What makes a vampire choose to sire, rather than kill?

[Athena]

We know that vampires feed off human blood, not just to survive (because we know they can drink other blood) but also for the thrill of the chase. They are the predators and we are the prey.

Once they've fed they have a choice. To keep drinking til the person dies or to sire that person so they too can become a vampire.

In some circumstances, we know that vampires choose to sire because they desire a mate.... in the case of Dru & Spike for example. But in many cases during both BtVS and AtS, vampires choose to sire for apparently no good reason other than to make their numbers greater.

In which case, why not sire everyone and increase the vampire population to make it harder for the slayer to control? Or is it in itself a method of population control so vampire hierarchy is maintained and only the 'chosen few' get selected? And how does this selection process take place? Can a vampire tell if a particular human is smart or strong, to fill a requirement in their ranks?

Most of the sired vampires we meet are just lackeys to the bigger bad vampires - is it therefore just a case of siring new vamps as collateral damage?

 

[Skanky Vamp]

In which case, why not sire everyone

Because you have a connection with those you sire and as Spike put it some people you cant really feature you living forever.

 

[Athena]

But how do you choose who to sire? Is it just random, or is there more of a thought process in it in which to further the vampire race?

Because in the show, it's clear some sirings are done because the human is 'special' in some way, whereas other sirings seem to be completely random.... Sheila Martini in School Hard, for example.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

But how do you choose who to sire? Is it just random, or is there more of a thought process in it in which to further the vampire race?
Because in the show, it's clear some sirings are done because the human is 'special' in some way, whereas other sirings seem to be completely random.... Sheila Martini in School Hard, for example.

Yeah, but you could tell that Sheila kinda fit in with them by her manners, appearance and the company she kept. Whereas Ford, no one really wanted to make him, and they were forced to. I think it's just random, and a whim. If I'm not mistaken they made Sheila because she had a connection to the slayer and thought they could gain the upperhand.

I could be wrong but I never saw anyone waving a vampire race flag; I don't think there was much support. Unless you were The Master. But generally no one really did anything for the vampire race, if I am not mistaken. The more numbers, the less food and more chance of getting found out about. It goes back to Spike's little speech about Happy Meals with Legs in season two.

 

[cryptwarmer]

Sometimes they sired others to make minions to do their dirty work. But I also wonder why they would sire so many random people, doesn't it just increase the demand for blood, it's like creating your own competition for limited resources.

When Spike says to Ford he doesn't want to sire someone he doesn't want to have to spend eternity with (or something like that) that makes sense to me.

I can understand why someone might sire Harmony, if they wanted her for a girlfriend, she was pretty.
But the random people popping up out of the ground didn't make sense to me unless maybe someone was trying to create some vamp army of random often stupid vampires, but why bother when there are uber vamps?

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I can understand why someone might sire Harmony, if they wanted her for a girlfriend, she was pretty.

That's another example of poor writing. Harmony got bit and falled to the ground dead. No vampire stopped and let her drink his blood. She was dead and forgotten. No one went out there with the purpose to sire Harmony.

 

[Athena]

Maybe the vamps we knew well.... Angelus, Spike, Drusilla & Darla... they sired for a reason otherwise they saw no point in it. I always felt with all the hoards of vamps in Sunnydale that weren't sired by any of the big bads, must've been sired for a purpose. But by whom, we never find out.

It always reminds me of the film Daybreakers, where vampires are the overwhelming majority in the world and humans are few and far between. I expect as a vampire, you want your 'legacy' to continue in case the slayer stakes you but you also want to make sure there aren't vampires taking over and siring everyone they meet in a dark alley.

I'm just curious whether they practice safe-siring....

 

[ChaseRules]

I can understand why someone might sire Harmony, if they wanted her for a girlfriend, she was pretty.
But the random people popping up out of the ground didn't make sense to me unless maybe someone was trying to create some vamp army of random often stupid vampires, but why bother when there are uber vamps?

l agree Harmony being a good girlfriend as long as you don't listen to her. And I wonder if being on the hell mouth caused a lot of people to rise ad vampires that wouldn't in other places.

Also is there something different in bringing someone over than in just killing them because if so I missed it.

 

[white avenger]

That's another example of poor writing. Harmony got bit and fell to the ground dead. No vampire stopped and let her drink his blood. She was dead and forgotten. No one went out there with the purpose to sire Harmony.

I always assumed that, in Harmony's case, her last living act was biting some passing vampire on the leg. It fits perfectly with what I perceived as being her living character.

As for the general question of a vampire intentionally siring a victim, I think that that is a relatively new (as in, the last few decades) element of vampire lore. Back in the days days of b&w movies, when Lugosi or Chaney played Dracula, vampires fed on humans, but didn't always kill in the process, at least, not in a single night's feeding. If they did kill their victim, however, that, alone, was sufficient for the them to return as a vampire unless staked or beheaded before being buried. Eventually, someone probably pointed out that, if that were truly the case, the world would eventually been overrun by vampires. That was most likely when the process of "siring" by sharing blood at the point of death became the accepted method of creating new vampires.

(That applies mostly to movie/TV vampire lore. I'm not sure whether or not it applies to classic literature, like Stoker's novel and others of its time)

 

[Athena]

And I wonder if being on the hell mouth caused a lot of people to rise ad vampires that wouldn't in other places.

But if you're attacked by a vampire, you're either sired or your dead. Being on the hellmouth makes no difference to that?

We know the act of siring requires you to drink the blood of the vampire. If that doesn't happen, you're worm food.

 

[ChaseRules]

Being in Sunnyvale might increase the number of vampires rising though.

 

[Athena]

Being in Sunnyvale might increase the number of vampires rising though.

But that doesn't make sense though. You're either sired and you rise as a vampire.... or you're dead and you stay in the ground.... hellmouth or not.

So it being on a hellmouth makes no difference to the numbers. If it did, everyone would be sired surely?

 

[cryptwarmer]

But if you're attacked by a vampire, you're either sired or your dead. Being on the hellmouth makes no difference to that?

We know the act of siring requires you to drink the blood of the vampire. If that doesn't happen, you're worm food.

They could feed on you but not drain you, maybe they get interrupted or they think you taste nasty, or they like you and want to keep you on tap...so they can bite you but not kill you or turn you

 

[Athena]

They could feed on you but not drain you, maybe they get interrupted or they think you taste nasty, or they like you and want to keep you on tap...so they can bite you but not kill you or turn you

Well, there was that place Riley visited, they were dead set on all that....

But that still wouldn't turn you. You'd just be a constant source of food but it wouldn't increase the numbers of vampires rising....

 

[cryptwarmer]

Well, there was that place Riley visited, they were dead set on all that....

But that still wouldn't turn you. You'd just be a constant source of food but it wouldn't increase the numbers of vampires rising....

right. You can't turn someone accidentally right? Or would it be possible for Harmony to bite the vamp who was biting her and get herself turned.

It never made sense to me that they would randomly turn people, no predator willingly invites any other predator besides their mate/pack to share their territory.

 

[GoSpuffy]

I think it has to do with the demon essence inside of the vampire. Darla, Angelus, Dru and Spike have a more powerful demon and they seem to be stronger, smarter vampires. Some of those random vampires popping up nightly in the cemetary were sired by less intelligent demons and were easy pickings for Buffy. The whirlwind survived multiple fights with the slayer but most vampires were easy pickings for her.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I think it has to do with the demon essence inside of the vampire. Darla, Angelus, Dru and Spike have a more powerful demon and they seem to be stronger, smarter vampires. Some of those random vampires popping up nightly in the cemetary were sired by less intelligent demons and were easy pickings for Buffy. The whirlwind survived multiple fights with the slayer but most vampires were easy pickings for her.

I don't know.. I think it was age and experience. The four that you mentioned all had an older vamper to guide them. The ones popping up nightly in the cemetery are usually alone. I think that has more to do with them being stronger/smarter.

 

[Kana]

It's possible that siring is instinctual and pleasurable to vampires kind of like sex. Some do it for a reason, others just do it for the hell of it, which would explain why there are so many bastard vampires rising.

 

[white avenger]

It's possible that siring is instinctual and pleasurable to vampires kind of like sex. Some do it for a reason, others just do it for the hell of it, which would explain why there are so many bastard vampires rising.

This reminds me of the scene in "Dracula: Love At First Bite." Susan St James starts nibbling on his neck, his eyes roll back, and he says something like, "Oh, I have waited two hundred years for someone to bite me!"

Siring is the vampire equivalent of procreation, so it stands to reason that it should be pleasurable for the vampire, and if, as Spike says in Season 10, being fed on by a vampire results in a "euphoric sensation" for the victim, a good time is apparently had by all.

 

[ChaseRules]

And some probably do it just because they can 🙂