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For the remake SyFy series' version of vampires, see Vampire (Syfy)
HalManifest
Vampire
Species information
Sentience

Sentient

Eye colour
  • Varies (in human form)
  • Pure black (when manifest)
Skin colour

Varies

Hair colour

Varies

Related to

Human
The Devil

Native range

Worldwide (originated in Asia)

Alternative names
  • Type 1
  • Type 2
Height of average adult

Varies

Distinction(s)
  • Addiction to blood
  • Sharp fangs
  • Immortal and undead bodies
"For a vampire, death isn't the end, but the beginning ..."
Annie Sawyer on vampires.[src]

A Vampire is a post-human creature born from the reanimated corpse of a victim who has been “recruited” by another of their kind. Vampires are characterized by an animalistic craving for human blood which often compels them to perform horrific acts to satiate this drug-like urge. Some choose to fight this addiction by foregoing feeding or sustaining themselves solely on stored blood. However, most simply feed and even kill as they please - both for the greater nourishment that live blood gives them as well as the sheer pleasure and power of taking a life.

Within the CenSSA, vampires are classified as the Type 1 supernatural threat; while in the Department of Domestic Defence, they are classified as Type 2. The danger they pose to human society has made them a highly secretive culture akin to the Mob so as to avoid mass extinction.

History and society[]

The vampire race started in 1000 BC or earlier, when two brothers in Asia made a pact with the Devil (eternal life in exchange for the consumption of blood), becoming the first of their kind from whom all others originate. (Eve of the War) It has been speculated that Mr. Snow may have been one of these original two vampires (due to Snow's ancient age and Hal Yorke's statement that Mr. Snow was one of the earliest vampires), but some have discredited this (as Mr. Snow was Caucasian, whereas the original two vampires were mentioned by Regus as being Asian). (Eve of the War)

The ancestors of modern-day vampires were strictly nocturnal, only emerging under the cover of darkness. This is why some modern-day vampires are greatly irritated when exposed to excess sunlight. It is also known that the vampires apparently had their own myths and legends, all of which originated from five dreams which the two original vampires had upon first drinking blood. (Eve of the War)

Humans seemed to have been aware of vampires up until around the 1600s - 1700s. Anyone accused of vampirism was imprisoned in underground prisons away from normal society. In 1665, a mass cull of vampires was arranged in Bristol, and all known vampires there were exterminated. (Long Live The King) It has since been presumed that the history of vampires has been covered up and disguised as a myth, making present-day humans unaware of their existence. Vampires were subsequently forced to lead double-lives as humans to avoid discovery and persecution. The first vampire to do this was Richard Turner, who moved to Bristol in 1630. Despite killing over 1,000 people, Turner was a highly respected figure amongst the human world and even ran for parliament. Turner's move to Bristol caused a mass migration of vampires to the city, making it the heart of the British vampire community.

As the centuries progressed, vampires became more concerned about their existence being discovered. Modern-day vampires usually had communities disguised as abandoned businesses, where they met and arranged killings. Many vampires were situated in positions of high authority, such as the police. These vampires were consulted to cover up any killings with false stories. Usually, a human coroner was blackmailed into confirming the cause of death as an accident or suicide.

In 1911, a full-scale war erupted between the vampires and werewolves as a result of the Devil's influence and manipulation, and the war lasted for seven years; until in 1918, Hal Yorke and Catherine Glass called for a truce between the werewolf and vampire armies to capture and destroy the Devil together. (The Trinity)

In 2009, William Herrick planned a vampire takeover of the Earth in which all of humanity would be either recruited or farmed for blood, and vampires established as the new dominant species. Although his plan almost succeeded, Herrick was killed by the transformed werewolf George Sands, and his death effectively halted the plans for a vampire takeover. (Series 1)

A notable incident in which the vampires' identity was nearly revealed to humans was circa 2010, when vampires John Mitchell and Daisy Hannigan-Spiteri killed twenty train passengers in Bristol in what was known as the Box Tunnel 20 Massacre. Mitchell was later arrested after an investigation into the murders, and was brought to a local police department, where his picture was taken. As a vampire's image cannot be captured, Mitchell's identity was discovered, and vampires were exposed. However, Mitchell was later rescued by the resurrected Herrick, who murdered all those who had discovered the vampires' existence. The story was afterwards fully covered up by Edgar Wyndham, and the vampires returned to their unknown existence. (The Wolf-Shaped Bullet)

As a result of the Box Tunnel Massacre and how it had risked revealing the existence of supernaturals to the human world, the Old Ones began to plan to start a war between vampires and humanity over the Earth, and travelled from Bolivia to Barry Island for this planned war. However, the Old Ones were wiped out by Annie Sawyer in an explosion at the warehouse where they were located; destroying the vampires' plans for a war against humanity, (The War Child) and leaving the vampire society leaderless and vulnerable to manipulation by others such as the Department of Domestic Defence. (The Trinity)

Alternate timeline[]

BBC4x7 VampireFuturePropganda

The vampire's regime propaganda, with Hal Yorke as poster boy and the vampire symbol as an emblem, in the vampire-ruled alternate future. (Making History)

In an alternate timeline where the Old Ones weren't killed in 2012 and their plans to take over the Earth from humanity weren't stopped, the vampires began attacking humanity and taking over nations, until eventually they took control over the Earth. In this alternate future, the vampires formed a Nazi-like regime as the dominant species over humans and werewolves, complete with fascist-esque propaganda and horrific concentration camps for humans and werewolves. The vampires also fought against a human-werewolf resistance for control of the Earth in the aftermath of the vampire takeover, and by 2037, the vampires seemed to have the upper-hand in the war and take numerous resistance territories. (Eve of the War, Making History, The War Child)

Characteristics[]

Infection[]

Vampires reproduce by turning humans into new vampires by a process known as recruiting. The process of infecting a human with the vampire curse has not been seen directly, but vague details of the process have been indicated by attempted recruitments (No Care, All Responsibility) and mentions and remarks (Flotsam and Jetsam, The Trinity). When a human is on the brink of death, a vampire can recruit that person by introducing some of their vampiric blood into the person's body. Though in most instances the cause of the person's dying state before being recruited is being bitten and fed on by a vampire, it can alternatively be a conventional cause such as deadly head trauma or a slash to the neck, without a vampire bite being necessary to recruit the person.

Mitchell

John Mitchell, a 117-year-old vampire who was turned at the age of 23.

Afterwards, the person is clinically dead for a matter of hours. During this time, they have visions of the Men with Sticks and Rope, which is very traumatic for them. Upon awakening, the person is a new vampire. New vampires may initially feel nauseated upon awakening due to their blood pressure dropping and their heart rate decreasing, and their new craving for blood will apparently set in practically immediately. (The Trinity)

Behaviour[]

After being recruited, at least some aspects of a vampire's mind will stay at the level of maturity it was on the day he or she was recruited; decades or even centuries later. For example, the vampire Adam Jacobs, despite being forty-six, behaved like an adolescent, as he was recruited when he was sixteen; and Hetty, who was recruited as a little girl, apparently still liked to draw ponies at the age of 465 (though this may have been sarcasm).

Usually, when they're on blood, vampires kill humans without a bad conscience and enjoy the rush and sensation of killing and destroying life. If a vampire kills and drinks blood, they also don't suffer from "bad" emotions, like guilt, loss, loneliness, grief or sadness. However, most vampires take care when killing to avoid drawing too much attention and sparking a big investigation.

Not all vampires want to kill at all. They can either attempt to fight their bloodlust and become clean of blood, or drink blood from humans without killing them. Though blood-dry vampires would appear in numerical terms to be rare, it was implied by Nick Cutler that it's actually common for it to happen to a vampire once at some point in their immortal life, but it virtually never lasts indefinitely before the vampire falls back to their bloodlust. (Making History) Staying clean of blood is very hard for vampires, since the withdrawal causes the memories of all the people they have killed and all the atrocities they have committed to come back to their mind. These "clean" vampires also have to deal with their "bad emotions" again, including their guilt and horror over the death and grief and other atrocities they caused/committed when on blood.

Many vampires viciously enjoy bullying, beating up, degrading and even killing werewolves. However, it would appear that these sadistic and prejudiced tendencies towards werewolves are down to the effects of drinking blood, since vampires have a much better, more stable and non-prejudiced attitude towards werewolves when clean of blood.

It is common for a newly-recruited vampire's infector to look after and tutor the new vampire. For example, the vampires William Herrick and John Mitchell kept a close partnership for over fifty years after Herrick recruited Mitchell during the First World War, and the fact that Mitchell did not do this for Lauren Drake, a vampire he had recruited, was seen as harsh and poor form by Herrick.

Diet[]

BBC5x1 CrumbAfterFeedingForFirstTime

Crumb after killing and feeding for the first time as a vampire. (The Trinity)

Vampires possess a biological drive to consume human blood, similar to drug addiction, except it's a natural craving that's a part of their nature. Normally, unless they have rejected and tamed their bloodlust, vampires are driven to regularly consume large quantities of human blood.

It is apparently not the blood itself that quenches a vampire's thirst, but the life force in it from the human. Due to this, vampires find blood that has been removed and stored for more than a few hours much less satisfactory than fresh blood consumed directly from a live human victim. Vampires can also feed on other vampires' blood, but it is likewise apparently less satisfactory than human blood.

Ingesting blood, more specifically live blood provides a certain high for vampires; live blood allows vampires to perform physically strenuous activity with greater ease and for longer (Damage) and makes them more resilient to harm (Where the Wild Things Are). Drinking live blood also improves vampires healing process (Bad Moon Rising). Vampires who drink massive quantities of blood, or drink blood after enduring withdrawal, then it will temporarily cause aggressive mood changes in the vampire's actions and demeanor.

Though they immensely and addictively thirst for blood, vampires don't biologically-speaking need it for sustenance, and can survive dry of blood without any detrimental effect on their physical health for decades. Although, vampires abstaining from blood will have an intense craving for it and experience symptoms similar to drug withdrawal if they fail to consume blood after a great amount of time. This craving has been shown to cause extreme pain and cramps, and can even cause hallucinations in the very earliest stages (though these leave after a time).

There isn't any known vampire who has managed to not drink blood at all. At a certain time, all of the vampires have given in to their bloodlust. However, there are some vampires who stayed dry for a long time. Hal Yorke didn't consume blood for 57 years, Carl for more than 20 years, and Mitchell for eight years.

Biology[]

A vampire's normal heart rate is only one beat per minute, although it would appear they can cause their heart to beat faster in order to mimic a human heartbeat. When Mitchell was hospitalised after being attacked by Herrick, doctors initially couldn't find his heartbeat when they were trying to operate on him. When he was later shown in bed and hooked up to a heart monitor, the machine was bleeping in a regular rhythm, as would be expected of a human. This would imply that vampires can learn to control their heart rate to some extent. (Bad Moon Rising)

Vampires' bodies are apparently biologically dead, true to the lore of vampires being undead. George himself, when recollecting what he'd felt when he'd killed Herrick in his wolf form, remembered that Herrick's blood was cold. (Bad Moon Rising) Vampires' undead state immunises them against succubi's life-draining ability and allows a vampire to survive sex with a succubus. (Hold the Front Page) It also means that ghosts can apport vampires with them when teleporting, since ghosts can only teleport non-living things. (The War Child)

Appearance[]

4x8mrSnow

Mr. Snow, probably the oldest of the vampires, has developed a slightly decayed complexion due to his millennia-long ancient life as a vampire. (The War Child)

Vampires are usually physically indistinguishable from humans. However, when a vampire is aggravated or about to attack, they will "manifest"; their eyes will flash all-jet-black for several seconds or less, their upper-canines will be replaced by a pair of lengthened fangs, and they will be able to produce a hissing sound from their throat.

Each vampire's body is physically frozen at the age it was on the day they were recruited, regardless of how far beyond that age they've lived since being recruited. It was also once implied by a conversation between Hal and Adam that even vampires' physical fitness level doesn't change since being recruited. (Hold The Front Page)

Though vampires usually have no different physical traits from humans when not showing their vampiric eyes and fangs, it was implied that as vampires reach an ancient age, their physical bodies begin to slightly decay internally[1], and that this was the reason for the 3000-year-old vampire Mr. Snow's complexion (unnaturally pale skin, with black blood vessels visible beneath, and rotted teeth and nails). The 1000-year-old vampire Edgar Wyndham likewise showed unhealthy pale skin and darkening veins on his temples.

"Old Nick's Wink"[]

BBC3x5 HerrickOldNicksWink

Vampires have no reflection in mirrors due to 'Old Nick's Wink.' (The Longest Day)

Vampires' image cannot be captured by any sort of film, camera or mirror (although their reflection can still be seen in semi-reflective surfaces). According to Hal, this is because the Devil takes away their reflection as a way of reminding them that their souls belong to him due to the pact with the Devil from which the vampire race started, and vampires jokingly call their lack of reflection "Old Nick's Wink".

However, while vampires' image cannot be reflected or captured directly, if a vampire is wet and covered in water, then the water on their body will give an outline of them in photos.[2]

In actuality, "Old Nick's Wink" can be either a strength or a weakness depending on the situation; a strength, in that their image cannot be traced photographically through the ages, but a weakness, as it can reveal them in situations in which a mirror image or photograph is expected, such as a photographic ID card. Therefore, the vampire society holds it as a top priority that vampires are not arrested after killing their victims, as police mug shots taken would reveal the vampire race's existence to the human world.

Abilities[]

  • Enhanced to Superhuman Strength - Vampires possess vastly increased physical strength that surpasses humans' and werewolves' in human form. The strength of a vampire increases as they age. A young and newly-turned vampire, Lauren Drake, was able to lift an adult male high above the ground with a single hand, (Flotsam and Jetsam) a feat repeated by a 117-year-old vampire; John Mitchell, with even less effort (Another Fine Mess). Vampires are noticeably stronger than humans; as it required a large group of police officers to restrain a 117 year old vampire (Though the Heavens Fall). Two vampires over 90 years of age killed and mutilated 20 full grown adults; slaughtering them within minutes and with minimal effort, showing no evidence of injury afterward (Damage). Mr. Snow, a 3000-year-old vampire was far stronger and easily tore a human open one-handed (The War Child).
  • Enhanced Durability/Invulnerability - Vampires are impervious to most forms of damage to the body, with the exception of wood piercing their heart, severe mutilation, and decapitation; Vampires have been shown to survive stabbing with wooden stakes (as long as the stake does not pierce the heart), although this still weakens and immobilises them (Bad Moon Rising, The Last Broadcast). Vampires can also endure most forms of blunt force trauma without any hinderance, allowing a Vampire to endure a car collision that would hospitalize a human, practically unharmed, (Another Fine Mess) and, according to Hal, shooting a Vampire, even through the heart wouldn't slow them down (Being Human 1955). The sustenance Vampires gain from live blood strengthens their resilience and recovery (Where the Wild Things Are), Vampires who abstain from blood are weaker (Flotsam and Jetsam).
  • Enhanced Senses - Vampires possess keener senses than humans, having demonstrated such exceptional hearing and sense of smell. A vampire can detect sounds humans cannot; such as hearing an oncoming car over a crowd of shouting people when no one else could (Another Fine Mess), and, especially when thirsting for blood, hear the sound of someone's heartbeat (Flotsam and Jetsam). Vampires can sense a werewolf's presence purely by smell, as werewolves give off a unique scent that only vampires can detect. Vampires can also detect aromas such as cigarettes even when only trace amounts are present (A Spectre Calls), catch the scent of blood from far away (The Pack), and can tell if a vampire has been drinking blood purely from how they smell (Another Fine Mess).
  • Clairvoyance - Like all other supernatural species, vampires are aware of, and able to constantly perceive ghosts. In fact, the supernatural perception of vampires seems to be more developed than werewolves' or ghosts'; as vampires are often able to identify werewolves on sight and can likewise identify ghosts instinctively, whereas supernatural species such as werewolves and ghosts are required to work out if someone is a supernatural upon encountering them.
  • Vampire Mind Control - An ability that has only been displayed by a single vampire; Mr. Snow, a 3000 year old vampire possessed the ability to control and command the actions of any vampire (The War Child). He was able to command any younger vampire, even one as old as Hal Yorke to do whatever he suggests. The exact extent of this ability is unknown, such as if it affects beings other than vampires, or if it is an ability that only Mr. Snow has access to. It is possible that all vampires will develop this ability when they reach such an ancient age.
  • Regeneration - A vampire's blood pressure drops exponentially, and their heart only beats once every minute, however this will not kill them due to their condition enhancing their healing process to an exceptional degree (The Trinity). Vampires, while able to be injured, are never seen to develop permanent or long lasting blemishes such as scars, even non fatal burns, injuries caused by werewolf blood will eventually heal. It also seems that feeding on blood will initiate the healing process, as it has allowed a vampire to recover from near fatal injuries like being stabbed with a wooden stake (as long as it doesn't pierce their heart) (Bad Moon Rising).
  • Immortality - Vampires are effectively immortal. Each vampire's body is physically frozen at the age it was on the day they were recruited, regardless of how far beyond that age they have lived since being recruited. Vampires also seem to be immune to all forms of human disease, they're never seen to develop sickness, and seemingly possess the same vitality they had before they were recruited. It was once implied during a conversation between Hal and Adam that vampires' physical fitness level do not change after they have been recruited (Hold The Front Page).

Weaknesses[]

Though formidable, vampires do possess a number of weaknesses; ranging from irritating to fatal.

  • Sunlight - Vampires can survive in sunlight, although they tend to stay covered up. John Mitchell was often seen in daylight wearing heavy coats and sunglasses, even when it was not necessary to wear such items.
  • Religious symbols - Vampires are repelled by religious symbols and writings, almost to the point of pain. These symbols can be of any religion; for example, George Sands' Star of David and verses from the Christian Bible were both simultaneously capable of repelling vampires. However, a religious symbol will not affect a vampire whom its owner holds love, friendship and/or affection towards. (Bad Moon Rising) It is also known that the more vampires there are, the weaker the religious symbol's repelling effect on them altogether is. (Where The Wild Things Are) Elder vampires such as the Old Ones are unrepelled by religious symbols as well. Vampires can use humans' bodies, which aren't repelled by religious symbols, as barriers against said symbols' repelling effect on them. (Hold the Front Page) Also, when Herrick temporarily forgot that he was a vampire, he was unfazed by George Sands' Star of David. (Series 3)
  • BBC4x8 CutlerBurnsFromEnteringWithoutPermission

    Cutler is severely burnt by entering a private residence without invitation. (The War Child)

    Invitation - Vampires cannot enter a private residence unless they have been invited in; otherwise, crossing the threshold will severely burn and mutilate the vampire and cause them extreme agony, although it does not seem to be fatal. (The War Child) However, once a vampire has been given permission to enter the private residence, they do not need to re-acquire the invitation to enter a second time, and can re-enter and exit as they please. (The Graveyard Shift) Through unknown means, vampire who become an Old One are able to enter a private building uninvited without being harmed (The Wolf-Shaped Bullet). Vampires are also unable to walk on consecrated ground, such as a church or any other place of worship. (All God's Children)
  • Garlic - Although garlic does not pain a vampire, vampires display some degree of disgust for garlic, as John Mitchell was shown to cringe away from the garlic in Anthony McNair's van (The Pack).
  • Physical trauma - Though it wouldn't kill them permanently like staking would, immense and severe physical trauma (such as decapitation, being mauled by something as strong as a transformed werewolf, or being fatally caught in an explosion) can kill a vampire.
    3x8 HerrickStakedDisintegrates

    A vampire disintegrates into ash upon being killed by a wooden stake or werewolf blood. (The Wolf-Shaped Bullet)

  • Wooden stake - A vampire can be killed permanently by a wooden stake piercing through the heart. When this happens, the vampire's body disintegrates and it dies, leaving just dust and the vampire's clothes behind. According to Herrick, vampires cannot be resurrected from staking.
    • Wood - It has been implied that even if it doesn't fatally pierce their heart, injuries inflicted with wood are still very harmful to vampires; a stake to the chest that misses the heart will still excruciatingly cripple, immobilise and severely weaken a vampire; where being shot, stabbed or impaled by an object of any material other than wood has been said to barely faze a vampire. Hal also specified that weapons not made of wood, such as metal knives, won't do when killing a vampire (Where The Wild Things Are, No Care, All Responsibility, The Last Broadcast)
  • Werewolf blood - Werewolves' blood is extremely toxic to vampires, corrosively burning their skin and bodily tissues like acid. It can kill them if they ingest it or if the blood is projected directly into their faces. When a vampire dies due to fatal injury from werewolf blood's acidity to them, their body disintegrates to ash just as they would from a wooden stake to the heart. (Eve of the War, The Greater Good, The Last Broadcast) Non-fatal burns to a vampire's body caused by werewolf blood also do not seem to heal as quickly as conventional wounds to a vampire would, and it has been implied that these burns last for a significantly long time. (A Spectre Calls)

Resurrection[]

If a vampire has been killed by a method other than staking, then they can be revived and restored if a sufficient amount of other vampires' blood is allowed to drip onto their remains. This resurrection process also appears to regenerate the vampire's corpse, as after Herrick was resurrected from being ripped apart by George Sands in the latter's wolf form, his body's severed parts had been rejoined, and his body was in perfect condition despite having been dead for several months. (All God's Children)

After a vampire has been resurrected, they will be in an amnesiac state in which they do not remember their vampirism or their former life. (Series 3) It also appears that religious symbols do not affect vampires in this amnesic state. However, if and when a vampire feeds on enough human blood after their resurrection, they will regain their lost memory and personality, and their killer instincts will return. (Though the Heavens Fall, The Wolf-Shaped Bullet)

Post-mortem[]

Unlike humans, werewolves or zombies, vampires have never been known to appear as ghosts upon dying and then have a door to the afterlife. However, despite this, it has been implied that vampires' souls do actually live on after their deaths on Earth and share the same fate as other souls: to go to Purgatory and face the actions they'd committed on Earth, until their final resting place is decided. (Lia)

Cure[]

A dream world engineered by Captain Hatch depicted that since vampirism originates from the Devil, destroying him would cause vampires to become human again. However, as this world was an illusion, it is unknown whether or not killing the Devil would have cured vampirism in reality. Otherwise, there is no known cure for vampirism. (The Last Broadcast)

Additional information from the official Being Human novels[]

Immunity[]

There are a very few humans who are immune to vampirism; these immune humans' blood is poisonous to vampires, causing any vampire who drinks their blood to die.

The Taint[]

The Taint is the sweetest blood. It's absolutely addictive for every vampire. When they smell a human with this blood, all they can think about is feeding and they can't control themselves anymore. Humans only have the "Taint" when their blood is poisoned, for example when they are bitten by a very rare spider. That's why no one has heard of the "Taint" for centuries.

Supernatural relationships[]

Werewolves[]

Vampires and werewolves have been shown to have a very hostile relationship with each other, seemingly lasting millennia. Most of the time they have a contempt for each other. Even in relatively civil interactions, werewolves are seen as dirty and unclean animals by vampires, and as inferior creatures. Vampires commonly insult werewolves and call them dogs, and are known to physically and viciously attack werewolves in streets and alleys merely for fun, and to use several other cruel and brutal forms of prejudice, attack, humiliation and injustice towards werewolves; among which are the Werewolf Fights. It is known that one major, organised conflict took place between werewolves and vampires in Europe from 1911 to 1918, until both sides called a ceasefire in order to find the source of the conflict and bring it to an end.

The most likely reason for the hatred that vampires have for werewolves, aside from repulsion and prejudice, stems from that fact that although a vampire is on average stronger than a werewolf in the latter's human form, a fully-transformed werewolf's strength greatly exceeds that of a vampire. It was implied that vampires' hatred for werewolves is more fundamental and instinctive than personality-wise; as Crumb, when a newly-recruited vampire, seemed slightly repulsed by the first werewolf he met despite most likely not knowing about werewolves yet before this.

If vampires do not kill and drink blood they seem to have a better relationship with werewolves. All clean vampires seen have a good or okay relationship with werewolves. During their clean times, Mitchell, Carl and Adam enjoyed to spend time with the werewolves Nina and George. However, after Mitchell committed the Box Tunnel 20 Massacre and killed a lot of humans, he suddenly acted mean to and shouted at George because the latter was a werewolf. Similarly, Hal when in his 'Good Hal' persona and clean of blood was shown to not at all mind werewolves' company or see them as inferior, while his 'Bad Hal' personality saw werewolves as animals and beasts of burden and treated them as such. It is possible that the difference in behaviour towards werewolves when a vampire is on blood and is clean of blood is because the vampires can control their instincts better when they are clean and aren't killing.

Ghosts[]

Vampires have a small amount of awe and fascination towards ghosts. One vampire curiously questioned Annie Sawyer on what it is like being a ghost and continued to politely ask her other questions. Vampires and ghosts have both experienced death and seen the Men with Sticks and Rope. This makes them feel close to each other. Since ghosts can usually only be seen by supernatural creatures, they enjoy being recognised, known and seen by vampires. However, the relationships can also be quite difficult, since a lot of ghosts don't like vampires who kill humans. So some vampires want to stop killing (Mitchell, Hal, Crumb) or pretend that they do not kill anymore (Hal, Mitchell), others simply lose interest in the ghost after they realize that the ghosts are not satisfied with their way of living. (Seth)

Demons[]

Vampires are aware of demons, and regard them and their halfbreed offspring with a level of awe and fear. This is most likely because demons' abilities are both powerful and unpredictable, and capable of influencing vampires with little effort. Hal Yorke was terrified of the succubus Yvonne Bradshaw and her abilities, even though she was unaware of her true nature, because her obsession-inducing power threatened to drive Hal to kill again. Demons are implied to regard vampires and werewolves as an indirect food source, as the Devil was known to feed on their strife and conflict.

Succubus[]

Vampires are the only creatures a succubus, or incubus, can achieve a safe and normal romantic relationship with. While vampires are still susceptible to the magical influence of a succubus, causing them to all madly in love, their undead state prevents them from dying when the two species have sex. Also, as stated by Adam upon realizing the truth of Yvonnne, vampires apparently lose all interest in blood and are no longer bothered by it, suggesting the influence of a succubus removes the hunger. This makes the two species perfect for eachother, as shown with the relationship between Adam and Yvonne: vampires can be free from the hunger and live a normal life, while a succubus can have a real relationship with someone without killing them. However, a vampire can have a fear of being away from the succubus, as shown by Adam, due to the influence and can have sme difficulty with the truth of their feeling towards the succubus.

Humans[]

Humans are a food supply for the vampires. A lot of vampires enjoy killing them and feeding from them. Some vampires, however, out of conscience, wish to avoid harming and killing humans. Said vampires may even form a friendship with humans, (Mitchell and Josie, Mitchell and Bernie) or romance (Hal and Alex, Mitchell and Lucy, Mitchell and Lauren, Mitchell and Becca) though the vampire's hunger for blood always puts the relationship in danger. It is not seldom that a vampire kills his human lover (Hal and Sylvie) or that the human lover is killed by another vampire (Alex), or that the human can't deal with the fact that the vampiric lover has killed other humans before (Lucy).

List of known vampires[]

Book vampires[]

Trivia[]

Vamping_It_Up_-_Being_Human_Series_1_Behind_The_Scenes

Vamping It Up - Being Human Series 1 Behind The Scenes

Vamping It Up; behind the scenes on Being Human's vampires.

A lot of the vampire behaviours and abilities for Being Human were changed from pop-culture norms because of a limited budget. Toby Whithouse loved that the TV series True Blood had much more traditional vampires which can't go out on sunlight. He mentioned that this was not possible for the BBC series, as filming at night is very expensive and they did not have enough money for it. That's why they have decided that Being Human's vampires could walk in the sunlight, although they still do not like this. Another change made because of budget reasons, is that vampire can be reflected in semi-reflective surfaces such as windows. It was simply too expensive to cut out all of the reflections, so they deceided that vampires just could not be captured by mirrors, videos and photo cameras. [3][4]

In the original pilot, vampires appear to have a form of superhuman speed. However, this could have been done for a more drama.

References[]

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