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RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
 Posted - 01/03/2006 : 10:09:23 AM
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Everyone knows the Jabootu Message Board folks are full of lore, so I have a question for any of you.
I just finished watching Dracula 3000…and boy are my arms tired! Seriously, it’s a mostly boring movie starring Johnny Rico, Ellie Mae Clampett and President Lindberg, and the vampire is, I kid you not, a beefy guy in a Count Floyd costume.
What I humbly request your assistance with is this. The tagline for this thing is “In space there is no daylight.” Which is true if your definition of “daylight” means “thanks to an atmosphere, enough light for me to read the newspaper.” We all know that sunlight is fatal to vampires—they start smoking and burn away to ash. (I don’t believe Bram Stoker’s book mentions this at all—I think it first surfaces in Nosferatu--but anyway.)
So given that the sun’s rays are generally accepted as fatal, shouldn’t starlight make them somewhat uncomfortable, too, since it’s the same radiation, just less intense? Moonlight ought to sting them as well since it’s reflected sunlight. If sunlight is bad for vampires, they should only be comfortable out of doors on overcast nights.
So what is it about the sun during the daylight hours that makes it fatal to vampires?
UPDATE: 300 Posts? How did I manage that?
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Edited by - RVHorror on 01/03/2006 10:13:19 AM
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MikeC
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2006 : 12:07:08 PM
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Dracula should die in space. Period.
Lots of solar/stellar radiation to fry him.
And werewolves would always be in wolf form. |
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Sandy Petersen
Archdeacon of Jabootu
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2006 : 1:35:23 PM
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It's well-established that moonlight and starlight doesn't hurt vampires. Since vampires are supernatural entities, they don't have to obey sensible physical laws. If you try to make vampires into non-supernatural beings (as has been attempted several times) I think you then run into the roadblock of "But it won't work..."
I also am of the opinion that putting Vampires into an outer space setting doesn't work - there might be supernatural entities that could survive such a move, but I can't see how vampires could be one of them. If you want vampires in space, I recommend "Planet of the Vampires" as your best bet anyway. |
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RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2006 : 1:48:16 PM
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Well, "Planet of the Vampires" doesn't really have vampires in it..."Queen of Blood" does, though.
Actually, while trying to think of a plausible scenario in which "Dracula" could be adapted to science fiction, I noted that Ridley Scott's "Alien" paralleled a great deal of the typical story. (The abandoned alien wreck full of eggs was like the deserted ship full of coffins...in both cases, the pilot was tethered to his post, too.)
I think you're correct, though, that it only works because it avoids science. Only daylight works because that's how it's been established, and the physical properties don't come into in.
In that case, though, a crucifix should repel vampires of any (or no) religious orientation.
Many thanks! |
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RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2006 : 1:51:01 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Sandy Petersen
I also am of the opinion that putting Vampires into an outer space setting doesn't work
And if you want to see your opinion proven, Dracula 3000 is the film. Never has "doesn't work" been so amply demonstrated! |
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Conrad
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
United Kingdom
28 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2006 : 07:51:41 AM
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I always thought it was the ultra-violet radiation that fried vampires? Given that you won't get any from moonlight or starlight, because the atmosphere filters it out, that gives an explanation.
In outer space, however, there's no atmosphere to filter out the UV, so any vampires would have to live in lead-lined space suits if venturing beyond a protective spaceship hull.
THere! All solved with science!
I sing the body electric, rather tunelessly. |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2006 : 09:05:23 AM
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| I guess it would depend on where they are in space. If they are in the wilds of interstellar space they's be pretty safe but if they are in a solar system they would probably have to limit themselves to the shadows behind planets. |
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Ubiq
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2006 : 3:33:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by RVHorror
So what is it about the sun during the daylight hours that makes it fatal to vampires?
Seeing as how moonlight and starlight on Earth never seems to bother them, it's probably the intense nature of it. Gremlins seem to operate on the same principle.
In space, you're probably better off resorting to a crucifix like you said or running water. There's always the old sock trick or the counting imperative, but the latter would probably not be good for a spaceship's life support system.
BM: I should have mentioned this at the beginning. I solve my problems with violence. |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2006 : 5:35:13 PM
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Also....does it have to be a yellow sun?
We know Kreptonians are arrected by different solar spectrums, so why not Vampires?
I mean, what affect would there be passing by a porthole, while entering a system with a red sun?
Would Drac have the equivilant of a poison oak rash, but be otherwise none the worse for wear?
"Cole, stop handing Dr. Doom the Keys to the Baxter building." Brent Sienna/PvP.
"I speak 34 different languages. But gibberish is not one of them."- Danger Mouse.
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Edited by - Flangepart on 01/04/2006 5:37:16 PM |
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Matrixprime
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2006 : 05:48:57 AM
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As far as I know about this:
-Whenever a writer/scriptwriter has tried to modernize it, they've always adapted the sunlight rule to specify UV sensitivity, etc. I'm not really sure offhand what they might be basing it on, other than it sounds all 'high tech' and lets them make neon looking weapons
-Since Vampire mythology as cinema knows it is largely based off of Bram Stoker, I would imagine the original sunlight thing had to do in part with the sexuality of the night time, etc (less 'nookie'in the daytime, ladies of the 'night', etc). Various articles and books I've read indicate that Stoker was to one degree or another playing off of the prudish sensibilities of his contemporaries - at least what they showed in public.
-lastly, Dracula's mythology has been heavily entwined with Christianity. Night time has often been seen as the time when the devil and his minions are stronger. Christian terminology is full of light/dark references. John Carpenter's Vampires did an intriguing job of explaining vampires through Christian folklore/etc, as did Dracula 2000.
Bah Weep Granna Weep Ninny Bahn - Universal Greeting
Est Solarus Oth Mithas - Solamnic Knight Pledge
And now its me too:
http://matrixprime.blogspot.com |
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