Vampire physiology

[neodragon]

Hi everyone.

I'm a long time Buffy/Angel fan but brand new to these forums.

One aspect of the Buffyverse that has always particularly interested me are the vampires. As such, there are a few mysteries that I have pondered for years, and am very curious to hear other fan's insights on. I apologize if these have already been discussed.

1. How strong is the average vampire?

I know that a vampire's strength is influenced by a number of factors such as age, how well fed they are, and (I suspect though I'm not sure if it's ever stated) who sired them. But I wonder how strong an average run-of-the-mill vamp is. I'd suspect that they're at least 2-3 times stronger than they were as humans, but it seems a bit odd that normal humans with only moderate combat training are often able to withstand their blows and defeat them.


2. Do vampires go to the bathroom?

I suspect that if they only feed on blood then probably not, but we know that vampires can and sometimes choose to eat and drink human food. When they do, do they eventually have to expel waste?


3. How would a gunshot (or other serious trauma) to the head affect a vampire?

I know you're thinking that gunshots can't really harm vampires, but we only ever see them get shot in the body. Recall when Spike had his chip he couldn't have just any doctor cut into his head and take it out because it was said that it was so deeply embedded that doing so would cause brain damage. Also, when the chip started to go haywire and shock him with increasing intensity there was concern that it was killing him. This all seems to suggest that vampires can die or at least suffer permanent debilitating injury if their brains suffer trauma, which makes me wonder why no one tries to kill them with head shots. After all, the head is a bigger target than the heart.

 

[white avenger]

1) How strong is the average vampire?

That has never been specifically established in the Buffyverse, other than to say that they are much stronger than normal humans, and, since their strength is due to supernatural means, there's no real reason why a bigger, more powerfully muscled vampire would be stronger than a smaller one.


2) Do vampires go to the bathroom?

Once again, this has never actually addressed on the show, but it has been established that vampires can eat and drink human foods, even though they can't extract any nourishment from them. Whether digested or mot, that has to go somewhere, so I would say that vampires do, or at least can, go to the bathroom to eliminate any undigested normal food that they eat.


3)How would a gunshot to the head affect a vampire?

My guess would be that it would depend on just how much damage the gunshot did to the vampire's head. A small caliber round that did very little actual physical damage to the brain would certainly result in a serious headache, but probably not much more. On the other hand, a shotgun blast at close range could totally destroy skull and brain, which would most likely be equivalent to beheading the vampire. The same with any other type of trauma. Being hit in the head with a blackjack, sap, or policeman's nightstick would result in a headache, but little permanent damage. A vampire having his skull crushed with a sledge hammer could be potentially fatal.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

1/
Was the vampire pulling the punches?

2/
If a vampire wants to go to the bathroom, would you tell he/ she no?
and if the vampire needs to go why waste all the soils nutrient?

3/
As above

Apologise if you want, being polite and nice to other board users is a good thing. As for the old questions, some of us will answer anyway.... unless you ask a silly question
like what if a vampire gets cancer of the gums and has all its teeth pulled?
Should the dentist close the doors and windows?
Who would be the best recipient for laughing gas?
Angel, Spike or Darla?

 

[neodragon]

1/
Was the vampire pulling the punches?

2/
If a vampire wants to go to the bathroom, would you tell he/ she no?
and if the vampire needs to go why waste all the soils nutrient?

3/
As above

Apologise if you want, being polite and nice to other board users is a good thing. As for the old questions, some of us will answer anyway.... unless you ask a silly question
like what if a vampire gets cancer of the gums and has all its teeth pulled?
Should the dentist close the doors and windows?
Who would be the best recipient for laughing gas?
Angel, Spike or Darla?

No offense, but no part of your post makes much sense or answers my questions. 😕

 

[ILLYRIAN]

neodragon,

1/
As you said,
'but it seems a bit odd that normal humans with only moderate combat training are often able to withstand their blows'

my post was,
'was the vampire pulling the punches'

what didn't you understand?

3/
what don't you understand about, as above?

 

[neodragon]

For # 1, I was confused by the fact that you picked one part of my comment with little context. In any case, generally speaking, no I don't think that an evil vampire would be pulling his punches when in a fight to the death with a normal human like Giles, or Wesley, or Gunn.

For #3. What are you referring to above?

 

[ILLYRIAN]

fredthe3rd,
about the question, does a vampire need to expel waste. (go to the bathroom)
Logically yes, if the vampire drinks, eats then eventually the space needed by the content going in will be greater than the space available in the human body.
How many seriously overweight vampires were on the show, or for that matter any film/ TV show about vampires.
My comment about soil nutrients?
Can you imagine a vampire being polite enough to use the WC, to flush it and as nothing has been said to indicate otherwise, put down the seat and cover afterwards?
Further to that, and more to do with my comment. In how many countries of the world are the waste treatments used for creating soil nutrient? In some countries they are re-using human waste (when treated a heck of a lot) to be drinking water.

Neodragon.
About white avengers post (the as above) he appeared to me, to be stating that a bullet to the head does not kill a vampire but a shotgun blast that obliterates the head does. My comment was me agreeing with that.

With the premise that a vampire is stronger than an average human.
In general vampires do kill, many appear to like killing, many enjoy killing, a few enjoy the chase and the lead up to the kill.
So, the question might become, would a vampire want a quick kill or would a vampire want to savour the act. If you think a vampire would want to savour the moment then the vampire would pull its punches.
Although in your last post you have included that the vampire is evil.
What is evil?
An evil vampire against Giles or Wesley or Gunn.
A 'normal' vampire of say Angel compared with an evil vampire of say Angelus.
There was a case of Angelus against Giles, did Angelus hit Giles as hard as he could to kill him. No, he pulled his punch to knock out Giles, to not kill him. Angelus's comment about chain-saws goes part way to include the evil concept.

 

[neodragon]

With regards to pulling punches, most vampires don't seem to savour a slow kill as much as Angelus does. He was special in that respect. In the heat of battle, sometimes in situations where their allies are being dusted around them, I don't see a typical vamp pulling his punches just for fun.

As for the waste, it's not as certain as you might think that vamps must expel waste. Several aspects of their biology defies logic and science. No circulation or body temperature suggests that they don't have a metabolism. Thus, not only should they not be nourished by food, they should not be able to digest it at all. Thus if it is expelled, it would have to come out entirely undigested, which is so unpleasant a thought I don't know why any vamp would ever choose to eat food. In some vampire fiction vampires cannot stomach human food at all.