The truth is undeniable.
We all know what a vampire is of course. Well, what a real vampire is. These creatures are fictional, so far there is no scientific evidence that they are or were real. Nevertheless the myth is so strong that a lot of people actually believe that they live among us humans. Also there is this phenomenon call Twilight. A series of “vampire romance books” that have lead to an increase of vampires’ fans, specially the fandom of these books. The big question here is, what exactly the Twilight creatures are. Meyer, the author of the books called them vampires just because they drink blood and they are living dead; some people call them fairies because they sparkle; others don’t even want to relate these things with famous mythical creatures. I decided to make a little research over the internet about three possible creatures that can be relate to Twilight “vampires”, apotamkins, vampires or fairies.
1. Apotamkin
I remembered that in the Twilight book Jacob told Bella that these “vampires” are known as The Cold Ones and then she googled it. That’s why I decided to do the same. Guess what, I discovered that the website that Bella found was online for a while but it was deleted. Instead of reliable sources I found a bunch of spam websites about The Cold Ones according to Twilight. But I also found that these cold ones creatures are also known as Apotamkin and they are Native American mythology creatures. I found a web about Quileute Indian Legends and it says:
“Are the “Cold Ones” from Twilight a real Quileute legend?
No. There are no Quileute legends about “Cold Ones” or other vampires. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the “Twilight” books, has stated that she made this fictional vampire legend up herself and only had her Quileute character tell it for the purposes of her plot. However, she did base other parts of her books on real Quileute mythology. For example, it is true that according to legend the Quileute tribe is descended from wolves who were changed into men. Even the tribal name “Quileute” comes from their word for wolf, Kwoli.”
Collusions: Apotamkins? Not at all, even Meyer said no.
2. Vampires
The other creature is, of course, a vampire. That’s according to Meyer. In an interview she said that before writing the books she never read a book, saw a movie or did a little research about vampires. One of two things, she is lying or she simply felt that it was unnecessary to know about vampires to write a book about them. According to mythology vampires are beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures. Although typically described as undead, a vampire could be a living person. Over time, some attributes now regarded as integral became incorporated into the vampire’s profile: fangs and vulnerability to sunlight appeared over the course of the 19th century, with Varney the Vampire and Count Dracula both bearing protruding teeth, and Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) fearing daylight. What seems to be universal about vampire myths is their connection with the fear of death and the desire for immortality.
Common modern fictional vampire’s features:
- Immortality
- Seek human’s victims for blood.
- A lust for beautiful women as victims who then become vampires upon being bitten.
- Fear of the symbol of the Christian cross.
- The repelling power of garlic or garlic flowers.
- Death by sunlight or by a special stake driven through the heart.
- The ability to fly (like the vampire bat).
- Fangs.
- Doesn’t reflect on mirrors.
Comparison
|
Features
|
Modern Fictional Vampires
|
Twilight Vampires
|
|
1
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
2
|
Y
|
N
|
|
3
|
Y
|
N
|
|
4
|
Y
|
N
|
|
5
|
Y
|
N
|
|
6
|
Y
|
N
|
|
7
|
Y
|
N
|
|
8
|
Y
|
N
|
|
9
|
Y
|
N
|
Collusions: The only two similarities are immortality and the need of blood, in Twilight vampires’ case animal blood not human. Are these creatures vampires? I don’t think so.
3. Fairies
Any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon, or a species completely independent of humans or angels. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, humanoids of small stature, they originally were depicted much differently: tall, radiant, angelic beings or short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned. Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human-sized beings; these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant.
Conclusions: Well, I think this fix perfectly to Meyer’s creatures. What do you think?
