The Dhampir

Everyone has heard of vampires, in their various incarnations, but how many amongst us have heard of the Dhampir? Several modern mediums have picked up on the Balkan folklore, most notably Vampire Hunter D, which follows a dhampir predictably named “D” and Blade which stars a dhampir vampire hunter hero. Other notable Dhampir cultural references are Blood Rayne and Castelvania, which are video games, and Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft and Vampire The Masquerade both of which are table top roleplaying games. The dhampir is a very popular modern cultural creature.

However, what many do not know is that the dhampir is an ancient Balkan folklore creature existing in the tales of the Roma people, gypsies of the Balkans. They are created when a vampire father breeds with a human mother. Makes sense considering a body must be alive to carry and nurture a child. Interestingly enough, folklore tells that the dhampir are born with all the vampire powers and none of their weaknesses. Also, dhampir are said to be able to see vampires, even when they are invisible, and are believed to be especially adept at killing them. Dhampir, then, are the perfect hybrid of vampire. They’re strong without the downfalls and can kill vampires better than any other.

All in all, the dhampir, at least for me, is a less interesting creature than their vampire predecessors. For me, weakness makes the creature, no creature should be without them, else they’re just a powerhouse monster. That said, Vampire Hunter D and Blade are both really good spins on dhampir idea and both are infused with their weaknesses, though they’re not necessarily vampire weaknesses, with the exception of the character Blade who has a thirst for blood.

So what do you think? Vampires or Dhampir?

Kristyn

A weakness for vampires…

I spent several days just preparing to write. New writing projects are a complete clean slate, so for me, prep is always a must. This book/series, however, required more preparation and thought than usual. Why? Because I had to decide how my vamps would work. Every fiction writer that writes anything supernatural goes through this. What sorts of abilities will my monsters have? In my case, vamps are difficult because they’re very done. Lots of writers write vamps so it’s particularly important to be original without veering too far away from what makes a vampire a vampire. Which got me thinking… with the changing characteristics and multitude of different vampire archetypes out there these days, what makes a vampire a vampire anymore? Particularly, what weaknesses should a vampire have that hearkens back to their vampire roots?

The only common threads I could come up with were the need for blood as sustenance and the “allergy” to sunlight. I know, it’s not so much an allergy as a anathema that will burn them to a crisp, but allergy seems suitable. Everything else, all the vampire powers and weaknesses seem to differ. Some authors are more traditional in giving their vampires weaknesses like the inability to cast reflection or shadow, the inability to cross running water, repulsion to garlic and the fear of holy items and hallowed ground. Most authors, though, take the time to variate these weaknesses and give them flavor. The vamps in Laurell K. Hamilton’s stories, for example, are affected by crosses only when using vampire powers on the crosses wearer and the older vamps are less affected than the lower power vamps, which just makes sense.

The common and traditional vampire weaknesses are fairly abundant, and after some research, I learned there are a lot more of them than I had originally believed. Repulsion not only by garlic, but also by mustard seed, ash, wild rose, and hawthorn, is one example. Most of the others are fairly standard, including those I mentioned above, crosses, holy items, hallowed ground, running water, mirrors and shadows. In some cases, and I know it generally applies to lycanthropes only, but I’ve seen vampires who are vulnerable to silver. Personally, I like this one. If your vamps are going to be able to shape shift, like a lycanthrope, then why not a weakness to silver? Makes sense to me, but it is certainly one of the least conventional weaknesses, right up there with the very rare inability to drink the blood of the dead, which again makes sense but is very untraditional.

So, when I was trying to determine the dynamics of my vampires, I had a lot of considerations to make, both to weaknesses and powers. Weakness are harder than they sound. Do I make up new ones? Do I stick to the traditional weaknesses? Do I use all of them, or just some? How many weaknesses is too many? How many is not enough? How do I know? How will it affect the power dynamic of my characters? Ultimately, I decided to give them just a few of the traditional weaknesses, you know, the inability to enter into sunlight/fire (with one exception), the inability to cast, not reflection, but shadow, reliance on blood/energy transference for survival, and there was one other that I can’t quite come up with off the top of my head.

I spent a lot of time on abilities too, but that’s an entry for another day, when I have a bit more time, weaknesses were much easier than abilities. My vampires are a bit untraditional, while remaining true to what they are, vampires. As someone who has a great deal of reverence and respect for vampire myth and legend, I took a great deal of care in making my vampires original while paying homage to their historical vampire roots.

All this talk about vampires has inspired me to get writing!

Kristyn

Greek Legend: The Vrykolakas

Today, while researching for my book, I came across something very interesting. I’ve always been a fan of Greek literature, it’s one of my favorite genres actually and being an English major has given me a lot of opportunity to read some very good ancient Greek lit, I highly recommend it. Anyhow, today, while looking a little deeper into regional vampire legends, I learned that my beloved Greeks have their very own vampire myth. I was surprised, very surprised actually, it just seemed so very unlikely. They’re called the Vrykolakas.

Vrykolakas are a mythical creature closely equated with vampires. The word, vrykolakas, pronounced vree-KO-la-kahss, is Slavic and means wolf pelt/fur wearer. The Greeks believed it was possible to become a vrykolakas by means of curse, a sacrilegious life, a violent death (note, however, that death in battle is not considered a violent death to the Greeks), an improper burial, or the eating of meat of sheep that had been wounded by a wolf or werewolf. Like many other vampire’s of legend, the vrykolakas do not decompose but rather have the appearance of someone gorged or bloated on blood. Legend says that the activity of a vrykolakas is almost always harmful and because, by nature, vrykolakas become more powerful if left to their own devices, they are to be killed and their bodies destroyed.

Rather than passing the affliction through the draining and exchange of blood, like many other vampires, the methods by which to spread the affliction is very unusual to vampire legend –bear in mind this is spreading the affliction, not simply contracting it. Greek mythology says that the vrykolakas go door to door knocking. If they get no answer, they pass by and leave the inhabitants alone. If, however, the door is answered, the person who answered it is said to die within a few days and become vrykolakas themselves. For this reason, a superstition developed in Greek villages, allowing for the custom that no one was to answer the door until the second knock. Also, it is said that the vrykolakas would suffocate the sleeping by sitting on them, much like mara/mare (a malignant female wraith that appeared to cause nightmares in Scandinavian folklore) and vampires in Bulgarian legend.

Interesting, no?

Kristyn

Source links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrykolakas
http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=20