Assuming the vampire is the natural predator of the human, what is the natural predator of the vampire?
I asked this question awhile back on my Facebook page and got a wide variety of responses. Werewolves and witches were the most popular choices, Buffy was in there somewhere, one person even suggested killer owls, and a few put forth dhampirs, vampire/human hybrids, that only feed off vampire blood (that was probably my favorite).
Bram Stoker to Stephanie Meyer—one of the most common consensus among writers of vampire literature is that they do not get along with werewolves. They’re like Tolkien’s Elves and Dwarves—they hate each others guts into oblivion—but they seem too evenly matched to me. A true predator has a distinctive advantage over their prey. One might say the Werewolves have the edge of going out in the sunlight, but they are at their strongest under a full moon and there goes that idea.
I confess to never having read Dracula, but I’ve been told Stoker put forth the theory that vampires are hunted by witches. This leaves too many variables for me. You need to explain whether or not the witches in question are a separate species or a special classification of human and if they actually feed off the vampires or just use them in spells…I think this makes them more of just an enemy.
Buffy doesn’t count because she is a single human, not a race. (Though I’m sure lots of vampires would have nightmares about her.) As for killer owls—holy crap if there was an owl that ate vampires, I’d never sleep again.
A dhampir is probably the closest to what I had in mind. There is a certain irony in a half human creature feeding off vampires and if you go by the general philosophy on dhampirs, they possess all the strengths of the vampire and none of the weaknesses (sunlight, silver, wooden stakes, crosses, garlic, what have you). Marvel Comic’s Blade went with this theory.
Tied with the dhampir in my personal opinion, is a creature that feeds not on the vampire’s blood, but their life force. I’m not really sure what it would be called or what its vulnerabilities would be, but I imagine it in human form with preternatural strength just like its prey.
Vampire lore has been rehashed and retold of late more than any other mythological creature’s with the exception of perhaps fey. Because of that, there are a multitude of versions of vampires and therefore a multitude of possible predators. This question could be answered twenty different ways by twenty different people and they could all be right. It’s all subjective to the particular incarnation of the lore. Nonetheless, it seems there should be a rule about this because after all, everything in nature gets hunted by something. Why would the paranormal world be any different? This might just be something to address in my Fanged Princess series…
Inkspelled Faery 
Research the succubus. The myth is they feed off human life source, BUT you could totally switch that around in FANGED PRINCESS. Maybe showing the feeding being on vampires, not humans, who seem to be in fact the most vulnerable species in fantasy literature…
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Humanity would appear to be the redshirts of mythology. I am kind of drawn to the succubus/inucubus lore, if for no other reason than I can tell my little brothers “and this is why you don’t go chasing strange girls!” But really, I do think that’s one I need to research more. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Kaitlyn Deann and commented:
For those writers and readers who love vampires. What do you think is the natural predator of the vampire species?
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Brilliant post, gets you thinking! Though I totally hope it’s killer owls 😀
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It is just me, or does that sound like the name of a drive-in horror flick?
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Killer Owls vs Monster Vampires?
I feel another hit like Sharknado coming on! 😀
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Haha! Oh dear.
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Love this post! 🙂 You could argue that Vampire Slayers are a race I guess. As when one dies, another is appointed…well OK, not quite a race, but Buffy is just one of thousands waiting in line…
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I’ve read a few where the vampire hunters were of a special line (vampire hybrids in one and descendants of Artemis in another), but I still don’t think they count, because they just killed the vampires. Of course, this could easily become like the Hulk and Thor’s hammer debate…
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haha so true!
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I love the post and all the comments. I never gave it much thought. Now it’s going to be running through my mind as I try to decide what I think it would be. A killer owl – how funny is that? I can picture it. lol Succubus is a definite candidate.
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It’s certainly a topic that gets people chatting! I hadn’t considered succubus. Hmm. Considering most vampires are portrayed as total sluts/he-sluts, that would be strikingly appropriate.
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Well, I suppose we could make breathers a natural predator… 😛 If there isn’t a natural predator that you like (killer owls! killer owls that morph into … something!), you should totally just make up another race. 🙂
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I remember reading SUNBOLT and being like “finally! A creature even vampires are scared of!” But really I think it would be fun to explore this.
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Dhampir for sure Elisabeth. Makes me think of the one in Blade II. Now a killer owl, I can’t see it! Well, I can in my head but too funny to believe:)
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Poor killer owls. Who would take them seriously? 😉
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Reblogged this on M.B. Scully and commented:
That’s really quite an interesting question…I like the idea of dhampirs too.
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Reblogged this on hocuspocus13.
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Maybe they would be like the Preying Mantis, and always have to watch out for other vampires. You’d think they would oppose nuclear weapons, too.
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Maybe. Come to think of it, I did read one or two books where vampires could subsist off each other.
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Also, it would be cool if they got a germ that was killing them, and they had to make a CDC scientist help them… LOL
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Seek help from humanity? I can see that coming as a low blow!
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Exactly. Lots of dialogue — arguing with each other about approaching a human, whether or not they would even help, who to approach, how to go about it, who they know who is sick… Having to see the value in the prey… Maybe I should write it!
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You should! 😀
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I would say humans. In every lore I know, humans have hunted Vampires. In a group we are bad ass!
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That is why all the monsters are in hiding and trying to convince us they don’t exist, right? 😉
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