Index           Vampires           Shapeshifters           Witchcraft
	Comparison of Vampire Myths in Popular Fiction - Page 3 of 3 last update: 2 Apr 2003
	Myth	D	KK	FK	DS
	General
	Vampires are inherently evil	Yes	No	No	No
	Vampires are a kind of undead	Yes	Yes	Maybe	Yes
	Vampires are 'normal' humans, just altered	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires are a different species (subspecies) than humans	No	No	No	No
	Vampirism can be cured	No	No	Rarely	Yes
	Identifying features	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampire skin is unnaturally pale and cold to the touch	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
	The pallor and coldness decreases after feeding	?	n/a	no info	No
	Vampires are hideously deformed	No	No	No	No
	Vampires tend to have long and pointed fingernails	No	No	No	No
	Vampires have claws/talons	No	No	No	No
	Vampires gain monstrous aspects when angered, stressed, using vampiric abilities, etc. (e.g. glowing eyes or deformed features)	No	No	Yes	No
	Vampires change appearance when angered, stressed, using vampiric abilities, etc. (e.g. flushed or less dead-looking)	No	Yes	No	No
	A vampire's heart beats.	No	Yes	*Yes1	Yes
	A vampire's heart only beats if the vampire wills it to	n/a	No	No	No
	Vampires need to breathe	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires, in fact, don't breathe, unless they consciously intend to	?	No	No	No
	You become a vampire by ...	D	KK	FK	DS
	... being killed by one (normally via blood loss) (with no further action necessary)	No	Yes	some-times	Yes
	... drinking (or being injected by) a vampire's blood (without dying first)	No	Yes	Yes	No
	... suffering fatal blood loss and drinking (or being injected by) a vampire's blood	No	n/a	Yes	n/a
	... dying after being bitten by or drinking from a vampire	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	... dying after repeatedly being bitten by or drinking from a vampire	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
	... participating in some sort of ritual	No	No	No	No
	... committing suicide, dying unbaptized/apostate, not being buried in consecrated ground, etc	No	No	No	No
	... being the victim of an explicit curse	No	No	No	Yes
	... being born that way	No	No	No	No
	... getting infected by some kind of 'virus'	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	The subject must be willing for the transformation to be effective.	No	Yes	No	No
	The new vampire appears dead for some time (often 3 days) before rising	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	A newly made vampire will wake ravenous and will tend to attack anyone within range (unless fed as part of the process)	no info	No	Yes	No
	Killing/Hurting Vampires	D	KK	FK	DS
	A stake through the heart causes permanent death	Yes	event- ually	Yes	Yes
	A stake must be made of special wood to be effective (e.g. ash or rowan or whitethorn)	Yes?	*Yes	No	No
	A stake must be made of special wood to be effective (e.g. from the true cross)	No	Yes	No	Yes
	A stake through the heart causes paralysis only	No	*No1	No	?
	A stake must be made of wood to be effective.	Yes	No	Yes	?
	Sunlight causes nearly instant combustion and is nearly always fatal	No	No	Yes	Yes
	Sunlight causes severe burns and discomfort and is fatal after extended exposure	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Sunlight inflicts no or mild (sunburn) damage	?	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Sunlight must be direct to be effective	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Any UV source (e.g. tanning lamps) will function the same as real sunlight	no info	No	*Yes2	No
	Sunblock provides some protection from sunlight	no info	Yes	Yes	No
	Sunblock provides total protection from sunlight	no info	No	No	No
	Vampires suffer more than usual damage from fire	Yes?	No	Yes	No
	If invulnerable to normal attack, fire is one of the few substances that will harm a vampire	?	No	Yes	No
	Vampires suffer more than usual damage from silver	No	No	No	*No
	If invulnerable to normal attack, silver is one of the few substances that will harm a vampire	n/a	No	No	*Yes1
	Vampires suffer more than usual damage from wood	No	No	Yes	Yes
	If invulnerable to normal attack, wood is one of the few substances that will harm a vampire	n/a	No	Yes	Yes
	Beheading causes permanent death	no info	Yes	*Usually3	Yes
	It takes special effort to make a vampire stay dead (e.g. cutting off the head, sewing the mouth shut around a clove of garlic and burying the body at a crossroads)	No	No	No	No
	Dead vampires disperse to dust regardless of age	No	No	No	No
	Dead vampires decompose/disintegrate as a function of age	Yes	No	n/a	Yes
	Vampires become more resistant to these methods as a function of age	no info	No	Yes	No
	Animals	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires can be sustained by animal blood	Yes	*Yes2	Yes	Yes
	Vampires can be sustained indefinitely by animal blood (without suffering deleterious side effects)	no info	No	Yes	Yes
	Animals can become vampires	no info	No	Yes	No
	Animals can gain vampiric traits or be otherwise affected by drinking vampire blood.	no info	No	Yes	No
	Vampires have control over animals	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires have control only over specific animals	Yes	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Vampires can summon certain animals	Yes	No	None	Yes
	Animals can sense vampires and feel threatened by them	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	When you are bitten by a vampire (and live) ...	D	KK	FK	DS
	... they gain some power over you	Yes	No	No	Yes
	... you acquire some vampiric traits	Yes	No	Yes	No
	When you drink from a vampire (without being dead first) ...	D	KK	FK	DS
	... they gain some power over you	Yes	No	No	Yes
	... you acquire some vampiric traits	Yes	No	No	No
	Fangs	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires have fangs	Yes	Yes	All	Yes
	Fangs are retractable	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Fangs are hollow (sucking)	No	No	No	No
	Fangs are hollow (injecting)	No	No	No	No
	Invitations	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires require an invitation to enter a private dwelling (of the living)	Yes	No	No	No
	That invitation can be simply retracted	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	That invitation can be retracted, but requires special procedures (e.g. specific wording or a spell)	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Crosses ...	D	KK	FK	DS
	... repel vampires	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
	... require the belief of the wielder to repel vampires	no info	No	No	No
	... are more effective in the hands of believers	no info	n/a	No	Yes
	... require the belief of the vampire to repel vampires	no info	n/a	No	n/a
	... if effective, burns vampiric flesh on contact	no info	n/a	Yes	Yes
	... if effective, burns everything on contact	no info	n/a	No	Yes
	... may be replaced with other religious symbols according to the belief system of the wielder and/or vampire	no info	n/a	Yes	Yes
	... are ineffective	No	Yes	No	No
	... only have a psychosomatic effect (that is, they only work if the vampire believes that they should work)	No	n/a	Yes	n/a
	Holy Water	D	KK	FK	DS
	... is ineffective	No	Yes	No	No
	... if effective, burns (like acid) and can cause severe damage in quantity	no info	No	Yes	Yes
	... can reverse or halt effects of vampiric attack	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
	Eucharistic wafers can be substituted for/function similarly to holy water	no info	No	Yes	Yes
	Mirrors	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires have no reflection in mirrors or water	Yes	No	No	Yes
	Vampires leave no image on photographs or on film	Yes	No	No	No
	Vampires are repulsed by mirrors	No	No	No	n/a
	Daytime	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires are completely nonfunctional (e.g asleep or corpselike) during the day	No	No	No	Yes
	If at all awake, vampires are sluggish during the day	No	No	n/a	n/a
	Vampires can function normally during the day, provided they avoid the sun	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Vampires can function normally during the day (without exception)	No	Yes	No	No
	Vampires can function normally during the day, but without their vampiric abilities	Yes	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Only the oldest/most powerful vampires can function during the day	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Supernatural Abilities	D	KK	FK	DS
	Damage resistance, high strength and fast healing	Yes	Yes	All	Yes
	Truly supernatural strength (like throwing cars)	No	No	No	No
	Superhuman perception (e.g. sight, hearing, mystical)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Hypnotic mind control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	The mind control requires eye contact	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Shapeshifting (often a wolf or bat)	Yes	No	No	Yes
	Mist or intangible form	Yes	No	No	Yes
	Ability to move through solid/airtight objects	No	No	No	Yes
	Superhuman speed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Flight/Levitation	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
	Inhuman stealth (Sometimes to the point of invisibility)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Control over weather	No	No	No	Yes
	Saliva has healing properties (usually used to close bite marks)	No	No	No	No
	Miscellaneous Supernatural Restrictions	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires are repelled by garlic	No	No	Yes	Yes
	Vampires no longer need 'regular' food	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires are not physiologically able to eat solid food.	yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires can no longer eat or drink at all (other than blood)	no info	No	*No4	No
	Vampires can eat or drink, but get nothing out of it	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Vampires can become intoxicated by directly ingesting drugs or alcohol	no info	n/a	Yes	n/a
	Vampires can become intoxicated by drugs or alcohol secondhand (e.g. by drinking from an intoxicated victim)	no info	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires must sleep with a sample of their home soil	Yes	No	No	No
	Vampires cannot cross running water	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	Vampires cannot cross a line of salt	No	No	No	No
	Vampires are compelled to stop and count numerous objects (often grain) thrown into their path	No	No	No	No
	Hierarchy/Society	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires are societally compelled to obey their sire/creator	no info	No	Yes	No
	Vampires are mystically compelled to obey their sire/creator	no info	No	Maybe	Some times
	Beyond the 'generic', vampires tend to have the same supernatural traits/abilities as their sire/creator	no info	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Older vampires will, on occasion, weed out the population of younger vampires	no info	No	No	No
	Vampires are loners that cannot abide to share territory	no info	No	No	No
	Relationship with Other Supernaturals (especially Shapeshifters)	D	KK	FK	DS
	Vampires and Werewolves (shapeshifters) are natural allies	no info	n/a	n/a	No
	Vampires and Werewolves (shapeshifters) are natural enemies	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Vampires and Werewolves (shapeshifters) could care less about each other	no info	n/a	n/a	Yes
	Werewolf (shapeshifter) blood is extra yummy	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Werewolf (shapeshifter) blood is indigestible	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Vampires can be infected with lycanthropy (become werewolves, etc.)	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Werewolves (shapeshifters) can become vampires	no info	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Werewolves (shapeshifters) can become vampires (but lose all of their were abilities)	no info	No	n/a	No
	Age and Power Level	D	KK	FK	DS
	Old vampires tend to be stronger than newer ones	no info	No	Yes	No
	Old vampires tend to be stronger but generally just because the strong ones are better at not getting killed	no info	n/a	Yes	n/a
	Vampires get stronger as they age	no info	No	Yes	No
	A vampire's strength varies according to the strength of their 'sire'	no info	No	No	No
	A vampire can become stronger by drinking from another vampire	no info	No	No	No
	Something about the person as a pre-vampire mortal has an effect on the powers/power level of the vampire	no info	No	n/a	No
	Vampires appear the age at which they became a vampire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires age (physically)	No	No	No	No
	Miscellaneous	D	KK	FK	DS
	When a vampire feeds, it is fatal (to the donor)	No	No	No	No
	Being fed on is pleasurable for the human victim	Maybe	No	?	No
	Blood must be 'fresh' (from a living person, not stored or refrigerated)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	Vampires must drink blood frequently (at least once every day)	?	No	Usually	No
	Vampires feed on something other than blood (life essence, emotions, etc)	No	Yes	No	No
	The blood of other vampires is more sustaining or more powerful than that from a mortal	no info	No	No	No
	A vampire is 'frozen' at the moment of conversion. That is, hair and nails can be neither shortened nor lengthened, tattoos don't stick, etc.	Yes	Yes	*No5	Yes
	A vampire is immune to mortal diseases	Yes	No	*Yes6	No
	A vampire can no longer contract mortal diseases, but can still be a carrier	no info	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Vampires are still sexually functional	no info	n/a	Yes	n/a
	Only women vampires are still sexually functional	n/a	No	n/a	No
	Vampires can bear children	No	No	No	No
	Vampires can father children	No	n/a	No	n/a
	A child of a vampire and a mortal results in a 'Dhampir', with some vampiric abilities and fewer of the weaknesses	No	Yes	n/a	Yes
	Vampires actively conceal their existence from mortal society	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Introduction           Page 1           Page 2           Page 3           Annotations
	Go to S A Rudy's Simple Yet Functional Homepage to find out about me and to find links to otder pages I've done.
	This page is entirely the fault of S A Rudy, and she's not at all sorry. last update: 2-Apr-03