The classical Vampire is based on being a 'damned' reanimated person. With that in mind...

If they were alive again what kind of functions body and chemistry wise do you think they may have?

We hear the stories that their hearts beat but only for awhile after feeding... we see in movies that their nails and hair still grow...but if that's true it means that they are creating new cells. In order to create new cells you have to in essence be living (Nails and hair are dead cells that's partially how they form.)

It makes sense to me that if they were to come back from the dead and be in a sense 'reborn' that blood would begin flowing inside their bodies... their heart would beat, their organs would still be functioning... they'd be able to have sex. (which in a males case means blood needs to get the genitals in order for them to be 'hard'.) So for me they would have the same internal bodily functions as a human being and perhaps the DNA is different on a deeper level, making them stronger, heal faster, immortal but not necessarily impervious to harm.

What do you think? If a classical vampire does exist what would and wouldn't function on a basic anatomy level and why?

Tis said that there senses are enhanced; they're hearing especially, they can detect fear and heartbeats from far off'; I really don't know why that would be, but it is puported that they do.

As for the fingernails and hair regrowth I've heard that too, maybe its something to do with the fact that they take in blood? I really don't know either.

They are said to have a mesmerizing presence and ooze sexuality because of their enhanced ability and sometimes they're empathic abilities/empathic suggestion.

The nails on a corpse grow, so nail and hair growth I figure.

But for how long?I know that there maybe growth for up to about 24-48 hours after someone died but how does that translate for a vampire after that time?

Oh I really like this point.

If they are drinking blood... they are getting live cells and tissue. Since nail and hair growth are dependant on the continuing cycle of living cells dying to porduce these... this makes sense really when you look at it. :)




I'm fairly sure Az is right in that it is only for a certain amount of time.

I've talked to a few people that say that they are vampires and they have these traits. But are they lying to me? hmmmm, well I don't think I'll ever know.

Anyway, If vampires are living, then they will eventually die of old age, it's in all DNA of all living animals. So they abviously are not immortal.

Well, from what I read of Bram Stoker's Dracula (mind you, it was nearly a decade ago), Dracula had the blessing of the devil, so to speak, to be able to do almost anything he wanted. This would make nail and hair growth part of his 'power' having nothing to do with science, really.

In Anne Rice's books, it kind of feels the same (not the damned part, heh). They can't change, anything they do to themselves to change anything will go back to the way it was when they were made. It seems like it doesn't really have anything to do with (for the case of Claudia and cutting her hair—I honestly can't remember anymore if this happens in the book) cell creation, but of just ... sort of ... coming into being.

Perhaps, however, since they do still move around (sending nerve impulses and all that), they have the energy within themselves to make something like their nails or hair grow. The energy is there, it's just not constantly under use.

To me, if you're a vampire that can have sex and do all that other humanly stuff, you're not really undead. You're closer to what others have described vampirism as being—simply ill.

Any being the consumes anything must discharge the same amount to function. Hence, they must void.

By "void", I would reckon that you mean the excretory and urinary eliminatory functions, ja ne? But also the extra mass from blood could be channeled into bodily growth, such as hair and nails. Most of the folklore does indeed refer to a vampire's nails and hair growing faster than a mortal's, so maybe that could be a function of the undead body trying to dump the extra mass however it can. I kind of like that idea, really.

In my fevered imagination, I can see more of the red blood cells being used by the vampires body. Moisture is excreted in the breath and perspiration as well as urea.

However, in order to displace that amount of any fluid (I am using a 1-2 pint per day guestimate), one would have to urinate.

And the body would produce cellular wastes from the blood metabolism. If massive toxicity is to not build up, these wastes must be eliminated. There is also the question of toxins in the modern man's blood.

Can you imagine how long the vampire's hair and nails would have to be to dump that much mass?