Dhampir

Etymology

The word dhampir is an Albanian word which in turn is borrowed from South Slavic vampir.^[2][3][a] The shift v > dh is a feature of Albanian.^[2]

Variants

Mythical creatures like dhampirs are widely associated with Balkan folklore. In the rest of the region, terms such as Serbian vampirović, vampijerović, vampirić (thus, Bosnian lampijerović, etc.) literally meaning "vampire's son", are used.^[5][6]

In Bulgarian folklore, numerous terms such as glog (lit. "hawthorn"), vampirdzhiya ("vampire" + nomen agentis suffix), vampirar ("vampire" + nomen agentis suffix), dzhadadzhiya and svetocher are used to refer to vampire children and descendants, as well as to other specialized vampire hunters. Female vampires are also called vampirica.^[7] Dhampiraj is also an Albanian surname.^[8]

Serbian ethnologist Tatomir Vukanović recorded that Muslims called half-vampire people "Dhampir" (masculine) and "Dhampiresa" (feminine).^[9]

Legends^[which?] state that dhampirs were, for the most part, normal members of the community. But dhampirs, especially males of paternal vampire descent, could see invisible vampires and practise sorcery, often starting careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations from father to son.^[10][11][12]

In the Balkans, it was believed that male vampires have a great desire for human women, so a vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman to whom he was attracted in life.^[5] In one case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a vampire,^[6] and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be vampires to reach the women they desired.^[13] In Bulgarian folklore, vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well.^[5] The sexual activity of the vampire seems to be a peculiarity of South Slavic vampire belief as opposed to other Slavs,^[5] although a similar motif also occurs in Belarusian legends.^[14] The Romani people of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar held the belief that a child may be conceived at night by a vampire and his wife.^[9]

In Kosovo and Metohija, a dhampir (specifically a son) was regarded as a "chief magical agent for the destruction of vampires", and sometimes the dhampir was thought to be the only one capable of seeing a vampire.^[9]

Some traditions specify signs by which the children of a vampire can be recognized. In Bulgarian folklore, possible indications include being "very dirty", having a soft body, no nails or bones (the latter physical peculiarity is also ascribed to the vampire itself), and "a deep mark on the back, like a tail." In contrast, a pronounced nose was often a sign, as were larger than normal ears, teeth, or eyes. According to J. Gordon Melton, from his book, The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, in some areas, a true dhampir possessed a "slippery, jelly-like body and lived only a short life—a belief ... that vampires have no bones."^[15]

Split is named after the TV series' term for a half-vampire, featuring Ella Rozen and other characters of that fictional species.^[16]

Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy role-playing game, features a playable half-vampire species.^[17][18]

Dhampirs also appear in the works of Scott Baker, Nancy A. Collins, Barb Hendee and J. C. Hendee, Rebecca York, Richelle Mead, and Stephenie Meyer.^[19]

Characters

• Alucard from the Castlevania video games and TV series
• Blade is a vampire-slaying hero in the Marvel comics and films
• D from the Vampire Hunter D novels and their adaptations.
• Dennis Dracula-Loughran, son of Mavis Dracula (a female vampire) and Jonathan Loughran (a male human), from the Hotel Transylvania franchise
• Kagura from OneChanbara Z: Kagura
• Rayne, the red-headed anti-heroine protagonist of the BloodRayne franchise
• Renesmee Cullen from the Twilight novels and films
• Rose Hathaway is the dhampir protagonist of the Vampire Academy franchise

• List of vampires
• List of vampiric creatures in folklore