Basic Information
This speculative fiction trope describes the increasingly common practice of using Vampires in your story (or game), and twisting or nuancing them just a bit so aren't straight off the rack. Go ahead, it's fun to mess with players expectations.
Old School Tropes
These are the tropes that define old-school vampirism, from folklore and early fiction up to the end of the first generation of Vampire films. Using these tropes will give a "classic" feel to your vampires. Really early vampire myths made them ugly peasants, then Polidori and Stoker decided they should be sexy aristocrats. What they have in common is the supernatural evil. A vampire of this era is not a sympathetic character.
- Achilles Heel - Decapitation, Stake Through The Heart, Garlic, Fire, Holy Water and Communion Wafers
- Always Chaotic Evil
- Bad Ass
- Fangs Are Evil
- Glamour Failure
- Immortality
- Immune To Bullets
- Looks Like Orlock
- Mind Control Eyes
- Nigh Invulnerable
- Nightmare Fuel
- Not Quite Dead
- Pale Skinned Brunette
- Rasputinian Death
- Super Strength
- The Undead
- The Virus
- Undeath Always Ends
- Vampire Bites Suck
- Vampire Vords
- Voluntary Shape Shifting
Ours Use Different Tropes
These tropes, in relation to vampires, used to be new and edgy, but are now old trope-hat. Over time, villainous Vampires in film have become more and more like Zombies. At the same time, vampires are more likely than ever to be sympathetic characters, just normal people who got bit, or possibly Goths. A couple decades ago, these ideas would have seemed fresh or even out of place. Now, they just mean you're up on your pop culture. As a result, using these tropes will give your Vampires a more modern feel.
- Achilles Heel - A stake through the heart, or exposure to Direct Sunlight, and it's a One Hit Kill
- Blessed With Suck
- Chinese Vampire
- Creative Sterility
- Cursed With Awesome
- Dhampir
- Evil-Detecting Dog
- Femme Fatalons
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire
- Fur Against Fang
- Game Face
- Glowing Eyes Of Doom
- I Hate You Vampire Dad
- I Just Want To Be Normal
- Japanese Vampire
- Kiss of the Vampire
- Made of Plasticine
- Masquerade
- Mayfly December Romance
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much
- Not Using The Z Word
- Reincarnation Romance
- Suck Life Energy instead of Blood
- Super Speed
- Transubstantian
- Undead Child
- Vampire Refugee
- Vein O Vision
- Wall Crawling
- Who Wants To Live Forever
- Your Vampires Suck
Tropeless
You could brainstorm up some new twist on vampirism that no one will anticipate.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- It's all about image, baby. What kind of blood-sucker does your game need? Old school menacing Count, or new school complex-and-brooding antihero?
- Finding a completely different angle on your games vampires can help make the campaign feel distinct and unique. Too much of it will leave the players wondering why you bothered to use the V-word, but a little bit here and there can really spice up the game.
- See also both our Vampire page, and Page at TV Tropes Wiki for more detailed enumeration of common vampiric powers and weaknesses.
