Modern Mythology 2019- Build Your Own Vampire Project- p.8 Mark Succerberg

By: Jenna Tsvayg, Christopher Gonzalez, Christopher Hui, Mohanad Zihiri, Elias Yazigi

Objective: The goal of this project is for your team to create the rules and attributes of your own vampire universe. While creativity is necessary, research is actually the focal point. The caveat is that your vampire universe must be based on research your team completes about stories associated with vampires from any point in time, history, folklore, or fiction

Vampire's ethnicity:

The vampires originated among the Native tribes of New England, Quebec, and Ontario. Its ethnicity is Algonquin. The first vampires to emerge lived in the wilderness and originally attacked mostly Native Americans until the Europeans arrived. The vampires are now of multiple different ethnicities as they have spread throughout the whole of North America.

Sources:

Based on the Wendigo, a creature from Algonquin folklore

 ~ “Wendigo.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2004, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo#CITEREFBrightman1988

Vampire's home:

Our vampire makes its home in the dense deciduous forests of  northern North America.  Living in the woods means that our vampire doesn't have to worry about blending in with humans, as a city vampire would.   As the vampire is in a state of being dead, it is immune to the cold and therefore can spend a long time outdoors. Trees, caves, and even abandoned buildings act as possible places for the vampire to live or rest. The vampire is able to find most of its prey in the woods such as hunters and hikers but it can also venture nearer to civilization if need be. Additionally, our vampire turns into an owl, and it can easily fly through the forests of the Northeastern U.S. and Southeast of Canada and search for victims.(But more on that later)

 sources:

Inspired by the habitat of the Wendigo and Owls.

~ "About Owls I Owl Research Institute.”.Owl Research Institute, https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/owls-1

~ “Wendigo.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2004, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo#CITEREFBrightman1988.

Vampire's reproduction:

Blood exchange via Scarab beetle 

Audience member: "Scarab Beetle? isn't that from Egypt, which is, like, on the opposite of the world from Maine or something?" 

and the answer to that is: when the world was young (but the our vampire was quite old) many "magical" (for lack of a better word) creatures and objects were not confined to a particular location, Scarab Beetles were found all over the world, their self- imposed confinement in Egypt only happened when the humans came

But we've strayed from the original point, which is:

Blood exchange via Scarab Beetle

Step 1: Vampire extracts small amount (1 beetle full) of blood from human

Step 2: Blood is released into the vampire, mortal/ vampire blood are mixed

Step 3: Mortal must drink from vampire

sources:
Inspired by Egyptian Mythology and "The Twilight Zone"

~ Sohl, Jerry. “Queen of the Nile.” The Twilight Zone, season 5, episode 23J, 6 Mar. 1964.
~ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia.  "Scarab." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Apr. 2014, www.britannica.com/topic/scarab.
~ “the race of vampires were ancient ... they'd been on Earth before humans” “Vampires.” Adventure Time Wiki, adventuretime.fandom.com/wiki/Vampires.

Vampire's Camouflage:

Our vampire doesn't look too much like a human, but it blends in perfectly well as an owl (told you we were going to get to the owl bit). An owl sitting in a tree doesn't draw much attention, except from the occasional bird-watcher (whose blood, incidentally, makes for a tasty snack). Moreover, our vampire can turn into any species of owl that exists in the world, so it can blend in anywhere it travels. Owls are extremely stealthy/skilled hunters and they can fly, so this camouflage ability creates a huge advantage for our vampire. This leads us to the next point, abilities.

Sources:
Inspired by the Strix from Greek Mythology and real life owls

~ “Strix (Mythology).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology)#Description.

~ "About Owls I Owl Research Institute.”.Owl Research Institute https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/owls-1

Vampire's Abilities

Our Vampire, as previously mentioned, can shape-shift into an owl. This gives the vampire the ability of flight, as well as the hunting prowess of an owl. The vampire also uses suckers on its fingers to suck a victim's blood as this gives it more range and makes it easier to reach people in hard-to-reach places. This would also be less noticeable as it could be hidden far more than having to bite a victim. This method may also be faster as sucking blood with your fingers would allow more blood to be sucked out than using only your mouth.

Sources:
Inspired by Aboriginal mythology and owls

~ “Yara-Ma-Yha-Who.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2019, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yara-ma-yha-who.

 ~ "About Owls I Owl Research Institute.”.Owl Research Institute https://www.owlresearchinstitute.org/owls-1

Vampire's Weaknesses
Although cricket chirps don't directly weaken our vampire, they are a weakness because they warn all who are listening of the vampire's coming. 

Another weakness is that while our vampire can attack and kill anyone outside their homes, it can not enter your home and attack you there without your permission.
Additionally, the vampire can be killed any way that a mortal can be killed (stabbing, burning, shooting, etc), it is just stronger and has better reflexes than a human.

sources:

Crickets are considered good luck throughout many cultures all over the world, but "for generations throughout Chinese and Japanese history, crickets have been considered great protection because they stop singing when anyone or anything approaches"
~  Derrington, Laura. "Why Is a Cricket a Sign of Good Luck?" Synonym, 28 Sept. 2017, classroom.synonym.com/why-is-a-cricket-a-sign-of-good-luck-12080421.html.

There are thousands of stories and references to vampires and different cultures and authors have a specific way to kill them. But what if it doesn't matter if you burn the vampire, or slice it up, or stab it through the heart- if it could kill a human, it could kill a vampire
~ Radford, Benjamin. “How to Kill a Vampire.” LiveScience, Purch, 17 Aug. 2011, www.livescience.com/33452-how-kill-
vampire.html.
~ Foreman, R.M. “Vampire Slaying for Dummies 101: How to Slay the Modern Vampire.” MSU.edu, msu.edu/~foreman6/writing/vampslay101.html.

Vampire's Preferences

Our vampire is nocturnal, and thanks to the owl shape-shifting ability, it has excellent night vision and hearing. Also, the cover of darkness makes it easier for our vampire to sneak up on its prey. Even though our vampire is active at night, the sun is actually extremely beneficial to our vampire. It actually uses the energy of the sun to its advantage, in a way, our vampire gets charged by the sun. Originally, in the olden days, the sun had no effect on our vampire, one way or the other, but since then our vampire has learned how to harness the power of the sun. It was taught by the trees. Our vampire prefers children's blood, but the blood of any species of any age will do.

Sources:
Inspired by photosynthesis, owls, and the Strix
~ Geggel,Laura.“AreAllOwlsActuallyNightOwls?”LiveScience,Purch,19Sept.2016,www.livescience.com/56146-are-all-owls-nocturnal.html.
~ Crandall Park Trees, mdocs.skidmore.edu/crandallparktrees/climate-impact/sun-exposure/.
~ “Strix (Mythology).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology)#Description.

Other Information About Our Vampire

Owls have been associated with wisdom and knowledge for centuries, our vampire, who is alive for eternity, has the wisdom and knowledge one can only acquire when one is alive for this long

(In Egyptian Mythology) The Scarab Beetle represents the power, or the "divine manifestation" of the sun. This is why the vampire uses a Scarab Beetle for reproduction.

Sources
Inspired by owls and Egyptian mythology

“For vampires, there is no theoretical limit on the number of skills that could be acquired to a reasonable level of competence... Vampires have the best of both worlds: whereas mortals are wise and slow, vampires are wise and fast”  

~ Levine, Brian.“How Would Immortality Affect a Vampire's Memory?” Scientific American Blog Network, 20 Aug. 2014, blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-would-immortality-affect-a-vampire-s-memory/.

~ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia.  "Scarab." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Apr. 2014, www.britannica.com/topic/scarab.