Comparison of vampire traits

The following tables compare traits given to vampires in folklore and fiction.

Appearance[]

	Skin Colour	Fangs	Reflection	Shadow	Attractiveness
European Folklore	Ruddy or dark^[1]	No^[2]	No^[3]	No^[3]	Hideous
Bram Stoker	Pale	Yes^[4]	No^[4]	No	Alluring
Nosferatu	Pale	Yes	No	Yes	Hideous
Anne Rice	Pale	Yes	No	Yes	Typically alluring
Buffy	Ordinary Template:Refun	Retractable	No^[5]	Yes	Hideous when in their "vampire form"
Blade	Pale	Yes	?	Yes	Ordinary
True Blood	Pale	Retractable	Yes^[6]	Yes	Ordinary

^ Vampires had pale skin in the film.

Weaknesses[]

Weaknesses which are marked as 'yes' are generally not fatal. All fatal weaknesses have been marked as such.

	Stake	Sunlight	Decapitation	Drowning	Fire	Silver	Garlic	Christian symbols	Running water	Invitation
European Folklore	Fatal; ash^[7], hawthorn^[8], or oak^[9] preferred	Nocturnal ^[4]	Fatal ^[10]	Fatal	Fatal	Yes	Yes ^[11]	Yes	Yes ^[12]	Yes ^[3]
Bram Stoker	Fatal; white oak preferred^[13]	Yes^[13]	Fatal	Fatal	Fatal	? ^[13]	Yes	Yes ^[13]	?	?
Nosferatu	? ^[13]	Fatal ^[14]	?	?	?	?	? ^[13]	?	?	?
Anne Rice	No	Fatal ^[15] ^[13]	No	No	Fatal	No	No	No	?	?
Buffy	Fatal^[16]	Fatal ^[16]	Fatal ^[16]	No ^[5]	Fatal	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[16]^[5]	?	Yes ^[5]
Blade	Fatal^[6]	Any ultraviolet light is fatal^[6]	?	?	?	Yes^[6]	?	No^[6]	No	?
True Blood	Fatal	Fatal; older vampires have lower tolerances	?	No	?	Yes	No^[6]	No^[6]	?	Yes

Supernatural Powers[]

'Glamour' refers to the ability to influence a mortal. (AKA the spell gift, mesmerize, or the Jedi mind trick.)
It is common in fiction for vampires to gain additional, uncommon powers as they age. These have been noted as 'Gifted'.

	Immortality	Supernatural strength	Supernatural senses	Supernatural speed	Supernatural healing	Flight	Shapeshifting	Glamour	Telepathy	Telekinesis	Pyrokinesis
European Folklore	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	No
Bram Stoker	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	Wolf, bat, dust, fog	?	?	?	No
Nosferatu	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No
Anne Rice	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Gifted	No	Gifted	Gifted	Gifted	Gifted
Buffy	Yes ^[5]	Yes ^[16] ^[5]	Yes ^[5]	No	Yes ^[16] ^[5]	No Template:Refun	No	Gifted	No	No	No
Blade	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	No	No
True Blood	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Gifted	Gifted	Yes	No	No	No

^ In the film, vampires could levitate.

Reproduction[]

	Sterile	Reproduce via bite	Reproduce via transfusion	Inhabited by demons
European Folklore	No	?	?	Yes ^[17]
Bram Stoker	?	?	?	?
Nosferatu	?	?	?	?
Anne Rice	Yes	No	Yes	No
Buffy	Yes	No ^[5]	Yes ^[5]	Yes ^[5]
Blade	?	Yes	?	No
True Blood	Yes	No	Yes	No

Similarities in plot settings[]

Many depictions of vampires include depictions of other mythological creatures.

	Dracula	Werewolves	Telepaths	Shape shifters
Bram Stoker	Title character	No	No	None other than Dracula
Nosferatu	Title character	No	No	No
Anne Rice	No	No	None other than some vampires	No
Buffy	Yes ^[16]	Yes ^[16]	Yes ^[16] Template:Refun	?
Blade	Yes	?	?	?
True Blood	?	Yes	Yes Template:Refun	Yes

^ Telepaths in these works could not read the minds of vampires.

Notes[]

↑ Barber, Vampires, Burial and Death, pp. 41–42.
↑ Barber, Vampires, Burial and Death, p. 2.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Spence, Lewis (1960). An Encyclopaedia of Occultism. New Hyde Parks: University Books. OCLC 3417655.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Silver & Ursini, The Vampire Film, p. 25.
↑ ^5.00 ^5.01 ^5.02 ^5.03 ^5.04 ^5.05 ^5.06 ^5.07 ^5.08 ^5.09 ^5.10 "Vampires in the Buffyverse". http://www.atpobtvs.com/vampires.html. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 Beam, Christopher (2008, November 20). "I Vant To Upend Your Expectations: Why movie vampires always break all the vampire rules". Slate Magazine. http://www.slate.com/id/2205143/. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
↑ Template:De icon Alseikaite-Gimbutiene, Marija (1946). Die Bestattung in Litauen in der vorgeschichtlichen Zeit. Tübingen. OCLC 1059867. (thesis)
↑ Vukanović, T.P. (1959). "The Vampire". Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 38: 111–18.
↑ Template:De icon Klapper, Joseph (1909). "Die schlesischen Geschichten von den schädingenden Toten". Mitteilungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde 11: 58–93.
↑ Barber, Vampires, Burial and Death, p. 73.
↑ Barber, Vampires, Burial and Death, p. 63.
↑ Burkhardt, "Vampirglaube und Vampirsage", p. 221.
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 ^13.2 ^13.3 ^13.4 ^13.5 ^13.6 Bankard, Bob. "Vampire Repellents". http://www1.phillyburbs.com/vamp/defenses.shtml. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
↑ Skal, David J. (1996). V is for Vampire. Plume/Penguin. pp. 104. ISBN 0-452-27173-8.
↑ Nina Auerbach (1981) Our Vampires, Ourselves: 119–47.
↑ ^16.0 ^16.1 ^16.2 ^16.3 ^16.4 ^16.5 ^16.6 ^16.7 ^16.8 Truett, Larry. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". http://www.spookyfiles.com/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer/. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
↑ Barber, Vampires, Burial and Death, pp. 50-51.

References[]

Barber, Paul (1988). Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality. New York: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04126-8.