Vampires: Anatomy

Cafe Society
1

Something was on my mind.

Okay, Vampires are usually defined as being undead. I take this to mean someone who has died and been brought back to life in a way that they are not quite living but still able to do most of the same things living people do. In most movies I’ve seen, Vampires don’t eat, and I don’t think they drink.

So it’s the blood they drink that’s keeping them alive, I assume.

  1. So, hypotheically, if you cut a vampire, does s/he bleed? There’s blood in their body, but it’s not their blood, and I don’t think there’s any explantion what happens to the blood they suck(not that I’ve heard, anyway).

  2. Hyptheically, do they need to breathe? Do the lungs actually work, or would a vampire be obvious if you began checking for resperation?

  3. Hypotheically, do they have body heat? If their heart beats, which would be needed to move the blood, then you’re going to have some heat, I would think.

I realize that there’s a lot of vampire fiction out there, and I’ve probably only been exposed to a fraction of it. I also realize that supernatural creatures tend to have certain inherent logical problems to them, but I’m curious anyway.

So, any input would be appreciated.

2

The answer to all of them:

‘It depends on which vampire story they’re in’.

Although I can’t think of any vampires that their lungs don’t work at all (mute Vampire?), whether they breathe normally, or only when they want to talk/appear more human depends on which universe - and even sometimes on who’s writing them within the universe.

In the WoD, IIRC, they got warmer after feeding, and I know I’ve seen that in a few other places, though I can’t ID which.

3

Okay, I realize that it depends on the set of rules. How about a general idea?

4

My answers are coming from the Buffyverse, the vampires of which I am most familiar. I’m no expert though, so somebody more knowledgeable might very well chime in.

Yes, they bleed like anyone else. The blood is their nutrition source, and I guess they metabolize it really efficiently, 'cause you never see Angel or Spike on the can.

Not in the Buffyverse. I think they can breathe, they just don’t need to.

Nope, no body heat. In fact The Initiative has sensors for detecting body heat at a distance, to more easily identify the vamps.

The heart does not beat, a fact which is pointed out multiple times in BtVS and AtS.
Why they still in fact bleed has never been satisfactorily addressed that I am aware of.

5

Honestly, aside from the need to live on blood there really ISN’T any general rules.

They’re usually, but not always, undead.

Undead ones, in a lot of cases, are noticably cool to the touch - although a not-insignificant amount of these warm up when they feed. Many vampire stories don’t make a big deal of the body heat at all, which brings up 3 possibilities: They’re warm to the touch, or the writers never thought about it, or the writers never thought of a good way to introduce the point.

Vampires usually bleed, but sometimes only within a certain length of time after feeding. Some don’t bleed at all. Some vampires are even able to feed off other vampires, so presumably in many cases whatever force keeps them alive keeps certain bodily functions working normally.

Breathing is about evenly divided that I’ve seen. Some breathe, some don’t. I don’t think any NEED to breathe (unless they’re part of the ‘living vampire’ subgroup), but the function continues even so.

6

To be fair, how many times did you see Buffy on the can? :smiley:
(where’s the fanged smilie when you need one?)

7

Stephen King’s short story *The Night Flier * very prominently featured a vampire taking a leak.

Some materials I’ve read describe vampires as not showing up on infrared tracking equipment, due to their low body temperatures, and Fred Saberhagen’s vampire novels have Dracula talking first person about “back in my breathing days…” when he’s talking about his pre-vampiric existence.

8

Sticking with the Buffyverse, in S1 Angel infamously says he can’t do CPR because he has “no breath.” That was never directly contradicted but clearly Buffyverse vampires can pull air in and out of their lungs but have no need to do so to survive (Angel survived an extended submersion in the ocean, also survived in a dimension whose atmosphere was toxic to humans). In S4 Spike is tracked by the Initiative because of his low body temperature.

9

Someone has already posted for the Buffyverse, so I’ll go with the four I know the best:[ul][li]Bram Stoker[]Vampire the Masquerade RPG by White Wolf[]Anne RicePoppy Z. Brite[/ul][/li]
Are they undead?

Stoker: Yes
White Wolf: Yes
Rice: Yes
Brite: No (a separate species, that can breed with humans)

Do they eat/drink?

Stoker: No
White Wolf: Some of them can fake it
Rice: No
Brite: Yes (and enjoy it)

So, hypotheically, if you cut a vampire, does s/he bleed? Do they bleed stolen blood? (And do they do anything with the blood besides metabolize it?)

Stoker: Yes, and presumably yes (they can use the blood to make more vampires)
White Wolf: Yes, and yes (they can also expend blood on their powers)
Rice: Yes, and yes (they can use the blood to make more vampires)
Brite: They have have their own blood, as well as that of others

**2. Hypothetically, do they need to breathe? Do the lungs actually work, or would a vampire be obvious if you began checking for resperation? **

Stoker: I don’t think so (don’t remember)
White Wolf: No, but some of them can fake it
Rice: No
Brite: Yes

**3. Hypotheically, do they have body heat? If their heart beats, which would be needed to move the blood, then you’re going to have some heat, I would think. **

Stoker: Don’t remember well, but I think they only seemed warm after feeding
White Wolf: No, but some can fake it
Rice: Again, I think they’re only warm after feeding
Brite: Yes

The rules are very different from story to story. Even very basic details like whether sunlight kills a vampire and whether blood is absolutely necessary for survival vary (Stoker and Brite have their vampires wander around in sunlight). Also, in most vampire stories I’ve read, their hearts don’t beat. They just sort of absorb the blood into the body, transferring the life force of the victim to the vampire.

10

Dracula could bleed; the novel includes a scene in which he forces a victim to drink his blood from a cut in his chest.

I think Stoker may have made some mention of The Count having cold skin, but I couldn’t swear to it. I can’t remember any reference to breathing either way.

11

Whoops, simulposted with Hamish and wound up adding nothing. Ah well. To make up for it, here’s a bit from J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, describing the title vamire character’s reaction to hearing Christian hymns:

The suddenly dark and livid face suggests a creature that does have blood running through her veins. I’m not sure if “breathlessly” is meant to be understood as “not breathing” or “gasping for breath”, but the latter seems more likely. But even the former suggests that Carmilla normally breathed, or else the narrator wouldn’t have made note of her not breathing.

12

In Stoker, when Jonathan Harker meets Dracula, they shake hands, and Harker notes in his journal that the Count’s hand is as cold as ice. Another thing Jonathan Harker notices about Dracula is his foul-smelling breath. When the heros invade Dracula’s lair, the air is thick with odor from the vampire’s exhalations.
In the Marvel Comic’s Tomb of Dracula series from the 1970s and early 1980s, vampires did not have human blood, but rather a green-colored ichor. This gave many of them a yellowish complexion. In the movie Blade II, which was based on the comics, the oldest vampire on earth bleeds green when he is killed.

13

FYI…in the Anno Dracula series of books, Vampires do need to breathe (and can drown, even), do bleed, and at least some of them even cry blood, most of the time.