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While reading through a new and superb thread, I put these two together. Speaking of your fictional vampire such as Louis of IwtV or Edward of Twilight, do you believe that being a vampire is the equivalent to being in limbo, if you will? What role does reincarnation play with the eternal soul? Could it be that a stereotypical blood-sucking vampire is that way because their soul is trapped and can no longer continue to grow? Or does the soul still continue to grow and change, moving on from life to life, even though eternally trapped in the same shell? Does reincarnation even have anything to do with fictional vampires at all?

i thought of this a while back too. I suppose it would be like limbo, but then again I can't really be sure. Nice to see someone else was thinking allong the same lines as me.

I thought ficitional vampires don't have a soul...from what I've seen in movies. And if they do, in my opinion, I believe the soul stops growing with them.

do any fictional characters have souls? to have a soul infers free will, but a fictional character can only do what the writer allows them to do. or maybe they do - maybe all fictional characters are an aspect of their creator, therefore have both free will and a soul through the creator.

there have been experiments where people have tried to create a ghost by creating a fictional person and fictional events, then holding a seance. some philosophers have claimed that a spirit is no more than an idea. that being the case, it is perfectly feasible that a place or person might be haunted by the ghost of a fictional character.

If you read the folklore and myths a common characteristic is that the person dies and comes back as a vampire, from what I've read and understand this is reincarnation.
in response to RaniVampyress: it depends on which myth you read, in some they don't have souls and in others they have cursed souls.

Of course a character who is nothing more than an idea on a piece of paper doesnt have a soul. Then again, there are people who argue that animals don't have souls, either. The question isn't in the existence of a soul, but more of a hypothetical/metaphorical question on the soul being trapped in one shell for eternity and what happens when a soul cannot be reincarnated or cannot continue to grow.

many actors have claimed that the role they are playing seems to take over them - particularly if they are playing a character that has been played many times (such as sherlock Homes, Dracula, or a shakespearean role).

Some authors claim that their characters seem to have a life of their own, and that the story almost seems to write itself.

how sure are you that you have a soul, or even free will? can you prove it? there are many psychologists that argue there is no such thing as free will, and that even our fears and desires are pre-programmed by environment and genetics.

here's a poser for you. Do demons have souls? doe angels? according to religion god decreed that angels should bow down to man, because Man is superior due to having a soul and free will. if Lucifer did not havea soul and free will, how could he rebel? surely all his actions were dictated by god

ok religion is made up. its just some men decided lets make up storys to just keep the human race in laws. i believe that if ur a vampire in one life you are in all of them. this does not include fiction. personaly i think fictional vampires are in limbo.

I dont think that sterotypical vampires and reincarnation go hand in hand personally. I think that if they are stuck here and the person never changes then the soul stays with as well. The only way I could think that reincarnation could work with a vampire situation is if the vampire did indeed die.

Is this a hypothetical question or what? I think the fictional vampire does not have their original soul in their body. The original soul goes to ..where ever souls go. Meanwhile, their body is animated by the deamon inherited via the embrace of the vamp that killed them.

If it's fiction we're talking then anything is possible right? So, if I was writing the book, I think I would go with the theory that their soul was trapped in some sort of limbo, unable to move on until the vampire was destroyed. I suppose I'm not sure if it would be more appropriate for the soul to cease to exist at that point, or finally be freed to move on.

Angel4Blood - I happen to be a Christian - So Ill just disagree with you nicely and keep religion out of my answer. Even though I dont go around outright calling other peoples beliefs "made up".


On to my response:

I know im gonna get rapped for this but.. If the vampire doesnt retain his sould, isnt he just a hollow shell.. like a zombie?

I would think the soul would not be free to move until the vampire's physical body were destroyed. But I dont think the soul would grow stagnant, in that it is still existing, still moving through time, and still garnering knowledge. Wether or not that knowledge is carried over into the next life time, im not real clear on.

i'd have to say that's pretty true. because in my eye, reincarnation is merely the changing of the personality as well as the move from one life to another. so... over the centuries a vampire would obviously have to change who they were to change with the times... i know... hard to understand... i just can't explain myself too well through writing.

Fictional Vampires and Reincarnation...I'd say Karnstein has come the closest to a solid answer to the question.

Fictional Characters are Reincarnated all the time. Whenever you see a vampire as a Character in a story, your seeing the basic archetype being recycled for yet another adventerous or tragic tale.

The thruth is, the Essence of the original idea is being reincarnated, changed to fit a new mold by the writer. Its the same with Reincarnation in a practical and physical sense! Reincarnated souls never pop up exactly as before. The similiar traits, mannerism, etc.. sure, those manifest themselves. But Reincarnation, in theory or practice, is the moving on a soul to grow, expand, and live again.

For instance, Anne Rice reincarnated Dracula in Lestat, just by taking the essence of the Vampire archetype in literature, and molding it into a new persona. While Dracula was the baddest of the bad in his day, he had to evolve into another form to become the Modern Day Vampire.

I rambled alot, but Go Karnstein! You nailed it on the head! I beat it into the wood so hard, it is never coming out! =)

Ok.. but based on the perceived topic of the thread.. based on fictional characters, what happens to their soul?

Example: When Louie is sired/turned - what happened to his soul?

Louis has a soul.. or as much a soul as any character can have. The character continues to change and adapt through much of Anne Rices series. Early in IwtV, Louis is overcome with remorse, and guilt... he turns to eating rats rather than preying on Humans. He is torn apart, and desperately searches for answers in regards to Claudia, her death, and the eventual contact with her spirit... And he Forgives Lestat in QotD, coming to his aid. Those are all traits of any human out there, which I would say denotes the presence of a soul.

All the characters in that series are brilliant, and complex beings... even more so as Vampires. Why else have we all read them? ::Smirk:: They are literally more human than human, feeling passionately, obsessing passionately.

Let me pose this question... What would make anyone think that they Didn't have a soul? Is there anything in the books that stands out starkly, screaming "This character is obviously souless?"

Alot of the fictition written about vampires is both flattering but also sometimes strikes as ignorant.We dont fly for starters,we can day walk to certain degree,although we,re weakest at daytime.and I for one can still see myself in the mirror.we still have a soul.we just have another part added on.

I have heard of some fictional vampires...without a soul...some with a demon replacing that soul...or some with a soul just its trapped.

Depends on your beliefs in reincarnation but if you have a soul as a vampire....my belief is reincarnation is the rebirth of that soul. If this is right...then no vampires can't be reincarnated because their soul isnt free of the body yet, to come back again.

I just had another thought on the subject...

One can awaken, per say, more than once in their life, right? An awakening could be for anything, really. So if a stereotypical vampire were to awaken multiple times over his "un-life" could that be considered in some way the reincarnation of his soul? Pretty far-fetched, I know.

I do not believe that fictional vampires take into account the act of reincarnation. My personal beliefs on this subject are that individuals continue to grow throughout subsequent lives until their deeds are great enough to allow them to enter Heaven or evil enough that the only punishment remaining for them is Hell.

FortunateFool - I wouldnt think a vampire could have more then one awakening... fictional or nonfictional (thought I thought this thread was about fictional ones).

I would seem them having moments of enlightenment maybe? Perhaps throughout the course of their lifespan. Something that causes them to change the course of their current path.

heh. Vampiric mood swings.

i am with allgenre on this...where do their souls go if they do not have one?

In a literary sense, being an immortal vampire would be more akin to hell in my opinion.

With regard to reincarnation, I think that it has nothing to do with vampirism.

Speaking again hypothetically in the realm of fiction, immortality would limit spiritual growth about as much as forgetting your lifetime prior to reincarnation.

I don't believe that vampires can reincarnate, as they are who they are, and get stronger as they age. A vampire doesn't die and come back. They can be put in a state of suspended animation, if you will, but they can be awakened from this.

I really dont believe that reincarnation has anything to do with vampirism. But then agiain I could be wrong.

reincarnation is irrelevant as i believe that we all die and come back as something else.and as for vampires it would be amazing

i believe that vampires have souls and can be reincarnated just like any human can. vampires aren't immortal. they can die, just not of disease or old age. but if a vampire does die, they would be reincarnated into a human once more.

I do not believe a Vampire has a soul. Souls are for the living. Vampires are undead. They are a preternatural creature. I think that is a category all of it's own...

You ask several questions there ,I will try to answer a few in my own opinion.
I believe our souls always grow and evolve, it's only natural. Unless one is a total moron ,each lifetime teaches us something.That we can use to grow as a person.
As for being in limbo, I understand the term, but the question does not make sense.In limbo, to me would assume that a soul is trapped somewhere.I don't think we are trapped anywhere, unless that person wishes to be. We are all of free mind and will.