Vampires are undead immortals, originally Humans that have been converted by a maker. One of their primary characteristics is the need to drink blood in order to survive and grow stronger.
Due to the sudden creation of synthetic blood in Japan, Vampires have revealed themselves to the global population as no longer a threat to Human society, a subject of intense debate. Because they can drink the manufactured blood as opposed to the natural blood of Humans, they would no longer need to prey on the Human race.
Reaction to Vampires varies between countries and regions. However, they are considered legal citizens within The United States, albeit with limited rights and strict rules for both races to follow under penalties like death, fang removal, imprisonment, or unwilling transformation.
Vampires are immortal and can live youthful forever if they avoid harm, however it has been stated that 80% of Vampires do not survive their first year. An example of a vampire dying young is that of Eddie Gauthier. He died because he was not taught how to glamour people. If he had been able to glamour his captors, he would have been able to escape his bonds.
The reason Bill Compton stayed with Jessica Hamby is because new vampires do not survive well on their own as it takes time to develop and control their new vampire powers. Despite their eternal life, some vampires, as they age, begin to wish they were not vampires or try to comprehend the meaning in their life. An example is Godric, a vampire who had lived for more than 2,000 years before he decided to meet the sun.
Powers & Abilities
Superhuman Strength: Vampires have vast strength and grow stronger with age and experience. Newborns are shown to be stronger than the average person and can overpower/kill them with ease, but they are weak next to older, more experienced Vampires. Eric Northman, Godric and Russell Edgington are the strongest Vampires introduced yet. Because of their advanced age, their strength is exceptional; for example: Eric was able to rip a man apart with his bare hands, Russell knocked Bill into the ceiling simply with a shrug and was able to effortlessly rip a man's spine out in seconds. Russell also stopped Sookie Stackhouse's car in an instant with only his hand. Bill was able to simulate the damage of a tornado; flipping a trailer, uprooting trees and snapping telephone polls. Additionally, their strength is far greater than that of a Werewolf.
Superhuman Endurance: With their superhuman strength, Vampires can endure punishment far greater than Humans and most supernatural species, shrugging off attacks that would normally cripple or even kill a Human with minimal effort and resist pain a great deal more. Examples of this include: how Eric was able to survive an explosion with minimal injuries, how Bill was able to be shot with a shotgun in the shoulder by his wife and barely wince and how Bill, Eric and Lorena have been shown to survive serious burns.
Superhuman Speed: Vampires can move a lot faster than Humans. No Human can outrun them. Their movements regularly make them appear to be a mere blur. They can also move quietly around Humans, easily sneaking up behind them. Speed seems to advance with age, as with other powers, and old Vampires are significantly faster than younger ones. Eric displayed accelerated vision when he was able to percieve a speeding bullet in slow motion and was able to percieve himself in normal motion (while moving in superhuman speed).
Healing Factor: Bill regenerated from his silver burns within seconds. ("Strange Love") Bill is seen to regenerate from a seemingly dead state after being exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time. Most vampires in the series boast great healing factors, wounds often sealing before ones very eyes. If an injury is severe, Vampires need Human blood for the healing process to begin. A Vampire's blood can also heal any other organism tha
Jessica Glamours Hoyt
t consumes it. Vampires have been known to recover from massive burns and tissue damage within a few moments.
Glamour: Vampires have also been shown to glamour their victims to do their bidding, force them to tell the truth and even make them forget about any recent events. This is most likely a primary ability for feeding. Excessive glamouring can negatively effect the mental stability of a victim, causing one man to have emotional shivers and insist his worst dreams were coming true, even after additional glamouring to the contrary by a more powerful Vampire. Telepaths like Sookie are immune to glamour. It is not an innate ability, as Eddie was unable to glamour. Rather, it is an ability that must be taught and practiced. Vampires can glamour at least two Humans simultaneously as seen with Jessica.
Superhuman Senses: Vampires have much stronger senses than Humans; they can hear, see and smell much better. V also has this effect on Humans and other supernatural creatures, such as Shapeshifters.
Night Vision: Vampires can see in total darkness.
Flight: Vampires of a certain age can fly; for example: Eric and Russell Edgington. Younger Vampires, such as Bill and Sophie-Anne Leclerq seem to levitate at some level, however.
Voice Disguise:Bill was shown to disguise his voice and imitate eric
Powers as a Maker to a Progeny
Calling a Progeny: The maker can "call" his/her progeny whenever he wants. It feels like a shiver all over the body and possibly revealing to the progeny where his/her maker is.
Commands: Makers can force their progenies to do anything they want, they just have to finish the sentence by saying the words "As your maker, I command you". Apparently, these words have no effect if the progeny was previously released.
Release: At the moment the vampire maker says the words "As your maker, I release you", his/her progeny is completely released of any control from his/her maker forever.
Empathic Link: Similar to calling a progeny. Makers can sense when their progeny dies. Unknown if the reverse is true.
Vampire Blood Abilities & Properties
Healing: Taking V helps a person heal wounds and stop bleeding. This property of their blood is used by vampires to close the bite marks of their victims, as a way of hiding the fact that they fed.
Increased abilities: A being other than vampire who has taken V experiences enhanced speed, strength, durability and libido as long as they have it in their system.
Drug trip: Vampire blood also makes the person who took it experience hallucinations which manifest differently with different people, as they were shown to be more spiritual when Jesus Velasquez and Lafayette Reynolds took it, as oppose to the more trip-like visions that Jason Stackhouse and Amy Burley had.
Bonding: Bonds the life essence of the human with that of the vampire. The human will become sexually attracted to the vampire and will have sexual dreams with them. The vampire will also sense where the human is and if the human is in danger or dies, and vice versa. A vampire will also be able to sense the emotions of the human who drank their blood.
Weaknesses
Bill in the sun
Sunlight: Vampires cannot enter direct sunlight without it causing harm to their health; they will begin to burn until their bodies stop working and they become black and charred. Godric revealed a vampire will burn much if they wish to burn, actively trying not to die or burn in the sun reduces the amount to which the vampire will suffer the consequences. There is also an problem with staying up during the day. A vampire will experience something called the "bleeds" which will occur after only a few hours, regardless of age. Another aspect of the sun is that a vampire will "die" during the day when resting, but certain events can wake them up early. Sunlight burns heal more slowly than regular burns from fire and require fresh blood to heal quickly.
Wooden stake/Wooden bullets: If a vampire is staked in the heart with a wooden stake, they explode, quickly falling apart and leaving a bloody mess. It seems as though the wooden stake must be driven entirely through the heart and the stake must be wooden.
Frankilin after being staked
This is as a staking has never been seen to occur with anything other than a wooden stake driven entirely through the heart.Their deaths have been compared to an exploding water balloon. Jason also shows that a wooden bullet is just as effective as a stake.
Silver: A vampire cannot touch silver as it will instantly burn them. ("Strange Love") (This is the reason that the Fellowship of the Sun gave all of their congregation silver 'honesty' rings.) Another unfortunate side effect is that any area in contact with silver is unusable to the vampire, meaning that silver is regularly utilized to restrain vampires while draining them so they can't fight back.The older the vampire the quicker it is able to bounce back to full strength... Depending on the torture the vampire has endured, and how fast it can receive blood.
Pam being held by silver
Blood: Vampires require blood to survive and will become incredibly weak, insane or even die without it.
Exsanguination: If drained completely of their blood, vampires can become comatosed or even die.
Fire: Fire causes vampires a great deal of pain and injury; they can, however, quickly heal from even the worst burns if given time and blood such as with Bill and Eric. However, if not given chance to heal from fire, or left in the fire for too long, their bodies will break down.
Decapitation: Another way a vampire can be killed is if they had their head severed completely, as shown with the death of the Magister. Breaking their necks seems to only cause mild discomfort however, such as when Bill twisted Lorena's head.
Entry to homes: A vampire is unable to enter the home of a human unless they are invited. Glamouring a human into inviting them in is a common way around this. If one is turned into a vampire, they may have to be invited back into their own home. This does not work with public places like restaurants, even if the owner says they are unwelcome. Humans are also able to withdraw their invitation to any vampire previously invited.
Hepatitis D: A form of Hepatitis that has no effect on Humans; however, when a Vampire comes into contact with Hep D-infected blood, they become much weaker, which puts them at risk for being killed. The effects of Hep D last for about one month.
Maenad Blood: If a Vampire drinks the black blood of a Maenad they begin to choke and vomit. In Bill's case Sookie's blood was able to cure him. It is unknown if Maenad blood will kill Vampires or just make them ill.
Magic : Vampires are vulnerable to the effects of magic as seen when Marnie Stonebrook cast a powerful spell on Eric, causing him to lose his memory and later to become her slave. Later she casts a spell on Pam, causing her body to slowly rot.
Appearance
Vampires have a paler complexion than they did as a Human ("Sparks Fly Out"). Their fangs protrude when they're feeding, aroused, angry or excited, otherwise they're concealed to maintain a human appearance. If a vampire decides to mainstream and not feed on humans, they remain intact by drinking Tru Blood.
Vampires are immortal and appear as they did when they were turned. However, it is assumed that a vampire's hair grows. Eric is shown to be given a haircut ("Nothing but the Blood") and Lorena's hair is shown to vary in length. Franklin explained he still needed to shave in season 3.
It is shown that vampires do not gain weight as explained by Eddie Gauthier, the vampire Jason and Amy kidnapped. He explained to Jason that he looked as he did when he was made: lacking in exercise and maintaining a bad diet while he was human, remaining over weight as a vampire.("I Don't Wanna Know")
In the case of Jessica Hamby, she was turned at a young age and was still a virgin. During her second sexual experience, she realized she would be a virgin indefinitely because her hymen would grow back due to a vampire's accelerated healing.("I Will Rise Up")
When vampires cry, they don't cry normal tears. Their tear ducts expel blood. This is seen when Jessica begins to cry when talking to Sookie about missing her family ("Keep This Party Going"), and again when Lorena is asked to leave Godric's nest in her final conversation with Bill. ("Timebomb")
Vampire's fangs are hidden in plain sight, meaning that vampires can hide their fangs whenever they choose. Their fangs protrude not just by their feelings but by the movements of certain muscles in the face. That is why vampires often move their head a little before displaying their fangs. A True Blood vampire's fangs are locate behind the maxillary lateral incisors instead of their canines as shown in past vampire lore.
It is mentioned by Bill, that lack of vampire reflection is nothing but lore. Vampires are indeed able to see their own reflection, unless the backs of the mirrors are lined with silver.
The creation of a Vampire does not stray too far from traditional methods. A Vampire must bite and drain a Human to near death, then feed the Human his/her own undead blood. The maker then buries him/herself with their new child until the progeny is reborn as a Vampire. It is unkown if supernatural Humans or other supernatural creatures can be turned into Vampires or what affects, if any, such a transformation would have on said creatures.
Age
As a vampire ages, it becomes stronger and faster, but their resistance to silver does not improve. Lorena Krasiki and Bill Compton were shown to bleed while awake during the day, despite her being older than Bill. Older vampires rule over the younger vampires but also have to protect them against attacks from humans and other creatures. Older vampires also own their offspring in a way, Lorena had to allow Bill to leave in 1935 before he could go.
Status
Older vampires have more strength and speed than younger vampires. An older vampire will control the younger ones. The Hierarchy consists of Kings and Queens, then down to Sheriffs. The Authority oversees all vampires and has existed for several centuries. Magisters give rulings on vampire disputes, rank second among vampires and report only to The Authority. Magisters rule over continents, for example: Magnus was The Magister of North America. The Queens and Kings in United States control each of the states, for example: King of Louisiana is William Compton and all the Sheriffs within Louisiana have to answer to him. The chain of command looks like this:
The chain of command in a vampire nest looks like this:
Oldest vampire
Vampires in descending order of age
The oldest vampire introduced is Russell Edgington, known to be nearly 3,000 years old.
Land
Each country is divided into states. Each State is divided into areas. The section will usually be a state of the country, for example each state would be divided into five or more areas. Each state will be ruled by a King or Queen who is generally a very old and very powerful vampire who commands respect from all other vampires in their state, but as by example of Bill Compton you don't have to be old to be a monarch. The King or Queen will appoint a vampire sheriff to each area of their state. The sheriff will have absolute power of that area, however they will have to answer to their King or Queen.
Vampire Crime and Punishment
Laws
Vampires have to live by laws determined by The Authority. The laws for vampires living in the southern states of America are:
Do not kill another vampire
Do not feed off of another vampire's human
Do not steal from other vampires
Any use of the blood other than for procreation is blasphemy
A King or Queen of an area may declare an edict if they choose, effectively creating another law for their kingdom. If a vampire does not obey the laws, they will be tried and punished before a vampire court. There are usual punishments for offenses; however, punishments can be made up on the spot if the judge wants to 'be creative'. An example of a vampire punishment is: If a vampire feeds off of another vampire's human, the offending vampire will have their fangs removed forcing them to wait three months to feed until the fangs grow back.
If the offender in question is loyal and powerful, as well as justified in their crime, they may merely have to right their wrong. For example, because Bill killed Longshadow but was loyal to Eric, and did it protecting a useful human, he merely had to make a new vampire to replace the one he had killed.("I Don't Wanna Know")
Vampires also have laws for humans. If a human breaks these laws, they are often killed. Crimes against vampires include:
