# Vampire fiction/film nitpick: What about the sternum? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775 "2013-11-13T01:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/21 "2013-11-13T06:42:56Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Hell if you get through your entire life without ever breaking one you must live in a jar. I had two broken arms, a leg, a collar bone, a few ribs and several fingers before I was 20. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ouch. _I’m_ in my 40s and I’ve never broken anything. Yeah, I’m in my 50s and never broken anything, and that’s counting time playing football, wrestling, karate, and 30-some years riding motorcycles with a couple of spills. Writing it down, I’m getting now why people are always surprised. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/22 "2013-11-13T16:20:52Z")
Vampires seem to walk the line between corporeal and ethereal. They don’t show up in mirrors, which is more ghost-like - or at least evidence that there’s nothing physical there - and they can become mist, bats, etc. They’re strong, but not muscular. Their strength comes from something besides musculature. So I think arguing about the sternum is anthropomorphizing too much. They’re just…whatever they are. Bullets through the heart won’t kill them, but a wooden stake pierces them easily. It is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/23 "2013-11-13T16:32:25Z")
In the older vampire movies, you didn’t just bring a stake, you brought a stake a mallet to [hammer](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G0MRn2Ko4fk/UI88O5k49zI/AAAAAAAAHFU/iE8e-2d3mLE/s1600/horror+of+dracula+cushing.jpg) that thing home. Problem is, it’s hard to work that into a Kung fu fight sequence. Of course, in the older vampire _stories_, a stake through the heart didn’t kill the vampire at all. It just nailed him to the ground so he couldn’t get up and make mischief. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/24 "2013-11-13T17:50:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Of course, in the older vampire _stories_, a stake through the heart didn’t kill the vampire at all. It just nailed him to the ground so he couldn’t get up and make mischief. Depends on the culture, I think. [The Master Speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/37/whats-the-best-way-to-kill-a-vampire) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/25 "2013-11-13T18:07:08Z")
> [@Some bandit on his death bed](#): > > Silver and gold I have none to give, but I leave you advice to last a lifetime. > > Your thumb on the blade - and strike _upwards_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/26 "2013-11-13T18:16:58Z")
There have been a few old ["vampire graves"](http://www.livescience.com/38148-vampire-grave-uncovered-vampire-burial.html)found in recent years. But they’re all speculated to be vampire graves by archaeologists interviewed by the press at the time of discovery. I haven’t heard of any kind of scientific consensus being reached. The most recent grave was in Poland, and the heads were removed and placed on their legs. (Does not match Cecil’s report, but then why would vampire lore be consistent?) Could have been a sign that folks feared they’d become vampires. Could have been a sign of disrespect. With no records, it’s hard to correctly infer intent. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/27 "2013-11-13T21:54:19Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ouch. _I’m_ in my 40s and I’ve never broken anything. > > _\_ Don’t tap on the glass! It frightens the Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/28 "2013-11-13T22:06:15Z")
> [@bup](#): > > So I think arguing about the sternum is anthropomorphizing too much. They’re just…whatever they are. Bullets through the heart won’t kill them, but a wooden stake pierces them easily. It is what it is. I like the more scientific approach that _Blade the Vampire Hunter_ and especially the Shadowrun game took towards vampirism. In Shadowrun, vampires had allergies to wood and garlic, which is what made them so vulnerable to a garland made of garlic cloves or a wooden stake through the heart. Additionally, there was a reasonable rule applied to near-future technology with regard to vampires: sawing one in half with a machine gun - even though it involved neither wood nor garlic - was going to be pretty hard for one to recover from! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/29 "2013-11-14T01:53:02Z")
I like the scene from Roman Polanski’s Fearless Vampire Hunters. The old pro hunter gives a stake and a mallet to his apprentice and gives very detailed instructions on how to stake a vampire. IIRC he says to place the stake to the left of the sternum and drive it between the ribs. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/30 "2013-11-14T02:10:34Z")
> [@psiekier](#): > > I like the more scientific approach that _Blade the Vampire Hunter_ and especially the Shadowrun game took towards vampirism. > > In Shadowrun, vampires had allergies to wood and garlic, which is what made them so vulnerable to a garland made of garlic cloves or a wooden stake through the heart. I recall how in the Parasol Protectorate series, vampires are allergic to garlic and werewolves to basil, which is the explanation for Italian cooking. It’s an anti-supernatural provision. In Saberhagen’s Dracula series garlic bothers vampires because they have a superhuman sense of smell. They are also vulnerable to organic substances of all types; wood just happens to be the most convenient most of the time, but something made from bone, antler or horn will work just fine. Wooden bullets work well. Metal on the other hand just passes through with no more than a momentary pain. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/31 "2013-11-14T02:51:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ouch. _I’m_ in my 40s and I’ve never broken anything. I’d never broken a bone before hitting age 40. In the last 8 years, I’ve broken two toes, and my tailbone. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775/32 "2013-11-14T03:29:19Z")
from what i can tell calcium is not a large part of a vampire’s diet. also they don’t seem to have vita. d as a priority. there are trade offs in being immortal, perhaps bone strength is one of those things you give up for fast healing and a lovely polished pallor. i have cracked bones, but haven’t broken one into separate pieces. i unlike vampires, eat quite a bit of chocolate to keep my calcium levels up and bones strong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-fiction-film-nitpick-what-about-the-sternum/673775.md?page=1)