joss.whedons.vampires
Vampires - Joss Whedon Mythology
The following is gathered from "The Watcher’s Guide." "The Watcher’s Guide's" and "The Monster Book" ©™ are the property of Twentieth Century Fox Corporation. All are available for purchase at your local bookstore or from amazon.com. All rights reserved.
"When it came time for Joss Whedon to invent the mythology for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he chose what suited him. The greatest diversion from Stoker’s formula is that Whedon went back to the interpretation of ancient vampire mythology that few but scholars remember: some legends say that vampires are not humans at all, but demons who have taken up residence inside human corpses. From there, Whedon has built his own monsters. Built a better vampire, one might say, particularly since these vampires are not quite as all-powerful as their legendary and fictional forefathers.
"Well, I’ve got a newsflash, braintrust. That’s not how it works. You die. And a demon sets up shop in your old house. And it walks and talks and remembers your life, but it’s not you."
-- Buffy, to Ford, in "Lie to Me"
"Vampires, in the world of Buffy, cannot fly. They cannot turn to mist. They cannot shape-shift at all. Though they cast no reflections in mirrors, they do cast shadows. IN addition, they can be videotaped. While they do not actually need to breathe - at least not in the sense that humans do, with the intake of oxygen - their lungs do perform a function that simulates breathing. One possibility is that this process fouls whatever oxygen they do take in. It seems likely that the false act of "breathing" is somehow a comfort to them - and perhaps makes them feel less like the walking dead.
"Whedon’s vampires have a capacity for hypnosis, but some are much more skilled in its uses than others. Drusilla, for one, uses her hypnosis in Becoming, Parts 1 and 2 to great effect in the final episode of the second season, mesmerizing Giles into giving up valuable information and distracting Kendra long enough to cut her throat.
"Xander, listen to me. Jesse is dead. You have to remember that if you see him. You’re not looking at your friend. You’re looking at the thing that killed him."
- Giles, to Xander, in "The Harvest"
"A vampire isn’t a person at all. It may have the movements, the memories, even the personality of the person it takes over, but it is a demon at the core. There’s no halfway."
- Giles, in "Angel"
Like Stoker’s vampires, Whedon’s cannot enter a private home without an invitation, but once they have been invited, they can return at any time. The traditional vampire cannot enter houses of worship or tread on hallowed ground, and they fear religious symbols, particularly the Christian cross."
"We are defined by the things we fear. This symbol, these two planks of wood, it confounds me. Suffuses me with mortal dread. But fear is in the mind. Like pain, it can be controlled. If I can face my fear, it cannot master me."
- The Master, about the crucifix, in "Nightmares"
"Whedon’s creations have no problem entering a church, but touching actual consecrated earth causes them great suffering, and they do fear the cross. One thing Whedon’s vampire share with Stoker’s that many other creative imaginations have ignored over the years is the exposure to sunlight. In most recently created vampire mythologies, the sunlight will actually destroy a vampire. But for both Whedon and Stoker, in order for the sun to kill a vampire, it must be direct light. A heavily overcast day or some other kind of covering is sufficient to keep the creature alive for a period of time."
"I can’t fly. There’s no sure way to guard against the daylight."
- Angel, on airline flight, in "Surprise"
In addition, vampires have frequently been portrayed as having almost instant healing abilities, save for the stake through the heart. Whedon’s vampires can recover from just about anything, but it takes a lot longer to get there. Hence Darla’s comment in "Angel" that "Bullets can’t kill vampires. They can hurt them like hell…"
"As to the origins of the vampires themselves, Whedon, through the character of the Watcher, Rupert Giles, has a very specific idea of their origins:
"Toward the goal of returning their ancient ancestors to the Earth, the demons who reside within the vampires have created their own "families" and societies, tribes or clans of vampires who work and live together to further their chaotic impulses. As Buffy points out in "Lie to Me," however, "vampires are kind of picky about who they change." Frequently a clan will include a group of vampires and their "sire," the vampire who turned them into vampires in the first place. The best known vampire clan thus far in the Buffy mythology is the Order of Aurelius, which was led by the Master for centuries and whose Brethren, or adherents, have included Angel and Darla and, by implication, very likely Spike and Drusilla as well.
"Indeed, Joss Whedon seems to have purposefully moved away from the vampire fictions of recent years, finding a middle ground between ancient legends, Bram Stoker’s "rules," and his own unique twist on the subject. Witness, for example, the following exchange from "School Hard":
Angel: "I taught you to always guard your perimeter. You should have someone out there."
Spike: "I did. I’m surrounded by idiots. What’s new with you?"
Angel: "Everything."
Spike: "Come up against this Slayer yet?"
Angel: "She’s cute. Not too bright, though. Gave the puppy-dog, I’m all tortured act. Keeps her off my back when I feed."
Spike: "People still fall for that Anne Rice routine? What a world."
- Written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder
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