What is a Vampire?

'Vampires by Alexa'
ECM Vampire Text first place winner, by [Lexi. Short and Sweet!]

General facts

Origins:
     The vampire has been around in folklore for centuries and there are many different stories and opinions as to how the first vampire was created.

  - Religious: It is believed by some that the first vampire was Lilith, first wife of Adam who desired to rule over the human world but god wanted the male to rule and so Lilith left Adam for Lucifer who promised her what she wanted. She became the Queen of Death and Demons and it is thought vampires were her creation to usurp the work of God and Adam.
  - Dark Age: In the Dark ages villagers believed that vampires were corpses that came to life and drained members of the village of their blood. The idea was formed as a way to explain strings of deaths caused by illnesses the people didn’t yet have the technology to diagnose. It meant that they could do something about the deaths instead of feeling like they had no hope.
  - Modern Day ideas: In novels such as those written by Anne Rice different ideas have been formed. In Anne Rice’s novels Vampires are all related to two “parent vampires” who were created when they were attacked by traitors who unknowingly created a way for demons to inhabit the bodies of Enkil and Akasha. Another more modern belief is that vampires were created by God to punish those people that were selfish enough to take their own lives. Those people who could not see the joys in life were damned to carry on living forever or until some soul took mercy on them and cast them back into purgatory.
  - The Anti-Christ: It is also believed that Vampires are the opposite to Christ, where he gave his blood they take blood and when he was crucified on the cross the nails signified Dracula draining him of his blood for his own survival.
  - Nanobot theory: Nanobots were injected into some humans to repair cells, they worked so well they made the human immortal but in order to survive they had to use the iron from the haemoglobin to repair themselves. The nanobots can be transferred when a host is bitten.
  - Disease: Xeroderma Pigmentosum is an often fatal disease that causes the sufferer’s skin to be very pale and make’s them very susceptible to UV rays meaning they cannot go out in daylight. This disease is very rare in modern times but due to inbreeding in the Middle Ages sprung up in isolated pockets and could have been the start of the vampire folk-tales.

Types of Vampires:

There are other views apart from those above as to what vampires really are, some people believe that they are:
  *The next step in human evolution
  *The result of a joining between a Fallen Angel and a human/ Eve and a Fallen Angel

  - Stereotypical vampire: The stereotypical vampire is that seen in most horror films and books, the blood sucking, night walking, coffin dwelling creature. All types of stereotypical vampire have two things in common, they drink blood and they cannot venture into sunlight. However there are many different types, some that can go out in light some that can’t, some that need to sleep in a coffin and others that don’t. The hard and fast rules about what makes a Dracula vampire a Dracula vampire are very few and as such this type of vampire is popular with the Role-player. It offers variety and a good back-story as well as the intrigue of the demonic side and evil heritage.
  - Psychic Vampires: This is the name given to people that don’t drain blood but rather energy from their victims, this can manifest in two ways: physically or spiritually.
  - Physical Draining: Humans that experience Psychic vampires that drain physical energy will often look haggard and worn, they will seem tired most of the time and have the appearance of someone that is not getting enough sleep.
  - Spiritual Draining: This will cause the victim to feel emotionally run down and often depressed, it brings out the worst personality qualities of the person making them violent, aggressive and selfish. It also causes reactions to be based more on emotional responses than thoughts. Psychic Vampires tend not to be the living dead but people with strong mental powers or ghosts and spectres, however all vampires have psychic skills to some extent.
  - Blood Fetish Vampires: These are not really vampires at all but are humans who have a taste for blood and participate in ritual blood drinking. Often blood fetish vampires are social and drink each other’s blood as part of a cult like movement. They are also likely to take part in black magic rituals and other cultist activities.