The bumpy faces...

[Puffy]

When it comes to vamps, the leaders (Angelus, Spike, Dru,...) only using their bumpy faces when it comes to a fight (the only exception is the master and thats also more a bat face?), while the lackeys are wearing their bumpy faces nearly pemanent.

Why?

 

[Athena]

I think it was purely down to those actors playing Angelus, Spike & Dru being featured actors, and the others are just extras or bit-part actors. I'm sure there is some story-based reason too, but you wouldn't want your lead actors to be bogged down in makeup and prosthetics all shoot if they didn't have to be. 😉

 

[Xanderectomy]

Probably because mostly when we see normal vamps in the show,they're mostly in a fight while we see dru,spike,angelus in other situations too

 

[Puffy]

Probably because mostly when we see normal vamps in the show,they're mostly in a fight while we see dru,spike,angelus in other situations too

Thats not true, because there a several times, when there is only "talking" or "standing around" and the lackeys dont have to fight.

 

[white avenger]

Maybe, within the story line, it's because Spike and Angel always associated with humans more than your average run of the mill vamps. Angelus wasn't as much about the direct, grab a victim, drain her dry, then walk away way that normal vampires used. He liked to play with his food first, as in intimidate, torture, and rape before making his kill. Then, as Angel, he was rejected by his own family, so he was pretty well forced to live in the human world, even if that was mostly a reclusive life style. Spike, on the other hand, probably just liked to mingle. He's the only vampire that we ever see actually stopping off for a beer or twenty in the evenings, just hanging around the crowds, even after he got his chip, and was figuratively defanged. Sure, we've seen a the other vamps "go human" on occasion, but usually only long enough to lure some sweet young thing into a dark alley and make their kill.

 

[Slayerofslayers]

Yeah I think it has to do with certain vampires being important characters and unique in their personalities so they want the actors actual faces to be seen so that we don't see them as just another vampire. Also it helps the audience to connect with them more and their character traits than if we just see their monstrous traits when they are talking or doing things if we see that they have a human appearance and human qualities that they still retain in contrast to minions who are pretty much background characters and don't have many lines. In the case of vampires like Angel, Spike, Drusilla, Harmony etc. I think it also distinguishes them from other vampires by having them in their human faces because these vampires still have a lot of humanity left in them and are unique from your run-of-the-mill vampires. Like when Drusilla first appears on the show Spike had been bragging and acting like his usual tough self but when he notices that Drusilla is in the room he immediately drops the vampire face and returns to his human face because he is concerned that she is walking around when she is sick and they have a more human love than you would expect from vampires. So that's just one example of why having vampires more in their human face happens because of some humanity that they still have.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

In "Conversations with Dead People 7ABB07", Buffy and Holden have this exchange:

HOLDEN
Yeah...
(de-morphs)
Whoah! Did my face just change?
BUFFY
Yeah. You look human now. You can
go back and forth.
HOLDEN
So I'm a vampire? How weird is that?
BUFFY
I'm sorry.

This seems to be something vampires don't expect but have to get used to.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

The bumpy faces are there to show us that they are vampires. However, once we've established to the audience that they are vamps, then there's no need for the vamp face ALL the time. For instance, Dalton, Spike's nerdy vamp assistant in season 2, is always in vamp face even after we know he's a vampire. The vampires that Buffy stake in the graveyards are just stunt men in makeup so we don't really need to see their human faces cause they are just there to dust. As for the main vamps it's so that we can see the actors faces. Also vampire minions are usually in all vamp face to show that they are just the minions. Usually vampires "vamp out" when feeding or fighting, but to an extent they can control it.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

I think it's probably that being in vamp face limits an actor's facial expressions so the main vamps need to be in human face more often. The minions can get away with vamp face because they're background characters so the audience doesn't really need to see them emote. For the likes of Spike, Drusilla, Angel, etc the audience needs to see their facial expressions.

 

[Puppet]

My fanon theory is that the younger you are (fledgling) the harder it is to switch back and forth, but for canon, I agree with @Athena

 

[TriBel]

It's perhaps related to the amount of adrenaline in the body (or the vampire equivalent of adrenaline) - so the star vampires will vamp-face if they need an extra "boost" to fight an opponent. Perhaps it takes them closer to the Id (which is apparently what governs vampires) - the older vampires have developed egos? Certainly the younger vampires would have more trouble controlling it. If they are "Id" then they're like very young children governed by the pleasure principle. They want instant gratification. I read somewhere that the Master was in permanent vamp-face out of respect for the "old ways".
 

It's perhaps related to the amount of adrenaline in the body (or the vampire equivalent of adrenaline) - so the star vampires will vamp-face if they need an extra "boost" to fight an opponent. Perhaps it takes them closer to the Id (which is apparently what governs vampires) - the older vampires have developed egos? Certainly the younger vampires would have more trouble controlling it. If they are "Id" then they're like very young children governed by the pleasure principle. They want instant gratification. I read somewhere that the Master was in permanent vamp-face out of respect for the "old ways".

Just thought, Spike couldn't control it when he was under control of the First so it might have a vague connection to unconscious urges. Other than that, as above - it's necessary for the actors to communicate and allows them to develop a relationship with the audience.