A vampire is an undead, blood-sucking being originating from Serbian folklore. The word comes from the Serbian word вампирvampir, which is believed to stem from a Common Slavic word *ǫpirь (see also: Upyr). The idea of blood-sucking undead can be found in folklore across the Balkans and even worldwide, and such entities are often described as vampires in the modern day.
Vampires came to wider attention in the 18th century after two widely-publicized instances of mass hysteria in areas of Serbia recently conquered by the House of Habsburg from the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), namely those of Peter Plogojowitz[a] and Arnold Paole.[b] In both of these instances, locals believed that the person had become a vampire after death and caused the deaths of several people.
Vampires would be further popularized through English author John William Polidori's 1819 short story "The Vampyre" and Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. While the original Serbian vampir was a bloated reddish corpse, Polidori and Stoker's vampires were charming aristocrats.
While originally a Slavic word, vampires have become associated with Romania due to Stoker's novel: the titular character Dracula's name derives from a cognomen of Wallachian prince Vlad III, and the character's home is in Transylvania, which is located in modern-day Romania (though it was part of Austria-Hungary at the time the book was written). However, similar blood-sucking beings known as strigoi can be found in Romanian folklore.
Design
According to Kazuma Kaneko Works I, Vampire's Shin Megami Tensei design may be inspired by Dracula's appearance as portrayed by Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre.[1]
Origin: Romania Creatures from Slavic folk religions. Criminals, shamans, and abnormal dead are said to roam the world after dying. They suck on the blood or life energy of the living.
This section uses instances of "you" or "the player(s)" and needs to be changed.
When describing in-universe information, playable characters must be referred to by their name or title. For example: "The Hero fights the Demon" instead of "You fight the Demon".
Vampire appears as the third boss of the game, on Floor 7 of Temple of Nightmare and Floor 15 overall. The entire floor twists and turns during this fight, carrying the player left and right. To attack, Vampire shoots bats at the player in an X shape, which then move towards the player, aiming to entrap them. However, the bats can be killed through shooting them. After shooting, Vampire will disappear and reappear before shooting bats out again.
Pixie says the following before dropping to his floor:
Vampire is on the next floor. He controls the vampire bats so watch out!
↑"本作では、スキンヘッドである点などを見て、ヴェルナー・ヘルツォーク監督の『ノスフェラトゥ』で、クラウス・キンスキーが怪演したドラキュラ伯爵の影響があるようだ。" Kazuma Kaneko Works I (2004). Published by Shinkigensha. Japanese. p. 11. ISBN-13: 978-4-7753-0315-3.
↑"本作でも血をイメージさせる赤いスーツで身を包む。蝙蝠の翼のような黒色のマントを垂らすのは、変身能力があることを示す。" Kazuma Kaneko Works II (2006). Published by Shinkigensha. Japanese. p. 16. ISBN-13: 978-4-7753-0350-4.
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Artwork from the Super Famicom version of Shin Megami Tensei
Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei II
Artwork from Devil Children Black Book and Red Book
Sprite from the Super Famicom version of Shin Megami Tensei
Sprite from the Mega-CD version of Shin Megami Tensei
Sprite from the PlayStation version of Shin Megami Tensei
Sprite from the PlayStation version of Shin Megami Tensei II
Sprite from the PlayStation version of Shin Megami Tensei if...
Sprite from Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis
Sprite from Ronde
Sprite from the Game Boy Color version of Devil Children Black Book and Red Book and Devil Children White Book
Sprite from the PlayStation version of Devil Children Black Book and Red Book
Credit sprite featuring Vampire alongside the other bosses from Jack Bros.
Card FD-075 from Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Card Game: Goumaden
Vampire in Card TD-074 "Blood Drain" from Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children Card Game: Messiah Kakusei
