quickly that he is able to intercept a ball that has been hit "like a meteor."
They can lay down and sit up within the same fraction of a second, almost without having to even think about going through the motions. After being turned into a vampire, Bella describes her movements as being instantaneous. As a result of this, that they are also able to survive accelerations of at least ~100g, where any normal human subjected to the same would immediately die.
=== Strength ===
: "You are so soft, so fragile. I have to mind my actions every moment that we're together so that I don't hurt you. I could kill you quite easily, Bella, simply by accident… I could reach out, meaning to touch your face, and crush your skull by mistake."
:: ―Edward to Bella on his strength
Another enhanced trait is their unstoppable physical strength. A vampire is said to be thousands of times stronger than any human, able to lift objects several hundreds of times their own weight. They can crush granite boulders, subdue any prey, throw cars, crush metal, and uproot trees with their bare hands. Edward feared his strength when first meeting Bella, and explained that there was barely a difference between caressing her head and knocking it off. A good example of their strength is seen when Bella decides to arm wrestle Emmett after becoming a vampire. She describes the power in his one arm to be about the same as a cement truck moving down a sharp decline at over 60 miles per hour. She beats him, however, because she is a newborn at the time. Newborn vampires are always stronger than older ones, since their strength derives from the lingering human blood left in their body from their human life. A vampire's strength also enables them to leap incredible distances. Edward was able to leap over a 50 yard wide river with ease during Bella's first hunt, while Bella was able to leap over twice his distance, while still only using a small amount of her force.
Diet does not have a massive impact on strength, since it always depends on the individual vampire. Although, a diet of human blood makes a vampire stronger than animal blood, albeit only fractionally. Vegetarian vampires find that "big game"—predators like bears or wildcats - not only smell more appealing to them, but also make them stronger than the "weaker" blood of herd animals such as deer or cattle.
Strength, of course, is not always physical. If a vampire possessed great mental strength and willpower as a human, he will find it easier to control his wild, animalistic instincts. Even so, if a vampire has not fed for a long time, he will be less likely to think clearly and more likely to give in to his thirst, attacking the first living thing he detects and draining it of blood within seconds, all without a single thought (human or animal). If, however, an unlucky human were to be near their vicinity, they will preferably attack him/her rather than the animal.
=== Senses ===
A vampire's senses are also greatly enhanced, which enables them to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste things imperceptible to humans.
Sight: While running, a vampire can see and sense everything that is around them, allowing them to keep tabs of their surroundings and avoid hitting anything unnecessarily. A vampire's vision is incomparable. Everything is much sharper, and more defined as a vampire, and their vision is unhindered by darkness. As a vampire, colors are much more vibrant. Humans are considered blind or mud-eyed in comparison. Bella described looking back at her human life as like looking through a thick, dark veil because of her new incredible vision. Their sense of sight exceeds by far that of a hawk: They can see objects in microscopic detail, and can see into the invisible spectrum of light. Bella describes her sight as being better than an eagle's. Vampires find wearing glasses or contact lenses to be uncomfortable or irritating because they see the smallest imperfections such as very small scratches and optical aberrations imperceptible to humans. Vampires also have much better depth perception than humans.
Smell: When a vampire hunts, he uses his sense of smell to find prey and hearing to track its movements. Vampires can smell objects several miles away in a good breeze. Smell is most intense to vampires, because one can smell the blood of his prey. By not breathing, they feel uncomfortable due to the lack of smell, though they can survive without it.
As they grow older and more disciplined, vampires can learn to smell differences between the scents of various humans' blood, as well as scents of other things (like fabrics - the unique scent of denim). The range of their senses can be increased (though only fractionally) through concentration. Vampires mostly rely on smell to find their prey and take in the environment, which is partly why they find the lack of breathing uncomfortable.
Hearing: Vampires can hear the most muted sounds. When Bella completed her transformation into a vampire, she listened to the sound of rap music until it slowly faded away. She then realized that it was coming from a car with its window rolled down on a freeway, miles away from where she was. When she went on her first hunt, Bella could hear the fluttering wings and heartbeats of small birds flying through the forest. She could also hear the scurrying noises of animals that were beneath the ground, as well as an army of ants on the ground. They also have an instinctive reaction to danger, usually from ill-willed vampires.
They can hear sounds coming from several miles away, and even with their eyes closed, they can be sure that there are multiple people in a room thanks to their varied breathing patterns. They can hear the sound of a heartbeat, a pulse thudding in a vein, and words spoken too quietly or too fast for humans to detect.
Touch: Despite being indestructible and hard-skinned, vampires can feel the things they touch, no matter the softness; such as fur, the coolness of wind, etc. They can feel the slightest changes of temperature around them, though they are not bothered by it. They can feel the heat radiating from a human several meters away. When their skins meet sunlight, they can also feel its warmth. Physical pain is implied when their bodies are being ripped apart by something with similar supernatural strength.
Taste: Vampires have a similarly enhanced sense of taste allowing them to taste flavors with much more depth and precision. They can taste the differences of particles in their atmosphere. They can also detect minute differences between similar flavors. Even as a newborn, vampires are able to taste if the human they are feeding on has recently ingested drugs or alcohol.
Sixth sense: Vampires also have a keen sense to danger, usually from something strong enough to harm them. Sometimes, they may even detect danger before they know it consciously.
=== Indestructibility ===
Another impressive feature about vampires is their virtual indestructibility. During the transformation process, a vampire's cells become extremely hard, durable, and refractive, rendering their bodies nearly impenetrable. Vampires are noted to be exponentially more durable than "soft" humans. The strength of a vampire's skin is described as harder than granite, and even diamond-hard. Their bodies are so hard that they are unable to be harmed by standard human weapons (except for possibly incendary, high explosive, high velocity, AP, nuclear, et al.), and the only creatures capable of killing them are werewolves and other vampires. Their teeth are also noted to be one of the few things strong enough to be able to cut through their skin, as are werewolf teeth. Because of this indestructibility, it is virtually impossible for a vampire to kill himself. As a newborn, Carlisle attempted this in many ways including jumping from atmospheric heights, drowning himself, and starving himself, after all of which he was unharmed.
=== Regenerative healing ===
Vampires are capable of regenerating from various injuries and harm even wounds that are normally fatal to humans. Hair cannot be healed. Also if a limb is torn off they must reattach it and the torn limb will heal. If a vampire is torn to pieces and the pieces are not burned in the fire, the vampire can reconstruct themselves as if no damage occurred, with no sign of harm. Vampires can also use their saliva which is also venom to accelerate the healing of their injuries. They apply venom to the wound, causing them to heal quicker.
=== Flexibility ===
: "Unnerved, I reached out to touch her cheek. In the same instant that the desire to touch her entered my mind, my hand was cradling the side of her face. There was no in-between—no process of lifting my hand, watching it move to its destination. It was just there."
:: ―Beau Swan[src]
A vampire's body movements are uncannily flexible. Their agility is more advanced than humans, which allows them to rapidly respond to change by adapting to its initial stable configuration; They can make numerous gymnastic, or martial arts implements with little effort using a combination of strength, balance, reflexes and speed. They can even swing, flip, bend and twist themselves without failure due to their enhanced sense of balance and flexibility. Using their physical senses as allies, they can find motions at human speed too slow for them to miss.
In battle, vampires can swiftly dodge an attack without having to think how to move their bodies first. In general, only something that moves at vampire-speed can render a vampire unnoticed to the motion.
Part of this enhancement is based on the enhanced activity of their brains, which allows them to think and move much faster than humans.
=== Perfect recall ===
A vampire can instantly remember and recall everything that they have ever experienced, encountered or learned since their transformation, something they can perform for all their existence.
=== Venom ===
: Main article: Venom
When a vampire catches his prey, he bites into its neck and injects his venom into its bloodstream while feeding. This serves as a way to immobilize his prey while also initiating the conversion from human to vampire, allowing the predator to feed on his prey without it trying to resist, even though it would not have done any good. While the venom is transformative to humans, it is deadly to animals and shape-shifters. Children of the Moon, however, are completely immune to its effects.
If a vampire loses a body part, they can use venom to reattach the lost limb, though it is unable to reattach hair.
=== Special abilities ===
: Main article: Special abilities
: "Yes, well, there are some vampires who have gifts beyond the usual super strength and super senses. You've seen one aspect in… our coven. Gifts are rare—one in fifty, maybe—but everyone is different. There's a huge range of gifts out there, and some of them are more powerful than others."
:: ―Riley[src]
Most vampires find their key personality characteristics intensified by the vampire transformation in the same way their physical abilities are strengthened, but relatively few have abilities that can be classified as supernatural. More common would be a human with a love of learning becoming a vampire with an insatiable scholarly curiosity, or a human with a deep value for human life becoming a vampire with the strength to avoid human blood.
But a few vampires do develop additional abilities that go beyond the natural. These extra abilities are due to psychic gifts in the original human that are intensified in the resulting vampire. For example, a human who was very sensitive to other people's moods might develop the vampire ability to read thoughts or influence emotions. A human who had some limited precognition might develop into a vampire with a strong ability to see the future. A human with a good instinct for hunting might become a powerful vampire tracker. If a human already possessed a certain supernatural gift, this talent will be amplified many times after he is transformed into a vampire.
The proportion of supernaturally talented vampires to "normal" vampires is greater than the proportion of psychically gifted humans to "normal" humans. This is due to the same factor of temperament that results in more beautiful humans being selected to become vampires. Vampires are also drawn to gifted humans when they look to create companions. Some vampires actively seek out the gifted in the hope of utilizing that extra ability in their coven.
According to Eleazar, most vampire gifts are manifested in the mind, though there are certain exceptions. Benjamin was the best case—his power over the elements of nature is completely physical.
No gift ever works in the exact same way in two vampires, because no person (human or vampire) is ever exactly the same.
The supernatural forces that sustain them beyond mortal death also endow them with immunity to aging, heightened senses, and superhuman abilities which make them physically superior to humans.
=== Common Abilities ===
* Eidetic Memory - Vampires are said to possess perfect recall and to be unable to forget. Their minds are often called "vaults" in which they store all information permanently.
* Fangs - Vampires can grow fangs that they use to feed themselves, they might come out when a vampire is close to blood or angry. The bite of a vampire can sever the limbs of humans and other creatures.
* Flight - Some vampires have the ability to fly. It is suggested that older vampires can fly, while younger vampires can merely levitate. When Sookie Stackhouse asks Eric Northman if all vampires can fly, Eric responds "can all humans sing?", suggesting this is more a skill than an innate ability.
* Glamour - Vampires are able to "glamour" humans and a few of the more common supernatural creatures such as werewolves. Glamour is a form of hypnosis or mind compulsion, which requires vampires to make eye contact and use their voices to mentally compel the victim. Glamouring does not affect other vampires, powerful witches, maenads, halflings, ghosts or fairies. Excessive glamouring can have a negative effect on the mental stability of a victim. Glamouring is not an innate ability, as it needs to be taught and practiced. Vampires can glamour at least two humans at the same time, as both Jessica Hamby and Eric Northman have been seen to do so. There are ways to shield against glamouring.
* Healing Factor - Vampires have an accelerated healing factor. They are able to heal all types of wounds, including open wounds, massive burns and tissue damage. If an injury is severe, vampires need human blood to initiate the healing process. They are also immune to most diseases, with the exceptions of Hepatitis D and V.
* Superhuman Endurance - Vampires are much more resilient to harm and physical trauma than human beings, allowing vampires to receive extreme trauma and still continue to function. A vampire's tremendous endurance allows them to fight with other vampires without being crippled by the immense force of their attacks, as well as allowing them to sustain blows from humans without even flinching.
* Heightened Senses - Vampires possess tremendously heightened senses, well beyond any human being, this allows them to see, hear and smell with greater range and clarity. Vampires are nocturnal creatures, adapting all of their senses to far greater range, allowing them to see with perfect clarity even when in complete darkness.
* Superhuman Speed - Vampires are the fastest-moving of supernatural creatures. They are able to move much faster than humans and are perceived as a blur by non-vampire eyes. Vampires themselves however, are able to perceive this movement. Their vision and reflexes are accelerated like their movement, as shown when Eric Northman was able to perceive a speeding bullet in slow motion, and himself in normal motion while moving at superhuman speed. Speed, just like strength, advances with age, as older vampires are significantly faster than younger vampires. In addition, vampires have heightened reflexes, but, in most cases, are not fast enough to dodge bullets.
* Superhuman Strength - Vampires are noticeably physically stronger than humans, werewolves and shapeshifters. They slowly grow stronger with age and experience; older vampires can subdue younger ones with minimal to no effort. Feats of their strength include being able to support the weight of a whole car or dismember grown men in the case of younger vampires, or uprooting trees and flipping mobile homes over in the case of older vampires. Even newborn vampires generally have the advantage of physical strength when in direct hand-to-hand combat with a human; able to single-handedly lift a grown man off the ground and hurl him across a room.
* Voice Imitation - Some vampires are able to imitate voices; for instance, Bill Compton has been shown to be able to imitate Eric Northman, while Eric himself has been able to mimic the voice of a guard at Governor Burrell's Vamp Camp. Only a few of the more aged vampires have demonstrated this ability. It is unknown if the any younger vampires possess it.
=== Unique Abilities ===
Lilith, the sirens and Bill (Billith) showed some abilities not possessed by other vampires.
* Advanced Vampiric Abilities - The powers of Lilith, either because of age or other factors were far more developed than in normal vampires. After consuming the blood of Lilith, Bill's strength has increased to such an extent that he was able to easily overpower a 1,000 + year old vampire like Eric and control through maker ability the 5,500 years old Warlow. In addition, much earlier, an apparition of Lilith was able to surprise an apparition of Godric and rip off his 'head.'
* Advanced Progeny Calling: This call is much more powerful than normal and may cause the progeny to vomit blood and suffer from acute chest pains if not responded to.
* Astral Projection: The spirit of Lilith can manifest herself physically; even after her true death. Lilith can also project her consciousness into the minds of those who consume her blood. Bill is also capable of astral projection, if almost completely drained of his blood Bill may appear on the astral plane where he currently resides Lilith.
* Blood abilities: The blood of Lilith can affect other vampires in the same way that if affects humans, causing euphoria, increased thirst of blood, and allowing the spirit of Lilith to connect with the consumer.
* Glamour Advanced - The sirens have demonstrated the power to put a person in a state somewhat hypnotic.
* Haemokinesis - Lilith, the Sirens and only to a lesser extent, Bill can be covered with the blood and also make the blood dissipate at will. Lilith also seems to have control over her blood, even after she died the true death. During his "coma", Bill was able to drink all the blood of a donor simply making travel from the body up to its mouth.
* Intangibility / Invisibility - The sirens and Lilith are intangible and invisible to normal vampires.
* Longer Fangs - Lilith's, the sirens' and Bill's fangs are longer and sharper than those of a normal vampires.
* Precognition - Bill had acquired clairvoyance and now has the ability to perceive the future and was capable of Panempathy with all the vampires in the world. As he states that he can feel their "pain".
* Self-Control - Both Lilith and Bill have been shown to maintain an enormous degree of self-control in the presence of faeries and Halflings, which is highly impressive as the scent of Faerie blood is highly appealing to vampires.
* Species Detection - Bill could determine the species of an individual with the view and not just smell, he could view the luminescence emitting from Sookie's mouth whilst she spoke.
* Stake, Fire & Invitation Immunity - Bill was immune to fire and survived a direct stake to the heart without too much damage. Bill can also enter the house of human beings without an invitation. Bill is also supposedly immune to silver but is still vulnerable to sunlight.
* Telekinesis - Bill could freeze and move objects with his mind. His power was so powerful it could even shake a whole house.
* Teleportation: While on the astral plane Lilith and the sirens have demonstrated the ability to appear and disappear in a cloud of blood.
* Enhanced to Superhuman Strength - Vampires possess vastly increased physical strength that surpasses humans' and werewolves' in human form. The strength of a vampire increases as they age. A young and newly-turned vampire, Lauren Drake, was able to lift an adult male high above the ground with a single hand, (Flotsam and Jetsam) a feat repeated by a 117-year-old vampire; John Mitchell, with even less effort (Another Fine Mess). Vampires are noticeably stronger than humans; as it required a large group of police officers to restrain a 117 year old vampire (Though the Heavens Fall). Two vampires over 90 years of age killed and mutilated 20 full grown adults; slaughtering them within minutes and with minimal effort, showing no evidence of injury afterward (Damage). Mr. Snow, a 3000-year-old vampire was far stronger and easily tore a human open one-handed (The War Child).
* Enhanced Durability/Invulnerability - Vampires are impervious to most forms of damage to the body, with the exception of wood piercing their heart, severe mutilation, and decapitation; Vampires have been shown to survive stabbing with wooden stakes (as long as the stake does not pierce the heart), although this still weakens and immobilises them (Bad Moon Rising, The Last Broadcast). Vampires can also endure most forms of blunt force trauma without any hinderance, allowing a Vampire to endure a car collision that would hospitalize a human, practically unharmed, (Another Fine Mess) and, according to Hal, shooting a Vampire, even through the heart wouldn't slow them down (Being Human 1955). The sustenance Vampires gain from live blood strengthens their resilience and recovery (Where the Wild Things Are), Vampires who abstain from blood are weaker (Flotsam and Jetsam).
* Enhanced Senses - Vampires possess keener senses than humans, having demonstrated such exceptional hearing and sense of smell. A vampire can detect sounds humans cannot; such as hearing an oncoming car over a crowd of shouting people when no one else could (Another Fine Mess), and, especially when thirsting for blood, hear the sound of someone's heartbeat (Flotsam and Jetsam). Vampires can sense a werewolf's presence purely by smell, as werewolves give off a unique scent that only vampires can detect. Vampires can also detect aromas such as cigarettes even when only trace amounts are present (A Spectre Calls), catch the scent of blood from far away (The Pack), and can tell if a vampire has been drinking blood purely from how they smell (Another Fine Mess).
* Clairvoyance - Like all other supernatural species, vampires are aware of, and able to constantly perceive ghosts. In fact, the supernatural perception of vampires seems to be more developed than werewolves' or ghosts'; as vampires are often able to identify werewolves on sight and can likewise identify ghosts instinctively, whereas supernatural species such as werewolves and ghosts are required to work out if someone is a supernatural upon encountering them.
* Vampire Mind Control - An ability that has only been displayed by a single vampire; Mr. Snow, a 3000 year old vampire possessed the ability to control and command the actions of any vampire (The War Child). He was able to command any younger vampire, even one as old as Hal Yorke to do whatever he suggests. The exact extent of this ability is unknown, such as if it affects beings other than vampires, or if it is an ability that only Mr. Snow has access to. It is possible that all vampires will develop this ability when they reach such an ancient age.
* Regeneration - A vampire's blood pressure drops exponentially, and their heart only beats once every minute, however this will not kill them due to their condition enhancing their healing process to an exceptional degree (The Trinity). Vampires, while able to be injured, are never seen to develop permanent or long lasting blemishes such as scars, even non fatal burns, injuries caused by werewolf blood will eventually heal. It also seems that feeding on blood will initiate the healing process, as it has allowed a vampire to recover from near fatal injuries like being stabbed with a wooden stake (as long as it doesn't pierce their heart) (Bad Moon Rising).
* Immortality - Vampires are effectively immortal. Each vampire's body is physically frozen at the age it was on the day they were recruited, regardless of how far beyond that age they have lived since being recruited. Vampires also seem to be immune to all forms of human disease, they're never seen to develop sickness, and seemingly possess the same vitality they had before they were recruited. It was once implied during a conversation between Hal and Adam that vampires' physical fitness level do not change after they have been recruited (Hold The Front Page).
Vampires possess a number of abilities that make them deadly creatures. The strength and efficiency of most if not all of a vampire's abilities depends upon the vampire's blood diet; vampires' abilities work at their best when they're feeding live and at full strength, while the abilities of vampires who are weakened by being starved of blood or by a diet of bagged blood are more weakened. Vampires' powers also grow much stronger with age. Vampires' abilities can practically always overpower humans in combat, and they can also overpower werewolves in human form, depending upon a vampire's aforementioned diet health and how far away the full moon is.
* Enhanced Vitality - Vampires possess stamina, strength, vitality and physical capabilities well beyond any human in their physical prime. This allows them to physically exert themselves, even in a superhuman capacity for hours without showing signs of fatigue. Vampires can run, fight and exert themselves for longer than any human and in a greater physical capacity, though they can still feel fatigued and even be knocked out. However their vitality, like their other abilities is tied to their consumption of blood; vampires who drink live blood can exercise superhuman levels of agility and stamina, whereas those who drink bagged blood will be weaker and have less energy.
* Enhanced Strength - Vampires possess tremendously enhanced strength, being noticeably physically stronger than average adult humans, and werewolves in human form. They can exert much greater force than the average person, or werewolf with almost inhuman ease. An average vampire, regardless of their size or shape, are shown to be stronger than heavily built, greatly massed humans, as welll as non purebred werewolves. Vampires have shown to easily physically overpower humans, untransformed werewolves and even younger or weakened vampires of all shapes and builds, exerting a staggering and incapacitating force; this has allowed a vampire to throw another vampire of the same age flying several feet through the air. A vampire's strength increases with age, as a several hundred year old vampire was able to decapitate his maker using chains, a feat repeated by an ancient vampire with just a swift slice of her hand. Their strength has been described as inhuman, and being on par with that of a preditorial animal.
* Accelerated Speed - Vampires are much faster than humans and werewolves (in human form and possibly even wolf form); vampires can give sudden bursts of amazing speeds, about that of the fastest land vehicle or more, to the point where they can appear to be distorted blurs of motion and can get from one spot to another within just a second or two. This has allowed Aiden, directly after feeding freshly from humans, to cover the entire city of Boston, from Bishops building to the rooms where Josh was turning inside, all in a matter of 10 seconds or less. This immense speed also has an equally immense impact force against anyone or anything that a vampire hits while moving at this speed. It appears that vampires' super-speed is triggered by extreme emotional fear and motivation, analogous to hysterical strength in humans. It would also seem that this speed usually works when a vampire is at full strength from feeding on live blood and recently.
* Enhanced Senses - Vampires possess extremely heightened senses of sight, smell and hearing much greater than humans and non-purebred werewolves. Vampires can smell evidence of death, and can sense when someone who doesn't want to be seen is nearby (Some Thing to Watch over Me). They are able to hear the heartbeats of anyone nearby, especially when thirsting for blood (There goes the Neighbourhood: part 1), and can tell when someone is on their period, (Old Dogs, New Tricks) or pregnant purely from their smell (There goes the Neighbourhood: part 3). Vampires can smell humans from as far off as a mile away and assess their physical condition from their scent.
* Enhanced Recovery - Vampires are able to recover from any form of physical damage at a much quicker rate than most other creatures and certainly any mortal creatures; depending upon their blood diet and the severity of the damage. A vampire was able to completely recover from being attack and impaled within a matter of hours after drinking a sufficient amount of bagged blood. After completely feeding from two live victims, a vampire was able to regenerate all of the skin on their body in less than a day after it had been peeled off. Despite their tremendous regenerative abilities, there are certain injuries that vampires cannot recover from, like decapitation or staking, and they cannot regenerate damaged or destroyed fangs.
* Mind Compulsion - Compulsion or compelling is a vampire's ability to influence, manipulate and even modify a person's mind, will and memories with simple eye contact and verbal compelling. While it is an ability that comes naturally with vampirism, for some it is difficult to use. Compelling can also, if a vampire is poorly-skilled at using it, go wrong, causing its effect to wear off faster, or even drive the subjected human to suicide (Some Thing to Watch over Me). Compulsion does not seem to work on werewolves, ghosts and other vampires.
* Enhanced Resilience - Vampires possess far more endurance and stamina than humans, making them more resilient to fatigue and trauma. They are essentially invulnerable to most conventional causes of fatality, and are extremely resilient to fatigue and pain. Vampires can endure trauma such as high velocity impacts, damage to vital organs, gunshots, even impalement and eventually recover. There are however certain exceptions and restrictions to a vampire's resilience, with injuries such as a stake to the heart, decapitation resulting in instant death. A vampire that feeds on humans can quickly recover from impacts such as those created from falling from great heights, and can easily get back on their feet unfazed or partially fazed. Vampires weakened from feeding on bagged blood respond to physical stress and trauma in a more human manner.
* Clairvoyance - As supernatural creatures, vampires are constantly aware of ghosts, able to see and hear them in the same way werewolves and other ghosts can. They are also able to sense werewolves, who give off a distinct, dog-like stench that can only be detected by vampires and other werewolves. To vampires, a werewolf's smell is highly repulsive. Old and powerful vampires such as Mother can apparently also sense other vampires, even when they are out of sight.
* Immortality - Vampires are an undead supernatural species with and endless lifespan. Vampires do not physically age from the moment they are turned, and will maintain this physical age regardless of how much time has passed. Due to their advanced rate of recovery, they also do not develop any long lasting or permanent injuries, the only notable physical change that may occur is hair growth. Vampires are immune to conventional earthly disease and are capable of living forever, provided they are not killed through unconventional methods such as staking or decapitation.
The blood of the Alpha Vampire in their veins gives vampires many unique abilities.
* Super Strength - Vampires possess strength that is greater than humans. Young vampires experience a formidable increase in physical strength; able to lift heavy objects and overpower grown humans. Older vampires, however, can overpower their own makers and other creatures. Boris, a 600-year-old vampire demonstrated his superior strength over Dean, who was at that time a new vampire who had yet to complete the transition, by easily overpowering him. One 3 year old vampire could put a teenager on the top of a flag pole.
* Fangs - Vampires possess a set of retractable fangs. Their teeth are superhumanly strong and can rip open a human's neck and leave huge bite marks on the corpse of the victim it has fed on.
* Super Speed - Vampires can move at greater speeds than humans, and can even outpace moving vehicles. It is possible that a vampire's speed, like their strength, increases with age.
* Super Agility - Vampires possess amazing agility. They can climb up walls and jump off buildings without hurting themselves. Vampires also have greater reflexes than humans. Robert was able to catch Kristen's cell-phone after bumping into her. One could presumably climb a flag pole while carrying a teenager.
* Super Senses - Vampires have extremely keen senses that are superior to those of humans, and seemingly primed to their predatory nature. They can see in the dark, hear a human's heart beat, and possess an enhanced sense of smell. A Vampire can track the scent of a human's blood over long distances; John Winchester once warned Sam and Dean that "Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life." Like their strength, their senses seem to increase with age; as Luther was able to smell Kate from a distance, while none of the younger vampires could.
* Immortality - Once transitioned, Vampires no longer physically age, and they cannot develop diseases or illnesses that affects humans. Vampires can potentially live forever, provided they are not killed by unconventional means.
* Invulnerability - Vampires are immune to most conventional causes of fatality; they cannot be killed by trauma such as stab wounds or gunshots, and they are immune to diseases and illnesses that affect humans. Vampires can also have an extreme resilience to pain; as the Vampire Kate was shot in the stomach with an arrow and merely sighed in annoyance, however, other Vampires have reacted to punches and kicks in a similar manner to humans. Despite their immunity and resilience, Vampires can still be killed by certain methods; most prominently decapitation.
* Regeneration - As long as they have enough human blood, vampires can quickly heal any wound that does not include amputation.
* Super Stamina - Despite their hunger, vampires do not tire easily, and they can perform superhuman feats without difficulty. Dean, who was at that time a new vampire who had yet to complete the transition, took on an entire nest of over twenty other vampires in a fight to the death, and emerged almost unfazed.
* Stealth - Vampires are often shown sneaking up on their victims- even experienced vampire hunters- without making a sound. As a newly turned and initially reluctant vampire, Gordon was able to twice appear behind humans seemingly out of nowhere.
* Enhanced Strength: Master vampires are immensely strong; one of them swatted Ethan Chandler through the air with a casual swipe of its hand. Infected vampires may become stronger than they were as humans, but they do not appear to possess true supernatural strength. Dracula is especially strong, capable of casually lifting a grown man with one hand.
* Enhanced Agility: Master vampires are very swift and agile, capable of scaling walls and leaping from windows. Infected vampires may possess this to a lesser degree.
* Enhanced Endurance: All vampires are more resilient to injury than humans are. Master vampires in particular have been shown to take gunshots without so much as flinching. Infected vampires also seem able to recover from any wound that does not damage the head or heart.
* "Hannah's Wink": Vampiric saliva contains an agent which prevents blood clotting, making it easier for them to feed. Abraham Van Helsing named this phenomenon in honour of his wife, who was infected by a vampire.
* Mind Control: Master vampires can enslave humans with their blood, turning them into fanatical, psychotic familiars who likewise acquire a craving for blood and life. Dracula's abilities apparently extended to animals (wolves).
* Shapeshifting: Mina Murray was able to change her appearance to hide her vampirism. Similarly, Dracula could (allegedly) assume multiple human guises to pass in human society and could even transform into a green mist.
* Immortality: The glyphs on the master vampire's body are shown to belong to an ancient Egyptian dynasty, over 3000 year old.
== Appearance ==
Moroi are said to be very beautiful. Moroi's skin is described as being very pale and their bodies are slim and tall. Moroi are taller and slimmer than humans and dhampirs, and naturally have less muscle mass. In comparison to their Dhampir guardians they look pale, tall and slender.
Due to their slim bodies, female Moroi in general have smaller breasts and slimmer hips than their Dhampir cousins, who are usually more curvaceous. Moroi females and males are described as possessing a supernatural beauty. They have a pair of fangs that do not retract (in the movie and TV adaptions, however, their fangs are retractable).
Upirs are indistinguishable from humans. They possess an enhanced bite and jaw strength. In one instance,
or at least in a daydream Roman had, his lower jaw dislocated, causing cracking noises in his face and his mouth extended downward as far as his neck. This made his bite so big that it engulfed the entire throat of Miranda in said daydream. In reality, upir have inhuman jaw flexibility and strength, allowing an upir to stretch their mouths while about to bite, though this is usually seen when the upir is overwhelmed with bloodlust or hunger. Roman's mouth again stretched and grew when he killed a guard at a blood bank to protect Annie. This instance was after Roman was on a blood high and overwhelmed with animalistic aggression. Roman's canine teeth briefly transformed into fangs in the first season, and this was an
Upir's only transformation until the second season changed this, making the vampiric teeth noncanon. A flashback of Olivia's awakening as a full upir in the first season showed her with fanged canine teeth as well. While they do not truly physically change and have a perfected figure due to being full upir, they experience changes in their bodies, such as dystrophy in their muscles or even cancer in unbelievably rare cases, as well as severe dystrophy, sometimes even to the point where
they need a cane to walk and develop wrinkles and signs of aging, is mostly an effect of an Upir Neurotoxin and can render an upir almost mortal, giving an upir a human lifespan and human vulnerabilities to aging and cancers. Olivia developed these symptoms some time after Roman drained her of blood and being an untested Upir Neurotoxin enzyme. Upir can also be impregnated by humans to have half upir children. It is unknown if upir can impregnate each other and if so, what kind of
offspring would be produced. Half upir can impregnate humans and have quarter upirs with the possibility of developing psionic powers, like Nadia's telekinetic death stare.
: "As predators, we have a glut of weapons in our physical arsenal—much, much more than really necessary. The strength, the speed, the acute senses, not to mention those like Edward, Jasper, and I, who have extra senses as well. And then, like a carnivorous flower, we are physically attractive to our prey."
:: ―Alice to Bella[src]
After the change, vampires' physical appearance and muscle mass is enhanced and perfected, eye color changes, and they no longer need to breathe, though they often still do so out of habit, and feel uncomfortable without their sense of smell—the first warning of an impending threat or the smell of potential prey. The ability to cut off airflow from their lungs allows them to remain submerged underwater for as long as they wish, and contributes greatly to their excellent swimming capabilities.
Vampires are extraordinarily beautiful, some more attractive than others, such as Heidi and Rosalie. Their beauty is described as angelic or even god-like. This is one of the several features meant to attract their prey—more specifically, to attract, fascinate, and (if necessary) seduce, unsuspecting humans. How physically appealing their prey finds them is determined by how desirable they were as humans themselves. If an already attractive human were to be transformed, their physical beauty would be "beyond breathtaking". If they were of average interest, their attractiveness would be lower, but still stunningly beautiful. If however they were not particularly pleasing to the eye, they would become average (as shown with James), but this is a rare occurrence, as vampires normally select exceptional humans to turn.
A vampire's skin is described as "chalky", alabaster, or marble (because of its texture and feel, as well as its appearance). Regardless of original ethnicity, a vampire's skin will be exceptionally pale. The hue varies slightly, with darker-skinned humans having a barely discernible olive tone to their vampire skin, but the light shade remains the same. They owe their unnatural pale complexion to their lack of blood flow; once they reach the first anniversary of their transformation, they no longer possess blood of their own (though they still become slightly flushed after feeding). When the venom spreads, it also leeches pigment in the skin, so after the transformation is complete, the vampire loses nearly all its skin color, as well as any moles, freckles, scars, tattoos, or any other part of the skin with pigment from their human life. Their strong resemblance to marble statues rests also on their skin's granite-like appearance and impenetrability, as well as the now useless need to blink—the venom-based fluid that resides in the eyes now fulfills the function of eyelids and also lubricates the eye so that it can move easily within its sockets. The vampire also is unable to produce tears after the transformation, as tears are used to remove objects harmful to the eye, and those objects would be unable to harm a vampires eye. A vampire may not move at all, if need be, and if they stay immobile for several thousand years, they will start showing the appearance of fragility or petrification, though their physical capabilities will remain unchanged. Aside from Aro's clouded, "milky" eyes, Bella notes that his skin—as well as that of his brothers, Marcus and Caius—looks like paper. However, though they feel closer to shale than granite, they are no more fragile than those remaining active.
Their body's natural changes no longer occur. They cannot age or grow (things such as fingernails, toenails, and hair will no longer be able to grow. However, if an arm, leg, nose, or other such appendage should be removed, albeit painfully, it can be easily reattached. Vampire venom is noted to be the only thing that scars a vampire. Since the venom is adhesive, coating the severed end with it will help it heal faster. They show no physical or mental illnesses and defects, and their voice becomes more alluring, melodic, and seductive. Their heart no longer beats.
The venom, and venom based liquids replace all of the natural chemical processes and functions in the body. It wets and pools in the mouth instead of saliva. It coats the eyes, burning through contacts after only a few hours, protecting them from damage and thus eliminating all necessity and reason to produce tears. It also lubricates them, allowing them to move around more easily within their sockets. A similar venom based liquid lubricates between the vampires cells allowing their hard stone bodies to move. If a vampire were to remain motionless over thousands of years, dust will actually begin to petrify in response to the venom based liquids, turning their skin powdery and similar to shale in texture, as well as their eyes which develop a milky film over their red irises making the eyes appear pink in color. This can be seen with the ancient Volturi members. These imperfections, however, do not affect the vampires impenetrability or compromise their vision, a vampire that stays motionless would be just as indestructible and sharp as a vampire remaining active.
As vampires describe themselves, they are unchanging, "living stone" beings frozen exactly as they were when they were transformed. (Though to another vampire, the granite-skin feels smooth, soft, and warm and not the icy-hard touch a human would feel). Requiring little or no change to produce sperm, males can still breed, while female vampires cannot; their bodies no longer accommodate the changes related to pregnancy. In male vampires, the venom takes on a form so similar to seminal fluid that it can bond with a human ovum, making possible the creation of a human-vampire hybrid. The underlying biochemistry and physiology is currently unknown.
Their bodily scent is based on their venom, which is pleasant, not only to humans, but to other vampires as well.
A wise vampire will avoid exposure to direct sunlight in public, so as not to be seen by humans during the day, unless the sky is overcast, since their skin sparkles like diamonds; their cells have become hard and refractive as if they were so many small prisms.
==== Eye color ====
: "I saved his eyes for last, knowing that when I looked into them I was likely to lose my train of thought. They were wide, warm with liquid gold, framed by a thick fringe of black lashes. Staring into his eyes always made me feel extraordinary—sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also lightheaded, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Again."
:: ―Bella Swan
A vampire's eye color changes with both his/her age and diet. Newborn vampires show bright red eyes regardless of how long they abstain from blood or their diet. A diet of human blood would eventually darken them to a rose red color. However, a diet of animal blood would instead dilute the eyes to a golden color. A vampire who has recently fed on animal blood will have light, honey gold eyes, while a vampire who has recently fed on human blood will have vivid crimson eyes. All older vampires' eyes darken perceptively as they abstain from blood, until their eyes become onyx, or coal black. The process usually takes one to two weeks before the eyes are turned completely black.
Only the Cullen and Denali covens are known to be vegetarian vampires, feeding only on animal blood instead of human. Their eyes are liquid topaz, or honey-gold, reflecting their diet. These eyes, however, are viewed as strange and somewhat unnatural by other vampires whose diet consist of human blood, such as James and Victoria, and whose eyes are of a vivid deep crimson, becoming even more vivid as they continue to feed on human blood, and a darker burgundy as they abstain.
As a vampire's thirst grows, his/her eyes grow darker with it, until they at last become a coal black. In contrast, as vampires feed, their eyes become lighter. In addition to the thirst, the purplish-black bruises under their eyes become more pronounced as their thirst grows. Though if they have recently fed the bruises becomes less noticeable, and all but disappear (depending on how well-fed they are). The bruises indicate that vampires never sleep.
Newborn vampires are known for having incredible strength as well as brilliant crimson eyes. Both traits are caused by their own blood that still lingers within their tissues, producing the shockingly bright red eyes that "fade slowly over the course of a year" and incredible speed.
Meyer writes that, if a Cullen were to drink human blood, his/her eyes would instantly turn burgundy, and if two weeks were to pass without blood, his/her eyes would grow dark. If he/she were to return to a diet of animal blood, his/her eyes would become dark gold, and a lighter golden color, if they were to continue on animal blood.
==== Teeth ====
The bite of a vampire can sever the limbs of their opponents, as vampires are known for having extremely sharp and strong teeth. A vampire's teeth appear no different than regular human teeth. They do not possess fangs. However, a vampire's teeth are flawless, unbreakable, and razor sharp at the edges. They are also incredibly strong, able to bite through almost any solid substance, including vampire skin. Their teeth are also venomous, affected by the vampire venom that flows in their mouths. According to Alice Cullen, a vampire's greatest weapon is their teeth, though they are more armed than necessary.
Vampires are indistinguishable from humans, and appear as they did when they were turned, albeit with a paler complexion due to lack of blood flow. Also, they have fangs that usually extend and retract willingly, though they can be stimulated to unwillingly extend. Some other vampires' eyes also turn red, such as Liam McKnight, as he demonstrated that he can change his eye color into blood-red.  
Vampires remain identical forever after they are turned. Due to this, vampires cannot lose or gain weight (as explained by Eddie Gauthier, who said that, due to lack of exercise and a bad diet as a human, he remained overweight as a vampire) ("I Don't Wanna Know"), or change their body in any way (for instance, Jessica Hamby was a virgin when she was turned, and, after having sex, her hymen grew back). They are supposed to "sleep" during the day, which means that they will be essentially dead until they are active again. Eric says "We're supposed to be dead during the day," and the sign on the door of Fangtasia during daylight hours humorously reads "Sorry, we're dead."
Vampires can presumably grow hair, as Eric Northman cuts his hair, Lorena Krasiki's hair is shown to vary in length, and Franklin Mott states that he shaves.
Vampires are usually physically indistinguishable from humans. However, when a vampire is aggravated or about to attack, they will "manifest"; their eyes will flash all-jet-black for several seconds or less, their upper-canines will be replaced by a pair of lengthened fangs, and they will be able to produce a hissing sound from their throat.
Each vampire's body is physically frozen at the age it was on the day they were recruited, regardless of how far beyond that age they've lived since being recruited. It was also once implied by a conversation between Hal and Adam that even vampires' physical fitness level doesn't change since being recruited. (Hold The Front Page)
Though vampires usually have no different physical traits from humans when not showing their vampiric eyes and fangs, it was implied that as vampires reach an ancient age, their physical bodies begin to slightly decay internally, and that this was the reason for the 3000-year-old vampire Mr. Snow's complexion (unnaturally pale skin, with black blood vessels visible beneath, and rotted teeth and nails). The 1000-year-old vampire Edgar Wyndham likewise showed unhealthy pale skin and darkening veins on his temples.
=== "Old Nick's Wink" ===
Vampires' image cannot be captured by any sort of film, camera or mirror (although their reflection can still be seen in semi-reflective surfaces). According to Hal, this is because the Devil takes away their reflection as a way of reminding them that their souls belong to him due to the pact with the Devil from which the vampire race started, and vampires jokingly call their lack of reflection "Old Nick's Wink".
However, while vampires' image cannot be reflected or captured directly, if a vampire is wet and covered in water, then the water on their body will give an outline of them in photos.
In actuality, "Old Nick's Wink" can be either a strength or a weakness depending on the situation; a strength, in that their image cannot be traced photographically through the ages, but a weakness, as it can reveal them in situations in which a mirror image or photograph is expected, such as a photographic ID card. Therefore, the vampire society holds it as a top priority that vampires are not arrested after killing their victims, as police mug shots taken would reveal the vampire race's existence to the human world.
A vampire's appearance is that of a normal human, which makes sense given that they were originally mortals. However, they all have common features, such as sharp, pointed, retractable teeth that emerge from their gums and extend beyond their human teeth. This set of fangs descend at the vampire's will, usually when about to feed, when threatened or when attacking. Some vampires have been shown to have sharp fingernails, but nowhere near as long as the Alpha's, which are more clawlike and can be made to extend at will.
== Weaknesses ==
If vampires are killed by a wooden object stabbed through their heart, their body desiccates into a gray color, and their vampiric veins thicken and protrude from their skin. Vampires can build up a tolerance to some weaknesses, such as vervain, allowing them to protect themselves from compulsion by an Original and to help lessen the likelihood that it will seriously incapacitate them when used by enemies. However, it will still burn them upon contact, but if ingested, it will not weaken them as much if they take small amounts over time to increase their immunity.
* Animal Blood: Animal blood, while somewhat satisfying a vampire's hunger and sustaining their undead life, will make the vampire considerably weaker than they would be if they had drank human blood, causing their physical abilities to be inferior to a human-blood-consuming vampire, making them heal much more slowly, and making their compulsion less effective.
* Broken Neck: Breaking a vampire's neck will not kill them, but it will render in a death-like state for varying amounts of time, depending on the diet and age of the person in question. The Enhanced Original vampire Alaric once snapped Damon's neck, though he recovered quickly due to the fact that he is an older vampire.
* The Cure: If a vampire takes the cure, they will revert back to being mortal again. Once taken, the cure prevents vampire blood from having any effect on them, as it will not heal their wounds, and, if the vampire dies with vampire blood in their system, they will remain dead and not awaken as a vampire in transition. Additionally, their blood becomes the Cure once they've ingested it, making them a target to any vampire who wants to cure themselves. If the Cure-laced blood should be drained from a cured vampire, that vampire would begin to rapidly age to compensate for the years they spent as an undead, un-aging vampire. In the case of older vampires, this can cause them to age so quickly that they die in weeks or months if the Cure has been drained from their body. This was demonstrated when Silas drank the cure-laced blood of Katerina Petrova, causing her body to begin to rapidly age to compensate for her 538 years of life, 521 of which were spent as a vampire. This was proven to be because of losing the cure in her blood, as she had spent four months as a newly-returned human before Silas consumed her blood, after which point she began developing gray hair and losing teeth within a day. She then began to develop wrinkles, bad eyesight, exercise intolerance, and other symptoms of aging that worsened over the course of several weeks until she finally had a heart attack and her body died a day later.
* Decapitation: Dismembering or manually removing the head of a vampire will result in an instant and permanent death.
* Desiccation: Vampires who abstain from blood for extended amounts of time will eventually desiccate and mummify. Witches can use magic to desiccate a vampire, and Wes Maxfield also developed a serum that would cause desiccation in a vampire if they were not given an antidote within a short matter of time.
* Fire: Vampires are highly flammable and sensitive to fire, and will quickly burn and die from it if the flames are not extinguished in time. This quality has been proven to be useful in disposing of the remains of a dead vampire without any physical evidence. However, in some cases, vampires have used this vulnerability to their advantage, such as when Elijah and Elena removed their daylight rings and exposed their hands to sunlight near an open gas leak, causing explosions and fireballs to incapacitate or kill their enemies and dampening the flames before they can do harm to themselves.
* Heart Extraction: Removing the heart of a vampire will result in permanent death.
* Invitation: Vampires cannot enter a home without an invitation by the owner. An invitation can be granted long-distance and even by someone who hasn't lived in the house in years. For example, Josette Laughlin invited Stefan into her parents' home despite the fact that she had not been there in nearly twenty years.
* Magic: Vampires are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Gilbert Device and dark objects. A Siphoner can also siphon the magic from a vampire to fuel their spells. Witches have been seen to use magic to cause agonizing pain by inducing aneurysms in their brain or muscle spasms, telekinetically ripping out their hearts or snapping their necks, magically increasing their hunger for blood to unbearable levels, setting them ablaze with a single thought, and desiccating them to the point of mummification.
* Physical Trauma: Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds, and broken bones will cause pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely so long as they haven't been weakened by other means such as vervain or werewolf bites.
* Poison: There are various poisons invented by people, such as Dr. Wes Maxfield and Aya, that are capable of incapacitating or desiccating a vampire when administered. Klaus also used a poison to kill Tim that not even vampire blood could cure.
* Sunlight: Sunlight and UV rays burn vampires on contact, and prolonged exposure will cause them to burst into flames and die. However, this weakness can be mitigated by the use of a lapis lazuli stone enchanted with a specific protection spell by a witch for a particular vampire, which is usually affixed to jewelry, though it requires the vampire to wear the stone at all times.
* Vampire Bloodline: If an Original vampire dies, all vampires descended from their bloodline will slowly perish as well. Members of Klaus' bloodline were unlinked from him; thus they were spared upon his death unlike Finn, Kol, and Elijah's sirelines.
* Vervain: Exposure to or ingestion of vervain causes a vampire to become severely feverish and weak to the point that it can even hinder their healing abilities as well. Also, physical contact with vervain will burn a vampire's skin. Vampires cannot compel anyone who has ingested vervain or has it on their person. Many vampires drink small amounts of diluted vervain to protect themselves from Original vampires' compulsion and to reduce its effects when used against them by enemies.
* Werewolf Venom: The bite of a werewolf, which involves injecting toxic venom into the wound, is extremely lethal to vampires. It will cause them to hallucinate, grow severely weak, and go rabid until it kills them. Klaus' or Hope's blood is the only surefire way to cure the bite, though one of the doctors allied with the Travelers managed to come up with a cure for the enhanced Ripper compound, which contained small amounts of werewolf venom. Lucien Castle also possessed a scientifically-created serum that, when injected into a werewolf bite wound, would cure the vampire of the venom's effects and allow them to heal the wound. Vampires suffering from the bite seem to always hallucinate either significant moments from their past, significant people in their lives, or specific actions of the vampire that they feel guilty or ashamed about.
** Advanced Werewolf Venom: Lucien Castle invented an advanced strain of venom derived from the seven werewolf bloodlines with no known cure. The venom is infused in the bite of an Upgraded Original vampire. Similarly, it is fatal to that of a werewolf or hybrid bite, although working twice as fast and more painfully. It is so potent that not even the blood of Klaus or Hope Mikaelson can cure it, nor will the blood of the Upgraded Original vampire.
* Wood: Wounding a vampire with a wooden weapon, such as wooden bullets, will incapacitate them and it will take longer for them to heal their injuries than if the wounds were caused by any other substance. Stabbing a vampire through the heart with a wooden stake or shooting them with wooden bullets will result in instantaneous and permanent death.
* White Oak Ash Daggers: It is said that if a vampire daggers an Original vampire, they will die while the Original vampire is neutralized. This, however, has never been proven.
* Cancer: A unique weakness that rarely occurs under specific circumstances. Although vampires cannot develop diseases and illnesses, such as cancer, if a human has active cancer and is turned into a vampire, the effects of the cancer will increase. The regenerative properties of vampire blood will cause cancer cells to sporadically replicate, and exceed normal stages of the condition. This was first proven when Caroline fed a terminal cancer patient vampire blood to test if it could cure cancer. When Jo ran tests on the patient after he was turned into a vampire, she referred to his tumors as "stage 10."
== Former Weaknesses ==
* Doppelgänger Blood Magic: This spell was cast by the Travelers in 2012. The spell is designed to use the combined blood of the last remaining doppelgängers of each line to unravel and reverse any non-traditional form of magic, and as such, it strips away the magic that makes humans into vampires and returns them to the last state the vampire was in before awakening in transition, killing the vampire. This effect could be achieved by feeding the combined blood to a vampire, or by casting the spell in a large group. The spell was broken when the spell's magic was absorbed by Kai Parker.
* The Phoenix Sword: The phoenix stone, when attached to the sword with which it is paired, has the power to kill the body of a vampire and trap their soul in a prison within the stone. This prison has been described as a hell dimension where time has no meaning and where the vampire souls inside it are emotionally tortured with horrifying images such as being forced to kill their loved ones. Though the souls inside can be released with a spell cast on the stone, it requires the vampire's original body for it to be successful. If it is placed in the wrong body, the vampire spirit will experience amnesia, confusion, and an insatiable hunger for blood that will turn them feral. In one case, when the soul of a vampire inside the stone was placed in a human body with the spell, the human's body rejected the soul and eventually deteriorated until both the vampire soul and the body died for good. The blade was destroyed by Nora and Mary Louise.
: “You fear the cross. The sun. Fire. [...] I believe is a problem as well. You fear death. Being immortal, you fear it more than those to whom it comes naturally.”
: ―Adam[src]
While vampires were immune to a number of things that would kill humans, vampires had a number of weakness that could destroy or repel them. They could be killed when impaled in the heart with a wooden object, beheaded, exposed to direct sunlight, or consumed by fire.
=== Wood ===
If the heart of the vampire was pierced with a wooden object, the vampire would immediately die. Instances included stakes, wooden arrows, a tree branch, a pencil, bamboo, a wooden chopstick, and paper.
A wooden stake in an area other than the heart would not work, nor would puncture of the heart by other materials such as metal, plastic wood grain, or synthetic wood. Bullets and blades could cause great pain, but would not kill the vampire, unless they resulted in decapitation.[citation needed] In addition, vampires apparently didn't heal as quickly injuries caused by wood; on one occasion, after Angel was impaled through the chest with a large wooden stake, the wound did not heal until a whole day later, while he normally healed from such injuries within hours at most.[citation needed]
The vampire's flesh seemed to be especially vulnerable to wood. This would explain why it was relatively easy for Cordelia, who had no fighting training or enhanced strength, to stake a vampire minion during the graduation battle, how Candy Gorch got dusted by the wooden handle of a spatula, why Jesse was accidentally dusted when pushed against the stake Xander was holding, or how Kate Lockley was able to impale Angel through the stomach with a broken board and stake Penn while the latter was on Angel's back.
The amount of wood also seemed to be another factor to consider when analyzing vampires' weaknesses. A vampire as ancient as Kakistos barely even felt pain when stabbed with a common stake, but died when impaled with a large beam of wood. The Master was also impaled on an unusually large piece of wood after being thrown from a roof by Buffy. Common vampires, however, could be staked with pieces of wood as thin as a pencil or a chopstick. In contrast, the Prince of Lies was easily dusted by a simple stake, despite having claimed to be "as ancient as the darkness itself."
Dracula appeared to be immune to stakes to some extent; during his confrontation with Buffy, she staked him twice in a row, and he reformed from mist both times.
=== Fire ===
When set on fire, the body of the vampire would be consumed in a relatively short time. The more powerful and/or older the vampire was, the longer it would take for their bodies to be properly destroyed, which explained why Darla and Drusilla were able to survive being set on fire while an anonymous vampire was quickly consumed when Spike lighted him with his lighter.
If a vampire survived the fire, the healing process would regenerate the charred flesh, skin and hair. The time required also depended on the age and power of the vampire: following their immolation at Angel's hands, Drusilla healed faster than Darla because she was now the older vampire.[citation needed]
=== Sunlight ===
The light emitted by the Earth's sun was hazardous to vampires, if they were exposed directly to it. When exposed to direct natural sunlight, the body of the vampire combusted and would quickly be consumed by the resulting flames. However, older and more powerful vampires like Spike or Angel could resist sunlight better[citation needed] than younger, weaker vampires like Boone's buddies, who were consumed almost instantly. When Spike was first sired, he and Angelus bonded by deliberately exposing their hands to the sun. Simply being outside during the day could be dangerous to vampires; after the death of the Beast restored the sun, two vampires standing outside burnt up in seconds; and, when fighting Buffy during the day while wielding the Gem of Amara, Spike screamed in pain and flew for the nearest sewer the moment Buffy pulled the Gem off his finger, despite the fact that he was in a shaded area with no clear sign of sunlight shining on him.
Filtered and/or indirect sunlight may not cause any kind of injury to vampires. If protected from direct exposure to sunlight, vampires could be active in the middle of the day: Angel frequently used sewer tunnels under the Hyperion Hotel, while Spike was often seen traveling under a heavy blanket or in cars with blacked-out windows.[citation needed] To protect its vampire employees, the Los Angeles offices of Wolfram & Hart employed necro-tempered glass to filter the components of light that were dangerous to vampires, while leaving brightness intact. When attacking Gunn's crew and kidnapping Alonna in full daylight, Knox and his pack proved ingenious by wearing an overall and a gas mask to protect them from the sun.
Exposure to artificial sunlight such as tanning lamps did not harm vampires. However, the light emitted from multiple tanning beds worked on zompires (Spike was able to narrowly avoid it by leaping out of the way). Also, the light of suns in other dimensions was shown to not injure vampires in any way. The twin suns in Pylea and the sun in Wolfram & Hart's Holding Dimension were safe for vampires. The witch Willow planned to create magically artificial sunlight to use against vampires.
=== Decapitation ===
It was also possible to kill a vampire through decapitation. Like in the case of staking, the vampire would turn to dust. Decapitation could be achieved through blows with sharp objects such as metal axes and swords,[citation needed] or by ripping off the vampire's head, as Adam did with one of Boone's pack mates. Rapid bullet blasts, headshots from high-powered rifles, and even car doors were effective.[citation needed]
=== Holy items ===
Christianity-based holy items such as crosses, bibles, and holy water (water blessed by a priest) burned vampires on contact, producing smoke but not flames. Thus, they were employed to ward off vampires with moderate success. The mere sight of a cross could cause a vampire to recoil in fear.[citation needed] Vampires could enter consecrated buildings such as churches, but doing so appeared to produce feelings of unease. Chanting prayers in the presence of a vampire did nothing.
Holy water was an efficient repellent to vampires, as contact would cause visible, acid-like burns on vampire's skin and, if ingested, was capable of dusting a vampire from within their body. Buffy possessed a jar full of communal bread wafers among her other weapons; however, she never actually ever used it.
Vampires were able to better resist the pain caused by crosses through force of will. For instance, the Master had become capable of touching crosses, and though they burned his hand, he withstood the pain. Likewise, Angel was capable of walking over crosses during the trials and enduring the pain of Buffy's cross necklace branding his chest, and Spike bludgeoned Angel with a large cross despite it charring his hands. Similarly, when Willow attempted to use a cross to ward off her alternate reality counterpart, the latter simply knocked it out of her hands, and left Wesley alone out of boredom when he threatened her with a cross and holy water.
Interestingly, Andrew Borba, who in life and unlife was a fanatical Christian, was effectively warded off by a cross, much to his own confusion.
The effectiveness of the cross largely seemed to be due to the vampires' fear of it rather than the power of the object itself. Adam was able to persuade Boone and his pack mates to overcome their fear of the cross, allowing them to invade a church and take the churchgoers hostage in broad daylight with minimal difficulty.
The substance of the cross was irrelevant: wood and metal crosses had the same effect. However, two rods temporarily held in the shape of a cross were insufficient.[citation needed]
=== Garlic ===
Garlic largely seemed to be used as a vampire repellent. Buffy kept garlic in a chest along with stakes, holy water, and crosses, and told Xander that garlic was indeed a useful weapon against vampires. In an alternate reality, Sunnydale High students hung cloves of garlic on their lockers and in the school hall. Buffy hung garlic in her bedroom to protect herself from Spike, and did the same thing to protect herself from Angel, as did Liam's father and other people of his village after his son was sired.
=== Invitation ===
: “It's alright. A vampire can't come in unless it's invited.”
: ―Angel[src]
Vampires could enter a private residence, including houses and apartments, only if invited; otherwise they would hit an invisible barrier. Areas open to the public were not protected as such.
The inviter did not need to be aware that the invitee was a vampire. This was the case of when Buffy invited Angel, and Joyce Summers invited both Darla and Dracula into the Summers residence. Cordelia invited Harmony into her apartment under the same circumstances.
If the resident of a property invited a vampire in but afterwards began living elsewhere, they had to extend another invitation to allow the vampire into the new property. When Buffy moved from her home into a college dorm, Angel needed an invitation to enter her new residence.
The invitation could be coerced through psychic means, as Joyce invited Dracula while under his thrall.
The invitation did not need to be immediate or specific. Cordelia invited Angel to her apartment before she had found one, so Angel effortlessly entered the one she bought. Rebecca Lowell invited Angel to watch a movie at her house without specifying a time. Wesley, posing as Angel, was invited by Benny into Magnus Bryce's residence; that invitation allowed Angel himself to enter.
The invitation could be written instead of spoken. The vampires led by Elisabeth were allowed into the dorm room because of an invitation flyer stating that "everyone [was] invited."
The inviter had to be a resident, but not necessarily the owner. Kathy invited the newly sired Liam into the family house. Buffy and Dawn did not own the Summers residence but had invitation rights, unlike Xander or Anya who were just visitors.
Squatters and guests could also gain invitation rights. Faith's occupancy of Dick's apartment gave her invitation rights.
The mystical barrier faded if all residents died. Angel entered the residences of Lester Worth, Tina, Trevor Lockley, the hired rapists, and the Kramer family. Likewise, Darla entered Liam's former house after he murdered his family.
No invitation was required for temporary accommodations such as motel rooms, hotel rooms, and frat houses or if the vampire was the legal owner of the building, for example, Russell Winters. On the other hand, since Angel was not the legal owner of the Hyperion Hotel and it no longer functioned as temporary accommodations, Fred had to invite Angel to her room, as she had taken residence there.
Invitation was shown to be necessary for dorm rooms: When Spike knocked on Willow's dorm room door, she shouted back, "Come in!" which granted him entrance.
The invitation could be conditional, even if the condition was not met. Catherine Manners was able to invite Angel into her home by saying "Help us." However, Angel instead helped Drusilla and Darla kill the people inside.
Once invited, the vampire was always free to enter, and the invitation was revocable only through the usage of a magic ritual. This was performed by Willow and sometimes Tara Maclay with respect to Angel, Dracula, Harmony, and Spike. The invitation could be extended again later, as it was for Angel. and Spike.
The residences of vampires, other demons and half-demons were not protected. This was the case even if humans also lived there. As example of this, Darla was able to enter Angel's apartment; Angel to broke into Russell Winters' mansion; Angel broke into the apartment of Sharon Reichler, who was possessed by Talamour; Angel didn't require Wesley's invitation to Penn's lair; Spike entered Doc's place at his leisure; Angel entered Merl's lair whenever he desired; Angel entered Billy Blim's mansion; and Angel entered Connor's place uninvited.
After being sired, a vampire would require an invite even if they had been invited in or a resident as a human. Liam required an invitation to his family's home after being sired, and Timothy Jenkins needed an invitation into his mother's house where he lived as a human.
Particular cases:
* A pseudo-vampire (a human wearing a cursed vampire costume) entered Buffy's kitchen uninvited; however, it should be noted that this was not an actual vampire, so the invitation rule may not have applied as the pseudo-vampire was not bound by the regular vampire rules.
* Angel asked Buffy if he could come into her dorm room, to which she replied, "I guess." He then stated that he needed a more definite invite. Willow specifically said, "I invite you to come in." However, Sunday's pack was allowed to enter without invitation the rooms of new students who hadn't yet felt at home in the dorms.
* Angel rushed into Kate Lockley's apartment to save her from a drug overdose. Kate said, "I think maybe we're not alone in this... I never invited you in," indicating that there may have been intervention from the Powers That Be.
The barrier was not harmful towards vampires, and touching it could create a ripple effect. Angel leaned against an apartment's invisible barrier while standing by the doorway while he wasn't invited, and fell to the ground when the barrier faded because the owner died in hospital.
It was possible to magically revoke a vampire's invite. After Angel lost his soul, Buffy and Willow performed a ritual to keep him out of her home. This involved some ritual chanting and the hanging of crosses. The same ritual was used to uninvite Dracula, who had been invited by an enthralled Joyce, as well as Harmony, unwittingly invited by Dawn. Similarly, Buffy had invited Spike into her home during a brief truce and revoked his invitation nearly three years after.
=== Reflection ===
: “Looking in the mirror every day and seeing nothing there... an overrated pleasure.”
: ―Angel[src]
Vampires, as well as the clothes they currently wore, couldn't be seen on reflective surfaces like mirrors, glass or water. This was not related to the absence of a human soul, as Angel and Spike[citation needed] didn't cast reflections either after they were ensouled. However, vampires could be seen in photographs, daguerreotypes,[citation needed] and video tapes. Vampires did have reflections in certain dimensions, such as Pylea, as its physics differed to those of Earth.
The lack of reflection also worked on telepathy: a vampire's thoughts and memories couldn't be read; the thoughts were there, but they created no reflection within the mind reader. Telepaths like Splenden beasts were an exception. However, vampires could receive projected thoughts, as Willow successfully telepathically communicated with Spike.
A vampire's mind was still susceptible to other sorts of mystical links, which allowed Buffy and Angel share their dreams and Darla to experience the Three Trials through Angel's eyes. Empaths were capable of reading vampires, though.
Fire: Vampires are extremely vulnerable to fire; though they are strong and durable, their bodies are weaker and less resistant to burning.
Holy items: Holy water and other common blessed materials such as angelically aligned swords are harmful to vampires and will scorch and burn their flesh. Holy, religious symbols—like a crucifix, a Bible, etc.—may be harmful to them if they hold weight for the target vampire, depending on their belief system while still mundane. Most new vampires, with religion in their life, are not able to speak holy names such as God's, but older vampires gain the ability through years of practice, Vampires can even train themselves to resist the pain caused by these religious names and objects. If a vampire did not ascribe to a religious faith as mortals, they do not develop an aversion to holy symbols and names.
Sunlight: Vampires cannot stand the direct light of the sun. A ray of sunlight will burn the skin of vampires and cause blisters to appear on their skin. Full exposure to the sun will cause them to burst into flame dramatically, quickly reducing them to ash. It would take walls to protect vampires from sunlight, while layers of cloth will simply be penetrated through by the light. For this reason, vampires are normally careful to remain dormant and inactive during daylight hours. Artificial light, such as that of gaslight or electric light, may cause discomfort in vampires if it is strong enough, but they are normally able to remain undamaged unless already very weak. Witchlight, being light of angelic origin, may harm vampires to a lesser extent than sunlight.
An exception to this are "Daylighters", or vampires who are invulnerable to sunlight. While there used to be more Daylighters during ancient times according to Lilith, they have become rarer over time, and the precise way how they are made is unknown. One of them, Simon Lewis, became one after being fed Nephilim blood, particularly Jace Herondale's, who has more angel blood than most of his kind.
Wooden stake: Stakes crafted out of oak and piercing through a vampire's heart will slay them instantly.
Silver: Toxic to vampires and causes them to experience pain, headaches, and nausea, though it will not kill them.
Cutting off a vampire's head or bleeding them dry are among the ways to kill them.
* Sunlight - Strigoi burn when they are in direct sunlight. In the movie adaptation Rosemarie has a flashlight with UV light which causes their eyes to hurt.
* Religious Symbols - Strigoi hate religion, holy water, saint crosses and churches. They can't enter holy ground.
* Oxygen Dependence - While Strigoi cannot die from suffocation, they still require oxygen and will lose consciousness if deprived of oxygen for too long.
* Silver Stake - The weapon damages the Strigoi's heart and kills them. A silver stake which is charmed with spirit magic can transform Strigoi back into their original form. A cut from a silver stake will cause them immense pain and has been described as feeling like acid poured on their skin.
* Fire - Fire is one of the 4 ways to kill a Strigoi, therefore they tend to avoid it, for fear of losing their immortality.
* Decapitation: Separating the head from the Strigoi's body will instantly kill them
* Sunlight - Moroi are sensitive to sunlight, and while exposure to sunlight is not lethal to Moroi, it is very uncomfortable.
* Mortality - Despite their healing factor, Moroi are still mortal, and can die of advanced diseases, exsanguination and severe injuries. They also weaken in old age, just like humans.
* Physical Weakness - Moroi aren't very strong physically, and are absolutely no match for Strigoi. Compared to Dhampirs, Moroi are generally physically weaker and less nimble.
* Decapitation: Separating an upir's head from the rest of the body will result in its death and is one of the common ways to kill them. Severe damage to the brain may also be fatal.
* Cremation: Cremation is the second best way to kill an upir that gets rid of any evidences that it existed.
* Physical Trauma: While it is usually not fatal, trauma and damage to the body can actually cause some harm to an upir, though usually by causing pain or slight weakness, such as when Olivia was shot in the heart or when she cut herself, feeling pain. Also, an upir has the same weak points as a human being and can be affected by strikes and impacts. Enough force can even break through their enhanced resilience and cause greater harm, as Roman suffered a concussion and seizure when his head was bashed against a wall by another upir. This caused him to require more recovery time than normal. Being struck in the heart while it being drained of blood and tissue pieces could kill an upir as Destiny killed one infected with the Upir Virus with the use of a body cavity vacuum inside a mortuary, a device that is used to liquefying, grinding, and shredding tissues and organs, as well as vacuum them out of the body. Therefore, liquidating or heavily mutilating an upir, especially on the inside, can kill them. At the same time, vacuuming out or removing tissues and organs such as the brain or heart, or simply grinding or shredding them, can kill upir as well. Permanent damage can, in fact, be dealt to an upir, though it may not be fatal. Roman was at the risk of being made permanently deaf when a syringe was near a tube connected to the inside of his hearing organs. Even then, only heavy mutilation or removal of the head, brain or heart, will truly kill an upir. Roman also experienced the weaknesses of broken bones after being tackled out his window and falling on the ground with the impact breaking his body and leaving him vulnerable to Peter's vargulf. He seemed to think it was permanent as he asked Peter not leave him in such a state and to kill him instead.
* Heart Piercing: A direct strike to the heart cannot kill an upir, however, it can weaken them long enough for them to be killed, so maybe an hour or less. Anticoagulants are seemingly capable of making the weakened period longer. The way to pierce their hearts is to aim under the sternum then twist upwards and towards the spine. Also, if the heart is destroyed, it can be fatal to an upir. Being struck in the heart while it being drained of blood and tissue pieces could kill an Upir as Destiny killed one infected with the Upir Virus with the use of a body cavity vacuum inside a mortuary, a device that is used to liquefying and shredding tissues and organs, as well as vacuum them out of the body.
* Heart Removal: If their heart is extracted from their bodies or their chest is ripped out, an upir will die in a similar way that they die from decapitation.
* Suffocation: It is believed that, much as Olivia became comatose and seemingly died after her attack by Roman, suffocation, either of the lungs or the blood vessels or body parts or systems can cause the same effect. Pryce's and Olivia's plan to copy her mind unto another upir and leave her own body dead, as it was infected with the Upir Virus, involved seemingly killing, or at least making Olivia's real body seem dead, with a morphine overdose. It is implied that removing the lungs has a high possibility of killing an upir, though it may just cause them pain, as they are said to survive any damage other than severe damage, destruction or removal of the heart, brain, or head. Olivia was seemingly choking to death when Shelley was strangling her.
* Normal Stamina: Upirs, while also have the same weak points as a human being, also cannot always sustain prolonged physical or mental effort, unless they are feeding or on a blood high. This can limits their physical strength, as those who do not feed as often or from the right source can lose their enhanced resilience while they can still recover from any injury without complication or medicinal help regardless. Both trauma and damage can have the same painful, weakening, disorienting, or stunning effect on an upir as it does on normal humans, though this usually is for those who do not feed regularly or the right amount. Permanent damage can, in fact, be dealt to an upir, though it may not be fatal. Roman was at the risk of being made permanently deaf when a syringe was near a tube connected to the inside of his hearing organs.
* Hunger - Being deprived of blood and/or flesh not only causes an upir to weaken but also to lose their ability to control their hunger and sometimes attack humans to feed on them. Theirs grows with every day they live until they attack everything with blood and flesh uncontrollably. They soon will kill while feeding and lose their humanity to their hunger and lose all self-control. The upir Feeding Tank can successful curb an upir's appetite and stop their loss of control and a full grow humanoid from the lab and be fed on to help heal an upir if they develop unnatural conditions.
* Blood-Loss: Without feeding on enough blood and flesh, upirs can be rendered almost mortal and be vulnerable to long term effects of damage that feeding cannot heal immediately and require, such as when Olivia had loss of speech, was in a coma for almost a year, and had severe muscular dystrophy after being drained of blood by Roman, which caused her to become so weak that she needed a cane to walk. This did not hinder her superhuman strength as she ripped open Marie Godfrey's neck, either with her bare hands or with her bite. Roman lost his enhanced strength and resilience due to his treatments, as seen when he fought a cultist with a knife and was slices in the arm and had to dodge attacks. He was once durable enough to take a direct strike to the back with a metal pole, and it is landing on him as if he were made of metal. His strength was also lessened as he needed a shovel in combat to win in a fight against cultists and to beat the cultist he fought to the floor before smashing the blade against the cultists head. The cultist was not even killed by this, even while Roman was seemingly fully exerting his strength. It is implied that he could have been able to fight his mother on equal grounds if he were not taking the treatments but this was not demonstrated. Being struck in the heart while it being drained of blood and tissue pieces could kill an upir as Destiny killed one infected with the Upir Virus with the use of a body cavity vacuum inside a mortuary, a device that is used to liquefying, grinding, and shredding tissues and organs, as well as vacuum them out of the body. Therefore, liquidating or heavily mutilitating an upir, especially to the heart, brain or head, can kill them. At the same time, vacuuming out or removing tissues and organs such as the brain or heart, or simply grinding or shredding them, can kill upir as well.
* Upir Neurotoxin: An enzyme derived from an upir's own body can be used for medicinal purposes, breaking down the immune system and weakening an upir's cellular defences to allow for further treatments. It was used in Olivia's recovery after being killed by Roman, as she could not recover on her own. It also caused her to become more human, giving her tissue dystrophy, chemically enhanced emotions and empathy, which was hard to overcome, accelerated ageing and decay and even human-like vulnerability to cancers, which is a possible side effect of the accelerated ageing. Olivia had severe muscular dystrophy after being drained of blood by Roman and being given the Neurotoxin in her treatments, all of which caused her to become so weak that she needed a cane to walk which she got over in months. She took medication such as methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide. This could all be immediately reversed if an afflicted upir feeds off a Humanoid grown at the Godfrey Labs. It should be noted that an upirs strength is the only physical ability that is not affected by the Neurotoxin, as she was shown to only be as fragile as a human, spraining herself after falling off a chair, though she still ripped out Marie Godfrey's throat and lifted Roman several feet above her head with one hand. Her immune system was shut down, physically making her weak and making her age at an accelerated rate and develop the side effects of ageing such as cancer development due to a decaying bodily system. The Upir Feeding Tanks was designed to develop Humanoids, but the project only succeeded in creating plasma and tissue supplements to fully control an upir's hunger and sustain them. A fully developed Humanoid can completely repair, and an enhance upir's self-reparation capabilities to unnatural levels to help them rejuvenate and restore themselves from damage or abnormal conditions caused by upir Neurotoxins.
* Pryce's Sedative: Pryce used a sedative on Roman as a half upir that left him comatose for days. He then used it on a human male that he copied his consciousness onto. The sedative then was shown to be able to render full upir unconscious for an hour or more, as Pryce used it to copy Olivia's consciousness onto.
* Hemophilia Serum: Developed by the Godfrey Institute, this enzyme inhibitor is meant to cause acute hemophilia, preventing clotting factors and inducing excessive bleeding. The effect of it on a living organism was said to be "Like an atom bomb going off in the bloodstream". It would weaken or potentially almost cripple an upir long enough for them to be killed. If an upir who is going through Pryce's cure treatments is subjected to the serum, it may kill them.
* Anticoagulant: Drugs like Heparin, can be placed on the weapon that pierces their hearts and further its effectiveness at weakening them, as their blood will be unable to clot and therefore weakening their damage reparation abilities and physical recovery. With that, they are physically react to wounds like any human would, though they have minutes before succumbing to these weaknesses, allowing them to use their strength to fight back. Not even feeding can stop the symptoms of the anticoagulant. An injection of protamine sulfate, a clotting agent injected into the neck, can reverse the effects of the anticoagulant as fast as the anticoagulant takes to weaken the upir.
* Rare Cases: Upirs can also become sick with diseases such as congenital heart disease, which can occur naturally, along with vulnerability to cancers and the Upir Virus. While they are the only species to be vulnerable to this infection, cancers happen to most upir whose immune system is broken down by upir Neurotoxin. It is possible that if such a disease is inside the upir before they become full upir, it might survive their suicide and possibly be able to still harm them.
: Vampires all possess a common set of weaknesses that range from inconvenient to lethal. The older a vampire grows, the more immunity they gain to certain weaknesses. Fire: Fire is an efficient manner to destroy a vampire, provided said vampire is not a Child of The Millenia. For those under a millenia old, they are highly susceptible and vulnerable to the effects of fire; if set ablaze, they can be greatly weakened and or reduced to ash-from, which there is no resurrecting and healing, permanent and true death has been achieved. Decapitation: If under a Millenia old any vampire who is decapitated will die. Children of the Millenia are able to survive this, such as Rhoshamandes, who was able to recover and fully revive from being decapitated due to his advanced power and strength stemming from his immense old age; he was over 5 Millenia old. Exsanguination: As blood is the sole nutrition a vampire survives and lives off of, should they be drained of it in dangerous amounts without having it replaced quickly, said drained vampire will die from it as their bodies have nothing to draw on for power or life force. Children of the Millenia possess a higher chance of survivability from this due to their advanced power, but ultimately can succumb to death from this as well. Sunlight: Vampires, especially those under a Millenia old, are highly vulnerable to sunlight; it burns, and with enough exposure, they will catch fire and die. The older a vampire becomes, the more direct exposure to sunlight they can withstand before succumbing to it. Dead Blood: Vampires, regardless of age or power, are all vulnerable to the consumption of dead blood. It can weaken them severely for several weeks if consumed in a small amount or if a decent amount is consumed, it can outright kill them, especially if it was consumed right when a vampire was feeding on their prey and didn’t stop before their heart gave out, their prey’s death flowing into them as well. Sacred Core Destruction: All Vampires, regardless of age or power status, are vulnerable to permanent death if the Sacred Core is destroyed. The Sacred Core is the brain and heart that houses the ancient spirit of Amel, the progenitor and creator of Vampire kind.
: "We have to kill him. Rip him apart and burn the pieces."
:: ―Edward[src]
Vampires are not known to be killed by human effort, are unharmed by sunlight, garlic, holy water, silver, any kind of stake or cross, and can enter homes without permission. Also, any kind of standard human weapon, including bullets, bounces off of them without any pain or harm done. The only known way to kill a vampire is to dismember his or her body and burn the remains before it can reconstruct itself. Thus their weakness is the strength of their own kind or something as strong, which cannot be copied by humans, and fire that consumes them. If a human were to succeed in lighting a vampire on fire, the vampire could simply take a quick high-speed bound to put it out. This is why it is necessary to rip a vampire's body to pieces before incinerating them into ashes, to prevent them from putting out the fire before it can do serious damage. In Alice's vision in Breaking Dawn - Part 2, it appeared that vampires could be destroyed by molten lava. A number of vampires fell into the deep fissure made by Benjamin and never came out of it; they were likely consumed by magma. During the final battle scene Aro says that humans possess weapons with enough capabilities to destroy their kind. This suggests that a vampire could be vaporized in a nuclear blast. Otherwise vampires are virtually indestructible.
Vampires are more vulnerable in the movies than in the books: they can be killed by severing their heads from their necks. However, fire is still the only known method to destroy them completely.
Vampires have a number of weaknesses, which range from irritating to fatal (it should be noted that the death of a vampire is referred to as the "true death").
=== Common Weaknesses ===
* Decapitation: If the head of a vampire is severed completely, the vampire will perish. Breaking the neck of a vampire only causes mild discomfort.
* Entry to homes: Vampires cannot enter private human homes unless they are invited in by the owner of the house. Vampires do not need to be invited into public places (such as bars or restaurants). Humans can rescind their invitations from vampires, which causes the vampire to immediately leave the house. Vampires can get around this by glamouring a person into inviting them in (provided the inhabitant makes eye-contact or isn't otherwise immune to glamouring). Ancient vampires might not be subjected to this weakness, suggested by Bill who drank Lilith's whole remaining blood and Warlow that has never been invited to Sookie's house. The death of the human owner of a residence allows any vampire to enter even without an invitation.
* Excess blood: If a vampire drinks too much blood, they will display alcohol intoxication-like qualities (such as euphoria, confusion, stupor, etc).
* Exsanguination: If a vampire is completely drained of their blood, they can become comatose, and eventually perish.
* Fire: Vampires can heal from burns, if given time and blood. However, if a vampire cannot take the time to heal from the burns, the vampire will die.
* Garlic: Garlic is "irritating" to vampires. Likely vampires find the smell of garlic annoying due to their acute senses.
* Hepatitis D: A virus that can be transmitted through blood that weakens vampires for about a month.
* Hepatitis V: A new strain of the hepatitis disease that can be spread to them via sexual contact, ingestion, and injection. Once in the vampire's system, the vampire will begin to weaken and eventually die slowly and painfully.
* Maenad Blood: Since maenads aren't human, their blood is corrosive to vampires. When Bill bit Maryann Forrester, it poisoned him.
* Magic: Vampires have no particular resistance to the effects of magic.
** Necromancy: Due to the fact that they are technically dead, vampires are particularly vulnerable to necromancy. This form of magic can be used to influence, destroy or control them. Fearing the power practitioners can wield, vampires have been persecuting necromancers for centuries.
* Silver: Any contact with silver will burn and melt the surface of the vampire it touches. Contact with silver also severely weakens them and drains their strength. Silver is the most common way of binding or incapacitating vampires.
* Sleep or blood deprivation: If a vampire does not sleep during the day, or does not feed for a period of time, they will experience the "bleeds". The bleeds refer to vampires bleeding from their ears and noses. It is unknown if a vampire can meen the true death from a lack of blood as one of the Magister's sentences for crimes was to imprison a vampire in a coffin for five years, indicating that they can atleast endure without blood for a few years. Jessica was able to go months without feeding and only suffered from diminished powers such as a lack of healing.
* Sunlight: Vampires cannot endure ultra-violet light in any form. If a vampire comes into contact with sunlight, their skin will burn and they will be severely weakened, and, eventually, burst into flames and perish. The older a vampire is, the quicker they will burn; when Godric walked into sunlight, he perished in about 30 seconds, while Bill Compton was just severely charred after 3 minutes. UV light burns heal more slowly than regular burns, such as those inflicted by fire. This is perhaps their greatest weakness, as it renders them helpless twelve hours of the day. It is during daytime that they are most vulnerable.
* Wood: Vampires are susceptible to wood and wooden objects, including stakes and wooden bullets. If the heart of a vampire is pierced with a wooden object, the vampire will explode, and leave a mass of blood where they were previously standing. Certain very unusual and ancient vampires can become possibly immune to staking, as seen when Sookie staked Bill, who was able to remove the stake without meeting the true death. If so, the age of a vampire rendered immune to staking is unusually ancient, as neither Russell nor Warlow were immune, though they were respectively 2,800 to 5,500 years old.
=== Enhancements ===
Vampires can achieve a temporary invulnerability to at least some of their weaknesses consuming the blood of a Faerie. These enhancements last much longer, if they ingest the blood of a faerie-vampire hybrid.
==== Faerie Blood ====
Depending on the amount of blood consumed, vampires grow immune to their weakness to sunlight after drinking fairy blood. The effects last shortly, however, and the pureness of the blood is a factor too; after drinking a hybrid's blood, Russell Edgington burned in the sun quite shortly afterwards (though the blood did prevent him from bursting into blue flames like Godric), while Eric Northman spent at least an hour in the sun after completely draining a full-blooded faerie.
Russell Edgington has been shown to be able to resist for a short time at the stakeout after drinking the blood of Fairy. At first his wounds begin to expel a bright light, because of the Faerie blood, shocking everyone including Russell, who thinks that the fairy blood would allow him to survive. However, in light of the fairies expulsion from him soon wears off and proceed to decompose and implodes meeting the true death. It is further to be doubted that Faerie blood renders a vampire immune to staking when even Warlow, a vampire over 5,600 years older and Faerie-vampire was not able to resist the staking.
Also, when a vampire has drunk the blood of a fairy, become immune to the magic of the fairies including photokinesis and are able to see them when transmitting invisible.
==== Faerie-Vampire Blood ====
Blood of a Faerie-vampire will allow a vampire to walk the sun indefinitely. The effect of faerie-vampire blood disappears immediately upon the death of the source, regardless of distance. It is marked both by a tremor and a visible light expulsion effect, when it occurs.
Though formidable, vampires do possess a number of weaknesses; ranging from irritating to fatal.
* Sunlight - Vampires can survive in sunlight, although they tend to stay covered up. John Mitchell was often seen in daylight wearing heavy coats and sunglasses, even when it was not necessary to wear such items.
* Religious symbols - Vampires are repelled by religious symbols and writings, almost to the point of pain. These symbols can be of any religion; for example, George Sands' Star of David and verses from the Christian Bible were both simultaneously capable of repelling vampires. However, a religious symbol will not affect a vampire whom its owner holds love, friendship and/or affection towards. (Bad Moon Rising) It is also known that the more vampires there are, the weaker the religious symbol's repelling effect on them altogether is. (Where The Wild Things Are) Elder vampires such as the Old Ones are unrepelled by religious symbols as well. Vampires can use humans' bodies, which aren't repelled by religious symbols, as barriers against said symbols' repelling effect on them. (Hold the Front Page) Also, when Herrick temporarily forgot that he was a vampire, he was unfazed by George Sands' Star of David. (Series 3)
* Invitation - Vampires cannot enter a private residence unless they have been invited in; otherwise, crossing the threshold will severely burn and mutilate the vampire and cause them extreme agony, although it does not seem to be fatal. (The War Child) However, once a vampire has been given permission to enter the private residence, they do not need to re-acquire the invitation to enter a second time, and can re-enter and exit as they please. (The Graveyard Shift) Through unknown means, vampire who become an Old One are able to enter a private building uninvited without being harmed (The Wolf-Shaped Bullet). Vampires are also unable to walk on consecrated ground, such as a church or any other place of worship. (All God's Children)
* Garlic - Although garlic does not pain a vampire, vampires display some degree of disgust for garlic, as John Mitchell was shown to cringe away from the garlic in Anthony McNair's van (The Pack).
* Physical trauma - Though it wouldn't kill them permanently like staking would, immense and severe physical trauma (such as decapitation, being mauled by something as strong as a transformed werewolf, or being fatally caught in an explosion) can kill a vampire.
* Wooden stake - A vampire can be killed permanently by a wooden stake piercing through the heart. When this happens, the vampire's body disintegrates and it dies, leaving just dust and the vampire's clothes behind. According to Herrick, vampires cannot be resurrected from staking.
** Wood - It has been implied that even if it doesn't fatally pierce their heart, injuries inflicted with wood are still very harmful to vampires; a stake to the chest that misses the heart will still excruciatingly cripple, immobilise and severely weaken a vampire; where being shot, stabbed or impaled by an object of any material other than wood has been said to barely faze a vampire. Hal also specified that weapons not made of wood, such as metal knives, won't do when killing a vampire (Where The Wild Things Are, No Care, All Responsibility, The Last Broadcast)
* Werewolf blood - Werewolves' blood is extremely toxic to vampires, corrosively burning their skin and bodily tissues like acid. It can kill them if they ingest it or if the blood is projected directly into their faces. When a vampire dies due to fatal injury from werewolf blood's acidity to them, their body disintegrates to ash just as they would from a wooden stake to the heart. (Eve of the War, The Greater Good, The Last Broadcast) Non-fatal burns to a vampire's body caused by werewolf blood also do not seem to heal as quickly as conventional wounds to a vampire would, and it has been implied that these burns last for a significantly long time. (A Spectre Calls)
Vampires cannot be killed by most conventional means that humans can; however they still experience pain, and can be crippled for days, or moments, depending on the trauma. Trauma that would hospitalise or kill humans may only temporarily hinder vampires, and there are a few specific natural substances which temporarily paralyse, weaken and cripple them. There are certain methods that can be used to destroy them. When a vampire dies, their body withers and burns away to ash, along with anything they were wearing.
* Wooden Stakes - A vampire can be killed by a wooden object, usually a stake, piercing its heart; although if it misses the vampire's heart, it won't be fatal, but still crippling.
* Decapitation - Cutting a vampire's head off will kill them instantly or near instantly.
* Sunlight - While sunlight is not lethal to them like in traditional folklore, vampires strongly dislike direct sunlight, which seems to cause them pain and discomfort, though they can hide it overtime, and they tend to prefer to go out covered up in daylight. According to Aidan, vampires were originally entirely incapable of going out in the sun, but they gradually adapted and are now merely 'photosensitive'.
* Invitation Deprivation - Houses owned by humans or werewolves cannot be entered by vampires without the owner's permission, unless the vampire itself either lives there or was turned there. Entering uninvited for more than a few seconds will cause the vampire to burn, and can fatally melt the vampire away if they don't get back out quickly. Interestingly, if the ownership of the house officially changes while a vampire is still inside it, the invitation is nullified, and the vampire will perish unless he or she escapes immediately.
* Werewolf Blood - Werewolf blood is non-fatally but cripplingly toxic to vampires. It causes vampires who ingest it to bleed heavily from their faces, rendering them too weak to even stand, and also causing them to experience violent seizures; although the effect only lasts for a matter of minutes before the vampire recovers. A vampire who has consumed werewolf blood will be rendered unable to create other vampires, instead creating defective, vampire-like mutants. The werewolf blood only remains in their system for a few weeks.
Sally calls it going "Joker-faced" because of how pale a vampire gets and their lips being stained with blood.
* Garlic - While not fatal, if a Vampire consumes Garlic, it will force them to assume their vampiric features (black eyes and fangs), as well as causing congestion. The effects can be countered by bathing in certain herbs: feverfew, mistletoe, or camomile.
* The Virus - If a vampire feeds from a human that had the mysterious new flu strain, then they will be fatally poisoned. The symptoms the vampire exhibits include increasing-greying patches across their skin, decreased rational thought and reduced effectiveness and acuity of their physical abilities. Eventually, after a matter of days, the vampire will die of the Virus's effects, unless their body has been vaccinated against the Virus's effect by consuming werewolf blood.
* Juniper - The plant juniper can temporarily render vampires severely weakened and paralysed if it gets into their system. The effects apparently take "a really long time to kick in." Human blood can acquire the effects of Juniper if ingested, but will only work if a large does is consumed (enough to kill the human).
* Blood Withdrawal - When vampires don't feed after a day or two, they begin to become sick and rabid; losing self-control over their bloodlust around humans, and even experiencing hallucinations. They will act aggressive and will slightly feel panicked and desperate for blood.
* Blood Intoxication - When vampires feed on too much blood they will begin to become intoxicated. In this mental state, vampires can be overpowered easier by werewolves that are a day away from transforming, and are at greater risk of losing self-control and attacking humans.
* Werewolf bite/scratch - A bite or scratch from a werewolf is capable of killing a vampire.
* Physical Trauma - Both trauma and damage can have the same painful, weakening, disorienting or stunning effect on a vampire as it does on normal humans, though they can recover from any form of trauma and damage, unless it is a stake in the heart. Vampires weakened from feeding on bagged blood respond to physical stress and trauma in a more human manner. In fact, enough physical trauma, especially that which is caused by a transformed werewolf, may be fatal to a vampire.
* Loss of Fangs - If removed, a vampire's fangs cannot be re-grown.
* Headshot - While a direct headshot won't kill a vampire or even knock it out, the brain damage it causes will partially but severely cripple the vampire's movements for a short time until they begin to heal.
* Defective Vampire mind compulsion - A defective vampire's mind compelling ability can work on normal vampires.
* Blackthorn wood - As demonstrated by Liam McLean when torturing Aidan, while not fatal to vampires, blackthorn wood can agonise them even more than regular wood would.
As with other supernatural creatures, vampires have weaknesses that hunters can exploit to defeat them.
=== Harming and Banishing ===
* Dead man's blood - The use of blood from the recently deceased can also be used as a method to incapacitate vampires briefly. Michael's enhanced vampires are immune to dead man's blood.
* Sunlight - While sunlight can hurt them, John Winchester likened it to a really bad sunburn; rather than being lethal it only causes pain to vampires. For this reason, vampires are primarily nocturnal, and will not go out while the sun is still on the horizon. They can also find other types of light uncomfortable, as vampires have increased sensitivity to light. Michael's enhanced vampires seems to be undisturbed from sunlight, as they walked in it without being deterred.
* Scent-blocking Mixture - A mixture of saffron, skunk cabbage, and trillium into a fire or dusting one's clothes with the ashes of this mixture will cover a human's scent to attack vampires. This will even cover another vampire's scent. However older vampires with their stronger senses, may be able to overcome this.
* Serious Physical Injury - While vampires can't be killed by serious physical injury and can heal, they are still susceptible to harmful injuries. After a fight with a group of vampirates, Benny Lafitte was left unable to walk and needed Dean Winchester to bring him blood so that he could heal. Even then, Benny indicated that it would take some time for him to fully recover from his injuries even after drinking blood. He also commented that vampires cannot regrow amputated body parts. When Donna Hanscum kneecapped Marlon, he reacted in the same way any human would and feared the further harm Donna would cause him enough to cooperate. Later, it was shown that while they can survive a headshot (so long as it doesn't actually blow their head off), it still incapacitates them for a while.
=== Killing ===
==== Weapons, Rituals and Substances ====
* The Colt - As it can kill almost anything, it can be used against all vampires including their alpha.
* Vamptonite - Human blood with DNA altered by Leviathan corn syrup: This altered blood kills them quickly as though they have ingested a powerful acid.
* Decapitation - Beheading is the most commonly used method to kill vampires, considered the only method for a long time. The head does not necessarily need to be removed; doing sufficient damage seems just as effective a method of killing, if somewhat more elaborate. Garth was able to kill Maul by swinging a machete down through the top of his head, cutting through his brain but not cutting his head completely off.
* Vampire Irradiation Gun - The British Men of Letters at some point invented this weapon through a combination of technology and magic that irradiates vampires and reorders their DNA, turning their own blood toxic and killing them.
* Anti-Vampire Device - The British Men of Letters at some point invented this weapon through a combination of technology and magic that releases a gas that is poisonous to vampires.
* The Spear - A weapon powerful enough to kill even a archangel, it was also used to kill several of Michael's grace-enhanced vampires.
==== Beings ====
* Angels - Angels can kill them without difficulty. Castiel killed Lenore by just placing his palm on her head.
* Demons - Demons are much stronger than vampires, as shown when a group of black-eyed demons overpowered the Alpha Vampire.
* Leviathans - Leviathan can effortlessly kill any vampire, including the Alpha Vampire.
* Primordial entities - God, The Darkness, Death and Archangels can annihilate any vampire without effort.
* Nephilim - While using the power of his soul, Jack was easily able to disintegrate a vampire.
* Destruction of the brain or heart: Vampires can be killed by sufficiently grievous wounds to the head or heart, be it from blades or bullets.
* Crucifix: Although vampires can stand to be in the presence of a crucifix, these symbols evidently have some deleterious effect upon them, as one master vampire chose to flee a confrontation in a room with a crucifix upon the wall, rather than stand and fight.
* Demonic Influence: Vampires seem to be repulsed or weakened by the dark power that resides within Vanessa Ives.
* Death of the Master: If a Master vampire is slain, all of the infected created by that vampire will also immediately die.
==== Methods of destruction ====
The ninth-century Nørre Nærå Runestone from the Danish island of Fyn is inscribed with a "grave binding inscription" used to keep the deceased in its grave. Methods of destroying suspected vampires varied, with staking the most commonly cited method, particularly in South Slavic cultures. Ash was the preferred wood in Russia and the Baltic states, or hawthorn in Serbia, with a record of oak in Silesia. Aspen was also used for stakes, as it was believed that Christ's cross was made from aspen (aspen branches on the graves of purported vampires were also believed to prevent their risings at night). Potential vampires were most often staked through the heart, though the mouth was targeted in Russia and northern Germany and the stomach in north-eastern Serbia. Piercing the skin of the chest was a way of "deflating" the bloated vampire. This is similar to a practice of "anti-vampire burial": burying sharp objects, such as sickles, with the corpse, so that they may penetrate the skin if the body bloats sufficiently while transforming into a revenant.
Decapitation was the preferred method in German and western Slavic areas, with the head buried between the feet, behind the buttocks or away from the body. This act was seen as a way of hastening the departure of the soul, which in some cultures was said to linger in the corpse. The vampire's head, body, or clothes could also be spiked and pinned to the earth to prevent rising. 800-year-old skeleton found in Bulgaria stabbed through the chest with an iron rod. Romani people drove steel or iron needles into a corpse's heart and placed bits of steel in the mouth, over the eyes, ears and between the fingers at the time of burial. They also placed hawthorn in the corpse's sock or drove a hawthorn stake through the legs. In a 16th-century burial near Venice, a brick forced into the mouth of a female corpse has been interpreted as a vampire-slaying ritual by the archaeologists who discovered it in 2006. In Bulgaria, over 100 skeletons with metal objects, such as plough bits, embedded in the torso have been discovered.
Further measures included pouring boiling water over the grave or complete incineration of the body. In the Balkans, a vampire could also be killed by being shot or drowned, by repeating the funeral service, by sprinkling holy water on the body, or by exorcism. In Romania, garlic could be placed in the mouth, and as recently as the 19th century, the precaution of shooting a bullet through the coffin was taken. For resistant cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and administered to family members as a cure. In Saxon regions of Germany, a lemon was placed in the mouth of suspected vampires.
Vampires have many limitations imposed upon their supernatural abilities, and even upon their very existence. Below are a listing of weaknesses common to supernatural vampires.[citation needed] Popular fiction depicting vampires often causes others to be skeptical of their reality. Once convinced of their existence, however, the same media provides an education on basic anti-vampire tools, such as religious symbols, sunlight, wooden stakes, and holy water, although those using them may not fully understand details of the tools' requirements.
==== Blood Consumption ====
Vampires are regularly required to consume a few pints (litres) of blood every other night. Failing to do so would cause the vampire to weaken and after an extended period without blood seemingly perish. A vampire's ability to metabolize blood and their frequency of feeding usually varies however depending on a number of factors: Length of time between feedings, damage or injury to the body, resurrection from a near death state, and excessive use of their supernatural abilities and strength.[citation needed]
==== Native Soil ====
Typically, vampires cannot travel more than 100 miles (160 km) from their land of birth, unless their bring at least one pound (500 g) of their native soil wherever they choose to sleep during the day. For example, Dracula would typically have coffins with dirt from his native Transylvania shipped to his various hideouts all over Europe and the United States so that he would have a place to rest unharmed from the sun.[citation needed]
However, in many instances vampires (including Dracula) have been depicted being able to travel to far off places and sleep in locations that do not have their native lands earth on hand.[citation needed]
What happens to a vampire who does not do this remains unknown, but given the instances that a vampire has slept without being around soil from their native land suggests that this is not a lethal weakness.[citation needed]
==== Sunlight ====
A vampire's greatest weakness is sunlight, due to their altered metabolism, vampires were unable to withstand direct sunlight. Sunlight, somehow caused the ichor to congeal within the vampire's veins and the skin to rapidly decay. Direct exposure to sunlight caused the vampire to dehydrate completely and turn to powder,[citation needed] or even explode in certain cases. Artificial sunlight can also hurt vampires, although not as effectively; when Monica Rambeau) attacked Dracula with ultraviolet light, he was hurt but not destroyed.
Some vampires, such as Dracula have been able to reform their bodies following being turned to powder from the sun, while others have been completely obliterated from contact with the sun. The conditions in which a vampire can come back from the dead may be particular to one who is rightfully the lord of all vampires.[citation needed]
==== Religious Symbols ====
Vampires also had an aversion to any religious symbol (such as a crucifix/cross (including objects assembled into a cross, like wood branches), Star of David, or holy water) wielded or placed by anyone who believes in the religious significance of the symbol (for example a cross held by a Jew had no effect). The size of the symbol was not a consideration on its ability to repel vampires, only the strength of belief: for example, a believing Christian wielding a small cross could hold a vampire at bay. The symbol even sear the vampire's flesh simply by touching him or her with it.[citation needed]
However, the deity must be one that was believed in at the time of the vampire's original death; a cross had no effect on Varnae, for example, since he died approximately 16,000 years before the crucifixion.[citation needed]
Another consideration is if the vampire in question worshiped the faith whose religious symbol is being used against them. For example, when David Eshocl used the Star of David against Dracula, Dracula was weakened by its sight, but stated that because he followed Christianity and not Judaism before becoming a vampire, the Star had a lesser effect on him. On another occasion, he was hurt by a silver Star of David (it is unknown if it was the silver or the star who impacted him). On Earth-1610, a cross wield by Blade against a Jewish Vampire was completely ineffective.
If a worshipper of a god is turned into Vampire he will burst into flames when touched by the god in question. Thor realised this when a Vikings settlement was turned in to vampires.
Further, there may be an element of belief by proxy or a vampires own belief that a symbol may harm them, as there have been instances where a crucifix has been used by someone who is not holding the item. For example, Quincy Harker and Elainne Turac have both utilized weapons that would project the symbol of the cross against Dracula while not actually holding the religious symbol. Further, Quincy's faithful dog Saint, has a collar lined with silver crosses that were able to harm Dracula. It's highly improbable that Saint understands the symbolism let alone having faith in Christianity, however either Quincy's faith, or Dracula's belief that the crosses could harm him caused the vampire lord pain.[citation needed]
Lastly, a religious symbol can lose its power over a vampire if the vampire is capable of making the believer's faith falter. In such situations, the strength of the religious symbol's ability to repel a vampire would weaken.[citation needed]
==== Invitations Only ====
Vampires have a mystical aversion to entering any human dwelling place to which they were not verbally invited. A human bitten by a vampire but not fully transformed can invite a vampire. This appears to only be the case with personal dwellings, as vampires have been seen entering public buildings without the need of being invited inside. Vampires have been shown to burst into flames if they enter a private residence without being invited first.
==== Impaling the Heart with Wood ====
Another weakness of vampires is to impale them through the heart with wood, which will cause them to eventually decompose into a skeleton. Originally, it was thought that a wooden stake would be the only means of doing so; however, advancement in vampire hunting techniques have indicated that any wooden object that can break through a vampire's chest and pierce the heart is sufficient in killing a vampire.[citation needed]
For example, Blade learned that wooden daggers would prove to be just as effective, while Frank Drake and Rachel van Helsing have used wooden bullets.
However, very powerful vampires, such as Dracula, can reanimate if the stake (or other object) is removed, so long as the body isn't destroyed.
==== Silver ====
Silver is highly harmful for vampires, to the point even Dracula himself can be crippled if impaled through the heart with a silver wheelchair spoke. Silver weapons can kill vampires in a similar fashion to wooden ones, though very powerful vampires such as Dracula are resistant enough so they cannot be killed by such.
==== Garlic ====
The scent of garlic can sap the strength of a vampire. It has been used as a rope to bind vampires, sapping their strength sufficiently to prevent them from breaking the bonds. Garlic is not lethal to vampires, but it can make them more vulnerable to other means of attack.[citation needed]
==== Magic ====
Magic wielders such as Doctor Strange and Topaz have been able to harm vampires with magic, and some spells have the effect to kill a vampire. The most lethal spell is the Montesi Formula is a spell from the Book of Darkhold which can destroy all vampires. Doctor Strange invoked the spell which destroyed all vampires on Earth (save Hannibal King, who he and his allies were able to restore to human life), but when the spell was broken all the vampires that were destroyed were restored to life.[citation needed]
==== Radioactive Blood ====
Radioactive blood has proved harmful to Vampires that consume it. Also, individuals with it that have been bitten have reverted back to normal once the radiation kills the enzymes responsible for their transformation. On Earth-12041, in the case of gamma radiation, the individual returns to normal when the blood cells super heat, burning the Vampire cells like micro suns. A sanitized sample of Hulk's blood was used to cure the Black Widow when she was on the early states of the transformation.
Every cell of a Majesdanian can absorb solar radiation. If a vampire drinks the blood of a fully-powered Majesdanian, this is the equivalent of consuming liquid sunlight, turning the vampire to ash. It is unknown what would happen if a Majesdanian were to be fed upon after completely draining their solar reserves at night.
==== Other Limitations ====
Vampires cast no reflections, and their images cannot not be captured on film.[citation needed]
* Hematophagia: Vampires require the consumption of human blood for nourishment and to maintain their existence. The required dosage of blood per vampire depends upon their overall strength and vitality, though most vampires need to feed at least once per evening. Older, more powerful vampires will sometimes require more blood than lesser vampires in order to maintain their health. The most common form of extraction is by biting a human victim upon the neck, usually on the jugular vein where the blood is freshest. Some vampires keep supplies of stored blood at secret locations called "blood banks". This practice is more common amongst turned vampires and rarely employed by natural vampires, who prefer to feed on live prey. Failure to consume human blood at regular intervals may produce a variety of effects. Vampires may suffer a loss of vitality and cohesion and they will find it more difficult to maintain a human mien. If enough time has passed without nourishment, a vampire may enter a "blood frenzy" wherein they will act on primal instinct and take what they need from the closest available source, regardless of the consequences.
* Ultraviolet Radiation: The vampire's greatest enemy is the power of the sun. Minimal exposure is known to cause great discomfort, even pain, but direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation is instantly fatal. Vampires are at their most vulnerable during daylight hours, and must sequester themselves in environments completely cut off from all natural light sources. When exposed to direct UV radiation, a vampire's body will blister, burn and disintegrate into ash within seconds. Some vampires, such as Deacon Frost, have been known to apply a special protective ointment to their skin, which will enable them to survive minimal exposure, but even this is hardly considered a reliable alternative and most vampires know better than to take any undue risks. Artificial UV radiation is just as deadly to a vampire as natural sunlight. The vampire hunter known as Blade has been known to employ various UV gadgets in his quest to destroy all vampires including, UV lamps, UV target scopes and UV flashbang grenades.
* Silver: Silver nitrate is extremely deadly to a vampire. Bladed weapons forged from silver are more likely to destroy a vampire than conventional ones. If ingested, a vampire's body will convulse wildly and disintegrate within moments. Silver nitrate combined with garlic extract produces a sort of "vampire mace" that, when sprayed, will cause a vampire's body to quickly corrode.
* Garlic: Though unconventional, garlic is a useful tool against a vampire. A vampire who is tricked into consuming garlic extract will suffer severe pain and will be forced to flee so that he or she may recover. Concentrated doses of garlic extract, mixed with silver nitrate yields a deadly corrosive that will destroy a vampire in seconds. This chemical compound can be weaponized and used in impact grenades or aerosols.
* EDTA: Short for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA is an anti-coagulant that reacts explosively to vampire physiology. Like silver nitrate and garlic extract, EDTA can be weaponized and used as a reliable offensive measure against vampires.
== Creation ==
== Personality ==
<tabber>
|-|Tropes=
|-|Human-Like=
|-|Vampire-Like=
Very beautiful. skin is described as being very pale and their bodies are slim and tall. Pale, tall and slender. Taller and slimmer than humans, and naturally have less muscle mass. They have a pair of fangs that do not retract. Females and males are described as possessing a supernatural beauty. Smaller breasts and slimmer hips. Their beauty is described as angelic or even god-like.
|-|Monster-Like=
</tabber>