How Vampires Are Affected By Sunlight

Joan the Vampire Slayer

Joan the Vampire Slayer

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There seems to be a discontinuity with how vampires are affected by sunlight in the "˜verse.

Angel, when thrown in the cage by Kendra in "What's My Line", gets weak and sickly as result of sitting near the sunlight, unable to even be in it indirectly.

Spike, on the other hand, appears to have no issue sitting in indirect sunlight (as we see in "Afterlife.")

Why do you think this is? Bad continuity? Or are we to believe that Spike is tougher or stronger than Angel? The later seems unlikely since Angel is older than Spike.

Thoughts?
 
Yeah, I also think there's inconsistency about fire as well. Most vampires immediately go up in flames & turn to dust, but Dru & Darla survived that awful fire in ATS season 3?
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
There seems to be a discontinuity with how vampires are affected by sunlight in the "˜verse.

Angel, when thrown in the cage by Kendra in "What's My Line", gets weak and sickly as result of sitting near the sunlight, unable to even be in it indirectly.
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Bad continuity I'd say. Because in "Lonely hearts" on Angel we see Angel strolling home at dawn with no problem despite the coming daylight...

It's probably one of those, whatever suits for the episode in question kind of things.
 
I think it is an inconsistency. I think it has to do with the writers changing their minds especially when they made something up early on. I see it at times on many shows that are supernatural.
 
As I understand it, it's not the sunlight that burns them, it's the beams. It needs to be direct in order to affect vampires. Spike in After Life wasn't sitting in the sun, the sun wasn't directly on him. He was in the shadow. That's why when he lifts a blanket over his head, it protects him from the sun beams.
 
T
Tammy
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O
OhWow
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Chosen Enemy said:
As I understand it, it's not the sunlight that burns them, it's the beams. It needs to be direct in order to affect vampires. Spike in After Life wasn't sitting in the sun, the sun wasn't directly on him. He was in the shadow. That's why when he lifts a blanket over his head, it protects him from the sun beams.
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So why don't they just invent some kind of big cloak that covers their head and entire body to walk around in? Or just wear a burqa?
 
VisionGirl said:
So why don't they just invent some kind of big cloak that covers their head and entire body to walk around in? Or just wear a burqa?
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And why don't they shoot the slayer with a gun? Vampire brain isn't that much of a catch.
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
So season 1 Darla: definitely smarter than we give her credit for! ;)
VisionGirl said:
So why don't they just invent some kind of big cloak that covers their head and entire body to walk around in? Or just wear a burqa?
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Um, you know how many fashion laws that breaks?

Seriously though- I think the reason they don't do it is because they kinda need to look partly human for a lot of things. If you had this big guy in a robe come strolling into Walmart, first you'd start singing that annoying song, and then you would kinda question what he was doing there and why, and it could escalate into something bad. Robes sort of draw a lot of attention.

As for the burqa, it sort of does go back to fashion sense. Because of the comical nature of the Buffyverse vamps, they would either be too vain or too "respectable" to dress in one of those despite how practical it would be for them.

Also, there's the whole "too easy" thing. If anyone thought of that, it would kinda give a lot of the villains a chance to kill Buffy. Though honestly, Buffy getting attacked by a group of burqa-wearing vamps in the middle of the day would be a pretty incredible episode. 🙂
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
LOL at your whole post!
M
Ms.Trick
I love this whole post :D
Z
zobothehobo
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Chosen Enemy said:
As I understand it, it's not the sunlight that burns them, it's the beams. It needs to be direct in order to affect vampires. Spike in After Life wasn't sitting in the sun, the sun wasn't directly on him. He was in the shadow. That's why when he lifts a blanket over his head, it protects him from the sun beams.
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But Angel was in the shadow, too, in What's My Line and he was super sickly. Yes Spike is under the blanket but he was still right in it, running too! Angel wasn't even in it and he was fading.
 
I think there are two possible explanations for Angels reaction in What's My Line.

1. Angel is just freaked out by the impending sunrise with not visible means of escape, so the effects that we are seeing are simply a psychological reaction to looming death. I think this is perhaps the best explanation, whereas Spike in After Life seems to be in the afternoon so the shadows are increasing thus he isn't worried about direct sunlight finding him.

2. The other possibility is that there was a great deal of reflected sunlight, more so then Spike has in the alley.
 
M
Ms.Trick
[No message]
Perhaps the LA smog filters out some of the effects of partial or indirect sunlight? I know I ended up with very sore eyes after 48 hours there!
 
Taake said:
Bad continuity I'd say. Because in "Lonely hearts" on Angel we see Angel strolling home at dawn with no problem despite the coming daylight...

It's probably one of those, whatever suits for the episode in question kind of things.
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Totally... And this kind of thing always irks me. LOL
 
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