Vampires, Pop Culture, and Your Game

[Byronic]

Aristocrat Vampires. Partially because I'm not quite sure what you meant with "todays vampire" and partially because I'm assuming their villains instead of PCs

 

[Korgoth]

Aristocratic.

A cold, calculating creature of great evil and ravenous hunger... disguised somewhat by antique finery and genteel manners.

This vampire shows that sometimes murderous, unrepentant evil is polite and even charming.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

But can you give some examples of these heroic vampires?

The upcoming Twilight movie, based on the teen books series. Certainly not all are good guys in the series, but certainly evidence of examples of some working heroically alongside good guys.

The dark urban fantasy genre popular today is chalk full of instances of an ambiguously good/bad vampire here and there working with/for good guys. They mostly seem to be played up as "humans with powers" though.

 

[CleverNickName]

As for the poll at hand, I like them all, with a side of "don't really care that much." But can you give some examples of these heroic vampires? Last I heard most vampire depictions in fiction are still bad guys, with a few that go against the grain.

There is a new series called True Blood, which is based on Charlaine Harris's "Southern Vampires" series. In this world, vampires come in both Good and Evil flavors. So the main character in this TV series, Bill, is a genteel vampire who protects humans from the "bad" vampires. (Here's a clip.)

And there is the "Twilight" series of teenage fiction novels, which also has Good and Evil vampire clans. This one's hero is named Edward. Like all the other "good" vampires in this story, he spends most of his time protecting the main character (Bella) from all of the other evil vampires.

But before all of this, the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series had a whole cast of monster allies, at least two of which were vampires. Angel was a vampire with a soul that kept him from hurting innocents. Spike was another ally, but instead of a soul, he had a computer chip in his brain that kept him in line. (EDIT: come to think of it, I think the Buffy vampires best fit into the Disco Dracula category.)

Blade is a human-vampire hybrid called a "daywalker," who hunts vampires and saves the day. He isn't exactly a knight in shining armor, but he is heroic by today's Dungeons and Dragons standards at least.

And before that there was Louis Pointe du Lac, from the "Interview with the Vampire" novel. He wasn't much of a hero, but he certainly was the "good guy" of the film. He was just a vampire with a broken heart, trying to find his own way through life. Or non-life, as it were. I suppose this would make him more of a "Goth" vampire...

They are all "tarnished heroes," good guys with shady pasts and lots of emotional baggage, but are struggling to rise above their vampirism and do the right thing. Sure, they are strong and smart and good-looking...but you know that at least once each day, they are going to turn into weepy-eyed emo teenagers and complain for hours about how nobody understands them.

EDIT: "True Blood" is already out, apparently. Thanks for the update, FS.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Note: True Blood is already out, there has been like 9 episodes already.

 

[I'm A Banana]

There's also the sexy southern vampires from True Blood.

And Angel, of course, from Buffy.

And most of the cast of V:tM.

And every vampire from any "teenage to adult woman-" targeted romance/"character-focused" novel series, often involving fighting crime or investigating mysteries or whatnot.

I dunno, vampires becoming heroic stinks, in most cases, of this leading to that. It can be done well and it *has* been done well. But I'd rather use a postmodern vampire (all monstrous and horrible and still a GOOD THING) than a modern vampire.

Most of the others are all right, though. I like the aristocrat vampire for social commentary reasons best.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Which category do the vampires from Near Dark go in? Because that's how I like 'em.

 

[Orius]

I dunno, vampires becoming heroic stinks, in most cases, of this leading to that. It can be done well and it *has* been done well. But I'd rather use a postmodern vampire (all monstrous and horrible and still a GOOD THING) than a modern vampire.

This.

Vampires have one purpose alone: to give stake-makers job security. Period. I loathe the goth and poor, misunderstood, modern vampires the most. There's a vampire in town? I'm getting an order of garlic bread, grabbing a BIG honkin' cross, and loading up a crossbow with stakes, and that's the end of it. With a nice big posse of course. Keep 'em busy till dawn and then let the sun do its work.

 

[Blackrat]

Whuh? I can't choose only one. When playing Masquerade or Requem I usually have characters from all of those categories.

For D&D the choice becomes slightly easier. It will usually be The Aristocrat Vampire, but regurarly also Cold War Vampire.

 

[Holy Bovine]

One of my favorite vampires was Cassidy in the comic book Preacher.

I loved that book (and character).

For me I would probably go with the Aristocratic vampire although, to be honest, I don't like vampires at all either in D&D or pop culture. Overexposure I guess.