Angel s1e9

This question is rarely examined in depth on Buffy or Angel and the characters have a disturbing tendency to either tip-toe around it or resort to cliches.

Cliches range from Giles' "You're looking at what killed [the host]" to Angel's returning soul. Unless Joss drops a bombshell on the show, the safe assumption seems to be that even Vampires don't know what they are. The most popular theory on the 'net is the demon-possession one, and this certainly has its strong points (especially when tied to Pippin's corruption theory). Yes, this theory is very strong, but it seems to have several holes.

First, where are these demons coming from? We know that there are "hell" dimensions, and we know that there are demons, but many of these demons can cross to our world in limited form. How they can do this is worth a whole 'nuther analysis, but the fact is they can come accross and are stronger than vampires. As proof, I offer the dialogue in Angel's Hero episode, in which Vampires are referred to as the weakest of all half-breeds. Some may say that these lines don't indicate that Vamps are the weakest all *demons* just of the hybrids. I say that logic seems to indicate that full-breeds are stronger than half-breeds, and if you want to argue with that, well I love an open discussion, but you'll need more proof than wishful thinking. The point of all this is that demons don't need to become Vamps to wreak havoc on Earth--there are more efficient ways. Further, possession is not usual demon MO. Demons, as depicted in the Buffyverse have corporeal bodies; Vampire possesion acts more like some kind of spirit. The point is that these so-called "demons" do not act like demons as we know them. Ergo, logically, they are not demons as we have come to know them.

Secondly, we have to wonder why a demon would want to use any of the traits of the human. Perverting them, yes, that makes sense. But Vampires like Spike and the book-worm the Judge fried [Dalton], they display pure human emotions, like love and intellectual curiousity. I can't see any demon hanging on to these humanities.

Alright, so I've hopefully established that Vampires are not, we ought to look at what they are. Well, lets start with the easily quantifiable, their physical characteristics.

Vampires are basically human beings. They are not actually dead in the biological sense. They respire enough to smoke. They have some kind of circulation, as they experience intoxication and narcotic related effects. They heal at an accelerated rate. Despite this, they are somehow not alive. They have no pulse. They do not have enough breath to perform CPR. They cast no reflection. Well, how do reconcile these things logically? We don't. Its magic, it has its own rules, and these must fit them. Magic lets duality exist physically as well as spiritually. Trying to rationalize how all this can happen is a waste of time, the best course is simply to catalogue what we know.

Human Form: Virtually identical to normal humans in appearance. Doubtless somewhat stronger than they appear, but not at their maximum strength. They rarely, if ever, seem to try and tackle the Slayer when like this. They are ruthless, but not always as aggressive as when in combat.

Snarly Form: Obviously the combat form, it is stronger and possibly faster than the normal form. It has pronounced fangs. The theory we'll work from here is that form comes from "unleashing the beast" fully, super-charging the body with dark energy. This has the side affect of making Vamps more aggressive in this form (this is not conclusively proven, but it has circumstantial evidence in its favour, not the least of which is Angel's reluctance to assume this form).

Needing Blood: My theory here is that there is something magical about Earthly animals, especially humans. The human body cannot survive without this magic (for the reason why Vamps don't have this magic, see below). This energy is concentrated in the blood because it is the life fluid. Vamps drain it to renew their darkness-augmented-but-basically-human bodies. The enhanced darkness that is in their blood infects anyone who ingests it after losing some of their energy. This is how Vamps are sired.

Okay, now on to Vampire origins. This is highly theoretical, but unless I missed something it should make some sense. Earth not like the dimensions of light or darkness. Earth combines both. Everything on Earth is a composite of "evil" and "good" energies. What Vamping does is drains a large amount of that light energy, replacing it with darkness. This turns a balanced person into a demon-souled person. Depending on the original personality, shreds of it may remain (ironically, it seems that the more totally non-evil a human is, the more evil the Vampire is). Vampires are demons under this theory, but demons that are literally derived from humans. Theoretically the good parts of the soul like a conscience and the ability to love are consigned to limbo. When a Vampire is killed, the entire soul is reunited and the artificially enhanced evil fades and goes where-ever souls go. Things like the gypsy curse on Angel return the good parts of the soul without getting rid of the demonic parts. He has all the makings of a normal human, plus an extra dose of demon-ism.

Okay, now what kills or hurts a vampire and why?

First, wood through the heart. Why wood? Because it is organic and tough. Why the heart? Because it is the centre of the circulatory system (which contains the super-charged blood).

Second, severing the head. We rarely see this happen, but it works. The head contains the centre of the thought--without that centre, the body cannot hold together.

Third, crosses. Why crosses? I don't think it is Christian, or at least not entirely. The cross has come to symbolize something very simply and very strongly, and that quantity is an anathema to Vampires. I am talking about forgiveness of sins. Can you imagine any concept more sickening to a creature based entirely around causing pain. I can't.

Fourth, Holy Water. This one is a bit less clear, but since it seems to work for water blessed by any religious figure, so I'd say it has to do with purity.


Opinions

Vox
In relation to the elimination of vampires, Masquerade noticed on her site that in the episode Bad Girls that Balthazar draws a vamp minion towards his large belly and appears to snap his neck. Why did this kill him? I think for the same reason that severing the head does, it breaks the neural link between the body and the brain. Actually in this case the unlucky vampire in question would not have been killed (I don't remember that he actually crumbled to dust) rather that he was paralysed and then taken away to be disposed of. This theory relies on the demonic essence using the human nervous system to control their host bodies,. On such a picky question of metaphysiology I didn't think I'd find any supporting evidence from the show, but I was wrong. Insanity is medically explained by an imbalance in the chemicals in the brain, Drusilla was driven mad while she was still human and that madness continued on after she was turned (possibly also Kralik's addiction which was developed while human(?) was shared by the demon). Drusilla's demon must use her brain, if the demon had some other method of control then there would be no reason why she should be insane.


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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.

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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. the arteries and veins would still be the way blood is transported around the body. And perhaps the heart is also the stongehold of the demon (and perhaps how the demon kills the person in the first place) putting a stake through it would cause irreparable damage. But why not a knife wound. A knife cuts cleanly and damages a limited area, while a stake would tear a ragged hole. In addition, its organic nature may be at odds with the demonic virus (penicillin comes from mold).

Beheading: The body that the vamp demon inhabits is still basically human. If the spinal cord is broken, the body gets no more instructions and cannot function, and is therefore totally useless to the vamp demon, result instant death. However, if the cord is simply snapped, there maybe a chance for recovery. Spike had some sort of sinal cord injury that kept him in a wheelchair. The vamp in Bad Girls may have eventully recovered, a painful lesson but not a fatal one.

Crosses and holy water are tricker without putting forth a religious theory. But if the world didn't start out the way religion said it did maybe its a chicken and egg problem. Perhaps the reason holy water is holy, is because the 'spell' that makes it protects against vampires and demons. The crosses we have seen work (I think) are all either wooden or silver. Silver having magically properties of its own and as for wood, perhaps the shape focuses the mystical properties already in the wood.

Evil Willow 26/7/00
I've often wondered myself about where the "demon souls" of vampires came from. Were they summoned from Hell as the body dies, and consequently replaced the human soul as it escaped into the "ether" (from which Angel's soul was recovered)? If so, then why do they retain their human characteristics/names? (As refered to by Angel in Dopplegangland).

This question was somewhat answered for me in The Prodigal, where it is revealed that Angelus took the name "Angel" after his death, much as William the Bloody adopted the name Spike, and the Master (obviously) adopted his own nickname.

But still: this doesn't explain why many/most vampires choose to keep the names they held in their lifetime, as well as their some semblance of their personalities. (One example of this is Dalton, who not only wears glasses [I'm only assuming that this is somewhat of a personal quirk perhaps he truly does need them to see] but also retains his love of books, which make him "full of feeling". The Judge could kill him only because he still retained his human qualities. Willow and Xander also retained not only their names, but their close relationship and attachment to each other.)

I also reject this "demons from hell" theory because it emplies that there is no mind/body connection, embracing the Christian religon's view of the body as merely a vessel that the soul resides in until death. (Which doesn't explain why Angel's soul was in the "ether", but *does* explain the "vampires are afraid of crosses" thing, as a Christainity-based mythology.) Angel retained his memories of his time as Angelus, implying that the body *does* indeed have a link to the soul inside it.

My final theory on this: vampiric blood is a sort of catalyst to human blood, causing the human soul to "die" or escape, and another, demonic soul to emerge. Perhaps this demon soul is already a part of the human's psyche, the dark and primal killer part of the human mind/soul. As for the "snarly" thing--a side affect of the demon coming to fore, as proven by Spike enticing Anya to "Get me mad again" so that his vamp face will emerge. This is much akin to Oz's wolfy self emerging when he was angry--negative stimulation was needed to affect his physical appearance, and also to cause his primal self to emerge.


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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 Official Buffy website 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.