One of the most popular and enduring icons of monster myth, vampires have a unique placement in our lore as a form of malevolent “un-dead”. Generally, vampires are depicted as human corpses physically come back to life, feasting upon their family’s, neighbors’, and friends’ vitality to continue their unnatural lifespan. As we have expanded upon the terms and conditions of what it means to be a vampire, we broadly include most forms of death-defying entities that parasitically siphon off human energy or fluids and cause harm to their hosts as a result.
Vampires are not Ghosts.
Ghosts are viewed as ethereal or psychic manifestations of the dead individual. Outside of the subtype of Poltergeists, ghosts cannot act upon the present world they are surrounded by, with very limited exception. Their presence and the precipitations of their presence is outside of their control. Most importantly, even the most malevolent of ghosts cannot siphon away a human’s energy or vitality, whether in fluids, or in psychic strength.
Vampires are not Incubi/Succubi.
Incubi and Succubi are commonly grouped with vampires to the extent that they are referred to as a subtyle of vampires in broadly-read books like ‘The Twilight Saga’. However, incubi and succubi have traditionally existed as a subtype of demon, an entity that has never possessed a soul, or existed in human form, and their theft of mortal sexual fluids is not for sustenance, but for the creation of more demon life. A common depiction of incubi and succubi suggests that they are not two discrete groups of demons with ‘male’ or ‘female’ characteristics, but are individual shape-changing entities that transfer the male ejaculate taken as succubi to their incubus forms for impregnating human women. Their nature and objectives clearly do not fall in line with those of a vampire.
Vampires are not Lamia.
Lamia (singular) was originally a Greek woman seduced by Zeus and given child by him. Zeus’s wife Hera cursed Lamia for this; she lost her child, and she transformed into an immortal predatory monster that consumed the flesh of human babies. Like many other myths, from the Sphinx to the Minotaur, the existence of a singular entity has in time devolved into the impression of a plurality, or a species.
