So I’m watching Castlevania, a series on Netflix based on the game. The artwork is beautiful, but I have tons of complaints. Dracula wages a war on all of humanity over the actions of the church. First of all, really? All of humanity? If the war was waged against the church, that would be one thing, but all of humanity? I know humans can be cruel, but you’re a fucking vampire! You even admitted to killing humans for sport when you were younger. Humans fear what they don’t understand, and you, and apparently all vampires, fan those flames by killing them. Don’t pretend you’re this humanistic figure. You unleash Hell on earth. One necromancer reanimates dead animals and keeps them as pets. The other flogs himself in meditation. And a vampire viking leads a raid on an innocent village, drinking the blood from a severed head. But people are mean and don’t deserve to live.
There’s really more talk of war than actual war, mostly by Dracula and his court. Most of the series is talking and talking and talking. Plotting, mutiny, usurping. It’s like game of thrones but with vampires. You could go several episodes without seeing much action. And for a series about a fuck’n war with Dracula, it’s pretty short, 8 episodes per season. Boom! 16 episodes. War’s over. Humanity saved. Bye kids.
Though, there’s one thing that boggles the mind. Vampire Supremacy. The vampires claim they’re superior and that humans are just livestock. I strongly disagree. When it comes to fictional vampires, they have a variety of special powers, but have a lot of special rules. Most rules leave them with fatal vulnerabilities. Sun light turns them to dust. They can’t cross running water. Holy water and symbols hurt them. They have to be invited into a house (an inconsistent rule). And they’re warded off by garlic. Yes, fictional vampires can pose a real threat, but they have enough weaknesses that it’s not hard to prepare for one to visit.
In truth, I think humans are superior to your average fictional vampire. If sunlight is fatal to you, you’re no where near the top of the food chain. I think it would make more sense to represent vampires as social outcasts. I down play vampires in my own writing. I take away much of their powers and weaknesses. I make it so they only need a pint of blood each month but get it from donors that they are loyal to. I like the idea of painting vampires as mere social outcasts who, despite a few quirks, can coexist with humans as opposed to being monsters who can only survive by treating humans as livestock. Obviously people WILL fight back. So you can’t make the “Humans are selfish” argument when it becomes a matter of survival.