Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Vampire Mythology in the novel.
I've always wondered how the vampires actually work in the novel. As far as I understand, they have a second brain and such which is where their vampiric urges come from, and they can be killed by sunlight, a stake through the heart of being set on fire, but the novel was generally vague about these things at times. Like, in most vampire fiction, they can also be killed by decapitation, do you think decapitating a vampire in LTROI universe would kill it? Also, with the stake through the heart, does it have to be wooden, or can it be any object that pierces/destroys their second brain. If that's the case, could a gunshot directed at their heart/brain kill them? Since they don't seem to be fully undead (their heart still beats) can they die from drowning? Also, the fire thing. Do they have to be fully consumed in it (like the old lady in that one scene in the novel) or do they weaken/receive a lot of damage from even their arm of part of their torso going up in flames? I'm sorry I asked so many questions, hahaha. I just enjoy going into details about this stuff.
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BloodyMary
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Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Welcome to the forum, Mumble!
Yes, I've wondered about that too.
I'm assuming the heads don't grow back, regardless if they were already infected, or not.
My memories are vague. I have not read the novel for so long, so I cannot answer all your questions, but any questions you have will surely be solved by other fellow members.
Enjoy your stay here. c:
Yes, I've wondered about that too.
I'm assuming the heads don't grow back, regardless if they were already infected, or not.
My memories are vague. I have not read the novel for so long, so I cannot answer all your questions, but any questions you have will surely be solved by other fellow members.
Enjoy your stay here. c:
Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Well, some speculation might be fun. So:
What we know about Eliform vampires is that they have an exceedingly slow heart rate. I believe that it is somewhere stated that the heartbeats are weak, too. Additionally, we know that they don't need to breathe while resting (day-time "sleeping").
Virginia is convinced that she cannot easily commit suicide, she might kill what is herself, but the vampire would still continue to live in her body.
We also know that "anything heals", also very serious wounds will heal.
On this foundation, I might suggest this:
If an Eliform vampire has it's head chopped off, it will bleed much less than a normal human. Maybe it will not bleed to death before the wound has healed sufficiently to stop the bleeding. If so, the body might re-grow its head, i.e. the wound will heal completely. But the new head will not have the memories of the old one, a completely new person will arise, initially very immature, I would think.
In the meanwhile, the headless body will not have access to the senses of the head, or its intelligence. It would probably not be able to walk, lacking a sense of balance, but it might be able to crawl. It will not see, hear or smell, and it will not be able to feed. I would think that re-growing a head would take several days, through which the body would need to find a protected hideaway. But it might survive.
More likely, though, a beheaded Eliform vampire would perish.
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I think the novel suggests that the damage to the heart-brain can be done with any tool, it doesn't need to be wooden. The question is to what degree the vampire heart-brain can heal itself. Maybe it cannot heal at all, our maybe it can, but only to some degree. Maybe it can, but only if the piercing object doesn't remain. Anyway, Virginia feels that protecting her heart is important, so I guess damages to the heart are serious and maybe always lethal.
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Since resting Eliform vampires don't breathe, they most likely cannot drown.
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For some reason (no explicit basis in the novel) I've come to think that Eliform vampires are more flammable than normal people. After all, they self-ignite in direct sunlight. If my hunch is right, Eliform vampires would be more sensitive to fire than normal people, and burns that would only (seriously) hurt a normal person would destroy an Eliform vampire. A hint that might support this view is that Eli planned to destroy zombie-Håkan using three litres of denatured alcohol. A normal human body wouldn't be destroyed by that, maybe not even killed, although the person would need intensive care for a long time to survive.
What we know about Eliform vampires is that they have an exceedingly slow heart rate. I believe that it is somewhere stated that the heartbeats are weak, too. Additionally, we know that they don't need to breathe while resting (day-time "sleeping").
Virginia is convinced that she cannot easily commit suicide, she might kill what is herself, but the vampire would still continue to live in her body.
We also know that "anything heals", also very serious wounds will heal.
On this foundation, I might suggest this:
If an Eliform vampire has it's head chopped off, it will bleed much less than a normal human. Maybe it will not bleed to death before the wound has healed sufficiently to stop the bleeding. If so, the body might re-grow its head, i.e. the wound will heal completely. But the new head will not have the memories of the old one, a completely new person will arise, initially very immature, I would think.
In the meanwhile, the headless body will not have access to the senses of the head, or its intelligence. It would probably not be able to walk, lacking a sense of balance, but it might be able to crawl. It will not see, hear or smell, and it will not be able to feed. I would think that re-growing a head would take several days, through which the body would need to find a protected hideaway. But it might survive.
More likely, though, a beheaded Eliform vampire would perish.
====
I think the novel suggests that the damage to the heart-brain can be done with any tool, it doesn't need to be wooden. The question is to what degree the vampire heart-brain can heal itself. Maybe it cannot heal at all, our maybe it can, but only to some degree. Maybe it can, but only if the piercing object doesn't remain. Anyway, Virginia feels that protecting her heart is important, so I guess damages to the heart are serious and maybe always lethal.
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Since resting Eliform vampires don't breathe, they most likely cannot drown.
====
For some reason (no explicit basis in the novel) I've come to think that Eliform vampires are more flammable than normal people. After all, they self-ignite in direct sunlight. If my hunch is right, Eliform vampires would be more sensitive to fire than normal people, and burns that would only (seriously) hurt a normal person would destroy an Eliform vampire. A hint that might support this view is that Eli planned to destroy zombie-Håkan using three litres of denatured alcohol. A normal human body wouldn't be destroyed by that, maybe not even killed, although the person would need intensive care for a long time to survive.
Last edited by metoo on Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:59 pm, edited 6 times in total.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist
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a_contemplative_life
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Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Welcome, Mumble. 
In the novel, Gina stops breathing when she falls asleep under the covers, which implies that she no longer needs oxygen to live (recall the squeak of her dried out air passages that scares her momentarily). Therefore it would stand to reason that drowning is not a threat.
The novel does not make clear whether it is only a wooden stake that could kill a vampire in JAL's universe. When she flirts with the idea of suicide, Eli uses a broken broom handle, which suggests that wood will do the trick, but does not exclude the possibility of other objects/materials. Open question.
It appears that total consumption by fire will kill them, given what eventually happened to the cancer lady whose house Eli set afire. But it took her awhile to die and she wandered around in the yard while ablaze. Eli, OTOH, recovered from the sunlight burns on her back, suggesting that something less than total burning is not fatal.
My 2 cents' worth...
In the novel, Gina stops breathing when she falls asleep under the covers, which implies that she no longer needs oxygen to live (recall the squeak of her dried out air passages that scares her momentarily). Therefore it would stand to reason that drowning is not a threat.
The novel does not make clear whether it is only a wooden stake that could kill a vampire in JAL's universe. When she flirts with the idea of suicide, Eli uses a broken broom handle, which suggests that wood will do the trick, but does not exclude the possibility of other objects/materials. Open question.
It appears that total consumption by fire will kill them, given what eventually happened to the cancer lady whose house Eli set afire. But it took her awhile to die and she wandered around in the yard while ablaze. Eli, OTOH, recovered from the sunlight burns on her back, suggesting that something less than total burning is not fatal.
My 2 cents' worth...
Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Thanks for the thoughts, guys. I know the novel gets pretty vague on the biology of the vampires, but I was also wondering about stuff other than their weaknesses. Can they starve to death? This was probably mentioned in the novel, but I haven't read it in awhile, haha. I remember that Eli gives off a corpse-like stench when she was hungry, so does that mean when they are hungry, their body starts to decay like a regular corpse? If that's the case, then it would mean they are pretty much undead, or at least dead in the medical-sense, which contradicts with what Eli said when Oskar asked her if she was dead. Also, it states specifically that in order to become a vampire, you must either be bitten or have a direct blood transfusion with one of the infected. If Eli fed of someone, drained them completely and left them to die of exsanguination instead of snapping their necks, would they come back as a vampire, or as a zombie-type of vampire like Hakan? I'm guessing that in order to turn someone into a Virginia/Eli-type of vampire, a thinking one, it requires the victim to survive the attack. I'm not so sure on this, though.
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a_contemplative_life
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Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Some of Hakan's inner dialogue when he is marching off to kill the boy at the beginning of the novel indicates that Eli told him at one point that she would have died if he did not help her get blood. However, it is not clear whether Eli was exaggerating or not.
The fact that the cancer woman came back to life after Eli took a lot of her blood (and let a lot more just go all over the furniture), but failed to break her neck, indicates that they will come back even if exsanguination occurs.
The fact that the cancer woman came back to life after Eli took a lot of her blood (and let a lot more just go all over the furniture), but failed to break her neck, indicates that they will come back even if exsanguination occurs.
Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
I love that term: "Eliform vampires"metoo wrote:Well, some speculation might be fun. So:
What we know about Eliform vampires...
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And welcome to 'We The Infected' Mumble
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"For a few seconds Oskar saw through Eli’s eyes. And what he saw was … himself. Only much better, more handsome, stronger than what he thought of himself. Seen with love."
Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
About vampire mythology, for some reason I can't imagine Eli flying around like Superman... 
I mean, I don't know much about vampires, I'm really not a big fan of bloodsuckers, but aren't they supposed to change into a bat, or mist or whatever in order to be able to fly...? And what's the point of Eli climbing up the wall of the hospital if she could actually fly...?
(I know in the book she has some sort of... membranes? or something, with which she can glide, but I do find that somewhat... disgusting
)
I mean, I don't know much about vampires, I'm really not a big fan of bloodsuckers, but aren't they supposed to change into a bat, or mist or whatever in order to be able to fly...? And what's the point of Eli climbing up the wall of the hospital if she could actually fly...?
(I know in the book she has some sort of... membranes? or something, with which she can glide, but I do find that somewhat... disgusting
)
Last edited by J.J. on Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
You have to invite me in
Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
What I am interested in is the long sleeps Eli told oskar about. Where she was awake a few months and slept a few months, and after she had slept she became tiny again. While during daythime when being awake she rested, but never slept. I actially think she grows when she is awake and then when she sleeps her aging returns again and she becomes small and has to age again (and since she's a child she grows) but when awaking gets tiny again. Very interesting.
Another little clure in vampire mytology is that depressed vampires have long sleeps to kid of avoid being unhappy? or it's too much of a burden to be depressed and lonely.. etc.. Maybe if that is Eli's case she would nevr have long sleeps anymore since oskar would be there. But if they continued and even of Oskar got turned or not Eli would fall asleep and Oskar would have to make it on his own for a few months. And if Oskar gets turned they might both sleep at different times and see much less of each other. But couples tend to get each other's rythems so they might be able to fall asleep together in a few years.
Yeah..
Another little clure in vampire mytology is that depressed vampires have long sleeps to kid of avoid being unhappy? or it's too much of a burden to be depressed and lonely.. etc.. Maybe if that is Eli's case she would nevr have long sleeps anymore since oskar would be there. But if they continued and even of Oskar got turned or not Eli would fall asleep and Oskar would have to make it on his own for a few months. And if Oskar gets turned they might both sleep at different times and see much less of each other. But couples tend to get each other's rythems so they might be able to fall asleep together in a few years.
Yeah..
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Re: Vampire Mythology in the novel.
Yep, I can imagine them sleeping together... so romantic! 
You have to invite me in