- Good Old Fashioned Bloodsuckers. These are refered to simply as vampires, mythology vampires, cinematic vampires, etc. Think Dracula, Nosferatu, Lestat de Lioncourt, etc. These vampires possess a number of powers that can vary from vampire to vampire but most can fly, transform themselves, use mind-control, have eternal life, and have superstrength.
- Energy Vampires. These guys are daywalkers which means they can go out in the sunlight. They're the guys like Colin Robinson, the ones who feed by sucking all the mental energy out of a human. There are subsets of this species, such as the emotional vampire. Emotional vampires work similarly to energy vampires, but instead of boredom they feed through anger or sympathy. Energy vampires also have eternal life, superstrength, and the ability to fly.
- Eldritch Horrors. Think Chupacabra. Yes, goatsucker is considered a vampire. Eldritch horrors are the vampires who you can barely distinguish as humanoid. They're the really messed up looking SOBs. Some of them look like gargoyles, some of them look alien, they aren't romantic at all and they are badass. They have a range of powers including eternal life and their exact abilities depend on their physical characteristics.
- Modern Vampires. Modern vampires are sort of a grey-area between humans and vampires. They are born and they live physical humans, but metaphyically they are not the same as their peers. They have an inate need to consume energy. In this way, they are sort of similar to energy vampires although they don't have the powers. There are three types of modern vampires, sanguinarians, psychic vampires, and hybrids. Sangunarians, sometimes refered to as sanguine-vamps, drink actual human blood. I should stress that this is not done in large quantities, and it is done consensually. Sanguinarians still aren't the same as cinematic vampires. Psychic vampires, or psy-vamps, feed off psychic energy. Often, this is done totally unconciously. Psychic vampires usually want to spend a lot of time in public places, in crowds, and in groups, even before they're awakened as vampires. Hybrids do both of these things. They drink blood, and they consume psychic energy. The modern vampire community has a very long history but it isn't as well represented as the cinematic vampire history.
Vampire Types:
Image credit: howstuffworks2001 Image description: A pencil sketch of Chupacabra. End description.
Bat. Noun. The nocturnal sky rat vampires are known for turning into. Cute.
Bite. Verb. To sink one's teeth into something.
Blood. Noun. Food.
Cape. Noun. The cool cloth Dracula wears around his neck. Fashionable.
Fang. Noun. The pointy eyeteeth that vampires have.
Hangry. Adjective. The thing vampires get when they don't have enough to eat.
Maker. Noun. The vampire that turned a human into a vampire. Not every vampire has a maker.
Mind control. Verb. To exert your will over another person using only your mind. A thing vampires can do. Kind of like The Force.
Neck. Noun. The best place to bite.
Noon. Noun. What vampires call midnight.
Psychic Energy. Noun. Metaphysical energy that humans have and psy-vamps feed off of. Also food.
Telepathy. Noun. Moving things around with your mind. "The Force" for vampires.
Vampyre. Noun. A synonym for vampire. Often, the modern vampire community will use this word to distinguish themselves from cinematic vampires.
Virginity. Noun. A social construct. Being a virgin does not make your blood taste better. That whole thing started because of Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian queen from the 1500's who bathed in virgin blood because she believed it would make her look younger and more beautiful. All it did was make her look absolutely BANANAS.
Image credit: FruitOfTheLoom Image description: A t-shirt that looks like a fancy collared shirt. There is a ribcage design under a bow and a coat-like design. End description.
"Yukon, what kind of vampire are you?"
That's a fair question. Unfortunately for you, nosey-nosferatu, it's not a question I'm going to answer.
Humans place way too much importance on vampire subspecies. All you need to know is that you're talking to a vampire.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not taking a vampire seriously because they don't look like Vlad the Impaler.
PS: It's considered rude to ask about fang-size.
If you only take one thing from this then take away the point that there are many kinds of vampires and that we are 100% undeniably real. Humans do not get to decide what does and does not constitute a vampire. We are not a monolith, we don't all look the same, but we all have one thing in common and that's the consumption of energy whether that's blood, psychic energy, emotional energy, etc.