Role Play (stereotypical) Vampires Vs. Real Vampires

This is an essay on Role Play Vs. Real vampires. Although this is fairly clear to most people, I feel there are still many people who when first hearing the words "real vampire" immediately assume the role play type, so I just felt the need to have a written overview of this argument. Not only will I discuss how role play differs from real vampirism, I will also discuss where the stereotypes of the role play vampire comes from (or theories thereof anyway), and how they relate to the real vampire.

I think about all we (the real vampires) have in common with stereotypical vampires is only 1 thing - the fact that we drink blood, yet not even all real vampires do this. Even the motive for this act is different. For us it's all about energy. It seems as though we're somehow in tune with our energy levels, and because of this we need to consciously control them. This can be done in several ways. The most common way of enhancing our energy level is by drinking blood. Those vampires who do this are called sanguine vampires. Not all vampires are sanguine, but to those who are, blood is a very rich energy source and its effects are long lasting.

Another way of "feeding" our energy level is by taking the energy from other people psychically; draining them as it were. These vampires are called psychic/psi vampires. The effects to the "victim" of a psychic vampire is that they will start feeling tired and lethargic, have little motivation to do anything etc. Psychic vampires are the most common type of vampires, even more so than sanguine. There are many psychic vampires who will swear that only psi vampires are the true vampires, and these hold little regard for sanguine and other types of vampires. However, most psi vamps can also feed on blood, but prefer draining people from their energy in order to feed their own.

Another type of real vampire is the pranic vampire - those vampires who feed from sex energy. This is a slightly rarer form of vampirism than sanguine and psi, but nonetheless still a good way of feeding.

A fourth type of real vampirism is the emotional vampire - those who read and feed from other people's emotions. The moods of other people will affect these vampires a great deal, so it's better for them to stay in happy company!

These 4 types of vampirism - sanguine, psychic/psi, pranic and emotional - are the most common types of real vampire, but these aren't the only ways of feeding. Vampires can feed in yet more ways, a nice example being lightning. A good thunder and lightning display has a great effect to a real vampire, usually leaving them highly charged! J

And that's about all there is to the real vampire. By this I mean no glamour, no romanticism etc. Just plain old being aware of our energy levels, and knowing which methods of feeding are most effective to us.

However, there are some common traits which we generally share as vampires, and no explanation has yet been given for this.

One of these traits is our predator instinct. We all seem to have a kind of wolf instinct in us, that we can identify with the predator animals who prey on others. I think this is a very important feature of our vampirism. Many vampires believe that being a vampire largely includes being a predator, not just being able to drain energy, but in a way prey on others and "attacking" them as it were to get their energy and feed their own. Don't get me wrong, we don't prey on people physically as we do still have our rationality, but we seem to be more in tune with this type of instinct.

Another trait we generally share is that we have heightened senses. This again links in with the wolf instinct. Our eyesight tends to be slightly sharper than average, our hearing better, and our reactions are quicker. This goes sometimes to the point where everything around us seems to physically slow down, simply because we perceive it faster. This can also be enhanced after a good feeding; our reactions and senses can be heightened even more after feeding well.

Another thing a lot of us share is that we are nocturnal. I will discuss this in more detail later on when I discuss the vampire stereotypes.

Whether we are vampires due to genetics, or something spiritual, or whatever, is still unclear. The genetic theory would prove interesting as it could partly explain our senses, because there are so many real vampires out there, and vampirism is an age old phenomenon, the genetic theory is extremely difficult to prove.

These common traits we share are slightly in tune with the stereotypical role play vampire image, yet I believe the vampire stereotypes are massive exaggerations of the real traits. Take for instance the blood drinking. Yes, real vampires do drink blood, but nowhere near the amounts suggested in movies and role play images. If we would bite through the neck of a person and drink the blood until they die, we'd be drinking the equivalent of a few pints of blood. There is no way a normal human body would be able to take it, not even sanguine vampires. In reality we only take a few drops in one feeding, usually through a cut. This one feeding of a tiny bit of blood can last a very long period of time, up to weeks, unlike the stereotypical image where vampires need to drink pints of blood every night. And this is where the blood drinking between the role play vampires and the real vampires differs even more - role players look for victims to drink from, and they generally prey on their victims, while real vampires have donors. These blood donors are people who willingly offer their blood to us so that we can feed. We do nobody any harm, and we never take more than is offered.

Yet another difference between role play and real vampires with blood drinking is the theory of being turned. In role play, a vampire only becomes a vampire when they are turned into one. This is done only by being bitten by a vampire and that vampire drinks the blood until the victim dies. Then the victim comes back to life as a vampire. However, in real life this is quite opposite. In real life there is no such thing as being turned; one is born a vampire. How we as real vampires realise we are such is when we awaken, this usually happens round abouts, or a little after, puberty. The awakening is simply an awareness of feeling different from everyone else, feeling a constant hunger/thirst for something which can't be fulfilled. They usually start to notice that people around them feel increasingly tired, and that their emotions vary according to different situations. And when the blood cravings kick in, newly awakened vampires usually have an idea of where to look up about their feelings, and so they realise what they are. So there is also a difference between role play and real vampires in how we become such.

So even within the seemingly 1 common trait we hold with stereotypical vampires, there still lies a huge difference.

Now I will discuss some more common traits of a stereotypical vampire, and how I believe they are linked back to the real vampire.

The first trait is sunlight. In movies vampires crumble or burn up as soon as their skin hits daylight, and they have an overwhelming reaction to it. Okay, we generally are naturally nocturnal, but we can still walk outside during the day, tan on the beach etc. We can still go about our daily duties without being damaged by the sun's rays. So where did this stereotype come from? Nobody really knows, but in the role play image the vampire preys on his victims at night, and is active at night.

The reason why we are naturally nocturnal is because the sun drains us from our energy. It is a common phenomenon for people to feel lazy and unmotivated in great heat and sunshine, most people just want to laze about, and because we are more aware of the sun's drainage, we choose to avoid it. This is where the common trait of photosensitive eyes leads us. Because we don't see as much sunlight, together with the fact that our eyes are usually sharper, they are more sensitive to sunlight.

Another common stereotype is that we hate garlic. Stereotypical vampires may do so, but real vampires usually like garlic, and experience no aversion to it whatsoever. I believe this stereotype also comes from our heightened senses. Because garlic has an extremely distinctive taste and smell, for us this is even stronger. So to take this aspect and blow it out of proportion, it results in us detesting garlic!

Yet another stereotype is that we can't look at crucifixes, and also aversely react to holy water. Another trait of our completely exaggerated. This stereotype comes from the emotional type of vampirism. Here we take over the mood and emotions of others as our own. The crucifix is the symbol of Jesus Christ offering himself to save us - the ultimate suffering. To see a symbol of ultimate suffering means we take this over in us (in slightly exaggerated terms, that is) and as a result we suffer ultimately too. Holy water, as another representational symbol of Christianity, would have a similar effect, as would stepping inside a church etc.

One stereotype that I haven't quite figured out yet is why stereotypical vampires have to die first to become vampires. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we need blood, with blood being a symbol of life, meaning we need life. And the stereotype of vampires sleeping in coffins is of course due to the fact that they are the undead.

And one last thing - we don't grow fangs and our faces don't change when we feed! Fangs is the easiest way to fain blood - drink straight from the wound - but that is role play only. Our teeth stay fairly intact when we feed. As for our faces changing, this stereotypical image is just to show a physical form of our predator/wolf instincts coming to light when we feed.

So there you have it. Now you know how we differ from the vampires you see on the silver screen, and now you know how and what we really are. Not so glamorous after all, is it?