Suck It!

A powerful demon who was once known as a tyrant, Valvatorez gave up his power in the name of pride. When he was unable to instill fear in the heart of a young maiden named Artina, he felt humiliated and vowed not to drink any more blood until he could frighten her. Artina died before Valvatorez could honor his vow, but he stayed true to his word regardless. His decision to not drink any more blood diminished his power significantly, so he turned to sardines as a substitute. Valvatorez insisted that sardines restored some of his lost power, but I’ve yet to see any peer reviewed studies that would support this claim. Vampires are often portrayed as detestable individuals, but Valvatorez deserves some level of credit for being a man of his word. Keeping promises is the utmost concern to him.

Eliza is over 1000 years old, so I guess her youthful appearance can be attributed to all of the beauty rest she gets. On one occasion, she fell asleep for several centuries and was accidentally imprisoned when some rich asshole built a mansion on top of her resting grounds. There are many things that make Eliza stand out from other Tekken characters. She has a tendency to fall asleep mid-battle, and she can also regain health while in her semi-conscious state. She can also bite her opponents with enough tenacity that their bodies shrink from the loss of blood. Eliza was added to Tekken Resurrection after fans were given the opportunity to vote in an unused character who hadn’t made it into any of the games. (Fans were only given a description of the characters, so Eliza’s short skirt and fishnet stockings had no influence on the results.)

She looks inconspicuous, but Sierra Mikain is considered the mother of all vampires. She was granted eternal youth after obtaining the legendary Moon Rune, but she became mentally unstable in the process and developed a desire to feast on humans. Oops! Sierra created an entire coven of lesser vampires, but they were able to live in relative peace since the power of the rune gave them compassion and curbed their desires. Unfortunately, a depraved vampire named Neclord stole the rune and left town. Without the power of the rune to keep them in check, the vampires were forced to prey on humans for sustenance until Sierra was ultimately able to reclaim the rune it for herself. Neclord was a jerk who spent most of his time kidnapping “brides” and feasting on them, but Sierra has a lot more self-control.

I’m not sure if Vamp can be considered a real vampire, but he certainly acts like one. After he lost his family in a church bombing in Romania, he was forced to feed off the blood of his family in order to survive. (This is where he acquired a taste for blood.) After being used as a test subject for a number of nano-machine experiments, Vamp gained the ability to heal at an accelerated rate. The experiments had given him apparent immortality, and he escaped from death on no less than six occasions. To steal a line from Chris Rock, the guy has taken more shots to the face than Jenna Jameson! Vamp also has superhuman speed and is able to run on water or stand on walls. His name is apparently a reference to his seductive personality rather than his vampire-like behavior, but it’s an appropriate name in either regard.

She looks like she’s 12, but Rachel is the head of the Alucard clan and one of the most powerful characters in the BlazBlue series. Her youthful appearance is the result of her vampire ancestry, and she presumably has an extraordinarily long lifespan. Rachel is gifted with magic, and she mastered the art of teleportation at a young age. She’s also unfazed by lightning strikes and (unlike most vampires) she can even walk in the sunlight without being harmed. Although her heritage has given her many advantages in life, it has also inflated her ego. She acts like a spoiled heiress and looks down on others with a sense of arrogance and apathy. Rachel mostly makes fun of others to fight her boredom, however, and isn’t really as spiteful as she seems. She hates her vampire urges and refrains from drinking blood whenever she can.

Vampires and eroticism have forever been connected, and this is certainly true of Jeanette. She’ll flirt with anything that moves, and she doesn’t discriminate between men and women. She happily beds humans and vampires alike, but her uptight twin sister Therese is put off by her promiscuity. Jeanette and Therese are polar opposites who constantly argue over their lifestyle choices. Their differences are brought into a new light after it’s revealed that the twins are actually the same person! Incidentally, the Jeanette personality was created by Therese to help her cope with a troubled past. Jeanette’s a hot mess, but she overshadowed her “sister” in many areas. She graced the cover of the game, she was prominently featured in promotional materials, and her “slutty vampire schoolgirl” look made her an iconic character.

Darkstalkers is known as Vampire in Japan, and Demitri Maximoff serves as an anchor point for many of its characters. After an unsuccessful bid to become ruler of the Makai, Demitri and his castle were thrown into the human world. Although he views humans as inferior beings, he enjoys the taste of their blood and is especially fond of virgin maidens. Fortunately for him, his astonishing “Midnight Bliss” attack allows him to transform his male opponents into alluring women before draining their life. (This same move will also doll his female rivals up in sexier outfits before they are consumed.) Demitri adheres to many of the tropes that vampires are known for and his arrogance knows no bounds. Once slated to be the star of the series, Demitri was ironically overshadowed by his sexy female co-stars.

Rayne is a lethal vixen with a strong sense of justice. Although she has vampire blood coursing through her veins, Rayne could more accurately be described as a vampire killer. Her father was a vampire who raped her human mother in an effort to conceive a child who could not be defeated by sunlight or Religious iconography. He later killed her mother and the rest of her family to ensure that Rayne would have no one else to turn to. Rayne was supposed to be one of her father’s lieutenants, but she spent most of her teenage years trying to avenge her family. She ran into trouble with the law after murdering several vampires, but her desire for vengeance could not be quelled. After her father met his untimely end, Rayne made it a point to hunt down and kill his other children. She then posed topless in Playboy, but that’s another story altogether.

A nobleman who was revived as a vampire after being murdered, Kain travels the land of Nosgoth to extract vengeance on his assassins. He aims to defy his fate and bring balance to the world, but his lust for vengeance often overrides his sense of judgment. Kain aspires to free himself from his vampire curse, but sees his transformation as a blessing once he starts to embrace his powers. A textbook example of a tragic hero, Kain’s cynicism and defiant nature were created by the world he lives in. His journey deals with themes like destiny, free will, morality, and redemption, and his story raises questions about the ambiguity of evil. The Legacy of Kain franchise switched focus to a wraith named Raziel in subsequent games, but he lacked the swagger and nuance of Kain and was purposely depicted as a self-righteous twit.

Dracula is one of the most iconic villains of literature, but many people are more familiar with Castlevania than Bram Stoker’s seminal novel. Dracula’s iconic castle stands as a symbol for his demonic power, and he is looked upon as the embodiment of evil. He can shoot fireballs and transform into a giant monster, but he usually keeps to himself and seldom leaves the comfort of his throne room. He steals men’s souls and makes them his slaves, so he always has countless underlings to do his bidding. Even the grim reaper himself succumbs to his will. An immortal being that can never be truly defeated, Dracula’s reign of terror has spanned centuries. His hatred of humans is not entirely unjustified – seeing as how they killed the only woman he ever loved – and this makes him all the more interesting.