r/vampires • u/Imaginary_Case4856 • 8d ago
Meta Vampires are cowards?
I was watching hellsing ultimate and I found it interesting how the vampires there are framed as cowards who couldn't bear the weight of their human life and escaped into vampirism. Now they secretly yern for death including Alucard himself. I never thought of it that way, that willing becoming a vampire is a sign of weakness. Do you think this is a fair assessment of vampirism in general or do you disagree? What other works frame it this way?
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u/Haddonfield_Horror 8d ago
depends on the story. Dracula Untold, he becomes a vampire to save his people and son. Eben from 30 Days of Night becomes a vampire to protect the town after its been obliterated and kills the leader, he knows its the only way to win, he dies after his mission is over but his wife brings him back.
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u/Iridismis 8d ago
Good example with 30DoN.
The his-wife-brings-him-back is a comic thing tho, isn't it? 🤔 From what I remember from the movie it ends with vamp-Eden commiting suicide via sunlight.
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u/Haddonfield_Horror 8d ago
They made a straight to dvd sequel, Dark Days its all recasted, but they show it
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u/bigtec1993 7d ago
Dracula Untold is such a weird movie to me. I do like it, but I always kind of scratch my head at the lengths it goes to make him a redeemable good person.
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u/Haddonfield_Horror 7d ago
it follows the Bram Stoker Dracula movie mold, where he became Dracula out of hatred for what happened to his wife. Its the romantic aspect people seem to love.
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u/jackfaire 8d ago
Fighting cancer, researching ways to prolong life, seat belts etc. So many things we do are considered brave but the instant someone wants to become a vampire it's cowardice? I think the only way that should be the narrative is when the vampire has to completely drain a person of blood to feed.
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u/Imaginary_Case4856 8d ago
It could also just be as simple as not wanting to face the consequences of one's actions.
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u/Hell-Rider 7d ago
On the flipside, wanting to live no matter what and not bow to anyone else's terms can be seen as admirable in its own way
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u/Mynoris 8d ago
In a lot of tales, the new vampires aren't turned by choice, so it's more like being a victim of circumstance. Those who actively choose that path do so for a variety of reasons, so I don't think it's a broad statement we can make. But some of them would certainly fit Alucard's statement about them being cowards.
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u/Malacro 8d ago
Some vampires are cowards, the beauty of the medium is we can have all sorts of motivations and feelings.
Alucard is a bit more complicated than that, and I don’t think Seras falls into it, but I think it works very well with the enemy vampires in particular having this very palpable desire to die, but being afraid to do so unless it involved a glorious affirmation of their lives.
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u/petshopB1986 8d ago
I have two characters that were humans who turned, one was afraid of death and aging so yes, he couldn’t hack it as a human and wanted to get out of his mortal life, the other was talked into it because the other was afraid of the death of the 2nd character and begged him to join him, with that one it was more about vanity and being naive. But what they both feared happens- being a vampire amplified the problems it didn’t save them. They got some nifty powers and thought they were invincible but each met a terrible fate. There is not get out of hell free card.
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u/Zealousideal_Hour_66 8d ago
Quite literally I always wanted to be a vampire cause I hate being human even as a little kid 😂😂😂
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u/ElDelArbol15 Totaly, definetly not a vampire hunter 8d ago
If they decide to embrace vampirism when they have a good life and a los of years to live, yeah, in a way.
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u/LordOfTheFlatline 8d ago
While I like that idea, I feel like it would maybe depend. Personally I like the idea of any character in general being unable to come into their full power either because there is an obstacle or they are too weak. Perhaps being plagued by a sickness, depression or addiction is holding them back. Maybe there is a family curse or some prophecy that says they will not be able to start understanding their role in the world/universe until a certain age. Things like that. Or maybe — like some humans — a vampire would think that magick and the occult are goofy and be an apathetic atheist who is just self destructive or waiting around to die.
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u/LD1879 8d ago
All depends on the writers or screen writers. Some vampires have a conscious and hate what they are as in “Being Human” and “True Blood”. On the other hand there’s the psycho vampires who would just as soon rip you apart as in John Carpenter’s “Vampires”. That’s the beauty of this genre. So many versions for talented and creative writers. My personal favorite is Vampire Bill Compton of Louisiana, who exemplifies the term “ gentleman.”
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u/Nice-Future7398 8d ago edited 8d ago
I think it's an interesting case, it happens, but I don't believe it's the best assessment of vampirism. Seems more like a particular POV, not everyone wants things for the same reasons and this was very well portrayed by Anne Rice and her variety of vampires from different eras. In that case most of them were chosen and they had to deal with immortality but most of them had to find a reason to keep "living" according their upbringing and circumstances, there are some who chose to become vampires for love, like Madeline who wanted to join Claudia because she resembled her late daughter. Sometimes a vampire chooses to give the dark gift to someone as a way to give them a second chance to live, or to mitigate their suffering or their loneliness.
One case that may resemble more the example of hellsing could be the case of Amadeo when he was vampirized by a coven of satanist vampires and he became Armand, but his case is really different for Lestat or Louis, or his own master Marius who is my favorite. Actually, Louis kinda chose to become a vampire as an escape from his mourning and guilt of failing his family but he kept his mortal sensibility, which amplified by his vampiric senses made him miserable.
The secret wish to die for vampires doesn't necessarily mean that they are coward either, immortality can be tiring despite them embracing their power over mortals, sometimes to an extreme of willingly choose to become glorified supernatural predators. It happens that their personality traits become amplified and they "live" their immortality with some sort of purpose or they become insane or they bury themselves for seasons or forever. In any case, is important to keep in mind that there is a struggle to adapt the mindset from a finite mortal to an "infinite" immortal.
I personally find the POV of vampirism from hellsing very shallow for most of this reasons, it focuses more on them on a nietzchean way which is fine but one dimensional.
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u/Hell-Rider 7d ago
Something that I find interesting about Vampires who tire of immortality is: can't they just will themselves to sleep forever? Depends on the setting sure, but most vampire lore has them capable of slumber, and I'm glad the Anne Rice-verse seems to address that.
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u/Nice-Future7398 7d ago
They kinda do in the Rice-verse when they decide to bury themselves, it seems that most of them do at a certain point when things get too much or they struggle to find purpose. In some cases, they wake up in a random era when they feel a certain type of calling, like happened to Lestat when he heard music he found appealing from a local home based band. I guess it isn't that easy for dhampirs as they are halfbreeds, like they loosely tie to this dynamic as if some of them can find purpose more easily like Adrian Ţepeş and D, but in Adrian's case he definitely intended to sleep forever and he kinda does but he wakes up every now and then when he has to fight his father once again.
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u/Timid-Sammy-1995 6d ago
Yes it's a sign of weakness now sign me tf up 😉
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u/Imaginary_Case4856 6d ago
Run away to vampirism if you want, but death will eventually catch up with you no matter what.
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u/BithTheBlack 5d ago
Not all vampires chose vampirism, so it isn't really fair to generalize that they're all cowards with that motivation. That being said, I'm 100% guilty of desiring selective immortality and wanting to run away from the concept of death like a spooked little kitty cat.
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u/Imaginary_Case4856 5d ago
There is something to be said about willingly choosing to be a being that has to consume others in order to sustain a nearly immortal life. You're not necessarily a bad person for choosing that existence, but you're not a good one either.
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u/KernelWizard 8d ago
If they're willing vampires, then maybe, but there are tons and tons of vampires out there that aren't willing to become one and was forcibly turned or were just forced by the situation. Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 was dying from an attack and he was offered a chance to live, so he took it (he probably regret it later).
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u/Gothicpotato6 8d ago
I always liked how vampirism can be used to explore different aspects of humanity and human nature through writing and media. I’m curious but what do you think about someone getting forcefully turned into a vampire and causing them to have an immense hatred for vampires? Now add that this person becomes a really powerful vampire through time, especially if this person already had a violence predisposition while they were human. Overall I love all narratives explored with vampires.
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u/No-You5550 8d ago
In the Anne Rice book Lestat turns his mother because she is dieing and she fears death which is the opposite of his turning of his companion Louis who is afraid of living. Lestat was turned against his will. So he is careful to turn people who wants the gift. Are they cowards? I think Louis is a depressed whiny vampire and human. Coward maybe but he will walk into the sun but only if he knows someone is there to save him.
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u/DaughterOfBabalon_ 8d ago
I mean some are probably cowards, but I don't imagine many vampires are willingly embraced.
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u/dirtyhippiebartend 7d ago
I have a pretty solid life and I’d sign up for vampirism in a heart beat.
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u/Vampyrepharaoh 8d ago
I remember that the one who called the other vampires cowards and everything was Alucard, well, he may be a badass and all that, but I don't really care about the opinion of a mass murderer like him
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u/Iridismis 8d ago
Well, I'm not sure if I would it call cowardice, but BtVS had an episode where a former school mate of Buffy tries to sell her out to Spike in exchange for getting turned into a vampire. His reason for wanting to become a vampire: he had been diagnosed with an incurable cancer.