Dhampir - Power of Half-vampires or Dhampirs

The rich folklore of Slavic people that live in Balkans who introduced the world with the modern version of vampire (popularized with the life and impact of famous Count Dracula in Transylvania and Serbian myth of Vampir - blood sucking spirit that lives in dead bodies) is also a home of another vampiric creature called Dhampir (also known as dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr).

According to the belief of Slavic people (especially those from Serbia), during the first 40 days after the person dies there is a chance that if burial and mourning ceremonies were not adequate that the evil (or rarely good) spirit will enter the body, reanimate it and return to the living where it would cause revenge, destruction and death. One of the common occurrences in such situation is that male vampire will return to his living wife and have intercourse, which would lead to the birth of dhampirs, half human half vampire children who have all of the vampire advantages (supernatural powers, enhanced senses) but none of their weaknesses (aversion to sunlight, garlic, mirrors, and holy objects). Also, there are tales in Bulgarian folklore of vampires searching out virgin girls and conceiving children with them, but that occurrences are rare. This sexual aspect of vampires is mostly present in South Slavic cultures, even though some Belarus legends have similar incidents.

Various Slavic cultures describe visual look of dhampirs in different ways. Serbian legends describe them as energetic kids that have untamed dark or black hair and that they cast no shadow. Bulgarian legends speak of them being filthy, sometimes with large nose, eyes of ears and presence of a small tail. Most agree that such child, born from a human mother and evil spirit can be born without bones and be very fragile and short-lived. Because of their unique abilities that they gained from their vampiric father, folklore tales usually depict dhampirs as hunters or warriors that can spot vampires and fight them successfully.

Because of their warrior-like nature, dhampirs and other "half vampire" variations have appeared in numerous works of fiction over the last century. In accordance to ancient legends, they are often depicted as strong, lonely and secretive individuals that sometimes fight with their inner demons and try to withhold their humanity from being destroyed by vampiric influences.

Some of the most known dhampirs in modern literature and film are Blade (comics and film, where he was played by Wesley Snipes), Connor from TV show Angel, D from Japanese manga and anime Vampire Hunter D, Rayne from BloodRayne franchise of video games, Alucard from Castlevania franchise of video games, and Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire.