Vampire Physiology

Capabilities
User with this ability either is or can transform into an vampire, a being who subsists by feeding on the life essence of living creatures (often in the form of blood), regardless of whether the vampire is undead or a living person/being. While all vampires need some form of life-essence, the quality and quantity vary greatly: from daily to rarely, from needing lethal amounts to barely notable, from sentient blood freshly drained to rare steak.

Physically vampires are similar to their non-vampiric species, but exact changes their state causes vary greatly: more common effects include pale/white skin, glowing eyes (possibly chancing to golden or red), prominent canines or generally predatory appearance, but some have no visible changes at all, while others barely pass for a humanoid.

Mentally vampires vary from perfectly normal persons with unusual dietary requirements to predatory, calculating beings, to hunger-driven blood-junkies.

Generally vampires are physically imposing beings with excellent strength, speed, endurance and agility, excellent senses, extended living-span nearing ageless and high-level resistance to damage. Other abilities include ability to turn other beings into vampires (possibly involuntarily), mental abilities, transformation into animals or mist, etc. Note that vampires are able to learn Magic, so the variety of powers some have isn't so much result of them being vampires as their own studies.

Applications

 * Decelerated Aging or Semi-Immortality
 * Enhanced Condition or Supernatural Condition
 * Enhanced Agility
 * Enhanced Combat
 * Enhanced Durability
 * Enhanced Endurance
 * Enhanced Senses
 * Night Vision
 * Enhanced Speed
 * Enhanced Strength
 * Regenerative Healing Factor

Limitations

 * All need some form of life-force, but exact amounts and quality varies, as well as the consequences of not feeding. Some may feel nothing more than normal hunger, others age or weaken rapidly and some enter feral state that ends only after they have fed.
 * Vampires have traditionally several weaknesses, but how effective these are to individual vampire varies greatly:
 * Direct sunlight may cause instant Disintegration, burn like fire or prevent the use of supernatural powers. Originally, vampires had to sleep in their coffin during the day, and sunlight wasn't fatal, they were merely dormant during the day making it "easy" to sneak up on them.
 * Wooden stake through the heart. In most modern depictions, this is fatal; in the original folklore, it merely stops the vampire from leaving their coffin. In most of the older stories, one had to use a hammer or a grave digger's shovel to drive the stake in, which meant that vampire stakings mainly happened during the day when the vampire was asleep. In some cases a special specimen of wood is needed for the stake to be effective, commonly Hawthorn, and occasionally it needs to be blessed or enchanted.
 * Decapitation - and as a bonus point, this one isn't exactly exclusive to vampires; it conveniently works on almost any supernatural creature, and humans too. Then again, so does a stake through the heart...
 * Running water acts like a barrier they can't cross, though this might be circumvented by making others carry them.
 * Crosses, but not necessarily other religious symbols. In modern renditions, this is usually subject to the power of belief of the wielder, the vampire, both, or neither.
 * Certain plants or substances, garlic or silver being most common.
 * If vampires and werewolves are natural enemies, one may be vulnerable to their bite.

Known Users
Game

Shademan (Mega Man)

Shademan.exe (Mega Man Battle Network)

Demitri Maximoff (Darkstalkers)

Babette (Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Vampire Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds)

Lana'thel (Warcraft)

Darkfallen (Warcraft)

Nitara (Mortal Kombat)