Preturnatural Biology 101 |
A complete comparison between authors and different types of fantasy creatures. Find your favorite combination and then check out the books! See how Laurell compares to the competition. |
Vampires: |
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Undead? | Affected by Daylight? | Food Preference? | Flight? | Supernatural abilities? | Vampire Government? | Die by Day? | ||
Laurell K. Hamilton | Yes. | Crispy critters. | Strictly human, and alive. | The old ones, or masters. | Used to be no, now we're not so sure...they can definitely call shapeshifters. | Yeah, but different vampire lines are capable of developing different powers. Generically: super strength, super speed, mass mind clouding, heightened hearing and smell, night vision. | Politics and all. Beware of the Council. | What do you think? Not without a meal first, at least. Gotta build up that strength. By the way, careful of Vlad syndrome. Baby vampires! | Yep, but they can wake up before full dark if strong enough. The debate about vampires having souls is still open. |
No, they're hemophages. | Nope. They are humans with a form of lukemia that develops in late childhood. | Human, but they can take blood through those donation packet thingies. | No. People can't fly, silly. | Uh uh, again the whole human drawback thing. You understand... | Mind-clouding, super strength, super speed. | No, not really. Fairly solitary hunters. | Do humans have sex drives? | Again. HUMAN. They don't sleep, though. | |
Anne Rice | Yes. | Human and alive, or recently dead. | Errr...we don't think so. You can never tell. | No. | Mind-clouding, dreamwalking, telepathy, super stength, super speed, able to hear heartbeats, skin and eyes practically glow. |
To an extent, yes. It depends which country you're in. | No, and what a shame it is. All love is strictly emotional. | Yep. | |
Darren Shan | It depends. There are "half-vampires" too. | Half-vampires aren't, all the rest are. | Oh buddy, it's complicated. There are time limits on how long things can be dead, and there is a strict menu--animal and human. | They don't fly, they flit. It's like a form of hopping really fast and far. | Mind-clouding, telepathy, telekinesis, super strength, really STRONG nails (be jealous), super speed, heightened smell and sight. | Yeah. Little elaboration. | Darren is still a little kid, you sick freaks. | If full vampire. Being a mudblood has its advantages. | |
No, they are very much alive. Vampires can only be created from humans that carry the belladonna antigen in their blood, and die early (by 30) unless they are changed. | Hee. Yeah, they explode into an inferno of death. | Of course, fresh human. But they also take stale blood from blood banks, as well as animal. | No, but they can jump high. | The ancient ones can, but we're talking ANCIENT. | Super strength, speed, sight, and hearing. All emotions and feelings are magnified. Each vampire has unique characteristics, like psychic flashes or the ilk. | Sort of, more like the vamps take care of each other and have a code against hurting those of the blood. They're loners, but a little more civilized in the sense that they don't try and kill each other on sight. | Since they're alive, they don't die...they just fall into a really, really deep sleep. | ||
L. J. Smith | Yes. | No, as long as they're wearing a talisman. | Human and animal. | Yes, if they're in the right form. | Yes, at full power, and into any form. | Night vision, kinetic and telepathic Powers, super strength, heighened smell and hearing. Affected by vervain. | Nope. Solitary hunters by nature. | Yep, but no raunchy sex scenes. | No, but they do need sleep. |
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes | Yes. | Nope. They're special. | Animals and humans. | Again yes, if they're in the right form. | Yes, into any form, but power doesn't really count here. | Night vision, mind-clouding, heightened hearing and smell, super strength and speed, able to beat the crap out of you with their auras. | A loose hierarchy...basically, if you live, you're lucky or one tough son-of-a-bitch. | Yes, but very rarely, and no elaboration. | Nope. They don't like the sunlight much, but they can still go out in it without blowing up. |
Vivian Vande Velde | Yes. | Yeah. | Humans, strictly humans. | Uh.... | Not that we know of. | Super strength, super speed, mind-clouding, night vision. Able to hear heartbeats. Classic vampire. | Nope, but they do have e-mail! | So far, we're only sure that there can be sexual attraction. | Dead as a doornail, baby. |
Annette Curtis Klause | Yes. | Yep. | Humans and animals. | Errr.... | No. You can never tell with Christopher, though. | They are nothing without their grave dirt. Otherwise, super strength and speed, heightened vision. Heightened hearing. | They normally try and kill each other. Troubled pasts, and all that. | Again, they were only kids. | As dead as dead gets. |
P. N. Elrod | Yeah. | Yes. | You can eat people, but bovine is preferred. Grade A 100% Beef. | He can turn into smoke. Does that count? | Super strength, super speed, heightened hearing and smell, telepathy. | Not that we've seen, he's sort of a loser. | Yes. | In closets, boxes, trunks, wherever he can fit. | |
Yes. | Uh huh. | Strictly human. | Nope. At least we're sure now. | Nah. | Super strength, super speed, heightened smell and hearing, soundless movement. | Seeing as she's the LAST vampire, I'd say...no. There was once upon a time, though. | Definitely. Very definitely. | Yeah...I think. |
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Type | Contracted by? | Food preference? | Immortal? | Social structure? | Special Talents? | Affected by moonlight? |
Wolf, leopard, lion, tiger, rat, hyena, jaguar, swan, and snake | Lycanthropy is a disease that is spread by an attack or a bad batch of vaccine. Some forms can be caused by a curse or genetics. | As human, anything. As a were, fresh meat is preferred. | No, but only truly harmed by silver and fire. Extremely fatal circumstances (such as a falling iron slab) might kill them. Age human quickly. | Normally very close knit and violent. Seldomly do other types of lycanthropes interact on an intimate basis. However, loose alliances can be formed. | Partial shifting into animal form, i.e: a hand to a claw. Forced shifting if you're powerful enough. | Mostly. The need to change becomes stronger closer to the full moon. Swanmanes and other hereditary shifters are not tied, nor are the cursed. | |
Wolf. | Passed down through the male line or by being bitten by a werewolf and surviving. | They can eat anything (a lot of anything, to be specific) as human, but have a taste for large animals and people. | No, anything that can kill a human can kill a werewolf. | Very close knit pack, but with a low birth rate. There are also mutts, which are lone or rogue weres. | Basic werewolf traits, | Loosely lunar, but not really. A Change must occur on a weekly basis, but a werewolf can learn to control it so they can Change at whim. | |
L.J Smith | Wolf | Either curse, surviving an attack, or inherited through the male lineage. | Red meat. | No. Definitely not. | Familial or lone wolf, but no pack. | Superhuman strength and hearing. Just think werewolf. | Yes. Change on the full moon. |
Wolf | It's genetic, but we're not sure how it's passed along. For now, let's blame men. | They can eat *anything*. In wolf form, they perfer meat, but it's not necessary. | They can be killed, but they don't age past their prime. | A pack with a king as leader. Basic wolfic instincts. | Normal werewolf talents such as super strength. Werewolves exist on a seperate level from the human consciousness (seperate entities). | Yes. | |
Alan F. Troop | Dragon | People. You think we're kidding, but we're not. Well, that and the occasional cow. Yum yum eat-em-up. | No, but they are extremely slow agers. | None, aside from family ties. | Blows fire, can fly long distances, can swim and dive. Shift back and forth at will. Mind control | Nope. | |
Vivian Vande Velde | Dragon | It was never stated, though we suspect it was a curse. More fey than were. | People and other assorted livestock. In human form, human food was OK. Seems like all dragons eat people. | Immortal, except he must shift before sunset or die. Iron binds the fey. | Loner, though capable of strong love. | Just...dragon stuff. He can shift into other animals, though. | Only in the sense that he must shift before sunset. |
Annette Curtis Klause | Wolf | Humans are forbidden, though that's never stopped them. Mostly hunt woodland creatures (sorry, Bambi) and human food. | Nope, they can most certainly die. They age as humans. | Close knit pack. | Just the regular werewolf stuff. | Yes. |
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Immortality? | Social structure? | Mingle with humans? | Related to legend? | Humanoid? | ||
Laurell K. Hamilton | Most fey are immortal except for halfbreeds, though it varies from species to species. | Two courts, the Seelie and the Unseelie. | The Seelie are too good for mere humans. The Unseelie have no morals. | We'd like to say yes, but all will reveal itself in time. | Each faerie has two hands of power. What those hands happen to be or how they manifest depends on genetics and personality. Glamour type magic. | Some are. Others, such as brownies, night hags, and other of the Sluagh are most certainly not. | Power and beauty are valued above all else, and cruelty is prevalent. Children are rare and treasured above all riches. Hurt by iron. |
Mercedes Lackey | Yes, to the extent that they age impossibly slow. They can be killed, though. | Seperated into the Seliegh and Unseliegh courts, though all the faeries had their memories wiped clean for a time. | Yes, they were forced to assimilate when their memories and source of power were taken away. | Yeah, sure. | Mind control and personal glamour, most tend to have one area of mastery such as music or accounting. | Yes, except for pointy ears. | They cannot move far away from their circle of power. Otherwise they become zombie-like. Naive and almost too trusting. |
J.R.R. Tolkien | ELVES! They never age, but can be killed. | Feudal in structure, aloof and seperated by elements of origin. | Only to save the world. | Yeah | Farsight, extreme grace and beauty, have a great deal of accuracy and skill when dealing with weapons. Able to work spells and other magics. | Yes. | Unable to accept change, they are stuck in the past. Not affected by iron such as other fey. Dissapear and run from adversity. |