< Keine Kamishirasawa | Back to Title of Contents | Remilia Scarlet > The Embodiments of Charisma Vampires Usual threat level: Very High Frequency of encounters: Low Variety: Very High Places likely to be encountered: Anywhere Times likely to be encountered: Night Characteristics Of the newer youkai that have emerged only within the last few centuries, vampires are among the strongest of them, strong enough to take part in the power-balance of Gensokyo (*1) by now. During the day they spend their time in their mansion, and once night comes they become active; they are the Lords of the Night. Their main diet consists of the blood of humans. Those whose blood has been sucked by one will neither die nor become a ghost. They will turn into a zombie for a while before evaporating under the sunlight. They went on a rampage when they first appeared in Gensokyo, lost against powerful youkai, and settled down after agreeing to a contract (*2). The details of this contract are that the youkai will offer them humans from which to feed (*3); in return, the vampires will not attack humans living in Gensokyo. Of course, the contract remains in effect to this day. Vampires have tremendous physical abilities and magical power: they are able to uproot a thousand-year-old tree single-handedly, to run through the human village within the blink of an eye, to summon many devils with a single word, to turn into bats or even mist to intrude anywhere they please, and they can recover within a single night even when their body is blown away, so long as their head is intact. Some youkai have abilities to this level of power, but only vampires are known to possess all of them. Because of this, they have charisma of the highest class. However, due to their extraordinary abilities, they have many weaknesses. First, they are weak against sunlight, so they are docile during the day. Neither can they move through flowing water, so they are docile on rainy days. They also cannot cross rivers. They can't approach a sardine head or a broken holly branch. Their skin will be burnt if someone throws roasted soybeans at them (*4). 1: The others consist of individual youkai, youkai living in the mountains (tengu, kappa and such), humans and animals. 2: A devil's contract is absolute, thus one can never betray it. 3: It is said these are humans from the outside world or those whose deaths are of no consequence (suicidal, etc.). 4: However, they seem to like fermented soybeans. Potential Harm Disaster Those as powerful as vampires are usually forbidden to directly assault humans. So, they aren't so dangerous even if you happen to meet one. Instead, they cause many disasters that affect the whole of Gensokyo. They can create abnormalities in everything including natural phenomena with no warning, for selfish reasons, which will always lead to endangering human life no matter what is affected. Most of these reasons are out of mere curiosity, and they will cease once they tire of it. Countermeasures Once a disaster has occurred, there is no choice but to seek help from a specialist who has the power to resolve it. The only thing an average human can do is find a way to survive. Aside from these times, vampires are relatively polite. They are usually not a threat. But that doesn't mean you should anger them. You shouldn't do something that strikes one of their weaknesses, even by accident. A halfhearted attack will only result in enraging them. In order not to unintentionally offend them, it's necessary to have a thorough knowledge of their weaknesses. < Keine Kamishirasawa | Back to Title of Contents | Remilia Scarlet >