A query on the limits of a Vampires abilities to walk in light.

[Xanadu84]

Vampire (Okay, are not real, but for the purposes of this thread) are magic. Magic deals with symbolism and mystic properties. The sun has a mystic property, as it is a symbol for good, or god, or whatever. Stars do not bear the same symbolism, and therefore are ineffective. Moon reflection is less symbolic of the Suns rays, therefore it usually doesn't effect vampires, though I do remember some places where it causes tanning. Depends on the mythos, but I think that a pretty good, broad explanation. In mythos where vampires are scientifically feasible creatures (Blade: Yes, I know that they are not scientifically feasible, but in THERE universe they are), then moonlight would have a slight effect, starlight even less, but it could very well be a matter of threshold.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It depends on the Vampire mythos you're talking about. Most of the really old school vampire myths were written in a time before we knew all that stuff about stars and the moon's light being reflected sunlight. Others just ignore those details. Blade explains it by saying that it's the UV rays that are harmful.

 

[WTFdonut]

I ersonally like the Oblivion style vampires, drink blood, become weak and walk in sunlight. Without blood, you become stronger but can't go into sunlight.

 

[oliveira8]

I said starlight in the sense that it's really just sunlight, but from far away.
I haven't read Dracula, but as far asi know, he couldn't go out in sunlight. Could he?

He could. And Bram Stoker Dracula is THE vampire story.(even more than The Vampyre)The rest is wrong.

Dracula could catch some sunshine, the only downside he becomes weaker. Which is saying alot cause he is impossible to kill. Even Van Helsing didn't know if he was trully dead in the end.

 

[Sven und EIN HUND]

Wait, I thought that they just glowed all rainbowy when they went in the sun??? RIGHT??!?!!
LAWL, nah. But yeah, I agree that it's only UV light that harms vampires, not artificial light such as lamplight and such, not too sure about moonlight and starlight though :S

EDIT:

In the original Dracula, the titular vamp could walk around in the sun just fine. He didn't have access to all his powers, but he didn't burn to a crisp. That was a Hollywood invention, courtesy of Nosferatu, whose director felt it would be a poetic ending to the monster. I'm in no way defending Meyer's choice to have her vampires sparkle, but walking in the sunshine shouldn't be an automatic death blow if you're going by tradition.

btw, Nosferatu didn't die by sunlight, and Nosferatu isn't a hollywood film... It was misunderstood that he died from sunlight, it appeared as if he was in the film. But if you pay attention to the storyline, and how if Mina sacrifices herself then Nosferatu will die at dawn or at the crow of the rooster or whatever it is, then you'll see how it wasn't the sunlight that killed him. Everyone else thought as you did though, that's how the myth arose into vampire pop culture and that's why it's so often used in just about every vampire film.

 

[Nieroshai]

There are versions of the vampire legend that describes them as being paralyzed, not killed, by sunlight, and able to walk on overcast days. Other stories simply label them as noctournal ghouls, able to walk in daylight only when their hunger was desperate enough.

 

[Nieroshai]

Actually, aside from the sparkling(DAMN SPARKLING!) the Twilight vampires do blend characteristics of many cultures' version of vampires. It's just a storytelling convention that vampire romances have to feature the vampire's struggle to reconcile his/her supposedly lost soul.

 

[kingpocky]

Vampires seem to be the equivalent of superheroes/supervillains in horror. They're generally accepted to have supernatural powers, but what exactly those powers are is mostly undefined. You can give a character any random power you want. Only instead of saying the reason they have superpowers is because of mutation/radiation/science experiments, you can just give the excuse that they're a vampire.

edit: Also, if the only reason that starlight, moonlight, and other light doesn't harm vampires is because of either the intensity or the lack of UV rays, wouldn't it be fairly easy to make some kind of a device like a flash grenade that would be fairly harmless to humans but fatal to vampires?

 

[Dapper Ninja]

Also, if the only reason that starlight, moonlight, and other light doesn't harm vampires is because of either the intensity or the lack of UV rays, wouldn't it be fairly easy to make some kind of a device like a flash grenade that would be fairly harmless to humans but fatal to vampires?

The flash grenade would need to have the intensity of the sun, which would be fairly hard to make and fairly harmful to humans.

 

[the sighing shoe]

Also, if the only reason that starlight, moonlight, and other light doesn't harm vampires is because of either the intensity or the lack of UV rays, wouldn't it be fairly easy to make some kind of a device like a flash grenade that would be fairly harmless to humans but fatal to vampires?

The flash grenade would need to have the intensity of the sun, which would be fairly hard to make and fairly harmful to humans.

or it could flash uv light a short burst that had little effect on humans

if it was uv light

 

[kingpocky]

Also, if the only reason that starlight, moonlight, and other light doesn't harm vampires is because of either the intensity or the lack of UV rays, wouldn't it be fairly easy to make some kind of a device like a flash grenade that would be fairly harmless to humans but fatal to vampires?

The flash grenade would need to have the intensity of the sun, which would be fairly hard to make and fairly harmful to humans.

It would have to have the same intensity that the sun has after traveling through space and earth's atmosphere. If I walk outside on a sunny day, I'm fine - If a vampire does the same thing, they'll burn. If you can produce the same conditions, there's no scientific reason you shouldn't be able to kill a vampire with a weapon that won't do any more to you than make your eyes sore.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

It would have to have the same intensity that the sun has after traveling through space and earth's atmosphere. If I walk outside on a sunny day, I'm fine - If a vampire does the same thing, they'll burn. If you can produce the same conditions, there's no scientific reason you shouldn't be able to kill a vampire with a weapon that won't do any more to you than make your eyes sore.

I was referring to those conditions. While it wouldn't incinerate everything on the planet, the thrower would still be blinded. After all, they'd be essentially throwing a ball of sunlight a few feet in front of them.

 

[kingpocky]

I was referring to those conditions. While it wouldn't incinerate everything on the planet, the thrower would still be blinded. After all, they'd be essentially throwing a ball of sunlight a few feet in front of them.

Let me put it this way, let's say that:
X is the amount of sunlight/radiation needed to kill or injure a vampire
Y is the amount of sunlight/radiation you receive standing outside on an average day
Z is the amount of sunlight/radiation needed to blind a human for any more than a few moments.

Unless you've been staying in a very dark room for a long time, the sun isn't intense enough to make you lose your eyesight for any longer than it takes you to blink and look away. Therefore, Y is less than Z.

If we accept the basic premise that normal sunlight hurts vampires, X is obviously less than or equal to Y. In fact, if X were greater than Y, vampires would be able to walk around in the daylight without being hurt.

If X<Y<Z, It should be possible to make a weapon that produces light and radiation close enough to Y. Such a weapon would be able to hurt vampires without blinding humans who aren't staring directly at it. A grenade probably wouldn't be the best idea though - you could probably just use a specially designed flashlight. It'd burn through vampires while only slightly warming anything else. You could probably hurt a person by shining it directly into their eyes, but you can do the same thing with a cheap laser pointer you bought from Wal-Mart.

 

[VanityGirl]

Ahem, actually since the invention of vampires there's been many different takes on what vampires can and can't do.
For example:
In anime called Black Blood Brothers, each vampire has different strengths and weaknesses. Some can't go into the sunlight, but some can. Some will die if silver cuts them, some won't.

It depends on what kind of vampires you're talking about. Old school vampires can't go outside, but are also allergic to garlic and will be killed by crosses.

I like the scenario where some vampires can actually go into daylight. (Not all sparkly, but you know). I could understand them being sensitive to sunlight, but I like the fact that if a vampire can come out at night as well as day, then you always have to fear being bitten.

 

[Magnatek]

Ahem, actually since the invention of vampires there's been many different takes on what vampires can and can't do.
For example:
In anime called Black Blood Brothers, each vampire has different strengths and weaknesses. Some can't go into the sunlight, but some can. Some will die if silver cuts them, some won't.

It depends on what kind of vampires you're talking about. Old school vampires can't go outside, but are also allergic to garlic and will be killed by crosses.

I like the scenario where some vampires can actually go into daylight. (Not all sparkly, but you know). I could understand them being sensitive to sunlight, but I like the fact that if a vampire can come out at night as well as day, then you always have to fear being bitten.

What about their reaction to water? There are multiple interpretations on that front as well. In some cases, only holy water can hurt them (see Dracula in Castlevania), while in other cases, water in general is acidic to vampires (see Legacy of Kain).
[sub]I'm only trying to add on to your response. I was pretty much going to say the same thing you did, except with what I added, and replacing the anime bits with more on Legacy of Kain.[/sub]

 

[Agema]

What I would say about why starlight doesn't hurt vampires...

The average adult males uses about 2500-3000 calories per day. I wouldn't be surprised if that is more energy than all the stars (apart from our own sun, obviously) provide earth in a year. Arguably, they're too far away and the energy emitted from them is too feeble to bother a vampire.

Besides, any author who makes vampires just reinterprets them for the purpose of their book.

 

[Baggie]

If we're going off the whole vampires being magical beings rules than the sunlight coming from the actual sun because of... goodness from the sun or something. Doesn't bounce.

Following "Science" rules, they have an extremely fatal sensetivity to UV rays. Meaning vampire proofing a room would take some UV lights.

If we're following twightlight rules everything is bullshit and the entire world is filled with anxty teenagers that sparkle. The bastards.

I don't get the idea that vampires can go out into the sun, it's like saying the established rule-set of "Drinks blood, can't go into sunlight" isn't good enough.

 

[Skeleon]

Yeah, it's probably been said already, but in many "modern" vampire-stories, it's about UV light, not the sun's rays (Underworld, Blade; they even base their weaponry on this, which is kind of cool). Starlight is too dim to seriously wound a vampire, though.
I imagine it being similar to humans getting a sunburn, just a hundred thousand times worse.
If you're exposed to normal sunlight as a human, nothing happens because your body can handle it. If you're exposed to desert sun without protection, you get burnt.
Now replace desert sun for humans with normal sunlight and normal sunlight with starlight and there you go.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Seriously, nowadays vampires are fairly immune to the sun.

She doesn't count... She can't actually write properly. She killed vampires forever.

OT really it's open to your own interpretation, it's not like these thing s actually exist so it doesn't really matter and just depends on which universe you choose to look at.

 

[rooguy]

Maybe its something mystical, like in VTM. Ancient humans never thought of stars as suns and vice versa, so I guess I doesn't count