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Vampires are fictional characters found in the Marvel Universe.
Character history They were created roughly 15,000 years ago when a small band of sorcerers from the legendary city of Atlantis discovered a book known as the Darkhold, an indestructible text filled with arcane lore and dark magic written countless millennia earlier by the primevil demon Chthon. These sorcerers used one of the spells found within the text and caused some of their enemies to rise from their graves in vampiric form, believing that these vampires would be under their control. However, these vampires were more powerful than their would-be masters, slew them, and escaped Atlantis before the continent sank. The true first vampire, who turned out to be an Atlantean priest that was dying and saw this as an opportunity to gain eternal life, was known only as Varnae. Varnae reigned as the unchallenged leader of Earth's vampires for many thousands of years before ceding the title and position to Vlad Dracula sometime in the middle of the 15th Century A.D. Dracula retained this title in a nearly unbroken reign until Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange, uncovered a mystical spell that would banish all vampires from this dimension. Ironically, this spell was found within the Darkhold, the same mystical text containing the spell used to create vampires in the first place. Characteristics A vampire is a human being who has died but has been resurrected by specific supernatural means and possesses a variety of supernatural abilities and specific limitations, most notably to frequently ingest fresh blood in order to maintain their own existence. Vampires have often been referred to as "undead" throughout the centuries since, even when active, they were not truly alive in the same sense as ordinary human beings. Technically, they can be classified as actually being dead. Sustenance Vampires require the fresh blood of living beings, preferably the blood of humans, in order to sustain their physical existence and, usually, obtained it by biting their victims and draining their blood. The bite of a vampire transferred a very mysterious enzyme found only within the saliva of a vampire into the bloodstream of the victim. If the vampire drank enough blood to cause the death of the victim, this enzyme would trigger an unusual metabolic change within the victim's body, beginning with the production of an unusual green liquid referred to as ichor into the bloodstream. After roughly three days, there would be enough of this liquid in the victims body that it would begin to course through the victims veins in the same way their blood once did. The victim then returned as a vampire and was capable of all the basic capabilities of ordinary humans, with the exception of being able to have children, plus a number of superhuman abilities. However, if the victim retained sufficient blood to survive the vampire's attack, he or she would begin to show signs of anemia because of the presence of the enzyme in his or her bloodstream. The victim would not die under such circumstances. Until a newly created vampire's body metabolized the enzyme, a process that might take as long as several months in some cases, he or she would be extremely weak and highly susceptible to hypnotic suggestions, verbally or through long range mental contact, by the vampire responsible for the attack. There was also a distinct possibility of the newly-turned vampire developing a perverse sexual attraction for the vampire responsible for the transformation. Note that a new vampire is not created unless the attacking vampire wishes to do so, or loses control and injects too much enzyme. Strength Most vampires possessed superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires were capable of lifting from 1,000lbs to 4,000lbs, with only Count Dracula and his predecessor Varnae being known to lift more at 4 and 7 tons respectively due to their special stance as ruler of Earth's vampire race. Willpower The overall extent of a vampire's abilities depended upon the strength of the vampire's will. Exceptional vampires with powerful wills, such as Dracula or Varnae, were capable of summoning and controlling thunderstorms, even though the mystical concentration required to do so left them extremely weak for a certain period of time. The vampire's willpower could also determine the extent to which he or she could master their craving for blood and retain the same personality they had in life. However, most people that became vampires quickly found themselves unable to resist the all consuming craving for blood. They quickly degenerated into cruel and animalistic hunters of ordinary human beings, even if these new vampires had been kind and sensitive people in their mortal lives. Summoning and shapeshifting Vampires could summon and control certain creatures such as bats, wolves, and rats. Vampires could also transform themselves into bats, and in the case of some vampires, wolves, while retaining their human intelligence in these forms. Some vampires could even become human-sized bats. Vampires could also transform themselves into mist at will, while still retaining their normal consciousnesses in that form. Mind control A vampire could make most human beings into his or her temporary slave if he or she could catch their gaze for a sufficient amount of time, usually only a matter of seconds. The exact length of time needed to mesmerize the victim depended on the strength of will of the vampire and that of his or her victim. Health Vampires were rendered immune to the ravages of disease and of aging. However, if deprived of blood for a lengthy period of time, a vampire would begin to show distinct signs of aging, such as his or her hair turning gray. Upon ingesting fresh blood, the vampire would revert to the age in which he or she had been at the time of death. In most cases, vampires were able to heal themselves from minor injuries within a very brief period of time. Some vampires, such as Count Dracula, could heal from severe burns or broken bones within the span of a few hours, where as most other vampires might require several days to heal the exact same injury. Vampires were not able to regenerate missing organs or severed portions of their anatomy, with the exception of hair. Apart from periodic inconveniences, injuries like these would not critically impair a vampire's effectiveness. Because the ichor was similar in function to blood, poisons and other toxic substances that were circulated in its bloodstream would adversely affect a vampire, although no dosage was large enough to cause death. Vampire Weaknesses Vampires had many limitations imposed upon their supernatural abilities, and even upon their very existence. Aside from their need to consume fresh blood on a regular basis, usually a few pints (litres) every other night, vampires were supernaturally dependent upon the soil of the land of their birth. They were unable to travel more than 100 miles (160 km) from the place they were born unless they brought along with them, at least, one pound (500 g) of their native soil with which to line their sleeping area. Due to their altered metabolism, vampires were unable to withstand direct sunlight. Sunlight, somehow, caused the ichor to congeal within the vampire's veins and the skin to rapidly decay. Direct exposure to sunlight caused the vampire to dehydrate completely and turn to powder. Vampires also had an aversion to any religious symbol (such as a crucifix, cross, Star of David, or holy water) wielded or placed by anyone who believes in the religious significance of the symbol. The size of the symbol was not a consideration on its ability to repel vampires, only the strength of belief: for example, a believing Christian wielding a small cross could hold a vampire at bay with it and even sear the vampire's flesh simply by touching him or her with it. However, the deity must be one that was believed in at the time of the vampire's original death; a cross had no effect on Varnae, for example, since he died approximately 16,000 years before the crucifixion. Vampires also had a mystical aversion to entering any human dwelling place to which they were not verbally invited. Once invited, they could enter the place at any time thereafter. Vampires cast no reflections, and their images could not be captured on film. Destruction The only substances which could cause a vampire pain were silver and, to a lesser extent, unless it penetrated the vampire's heart, wood. The surest way to kill a vampire was to drive a wooden stake or a silver blade through his or her heart. The stake or blade prevented the heart from supplying ichor to the rest of the body. If the stake or blade was removed, however, even if the vampire's body had crumbled to dust, the vampire's mystical vitality would restore his or her body to the condition it had before the vampire was slain, and return him or her to vampiric "life." Beheading a vampire would also kill him or her. However, there were only three methods of making sure of destroying a vampire permanently. One was to expose the vampire to direct sunlight and then to scatter the ashes. Another was to pierce the vampire's heart with wood or silver, sever his or her head, burn the head and body in separate places and scatter the two resulting piles of ashes in separate locations. The third was mystically, most notably by using the incantation known as the Montesi Formula (after the monk who first realized its significance). Montesi created the incantation by studing fragmentary copies of the Darkhold. It was lost amid many other documents copied by various anonomous monks over the centuries. Research by various vampire hunters over the past few decades revealed its significance, and it was sought by both those hunters and by Dracula, who wished to destroy all copies of it. The incantation apparently cancelled the mystic curse that allowed any vampire within earshot to exist, causing it to crumple to dust. The danger is that, as the Montesi Formula was created from black magic theory from the Darkhold, using it untrained (in the mystic arts) causes the user to lose his soul. At one point, a cult who worshiped the elder demon gods apparently fixated on Dracula as a recipient of their power. Dracula gave them the fragments of the Darkhold he had discovered; the cultists (who were low level mystics) repeatedly recast the original spells that created the first vampires. This increased Draculas powers considerably, and he lost his vulnerably to sunlight and others. Dacula was able to take full control of their minds (as well as anyone around the world that Dracula had ever hyptnotized in the past, at will). Doctor Strange (who at the time was in a great battle with Dracula) was aware of the Montesi Formula. He tracked down the Darkhold and using the original source material to study the spells that created vampires, Doctor Strange created a massive version of the Montesi Formula (backed by his power as Sorcerer Supreme) to wipe out all vampires in the Marvel Universe. Footnote | ||||||||
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