Crosses And Vampires

[white avenger]

On at least two occasions in this season, Darla had a cross shoved in her face, and she just brushed it aside and continued her attack. Does anyone have any ideas Why she is seemingly immune to the cross' effects?

 

[Blondie Bear]

Maybe she just had the strength to shove past whatever repelling or pain or whatever the cross caused her? We've seen some vampires (Kralik, Spike) purposefully touch crosses and ignore (or enjoy) the pain, so it's not like there's a force field around them or something.

 

[Dancing man]

Yeah the Master hugged a cross in season 1.

 

[palabravampiress]

Crosses burn the skin, right? Like holy water does?

I'm assuming that means vamps can touch crosses, but that it's about as pleasant as you touching your heated up curling iron or lifting a tray out of the oven with your bare hands. If your survival or some other important thing depended on it, you could survive it. You wouldn't enjoy it. You wouldn't go out of your way to repeat the experience. But if necessary, you could do it. I think she same is true of vamps and crosses.

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

Maybe it was her pregnancy? After all, she was already on edge pretty much.

I have another question though, I've been asking myself this for some time. Are all vampires reacting to crosses? And what exactly causes them to back away from them?
A cross is something very Catholic. And as I could still understand that vampires that used to be Christians back away, why would...let's say Jewish, or Moslem vampires? Would it have any effect? I always imagined their fear of crosses had something to do with being unwanted to God, so if crosses worked for all vampires, that would actually be very self-centered of Christians. Which also brings up the question, how do vamps react to other religious symbols, like that Jewish star for example?

 

[Blondie Bear]

I think it depends on the mythos. In Buffy, they stayed very away from the religion, so crosses seem to work because it's traditional. In other mythoi, it depends on the faith of the person holding the symbol, or all religious symbols work (there's one I read where the woman wears a silver sheep to represent the "Lamb of God" and manages to burn a vampire with it).

 

[randiann]

Does that mean vampires are quite possible afraid of dreidles (spelling??)?




No offense meant to anyone, I just like the song!

 

[palabravampiress]

Has anyone seen Polanski's vampire movie spoof? It has a couple of different titles, some of which are: The Fearless Vampire Hunters, Dance of the Vampires, and Excuse me, but Your Fangs Are in My Neck.

In that movie, a woman tries to ward off a Jewish vampire with a cross. He pretends to be repelled, then he stops, laughs, shakes his finger and says, "Wrong religion." He then attacks. lol. It was funny.

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

I have another question though, I've been asking myself this for some time. Are all vampires reacting to crosses? And what exactly causes them to back away from them?
A cross is something very Catholic.

Well, not exactly. A crucifix maybe, but the cross symbol itself goes back well before Catholicism. Or Christianity, or Judaism, for that matter.

And as I could still understand that vampires that used to be Christians back away, why would...let's say Jewish, or Moslem vampires? Would it have any effect? I always imagined their fear of crosses had something to do with being unwanted to God, so if crosses worked for all vampires, that would actually be very self-centered of Christians.

Shirley you jest... :whistle: Obviously, most vampire myths which grew up since, say, the Dark Ages, have assumed that vampires would fear the cross
for that very reason - and yes, it's quite a self-centered assumption, although understandable, I suppose, coming from an age where 1) history was perhaps not as well-known as it is today (and we only scratch the surface of what's been lost,) and 2) questioning the church's position on anything at all was a pretty good way of committing assisted suicide. Of course, since we do know that the cross predates Christianity, there are two ways to look at it: either pre-Christian vampires weren't effected by the cross, or the Christian trappings have nothing to do with it.

Which also brings up the question, how do vamps react to other religious symbols, like that Jewish star for example?

If I can trap one this weekend, I'll test it and let everyone know... :: vampire

In the meantime, I've seen some fictional universes in which the symbol itself was of no importance at all - it was the faith of the bearer which mattered (even the movie "Fright Night" touched on that part.) So that, in these fictional universes, no matter what religious symbol a person bore (assuming that it was related to a life-affirming or light religion as opposed to a dark faith,) as long as that person had faith, that symbol was just as effective as protection against evil as a crucifix in the hands of a devout Christian. Makes sense to me.

 

[Clem Rocks]

Isn't it anything Holy they don't like because they're unholy? Crosses, Holy Water etc

 

[RogueHunter]

God I feel old. Didn't anyone ever watch Fright Night?

Standard vampire lore says that it is the faith of the person holding the holy item that repels the vampire, although i have it on good authority that a copy of dianetics will have no affect.

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

God I feel old. Didn't anyone ever watch Fright Night?

Yeah, I mentioned it a couple of posts back...

Standard vampire lore says that it is the faith of the person holding the holy item that repels the vampire

Which "standard vampire lore" would that be? Eastern European, Western European, Chinese, Malaysian...?

There really isn't any such thing in real-world mythology. "Hollywood tradition" is about as close as it gets to a standard mythology, and even there the lore varies drastically.

 

[RogueHunter]

I mean Vampire lore in entertainment. Plot devices from books, to movies and even comics. I really need to stop using quick replies so I can add my sarcastic smilies.
We could really use an animated Chris Sarandan GIF that says "You haff to have Faiff for vat to work on me Mithter Vinthent!!"

There was once an X-Men comic where Dracula tried to make Storm his hoochie momma and Kitty Pryde chased him off with a Star of David.

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

I saw a comic once where some shell-shocked street person used a trash can lid(!) as a sacred object to ward off a vampire. See, he had faith...

 

[RogueHunter]

Leave George Michael out of this.

 

[Chocolate-Drop]

I don't know about all this stuff about other religious symbols affecting vampires and stuff, but I think the concept of the original question is rather stupid.

If someone came at you brandishing hot curling tongs in your face, what would you do?? You'd use the almighty supernatural power within to avoid it. Or in other words, you'd simply swat it away from your face.

So, no immunity, no supernatural power needed. A cross gets thrust into her face, she uses her common sense and average reactions to push the threat away. So complex.

 

[RogueHunter]

You're in a Buffy forum talking about vampires on a show that ended years ago and you're calling a topic stupid?

 

[Chocolate-Drop]

You're in a Buffy forum talking about vampires on a show that ended years ago and you're calling a topic stupid?

I don't quite understand what you're insinuating by that- to me, it sounds very much like you're saying that I can't say if I think something on this is stupid because the idea of me 'on a Buffy forum talking about vampires on a show that ended years ago' is stupid in itself. Which begs the question- why are you here then?

 

[RogueHunter]

Because i keep in context that we discuss ideas put forth about fictional vampires on a fictional show in fictional scenario. Its a fantasy show which requires suspension of disbelief of rational thinking. if a member finds something curious or inconsistent about a scenario presented, it is legitimate. It doesn't deserve to be called stupid simply because the entire show is implausible.

 

[white avenger]

I don't know about all this stuff about other religious symbols affecting vampires and stuff, but I think the concept of the original question is rather stupid.


If the subject of this thread doesn't interest you, feel free to ignore it and find something more intellectually stimulating to comment on. As for the rest of us, if we decide to discuss this "stupid" question, that really should not be of any concern to you whatsoever.