Are Vampires Overused?

[ToxicKetchup]

I feel like it's not that vampires are overused, just that they're not well executed. Vampires traditionally are meant to be very powerful, fearsome demonic creatures. In some versions of the old myths, some vampires couldn't even take human form.

[Guest endgameaddiction]

What has ruined such a fine tradition in fiction is people taking it and derailing it for the benefit of their wallet. It has happened with many great things out there. Using Vampires was just an easy target to draw attention to the majority of the people.

 

One day when the world grows much older and we have long been gone over centuries, the generation that exists then will only know the false side of the truth. Every foundation of such brilliance will have disappeared of it's originality because it has become so derailed that each new generation is taught what was learned from the generation before.

[GrimReaper]

What has ruined such a fine tradition in fiction is people taking it and derailing it for the benefit of their wallet. It has happened with many great things out there. Using Vampires was just an easy target to draw attention to the majority of the people.

 

One day when the world grows much older and we have long been gone over centuries, the generation that exists then will only know the false side of the truth. Every foundation of such brilliance will have disappeared of it's originality because it has become so derailed that each new generation is taught what was learned from the generation before.

 

I agree with the first part of your post, but disagree with the second part. If what you say there would be true, we would still be living in caves. History and the knowledge are more than just the last generation.

[Eth4rlad]

I sure remember how i groaned and rolled my Eyes when Dawnguard DLC was first announced. I never cared much for Vampires in TES. They sucked (so punny!) , they were mostly boring and being a Vampire in Morrowind was a nightmare.

 

Also Vampirism in general is a highly sexualized powerfantasy in contemporary fiction.

A whole plethora of mods made Vampires a bit more appealing to me in Skyrim, and Dawnguard in general is a pretty good DLC too.

 

I guess what it comes down to, for me at least: If you want to tell a story (to yourself by roleplaying a character or to a public) is being a Vampire integral to the story? Does it add anything or do you just want your Mary Sue to be a Vampire because it's cool even though it might add nothing or make the story silly and inconsistent.

[GrimReaper]

Vampires are the portrayal of the idea that evil is scheming, seductive and very powerful if you have no idea what you are dealing with. It's heavily influenced by religion as well, hence the whole stuff about being unholy and being scared of sacred things. It's like how Sherlock Holmes is the embodiment of the idea that everything can be explained through reason and observation.

 

Vampires are not cool. They're not sparkling teenagers with superpowers. They're evil. They use seduction and manipulation to get you where they want you and then proceed to feed on you and corrupt you in the process. Vampires are very weak when they can not operate wholly on their own terms. They are feeble, ugly corpses on the inside but appear as powerful and enticing on the outside. Take that away and you don't have a vampire anymore. It's like writing a story about a really stupid guy and then calling him Sherlock Holmes.

 

That's how I see it, at least. So no, vampires are not overused, but the term 'vampire' most certainly is.

[Coopervane]

 

So then the question of whether something is overused or not becomes moot, so long as the subject matter is handled well.

I feel like it's not that vampires are overused, just that they're not well executed.

 

That's it in a nutshell. People don't mind beeing told the same themed stories of the same characters, quite the opposite infact, there's a good reason why good stories and characters turn into wildly popular franchises that people will seek out time and again. But a bad story with bad characters is going to grate on our nerves before long.

 

There's nothing wrong with the Vampire as a trope, or even tropes in general, there's just been to many crappy stories and char's out there about them for a while now, which is why they have started to grate on peoples nerves.

Give it an influx of really good stories though, and people would turn around and get onboard again. That's usually how it goes.

 

Vampires are the portrayal of the idea that evil is scheming, seductive and very powerful if you have no idea what you are dealing with. It's heavily influenced by religion as well, hence the whole stuff about being unholy and being scared of sacred things. It's like how Sherlock Holmes is the embodiment of the idea that everything can be explained through reason and observation.

 

Vampires are not cool. They're not sparkling teenagers with superpowers. They're evil. They use seduction and manipulation to get you where they want you and then proceed to feed on you and corrupt you in the process. Vampires are very weak when they can not operate wholly on their own terms. They are feeble, ugly corpses on the inside but appear as powerful and enticing on the outside. Take that away and you don't have a vampire anymore. It's like writing a story about a really stupid guy and then calling him Sherlock Holmes.

 

That's how I see it, at least. So no, vampires are not overused, but the term 'vampire' most certainly is.

 

Partly yes, but Vampires have reprisented many things over the centuries, and have existed in many forms, and that's why it's hard to find even two people who'd fully agree on every aspect of what their ideal of "Vampire mythos" should look like.

 

To me personally, what i want from a Vampire is duality. I get easilly bored of vamps portrayed as mindless and shallow monsters, and just as bored of vamps that are just a shallow power-fantasy and anti-hero. I prefer my vamps to be both a person and a monster, as what i find interesting about them is the internal conflict and duality this angle offers, it's what set them above a "monster of the week" for me. But that's just what i'm looking for in my Vamps.

[Kendo 2]

I played through Dawnguard and the whole 'vampire-awesomeness factor' got old really quick.  All I wanted was some added lines of dialogue.  Something like, 'You do realize I ride dragons for sport, RIGHT?  I hunt your kind for potion ingredients.  That basically puts you on the same level as a SKEEVER.  So SHUDDUP, you don't scare me.'

[Guest]

 

I guess much in the same way I find zombies to be extremely overused and incredibly boring. But then again that's something I never cared for in the first place.

I'm a child of the 80s, I remember when zombie movies were like the cutting edge of horror, stuff like Zombie Flesh Eaters is responsible for 90% of my house security and light switch OCD and gave me nightmares throughout my teens. Only one vampire movie has ever haunted me like that, Salem's Lot. I've never found vampires scary....deliciously perverse yes, scary, not so much. 

[Guest Mogie56]

I'm a bit late to the party but, the only Vampire used up and out of date is a moderator on another site

Many feel the Vampire storie is old, used up and such because so many rely on a standard format with no real inovation or creativity in there story telling.

Write what excites YOU not what everyone else writes. see the edge and risk a jump (in a writing sense) the best stories are the ones you would never expect.

Like a video I just watched, a guy and his girl are driving down the road when a bunch of motorcyclists go by, the guy goes to make a lane change but sees a motorcycle next to him and steers back to his lane. the motorcyclist gets upset, a few get in front of the car while the rest surround it and force them to pull to the side.

The guy gets out of the car to try and calm the situation and the one that got upset yells at him and pushes him onto the hood of the car. His girlfriend gets out and the circle gets tighter around them. the guy trys to calm his girlfriend so as to not make the situation more difficult. then one of the motorcyclists grabs the car door where she's at, she turns but nothing happens then turns back around to find her boyfriend down on one knee with a ring in his hand ready to propose to her. (which she says yes to after a few choice words for scarring the crap out of her) but totally unexpected and a real twist. But hey, nothing says Love like total FEAR. (they were all in on it)

 

[Siren's Wrath]

Overused? You bet they are. But there are so many varieties that are used, and that means certain special varieties are a welcome sight.

 

I don't mean to get on an Anti Twilight Bandwagon. I don't care for it either way.  I just like my Vampires to be conniving, twisted, dark things that they have been in lore for a thousand years.  Not to say a Vampire needs to be evil all of the time.  Subtle, calculating intellect for their own self serving goals could certainly be perceived as "twisted" by mortals. But to a Vampire, it is merely surviving.

 

When they grow so old that morality whithers away like their own mortality... well. I think it is quite exciting.  When a being is so old and self serving, they do not even realize the concept of "Evil," they simply are.  They lie, and smile, and play a game to get what they want.  Feigning innocence and interest to devour another mortal.

 

That is a vampire to me.  I had a character in ESO that was sort of like that. Shame ESO was a flop for me though, I liked role playing that.

 

Point being, Vampires are overdone, but one with skill can keep making them interesting with excellent writing and an interesting archetype.

[ToxicKetchup]

I played through Dawnguard and the whole 'vampire-awesomeness factor' got old really quick.  All I wanted was some added lines of dialogue.  Something like, 'You do realize I ride dragons for sport, RIGHT?  I hunt your kind for potion ingredients.  That basically puts you on the same level as a SKEEVER.  So SHUDDUP, you don't scare me.'

That would've been awesome, because it's so true. My char is a cannibal vampire so they're basically food too.

 

[Guest Mogie56]

I would never have sided with Harkon, he was after his own agenda and would have given up every last vampire on the face of Nirn to get it. Hell he'd throw his own Daughter under the bus. But all of that can be done without ever having to touch the main quest. DG and DB. both

Do him in and take over his castle. Just to bad you couldn't get Serana and her Mother back in the castle together tho. 

[Kendo 2]

I was so disappointed with the outcome of Dawnguard I didn't install it for the play through I'm doing now.  And being able to just shut down Harkon after the first meeting and put an end to it all would have been a sweet option.  Kill him, move into his castle, put a stop to the city spawn vampires (one final spawn after Harkon is destroyed and they stop appearing after that), etc.  All of the added content would still be there so there would be new dungeons to explore, 'revamped' vampires, etc.

 

There is a mod that allows you to kill the Thieve's Guild (I HATE the Thieve's Guild quest line) and it doesn't break the game so I'm assuming a 'Kill Harkon' mod is doable.

[Guest Mogie56]

That would of been sweet, killing Harkon would be enough for me but to get Serana AND her Mother back I thought would be icing on the cake. idk maybe I'm just old but I thought Serana and her Mother were very attractive (at least in my game anyway). and being vampires....well you know LMAO. PC Replacing Harkon would be ideal.

[Nergui]

I kind of liked Dawnguard, mostly. If I hadn't been inflicted with dragging Serana along thoughout the quest, it would have been a lot better. At least she didn't care when I killed her zombies so I could loot them.

[Kendo 2]

Well, 'Dracula Untold' will be released this year.  I've watched a few trailers.  One thing that hit me right off the bat were THE BATS.  Bats weren't associated with vampires until the reports of Vampire Bats made it back to Europe from The New World circa 1500 A.D.  That little nit-pick aside, the trailers show plenty of flashy CG effects and some mediocre acting thrown in for flavor.  I doubt I'll be going to a theater to see it and it will probably be one of my quick picks off of NetFlicks.

 

Going back to 'Are Vampires Overused?', the key aspect of Dracula Untold is the story of old Vlad and how he became a vampire in the first place.  I know Gary Oldman's roll touched on that some, but it wasn't the gist of the movie.  This time it is and I can honestly say I don't think that time period of Dracula mythology is overused.  There might be a reason for that.  It might be very dull. 

[Gilibran]

Personaly one of the best portrayals of a classic vampire was in van Helsing with Hugh Jackman apart from the spectacle everything felt right. Second to that i think the take on vampires in Underworld was pretty good. Whoever came up with Serana was a underworld fan.

 

I do have to say i have not seen many vampire movies lately and forgot about most idid see. Perhaps go and get some soon and have a vampire movie weekend. I remember Rutger Hauer playing a good Dracula though the movie i remember to be crap.

[Guest endgameaddiction]

[Gilibran]

Yes, how could i forget that one, especially since the titlw song was in one of the best vampire mods for Morrowind. Qarls underground with the lovely little vamp Synda Raines.

 

briliant mod that was and good movie.

[Myst42]

Anybody saw "Penny Dreadful"?

 

I thought some people could say "Oh no, not another vampire show!"

Two words:

Eva Green

Seriously. Somebody give her an award already

 

Other than that. That's show is what "The League of Extraordinary Men" should have been

Didn't disappoint, great cast, pretty to see if you like the aesthetics of Victorian London with a bit of darkness and supernatural mystery on it... 

Just my humble opinion

 

----

 

Ahh yes, the Lost Boys... a goddamn classic already! Those were the days

[Storms of Superior]

VAMPIRES SUCK! Great movie, and yes I do feel that way.

[Jormungandr]

Wouldn't say overused per se. Vampires are depicted in so many different ways now in movies/games it mostly comes down to personal taste in my oppinion.

 

Personally i can't stand the cliche emo vampire that asks "what have i become?" in every second sentence and deem their new kind of existence as a curse.

Also i was never very fond of vampires being able to shapeshift into a wolf or bat.

[darkconsole]

personally i felt vampires have been over used for years.

 

when i first played skyrim, i had no experience with previous elder scrolls games at all. ran into the companions and found out they were werewolves i actually said out loud "at least there are no vampires."

 

10 minutes later a vampire master spawned inside the gate of whiterun and killed half the NPCs i needed to finish the opening quests. and then proceeded to oneshot me every time the savegame loaded.

 

so yeah.

[Kendo 2]

personally i felt vampires have been over used for years.

 

when i first played skyrim, i had no experience with previous elder scrolls games at all. ran into the companions and found out they were werewolves i actually said out loud "at least there are no vampires."

 

10 minutes later a vampire master spawned inside the gate of whiterun and killed half the NPCs i needed to finish the opening quests. and then proceeded to oneshot me every time the savegame loaded.

 

so yeah.

Yeah, nothing like having a 35th level vampire spawn right on top of your 8th level character.  And whatever DEV decided it was a good idea to have vampires spawn inside the cities and then massacre quest-related NPCs needs to have his credentials pulled.  What you described is THE REASON I refuse to install Dawnguard this playthrough.

 

[Jormungandr]

 

personally i felt vampires have been over used for years.

 

when i first played skyrim, i had no experience with previous elder scrolls games at all. ran into the companions and found out they were werewolves i actually said out loud "at least there are no vampires."

 

10 minutes later a vampire master spawned inside the gate of whiterun and killed half the NPCs i needed to finish the opening quests. and then proceeded to oneshot me every time the savegame loaded.

 

so yeah.

Yeah, nothing like having a 35th level vampire spawn right on top of your 8th level character.  And whatever DEV decided it was a good idea to have vampires spawn inside the cities and then massacre quest-related NPCs needs to have his credentials pulled.  What you described is THE REASON I refuse to install Dawnguard this playthrough.

 

 

Fortunately there are mods for that. It's just insanely annoying to have one of the traders killed by those pointless vampire attacks.

 

On a side note, the master vampires are leveled, the lowest being level 12, and the whole business starts after reaching level 10 anyway, so with level 8 you shouldn't have any vampire spawns in cities to begin with.

You may call me a smartass now.