Vampire (Blade)

Vampires ("homines nocturnae") of the Blade movie universe are an offshoot of humanity with their progenitor being the entity Drake (aka Dracula, Dagon), a Sumerian who was worshipped as a god. His progeny are the pure bloods, while those beings who are bitten by Drake or his descendants are byproducts of vampirism.

Overview

As stated, vampirism is a virus that can be transmitted through the saliva of the vampire (similar to the enzyme found in the saliva of Marvel Comics vampires), and into the prey through incisions in the neck made by their fangs when feeding. Once infected, if not fully drained, it takes approximately 72 hours for the virus to mutate the soon-to-be vampire, transforming them into a new life form, one that feeds on the blood of humans in order to replenish their haemoglobin, which is not produced in the body of a vampire. Vampires can eat human food, but it has little to no nutritional value. Along with "The Thirst", vampirism also endows someone with an improved metabolism and biological functions that grant it a much increased longevity, superhuman physical and mental capabilities, extraordinary fighting abilities, and the ability to recover from tremendous injury in a relatively short amount of time, all of which are directly granted via new specialized organs that are created during the mutation process.

The vampires in the "Blade" films and "" are also much stronger and faster than humans, displaying impressive physical strength to jump and leap great distances and deliver blows and strikes that can knock a full grown man across a room and moving fast enough to side-step bullets. Their pounces and throws can make concrete crack, such as when Drake slams Blade to the floor. They possess impressive physical resilience, shrugging off injuries that would kill a normal human, with the wound only slowing them down. Injuries they receive recover quickly, taking less time than it would for humans or even regenerating lost body parts, a process which is sped up by the consumption of blood. Vampires can perform amazing feats of agility. In the sequel, vampire assassins display superhuman maneuvers in their battle with Blade. Their senses are also refined and heightened to a very high degree. In the series, it is shown that vampires can perceive things in the ultraviolet spectrum. Depending on what Tribe they come from, vampires will possess specific strengths and drawbacks, in addition to their inherent abilities. These vampires, especially the Reapers, have also been shown to be able to scale almost any surface, in the same manner as spiders. On occasion, they have been shown to be able to do so without the aid of using their hands and standing up straight while mounted on the wall (as seen in "Blade: The Series").

Despite their impressive physical and mental abilities, they have many drawbacks. They are hyper-allergic to silver, sunlight, garlic, and EDTA. The allergic reaction is so severe that it causes vampires to spontaneously combust and turn into ash. Deacon Frost, however, was able to temporarily suppress his weakness to UV rays by wearing sunblock. They are also addicted to blood, which acts as sustenance and a drug for them. This is seen in its extreme with the Reapers who are so dependent on human and vampire blood, that not having it in their system causes their metabolism to burn faster and cause rapid deterioration to their body.

Vampires in the Blade films and TV series are not affected by religious symbols such as crucifixes. This is due to the depiction of vampirism as a biological species and not a supernatural affliction. Other abilities traditionally associated with vampirism such as turning into mist or a bat are also not depicted.

Because of being intricately tied into human society, vampires essentially have their hands and fingers pulling the strings behind the scene. It has been suggested that vampires co-exist in what might be considered a peaceful relation with humans, seeing as how the police are under the control of vampires, as well as quite possibly the military, and most humans, unless directly affected by vampires, don't seem to care, let alone are aware of the existence of vampires.

Since they are involved with so many different fields of society and technology, the vampires of the Blade world for the most part, with a few exceptions, lead hi-tech lives as seen throughout the movies and series.

Pure Bloods

Vampires are divided into two specific species categories: pure blood and non-pure blood (turned), which in turn, carries with it a specific connotation that is reflected in their society and hierarchy. As seen in the "Blade" films and in "", pure bloods are born-vampires, offspring that were conceived between two turn-blood vampires.

The regenerative abilities of vampires somehow affects their birth-rate, making the birth of vampires a somewhat rare occurrence. If the vampires bred at the rate humans do, then most, if not all vampires would be purebloods. As it is, most vampires were turned and the purebloods constitute only a fraction of the population. The House of Chthon, for example, being the largest and most powerful House in North America, had only six purebloods, including Charlotte.

Because they are born vampires, they age physically slower than humans (Charlotte, a pure blood vampire of the House of Chthon in "Blade: The Series", is about 300 years old and still maintains the youthful appearance of an adolescent girl, meaning that a pure-blood vampire that looks like a full-grown adult is truly ancient).

Pure bloods do not feel remorse or various other negative human emotions because they weren't turned and the memories from a former existence don't carry over as phantom pains. Another upside to being a pure blood is being able to regenerate from birth, meaning that unless injured with silver, they will heal and leave no scars or damaged tissue, appearing to be flawless. They also apparently can see in light levels considerably below that of human visibility. Pure bloods are very capable of siring offspring through reproduction and through turning, as with non-pure bloods, although it should be noted that the birth-rate between mating purebloods is so low that it's practically non-existent.

It should also be noted that pure bloods of specific Tribes are born with specific attributes, unique to those Tribes.

Because of the purity of their blood, and their unique nature, pure bloods are essentially the rulers of the vampire Houses and its major power-players, while non-pure bloods are essentially the lackeys, minions, and/or lieutenants within their respective Houses. Because of this gap in genetic and blood purity, pure bloods tend to look down on the non-pure bloods and the non-pure bloods look at the pure bloods with equal disdain, although many of the "turned" see the purebloods as superior, viewing them with such reverance, as to even consider them to be the gods of their world.

Known Pure Bloods

*Drake (aka Dracula, Dagon)- The first vampire, the oldest of the pure bloods; was killed by Blade, using Daystar, which in turn, affected all of the nearby vampires.
*Gitano Dragonetti — Former head of the House of Erebus. Was de-fanged, and then exposed to sunrise; dying in a rather gruesome manner, before exploding and turning to ash.
*Charlotte — One of the pure bloods of the House of Chthon. Was ashed by Blade, using one of his UV Glaives.
*Damek — The last remaining pureblood of the House of Armaya. Was ashed by Marcus during a fight, using a Tomahawk.
*Alex — House of Erebus. Considered something of a maverick by the other purebloods of Erebus, he spent his time trying to distance himself from the others of his House, whom, according to him, were becoming increasingly conservative out of a growing fear of losing their grip. He was killed in a gruesome experiment to test the refined Aurora vaccine/Retroviral weapon.
*Elder Member of House of Erebus- Killed by Mercury for insulting her.
*Overlord Eli Damaskinos - An old vampire lord, with undetermined political power. However it is said that he was a human and that he killed the vampire leaders and took over the nation which mostly make's him leader of all houses.He shows unusual physical traits, the stranger being his greenish blood. He's killed by his mutated son, Nomak.
*The Bloodpack — Slain in their attempt to neutralize the Reapers. Priest is bitten in the House of Pain when he underestimated a reaper's strength. Blade shoots out a window, exposing him to sunlight which incinerates the vampire. Asad is killed in the sewers while wading though a pool of water with Nyssa. Lighthammer is bitten and injured, but not telling the others he was injured. Lighthammer becomes a reaper and kills Snowman. Verlaine kills herself and reaper Lighthammer. Chupa becomes the closest with Reinhardt, the former leader and member of the Bloodpack who despises Blade with a passion, more so than any of the other Bloodpack members, after Priest dies and wishes to kill Whistler to even the score. In the sewers, after Blade splits the team in groups, Chupa (with Reinhardt's help) separates Whistler from the group and proceeds to beat Whistler for losing Priest, screaming "We lose a partner and Blade loses one!" Chupa proceeds to beat Whistler to a pulp. However, the older man releases reaper pheremones into the air. As Chupa is about to finish Whistler off with an M16, reapers swarm the sewers and maul Chupa to death, allowing Whistler to escape. Reinhardt is sliced in half by Blade, while Nyssa is bitten by her reaper brother and decides to die at sunrise.
*The twelve House of Erebus Leaders, who were used in the ritual to empower Deacon Frost and make him La Magra, the vampire Blood god. Another elder was originally to be sacrificed in the ritual.
*Overlord Rusk and the House of Chthon Conclave Delegates- Representatives of the House of Chthon; All very old and powerful Purebloods; who were killed by Blade, using Marcus Van Sciver's Aurora Virus.

Reapers

Reapers were a new breed of powerful vampires created by Eli Damaskinos, dubbed "the Reaper strain," in a quest to eliminate the weaknesses of the vampire race. The Reaper strain was a developed form of vampirism which turned its carriers stronger and faster than normal vampires. The reapers have a thick case of bone covering their heart in the front and back, with only the sides being left open, making it near-impossible to be staked directly. All beings affected by the reaper strain gain a three way jaw, with the left and right sides of the mouth having fangs which inject a neurotoxin to paralyze their victims while feeding, which in turn transfers the strain into their victims from the bite. Transformation could take place anywhere between 48 to a few hours, theoretically depending on the victim.

Appearance and abilities

When the mouth is folded, a reaper would appear normal, excluding their greenish complexion. The obvious difference between them and common vampires was the thin scar beginning from their lower lip, ending at the base of the neck. A feeding tube with sharp teeth for penetration is used for feeding, but they're also capable of feeding like any other vampire. They're stronger and more agile than regular vampires, able to leap greater heights, crawl on walls, and take great damage with little or no signs of discomfort. A Reaper's only weakness appears to be direct contact with sunlight and/or ultraviolet rays, combusting almost instantly; although it is possible to stake them, their hearts are surrounded by a layer of bone that make it practically impossible to impale them with most conventional methods. The weaknesses of regular vampires, such as silver and garlic do not affect them in any way although EDTAs seem to cause them great discomfort. They also have heightened metabolisms which prompts them to feed and thus spread the virus, increasing their race at an accelerating rate. With the exception of the first Reaper Jared Nomak, Reapers can't talk, they screech. Also anyone infected will become a reaper even if they were killed. With regular vampires there is a slim chance one will not turn if bitten and if given garlic based compound early enough one won't turn.

Jared Nomak

Superherobox


caption=Luke Goss as Jared Nomak.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name= Nomak
debut= Blade II
creators= Guillermo Del Toro, David S. Goyer
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status= Deceased
alliances= Reapers
relatives= Eli Damaskinos (deceased), Nyssa Damaskinos (deceased)
powers= Superhuman strength, agility, endurance, and reflexes,
Heightened metabolism,
Vampirism. Impervious to garlic, silver and EDTA. Bone-armoured heart.|

Jared Nomak is the main villain for the 2002 film Blade II. He is portrayed by actor Luke Goss.

Nomak is of a new, more fierce species of vampires called Reapers. His vampirism evolved into a stage in which he feeds off vampires as well as humans, favouring vampires as prey. Blaming his father, Eli Damaskinos, for his evolution, he became a renegade and set out for revenge, transforming others into Reapers to help him along the way.

Because vampire elder, Eli Damaskinos, grew concerned about their growing numbers, he made a deal with vampire hunter, Blade. Blade was to take Damaskinos' elite pack of killers, originally trained to slay Blade, called The Bloodpack to hunt and kill Nomak and his pack of Reapers. Nomak initially offered an alliance to Blade saying "Is the enemy of my enemy my friend...or my enemy?", Blade replied by shooting him in the head however, but to no avail though due to Nomak's superior regenerative abilities. Nomak also spared Nyssa'a life as well. Nomak would again tell Blade they both want the same thing and shouldn't fight but then engage in physical battle with one another. He later reveals to Whistler that Damaskinos designed the reaper strain, and tested on his own son, himself. Nomak was the son of the vampire overlord and brother of Nyssa. He also passes Whistler a family ring, which is exposed, leaving Nyssa distraught at having no regards for his own children.

Nomak evaded their attempts to stop him and finally reached his father, killing him, then biting his sister Nyssa in the process to "complete the circle". Blade finally reaches Nomak and both face off in an intense physical battle with Nomak having much of the upper hand. Eventually, Blade finds Nomak's weakspot, the fact his heart is only armoured at the front and back, and jams his sword beneath his arm, penetrating the armor around Nomak's heart.

Nomak falls to his knees and says, "It's strange. It hurts... it hurts no more," referring to the burning, fever like pain he constantly feels as a result of his Reaper virus, before jamming the entire sword within his heart, killing himself in the process and ending his pain.

Powers and abilities

Being the first Reaper, Nomak seems to be in much more control of his bloodlust than the other Reapers he turns. Nomak also retains all of his higher brain functions, not only relying on his basic instincts to feed, but also being able to formulate plans and initiate dialogue, unlike those he has turned who although being able to attack and take orders, are unable to talk.

It is highly unlikely that any other Reapers would be able to show as much control as Nomak does, his DNA being the most "pure" of the Reaper strain and thus allowing him to exhibit greater powers and more control, as in the words of Blade, "He's the carrier...", a comment also referring to the fact the other reapers would die swiftly after a few hours without blood owing to their heightened metabolisms, while Nomak does not.