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The Vampire
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FALSE- This follows from the religious oversimplification that Vampires are the spawn of the Devil, and therefore must be a creature of the night so steeped in evil that the very presence of pure light will destroy them.
The truth is;
Vampires did once exhibit severe symptoms to exposure to sunlight, it was more a hypersensitivity rather than an excess of sin, or being once dead or whatever spurious simplified reason.
As this would have been a dead give-away in a world increasingly infested with humans, evolution decided that it's misunderstood and maligned children of the night would no longer burst into flame, but instead adopt the plausible excuse of being very sensitive to sunlight, which meant that they got sunburn easily, sunburn being not unusual, especially among the paler representatives of said race.
Little known fact; Vampires were involved in the invention of fake tan and sun cream
Mod
FALSE, FALSE,FALSE-This is the kind of half-arsed claptrap you get when so called wisdom derives from benighted religious types
The truth is;
Vampires just don't take kindly to delusion of an absentee father figure who dictates their lives, and being around people of a religious disposition is very irksome.
Religious paraphernalia, when waved in a Vampire's face, with the intent of expunging it from the immediate vicinity, merely serve to highlight the dubious mental health of religious bigots, and a Vampire's leaving as a result is more down to annoyance than any aversion to the power of said alleged deity.
Little known fact; This is why Vampires associate with gypsies, hippies, asylumites and the like, because they keep an open mind
Mod
Ye Gods FALSE!- Who sleeps on the naked earth, seriously? This is another one of those inaccurate associations to do with death. A Vampire was formerly a dead body, and where else would a dead body sleep then in the caress of the earth?
The truth is;
A Vampire is not, strictly speaking, dead. Vampirism is in face a blood-borne disease which is spread through bodily fluids, most commonly saliva. The virus that is responsible for turning a human into a Vampire involves several stages;
1) Encounter with a carrier and infection
2) physiological restructuring- this involves the mutation of the hosts bodily systems, particularly the blood. A Vampire does not require oxygen, the energy is derived purely from blood. Thus consuming said substance is essential to a Vampire's existence, that much is still true.
3) Anaemia and 'death'- a patient with Vampirism experiences symptoms resembling anaemia, which will eventually weaken the patient to the point that thay 'die', but in fact they enter into a comatose state, where all bodily functions shut down aka dead.
4)The Vampire virus moves from the site of infection into the brain, where it takes up permanent residence. What about the immune system you ask? The virus cripples it, opening the patient's body to a party of diseases, making cause of 'death' all the more mundane and unpredictable. Once ensconced in the cerebral cortex, the Virus sets about refurnishing the body.
Little known fact; Vampires don't like waterbeds much, call them picky sleepers but a nice firm matress does the trick every time.
Mod
'Face-palm' FALSE! One can only assume that this ludicrous 'weakness' came about due to the fact that good swimming teachers were scarcer than genuine religious artefacts back in the day, or it may be down to the equally foolish superstition that water, like light and fire, 'cleanses' evil. In actual fact, a dip in a river would normally be refreshing, but considering that sludge that inhabits most rivers nowadays, swimming in said body of water is highly inadvisable, although with a Vampire's resistance to diseases, it really makes no difference.
The truth is; Water, holy or otherwise only does one thing to a Vampire; make it wet, surprise surprise.
Little known fact;The V virus renders the body relatively invulnerable to diseases but not physical harm. (But it endows other defences that will be elaborated on later)
Mod
This is FALSE, but in a way TRUE
The truth is; A Vampire is much more a psychological being than a physical one, ergo they do not possess superhuman physical abilities, but they DO possess incredible telepathic abilities.
The V virus resides in the Vampire's cerebral cortex, and embeds itself into the hosts central nervous system and as a result, the brain is the most highly developed organ in the vampire's body, but not the only unchanged area (more on that later)
As a result Vampire's CANNOT shapeshift, but my manipulating the perceptive faculties of others, they can appear to shapeshift. Telepathic control of animals is also impossible. However pheromonal manipulation is one of the Vampire's other abilities.
Little known fact; A Vampire can render itself invisible by disarming the sight centres of the brain of those around it. The strength of this telepathy increases from the immediate vicinity to a radius of several miles and occurs in tandem with a Vampires ageing.
Mod
average human
FALSE, see above
The truth is; Vampires can appear to possess superhuman physical abilities by manipulating what is perceived by others. Their advanced mental faculties affords them a great degree of control of how they are seen by others.
Well might you ask, that if the V virus takes control of the person's cerebral cortex, might it not make necessary physical changes? After all, wouldn't it be in it's best interests to equip it's host with every possible advantage to survive? And quite right would you be in asking such questions.
Vampirism is essentially a disease of the mind, much like Lunacy (which will be discussed later), and as a parasitic virus, it is limited in terms of what it may alter in it's host. Evolution has taught the virus that mental control represents a surer means of survival than mere physical capabilities. A Vampire therefore is a social animal, in the sense that it is perfectly suited for modern life, forging connections and networking with consummate ease. If you want to hide, why not hide in plain sight?
Little known fact; In this day and age, where weirdness and openness are celebrated, indeed encouraged, a Vampire might well revert to it's stereotypical habits and go about it's existence relatively untroubled. However any parasite desires to be in a position of best advantage, and this casts the modern Vampire into the role of mover and shaker of the in crowd looking down at the human hierarchy below them.
Mod
FALSE- Vampires are not immortal, neither do they remain frozen at the age when they 'died', they do age, but at a markedly slower rate than humans and they are a naturally long lived species.
The truth is; The most difficult thing, when attempting to kill a vampire, is not the deed itself. Pulling a trigger is a relatively easy process, and if the shot were to be fatal, a Vampire will die as easily as any other life form when their vitals are irreparably damaged by the passage of certain lenghts of hot metal.
The more difficult part is in mustering sufficient force of will to go forward with the deed. A Vampire possess an innate sensitivity to danger, much like how people somehow know they are being watched without the watcher being apparent. Through it's telepathic capacity, a vampire is aware of any mind within it's immediate vicinity ( the range of which is determined by age, as mentioned above)Any whisper of danger to them stands out like a sore thumb, and in any case, a Vampire always knows what somebody is thinking, as such the only way to catch a Vampire out is by doing something spontaneous and sudden.
Little known fact; Vampires loathe, detest, abhor. hate, despise surprises.
Mod
FALSE but in a way that is also TRUE
The truth is; Part of the evolutionary adaptations that have catered to the Vampire's survival is pheromonal control. This allied with psychological suggestion makes a Vampire extremely charismatic. Therefore the penchant of portraying Vampires as great lovers is entirely accurate.
Of course a Vampire's appeal is not limited to the purely sexual, they exude superiority and confidence which can make them inspirational leadership figures or utterly convincing manipulators, which are one and the same thing. To put it in modern terms when it comes to a vampire, all the girls want to be with him, all the guys want to be him.
Vampires have shown themselves to be exceedingly adept at emotional management, rarely if ever earning themselves enemies, they manage the egos and insecurities of those around them with tact and compassion, but that is not to say they can't be utterly intolerable if the mood takes them.
Little known fact; Vampires make wonderful conversational partners and exceedingly receptive shoulders to cry on.
Mod
FALSE! The mark of the vampire's bite is possibly the most clichéd give-away ever. Countless films showcasing that very epidermal marring would serve as indication enough.
The truth is; it's not the teeth you need be concerned with, it's the tongue.
A Vampire's saliva is a natural anaesthetic, and it's application on the surface of the skin serves to numb the pain receptors. Kissing, and particularly licking during foreplay serves to prep the area for penetration. When the victim is in the grips of the Vampire's telepathic caress a hormonal signal is sent to two pliant barbs concealed at the tip of the tongue, which harden to two needle points.
The Vampire's tongue serves as a 'pipe' down which the blood of the victim can be safely siphoned out without having to worry about the messiness of blood staining the sheets, clothes, or face. Depending on personal preference, a Vampire can skim blood, or take a few sips, or exsanguinate their victims by sucking them dry of their full 5 pints worth of precious red.
For the purposes of avoiding attracting the attention of the meddlesome human authorities and their new and inconvenient methods of identifying a perpetrator, modern Vampires do not, as a rule, indulge in exsanguination, which is considered extremely bad manners in Vampire circles, and such acts as would endanger the population as a whole, by risking exposure, are suitably punished by the Vampire authority.
Only a brief penetration is necessary to pass on the Vampire virus, but repeat incisions speeds up the process of 'turning'. Vampire saliva also has healing properties, or rather, after the feeding, a hormone is secreted through the saliva that begins the healing process, eliminating the tell-tale puncture wound
Little know fact; giving someone a hickey or love bite, is considered to be in very poor taste among Vampires, and is seen as a sign of an inept lover.
Mod
Mod
I don't know if it will appear in any books, but it's something I've been thinking about, and if I do want to write my own Vampire novel it's a good place to start I suppose:D
It's hard to go against so much lore that has been accepted, even celebrated, but I thought it'd be an exercise in character detail:) I'm thinking of doing the same to some others as well.
Mod
FALSE but TRUE, but proven FALSE
The truth is; Back in the day when Vampires were first fretted over, medical science was a drooling infant, with not a clue in the world how things actually worked. As a result, something as simple as an overall lack of discernible movement, unnatural paleness of skin and an absence of a rhythm life could dance to, it's perfectly understandable why the person in said condition was predictably enough thought of as deceased.
A combination of the ease with which a trip to the hospital can be made, and the overuse of Vampire cliché renders two puncture marks on the neck instantly suspicious, but thankfully, given the Vampire's status as a 'myth'such piercings are normally attributed, along with a tired' here we go again' shake of the head, to deluded victims of the Twilight epidemic that is eating away at teenage girl's brain cells.
Essentially, no, a victim of a Vampire bite does not die, instead the body goes into a form of coma which has many shared characteristics with hibernation; non-essential systems shut down and the pulse is maintained at a bare minimum.below what can be discerned using two appendages at the end of the palm. The victim will invariably remain critical for up to a day, after which, revival slowly occurs, accelerating gradually until the former occupant of wheelie-bed is hopping around the car park in fits of life.
Little known fact;The soul sits impatiently within the body like you or I would wait before a reluctant pc, as it decides whether or not to reboot.
Mod
Actually, this is TRUE (but for obvious reasons also FALSE)
The truth is; This has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Vampires are demons which may not cross into a room full of God-fearing snacks, or humans, as it is politically correct nowadays to refer to them.
As outlined in claim 8,the act of not inviting a Vampire into one's dwelling as a spontaneous reaction to seeing them on your doorstep, is quite unthinkable, even impossible, given the way the minds of other may be artfully manipulated.But the actual reason why Vampires are barred from entrance is that a Vampire cannot go where it isn't wanted. Permission is essential to a Vampire's very existence, without it, a Vampire literally petrifies out of sheer boredom.
Little known fact; An unwelcome Vampire has never actually been observed in the lengthy history of supernatural science, and what might occur to one if this unfortunate circumstance would arise is pure speculation.
Mod
You're kidding right? FALSE obviously.
The truth is; Having yourself staring gormlessly out of a photograph is essentially a requirement for living these days. Proof of existence, as it were. Whether that existence is completely fabricated, cobbled together by convincing prosthetics or airbrushed into perfection, or even, as is rarely the case, completely genuine, everyone needs a photo of themselves to be affixed onto some random confection of paper and ink to prove something or other.Such it is the same with Vampires.
Furthermore, re point 8, a Vampire can alter the perceptions of the photographer, easily constructing a glamour should he or she wish to remain out of the fiction obsessed publications such as The Sun or The Daily Enquirer. Similarly video surveillance is equally susceptible to a Vampire's mental whims. A Vampire's sixth sense is so attuned that it can detect if it is being observed, and if that observation proves irksome or inconvenient, a routine malfunction is exceedingly simple to bring about.
Little know fact; Vampires are publicity whores, but very canny when it comes to blame, often deflecting it onto less important, equally publicity promiscuous humans.They have been known on occasion to delight in the delicious scandals that sake the human public, all because they felt like going Hollywood for the evening.
Mod
1) A Vampire cannot withstand direct sunlight
2) A Vampire cannot withstand any religious symbolism,
or any artefact that has been consecrated by
clerics representing those religions
3) Vampires must rest upon earth taken from their
country of origin
4) Vampires may not cross flowing water
5) Vampires possess the ability to shapeshift, and
exercise control over animals
6) Vampires possess the strength and reflexes far
exceeding that of a human
7) Vampires are immortal, and can only experience
'true death' once they have been staked through the
heart and decapitated subsequently ( destroying the
head and heart, two vital centres of organic life)
8) Vampires possess hypnotic powers that enthral the
weak-minded transforming them into thralls or
mindless slaves to the Vampires will
9) A Vampire 'turns' others into creatures like itself
by biting their victims in the neck using their
unnaturally large incisors
10)A victim exhibits symptoms of weakness and
eventually death, only to rise from the grave as
a Vampire themselves
11) This should really be number one but somehow it
completely slipped my mind. A Vampire needs the
permission of a denizen before being able to enter
an inhabited building
12) A Vampire casts no reflection in a mirror and
cannot be captured in the form of a photograph or
recording
Which of these is the product of an overzealous, if severely limited imagination or a religious misunderstanding, and which is accurate?