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What follows is what I believe to be a fairly accurate and detailed description of Hellsing's vampire lore based primarily on observations from the manga and inferences from Hirano's primary source of inspiration, Bram Stoker's original novel, Dracula (and ignoring certain inconsistencies). Opinions and suggestions are welcome.



Hellsing's Vampire Lore

Characteristics: Vampires are "undead" (neither fully living, nor fully dead). As such, they are essentially immortal. They cannot die from old age, or from illness, or from mundane injuries. However, to perpetuate this existence, vampires must drink blood. Vampires are stronger and faster than ordinary humans (they are capable of tearing through humans as if they were mere tissue paper). They can regenerate from almost any wound. Also, they do not cast shadows or reflections.

Abilities: Vampires have excellent nightvision and can even see in pitch darkness. They can control the weather around them, within a certain range. The more powerful the vampire is, the greater the range it can affect. Vampires can command certain kinds of animals (typically nocturnal predators). They can shapeshift. They can phase through solid matter (and thus can find their way into or out of anything). They can manipulate shadows into physical form. They can defy gravity to a certain extent (they can leap great distances and walk up walls, but they cannot fly). Vampires are capable of summoning the souls of their victims as familiars. However, this leaves them much more vulnerable to true death, as they have no extra souls to sacrifice.

Limitations: Vampires cannot go wherever they wish. They cannot enter a private residence without an invitation (although afterwards they can come and go as they please). Their supernatural power usually ends with the coming of day. Only at certain times can they have limited freedom. They can only shapeshift at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset. They can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of the tide. Vampires cannot abide the smell of garlic, nor can they stand the power of religious objects (such as crosses and crucifixes). Wild roses and Eucharist Wafers can be placed to create a barrier which vampires cannot cross.

Weaknesses: Vampires' primary weaknesses include sunlight, running water, silver, and holy objects. Sunlight is not fatal to most vampires. The stronger (or older) the vampire is, the more resistant it is to sunlight. Vampires cannot cross running water unless they travel in their coffins, or unless the tide is at it's highest or lowest point. Doing otherwise can be fatal (at least to dhampirs). "Dust returns to dust". Silver burns vampire flesh on contact. The effect is amplified when the silver is blessed by a priest or bishop. Holy objects, such as crosses, Eucharist Wafers, blessed wine, holy water, etc., all serve to repel, disable, and harm vampires.

Birth: Vampires can be born in three ways:

1. Unique supernatual circumstances (including, but not limited to, practicing black magic, being placed under a curse, or, as in Alucard's case, turning one's back on God and accepting the powers of darkness).

2. When a vampire drinks the blood of a virgin of the opposite sex (Seras Victoria is a prime example of this). This produces a sort of dhampir (half-human, half-vampire) which is bound to the vampire that created them (their sire), retains many of their original human characteristics, and lacks most of their sire's full vampiric powers. They become full vampires when they first drink blood of their own free will, and they earn their freedom when they drink the blood of their sire.

3. A baptism of blood in which a human is infected with a vampire's blood (Mina Harker, in the original Dracula novel, is a prime example of this). The virgin rule does not apply here. The transformation takes a few weeks and can be prevented up to the last second if the vampire that caused the infection is defeated.

Ghouls: A ghoul is born when a vampire bites and drains the blood of a non-virgin, or a virgin bitten and drained by a vampire of the same sex (this, however, is unconfirmed). For whatever reason, these people are unable to successfully complete the transition from human to vampire and instead become mindless zombies under the control of the vampire that drained them. When that vampire dies, its ghouls die with it. Like most zombies in popular culture, ghouls are capable of biting and infecting other people. When they die, those people become ghouls, as well.

Dhampirs: When a virgin is bitten and drained by a vampire of the opposite sex, they become a dhampir (half-human, half-vampire). They retain many of their human characteristics (including their original eye color and their reflection), but acquire new abilities, as well (such as heightened senses, increased strength and speed, and limited regeneration). When it first drinks blood of its own free will, a dhampir becomes a full vampire, "powerful and singular," with full access to its vampiric powers (this is shown when Seras drinks from Pip in Volume 7). Until they become full vampires, dhampirs are liable to shift into a "berserker state" in which their vampiric instincts take over (Seras does this in Volume 1, and then again in Volume 2).

Servitude: A fledgling vampire is physically and psychically connected to the vampire that created it. They instinctively wish to serve their sire and sometimes call them "master" (Seras, who called Alucard "master" without any prompting that we know of, is also a prime example of this). This connection is only severed when the fledgling drinks the blood of their sire. The initial strength of the fledgling is directly proportional to the strength of their sire at the time that the fledgling was created. The fledgling and the sire can speak to each other telepathically.

Blood: Vampires need to drink blood to perpetuate their own existence. However, they gain no nutritional value from blood. The fact of the matter is, they don't need blood. They need life. Blood is simply the medium through which they acquire it. By taking a person's blood into themselves, they also take that person's life, as well as their soul (which they are then able to summon as a familiar). A person's soul is their essence. It is all the life they had and will ever have. Therefore, when a vampire absorbs a person's soul, they also inherit that person's memories. While vampires can drink other fluids (such as wine), solid food is physically painful to eat or even swallow (as Seras discovers in Volume 4).

Coffins: A vampire must sleep in a coffin filled with their native soil (soil from the land in which they were born) to maintain its strength (it will continue to do so even when the vampire does not drink blood). However, if a vampire does not drink blood and does not sleep in a coffin filled with their native soil, the vampire's strength will decline.

Death: Vampires can be killed by either a stake or a sacred bullet through their heart. Decapitation usually helps ensure true death. When vampires die, they suffer any of the effects of time that have been postponed by their vampiric state. That is why older vampires crumble into dust.

Freaks: Freaks are artificial vampires created by the Doctor's artificial vampirization process (which, according to one of the Doctor's remarks in Volume 7, involves some kind of surgery). The complexity of the procedure determines the strength of the vampire (Millennium's officers are obviously stronger than its foot soldiers). A crude procedure results in instability, which may cause the freak's body to break down (as Walter's does in Volume 9). Freaks are completely unable to reproduce in any way. Regardless of whether or not a freak's victim is a virgin, it will become a ghoul. When a freak is killed, its ghouls do not die. They continue to move about on their own, and must be dispatched separately. Freaks exhibit many of the same characteristics as true vampires, albeit to a lesser extent (however, they exhibit the same weaknesses to a greater extent). Aside from increased strength and speed, freaks have very little supernatural power and lack many of the special abilities that true vampires possess. Millennium's officers seem to have some special abilities, but these are derived from external sources (Rip Van Winkle fires magic bullets from her rifle, Zorin Blitz has illusionary spells tattooed on her side, and Tubalcain Alhambra uses enchanted playing cards).

Don't we all?

The clergy receive their power from God. When they bless an object (such as a silver bullet), they are truly asking God to bless it. Holy relics (such as the Nail of Helena), are inherently blessed. All are effective weapons against vampires due to their blessed (holy) nature.

We do, we just don't take the time to write it down.

Thank you, Ace of Death.

Dita Von Teesex is right in saying that human beings are not "100% pure". However, that does not mean that human beings are inherently evil. Every human being has the capacity for good or evil, and every human being has the ability to choose. God knows and understands that better than anyone, since it was He who created them that way.

I doubt God grants power to evil men, but I'm sure He grants forgiveness to those who ask. And if a righteous man asks God to bless an object so that it might be used against a vampire, I'm sure God would bless it. Bear in mind that killing a vampire not only protects the innocent, but also liberates the vampire's soul, as well.

I always make sure I have a lot of spare time to think and to write when I feel like it. 3nodding

You've made some good points here.

My description of Hellsing's vampire lore is based upon the assumption that vampirism affects all individuals in the same general way, resulting in similar strengths and weaknesses. That assumption, in turn, is based upon Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula.

In Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing says that the vampire "is known everywhere that men have been". He goes on to say that "In old Greece, in old Rome, he flourish in Germany all over, in France, in India, even in the Chermosese, and in China, so far from us in all ways, there even is he, and the peoples for him at this day. He have follow the wake of the berserker Icelander, the devil-begotten Hun, the Slav, the Saxon, the Magyar". This implies that vampires are known in every culture around the world, just as they are in real life. However, in describing their strengths and weaknesses, Van Helsing does not go into detail to say how vampires in different cultures are affected by different things, as they are in real life. He is much more general, as if all vampires, no matter how different they may be, share similar characteristics (indeed, this is not far from the truth).

So, why are freaks so different than real vampires? Well, actually, they're not. They still share similar characteristics (for instance, they can rip through people like wet tissue paper and defy gravity to a certain extent, but they cannot walk in the sunlight or cross running water). I believe that freaks are not a new kind of vampire, but a pale imitation of the original. They are stronger and faster than normal humans, but they are nothing compared to real vampires.

Now, on to vampires' vulnerability to sunlight. In Hellsing, it remains unclear how sunlight affects vampires. Alucard walks about freely during the daytime, but says that if Seras were attempt to do the same thing, the sunlight would devour her body. Luke and Jan are seen walking about under cloud cover, whilst Rip Van Winkle stands beneath an umbrella, and all of them remain unharmed. However, Millennium's soldiers talk about how they will never be able to walk under the sun again, and are required to wear anti-UV equipment when the sun rises on London. This implies that the stronger the vampire is, the more resistant it is to sunlight.

In Dracula, Van Helsing, when explaining the strengths and weaknesses of vampires, does not say anything about them being vulnerable to sunlight (he says only that their power ceases with the coming of day). Furthermore, Count Dracula is seen walking about during the day on multiple occasions (three, at least).

In trying to reconcile these two sources, I have stated that "Sunlight is not fatal to most vampires. They simply hate and avoid it. It is implied that sunlight may be fatal to dhampirs and fledgling vampires." That is virtually the same as "The stronger the vampire is, the more resistant it is to sunlight." However, after careful consideration, I agree that the latter does sound more appropriate, so I will change it.


*Note: The chips in the manga are not responsible for the freak's transformation from human to vampire (the Doctor is responsible for that). The chips are simply for monitoring the freak's status. Also, not all artificial vampires are chipped. Only those that Millennium released into England before their attack.

The first accounts of vampirism come from Babylonian times. I'll get back to you all on this, but I know that Babylonian times is when the idea of energy sucking beast came about/was recored