Vampire

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Tenris Mirkblood, a prince of the San'layn.

“Still I hunger. Still... I... thirst.”

— Prince Taldaram

Vampires[1][2][3] or vampyr[4][5][6][7] are a type of immortal undead[7][8] that feed on the blood[9][10] or life force[4][10] of living creatures. This curse has afflicted both some vrykul and the San'layn, a faction of darkfallen.[7]

"Vampire" and "vampiric" are also used in a more general sense to describe beings and animals that consume other creatures' blood or energy,[11] such as the venthyr and nathrezim.

The vampire curse

Blood-Queen Lana'thel's Vampiric Leech, as depicted in Hearthstone.
Blood-Thane Lucard, a vrykul vampire, resting in his tomb in Dreyrgrot.

Some ancient vrykul suffered from vampirism. One, Blood-Thane Lucard, was imprisoned by the Bonespeakers in Dreyrgrot, Stormheim[7] until he was accidentally woken up by the Red Blade, a crew of human pirates, during the third invasion of the Burning Legion.[12] Lucard transformed some of the pirates into blood-crazed vampires.[3][13]

The San'layn are a sect of vampiric darkfallen, made up of blood elves that were raised into undeath by the Scourge following the ascension of the Lich King.[4][14][15] They suffer from the same curse as Lucard.[7]

Vampires suffer from an endless hunger for blood,[6] which they obtain by either physically biting and drinking from their victims using their sharp fangs[5][6][10] or by magically draining it out of their bodies at a range.[10][16][17][18][19] They can survive for years without feeding, but this will leave them starving and wracked with pain.[6] For the most part, the blood seemingly has to come from living bodies. Lucard kept Drained Corsairs alive in his tomb so that he could feed on them when he needed to replenish his health.[10] Similarly, the Scourge in the Temple City of En'kilah kept captives alive in order to harvest their blood and feed the San'layn Prince Valanar. This was noted to be unusual for the Scourge, who do not normally keep live prisoners.[9] The San'layn Blood Prince Dreven could also drain blood from undead, although he preferred not to as he had to drain several Forsaken in order to match the power from a single live night elf.[17]

Vampirism is contagious. The San'layn queen Lana'thel and her daughter Thal'ena could turn others into vampires by biting them and infusing them with their own blood. The infected victims had to quickly sate their newfound bloodthirst by biting and infecting another person, or else succumb to a mindless frenzy.[5][6]

Silver weapons and holy water are possibly effective for slaying vampires.[20] Sir Finley Mrrgglton believed that vampires could be killed by stabbing a wooden stake through their heart, but this proved ineffective against Blood-Thane Lucard, and Finley conceded that he must have gotten his undead types mixed up. Finley also raised doubts as to whether vampires can truly die.[7]

Other vampires

Kirtonos the Herald in his vampire form.

Kirtonos the Herald, an undead who formerly dwelled in the Scholomance, feeds on blood[21] and can transform into a vampire form (resembling a gargoyle).[22] It's not known if his vampirism is due to the same curse as the vrykul and San'layn vampires.

Blood death knights, wielders of blood magic who drain life energy to sustain themselves,[23][24] use some abilities based around vampirism[25] and the consumption of enemy blood.[26][27] San'layn death knights take this a step further by using vampiric blood and shadow magic like that of their darkfallen namesakes to strengthen themselves and weaken enemies.[28]

Many of the Icetusk ice trolls display vampirism. Both living and undead warriors of the tribe leech life from enemies with vampiric bites,[29] while their necromancers magically drain blood to heal themselves.[30]

The realm of Revendreth in the Shadowlands is home to two vampiric races created by Sire Denathrius: the venthyr,[31][32][33] "eaters of sin" who harvest anima from sinful souls,[34] and the nathrezim,[35][36][37] "psychic vampires"[38] who feed on the energies of mortal creatures.[39] Nathrezim use vampiric abilities to leech life from enemies[40] and can spread a vampiric aura that causes allies to gain life by spilling enemy blood.[35]

Some animals drink blood in a vampiric fashion,[11] including vampire bats[41] and Revendreth's dredbats.[42] Some felbats are vampiric.[43] Felhounds are vampiric in the sense that they feed on magical energy they drain from spellcasters.[11][44][45][46]

The Void is vampiric in nature.[47] Priests can use vampiric shadow magic to heal themselves or their allies by inflicting damage on enemies.[48]

Potions[49][50] and equipment[51][52] that cause the user to leech life from enemies in combat can be termed "vampiric". The high elf Renthar Hawkspear used the word in a metaphorical sense when he accused the blood elves of "suck[ing] magic from living things like vampires" to sate their magic addiction.[2]

In the RPG

Icon-RPG.png This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

The rune spell Mark of Vampiric Striking imbues a weapon with the "essence of a vampire", causing attacks to drain the victim's life force and heal the wielder.[53]

In Hearthstone

Hearthstone This section contains information exclusive to Hearthstone and is considered non-canon.

In Warcraft Rumble

Warcraft Rumble This section contains information exclusive to Warcraft Rumble and is considered non-canon.

One of the talents for Cheat Death, an Undead spell, is named "Vampirism" and causes affected minis to heal when dealing damage.

Notes

  • The vrykul as a race were described as vampiric at BlizzCon 2007,[56] but this aspect was seemingly dropped during the development of Wrath of the Lich King, in which vampirism is instead solely represented by the San'layn. Legion reintroduced the concept of vrykul vampires with Blood-Thane Lucard.
  • The initial design premise for the Shadowlands zone of Revendreth was to explore the origins of vampirism and blood magic, the idea being that the powers used by groups like the San'layn and blood trolls originated with the venthyr.[57] This concept is not touched on in-game; although the venthyr are called vampiric,[31][32][33] they only drain anima and not blood, and no connection is ever made between Revendreth and the undead vampires seen on Azeroth.

Gallery

See also

References

 
  1. ^  [Once Bitten, Twice Shy (10 player)]
  2. ^ a b In the Shadow of the Sun
  3. ^ a b N [45WQ] Vampirates!
  4. ^ a b c Prince Taldaram abilities
  5. ^ a b c Blood-Queen Lana'thel abilities
  6. ^ a b c d e Blood-Princess Thal'ena Adventure Guide, abilities, and quotes
  7. ^ a b c d e f N [10-45] What the Bonespeakers Buried
  8. ^ Blood-Crazed Swashbuckler
  9. ^ a b H [10-30] The Spire of Blood, H [10-30] Shatter the Orbs!
  10. ^ a b c d e Blood-Thane Lucard abilities
  11. ^ a b c The Well of Eternity, chapter 12, pg. 183
  12. ^ N [10-45] The Mystery of Dreyrgrot
  13. ^ N [10-45] A Stone of Blood
  14. ^ Ultimate Visual Guide, pg. 168
  15. ^ H IconSmall BloodElf Male.pngIconSmall BloodElf Female.png [60] Magus Installation
  16. ^ A [60] Blood on the Sand
  17. ^ a b A [60] Ending the San'layn Threat
  18. ^ Darkfallen Archmage, Darkfallen Blood Knight, Prince Navarius abilities
  19. ^ Blood Marquis, Blood Marquess, San'layn Neophyte abilities
  20. ^  [Monster Slayer's Kit]
  21. ^ N [43D] Kirtonos the Herald
  22. ^ Kirtonos the Herald abilities
  23. ^ Blood specialization description: "A dark guardian who manipulates and corrupts life energy to sustain themself in the face of an enemy onslaught."
  24. ^ Lord Thorval dialogue
  25. ^ [Vampiric Blood]
  26. ^ [Blooddrinker], [Blood Feast], [Red Thirst]
  27. ^ [Blood Feast], [Unending Thirst], [Vampiric Fangs]
  28. ^ San'layn hero talent description
  29. ^ Drakani Death-Defiler, Icetusk Blood-Drinker, Icetusk Drudge, Icetusk Shambler, Risen Icetusk Brute, Unliving Champion abilities
  30. ^ Deathwhisperer Kulu, Icetusk Necromancer abilities
  31. ^ a b Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment 2019-11-01. World of Warcraft: What’s Next Panel Recap. Archived from the original on 2025-01-23.​ “... is the duty of the vampiric Revendreth[sic] to prepare them—through unimaginable torment.”
  32. ^ a b Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment 2020-04-06. Shadowlands: A Look at Covenant Class and Signature Abilities. Archived from the original on 2020-04-06.​ “Making their home in Revendreth, the vampiric Venthyr are the punishers of the unworthy ...”
  33. ^ a b Shadowlands Preview: Revendreth and the Venthyr Covenant: "The vampiric Venthyr are the punishers of the unworthy ..."
  34. ^ Venthyr - Covenants - Shadowlands
  35. ^ a b Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual, Undead Hero Units, Dreadlord
  36. ^  [Sargeras and the Betrayal]: "... a particularly insidious group intent on disrupting the Titans' order: the Nathrezim. This dark race of vampiric demons ..." / "Kil'jaeden's first move was to enslave the vampiric dreadlords under his terrible power."
  37. ^  [Beginnings of the Undead Threat]: "Because Kil'jaeden did not trust the Lich King, he sent his dread lords to watch over the spirit and ensure that the Lich King followed his orders. The vampiric servants came to Azeroth willingly ..."
  38. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 14, pg. 226: "Two sharp canines jutted down, reminding Brox of the tales he had heard of the Dreadlords' vampiric traits. In point of fact, the Nathrezim were psychic vampires, feeding on the weak-minded and often using their victims as slaves."
  39. ^ Exodar Holographic Emitter
  40. ^ Count Nefarious, Korvos, Mal'Ganis (tactics), Nathrezim Infiltrator, Portal Keeper abilities
  41. ^ Bloodgorger, Bloodscreecher Broodling, Echo Hunter, Rendrak, Redrock Screecher, Woodland Bat, Zal'zi the Bloodgorged abilities
  42. ^ Dire Evedweller, Duskterror, Harika the Horrid abilities
  43. ^ Vampiric Felbat
  44. ^ The Well of Eternity, chapter 15, pg. 222: "... the [felbeast] eagerly reached for him with its vampiric tentacles."
  45. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 2, pg. 23: "Malfurion screamed as the [felhound's] vampiric suckers literally tore the magic from his body much as the teeth would soon tear his flesh."
  46. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 24, pg. 365: "When the [felhound] did not do so at a sufficient pace, [Illidan] unleashed a wave of black energy that, instead of feeding the vampiric creature, filled it with awful pain."
  47. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 18
  48. ^ [Vampiric Touch], [Vampiric Embrace], [San'layn]
  49. ^ Vampiric Potion
  50. ^ Vial of Vampiric Mojo
  51. ^  [Vampiric Cowl],  [Vampiric Robe],  [Vampiric Shawl]
  52. ^  [Vampiric Boot Knife]
  53. ^ Magic & Mayhem, pg. 72
  54. ^ Hearthstone Forest for the Weary
  55. ^ Cam Shea 2017-09-14. Designing Hearthstone's Death Knights. IGN. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14.​ “For Gul'dan, we had the concept of Gul'dan being sort of this vampiric guy. The pictures of him were – sort of the concept of a Vampire Death Knight. So we had the [vampire-themed] hero power in, almost from the beginning.”
  56. ^ Robin Torres 2007-08-04. BlizzCon Day 2 WoW Lore and Quests Panel liveblog. WoW Insider. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03.​ “Vrykul - New race in the Howling Fjord. Giant dark vampyric vikings from hell... We gotta have giant vikings!”
  57. ^ Cass Marshall 2020-07-23. Behold World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ new vampire haven. Polygon. Retrieved on 2025-11-05.​ ““When we were talking about the different possibilities of the Shadowlands, we talked about what classic themes are related to afterlives and undead.” says Steve Danuser, lead narrative designer on World of Warcraft. A natural conclusion to that conversation was vampirism and blood magic, pulling inspiration from classic tales like Dracula. This also explains parts of Azeroth we’ve seen before, from the blood trolls of Nazmir to Blood Queen Lana’thel and her servants in Icecrown Citadel. We’ve seen the powers of the Venthyr before; now we get to meet them up close.”
Creature group
Undead creatures
Corporeal
Incorporeal
Skeletal
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