Vampires


 * "Vampires. Immortal, blood-sucking demons. Vampires are real. They exist in every city and every state...in the world. These creatures are of the darkest parts of hell. They have the power and ability to control your mind, seduce your spirit, adapt to sunlight, and render themselves invisible. They are deadly and they must be destroyed. Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them. Sunlight however will kill them and so will a stake to the heart. But what's the worst about them is the bloodlust, which is another part that's true -- they need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late. Vampires have been in the world for centuries. Slaughtering native tribes and early settlers. But when the Europeans arrived with their slaves...the dead saw a sinister opportunity."
 * —Nigel, about vampires
 * "We're talking about a super killing machine - a thinking apex predator." - Steve Niles, Screenwriter of 30 Days of Night

"''Blood to a vampire is like super fuel - and that's what gives the vampire that super power." - Scott Bowen, Author of the Vampire Survival '' Vampires were reanimated corpses that drink blood to survive and maintain their powers. They were originally humans converted into a vampire by a "maker". Being technically deceased, their primary characteristics include a lack of a heartbeat, body heat, brainwaves, electrical impulses, need to breathe, and other bodily functions.

Their bodies are animated by their souls, which are kept trapped in their supernaturally-perserved corpses by the supernatural powers of vampire blood. Their bodies seem to work like living bodies, at least on a visible level, meaning they will not feel like they are dead as their bodies respond to certain things in ways of a living person would. Humansbecome vampires by an unknown process that involves a vampire's bite and/or a transfer of blood.

☀Vampires (also called The Clod Ones), as well as Blood-Suckers, Nosferatou (scientific name), or Vamps for short, are an undead, post-human, immortal supernatural species/race of immortal, undead, blood-sucking/drinking, bloodthirsty, predatory creatures/beings that were once humans until they were bitten and infected with Vampire venom. They are also basically supernaturally, magically reanimated, shape-shiftingcreatures/beings/corpses who are inhabited by the spirits of the deceased reanimated and sustained by Satanic forces, who closely resemble a living person which are cursed with a constant craving to kill and drink the blood of humans, and that drink/feed on the blood of the living or the undead to survive and maintain their vitality and powers by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth; animals, even vampires, and especially humans. They can also transform humans into more of their kind.

In order for them to survive they thrive on a living creature's blood, whether it’s human or animal blood. After becoming Vampires, an individual's natural abilities are greatly enhanced and are also bestowed powers beyond the natural which grow stronger with time, which makes it difficult for a human to defeat a vampire. Vampires feed and survive on the blood of the living, typically on human blood, and they can transform other humans into more of their kind. Some vampires choose to fight this urge and avoid feeding, but the majority choose to kill and feed as they please. Vampirism is passed on by a process known as recruiting, which involves a bitten/dying human drinking a vampire's blood. When this happens, the person becomes immortal and cannot die naturally, however he or she will be cursed with a constant thirst for human blood. Although vampires can give up blood, this is extremely difficult. Normally, vampires are indistinguishable from humans; but when thirsty or showing aggression, fangs appear in place of their canines and their eyes turn completely black.

All Vampires where once originally human themselves until they were turned by another Vampire, converted into a vampire by a "maker". Vampires come in all shapes and sizes and evolve with age.

Being technically deceased, their primary characteristics include a lack of a heartbeat, body heat, brainwaves, electrical impulses, need to breathe, and other bodily functions. Vampires live in close contact with humans, but retain their own laws and traditions. Reactions to vampires varies greatly. They are considered legal citizens within the United States, albeit with limited rights and strict rules. Their bodies are animated by their souls, which are kept trapped in their supernaturally-perserved corpses by the supernatural powers of vampire blood. Their bodies seem to work like living bodies, at least on a visible level, meaning they will not feel like they are dead as their bodies respond to certain things in ways of a living person would. Humans become vampires by an unknown process that involves a vampire's bite and/or a transfer of blood.

All vampires originate from and are descended from the Original Vampire, who made a Faustian blood covenant with the Devil himself in exchange for power and immortality, but at the cost of his humanity and being forever condemned to life with an insatiable craving for human blood. They have been encountered by many hunters. Vampires are also arguably the most frequently recurring supernatural creatures in the series and are one of the many known supernatural creatures.

Physical Appearance

 * "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 and They are described as humans with a very attractive physical appearance - like a Greek or Roman God, charming, polite, but surrounded by a dangerous and sinister aura.. This is one of the several features meant to attract their prey—more specifically, to attract, fascinate, and 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 enhanced, but still stunningly beautiful. If however they were not particularly pleasing to the eye, they would become more beautiful (as shown with James), but this is a rare occurrence, as vampires They are immensely beautiful. Due to their beauty and superhuman abilities, 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.

Vampires were commonly described as "dead". Death could be defined as a status in which the body does not have physiological functions, such as having a heartbeat or breathing. However, vampires were able to move, feed, talk and feel despite inhabiting dead bodies. The term "undead" was much more fitting because vampires, while not alive, weren't dead either.

When a human was sired, their human soul left their body and a demon soul took possession of the corpse, reanimating it and altering its physiology. The demon within the vampire caused these alterations:
 * Required mammalian blood to maintain strength. Usually, this was human blood, but rats, pigs and otters were consumed as well, though they didn't give vampires as much nutrition or satisfaction as human blood. The blood of supernatural, human-appearing mammalian beings, such as the Children of the Senior Partners fed a vampire as well and often had added benefits (see below). Vampires did not feed on the blood of other demons: Trask, a member of the Scourge specifically stated so.

Vampires can presumably grow hair, as Eric Northman cuts his hair, Lorena Krasiki's hair is shown to vary in length.
 * Vocalizations such as hissing and roaring reminiscent of lions, tigers, and other big cats whenever they were angered or trying to intimidate and/or frighten their opponents.
 * Facial alterations (pronounced brow ridges, golden/yellow eyes, disappearance of eyebrows, elongated upper canines, and pointed upper incisors) when feeding or under stressful situations such as fighting, in which a vampire might assume its real face in preparation for feeding or to intimidate the opponent. In addition to this, a vampire may show their "vampire face" at will (Connor asks Angel to show him his "second face" and Angel reluctantly obliges), when generally angered, sexually aroused, or suddenly and/or unexpectedly injured. This was the vampire's true face, and their ability to disguise themselves with the face of their human predecessor was one of the vampire's most useful powers. Harmony Kendall implied that maintaining "vampface" took effort and could not be maintained for too long.[42] However, older vampires like The Master, Kakistos, and The Prince of Lies were in vamp face permanently, suggesting that the necessary effort faded over time. Over time, other deformations may also take hold, such as Kakistos' cloven hooves. However, these took many centuries - perhaps even millennium - to occur (Kakistos was from Ancient Greece, therefore at least 2500 years old).
 * While their hearts are unable to beat, vampires have venom flowing in their bodies which allowed the blood from their prey to their bodies to be transported. This also meant that vampires could be rendered unconscious if venom flow to the brain was interrupted (Spike did this to Drusilla[43]) and that vampires cannot not be intoxicated (Spike was unable to become drunk ). Male vampires were capable of having sex, so they do have venom flowing enabling an erection.
 * Their lungs did not absorb oxygen or any other gases; vampires are unable to drown or be asphyxiated, although their bodies may retain the breathing reflex (such as when Angeles choke-hold Spike).[14] A vampire was capable of speaking and smoking, however, Angel said that he could not give artificial respiration to any drowned human ("I have no breath"[48]). However, the first Turok-Han held Spike's head underwater while torturing him, and Spike briefly passed out and coughed up sizable amounts of water afterward.[49]
 * Their bodies can cast no reflection on any reflective substances such as mirrors or water by command. This also caused them to be immune to mind reading powers.[50] The thoughts were there, but they created no reflection within the mind reader, making it impossible for them to read the thoughts. However, they unable to be photographed or video taped.
 * Even though their bodies were clinically dead, a vampire's hair was apparently still able to grow. For example, Angelus had long hair until the 20th century. By the 1920's he had short hair, but by the 1970's he was long-haired again. Spike's hair grew during his time in the Sunnydale High School basement andDracula grew a full beard during his mid-life crisis. In 1884, when killing Margaret, Angelus was bearded. Strangely, Spike did not grow a beard while hidden in the school's basement after becoming ensouled.However, as their true appearance is much more horrific, they all have common features, such as sharp, pointed, retractable teeth that emerge from their gums and extend beyond their human teeth. Their eyes turn completely black, the skin become unnaturally white with black veins visible beneath it, sharp rows of fangs and long claws grow instead of the teeth and nails. This set of fangs descend on the vampire's will, usually when about to feed, or when threatened or attacking. Some Vampires have been shown to have sharp finger nails, but nowhere near as long as the Alpha Elder Vampires or even Dracula's, which are more claw like and can be made to extend at will. Also, they have fangs that usually extend and retract willingly, though they can be stimulated to unwillingly extend. In addition, vampires are classified as being "undead".

Vampire History
Almost every culture in history has had legends about vampires or vampire-like creatures, from the blood-drinking demons of Sumerian mythology, the Empusa of Greeko/Roman myths, to the Chupacabra of modern Latin American folklore. The myth of similar creatures existed since the dawn of mankind, easily before the Egyptian civilizations. The most famous vampires, however, originate from Eastern European folklore in the early 1700s. It was believed that especially evil people, or those who had been cursed in some way, would return from the grave as vampires, preying on the living. Only certain methods were believed to be able to destroy a vampire, the most common being thrusting a wooden stake through the heart, and beheading the corpse. Technically, 'vampire' is defined as "any parasite that drains and feeds on the blood or life of the host".

However the characteristics and personalities of vampires have greatly changed overtime. Initially vampires were portrayed mainly as evil semi-demons. Overtime the aspects of their personality, philosophy and even emotion started to appear in popular media. Now a days a vampires are often portrayed more like "rational yet corrupt upper class" rather than "evil demons". In some modern media like the Vampire Chronicles, it is said that vampires even follow religions if they want to, which is a huge contrast with the early concepts of vampires which said they died if they came in contact with holy materials like crucifix or holy water. Infamously they have become icons of sexuality and romance especially in American and Japanese shows and movies.Ever since the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker came out in 1897 (based in part on the real-life exploits of Vlad the Impaler), the world has been entranced by vampires in fiction. Vampires first made the leap on to film in 1922 with the release of Nosferatu, and such films as Dracula, The Lost Boys, and Underworld ensure they are here to stay.The origins of the vampire race is unclear, but they have been around since at least the time of Christ. The oldest vampire shown is Mother, whose age was not stated, but was implied to be centuries older than the 1000-year-old Heggeman. Vampires arrived in the New World shortly after the first European colonisation.

The vampires were initially ruled and governed by a very strict and traditional society which expected all vampires to adhere to their laws and rules under penalty of death, exile or being put to the ground; with the Royal vampires such as Mother ruling over the vampires and the Dutch serving as an elite. By the 21st century, vampires seemed to be located primarily in North America, particularly in Boston, although vampires apparently also lived in other parts of the world as the Dutch were initially located in Holland and several vampires have been known to originally hail from different parts of the world.

Circa 2011 - 2013, the Virus, a new flu strain, appeared and briefly infected the majority of the human population. Though the humans weren't majorly affected by the flu, it left their blood poisonous to vampires afterwards, crippling and killing vampires who drank from humans who'd been exposed to the Virus. As a result, the vampire race was severely decimated by the Virus over the course of the year, nearly to the point of extinction, and the original, traditional vampire society's regime apparently collapsed. However, the remaining vampires escaped extinction when werewolf blood was discovered to be a vaccine against the Virus' deadly effects on vampires.

Once the threat of the Virus was over, the remaining vampires in Boston began rebuilding and repopulating under a new rule by Kenny Fisher, under which they didn't kill humans and drank from donors; although it is unknown what happened to Kenny's budding new vampire society after majorities of the Boston vampires were slaughtered by Suzanna Waite and Kenny himself eventually killed.

Appearances and biology
A vampire's appearance is that of a normal human as they can easily blend in society by assuming human form. 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.

However, as their true appearance is much more horrific, they all have common features, such as sharp, pointed, retractable teeth that emerge from their gums and extend beyond their human teeth. Their eyes turn completely black, the skin become unnaturally white with black veins visible beneath it, sharp rows of fangs and long claws grow instead of the teeth and nails. This set of fangs descend on the vampire's will, usually when about to feed, or when threatened or attacking. Some Vampires have been shown to have sharp finger nails, but nowhere near as long as the Alpha Elder Vampires or even Dracula's, which are more claw like and can be made to extend at will. Also, they have fangs that usually extend and retract willingly, though they can be stimulated to unwillingly extend. In addition, vampires are classified as being "undead".

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 undead creatures, whose bodies are kept animated and supernaturally-preserved by the curse that causes vampirism. Due to their undead state, vampires possess few bodily functions, and no vital signs such as a heartbeat (although Aidan once mentioned that an electric shock could have a brief defribrillation-effect on a vampire's heart), and their bodies remain frozen at the physical age they were when the vampire in question was turned, no matter how far beyond that age the vampire has lived since being turned. While vampires' bodies do not age, they can still experience some other certain natural developing processes such as hair growth. However, any other type of change, such as blemishes developed by infections and non-genetic causes, or any signs at all of aging or wear, remain unable to manifest. Vampires also lose sense-based defects such as incorrective-eyesight that they had as humans, and are immune to non-supernatural forms of disease.

Though vampires normally appear indistinguishable from humans, they can switch from their human face over to their vampiric true face; their eyes turn pure-black, and some of their front upper-teeth sharpen and extend to form fangs with which they can directly feed or kill. There can be several specific variations between different vampires' fangs. Vampires seem to most commonly have just two canine fangs and sharpened lateral incisors, but they can alternatively have four lateral incisor and canine fangs, or just two lateral incisor fangs. Vampires' fangs can also vary in thinness and length from needle-like to more canine-like. If a vampire's fangs are removed, they do not grow back, rendering them unable to drink live.

Vampires can extend their fangs and switch over to their black eyes either at will, when they're in a state of agitation (such as feeling hungry, losing emotional control or fighting), or when they're expressing malice and malevolence and are about to attack. It has been suggested that vampires' use of their vampiric face probably acts as some form of adrenaline rush and enhances their capability to lethal efficiency. Ingestion of garlic can force vampires to reveal their vampiric eyes and fangs, and render them temporarily unable to change back to their human faces unless treated with certain herbs.

All Vampires where once originally human themselves until they were turned by another Vampire, converted into a vampire by a "maker". Vampires come in all shapes and sizes and evolve with age.

Being technically deceased, their primary characteristics include a lack of a heartbeat, body heat, brainwaves, electrical impulses, need to breathe, and other bodily functions. Vampires live in close contact with humans, but retain their own laws and traditions. Reactions to vampires varies greatly. They are considered legal citizens within the United States, albeit with limited rights and strict rules. Their bodies are animated by their souls, which are kept trapped in their supernaturally-perserved corpses by the supernatural powers of vampire blood. Their bodies seem to work like living bodies, at least on a visible level, meaning they will not feel like they are dead as their bodies respond to certain things in ways of a living person would. Humans become vampires by an unknown process that involves a vampire's bite and/or a transfer of blood.

All vampires originate from and are descended from the Original Vampire, who made a Faustian blood covenant with the Devil himself in exchange for power and immortality, but at the cost of his humanity and being forever condemned to life with an insatiable craving for human blood. They have been encountered by many hunters. Vampires are also arguably the most frequently recurring supernatural creatures in the series and are one of the many known supernatural creatures.CharacteristicsVampires 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. Vampires remain physically frozen in time forever after they are turned. Due to this, vampires cannot lose or gain weight, or change their body in any way. Vampires can presumably grow hair, facial, body, and head hair.Vampires are recognizable from their fangs. Fangs can be extended and retracted by choice, and are controlled by the movements of certain facial muscles. However, fangs protrude automatically when vampires are feeding, angry, excited, sexually aroused, need to fight, or see blood. Fangs can also be removed, but grow back after three months. Without fangs, vampires cannot feed on live victims unless the victim is already wounded. Due to the lack of blood flow, vampires do not have any bodily functions. Because of this, vampires do not produce waste, and are unable to become pregnant, impregnate female humans or supernatural creatures, and have lower body temperatures than humans. Vampires have anatomically different tear ducts from humans, as they expel blood, not tears. Although vampires do not need to breathe, most still do out of habit, to aid in speaking, and for a sense of smell.

Feeding
Vampires are reliant on human or synthetic blood, as they cannot ingest normal food or drinks, nor supernatural blood (with the exception of faeries). If a vampire abstains from drinking blood, they will experience the "bleeds", during which the vampire will begin to bleed from their ears and nose. The bleeds stop when the vampire feeds or sleeps, depending on what caused the bleeds in the first place. If a vampire experiences the bleeds long enough, they will perish. While vampires are unable to hold in anything but blood, they can experience joy in smoking cigars and cigarettes. Since their bodies heal any damage rapidly, smoking will not have any lasting effect on a vampire. Additionally, a vampire that has been incapacitated without the ability to feed will henceforth continue living, albeit in great constant suffering due to the lack of sustenance, and will eventually perish.

Creation
Vampires are created by their "maker". The term maker is only used as a matter of fact, and not meant to be honorific. There is no connection, normally, between the vampire responsible for turning someone, and the one who has been turned.

Being turned into a vampire is a painful, drawn out, and often deadly process. Most people who try don't survive, and most of the people who survive, do only out of luck, or a burning desire not to die. To be turned, a human first must be drained of all blood by a vampire. The second he does, that human must drink from the vampire's blood. As their blood fills the human's body, they start to feel life come back into them. Eventually, life returns to that person, officially making them a vampire. However, many people don't make it through having their blood drained, and a few people don't survive drinking the blood of their maker.

Vampires can turn living or recently-deceased humans into new vampires. The turning process has never been shown directly, but it involves biting the person that is to be turned on the neck. It would seem that the biting would require the fangs of the vampire to be used, as Gates being deprived of his fangs seemingly made him unable to turn humans. It has also been indicated by remarks made by Suren and Rebecca about the turning process that the person must also drink a vampire's blood, with the dose only needing to be a "sip". The fact that Aidan, upon waking as a vampire, apparently didn't remember the turning process beyond being bitten, could suggest that the person being turned is unconscious throughout most of the process or suffers some memory loss. Jeff Weston turned after being attacked by Aidan when it was indicated that Aidan had only bitten and fed on him and hadn't performed a proper turning process on him; suggesting that it could be possible for an improper turning to occur on a person through just a vampire bite.

After the turning process is carried out on a living, dying or recently-dead human body, the person remains clinically dead for a length of time (seemingly a matter of hours or even a day's length), before awakening as a new vampire. From that point onward, the person's body will be kept physically frozen at the age they were when they were turned, and any injuries or any form of damage they suffered, including vampire bites, will be gone without a trace. Upon awakening, the new vampire has an immediate feeling of hunger and cramp from their new need for blood, which they usually give in to the moment their new vampiric senses and instincts are aroused by human blood for the first time.

When a person is turned into a vampire, a lasting supernatural parent-child bond forms between them and the vampire that turned them. It is usual for a new vampire's maker to look after and care for their vampire progeny and guide them on being a vampire.

Diet
Vampires must drink human blood to stay healthy and maintain their strength and vitality; preferably blood straight from the source (referred to as 'live' blood). Though it is possible for vampires to alternatively sustain themselves on the bagged, preserved blood found in hospitals, it is not as effective, and can leave them almost as weak as humans compared to live-drinking vampires. Though vampires can drink animals' blood, it provides much less sustenance, and as such is only a weak deterrant to avoid killing humans when vampires' hunger gets out of control. Likewise, vampires can drink each-other's blood, but it will eventually leave them more hungry. Vampires are capable of consuming human food and drinks, but they do not get any sustenance from it, and it is actually almost tasteless to them.

An absence of blood in a vampire's system will cause them to become severely weakened and barely able to move, and they will also grow heavily and agonizingly starved-feeling. Blood starvation can also cause vampires to suffer hallucinations. It was shown with Suren that eighty years without blood can leave a vampire in an extremely desiccated, mummy-like state, barely able to move at all. Although vampires get stronger from feeding on blood, consuming too much, while increasing their healing and durability further, can cause them to exhibit symptoms of intoxication such as decreased reaction time and less sense of self-control.

Physiology
Blood is the main component of a vampire's diet, be it human, animal or vampire blood. According to Rebekah, the reason why vampires crave blood more than anything else was due to the immortality spell used by Esther to create the Original vampires, which used the blood of a doppelgänger as the catalyst in the process that made her husband and children immortal, transitioning the Mikaelsons into their new lives as Originals. It was later explained by Atticus Shane that human blood is the key to immortality, which is why vampires, along with the first immortals Silas and Amara, need to drink it to maintain their eternal life. If a vampire fails to regularly drink blood, their body will become severely weakened, and will ultimately desiccate into mummification until they are able to get blood into their system.

Blood (especially human blood) does not only satisfy a vampire’s thirst, but it also heightens their supernatural abilities, making them stronger, faster, and able to heal much more quickly than they would after not eating for a significant period of time. The longer a vampire abstains from blood, the more likely the vampire will becoming feral and unable to resist feeding on whomever they come upon. In many cases, a vampire who has been starved for a long period and is risking desiccation will eventually become so overwhelmed with hunger that the lose all sense of their humanity and rationality altogether and finally give into their bloodlust. It has been demonstrated that vampire blood, just as with human and animal blood, can be used to revive a vampire who has been desiccated (even if they ordinarily do not partake in the consumption of vampire blood), and it can also help a badly injured vampire heal more quickly if human or animal blood is not available. However, human blood is most compatible with a vampire's dietary needs, and because of this, the majority of vampires rely on it as their sole food source.

Due to their acute senses, a vampire can detect whether or not a human has recently consumed alcohol or drugs, because their blood tastes unclean and can leave a vampire with a chemical aftertaste. This also extends to vervain as well, as vampires who feed on a human who regularly ingests vervain will be burned and weakened upon contact with their blood. Due to a vampire's amplified senses and feelings, their hunger cravings are much stronger and harder to control than those they felt when they were humans, and will often be connected to powerful emotions.

Vampires are magically preserved in the physical state that they were in when they died, therefore making a vampires body a freshly dead corpse, though it is reanimated and protected from decay with dark magic. Vampire's bodies remain in the exact same state as they were just prior to their deaths as humans (aside from the injuries or effects of all illnesses) from an anatomical standpoint, except when it comes to their supernaturally-enhanced abilities and the addition of vampire's true face. Their true face is a slightly transformed version of their human face, which includes red, blood-shot sclera with protruding veins around the eyes and elongated fangs. The bite of a vampire is so powerful that it can sever the limbs of both animals and humans, as vampires are known for having extremely sharp and strong teeth. Similarly, a vampire has human-like physiology, and their bodies continue to function normally as long as they have a steady diet of human blood. Because of this, vampires can eat human food, though it doesn't sustain their life or provide any nutrition like blood does. Regardless, many vampires continue to eat regular food out of human habit, to maintain human appearances to prevent their exposure, and to help sublimate their eternal hunger for blood.

Vampires can also become intoxicated by drugs such as alcohol and marijuana just as humans can, although they do have much higher tolerances due to their rapidly regenerating cells. In fact, most vampires frequently drink alcohol throughout the day to help them deal with their perpetual hunger, much in the way that some vampires eat human food to help curb their cravings. Vampires are immune to the majority of human diseases and illnesses. One exception of this rule is cancer, though the vampire had to have had the cancer before they are turned. These aforementioned vampires continue to have cancer even after their transition is complete, as cancer cells rapidly regenerate in the presence of vampire blood due to the cells being functionally immortal; normal human cells have "suicide buttons" that allow them to die once their organelles have worn out, but cancer cells have no such button, and vampire blood only serves to accelerate the regeneration of cancer cells. The only known substances that can have a serious negative effect on vampires are vervain and werewolf venom.

The mystical effect of vampirism is the only thing that keeps vampires and their bodies alive..

It has been recently discovered that while vampires are sterile and cannot have biological children (with the exception of the hybrid Klaus, whose werewolf side and magical transformation canceled out his vampire sterility), certain forms of magic can transport a fetus or fetuses from a human's body into a vampire's. This was demonstrated by the Gemini Coven, whose livelihood was dependent on the existence of twins to continue the coven, and who had a spell to magically transport fetuses from a pregnant mother whose life is in danger into another womb. Joshua Parker and his fellow coven members used this spell to transfer the twin fetuses from the dying Josette Laughlin into the vampire Caroline Forbes' womb to make sure the coven would survive on without them. Since a vampire who consumes a steady diet of blood can also consume human food and has the same physiology as a normal human, Caroline will be able to carry the babies to term, likely with help from the coven's powerful magic. Additionally, her vampirism actually makes it more likely that the twins will survive.

Nature

 * "She is a different person. She's a vampire. We're a predatory species. We enjoy the hunt, the feed, and the kill. When the guilt gets too bad, we switch off our humanity and we revel in it."
 * —Damon Salvatore
 * Vampires have the capacity to be extremely feral, predatory creatures, and can be more beast-like and savage than their human appearance suggests. They growl, hiss, snarl, and curl their lips back when provoked, baring their fangs as a sign of aggression.

Despite their nature, vampires are also capable of human emotions, such as compassion, love, and self-control. However, it's in a vampire's nature to be violent, and no matter what their morality or kindness, they will always resort to such acts if it's necessary for their survival. While vampires typically maintain their human personalities after their transformations (though magnified by the magical properties of vampirism), they are usually dehumanized to some degree, and due to both the violent tensions between witches, werewolves, and vampires (along with the in-fighting within the vampire community itself), violence, tragedy, and death seem to follow vampires wherever they go, even despite their best efforts to avoid it. Many (though not all) vampires are inherently selfish and consider other beings, especially humans, to be inferior to themselves, as they see themselves as the top of the proverbial food chain. Even the most compassionate of their kind will often resort to cruelty and torture if it means protecting themselves and their loved ones from danger.

For example, Stefan Salvatore, despite his generally kind and compassionate attitude, has been shown to be unafraid of killing when the situation calls for it, though he makes it a point not to harm or kill humans unless absolutely necessary. Similarly, Caroline Forbes, while saving Stefan and his brother Damon from her mother and her police force, ended up slaughtering two of her deputies in an animalistic and stealthy manner and was completely calm and unfazed afterward; this contrasted greatly with her reaction after she had accidentally killed a carnival worker out of hunger just hours after she had completed her transition, which upset her so much that she began to sob and insisted she was a monster. This suggests the longer one spends as a vampire, the more tolerant of violence and murder they become. Additionally, over the course of their millennium of life, Elijah and Rebekah have also become somewhat dehumanized after spending so much time as the most powerful beings on earth, even despite their generally kind and gentle nature; their penchant for the "snatch, eat, erase" method of feeding and their dedication to avoiding unnecessarily large demonstrations of violence and cruelty if at all possible is typically more out of their desire to protect themselves from exposure than a desire to not harm others. In recent years, both Elijah and Rebekah have mellowed out, and are not as quick to harm or kill out of anger, they still are known for being ruthless against their enemies or anyone who tries to harm their family and friends, and have shown no discomfort in torturing others to get the answers or results they need.

However, vampires experience sensations and feelings much more intensely than humans, and as a result, they have a much more difficult time controlling their emotions, all of which are tied to their hunger in some way. Whenever a vampire is overwhelmed by powerful feelings (such as extreme hunger, fear, anger, happiness, love, etc.) their faces become pale, and blood rushes into the veins surrounding their eyes, darkening them tremendously. Their canine teeth will lengthen into fangs, giving them a more predatory look to scare off or threaten their prey and to aid them in feeding on humans and animals.

Due to their intensely emotional nature, it is not uncommon for vampires wishing to maintain self-control to document their lives after their transition in journals. Though they have consistently shown considerable powers in recollection of specific memories and dates, vampires still need to peruse their journals in order to reflect on their feelings and other minute details during certain events. Another function of the vampire nature is the ability to "turn off" their humanity in order to make it easier for them to emotionally deal with feeding on (and occasionally even killing) humans to maintain their immortality. Vampires who have used this coping mechanism, such as Elena Gilbert, Damon Salvatore, Stefan Salvatore, Caroline Forbes, and Lorenzo, have described the process as "flicking a switch," which essentially numbs their emotions and disables their ability to be empathetic, allowing them to shut out painful feelings such as guilt, grief, and sadness and turning off the part of them that makes them ashamed of their actions. Vampires with their humanity turned off often think of themselves as purely rational and logical and are not ruled by their emotions. They also have no problem feeding indiscriminately on whomever they please, either using compulsion to make the humans forget the experience or killing them outright with no shame.

Attitudes Toward Humans
Vampires generally coexist with humans. Humans are mostly oblivious to the existence of vampires, which makes it easier for vampires to commingle with their human cohorts. Most of the few people who do know about vampires have either been killed to ensure their silence, compelled to forget their encounters with them, or, in some cases, are compelled not to speak of it to anyone, which lessens the chances that the vampire species will be exposed to the public. Attitudes of vampires towards humans vary from individual to individual. Some see humans as simply food, servants, and/or entertainment, while others feel compassion for humans, remembering their lives before becoming vampires and not wanting to cause any more harm to them than necessary. In general, vampires are known to see humans as less compared to themselves and ultimately regard their lives as being essentially insignificant, as humans are mortal whereas vampires live forever. As a result of their immortality and the fatal violence they witness on a regular basis, the death of a human who has no significant connection to the vampire is typically a non-event for them.

Human Awareness of Vampires
Only a handful of humans are aware of the existence of literal vampires. In history, there were periods of time where vampires were not so secret, but as of the 21st century, the majority of humans regard vampires as superstition, fiction, and myth, which is how most vampires prefer it to be.

Powers and Abilities
The blood of the Original Vampire in their veins gives vampires many unique abilities. Vampires possess a number of powers that make them deadly creatures. The supernatural forces that sustain vampires beyond mortal death also endow them with immortality, heightened senses, and enhanced superhuman physical and mental abilities as well as powers of mind control, which make them physically superior to Humans by nature. Vampires are faster and stronger than humans, and can travel in a hazy mist like form. They have the ability to adapt to sunlight and the power to render themselves invisible. Their physical powers and abilities such as strength, speed, agility, durability, healing and senses all grow stronger with age, experience, and the consumption of human blood. Vampires who feed on animal blood will not be as powerful as those who feed on human blood. Most, if not all of the following abilities work better if the vampire has drunk human blood from a living source - if they are cut off if from a long period of time, they become weak and unable to use their power. Furthermore, the older a vampire is, the stronger his or her powers are.Vampires are a type of demonic undead creature that has superhuman traits and endurance. Their appearance is either human-like, many times attractive, to being skinny, hunchback, discolored, pale, corpse-like and with enlarged claws or teeth. These visible traits are also visible in depictions of demons in the western world. Some vampires can switch between human-like and demon-like at will, normally by retracting their fangs and claws, allowing them to blend in with human society while hunting. But most vampires cannot change the fact that they have no shadows or reflections. Many vampires can shapeshift, normally into a bat or bat-like creature to give them flight. Vampires also can control many types of black magic depending on the story, though a common ability is hypnotizing people with their eyesight or levitation.

Blood is a defining trait of vampires. According to the show, a Vampire's heart pumps extremely fast, giving them superhuman attributes. Vampires feed on blood, though most can eat flesh and some can eat human food, all drink blood. Many Vampires are more addicted to blood than actually needing it (since they normally find a steady supply that will keep them healthy and fed), and so can willingly kill humans to get the blood.

They can run 6 times faster than an Olympic athlete and are 6 times stronger than most strongmen (meaning vampires are about 10 times stronger than a normal human). They have superhuman senses (like smell and hearing), intelligence, and work in packs, similar to apex predators of the natural world. Vampires can survive mutilations as long as they don't bleed out, don't have their heart damaged or removed, are not decapitated or do not have their brain damaged. Traditional stories have a wooden stake that is needed to kill the vampire's heart. The idea was to nail the vampire to the ground or coffin so even if he did survive he would not be able to move. Some vampires are powerful enough to regenerate from major wounds after battle. Their bites are similar in strength and sharpness to alligators and can unhinge like a snake, increasing the size of their bite. The mouth of a vampire has evolved from the traditional two fangs that simply cause the victim to bleed, to the modern vampire with all their teeth sharpened and able to bite through bone. Their claws are hard as steel, making them able to instantly kill a human with their strength.

They do feel fear, but due to their predatory lifestyle and mentality they are rarely scared. They do feel pain but their superhuman strength and powerful heart makes them resistant to it. Like zombies with the zombie virus, they can turn normal people into other vampires who they would mentally control as a 'head vampire'. However modern vampires can decide if someone they killed can turn into a vampire, normally with some kind of blood ritual. Sometimes the idea of turning other people into vampires is abandoned completely, especially since the bodies would be so mutilated that even as a vampire they couldn't survive. Although violent towards humans, they are actually very social to other vampires and would help their friends in need like normal humans would. Sometimes the 'head vampire' is chosen by the clan instead of being the superior vampire and becomes the main strategist and leader for the vampires. But against other species and their enemies, vampires will show no mercy.

The only serious weakness other than their head and heart is that Vampires are weak towards sunlight. Most modern vampires can survive a few seconds of direct exposure but can easily die in less than half a minute (some depictions will have them turn to dust or have their skin burned black). 30 days of Night claims that it is ultraviolet radiation that kills the vampire so it is possible for artificial sunlight to kill them. Because of this weakness to sunlight, all vampires would sleep during the day, normally in an abandoned building or coffin. They can still operate normally during the daytime as long as they are shaded from the sun. Some modern vampires have avoided the sun by shading themselves with dark clothing, a large hat and an umbrella. If away from civilization, a vampire would normally survive in shady locations like shady forests or near caves where they would sleep from the sun. But as long as they are not exposed to the sun, Vampires should survive in most environments. It is possible for vampires to live off of animals in the wild just like a predator would. Some vampires like living in depressing, Gothic or 'evil' locations like graveyards and avoid holy places like churches. In 30 Days of Night, the vampires live in Alaska because of the prolonged nights caused by its location near the north pole, allowing the vampire to be fully active for 30 days without worrying about the sunrise. Other traditional vampire weaknesses (most not seen in modern vampires anymore) include holy water, garlic, crucifix and traveling over running water.

Vampires normally can live forever if not murdered or affected by magic. Vampires have survived many plagues of the past, so it is believed that they are naturally resistant to disease, though there's a debate over if they would be affected by the abnormal zombie virus. Diet does 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. Vampires who feed on animal blood (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.
 * Enhanced Superhuman Strength- Regardless of their size or stature, Vampires have and possess the supernatural ability of abnormal physical superhuman strength that is greater than humans and surpasses humans' and werewolves' in human form and that also allows them to be noticeably far much physically stronger than average adult Human beings (of any size and shape), supernatural hunters, werewolves in human form and other shapeshifters and they slowly grow stronger with time, age, and experience; older vampires can subdue younger ones with minimal to no effort. The superior physical strength of a vampire compared to that of a human is a prominent theme. Vampires possess strength equivalent to that of 100 or more strong men, sufficient to single-handedly lift average size cars and large trucks with ease. Vampires can subdue humans in many ways with ease, toss objects high into the air, shatter stone, smash metal, bench-press 18-wheelers, can overpower their prey and rip them apart with no effort. They can also throw humans and other vampires through wood, toss animals as big and heavy as a full grown horse and kick through wooden beams several feet in width. They can even fling their own kind straight up through the air and lift up a falling train. Feats of their strength include being able to press the weight of a small car, uproot trees, dismember grown men, and flip mobile homes over. They always have the advantage of superior strength in direct combat with a human. 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 and throw others with great force and lift a fledgling off the ground with one hand. Boris, a 600 year-old vampire demonstrated his superior strength over Harmony, who was at that time a new vampire who had yet to complete the transition, by easily overpowering her. While vampires get stronger with age, younger vampires can have sufficient strength to withstand their elders such as the case in which Aidan, after drinking live human blood, fought and defeated his sire, Bishop, a vampire significantly older than himself. But as predators of humans, vampires are naturally stronger than their prey; newborn vampires, fledglings, or even new vampires who are still in transition generally have the advantage of physical strength when in direct physical hand-to-hand combat with a human; able to single-handedly lift a grown human off the ground and hurl or toss an average size fully grown human across a room with enough great speed and force to send them through a wall or across an alley, they can also knock them unconscious with a single karate chock, snap their necks with one hand, and crush their bones, all with little to no effort. Another critical factor to a vampire's strength is his or her age as their strength increases to a degree as they age; older vampires of a significant age are stronger than younger, weaker vampires. Their other feats of their considerable strength include single-handedly lifting overweight grown men high off the ground by the throat and snapping their necks without effort, striking opponents with enough force to break bones even by accident, ripping people apart, jumping several feet into the air in a single bound, and ripping out internal organs such as hearts with no effort. Their strength is also more powerful than that of werewolves that are not in wolf form. 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 Gray, one vampire roughly 180 years of age, is seen smashing his hand continuously into a stone wall, causing a large portion to chip off.  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, 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.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.

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. 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.
 * Accelerated Superhuman Speed  - Vampires have superhuman speed that is greater than humans which allows them to have the supernatural ability to run, jump, and move at superhuman velocity much faster than humans, even extremely quick, moving faster than the human eye can possibly see and perceive, allowing them to sidestep/outrun bullets and cover miles in a second, and werewolves in human form, both in speed, agility, and reflexes, and can sometimes outrun a werewolf even in wolf form and can move at amazing speeds, to the point where they appear to be blurs. Vampires are the fastest supernatural creatures. Vampires also move and fly fast enough to run on water. Vampires can also accelerate their movements to cover short distances in an instant, faster than the human eye can see. When running across long distances, their speed is so great that they appear as vibrating blurs of motion. They can run in excess of 100 miles per second. The creature’s sheer speed, combined with its unnatural stealth,  it is impossible for the vampire’s prey to detect or escape from the vampire until it is too late. Vampires are able to avoid gunfire easily, and react with unnatural quickness to any threat, due to the creature’s superhuman reflexes. 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. Just like their strength, their speed increases with time and age, as older vampires are significantly faster than younger vampires. In addition, vampires have heightened reflexes that are similarly heightened.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.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, analogously to how hysterical strength in humans is. It would also seem that this speed usually works when a vampire is at full strength from feeding on live blood and recently.
 * Super Agility - Vampires have have and possess amazing supernatural-human agility as well. Vampires are very agile and flexible, as they have shown that they can move, jump very high, climb up walls, scale sheer surfaces, jump very high off buildings without hurting themselves, perform amazing acrobatic and parkour feats and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion, making them more agile than humans and animals, as well as leap to great heights and are nimble enough to scale sheer surfaces with amazing speed, vertically or horizontally, much like a spider. They are very good at climbing. This makes it much easier to perform jumps, flips and other gymnastic maneuvers. Vampires also have greater reflexes than humans. Vampires can jump with their super speed too. Vampires that feed on human blood can jump much higher than vampires that feed on animal blood. This ability would allow them to access places that would be otherwise impossible for a human to reach. They can jump further than any normal human, such as from roof top to roof top or building to building. These abilities increase with age.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.

Part of this enhancement is based on the enhanced activity of their brains, which allows them to think and move much faster than humans. 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. 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.
 * Enhanced Emotions: Vampires experience emotions more powerfully than humans. Emotions like love, joy, and happiness are intensified for vampires allowing them to live life more intensely. This ability allows vampires to feel emotions at their peak regardless of their age. Original Vampires have been shown experiencing emotions as powerfully today as they did thousands of years ago. Conversely sadness, depression, guilt, fear and anger are also amplified causing most vampires to "turn off" their emotions.
 * Emotional Control: Vampires have the supernatural ability to remove or dull their emotions. They can "switch off" their ability to feel emotions such as fear and guilt allowing them to kill without remorse, go against any opponent without fear and relieve themselves of depression and sadness. A vampire without there emotions is far more calculating and direct than one who keeps them on. However, the vampire will become a remorseless killer almost unrecognizable from the person they truly are.
 * Enhanced Superhuman Senses: Vampires have and possess much stronger heightened senses than humans and non-pure-bred werewolves. They have all the five senses humans have, only they are enhanced to a higher level. The can and have the supernatural ability to hear, see, smell, and also taste better than humans beyond the human limit, as their extremely keen senses of sight, smell, hearing, and touch are of supernatural keenness that are superior to those of humans, comparable on many levels to a wolf’s, and far exceed those of humans and werewolves. Their senses are heightened to 11.
 * Sight: They are able to see better than humans. Vampires have razor-sharp senses of sight and can see with perfect clarity in the complete and total darkness of the night, to the point of being able to detect the bodily heat emanations from its victims. Vampires also seem to have night vision. 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. Vampires also have much better depth perception than humans.Their enhanced vision allows them to see the smallest details, and extends into the ultraviolet region of the light spectrum. 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.
 * Hearing: A vampire's razor-sharp sense of hearing is much greater than a human's. Their hearing is comparable to a bat or an owl, possessing a level of sensitivity on par with the bat’s own echo-sensitivity. They can hear whispered conversations, even ones in far of buildings and on phones, hear voices coming from another room, and hear a human's heartbeat.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.
 * Smell: Vampires possess and enhanced sense of smell is much greater than a human's which allows them to smell almost anything, things that humans would not. Their senses of smell is as acute as that of a wolf or a dog’s, enabling the creature to track its prey for miles by the scent of the victim’s blood alone, a sensation that the vampire relishes. Vampires are also able to tell individual people apart by the scent of their blood coursing through their veins or bodily odors. A vampire can even sense a werewolf's presence purely by smell, as werewolves give off a unique smell that only vampires can smell. They are also capable of catching the scent off blood from several meters to far away. A vampire can track a human's blood over long distances. Giles once warned the Scoobies that, "Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life."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.
 * Touch: The Vampire’s sense of touch is amazingly acute, as the creature can feel the heartbeat of a potential victim through thick walls, or it can detect the vibrations of a hunter’s footsteps and the direction of the footsteps, enabling the Vampire to either escape or prepare an ambush for the would-be hunter. 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.
 * Sixth Sense: In addition to its five senses, vampires possess a preternatural sixth sense. They can instinctively sense impending danger, usually posed by humans. The revenant can sense emanations of good or evil, instinctively avoiding the former while congregating in the latter. Like their strength, their senses seem to increase with age as they improve and grow stronger over time, as Luther was able to smell Kate, while none of the younger vampires could.
 * Mind Compulsion: Vampires have the supernatural ability to influence, control and manipulate the body, mind, thoughts, emotions, behavior, and soul and alter or erase the memories of an animal's or a human's mind. Calling it "compelling", it is an ability that comes naturally with vampirism. Normal vampires cannot "compel" other supernatural creatures, as it does not seem to work on werewolves, ghosts and other vampires, whereas Original Vampires can compel other vampires and vampire/werewolf hybrids.
 * Enhanced vitality - Vampires have the stamina, strength, vitality and physical capabilities of a human in their physical prime. This makes them able to physically exert themselves for any way.
 * Enhanced recovery - Vampires can 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.
 * Clairvoyance - As supernatural creatures, vampires can see and hear ghosts the same way werewolves and other ghosts can. They can also 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. Very old and powerful vampires such as Mother can apparently also even sense other vampires when they're out of sight.
 * Invulnerability - Vampires are able endure physical pain better than humans and can recover from attacks that would cripple, maim, or kill humans with minimal effort.
 * 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.
 * Regeneration - Vampires recover from injury at a rate at least 500x faster than average human, much like werewolves and cambions. 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.
 * Indestructibility:Another impressive feature about vampires is their indestructibility. During the transformation process, a vampire's cells become extremely hard, durable, and refractive, rendering their bodies  impenetrable. Vampires are noted to be exponentially more durable than "soft" humans. The strength of a vampires skin is described as harder than granite, and even diamond-hard. Their bodies are so hard that they are unable to be harmed by human weapons, and the only creatures capable of killing them are other vampires, or werewolves. 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 quite 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.
 * Immortality: Being immortal undead beings, the most coveted trait of all is the vampire’s immortality. Vampires will not and do not ever age or grow old another day beyond adulthood after they are turned and can and will live forever unless they are killed in specific ways. A vampire stops aging once turned. Upon their transformation vampires become immune to and do not get sick from any and all forms of conventional illnesses, toxins, diseases, poisons, cancer, viruses, and infections that affect humans. Conceivably, assuming the vampire feeds on a regular basis and evades vampire hunters, the vampire could live forever and never grow old. Consuming blood will allow them to maintain their vitality. The oldest known vampires are over 7,000-10,000 years old.
 * Flight: The unique ability known to older vampires to defy gravity and move towards anywhere in the air. Newborn vampires have this power; they can land silently and carefully by floating down to the ground during falls. It is suggested that older vampires can fly, while younger vampires can merely levitate.


 * 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 make humans do their bidding. Glamouring does not affect other vampires but does powerful witches, maenads 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.
 * Levitation: Full Vampires are able to and have the ability to defy gravity and rise and float their body into the air.
 * Gravity Defiance: Vampires can adhere to walls and ceilings.
 * Voice Imitation: Vampires are able to imitate voices; for instance, Spike has been shown to be able to imitate Henry Sturges, while Henry himself has been able to mimic the voice of a guard at Governor Burrell's Vamp Camp.
 * Invulnerability: Vampires are impervious to any form of harm and cannot be killed by any conventional weapons of method, such as pistols using regular bullets, stab wounds or gunshots. They have an impressive healing factor, to the point where a vampire was able to recover from a point-blank shot to the eye in seconds. Vampires have an extreme durability to pain. Kate was shot in the stomach with an arrow and merely sighed in annoyance, however they still react to punches and kicks in a similar manner to humans.
 * Superhuman Regenerative Healing Factor: As long as they have enough human blood, Vampires can and have the supernatural ability to supernaturally, quickly and rapidly heal and recover from any and all types of infections and injuries that would permanently incapacitate or even kill a human, such as including cuts, massive burns, scars, bruises, projectile wounds, open wounds, poison, suffocation, extreme cold, aging, drowning, tissue damage, or disease etc., faster than humans in a matter of seconds at an accelerated speed that does not include amputation, making them immune to illness and ailments. Vampires heal extremely quickly, but still feel the pain of a wound before it heals. Vampires can snap their bones back into place after being broken and have been seen to fully recover from gunshots, stab wounds, and torso impalement. They heal from any wound as long as they are fed. Vampires can also take a lot of punishment and will heal quickly, but not instantly as shown when Harmony still had a round mark after being impaled. The healing speed and effectiveness is improved if the vampire feeds on living blood from a human. Henry, for example, needed to feed from two humans to regrow his skin. Older/more powerful Vampires can recover from torso impalements and prolonged exposure to sunlight. If an injury is severe, vampires need human blood to initiate the healing process. The only injury that cannot be healed on its own is a werewolf bite.
 * Blood Bond: A blood exchange between a vampire and human (not before the human dies) will form a blood bond. The vampire will be able to sense the human's thoughts and emotions, knowing if that human is in any type of harm or distress - for eternity. The human will also experience sexual dreams about that vampire.
 * Superhuman Stamina: Despite their hunger, Vampires possess virtually unlimited endurance in all physical activities due to receiving better nourishment from the solar energy their cells process. In addition, a Vampires body stores enough solar energy to negate eat, drink, breathe and even sleep for as long as they want. This is evident as Vampires survive in the vacuum of space, as they do not require air. That said, Vampires can take part in battle sequences for as long as they want, without difficulty or fatigue .don't tire easily, have far more endurance and stamina than humans, and are able to move at great speed for long periods, and it is impossible to tire the vampire, due to its preternatural degree of endurance. They can run, fight and exert themselves much more and for longer than any human, though they can still get   knocked out. They do not need to sleep and do not require food or oxygen. Harmony, who during at the time was 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 unfazed.
 * Eidetic Memory: Vampires are said to possess perfect recall and to be unable to forget since becoming sired into the species. Their minds are often called "vaults" in which they store all information permanently, regardless of how far such memories recede into the past.
 * Superhuman Durability: Vampires can take a great amount of physical damage without being slowed down and are able to endure physical pain better than humans and can recover from attacks that would cripple, maim, or kill humans with minimal effort. Even vampires who have been shot with wooden bullets have been seen to continue fighting. They are incapable of being slain by any forms of conventional injury, including firearms or blades. Furthermore, the vampire cannot feel the pain that would result from such attacks. Gunfire has no effect on the revenant whatsoever, serving only to slow the creature down. Likewise, blades don’t affect the vampire at all.Vampires can also still be stunned and dazed by strikes and trauma, though their tolerance for it will increase as they get older.
 * Vampirism Fangs: Vampires have, possess, and can grow, extend, and react a pair/set of sharp, pointed, retractable fangs from their K-9 teeth that extend beyond their human teeth, that which that allow them to use them to feed themselves on the blood of humans and animals, they might come out when a vampire is close to blood or angry. Their fangs will occasionally come out and extend when they feed, are aroused by the scent of blood, or feeling intensely threatened or angered, especially if they are new vampires who have yet to gain complete control over their bloodlust. Vampire's teeth and fangs are also supernaturally much stronger than human teeth allowing them to tear into and rip the limbs off their prey and they can also rip open a human's neck and leave huge bite marks on the corpse of the victim it has fed on. The bite of a vampire can sever the limbs of humans and other creatures. This also enables them to be able to bite another person to turn them into vampires. In addition, if a vampire bites a human, either the human will die or become a vampire. Vampires are said to mainly bite the victim's neck, extracting the blood from a main artery. In folklore and popular culture, the term generally refers to a belief that one can gain supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly occurring form of cannibalism. The consumption of another's blood (and/or flesh) has been used as a tactic of psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy, and it can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs.
 * 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 witches, werewolves, doppelgängers. They can also enter the minds of other vampires, though this ability is dependent on the vampire being younger or weaker than the one using telepathy, such as Klaus delving into the younger Aurora's mind, or Sage being able to delve into Rebekah's mind after she had fallen asleep in a vulnerable state after having sex with Damon. Other ways to weaken a vampire to use telepathy on them are to starve them/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 such as one of the Originals unless they are of similar age. Klaus, as the Original Hybrid, has been shown to possess the strongest mind of any vampire or hybrid in the series, and his mind has only been invaded on one occasion, and that was after he had been severely weakened by the effects being stabbed with Papa Tunde's blade.
 * 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. Known users of this skill are Damon Salvatore, Stefan Salvatore, Katerina Petrova, Rebekah Mikaelson, Sage and Caroline Forbes.
 * Illusions: Vampires have the power to trick the minds of other younger vampires into seeing/feeling things that aren't actually happening, such as when Lexi made Stefan believed 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 (including and especially flesh) 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.
 * Atmokinesis/Weather Control/Manipulation: Vampires are able to control the weather within limits. They can and have the supernatural ability to influence meteorological energy patterns, creating rain, wind, hail, lightning, snow, sleet, fog and temperature changes that allows them to be able to create and direct fog, haze, and mist from nothing, summon a powerful storm, control the direction and the force of the wind, or even call down bolts of lightning to strike its enemies and then return the weather to normal later.
 * Vampire Creation: Vampires can pass their curse to others.
 * Hypnosis: Although only seen in older and more powerful vampires, through the use of hypnosis, full Vampires are able to put someone in a trance, dominate the mind and will of a human, and control their minds. Vampires have a degree of hypnosis, Eli was able to subdue a woman simply by being in her presence. A nurse also had a need to give Eli something when she entered the hospital but could not figure out what. The creature can convince a potential victim to allow the vampire to enter the individual’s home or leave a house unseen, command one that has been bitten by the creature in any way the Vampire wishes, and to force the chosen victim to accept the Vampire’s dark embrace without a struggle. The Vampire’s bite seems to have an anesthetic effect on the victim, giving the creature the time it needs to feed. Afterwards, the Vampire may use this ability to astral project into their dreams and overall erase the victim's memories or even alter them to the point where something is completely different about them. Afterwards, the vampire may use this ability to make the victim forget about the attack. To dominate a human, the vampire need only make eye contact with its victim for a few seconds. However, the stronger the human’s will, the longer hypnosis takes. If necessary, the Vampire can completely crush the human mind or destroy the individual’s sanity, leaving little more than a drooling lunatic. In the same manner, the Vampire can create a human slave. This slave is totally obedient to his master’s will, to the point of being willing to sacrifice everything for his master’s safety, including his life. Such individuals inevitably lose their minds due to the vampire’s power over them.

Weaknesses
==== 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 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. ====


 * 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.
 * Decapitation: If the head of a vampire is severed completely, the vampire will perish. Breaking the neck of a vampire only causes mild discomfort.
 * Broken Neck: Breaking a vampire's neck will not kill them, but it will render them unconscious for varying amounts of time, depending on the diet and age of the person in question. It was shown when the Enhanced Original Alaric, snapped Damon's neck, he recovered quickly due to the fact that he is an older vampire.
 * Desiccation: When vampires go prolonged abstain periods and extended amounts of time without feeding from blood, their blood and skin begin to dry up and they begin to look like a mummy, as they will eventually desiccate and mummify. A lack of blood for a prolonged period of time will cause vampires to weaken and begin to resemble a corpse.
 * Vervain: A mystic herb called vervain is poisonous to vampires. Exposure to or ingestion of vervain can cause a vampire to become severely feverish and weak. Also, physical contact with vervain will burn a vampire's skin. If a human is holding, wearing, or has vervain in their system, a vampire cannot hypnotize or compel anyone who has ingested vervain or has it on their person. Vervain can be mixed with a vampire's drink which, if drunk, will severely weaken them.
 * Werewolf Bite: The bite of a werewolf and the poison, which involves injecting a 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. Petrovas' hybrid blood can cure the bite. Vampires suffering from the bite seem to always hallucinate moments from their past. A bite from a werewolf as the venom in the saliva will neutralize the vampire venom in their blood causing them to die and deteriorate. While typical vampires will eventually die from werewolf bites, it isn't lethal to Original vampires, though they still will experience the sickness and hallucination that accompanies it until their body heals.
 * Dead Man's Blood: The use of blood from the recently deceased can also be used as a method to incapacitate vampires briefly.
 * Werewolf Blood: If a vampire drinks werewolf blood, they began to bleed heavily from their eyes and nose and experience violent seizures. Moreover, a vampire who has drunk werewolf blood will be unable to create other vampires, instead creating defective, vampire-like mutants. The blood only remain in their system for a 1 week.
 * Wild Rose: When ingested, wild rose causes a vampire to become severely weak and feverish. Also, If a vampire's skin is exposed to wild rose, it can result in burning them.
 * Nephilim Blood: If a vampire feeds on a Nephilim, the blood will cause them agonizing pain and also causing the vampire to burn up from the inside.

Battle vs. Berserker
Eastern Russia, 1066 AD. In a black forest hounded by the sounds of Bears and Trolls, a Vampire emerges into a clearing. Behind him, four of his groupies follow him. They are on the hunt for prey, and they have smelled 5 mortals in the woods, nearby a river. The head Vampire sniffs the air, sensing they are near, yet also sensing that something aint right...

The head Vampire, Nosfer, points in seveal directions, and the others follow: 3 females, 1 male.

Nearby an ancient tree, the male underling vampire, Atu, stalks his prey. Finally he catches a glipmse of the human, who is covered head to toe in bearskins and wielding two axes. His head is covered in the headskin of a European Brown bear. The Berserker, himself on the hunt for pillage, hears the vampire and turns, growling. The Vampire is startled, and the Berserker roars and charges, his axes in the air. The Vampire, shocked and baffled by being on the recieving end of an attack instead of launching an attack, bares his teeth and claws. The Vampire is even more shocked when the Berserker shows off speed almost on par with his, and strength beyond that of mortals, though still less than vampires. The Berserker strikes with his axes, and the Vampire blocks with his claws. Over and over the Berserker strikes, and each time the steel-strong claws leave deep cuts in the iron blades. The Vampire tries to bite, but the Berserker bites back and hits him in the adam's apple. The Berserker goes for a downward thrust, but the vampire blocks and quickly stabs the chest and face of the Viking with claws. However, the Vampire does not know that the Berserker feels no pain, and with a quick slice the monster's head drops to the frozen earth .

Two of the female Vampires hear the violence and run to aid their comrade. However, two berserkers confront them, one wielding a mighty Dane axe, another two spears. One of the Vampires, Ravanna, realizes what they face, and readies herself. the other, Anne, snarls like a wolf and readies to recieve the Vikings, who attack. Ravanna perries the dane axe of one Berserker and then thrusts her claws to the Viking's head .

Anne grasps the arms of the other Berserker, overpowers him, and goes for the throat .

Three hundred yards away, the head vampire and the other female are ambushed by the three remaining Berserkers. The Head Vampire blocks a double strike by a Berserker wielding axes, and puts his left hand behind the warrior's head, stabbing where the spine meets the skull, and into the brain . The other Female, Susanna, is cutting her Berserker opponent savagely, and is about to land a killing fist blow to the head when another Berserker attacks from the rear, splitting her skull with a downward strike of a double-bladed broadsword . The two warriors gang up on the master Vampire, cutting him to pieces .

The last Berserkers head towards their Viking river ship. The Berserker that was severely wounded, Aulf the Wise, drops his shield, broken by a slap from the vampire Susanna, gets the ship ready to sail off. Just when he turns to cut the rope holding the ship to the shore, he notices his friend, Erik the Blue, has dissappeared . Standing next to a torch, Aulf pulls out his two Sax knives and readies for the final assault. Before it comes, he spots the last tw vampires in a nearby tree. The Vampiresses leap from the tree together, their teeth and claws bared, and tackle the Viking to the floor of the ship, his head bitten into, his chesy impaled with their claws .

Ravanna, suffering a wound to the chest that barely missed her heart, stands and pulls the knife out. She looks over Anne, turning her over. Her eyes are glazed, her breath lacking, a sax knife imbedded in her heart, her chest bleeding .

Looking around, trying to sense any further danger, Ravanna roars with her hand towards the Full Moon!

Expert's Opinion
The Vampires were victorious due to their super speed and strength. They also had more stamina than even the Berserkers so long as the sun wasn't out. The Vampires were able to take advantage of the human frailties of an unarmored opponent (even one like the Berserker) before the Berksers were able to learn their opponents' weaknesses from scratch and adapt to them. Even with the benefits of weaponry, the Berserker came in at a disadvantage against superhuman beings who likely had years of experience against people with weapons, given their average lifespan.

Battle vs. Werewolf
April 29th, 2003

I feel my sanity slipping through my fingertips as the night of the full moon draws nearer and nearer. Jonathon, Trent, and I have come up with a way to prevent us from ravaging the city like we did during the last transformations. Trent owns a cabin in the woods which we plan to sleep in tonight. I fear that if I transform again then my family will be in danger. I pray that we may safely escape this curse on day, but until then we will return to the cabin.

DING-DONG!

Ben dropped his pencil and closed the journal before peeking out of the window. “They’ve arrived.” He thought to himself. He checked his watch. “5:00pm…that might not be enough time.” He quickly ran down the stairs and shoved his feet into a pair of shoes. He threw on his coat and opened the door to see his friend Jonathon standing impatiently. “We have limited time y’know.” He said leading the way to the car.

“I’m sorry, I was writing my…novel.” Responded Ben.

“Stop writing and start reading.” Said Trent handing him a newspaper before allowing him in.

“What?” said Ben before looking through it until he spotted something jaw dropping. “The Hell? Vampires?”

“I guess Lycanthropy wasn’t the only myth to be true.” Said Trent.

“I don’t like this and would you speed up already?” said Ben.

“Yeah, yeah.” Said Jonathon “We should get there soon.”

“We better.” Said Ben before studying the article.

Hours later…

The car screeches to a halt as the three men rush out of it. The sun descends into darkness as the three enter the cabin. “Phew.” Said Trent.

“Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about the disease tonight.” Said Ben while looking around the room.

“Make yourselves at home.” Said Jonathon after lighting a cigarette.

Hours later…

“You smell that?” asked Angela, the vampire leader.

The others take a whiff of the air. “Humans” said Orlock “3 judging by the scent.”

“Yes, but something seems wrong about the scent, as if their blood is contaminated.” said Angela

“But it’s an easy meal.” Stated Alucard

“True, let’s move.” Said Angela

The three sped off into the wilderness at high speed, crushing the brush beneath them. Arriving outside of the house, the vampires slowly circled the building, looking for an entrance. Alucard watched the window of the building, hoping to get a look at his prey. Unfortunately for him, his prey was first to spot him. “What in the Hell” said Jonathon with amazement at the sight of the vampire in front of him.

Alucard roared and charged at the building, smashing his arm through the glass window. Jonathon was barely out of range and fell back startled. Alucard brought his arm back and sprinted to help the other vampires bust down the door. Jonathon looked in fear as the window let moonlight shine upon his body. Trent and Ben’s jaws dropped at the sight as the door was busted open, letting moonlight illuminate the room. Trent and Ben both gazed at each other before hair grew uncontrollably around their bodies. Their teeth extended and sharpened as the Vampires watched with amazement.

Alucard was first to rush forward, tackling Jonathon to the floor. “Always so brash.” Said Angela before joining in the attack. Alucard clawed several times at Jonathon, but the werewolf merely growled and threw him off. He slammed into a desk, scattering several documents and writing materials. Alucard started to get up but Jonathon leapt onto him, slamming the vampire’s head into the desk. He bit down into Alucard’s skull, crushing the vampires’ brain.

Seeing this, Angela called to Orlock. “We need to get them in the open!” she said before retreating from the cabin. Orlock shoved Ben aside and followed her outside. The werewolves gave chase to Orlock, Jonathon in the lead. “Angela! ANGELA!” screamed Orlock trying to find his leader. He turned and clawed the side of Jonathon’s face twice before turning and running some more.

Angela waited upon a tree branch as Orlock ran below her, the werewolves in chase. She jumped down below, landing on Trent’s back. She dug her claws into the back of the werewolves’ skull, instantly killing him.

Jonathon stopped and turned, growling at Angela. Angela tore out her claws and stepped off of Trent’s corpse. Jonathon sprinted forward, as did Angela. She slid beneath the werewolf and held out her claws, slashing his belly. Jonathon collapsed to the ground as Angela quickly stood and pounced him, digging her claws into his back. He roared in pain before being silenced by a bite to the throat.

Orlock circled Ben, looking for an opening, but the relentless attacks prevented concentration. He slashed at Ben’s face, but this served only to anger the werewolf. Ben dug his claw into Orlock’s stomach and began to tear the creature to shreds.

Ben looked into the decapitated head of his adversary. He leaned in to take a bite of flesh when another scent filled his nostrils. He turned in time to have a side of his face clawed by Angela. He roared as the vampire licked her claws, relishing the blood. Ben rushed forward but Angela side stepped and sliced his face once more. Ben turned, his face now covered in claw strikes, and slashed at Angela. She dodged but at the cost of a large amount of her hair being torn off. She became enraged and charged at Ben, but this charge was a mistake.

Ben clawed at the incoming women and sliced her chest. She screamed in pain as Ben launched several more claw strikes at the foe, spilling more and more blood until her chest was nonexistent. In its place was a large puddle of blood and a man who sat in it all as the sun rose behind him. He looked in horror at his blood covered hands and felt his face. Tears manifested in his eyes as he realized what had befallen him and his friends.

Expert's Opinion
This battle was really close but the werewolves managed to secure a win here. The vampires clearly were smarter and faster however they were not as durable as the werewolves. In addition, the werewolves' weakness were not as easy to exploit as the vampires' weakness. If the werewolves lasted to daytime then the vampires would turn to dust as the werewolves go back to human form and go back to living their lives before the battle took place. Werewolves are the deadliest warrior.

Battle vs. Spetsnaz GRU
Sunday morning, 7 a.m. The snows fall with a foul wind above the old Tovarich Tomato warehouse, now all but abandoned. Katya, a female Spetsnaz GRU operative, moves in with her eleven teamates (only one other of which is a woman). As they enter, they are immediately confronted with darkness and a surprising heat. Their flashlights on, they scan their surroundings, finding several corpses on the ground.

"Remember, Comrades: this is a shoot-to-kill quarantine operation: no survivors. We don't know what contagion we have here, but we know it is terrible and transmitted by saliva. The infected are dangerous." Yuri, the team captain, said. Turning his head back and forth, his chemical mask making a slight rubbery squeaking sound when he did thus, he gave the silent signal to continue down the halls.

Katya, like the rest, was hunched down, moving her AK74 back and forth, staring hard into the shadows. She winced each time she felt flesh underneath her feet. Sometimes, bones broke under her boots, which she concluded was a sign of severe trauma; bones don't break under the footsteps of a 120 lbs lady, no matter if she wears Red army boots or not. As she looked down now and again, she saw that the bodies looked not like those who died from disease, but due to a mauling, as if lions were let loose among these anonymous homeless.

Yuri raised his hand up in a fist. The troops prepared; he had found a door. With a kick the door was knocked open. Yuri and the soldier next to him raised their rifles as a lone maniac, moving at phenomenal speed, beat them to the trigger, slashing them with what looked like, strangely, beastial claws. Yuri went down with a torn shoulder, the soldier next to him had his head sliced off. Another soldier, the closest, raised his rifle and fired into the midsection of the victim. With a demonic snarl, the creature turned on the soldier, seemingly resistant to pain, and sliced and diced his face. The victim sped up and tackled another soldier when two other troops raised their Saiga shotguns, while Yuri pulled out two Marakov pistols. The victim was pumped full of bullets and buckshot, and when his heart grew peppered by the ever-growing amounts of buckshot in his chst cavity, he went down to his knees. The troops kept firing, and the stranger fell over, but not before throwing down the crumpled troop, who had a huge bite mark in his chest, a mark that exposed both the lungs and the heart. As a Medic ran to Yuri the other troops, including Katya, surrounded the stranger.

Katya gasped. The men shook their heads. The other woman, Nivonava, had her eyes wide open.

The victim did not look human. His teeth were all huge fangs, his claws long and serrated. The jaws hung morbidly loose from their joints in the skull, as if they had been pulled out of socket, but there was no wounds on the head that could explain this deformity. The soldiers looked at each other in the eyes, not believing what they were seeing. What kind of bug could do this to a man?

The Medic lifted Yuri. Shaking his head, he spoke.

"This is above top secret: no questions, no answers, just do your jobs. It seems that these victims have enhanced physical capabilities, so be on your guard.

Suddenly a roar was heard, something like a mixture of a demon and a woman's screech. The troops raised their weapons, but saw nothing in the dark hall. Yuri, pistol still in hand, gave the signal to move on.

...

nine minutes later, the Spetsnaz GRU had entered a lower level of the warehouse. The dead still littered the floor, along with countless dead rats, all of them bitten. The troops, unafraid despite what they encountered up above, continued to move in crouched formation, keeping a sharp eye out. Katya could see better in the dark than the other Spetsnaz, but try as she might, she saw nothing.

Then the second attack hit. A screeching woman leaped from two gas tanks and landed down amidst te Spetsnaz, grabbing the heads of two men. With a quick grabbing motion the warriors plopped down, their heads crushed. As gunfire erupted, she twirled and slashed with both hands, bringing down two more soldiers. Katya aimed her AK74 at the woman's head and pulled the trigger. The woman, a bloody mess, fell, her eyes wide open. She ran over to the woman, her gun aimed at the woman's head, just in case. She looked around her: None of the attacked could survive such wounds. Both Nevoneva and the Medic were lost.

As she turned back to Yuri she felt a savage pain in her leg, as well as two hands that held onto the leg and nearly broke her shin with great power. She looked down, seeing that the woman was still alive. She fired into her head again, and, getting out of the way, the two Saiga Shotgun wielding Spetsnaz finished the victim off, one of their shots obliterating her head.

Katya fell down on her back, screamin in pain. One of her fellow troopers bent down to her and examined her wound. It looked as if a tiger shark had bitten her. Another soldier went to the fallen medic's medical kit and ran back to her, but Yuri stood, staring at her, gun in hand.

"You need not medicine, Peotyr: she is infected."

The men turned to him in astonishment, then back to her. Katya looked up at Yuri, crying without making a noise as he walked up to her, almost casually, and raised his gun. Aiming at her head, then at her chest, he said.

"Goodbye, Tovarich."

It was then that a huge, towering man fell down from the roof and landed on the Captain, claws digging into his flesh. The Spetsnaz, by now having all put their assault rifles away and replacing them with shotguns, fired in unison. The beast ran off in a blink, untouched by the buckshot. Then the beast suddenly appeared among them, unleashing a melee massacre.

The first soldier to confront him, bayonet in hand, stabbed the monster in the gut, but the beast swatted him in the head, knocking it off with ease. A second soldier raised his shotgun, but the vampire grabbed it, bent it, and knocked it away. In a downward slash the soldier was cut from neck to sternum, and fell without word. The other Soldier pulled out a ballistic knife and fired it at the monster's head, but the beast moved out of its way and lunged for the throat. The soldier did not have time to hit the brute's pressure points, his head falling off after a loud, gross-sounding bite. Then, as the monster turned around, he saw Yuriabout to land a jump kick on him. The kick landed, but Yuri was knocked down, not the monster. Getting back up, despite his terrible wounds, Yuri launched a series of Systema strikes, which the Vampire laughingly blocked, showing some skill in the art as well.

"I learned such tricks in the days of Joseph Stalin; you are pathetic!"

Then Yuri pulled out a Ballistic knife and fired it into the brute's face; the vampire never saw it coming. Though not killed, he fell, holding his hand to his pierced skull. He sensed some brain damage.

"Who is pathetic and who is patriot, you Prole scum." Captian Yuri said. He picked up a shotgun on thr ground and lifted it up, aiming at the monster's midsetion.

"For Mother Russia, with love."

"Goodbye Tovarich!" a voice said.

Before Yuri could turn, Katya's jaws had sunk deep into the back of his neck, her claws piercing his ribcage. Feeding off his blood, the female Spetsnaz drained her superior officer dry.

Smiling, wiping the blood from her mouth, she turned, watching the hulking head vampire rise from the ground. The beast pulled the knife blade from his skull and threw it down, turning to his rescuer. Smiling back, he was astonished by her beauty, and noted her scent: she was now one of his kind, a revenant of Russia.

Putting his hands on each of her shoulders, he smiled.

"Welcome to the Family."

Expert's Opinion
While the Spetsnaz had a tremendous ranged advantage, the Vampires' superhuman speed, strength, and durability enabled them to close the gap between themselves and their opponents before they were all eliminated, and then determine the fight at close range quarters, where in they dominated.

Battle vs. Dingonek
The Vampire crept slowly out of her coffin as the moon rose high into the night sky. She exited the cave, smelling the air for the closest victim. There were two…a human and something else. Something she could hardly remember. “A challenge.” she thought to herself.

She took off, sprinting at extreme speeds towards the human. She stopped at a small camp, which a cryptozologist was setting up. The cryptozologist walked outside of his tent, startled at the sight of the vampire. That was until she ran up and stabbed his eyes with her claws.

Smiling, she chomped on his neck and began to suck some of his blood. However she sensed the creature, which she couldn’t identify before, was nearing. Wiping some blood from her mouth she turned and leapt onto a tree branch, eagerly awaiting the monster’s appearance.

The Dingonek enters the camp, smashing a camera that lied on the ground. The cryptid examined the man’s dead body, drained of the blood. The Dingonek, not caring about the lack in blood, took a huge bite out of the man’s chest.

Suddenly, the vampire leapt from the tree, landing on the Dingonek’s side. She slashed at the creature’s side, leaving marks on the monster’s scales. The Dingonek was angered and roared before smashing the vampire’s side with its tail.

The vampire flew back, hitting a tree trunk. She stood up as the Dingonek charged. She dodged to the left as the monster slammed its horn into the tree. The tree collapsed as the Dingonek turned to a fury of claw strikes.

The Dingonek’s face was coated in claw marks, but regardless the cryptid crunched down on the Vampire’s hand. Bones snapped and she roared in pain. In desperation, the Vampire plunged her free hand into the Dingonek’s right eye. The cryptid roared in pain, giving the Vampire time to pull out her other hand. Acting quickly, she thrusted her uninjured hand into the Dingonek’s other eye, making its roar grow louder.

Finally, the Vampire turned and ran towards the Cryptozologist. Using her uninjured claw yet again, she tore out his heart and ran before the Dingonek could recover. This was the first time the Vampire had ever felt the emotion she was so skilled in giving to others….fear….

Expert's Opinion
While the Dingonek was a walking tank, its lack of speed hindered its ability to hurt the Vampire who could avoid all of its attacks. The Vampire was able to form battlefield tactics while the Dingonek had to rely on instinct.

Kalkara weapons
Mid Range: Claws- razor sharp claws of bone that can rip through flesh and armour like it was made of paper Close Range: Teeth- sharp pointed teeth

Special: Paralysing glance- using their eyes, the Kalkara can paralyse or even kill their targets.

Battle vs. Kalkara
A piercing howl breaks the air. Six Kalkara emerge from a cave in the Mountains of Rain and Night. In a castle some distance away, six Vampires emerge from their coffins. The vampire leader orders his followers to split up. One Vampire moves down a hallway and rakes its claws on the wall. Taking off at super speed, it doesn't notice two Kalkara until it's to late. One Kalkara swings its claws down and scratches down into the Vampire's side. The Vampire retaliates by swinging its own claws at the Kalkara's neck, killing it. The second Kalkara leaps to the vampire and stabs its claws through the Vampire's ribcage and into its heart. Another Vampire arrives just as the Kalkara turns, locks eyes with the vampire and focuses its gaze until the vampire dies. A third Vampire arrives behind the Kalkara and bites into the creatures neck.

The Vampire moves to meet with its comrades as the remaining four Kalkara follow it. One of the Vampires roars as a Kalkara closes the distance. The Kalkara staggers back, stunned by the roar. The Vampire swings its claws at the stunned Kalkara's head, killing it. A second Kalkara appears behind the Vampire and bites it in the neck. The Vampire flings the Kalkara into a wall, breaking its neck before bleeding out.

The remaining Kalkara scream and prepare to attack. A Kalkara locks gazes with a Vampire, causing the Vampire to be paralyzed in fear. Just as the Kalkara prepares to deliver the final blow, another Vampire rushes the Kalkara and kills it with a blow to the head. The last Kalkara locks its gaze with the paralyzed Vampire, killing it. The Vampire leader grabs the Kalkara and throws it into a wall. The Kalkara screams one last time before the Vampire leader swings its claws into the Kalkara's head.

The remaining Vampires raise their claws and roar in victory.

Winner: Vampires

Expert's Opinion
The Vampires won due to their superhuman speed and strength as well as more intellegence.

If you thought the battle was unfair, leave a message on my talk page here. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.