#amityvale

we all know dragonfable loves its references, and while the vampires in dragonfable don't reference any one piece of vampire media in particular they are fairly representative of the classic Pop Culture Vampire archetype, with some changes to suit the setting, of course.

dragonfable vampires have the classic weakness to sunlight which is further enhanced by the weakness to the light element that most vampires we seen in game are subject to when you fight them (not all, but most). additionally they are weak to silver, same as werewolves, and while it is generally more associated as a weakness the later it's not entirely unheard of for it to be a vampire weakness, too. other classic vampire weaknesses such as garlic or faith are noticeably absent, and while the later makes sense to a degree as religion isn't really something that plays a huge role in dragonfable, it is a shame that the former was omitted, if only for the potential comedy of it. EDIT: i forgot to mention, it is also implied though not outright stated that the good ol' wooden stake to the heart method works in dragonfable, as that is what raven arms herself with when you and her go to confront frydae when thursday goes missing.

in regards to physical characteristics, the majority of the vampires we see all have the typical red eyes, fangs, and claws. safiria is of course a notable exception to the red eyes rule, having eyes that are more of a gold or topaz, though we do see red in her eyes when she's agitated or upset. another interesting thing i noticed is that, with the exception of frydae, who has been implied to be starving himself to a degree for some time, all of the vampires have what i would consider a healthy skin tone. there are numerous forms of vampire media that depict them as either lacking in pigment or having a corpse-like pallor, though there are also a number that don't. i suppose i just found it a bit funny that my player character was paler than the vampires were. one last note is that safiria is the only vampire we see with wings of any kind in her "human" form, perhaps due to her status as the vampire queen.

ability-wise, dragonfable vampires have the classic speed and strength associated with creatures of the night, and may presumably also have the enhanced senses as well. shapeshifting is clearly on the table as well, since a good number of the vampiric enemies you fight in the game turn into a bat upon defeat, and the way that vampires seem to appear suddenly out of mist at certain points implies that could be a possible transformation as well, supported by how safiria turns into a bloody red cloud during the portion of book 3 where she goes apeshit. what's really interesting to me though is the more atypical ability of blood manipulation, something that is not commonly seen in vampire fiction. elite vampires seem to have the ability to pull the blood from their enemies, if their attack animations are anything to go by, and we outright see both safiria and frydae do even greater feats of blood manipulation over the course of the story. this was a really neat ability to add, in my opinion.

something fun for me that i am very happy they included explicit information on is how one becomes a vampire in dragonfable. magus neron states in bloodwork that while lycanthropy is transmitted though a single bite, vampirism requires a "complete blood transfer." this is further elaborated on in blood feud where it is made clear by lord frydae that turning someone into a vampire involves the vampire drinking the person's blood and the person then drinking the vampire's blood. the exchange of blood as a means of catalyzing a vampiric transformation is not an uncommon method in vampire fiction, and is in fact present in the classic novel dracula. (and i will, of course, be making use of the fact that a bite alone doesn't turn someone for my own purposes. what purposes? yes.)

what is *not* stated in canon is how turning a person into a vampiric *ghoul* works, and how it differs from turning someone into a vampire. however, we don't actually see any vampiric ghouls in book 3 amityvale, nor are there any mention of them, so there may be some early installment weirdness or continuity weirdness going on there for why they're only present in book 1.

a few more general assorted notes before moving on. i touched briefly on elements earlier, and how vampires are generally weak to the light element. what i did not mention is their association with the darkness element, that generally being the element type of their attacks. vampires being associated with darkness of course makes sense, given the whole creature of the night thing. it also leads into safiria being willing to help with the search for a lycanthropy cure, since those infected with lycanthropy (a light-aligned ailment) can't be turned into darkness-aligned vampires. also worth mentioning i feel is how vampires are categorized as undead enemies, which while not unexpected seeing as a good portion of vampires in media are of the undead variety, does imply that being turned into a vampire kills you. which would make finding a cure for the condition interesting. good luck neron.

onto the werewolves! dragonfable werewolves are *neat*. vampires may be my main area of supernatural study, but i also know a good deal about werewolves, as well, and the two often go hand in hand.

i won't be going anywhere near as in-depth with the werewolves as i did with the vampires. they're very much the stereotypical beast werewolf found in pop culture, wolf-like creatures that are only vaguely humanoid and far more animalistic than a mundane human. they're clearly still sentient and sapient, though, albeit to varying degrees.

dragonfable takes the classic "lycanthropy as a virus" angle, though with a dragonfable sort of twist to it. that twist, of course, is the involvement of the light element that makes werewolves light-aligned creatures. this is *not* an angle that is often taken when it comes to werewolves, who are often treated as creatures of darkness just as much as vampires are. by involving light dragonfable manages to give an interesting addition to the classic vampire-werewolf conflict. that's really the part about things that fascinates me the most about dragonfable werewolves, that light element.

otherwise they're just classic horror werewolves. beast-like form, weakness to silver, strong connection to the moon, etc.

now onto something more resembling actual analysis.

while i wouldn't really call the vampires or werewolves in dragonfable *generic*, they due seem to follow general tropes and archetypes. i would say, however, that that's the point. dragonfable isn't a game about werewolves and vampires, but rather a game with vampires and werewolves in it. the werewolves and vampires don't need to be special or unique or different, that's not what they're for. dragonfable uses the trappings and tropes of horror and transformative monsters to further add depth to the narrative of book 3 and to show us another side of the rose. and like a certain number of horror stories, there isn't really a happy ending, as of when i'm writing this. not that i've seen, anyway. the villain is defeated and granted a fate worse than death, and the "heroes" all live, but the joy in the victory is tainted by the sorrow of what was lost to get there, and the maintained status quo of the fear of the unknown in amityvale. there is no immediate fix it or cure. and the rose is still the rose, even if there are good people in it.