When are poeple going to learn that silver kills WEREWOLVES!!

I've seen lots of vampire movies, and some of them, like Blade, for instance, have this idea that vampires are vulnerable to silver. What's the deal with that? They're getting it mixed around with Werewolves! Werewolves are killed by silver. Vampires are killed by sunlight, wooden stakes through the heart, fire, and decapitation.

 

I wish I knew more about this subject. I need to read Dracula again. I thought the only way a Vampire could die was by a wooden stake. I also thought that only a silver bullet could kill a Werewolve.

 

Most of the "rules" as we understand them for Werewolves were made up by Universal in the 30's for there Wolfman series. e.g. "Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf ewhen the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."

UKS

 

I've read that Vampires are vulnerable to silver also...

 

Is that how you become a werewolve? I know that you become a vampire if a vampire bites you and you survive.

 

Never!!

 

I like girls.

 

Although I could be wrong,

In Abraham Stoker's Dracula, wasn't 'ol Drac ultimatley killed by the silver knives wielded by Van Helsing and Harker?

Although the power of the knives might have been special, not simply because they were silver.

 

Hahaha! You'll never kill me!

 

How many Dracula books are there??

 

I agree, it bugs me when I see people throwing in random items from folklore without paying attention to what they apply it to.

Does anyone know where the idea of vampires not being reflected came from?

 

Remember "Long Dong Silver"? Lol.

 

IkritMan, there's only one. DRACULA, by Bram Stoker.

Here are the facts:

Werewolves
You are turned into a werewolve by being killed by one.
You turn into a werewolf when the moon is full, and turn back when it's not.
Werevolves have incredible strength.
The only thing that can kill a werewolf is silver.

Vampires
They can only be killed by wooden stakes through the heart, sunlight, fire, and decapitation.
Some stories say that you have to be bitten three times to turn into one.
They cannot stand the smell of garlic.
Crosses and Holy Water burn them to the touch.
They have no reflection.
They have no shadow.

 

Here are the real facts:

Werewolves and Vampires are not real. There are no "hard and fast" rules for the creation of the aforementioned fantasy characters.

UKS

 

Exactly....people have to believe that this is entertainment....it will always be altered in some way to appeal to the masses.....so....they have to make changes to make things seem more original..e.g. Blade, Underworld........I mean....who ever heard of Dracula being Judas Escariot (sp)......lol

 

My favorite topic vampires. Real or false. I like to read stories about vampires.

 

You are turned into a werewolve by being killed by one.

Once you're dead, you're not a werewolf silly.

 

Well, strictly speaking, I don't recall the "three bites" rule in Bram Stoker's novel.

The original novel was quite religious in its nature.

In it, Dracula's weaknesses were:

1)He can be stopped by consecrated wafers (literally, the body of Christ) and by other religious symbols, such as the crucifix.

Over time, this developed into the more movie friendly "holy water."

2)Complete cremation

3) The lesser, vampire minons, were killed by driving stakes into their hearts.

However, Dracula himself was killed by the knives wielded by Van Helsing and Harker. What role the silver played, I'm not certain.

Additionally, in the novel, Van Helsing was a doctor of philosophy as well as an herbalist, and used various "talismans and herbs" to keep Dracula at bay.

 

Vampires
They can only be killed by wooden stakes through the heart, sunlight, fire, and decapitation.
Some stories say that you have to be bitten three times to turn into one.
They cannot stand the smell of garlic.
Crosses and Holy Water burn them to the touch.
They have no reflection.
They have no shadow.

You're drawing most of your conclusions from Stoker. While he certainly drew some of his knowledge from some more or less common Western legends, they are far from universal, nor are they the most prominent.

Wooden stakes through the heart are fairly common. However, more often than not, the stakes don't actually kill the vampire. Driving a stake through its heart will keep it from waking, paralyze it, or force it into a coma-like state, but they're not usually lethal. Also, the wood often has to be of a specific type to be effective. IIRC, wood from evergreens and Ash will do nothing at all.

I'm not sure where this whole "sunlight = instant death" belief comes from. Not even Dracula himself could be killed by sunlight. He was only vulnerable during the day. Most legends state that vampires are weakened by sunlight, choose to sleep away from it, or simply can't exist in it. I know of very few legends that support the "fact" that vampires will be killed in sunlight. (As an aside, it really irritates me when movies like Blade and Underworld make UV light the same thing as sunlight. In those few legends where sunlight is lethal to vampires, it is a supernatural weakness. The evil creatures cannot stand the light of day because it is a symbol of good that drives away evil spirits. Simply shining a UV light on such a vampire would do nothing.)

Fire and Decapitation are actually the most accurate of your points. Those vampires that actually have a physical form can usually only be stopped by taking their heads or burning them (or their remains... a lot of vampires are more akin to ghosts, whose physical remains are their biggest weakness).

Then we have garlic... I'm still not sure where the hell that came from.... though a few myths I've read about do indicate that certain herbs are repulsive to vampires. I guess garlic can fall under this.

As for holy water and crosses, these things are both accurate and inaccurate. On the one hand, they're strictly Christian symbols and therefore limited in there scope amongst the world's many vampire legends. But on the other hand, holy relics are often a good deterrent to vampires. Crosses and holy water certainly classify. However, the person wielding these relics often must truly have faith that whatever divine entity they symbolize will protect them. An atheist using a cross on a vampire vulnerable to them will get laughed at and killed.

Never heard of the three-bite rule before, but the no reflection/no shadow thing is fairly universal.

And as for the original subject of the thread, silver is a common weakness amongst a great deal of supernatural entities, including vampires.

Anyway, I'm finished my geeky rant. It's cold, and I'm tired.












»Who dares wins«

 

arent werewolves and vampires connected somehow, seeing as how they both bite their victim to turn them? maybe silver can be used as a weakening agent in vampires

 

Wow I learning more in the this thread.

 

"Here are the real facts:

Werewolves and Vampires are not real. There are no "hard and fast" rules for the creation of the aforementioned fantasy characters.

UKS"

That's not very constructive. It's also wrong. Vampires, in a form, do exist. There are people who cannot go out in sunlight because it causes them severe, painful skin problems, and there are people who crave blood to treat a certain illness.

 

arent werewolves and vampires connected somehow, seeing as how they both bite their victim to turn them? maybe silver can be used as a weakening agent in vampires

One creation story has the firt vampire and the first werewolf being brothers.

 

One creation story has the firt vampire and the first werewolf being brothers. where? I want to read it.