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It is well-established that though a vampire possesses a heart, it does not pump and, accordingly, does not circulate blood through the vampire’s vestigial circulatory system. (Recall in the episode of Angel, when electro-Gwen kisses Angel, we, the gentle viewers (sorry), are given a rather graphic demonstration of Angel’s dormant heart as it is momentarily revived by Gwen’s high-voltage kiss. If the vampire heart does not beat, then, how, in Doppelgängland, does the tranquilzer dart that human Willow shoots Vampire Willow with cause her to pass out? Tranquilizers function by entering the blood stream, slowing heart rate and moderately depriving the brain of oxygenated blood, hence, the target of a tranquilizer gun loses consciousness. But, if the heart ain’t beating, the blood ain’t flowing, and the sedative is just going to pool in the spot where the dart hit, and the vamp should, logically, go about his or her merry way, slowed down not in the least. |
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| Suggested by: | › slightlyembarrased |
| Added: | › 14th September 2005 |
| Updated: | › 24th February, 2006 |
| Hits: | › 472 |
November 4th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Physiologically, the vampire would at least have a nervous system to function so isn’t it possible the dart gun drugs are absorbed throughout the body with blood having to carry it? Maybe because vampires drink blood, the tranq meds are carried through the digestive tract? Or maybe the writers are like “ok, get over it, we needed a way to stop her without killing her and vampires are part of our created universe so we can make it possible for tranquilizers to work on them if we want to…” Just a guess…
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:08 am
Well, it´s impossible to explain just HOW the vampires function since they´re actually living corpses. They don´t breathe, hence they don´t get any oxygen to the brain. So how are their brains then able to function properly?
As a sidenote, I remember Spike telling Buffy in s7 that his blood generally didn´t flow in the direction of his brain. So I guess vampires do have blood circulation without an active heart. Very strange! ;)
November 23rd, 2005 at 3:16 am
Very strange, yes, but that’s why we love ‘em!
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:04 am
In the episode of Angel entitled “I Will Remember You” (which shouldn’t have come so early in the series, as it was not earned yet at the point), Doyle makes an implication that vampires aren’t real. He doesn’t mean this in the most literal way, but it does suggest that vampires are not likely to be subjected to the same rules as humans, as far as how they function at least.
June 5th, 2006 at 10:41 am
I’ve always figured that, as mystical creatures, the symbol or meaning behind something effects vamps as much as the physical object. Thus, Vamp Willow is not effected so much by the actual tranq, but by the concept of the tranq. That make sense to anyone else?
August 1st, 2006 at 3:19 pm
That was ny exact thought in the season one Angel episode “I Fall to Pieces.” Angel is given a shot of something that is supposed to slowly disable the heart’s functions. The poison takes Angel out and “kills” him in a sense. We then, of course, get the big close up shot of Angel’s eyes opening again because his heart isn’t working anyway AND poison can’t kill him. One of my first thoughts was “Why does that affect him? You can’t stop what is already not functioning.”
I, too, wondered how male vampires could have sex if their blood didn’t flow. How in the world could it get to where it needed to be to perform the act? This problem, however, is easily explained away by “The blood still exists in their bodies so it just flows where it needs to go.” It’s a really easy “Vampires are just a little different” explaination.
It still doesn’t explain the former issue of the not-beating heart and poisons. That I will never get.