# Would a cross tattoo repel a vampire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 6, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739 "2022-06-06T11:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/21 "2022-06-06T16:11:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The would-be victim throws the bag of rice at the vampire, and the vampire reflexively says “seven million, eight hundred twenty-three thousand, five hundred forty-two”, and just keeps advancing? Couldn’t resist: Reference dot com tells me there are 1,812 grains of rice per oz. At 16 oz. to the pound, the potential victim threw a 269.85 pound (122.4 kg) bag of rice! ([How Much Does a Single Grain of Rice Weigh?](https://www.reference.com/world-view/much-single-grain-rice-weigh-c39a20469d3fe660)) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/22 "2022-06-06T16:14:38Z")
I kinda think if Tattoos worked Van Helsing would have had one on his forehead. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/23 "2022-06-06T16:24:58Z")
I was too lazy to look it up/calculate it, but I mean this in all honesty: This is why I love this place. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/24 "2022-06-06T16:27:25Z")
Me too! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/25 "2022-06-06T16:47:44Z")
Chess playing, vampires in silk dressing gowns eating blood popsicles would not be repulsed by medieval anti vampire apparatus like garlic or crucifixes imho. ![](https://c.tenor.com/PJ_L6kdYSEUAAAAC/checkmate-chess.gif "Checkmate Chess GIF - Checkmate Chess Mate - Discover & Share GIFs") ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/26 "2022-06-06T16:57:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s the faith of the wielder, not the object itself. I saw this idea used in a comic book. A crazy homeless guy believed in vampires. But he also had a hubcap he had found in the streets that he believed was a holy shield that protected him from vampires. And it worked because he really believed it. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/27 "2022-06-06T17:33:41Z")
There’s a vampire movie from the '80s (I want to say _Once Bitten_) where a vampire attacks a Yuppie, who drives it off by brandishing a symbol of his true faith: his wallet. On the other end of the spectrum, Peter Watt’s novel _Blindsight_ posits vampires as a human offshoot, who evolved a neural processing glitch that gives them seizures when they see a right angle. Nothing to do with faith at all, just a variation on chicken hypnosis. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/28 "2022-06-06T18:26:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > evolved a neural processing glitch that gives them seizures when they see a right angle. The animated Castlevania series suggested something similar-it interferes with their spacial awareness. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/29 "2022-06-06T19:33:57Z")
What would happen to the cross tattoo guy if he got bit by a vampire? Would his tattoos burst into flame? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/30 "2022-06-06T19:38:00Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Chess playing, vampires in silk dressing gowns eating blood popsicles would not be repulsed by medieval anti vampire apparatus like garlic or crucifixes imho. > [Checkmate Chess GIF - Checkmate Chess Mate - Discover & Share GIFs](https://tenor.com/beFQA.gif) I have to ask - what movie is that from? And is that Tilda Swinton? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/31 "2022-06-06T20:14:50Z")
It’s called “Only Lovers Left Alive” and that is indeed Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/32 "2022-06-06T22:05:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have to ask - what movie is that from? And is that Tilda Swinton? > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > It’s called “Only Lovers Left Alive” and that is indeed Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. This movie gets under your skin. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ycOKvWrwYFo/hqdefault.jpg "Only Lovers Left Alive - Official Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycOKvWrwYFo) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/33 "2022-06-06T23:16:58Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And is that Tilda Swinton? It’s possible that Tilda Swinton is an actual vampire. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/34 "2022-06-06T23:45:28Z")
To settle the matter. “Oy, have you got the wrong vampire.” The Fearless Vampire Killers, 1966 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/35 "2022-06-07T04:29:18Z")
# [Would a cross tattoo repel a vampire?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739) Yes, but only edgy, angst-filled, young vampires. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/36 "2022-06-07T06:55:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Peter Watt’s novel _Blindsight_ posits vampires as a human offshoot, who evolved a neural processing glitch that gives them seizures when they see a right angle. I always found that the dumbest part of his whole vampire conception - nature is _lousy_ with right angles. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/37 "2022-06-07T15:32:20Z")
I think tattoos are skeezy, so it would repel me (_IF_ I were a vampire). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/38 "2022-06-07T16:26:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I always found that the dumbest part of his whole vampire conception - nature is _lousy_ with right angles. Nature has plenty of them, men make even more. Are vampires supposed to live in caves? Where in the world could they avoid right angles? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/39 "2022-06-07T16:51:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Are vampires supposed to live in caves? Rock joints are one of the most widespread right-angle sources in nature…like I said, _lousy_ with them. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Where in the world could they avoid right angles? Bottom of the ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739/40 "2022-06-07T16:55:32Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Rock joints are one of the most widespread right-angle sources in nature…like I said, _lousy_ with them. Do the angles have to be _exactly_ 90 degrees to repel a vampire? What’s the degree of tolerance? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cross-tattoo-repel-a-vampire/965739.md?page=3)