post Angel s1

We all know how a vampire is created: vampire drains human to point of death, human drinks vampire blood, human passes out/'dies' and at some point later (which can vary wildly) a new vampire rises from the grave, floor or whatever. The actual mechanics that turn what should be a dead human into a blood-sucking creature of the night are unclear. It is obvious that the vampiric blood is the key which in some way causes or facilitates possession of the human body by a demon but how? In the Anne Rice universe (see Queen of the Damned), the essence of the demon is passed from vampire to human through the medium of the vampire blood, with each new generation of vampires being weaker than the one before. While this *may* be true in the Jossverse, it seems less likely following Darla's return in To Shanshu in La. Darla was dusted some years earlier by Angel, and although various old horror films and the excellent series Ultraviolet suggest vampires can be brought back by mixing the remaining dust with the blood of another vampire, we have no evidence that anyone collected Darla's remains in the Bronze after she was dusted - or indeed that Darla's dust was used in the ritual that we saw. (It was not specifically mentioned while other things, e.g. human blood, were). This article discusses some implications of Darla's return and extrapolates an alternative theory of vampire creation as a result.

First things first - was it actually Darla that was brought back? We do not know for certain that the ritual was held to bring back Darla specifically or if she was brought back by random chance. We do not even know for certain that it is Darla that has come back and not just a being that looks like her. She seemed very nervous, disorientated and most un-Darla like in the scene at the end (but then again, so was Angel when he came back from Hell). However, the episode centred on W&H taking serious and concerted action against Angel. They 'used up' five whole vampires, summoned Vocah from the underworld and generated a lot of magic in order to bring 'Darla' back. It is doubtful that they would consider a creature with merely the outward appearance of Darla worth the trouble. On the other hand, Angel's sire, the individual that knows his history best and who may even have some sort of connection with him (Somnambulist) would make a great weapon in W&H's arsenal and would be worth the expenditure of resources. It therefore makes sense that it is the Darla we all know and love to hate (or as near as possible, see below) that is the intended result of the ritual.

Despite the fact that half of the ritual was in Latin (and therefore incomprehensible to many fans, including the author), two very important pieces of information can be gleaned from it - if the above assumption about Darla is correct: (a) that at least one vital non-corporeal part of a vampire survives and goes to Hell once the vampire has been dusted and (b) that it is possible to raise a vampire that has been destroyed without the need for any corporeal part of the vampire being present.

So which element(s) survive? Two candidates suggest themselves: the personality/memories (collectively referred to as the personality from now on) and/or the demon that possessed the body of the human once the soul departed.

Personality seems to have a part to play in the make-up of the vampire. From Doppelgangland we know that the personality is determined by the individual traits of the human before they were turned, albeit aspects that were maybe not explored before turning. When Willow meets her vampire self she is horrified: "That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and skanky ... and [whisper] I think I'm kind of gay", Buffy assures her that a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person they were before. Angel starts to correct this assertion "Well actually...", realises he's about to put his foot into a quagmire from which he may *never* emerge and changes his mind "... that's a good point" he finishes lamely. Certainly his "Well actually..." has been borne out by events in Season 4 with Willow's relationship with Tara.

We know from Angel that at least some demons have both corporeal and non-corporeal forms (I've Got You Under My Skin). Demons that possess human bodies in order to make them vampires must, by necessity, have a non-corporeal form. The demon that possesses the ex-human is what gives the vampire it's strength, agility, speed, immortality and (I'm guessing here) it's aversion to sunlight and crosses. We do not know how the demon and the personality interact to create the whole (if at all). My own feeling is that it is the demon's thirst for blood and its imperative to kill that calls the shots, with the personality determining what 'flavour' this will take; i.e. Angelus likes to be cruel, Spike is vicious and Dru is on another planet!

So how are the demons that will possess the next available undead body picked? It is likely that the opportunity to possess a human body in order to create mayhem on the Earth is seen as a desirable goal amongst many demons. If so, I doubt they form an orderly queue in order to decide who goes next. It is probably the most powerful and aggressive demons that win out. Demons are not noted for their co-operation and teamworking skills; we already know from The Dark Age that they are downright territorial and will not tolerate another of their kind sharing the same body. Such hierarchy as they have is based on stronger vampires enforcing their wishes on the others through sheer force of will or threats of violence. In theory, this would mean that each new generation of vampires would indeed be weaker as the worst and most powerful demons took the first available bodies. However, what happens when a vampire is dusted? Does this mean their one-and-only chance has gone or do they get multiple chances? If so, this probably means the most powerful demons just take the first available bodies again. This could explain how, for example, Evil Willow and Evil Xander - who can only be vampires of 2-3 years at most, are powerful enough to impose their authority on others and became favourites of the Master (The Wish). On the other hand, maybe force of personality has a role to play here as well.

This leads to the intriguing possibility that Darla II may not be *exactly* the same as Darla I. If her original demon is now non-existent, not allowed to return, or inhabiting another body, W&H would have had the option of specifically summoning a more powerful demon to inhabit Darla II (the ritual did seem to partially consist of a summoning circle). Combined with Darla's memories and her history with Angel, a Darla with a stronger demon inside her would make a formidable opponent for him. Conversely, it is also possible that the Darla II demon is weaker than Darla I's. Less likely is the idea that the original personality would be missing for all the reasons outlined in the second paragraph above. A third possibility is that once the demon does take possession, it and the personality combine to make a new whole which then jointly go to Hell on dusting.

Does all of this shed any light on the normal mechanics of making a new vampire? A little. As noted above, It seems highly unlikely that it is the blood itself that carries the demon. It seems far more likely that the demon is prompted/can enter the newly-undead body as a result of the soul leaving, some mystical/physical quality of the vampire blood, or a combination of both (Possibly acting in, say, the same way as a summoning circle? It is interesting how the ritual uses the same basic ingredients present in a normal turning, albeit with a lot more bells and whistles - human blood, existing vampires etc.). The most powerful demon 'available' then takes possession. We do not know anything about what happens next except for Angel's comment to Buffy in Some Assembly Required: "When you first wake up, it's a little disorientating...". This seems to imply "waking up" happens some time after the exchange of fluids and lapsing into death-like unconsciousness - possibly as a result of the demon taking possession. The level of disorientation experienced may depend on a variety of factors e.g. how 'bright' the original person was before it was turned, whether the demon has done this before (if possible), and the surroundings that the new vampire finds itself in. It is not hard to see how a new vampire would find being buried under several feet of earth more disorientating than waking up lying on a floor with their sire close by telling them what to do. Suddenly being called back from Hell with a newly-assembled body (possibly using the matter from the other 5 vampires?) without the normal preliminaries must be even more disorientating, which could go even further to explaining Darla's wild-eyed state.

Much of this article is conjecture and speculation. This is because while the ritual we saw in the To Shanshu in LA is an important addition to the mythos of the Jossverse, it also raises more questions than it answers. It's going to be interesting next season that's for sure.


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Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of the WB Network or perhaps Fox, maybe both. I'll leave them to work it out and contact me with the result. This web site, its operators and any content on this site relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement intended. This site is for entertainment purposes only and does not profit in any way.

The picture was taken from The Slayer Show and is © the WB.

The Above the Law banner is an altered form of a screen-cap taken from the The Slayer Show, the original screen-cap is © the WB.