Vampire (Underworld)

**Vampires** (or ***Immortals*** as coined by Christian) are a sub-species of Immortals seen in the *Underworld* films. The series portrays them as living creatures infected with a virus granting immortality, superhuman physical abilities, enhanced resilience, and healing, but causing a severe weakness to ultraviolet radiation and reliance on regular blood consumption.

## Powers and Abilities

The Vampire virus causes biological changes in the hosts that endow them with heightened senses and greatly-increased physical abilities. Vampires possess superhuman physical powers, including strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, durability and accelerated healing. Selene and several other Death Dealers are seen leaping from very high places - at least 10 stories in some places and landing without injury or harm as if their bodies and bones elasticity is enhanced to inhuman levels. Throughout the series, Vampires are shown exhibiting tremendous strength and speed, which they use to engage Lycans, humans and other Vampires in combat. Their raw strength is sufficient to single-handedly lift a grown man off the ground with ease. Their build, height, and mass no longer determine their strength, as Selene has overpowered and lifted up humans larger and with more mass than her and is shown moving with enough speed to evade gunfire and capable of outrunning Raze, a Lycan, in his Wolf form. Their physical abilities increases with age, to the point where a Vampire Elder, Viktor, was able to effortlessly break the arm and neck of a transformed Raze with his bare hands.

Certain Vampires also display the ability to obtain memories through blood ingestion, possibly through the virus affecting their brain and nerves and making their other tissues and fluids capable of obtaining bio-organic signals and information, which could explain their healing abilities. It can be assumed that all Vampires possess various degrees of these abilities, depending on their age, generation and experience. Their heightened senses manifest in acutely increased depth perception, sense of smell, hearing, and night vision which manifests as electric blue or yellow eyes. Selene, Erika and an unnamed female in *Underworld: Awakening* are shown to be able to cling to flat surfaces. Other abilities include the ability to turn humans into vampires through their bite, or possibly through blood transfusion. Their feeding allows them to maintain their physical abilities, especially their resistance to injury and pain, and their recovery abilities, though age strengthens these abilities further than feeding can. Some subjects of this do not survive, as the infection or damage caused can worsen due to the turning process.

A vampire is also able to change their appearance like Lycans can, but less drastically; their skin being more pale and white, their fanged canines and lateral incisors extending and being more pronounced from the mouth, and the vampire's irises being either bright electric blue or yellow. This transformation can be willed by the vampire or brought on by intense emotions such as anger, especially when the vampire is in danger or combat. It is possible that this transformation can enhance a Vampire's abilities in a similar way to a Lycan's transformation, as Selene and other vampires are shown "transforming" just before battling others with similar strength.

## Weaknesses

Despite their immortality and regenerative abilities, Vampires can die and suffer permanent damage from severe physical trauma, including amputation, dismemberment, decapitation, mutilation and severe blood loss. Many Vampires are shown dying after being mauled by Lycanthropes, and Selene passed out and nearly dies after losing a great amount of blood after being stabbed through the shoulder by Lucian, possibly causing damage to or near her heart. Vampires in the series also suffer from a highly aggressive and acute form of photo-sensitivity: they are allergic to the ultraviolet radiation inherent in natural sunlight. Direct exposure to sunlight can cause them to start burning, with prolonged exposure incinerating their flesh in fire and embers until they are reduced to charred corpses or a pile of ash. Indirect exposure to sunlight is enough to hurt their eyes if they look at it, though it cannot burn them. However, only being damaged by the sunlight before getting to safety will only leave a Vampire weakened until they can feed, which heals their injuries completely. While they are highly vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation, Vampires do not possess any of the other mystical weaknesses of mythological Vampires (crosses, holy water, garlic, stakes, etc). It is also possible for Vampires to die in childbirth (presumably from hemorrhaging), as demonstrated with Sonja's mother, Ilona. It is also revealed in *Underworld: Blood Wars* that nightshade is highly poisonous to Vampires - if a weaker Vampire got nightshade into their bloodstream or ingested it, they would die, while more powerful Vampires, such as Corvinus Strain enhanced Vampires, are shown to suffer crippling pain and temporary paralysis from Nightshade.

Only a small percentage of the human population can be turned into Vampires, as most humans die from infection of the Vampire virus within an hour of being bitten by a Vampire.