Traditional to Del Toro
By: Aaron Trickett

The traditional history revolving vampires has always been linked to religion, evil, and the devil but has also been linked to revenge and power. The most notable vampires we think of are ones like Dracula who was created by Bram Stoker, and based off a Romanian named
Vlad Tepes. We may also think of Victorian Era characters like
Elizabeth Bathory who represented the more female vampire. It was believed that a person could turn into a vampire by having their blood drained and replaced with the blood of the attacking vampire. This would trigger a transformation that would turn them into the undead as they would die then come back to life. There have been many reasons as to why a vampire needs blood, but it usually has to do with the blood being the life source of all things with vampires believing that the blood is life. Traditional tales also note more powerful vampires like Dracula had near supernatural powers like shape shifting and control over the elements which they would use to strike fear into the public.

• Suave
• Intelligent
• Strong
• Charismatic
• Rich
• Good looking
• Blood thirsty
• Evil
• Animalistic

The strain is a graphic novel based on a trilogy of books by Guillermo Del Toro
& Chuck Hogan. The story is about a vampire plague that threatens to take over Manhattan, and it is up to a pair of scientists led by an old vampire hunter to stop it. The villain of the story is known as “The Master” or Jusef Sardu is one of the seven ancients who went rogue and plans to cast the world into eternal night. The story itself relays a lot on more modern day ideas like science, but also tackles areas we think about like terrorism, disease, family, and war.

• Violent
• Blood thirtsy
• Monstrous
• Insane
• Contagous
• Black eyes
• Stinger like tongues
• Pale skin
• No hair
• White Blood
• Controlled by parasites

The most unique part introduced in the strain story is the new way the vampire is viewed. In this story the vampire virus is actually a parasite that takes over a host body by linking to its heart and brain.
From there it absorbs the blood of the host leaving behind its own white blood that it uses to control the body. It then begins to mutate the body as it takes control resulting in a whip like tongue with a stinger that it uses to inject its victims with more parasites. It has been shown that it needs a host as more of a shield since it burns easily in the sunlight. Other side effects of the mutation include weakness to light, white skin, no hair, and a need for blood to feed the parasite.

• Like I said before most vampire lore we know today comes from Dracula who was based off Vlad Tepes. Vlad was given the name Dracula which meant “son of Dracul” or “son of the dragon” by his father Vlad
Dracul. History wise Vlad Tepes was a evil tyrant who killed many people during his time and would even drink human blood which would inspire future stories. Fiction wise its said that after he lost his wife he turned his back on god and would not rest until he got his revenge using evil and hatred to become to monster we know today.
He would continue to drink the blood of the living to sustain his body and rest in the evil soil to restore his power.
• The origin tale explained in the strain is a brand new take on vampire lore.
It reveals that in the beginning there were the six vampires known as the ancient ones who were as old as history itself. These six agreed not to interfere with mankind so half slept while the other half kept watch. This all changed as the seventh ancient was born and took over the body of Jusef
Sardu a Polish man who would become known as “The Master”. The
Master felt that they were the superior species and therefore should rule so he went rogue and began his plan to turn humanity into his vampire legion. Due to being he seventh ancient he did not go under the same transformation as his followers instead remaining as more traditional.

Doctor Abraham Van Helsing

Traditional Vampire:
In the original tales vampires were killed by sunlight, stake through the heart, and beheading. There were also ways to harm a vampire which included crucifixes, fire, garlic, holy water, and sometimes silver. This was due to vampires being creatures who had denounced god and therefore can be harmed by religious tools.
The Strain Vampire:
The only method to destroy them is by removing the head and burning the body or direct sunlight itself. All other traditional methods do not work as these vampires are the result of a parasitic virus and therefore are more based on science then religion. The host body can still be harmed, but it’s the parasite itself that needs to destroyed to win.

When comparing original stories that we grew up hearing to more modern day concepts there is bound to be changes. Guillermo Del
Toro I believe has taken the traditional vampire and evolved it into the next step in vampire history. He has rebooted the vampire story for the 21 st century with vampires who are more vicious, blood thirsty, and deadly then ever before. By touching on the issues we think about the most when it comes to family, disease, war, politics, science, history, and conspiracy the strain truly depicts vampires in todays world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi--3pL2x4g