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Vampire Variety Pack - TV Tropes

  • ️Wed Mar 15 2017

Vampire Variety Pack (trope)

There are as many types of vampire as there are disease; some are virulent and deadly, and some just make you walk funny and avoid fruit.

So you want to put vampires into your setting. But if All Myths Are True, how do you reconcile the many different and contradictory myths about vampires? The most common answer is to pick and choose traits that work for your story, or make some up, and proclaim that Our Vampires Are Different. But another approach is to say that these contradictory myths are referring to different kinds of vampire that all coexist together.

Often this means that there are multiple supernatural species that are thrown under the umbrella term "vampire", although occasionally they are all the same species but with minor differences. These differences can include different strengths and weaknesses, social structures, preferred prey and hunting grounds, so a Vampire Hunter is advised to be informed about them lest he shove a cross at a vampire of a clan that crosses don't work on.

When a new vampire is created, they will be of the same type as their sire; as such they are usually called "clans" because they are essentially a large family, although "bloodline" is another common term because... well... vampires, blood... The different clans may get along well with each other, but are usually plotting and scheming against one another for resources (or just to liven up their eternal lives); sometimes they are outright at war with one another. That said, there's often a Council of Vampires made up of the leaders of each clan (or at least their chosen representatives) acting as a sort of "Vampire UN" to handle conflicts and other matters that affect all of them.

Often a clan will be named for its originator, who will be the leader of the clan if they're still around. It's also sometimes the case that these clan founders themselves share a sire, the originator of the entire vampire species. That's your best bet for a Vampire Monarch if they're still active; expect them to be Shrouded in Myth if they're not. Either way, they usually have the combined powers and abilities of every clan, making them the ultimate challenge for any Vampire Hunter. Given the common trope that killing a vampire's sire kills (or cures) the vampire, such progenitors may be the key to destroying the entire clan at a stroke.

Particularly common bloodlines include:

Sub-Trope of Our Vampires Are Different, obviously. Compare Actually Not a Vampire. See also Totally Not a Werewolf. For another type of very varied fantasy creatures sometimes used in this same manner, see Dragon Variety Pack.

Examples:

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Comic Books 

  • American Vampire: There are many different subspecies of vampire, with wildly different powers and appearances based on a combination of their land of origin and ethnicity. A white or black American vampire is a very different creature from a Native American vampire, nevermind one that is native to Ireland, Japan, or Eastern Europe. Eventually, the Vampire Hunter group admits that calling all these creatures vampires is really a misnomer, because while certain strains may be fairly similar, about the only thing they all have in common is that they drink blood, and a person can always be infected by exposure to infected blood and sometimes simply by being fed on.
    • European vampires also known as Carpathian vampires, are traditional vampires who believe themselves to be the dominant species.
    • American vampires have jaws like rattlesnakes and are not only immune to sunlight, but are actively powered by the sun.
    • Gaelic-Prime vampires are a shape-shifting type that is actually quite nice. Its other form is a pretty vicious looking creature with giant bat-like wings.
    • Japanese vampires are creepy-looking things with giant teeth and no eyes.
    • Homo Abominum Canis Asiatic-2, like the Gaelic Prime species, was thought to be extinct, but there are apparently enough left alive to pose a threat due to how a person can be easily infected if their wounds are exposed to the Abominum Canis' saliva (it's implied that the species tries to prevent this from happening, however).
    • The same arc that introduces the Canis mentions one based on zombies.
    • The "Survival of the Fittest" arc reveals a few minor bloodlines, apparently ancestors of the Carpathian breed, who are vulnerable to different bands of the ultraviolet spectrum, and ancient vampires, enormous, golem-like creatures whose skin is so tough that it only tarnishes slightly when exposed to direct sunlight.
    • Native American vampires are huge, terrifying lizard monsters with orange skin and a total immunity to sunlight.
    • The "Dark Moon" arc of Second Cycle includes a host of other strains, including ones based on gargoyles, mummies and gorgons, and one mentioned based on ghouls.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The comic continuation varies the standard depiction of vampires in the TV show. Season Nine introduces "zompires", animalistic and unintelligent vampires who were sired during the period when the Earth had no Seed of Wonder, and New Vampires, vampires with magical powers and fewer vulnerabilities who were sired after the creation of the new Seed of Wonder.
  • Marvel Universe: Vampires are divided into "sects", each with their own abilities and customs:
    • Krieger Sect: Western European warriors, considered one of the strongest and most numerous. They wear Prussian/Imperial Germany inspired outfits.
    • Claw Sect: Middle-Eastern ninjas and rivals to the Krieger.
    • Mystikos Sect: American vampires that embraced modern times and masquerade as businessmen. They are responsible for dealing with technology.
    • Anchorite Sect: American rural outcasts who prefer to live far away from humanity and live in peace, they are similar to the Amish.
    • Siren Sect: All-female vampires that use the power of seduction.
    • Moksha Sect: Vampire seers with the power to see into the future by feeding as little blood as possible.
    • Aqueos Sect: Atlantean vampires that live underwater.
    • Several minor bloodlines exist such as the Yiki Onna (Japanese vampires with the power to turn into ice storms), Charniputra (a gargoyle-like vampire race that dwells in the Himalayas) and the Nosferati (a pale, bald vampire race that resembles Count Orlok).
    • Then there's Morbius, the Living Vampire,note  and Blade, a Dhampyr. There are a handful of stories that make a plot out of vampires experimenting on them to enhance their own powers.
    • Dracula, Lord of Vampires, isn't a member of any of the sects, surpassing them entirely. In fact, most of the really powerful vampires in the Marvel Universe — Deacon Frost, Varnae, the Barons Blood — don't seem to have much involvement in the sects.

Fan Works 

  • Child of the Storm has all the vampire Courts from The Dresden Files:
    • White, emotion-eating demons with hereditary bonds to humans. They're more or less indistinguishable from humans at even relatively close inspection, unless they're doing something overtly vampiric or you know what you're looking for - or you see them bleed (their blood is pinkish rather than red). Their only weakness is to the opposite emotion that they feed on (e.g. True Love is the kryptonite of the lust-feeding House Raith), though they die the same way humans do - they're just tougher and harder to kill, especially if they have enough life energy to draw on. They prefer background scheming to straight up fighting, to the point of cultural compulsion, but they're dangerous in a corner.
    • Black, classic Dracula vamps, albeit more like blood-sucking zombies. They convert instantly, they have all the traditional weaknesses, and they make up for it by multiplying like the plague. The only survivors are relative babies, or the smartest and oldest ones.
    • Red, blood-drinking Mayan bat-demons hiding behind a human skin mask, the children of the god Camazotz, currently at war with the White Council of Wizards (nominally the other Courts are involved, but the Black Court are background noise and the Whites don't like the messy stuff). They have the usual weaknesses, albeit to a lesser extent, and they'll die if you shoot them enough - especially if you get them in the blood reserve. They're wiped out in the sequel by Doctor Strange to end the war - something achieved via the ritualistic murder of Camazotz, their progenitor.
    • Jade, very secretive Chinese vampires, who feed on life and keep themselves to themselfs.
    • Other than that, there are occasional individual examples of "psychic vampires", and a mysterious vampire called "the Welshman" who's from outside the Court system, and keeps Britain mostly clear of other vampires (out of territoriality rather than altruism) and lives in Cardiff.
    • More prominently, there's also the Grey Court, which are the original Dracula-style vampires, led by Dracula himself, and dating back to Atlantis, with the Black Court being explained as an experiment by a necromancer (actually none other than Apocalypse) eight thousand years ago, who tried to turn a corpse into a Grey Court vampire rather than a living person.
    • It should be noted that none of them like the others, at all - the Black Court are deemed to be pathetic monsters, the White Court are seen as backstabbing cowards and opportunists, the Grey Court are elitists, and the Red Court are generally agreed to be disgusting (which, to be fair, is hard to dispute).

Films — Live-Action 

  • In the universe of Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, there are multiple types of vampire ("as many as there are beasts of prey", says Professor Grost as an introduction to his explanation, and making clear that the methods to destroy them vary just as much, some even being vulnerable to good old cannonballs), with the variation that the film revolves around absorbing youth from their victims instead of blood and can only be killed by iron-wrought weapons.
  • Daybreakers has two types of vampires. First, there are the normal kind, who comprise most of the characters in the film and have most of the usual strengths, weaknesses, and telltales. However, when vampires, deprived of blood, feed on other vampires (or on their own blood) in order to sate their thirst, they turn into feral, Orlok-looking monsters called subsiders. Given that the film takes place in a world where vampires have taken over and the last un-turned humans are being hunted to extinction, to the point where vampires are turning to each other for blood out of desperation, this is a bit of a problem.
  • Frostbite features a variety of types of vampires due to botched genetic experiments to cure vampirism. The unaltered vampires appears like humans with albinism, while the vampires created by the pills look like pale humans but turn slightly demonic when attacking people. Then there is the Big Bad who straight up transforms into a Nosferatu-like creature and is physically stronger than the other vampires. This this also invoked in a meta way were the teen vampires behave like cast of Near Dark and The Lost Boys, while the master vampire behaves like the villain in Universal monster movie. The only unaltered vampire that is given any characterization is also decidedly less evil than the other vampires.
  • Nosferatu (2024): It's mentioned that there are numerous types of vampire. The Romani vampire hunters are seen using a stake of Cold Iron to slay a lesser type early in the movie, while Count Orlok is of a much more powerful class known as the Nosferatu, a plague-bearing breed of vampire that cannot be killed by most conventional methods like staking.
  • Underworld: For most of the series, vampires seem to be pretty common outside of the unusual half human hybrids such as Michael, Marcus and later on Selene (all of them are immune to the typical vampire weaknesses and are far, far stronger than their kind). Then the fifth movie introduces the Nordic bloodline, who possess elf-like traits and supernatural powers unlike anything that common vampires possess, such as teleportation and telepathy.
  • Vampirella: Discussed when Vampirella draws a distinction between herself and the evil vampires stuck on Earth. Due to being away from their homeworld Drakulon for so long, they've become a mutant substrain whose bite infects rather than kills victims and are also vulnerable to the traditional vampire weaknesses.

Literature 

  • Anita Blake: Various vampires are noted to be from different bloodlines (that is, they've been turned by a vampire who somewhere up the chain was turned by a particular vampire who produced the bloodline). A vampire can also become the head of their own bloodline upon reaching a certain level of power, although it's rare to reach this level. Bloodlines also tend to have particular powers related to them on top of generic vampire abilities (example, Belle Morte's line are noted for powers related to sex, and Morte d'Amour's line is noted for producing 'rotting' vampires).
  • Anno Dracula and sequels uses the idea of different bloodlines to draw vampire characters from a variety of sources that use different rulesets, by saying that some attributes are common to all vampires (for instance, weakness to silver) while others only appear in a particular bloodline. Many of the vampires depicted are part of the Dracula bloodline, which confers the ability to shapeshift but also causes the vampire to become increasingly corpse-like and/or animalistic as they age (which attracts the contempt of some other bloodlines). By contrast, Geneviève, of the Chandagnac bloodline, and Lord Ruthven are two of the oldest vampires still in existence and look totally human. Later-published works in the series feature Christina Light of the rare "Oblensky" bloodline, who sparkles.
  • Carpe Jugulum: Taken to extremes, as "there are as many types of vampire as there are strains of disease. Some of them are virulent and deadly, others just make you walk funny and avoid fruit". The heroes end up quizzing vampires about exactly which part of Überwald they come from, because that's the only way to know which of the many Weaksauce Weaknesses a vampire might have is actually applicable.
  • Certain Dark Things (2016): "Vampires" consist of ten known species that are Homo but not sapiens, each with distinct biology and society.
    • Asabonsam are long-clawed, arboreal vampires from West Africa who can turn into giant bats.
    • Imago are a solitary, possibly Egyptian variant who can take the shapes of humans and vampires that they have encountered, although their true and very batlike shapes are visible in photographs and mirrors, and periodically cocoon themselves to rejuvenate.
    • The Chinese Jianghsi are characterized by intense arthritis and the ability to enthrall and control up to dozens of humans at once. As this ability works best in the darkness, they prefer to live in dimly-lit buildings from which they control a spiderweb of puppets and influence.
    • Nachzerer are a German subspecies who prefer to feed on carrion over living humans. They thrived during the Black Death, which badly hit other European vampires by decimating their food sources. They can turn into wolves, and tend to be very hairy even in humanoid form.
    • Necros are a central European strain that can feed on carrion and ingest human food without harm, and whose blood spreads a mind-controlling plague. As a part of their feeding habits, their teeth as shark-like, flesh-shredding razors. They may descend from the Nachzerer.
    • Obayifo, from West Africa, can glow in the dark to mesmerize humans and manipulate the perceptions of their prey. They prefer to sleep in shallow water.
    • Pischachas are Indian vampires who can shapeshift and turn invisible, but always have their red eyes visible. They are adept burrowers, and the most nocturnal of all vampires.
    • Revenants are a reclusive type, possibly Russian in origin, who resemble extremely twisted and hunchbacked humans. Their power to drain and transfer life energy with a touch even frightens other vampires.
    • Tlāhuipochtin are a matrilineal Mesoamerican lineage that can grow wings and can only consume the blood of the young. They feed through an extensible proboscis in their mouths. Their males, called Ichtacāini, are weaker and cannot shapeshift.
    • Wendigo, mainly found in Canada, are tall and rural vampires who prefer cold climates, slumber in the summer, and can turn into bears.
  • The Dresden Files has several different vampire 'Courts', who are only really related in having superpowers and having to feed off of humans.
    • The White Court are succubus-like, being normal humans who are spiritually bonded to a demon that feeds on a negative emotion and is harmed by its positive counterpart (there are three houses within it, each with a preferred "flavor" — Raith feeds on lust and is harmed by romantic love, Malvora feeds on fear and is harmed by courage, and Skavis feeds on despair and is harmed by confidence). They can draw upon the demon's power for increased physical attributes and invoke their particular emotion in humans. They reproduce the human way, but their children only become full vampires once they've drained someone to death. True Love is anathema to the Raiths, and they can't touch anything that is related to love (like a wedding band for a Happily Married couple, a gift between lovers, or a person whose last sexual encounter was with someone they really loved), as it burns them. Since their human soul is still there, just attached to a demon, they're the only type of vamp with the chance to be vampire refugees.
    • The Red Court are bat demons that hide under a human "flesh mask". Their saliva is an addictive narcotic, which they use to create thralls. They half-turn victims, who will become full vampires the first time they kill someone by feeding. They are mostly concentrated in Central and South America (where they got blood sacrifices by impersonating deities), and their hierarchy is arranged so vampires of native descent are on top.
    • The Black Court is the last major court (or at least, it was). They're pretty much classic Dracula — in fact, the In-Universe book was published by the White Court as a manual for vampire hunters, since while Black Court vamps are among the most powerful, they also have the most weaknesses. Hunters having the cheat sheet on Black Court weaknesses means that they are now very rare, and the ones that do show up are either very young, or old, powerful, and really dangerous. In appearance, they look like walking corpses.
    • There are several other minor types of vampire. The Jade Court is Chinese and very isolationist and secretive, and there are a few others that just aren't widespread enough to be called Courts. Word Of Jim is that they mostly operate in southeast Asia.
  • Dr. Greta Helsing has several strains of "sanguivore", including the standard Draculine vampire and the vampyre, who is rejuvenated by the full moon and is allergic to the blood of non-virgins. As a doctor to London's supernatural population, Greta Helsing's primary interest in the distinction is in regard to any unique medical concerns she might need to know when one Sir Francis Varney shows up in bad shape.
  • Empire of the Vampire: Beyond the basic powers native to all vampires, four distinct bloodlines exist among them, each endowed with an additional powerset particular to their sires:
    • Blood Voss, or Ironhearts, can make their already tough skin as hard as steel, tough enough it can withstand silver and fire. Additionally, they can also read the minds of anyone within their vicinity. Their symbol shows a crowned white raven.
    • Blood Chastain, or Shepherds, can to and bond certain kinds of animals, most often bats, rats, crows or wolves. The best can also shapeshift directly into animal forms. Their symbol shows two black wolves beneath twin moons.
    • Blood Illon, or Whispers, take the common vampiric mind domination to the next level through emotional control, inflaming or supressing feelings and sensations at their leisure. Their symbol shows a heart-shaped shield set with a weave of roses and serpents.
    • Blood Dyvok, or Untamed, are gifted with strength even other vampires find unholy, beng capable of punching through fortress walls, shaking the earth with their steps and tearing even other coldbloods apart with disgusting ease. Their symbol shows a white bear on a broken shield.
  • Phoenix Ascendant: It's said that there at least five kinds of creature covered by the term "vampire", with differing powers, weaknesses, and chances of being cured.
  • Relativity: There are two kinds of vampires, the "classic" vampires that Dracula would be an example of and mindless, zombie-like creatures who live in the sewers and eat rats. It's implied that, several centuries ago, a scientist attempted to "cure" vampires and accidentally created the zombie breed.
  • The Saga of Darren Shan has Vampires and Vampaneze, though they seem to differ more philosophically than physically, Vampires prefer not to kill while Vampaneze always kill their victims and the greater blood intake causes their skin, eyes, and hair to gradually change color. Lady Evanna's future children might also apply.
  • The vampires of The United States of Monsters (particularly Straight Outta Fangton) are designed by a tabletop game writer so they are a complicated necrology indeed.
    • Youngbloods are the weakest of vampires and designed to reflect vampires that have a lot of weaknesses (verbena, silver, holy items, stakes, sunlight) as well as an almost feral submission to their bloodthirst. They are also usually the slaves of their creators. They are very strong and fast, though.
    • Old Ones are vampires like Count Dracula and wield powers like shape-changing or psychic abilities. Death Is Cheap for them as well with only another Old One or Ancient One able to kill them (or special weapons like the Merlin Gun).
    • The Ancient Ones look like Orlok (or Medusa) and are ancient, debased things that lose most of their desire to do anything but wield fantastic powers. They spend most of their time sleeping or living in ruins or they could easily take over the world.
  • Void Domain: There are several vampire bloodlines, of which the story includes the mind-manipulating Blacksky and the pathologically arrogant August clans.
  • The Witcher: The word "vampire" is used as a hypernym to refer to a number of creatures that thrive on blood. Unlike most examples, they aren't really undead or capable of turning humans into vampires, but are actually interdimensional creatures from another world that were displaced in the series' setting, and are usually invulnerable to sunlight, garlic or holy symbols. Composed of several subspecies fitting in these categories, they are split into "low" and "high" vampires: the lowly ones such as Fleders, Garkains and Ekimmas are completely inhuman monsters that live as beasts, while the high ones such as Higher Vampires and Bruxas possess a more human-like appearance and are capable of blending among civilized society.

Live-Action TV 

  • Doctor Who: The original vampires are the Great Vampires who appear in "State of Decay", gigantic bat-monsters who fought the Time Lords in the Dark Times. Regular vampires are humans infected by them. There are also the Haemovores from "The Curse of Fenric", which have a completely different origin (mutated humans of the far future) but still have vampiric traits such as spreading their curse and being repelled by faith. (The so-called "Vampires of Venice" are Fish People in disguise, and the Plasmavore from "Smith and Jones" is just an alien who happens to drink blood.) The Doctor Who Expanded Universe gives different groups of formerly human vampires (called "strains" in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Vampire Science) with different abilities and weaknesses, and Big Finish Doctor Who has an artificially created vampire in Project: Twilight.
  • In Kindred: The Embraced (a TV series based on Vampire: The Masquerade), there are five vampire clans which control the city between them: Gangrel, Brujah, Ventrue, Toreador, and Nosferatu (the Camarilla clans from the game, sans the Tremere and Malkavians). Other than the Nosferatu keeping their twisted appearance they all have the same abilities, making the differences purely political.
  • What We Do in the Shadows (2019): Most vampires in the setting look like regular people with vampire tells and powers. Colin and Evie are energy vampires rather than classical ones, who feed on energy and emotion by boring others to death rather than drinking their blood. In addition, Baron Afanas, an older vampire, Looks Like Orlok, and the Sire, the forefather of all the vampires, is a winged, bat-demon-like creature.
  • Two different races of vampires appear in The X-Files (three if a novella is canon). It is notable that none of these vampires had fangs. Mulder even says at one point that vampire fangs are an invention of Bram Stoker.
    • In "3", Mulder encounters vampires who have to live in the dark and regularly kill their victims. Not only are they very vulnerable to sunlight, even ordinary light is unbearable for them. One of the vampires claims that he has no reflection, but Mulder can see him in the reflection of his metal lighter. They can turn humans into vampires, but the exact process is unknown. However, the final step requires killing a person who believes in the existence of vampires, or is at least open to believing in unusual and paranormal things. Their only real superpower, however, is that they are always resurrected when killed, unless another vampire kills them.
    • In "Bad Blood", Mulder and Scully encounter an entire small town of vampires. In this small town, several cows and two tourists were killed and drained in a vampire-like manner. These vampires have no problem with sunlight and can also eat ordinary things. Their eyes glow green when they reveal themselves as vampires. However, they have a folkloric urge to count small things and untie knots, which saves Mulder's life when one of the vampires stuns him and he throws a bag of sunflower seeds on the ground. Scully fires two bullets at this vampire, but they do not hurt him, and he then jumps away with superhuman speed. When Mulder stakes a vampire, he appears to have killed him. But when the stake is pulled out, he comes back to life. These vampires are friendly neighborhood vampires, minus the one who killed the cows and the tourists. But even he is described as more of a jerk than truly malicious.
    • In a novella, Mulder tells Scully that he recently had to deal with a vampire. The reader doesn't learn much more than that, but this vampire is said to have had a kind of glowing aura.

Myths & Religion 

Tabletop Games 

  • Dungeons & Dragons has had so many strains of vampirism, it's hard to keep track:
    • The "white box" set has energy-draining vampires.
    • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition has energy-draining vampires and vampiric ixitxachitl in the core rules, plus penangallans and pseudo-vampires from the Fiend Folio. Modules introduced the Lankhmar vampire and a unique vampiric lizard man, and Dragon Magazine presented stats for Dracula, vrykolakas, and a plethora of regional variants: the alp, the anananngel, the asanbosam, the bruxsa, the burcolakas, the catacano, the ch'ing-shih, the ekimmu, the krvopijac, the lobishumen, the mulo, the nosferat, and the vlkodlak. The option for vampires with class abilities was addressed in the Monster Manual, and bore fruit in 1e adventures like "I6: Ravenloft".
    • Basic Dungeons & Dragons has energy-draining vampires, blood-draining nosferatu, and the aquatic velya. One adventure in the Mystara setting features a unique "sun-wraith", created by an Entropic Immortal to be the nightless Hollow World's equivalent of a vampire.
    • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition starts out with the energy-draining vampire and an Eastern vampire, followed by the lidevic, nelapsi, and stregoni from Dragon Magazine, and the vampiric dragon (yes, really) from Draconomicon. Plus a lot of world-specific variants:
      • Spelljammer has alternate rules for space-faring standard and Eastern vampires.
      • The BECMI nosferatu and velya were updated for 2e AD&D's Mystara products.
      • Forgotten Realms has three unique vampires addressed in Dragon Magazine.
      • The Ravenloft setting has the nosferatu, Eastern vampire, vampyre, cerebral vampire, mayonaka, vorlog, Oriental vampire, a whole slate of species-specific vampire variants (dwarf, drow, elf, gnome, halfling, kender, illithid), and Urik von Kharkov: a unique vampire created by turning a panther into a human and then turning him into a nosferatu. Van Richten's Guide to Vampires threw open the door for DMs to make every vampire different, customizing stats for each.
      • Dragon Annual #1 has an A-Z of vampires from different folklore.
    • Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition makes blood-draining the default for standard vampires, and draws a distinction between vampires and vampire spawn. It later presented the hopping, drider, elite, moonbane, persuasive, psychic, savage, swarmform, Kasian, shadow, mind flayer, and terror vampire variants. Plus, by making "vampire" a template for any humanoid or monstrous humanoid, it allowed for vampires to be Different because they were Different before they were vampires.
    • Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition has standard vampires and vrylokas, and made them PC options in Heroes of Shadow.
    • Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has necrotic-damage-inflicting vampires and vampire spawn.
  • Pathfinder has several vampire offshoots, each with specific feeding habits, traits and traditions.
    • The earliest vampires, the strigoi, came from the Plane of Shadow in the distant past and are the ancestors of all modern vampires. They are strongly Shrouded in Myth — where they originated, why they came to Golarion, what they were like or where they went (as there are none around in the present) are all unknown. At least, that was the case until the events of the Shadows at Sundown adventure, where a group of strigoi were freed from ancient vaults. As it turns out, strigoi are bodiless Living Shadows and Puppeteer Parasites for once-living hosts. They put a different spin on the Must Be Invited trope by only being able to possess willing hosts, although their host will regret it. The part about nosferatus being the oldest vampires outside moroi is false—the first moroi were infectees of strigoi that were too weak to become strigoi themselves. In truth, nosferatus are what strigoi became after they adapted to the Material Plane.
    • The nosferatus were the first distinct strain to arise. In appearance they're straight Orlock expies; in behavior they were savage, bestial hunters. Their kind's immense age means that they're entirely sterile today, and no longer possess the ability to make more of their kind. They're quite rare as a result, and all surviving nosferatus are loners of immense age.
    • The moroi arose from nosferatus who rejected their kin's bestial ways, and instead took to aping the affectations of the humanoids they preyed upon. Modern-day moroi embody the concept of vampires as arrogant, refined and well-dressed noblemen wallowing in decadence, and see themselves as the pinnacle of creation — in their eyes, living people are cattle to be fed upon, nosferatus are bestial primitives and further vampire strains are not worthy of thought.
    • Jiang-shi arose from moroi who went into hibernation for unclear reasons and emerged maddened by their hunger. They are stiff and corpse-like in appearance, and their perpetual starvation has driven them to eschew blood in favor of consuming their prey's life essence through their breath.
    • Vetalas, the vampires of Vudra, descend from a faction of moroi who saw themselves as so above their prey that even drinking their blood was seen as unacceptable and demeaning. They nearly starved themselves to death, but eventually developed the ability to feed psychically on other beings' very minds.
    • Vrykolakas are a bestial type of plague-bearing vampire derived from spiteful souls who failed to receive a proper burial. Unlike the Revenant Zombies from Greek folklore they're named after, they're Always Chaotic Evil and have no desire other then to sate their hunger for the living.
  • Warhammer: There are five vampire bloodlines with distinctive traits and appearances. Each descends from one of the five vampires created when Queen Neferata of Lahmia developed an improved but still imperfect version of the elixir of immortality, whose effects turned first herself and then a select circle of men into the first vampires to exist.
    • The von Carsteins are essentially Dracula, brooding in gothic castles in the local Überwald. They descend from Vlad von Carstein, formerly Vashanesh of Nehekhara and Neferata's first husband (or possibly her prime minister Ankhat), and his later bride Isabella von Drak, whom he married after settling in Sylvania.
    • Lahmian vampires are Carmilla-like Lesbian Vampires, look the most human and secretly manipulate human society. They descend directly from Queen Neferata herself.
    • The Blood Dragons are Blood Knights — literally, they're knights who strive to be better in combat until they can defeat a dragon and lose the addiction to blood. They descend from Abhorash the Blade Immortal, an ancient warrior from Lahmia.
    • The Strigoi are degenerate, physically bestial descendants of more intelligent vampires who Look Like Orlok, live in crypts and rule over equally degenerate ghouls. They were sired by Ushoran, Neferata's younger brother, and their downfall came due to Neferata's bitter hatred of her sibling.
    • The Necrarchs are Mad Scientist Necromancers who look like walking corpses and study dark magic in isolation. They rely on Black Magic as much as blood to sustain themselves, which decreases their dependance on humanity but makes them look hideous and cadaverous as a trade-off. They descend from W'soran the Wicked, High Priest of Lahmia and Neferata's mentor.
    • There are also a few vampires who don't quite match any of the known types (like Genevieve, although she was later retconned to be a Lahmian), and others who are sired by one bloodline but end up learning the abilities of another (like Ulrika, a Von Carstein "adopted" by the Lahmians) or who gain another bloodline's abilities by consuming a rival vampire, which they then pass down to their descendants. The Von Carstein and Lahmian vampires always get a bit confusing because they are both bloodlines in their own right and political blocks with members of several bloodlines and frequently don't bother to specify.
  • The World of Darkness:
    • The Kindred of the East, or Kuei-jin, dominate Asia. Although they're both called vampires, Cainites and Kuei-jin are two different creatures, sharing only surface similarities; the eastern kind do not have bloodlines or true ancestry, being instead deceased humans who clawed their way back to the world of the living.
    • In Vampire: The Masquerade, Caine — the Biblical Cain — is the originator of the clans, and each clan traces their ancestry back to one of his "grandchildren", the Antediluvians. Except the Giovanni and Tremere, whose founders diablerized an Antediluvian. Each clan has access to Disciplines, many of which are unique to a single clan and are classic vampire traits, such as shapeshifting, mind-control, illusion-casting, blood-magic, etc.
      • Clan Banu Haqim (formerly Assamite) were once honorable judges to Kindred society until running into some infernal bastards who cursed them with a thirst for vampire blood, turning their focus to that of assassins for hire. They had been cursed by Clan Tremere to be unable to satisfy their hunger for vampiric vitae, but their eldest metuselah (fourth -directly sired by third generation Antediluvian clan founders- and fifth generation -sired by the fourth generation- elders over a thousand years old) Ur-Shulgi woke from torpor and immediately revoked this curse and brought the original infernal curse back.
      • Clan Brujah once consisted of honorable warrior-scholars, but has since degenerated into a collection of street punks, brutes and anarchic bikers. Their clan curse is difficulty to avoid Frenzy, when a vampires fight or flight instinct takes over their conscious mind in the form of the Beast.
      • Clan Gangrel consists of hunters and loners living nomadically in the wilderness. They are the clan closest to the Beast that lurks in every vampire's heart, which they can channel to turn into ferocious Beast Man forms. Their clan curse is gaining a permanent animal feature whenever they frenzy.
      • Clan Hecata is a collection of necromantic bloodlines, centered around the remnants of the former Clan Giovanni, an extended family of merchants with fingers in every trade in the world... and the world beyond, seeing as they're master necromancers. Clan Giovanni rose to power by usurping Clan Cappadocian, it is believed they have now fallen to an elder survivor who bound the previously disparate bloodlines of their Antediluvian sire (including Giovanni who surrendered) under the new name of Clan Hecata. The Cappadoccian clan curse was appearing corpselike, the Giovanni clan curse was painful bites (a normal vampire bite is immensely pleasurable and thus debilitating and not able to be remembered by humans). The reunified Hecata allows players to choose either, presumably based on their specific bloodline.
      • Clan Lasombra are Machiavellian power brokers who believe in absolute rule over the night, backed up by their ability to control shadows. Their clan curse is being invisible to mirrors. This wasn't so much of a problem back then bar the most narcissistic, but not appearing on modern glass windows and cameras are serious threats to the masquerade and it's real blow to ones ego when a gate sensor doesn't work.
      • Clan Malkavian's members are insane in some form or another, although they possess the power to extend this madness to others and draw unique insights from it. They all share a connection through the Malkavian Madness Network, a Hive Mind rumored to be part of the consciousness of the clan founder itself, Malkav. The insanity is their clan curse.
      • Clan Ministry (formerly Clan Setite (a.k.a., the Followers of Set)) are vice-driven creatures who believe their creator is the literal god Set and follow a Gnostic-style creed that seems them trying to break open the world through corruption and temptation, in truth Set is a third generation Antediluvian like the other clan founders. As of V5, they downplay the Set worship to appeal to the other clans. Their clan curse is extreme vulnerability to sunlight even more than the near instant kill that most vampires who have low humanity suffer, to the point that a Ministry vampire will feel uneasy even under artificial light.
      • Clan Nosferatu's vampires are hideously deformed, each in a specific and unique way — some may possess the classic suite of Orlok-like features, some may have mismatched animalistic traits, and so on. They're forced to avoid contact with most humans, as they'd never pass for anything other than monsters, and instead live in complex hideouts in the sewers. (Many of them can use the Obfuscate discipline to disguise themselves, though.) They can also tame the animals that dwell alongside them, such as rats, strays, and even the occasional Sewer Gator. Obviously, the deformity is their clan curse. On the plus side the cursed form overrides any attempt to warp their flesh.
      • Clan Ravnos are wanderers and itinerants who are driven to break taboos as part of their clan curse, their penchant for transgression backed up by their ability to craft illusions. Their clan curse warped when their Antediluvian Zapathustra woke up and caused the week of nightmares ending with his death when all supernaturals were forced to ally against him, no longer causing criminality but instead driving Ravnos to move each night as if they sleep at the same place long enough they face final death.
      • Clan Salubri, the Token Good Teammate out of the clans, as they are healers and seek to break free of their vampiric condition. Their main distinction is the third eye that they grow as their clan curse. However, with the diablerie of their creator, and the active genocide waged against them by House Tremere, they are few in numbers and have been relegated to little more than a bloodline. Their curse besides the third eye is being unable to consume any blood given unwillingly (this does not extend to draining vampiric vitae, but that has it's own risk being blood bonded). The invention of blood bags and the Banu Haqim protecting them as one of the few clans to revere their founders saved them.
      • Clan Toreador emphasizes Vampires Are Sex Gods; they were elites, artists and visionaries in their former lives, and dedicate themselves to these pursuits even in undeath. They are also deeply embedded in civilization's upper classes, allowing them a great deal of social influence over humanity. Their curse is obsession with artistic beauty, being struck catatonic looking at beautiful things... including sunrise for some.
      • Clan Tremere are the Evil Sorcerer vampire clan. They originated as mortal mages in medieval times, and achieved their undeath through experiments done on captured vampires. In modern nights, they remain the most sorcerously skilled of the clans. Their clan curse is being blood bonded with two doses of vitae instead of three, and after many elders were killed when the Vienna chantry was destroyed being unable to blood bond others as well.
      • Clan Tzimisice are flesh-warping experimenters who believe in absolute control, whether over their domain, their soul, or their own bodies - and the bodies of others, of course. Their weakness is requiring at least two handfuls of home soil to sleep on, otherwise being weakened. Those who flesh craft are also widely hated, enough to be a disadvantage on its own right (Old Clan Tzimisce instead practice Koldunic elemental sorcery and are accepted neutrals who stick to their old domains mostly in Eastern Europe).
      • Clan Ventrue are the Blue Bloods of the vampires, gifted with great skill in using the Dominate discipline to sway minds, hearts and crowds. Their curse is preferred prey, being unable to consume humans other than their specific taste (vampiric vitae doesn't count, but the blood bond risk is there).
      • And then there are all the weird bloodlines, ranging from the Baali (infernalists) to the Daughters of Cacophony (gifted with compelling voices) to the Samedi (zombie lookalikes with mastery over the process of death and decay, a bloodline of the Cappadocians and now Hecata) and beyond. Most weird bloodlines are descendant from a specific metuselah, with a few claiming descent from the Second Generation (Enoch the Wise, Irad the Strong, and Zillah the Beautiful, direct childer of Caine and sire of the Antediluvians), who were betrayed by the third and thus giving rise to the clan curses when Cain was angered. Some others claim descent from renegade Second or Third generation vampires who defied Caine. Most bloodlines have their unique curses.
      • Finally there are the Caitiff, who are defined by not being affected by Clan curses but also not being able to learn signature disciplines quickly. They are widely hated and killed for causing sires embarrassment (or in the case of the Nosferatu psychotic jealousy, especially if the intended childe was picked for being vain of their appearance). It should be noted that some Caitiff are accepted by their sires (if kept quiet), and some normal vampires subject to Clan and bloodline curses are considered caitiff for being abandoned by their sires and not knowing their clans (or even the fact that Clans exist in the first place). There also the Thin-Blooded, vampires of the 15th (almost all) and 16th (all) (and very rarely 14th) generations, whose distance from Cain means their vitae are too weak sire childer. Just like the caitiff they are feared and hated, this time as heralds of the Final Nights where the world will end and God will render judgement. They are very weak, but are capable of daywalking (only vampires with high humanity can otherwise do that, others will be very weak and must avoid the sun if they have to daywalk).
    • Starting just before fifth edition Masquerade in Beckett's Jyhad Diary, there have been mentions of the Drowned, who may be variant Cainites, or may be something that currently imitates Cainites.
    • In Vampire: The Requiem, there are five major Clans, which are speculated to have arisen from different sources and over time converged to become the modern Kindred, with other Clans rising and falling over time. Older or more powerful vampires can refine their blood to found a Bloodline, an offshoot of a Clan that develops new, sometimes unique, powers and weaknesses. Joining a Bloodline and gaining access to its abilities usually takes effort and mentorship, though it can happen spontaneously, and an experienced vampire can force itself into a Bloodline other than its creator's. There are also vampire-like creatures outside the framework of the Clans, a number of which are described in Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead.

Video Games 

  • BloodRayne: Vampires come in a very varied bunch, some fit the classical mold like Kagan and Zerenski, others have some strange traits (Ephemera has shadow-based powers and Xerx looks like a Frankenstein's monster) and few are truly inhuman such as Hedrox, a self-regenerating beast that is otherwise (nearly) impossible to kill, and Slezz, who belongs to an ancient breed known as "Babylonian Winged Shikab" that looks like a gigantic reptilian beast that lives underground. Dhampyrs are nearly indistinguishable from vampires in the sense they share pretty much the same weaknesses, but are said to be not as powerful as them.
  • The Elder Scrolls has over 100 known vampire bloodlines, with many differing appearances and abilities depending on the bloodline. This is also used to explain the differing powers of vampires between different games in the series. To note:
    • In general in the series, Vampirism is technically a form of disease, generally starting off innocuous and easily cured before developing into full vampirism, which is nearly impossible to cure. The diseases which cause Vampirism can be transmitted through any wound inflicted by a Vampire. There are numerous regional bloodlines of Vampires (with over 100 known, according to some sources) with many differing features and abilities. These bloodlines generally have a few traits in common, however, such as the presence of fangs, pale skin, agelessness, immunity to other diseases, enhanced night vision, sensitivity to sunlight (ranging from irritation to outright burns upon exposure), and the need to consume humanoid blood (or another vital substance). The in-game book Immortal Blood describes some of the various subspecies of vampires living throughout Tamriel.
    • Daggerfall has nine clans with varying powers and abilities — although unlike later games, there are no actual differences in the quests you can receive between the clans.
    • Morrowind has three different clans that are treated as guilds. The clans are the Shadows of the Berne, the Mages of the Aundae, or the Warriors of the Quarra, and joining one by becoming a vampire unlocks a quest chain with one quest unique to each clan.
    • Oblivion only has one vampire bloodline present, but it is stated in-game that this bloodline (which is blessed with ability to blend in with normals much more easily than other clans) has worked to eliminate any other bloodlines within Cyrodiil.
    • Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC introduces the oldest vampire bloodline in Tamriel, the Volkihar Clan, who are central to the plot. Their elders received their strain of vampirism directly from the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, the progenitor and patron of all vampires. This gives them the ability to transform into a "Vampire Lord", a Super Mode which greatly enhances all of their vampiric abilities. The plot of the DLC allows you to either join them, or destroy them as part of the titular Dawnguard.
  • In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, there are six different vampire clans, each descended from one of Kain's lieutenants, although you never get to see one of them {at least not until Nosgoth).
    • Dumahim are hulking brutes without any special abilities, and can be found scattered about in almost all areas.
    • Melchahim are zombie-like creatures, slowly shuffling about and attacking by bursting out of the ground. They're stated to be in a constant state of decay, and need to strip the flesh from their victims to replace their own. They are found in the Necropolis area.
    • Zephonim are spider-like creatures with long, spindly arms and legs. They can climb walls and drop down on prey from above, which they then cocoon in webbing so they can be devoured slowly. They are found in the Silenced Cathedral.
    • Rahabim are shark-like creatures that have lost their weakness to water, making them the only vampires that can swim, but unlike other the clans they retain the weakness to sunlight no matter how old they become. On land, they move slowly but can fire projectiles at enemies. They are found in the Drowned Abbey.
    • Turelim are some of the toughest regular enemies in the game. They're strong, fast, intelligent, and can fire energy projectiles. They are found around the Lighthouse and in the Oracle's Cave, and one serves as a mini-boss in the Sarafan Tomb.
    • Razielim were unseen in the game, apparently having been wiped out in the centuries between Raziel's death and revival. They supposedly had wings.
    • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 introduced a precursor race that was the first to suffer from the bloodcurse and humans that they had turned into vampires.
  • Utilised by The Sims 4 in its Vampires game pack, where vampires have a Character Level system and skill trees. As a vampire utilises their powers, they will increase in rank, and unlock skill points which they can use to gain more powers, based on many different types of vampires, and they will also have to chose weaknesses, again, based on many different types of vampires. As such, it is very unlikely any two vampires will have the exact same abilities and weakness.
  • In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, based on the Old World of Darkness, the vampire clans serve as a Character Class System for the player character and as in-game organizations with distinct histories, characters, and stereotypes:
    • Clan Brujah, modern Buffy-esque vampires with Celerity and Potence making them a Lightning Bruiser in combat and able to fight unarmed very well. However they are very prone to Frenzy.
    • Clan Gangrel, savage Beast Man vampires, Made of Iron thanks to Fortitude and potent in combat and movement thanks to Protean and Animalism. Also prone to Frenzy, but at least they're much more powerful than other vampires while they do it.
    • Clan Malkavian, comically insane vampires with the Super-Senses Auspex provides, and Dementation and Obsfucate allowing plenty of tricks and illusions. Their insanity can give them special insights more sane vampires would simply pass over, but can also be a liability.
    • Clan Nosferatu, hideously deformed vampires and Stealth Experts, forced to avoid contact with most humans but able to feed on rats for sustenance and sneak around with Obsfucate and Animalism. Also have Potence so are deceptively powerful in a fight.
    • Clan Toreador emphasises Vampires Are Sex Gods; they have Auspex and Presence and gain bonuses to using the latter in dialogue. Also have Celerity, making them quite a Fragile Speedster. As the most in-touch with their former humanity, Toreador have all Humanity gains and losses doubled.
    • Clan Tremere, the Evil Sorcerer vampire clan. Able to use the powerful Thaumaturgy discipline, plus Auspex and Dominate. Overall quite well-rounded, if a little limited in physical stats.
    • Clan Ventrue, the Blue Blood Upper-Class Twit vampires. Able to use both Dominate and Presence, masters of social situations and dialogue with unique buffs to those skills. When that fails, they can still rely on Fortitude to fight their way out of a bad spot. Unfortunately, also a Picky People Eater.
  • Vampyr (2018) features at least five different vampire variants.
    • Ekon, the most "traditional" type, resembling humans the closest and capable of hiding among them with only vampire hunters being capable of detecting them. This is the species that Jonathan E. Reid belongs to.
    • Skal are lesser vampires that are horribly disfigured and mutilated by their condition. Initially believed to be created by The Spanish Flu, they have existed for much longer than that and it's not really known how they were made.
    • Vulkod are tall, animalistic vampires capable of shapeshifting into werewolf-like monsters. They are highly territorial and will attack anyone entering their space. Much like the Skal, they are incapable of fitting in due to their pitch-black skin, hulking figures and uneven limbs.
    • Nemrod are self-hating vampires that dedicate themselves to hunting their kind and are so effective at hiding they can even disguise themselves from the Ekon.
    • And then there are their creators who are outworldly humanoid abominations composed of blood.

Webcomics 

  • Charby the Vampirate has at least four types:
  • The Kingfisher has vampire lineages with distinct powers and physical quirks, each founded by a Progenitor who spontaneously rose from the grave.
  • Downplayed in Sam & Fuzzy. Vampires are living beings and have few actual supernatural abilities, but they suffer from very distinct and non-human mental delusions (like Chronic Gothic Romanticism or vampiric Heliophobia) who all correspond to one or more traditional myths about vampires. Hence, the 'variety' of a vampire mostly depends on which delusion they suffer from.
  • Sluggy Freelance:
    • Each vampire clan has their own unique set of powers and abilities. Sam, one of the main characters, is the last member of his clan, the Lysinda Circle. He has traditional weaknesses such as the need to be invited before entering and getting easily paralyzed by a toothpick to the heart, but is super strong, fast, etc. Other vampires from other clans we've seen have different weaknesses, but not all of Sam's powers.
    • Chapter 68 reveals more. There are three main "varieties" of vampire. The vorpyrs of Western Europe are divided politically into several "Circles", such as Lysinda's Circle, led by "royal" vorpyrs whose blood is needed to turn humans into more of their kind. The vrykolakas, originally from Greece, are susceptible to silver and weaker than vorpyrs but turn everyone they feed on, while the strakoi from Romania are daywalkers with an array of magical abilities.

Web Originals 

Western Animation