Post by Casey Romano on Sept 10, 2009 16:00:49 GMT -5
Vampires
Vampires are blood drinking former humans, risen from the dead to prey on the living, with a variety of diverse powers. Vampires in the series have great power individually and within society. In the mythology of the series vampires in large areas are controlled by a single lead vampire known as the Master of the City. These master vampires in turn owe their allegiance to the top of the vampire hierarchy the Vampire Council.
Ghouls
Ghouls are undead scavengers who hunt in packs, typically near the cemetery where they rose, and eat the flesh of the living. Ghouls have animal-level intelligence and typically haunt cemeteries that are no longer holy ground, either because of the passage of time or because of some unholy ritual. Ghouls regard non-ghouls as either potential food or "something to run from."
As yet, animators in the Anitaverse do not know why most ghouls rise from the dead, although in one case, a pack of ghouls apparently rose when Zachary, an animator, was buried and rose from the dead.
Zombies
Zombies are humans or animals raised from the dead by an animator, a vaundun practitioner, or a necromancer. Although they may appear human and have some of their memories at first, zombies quickly lose their memories and begin to rot. Zombies do not need to eat, but if fed meat, zombies will rot more slowly or not at all.
Although not supernaturally strong, zombies are able to use their entire strength without concern for exhaustion or damage. They typically obey their creator's orders absolutely. Zombies are able to operate in daylight, but prefer night, and will hide during the day if permitted.
If an animator's corpse is raised as a zombie, it will arise as a flesh-eating zombie -- uncontrollable, much faster than a normal zombie, and with a taste for human flesh. The zombie can only regain its memory and personality by eating human flesh.
In another instance, if the victim of a murder is risen as a zombie, the zombie will rise and then actively seek out its murderer. The zombie will then kill the murderer after attacking anything that has gotten in its way. Whether or not such a zombie is then capable of being questioned and controlled like other zombies is unclear.
Vaundun priestess Dominga Salvador created two apparently novel types of zombies.
Salvador was capable of storing the soul of a dead person in a bottle, allowing her to raise zombies before their souls had passed on. By returning the soul to the zombie, Salvador created zombies with souls. This process prevented the zombies from rotting while they had souls, and served as further punishment for the deceased.
Salvador also created a sort of zombie chimera by animating parts of several humans and animals, then melding them into a single monstrous zombie. A version of this type of zombie is also seen in Obsidian Butterfly.
Ghosts
Anita has encountered ghosts before. According to her, ghosts cannot actually harm a living person, but paying attention to them allows them to become more solid and attempt to harass or scare their victims. Anita generally tries to avoid animating a corpse if the deceased person's ghost is still haunting their grave. She appears to have no power over them, either, as ghosts are a type of "soul magic," as noted in The Laughing Corpse. As yet, no clear information on their legal status in the Anitaverse has been revealed.
The master vampire Seraphina had the power to summon and control ghosts, similar to the more common vampiric power of calling particular animals.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Blake_mythology#Undead
Vampires are blood drinking former humans, risen from the dead to prey on the living, with a variety of diverse powers. Vampires in the series have great power individually and within society. In the mythology of the series vampires in large areas are controlled by a single lead vampire known as the Master of the City. These master vampires in turn owe their allegiance to the top of the vampire hierarchy the Vampire Council.
Ghouls
Ghouls are undead scavengers who hunt in packs, typically near the cemetery where they rose, and eat the flesh of the living. Ghouls have animal-level intelligence and typically haunt cemeteries that are no longer holy ground, either because of the passage of time or because of some unholy ritual. Ghouls regard non-ghouls as either potential food or "something to run from."
As yet, animators in the Anitaverse do not know why most ghouls rise from the dead, although in one case, a pack of ghouls apparently rose when Zachary, an animator, was buried and rose from the dead.
Zombies
Zombies are humans or animals raised from the dead by an animator, a vaundun practitioner, or a necromancer. Although they may appear human and have some of their memories at first, zombies quickly lose their memories and begin to rot. Zombies do not need to eat, but if fed meat, zombies will rot more slowly or not at all.
Although not supernaturally strong, zombies are able to use their entire strength without concern for exhaustion or damage. They typically obey their creator's orders absolutely. Zombies are able to operate in daylight, but prefer night, and will hide during the day if permitted.
If an animator's corpse is raised as a zombie, it will arise as a flesh-eating zombie -- uncontrollable, much faster than a normal zombie, and with a taste for human flesh. The zombie can only regain its memory and personality by eating human flesh.
In another instance, if the victim of a murder is risen as a zombie, the zombie will rise and then actively seek out its murderer. The zombie will then kill the murderer after attacking anything that has gotten in its way. Whether or not such a zombie is then capable of being questioned and controlled like other zombies is unclear.
Vaundun priestess Dominga Salvador created two apparently novel types of zombies.
Salvador was capable of storing the soul of a dead person in a bottle, allowing her to raise zombies before their souls had passed on. By returning the soul to the zombie, Salvador created zombies with souls. This process prevented the zombies from rotting while they had souls, and served as further punishment for the deceased.
Salvador also created a sort of zombie chimera by animating parts of several humans and animals, then melding them into a single monstrous zombie. A version of this type of zombie is also seen in Obsidian Butterfly.
Ghosts
Anita has encountered ghosts before. According to her, ghosts cannot actually harm a living person, but paying attention to them allows them to become more solid and attempt to harass or scare their victims. Anita generally tries to avoid animating a corpse if the deceased person's ghost is still haunting their grave. She appears to have no power over them, either, as ghosts are a type of "soul magic," as noted in The Laughing Corpse. As yet, no clear information on their legal status in the Anitaverse has been revealed.
The master vampire Seraphina had the power to summon and control ghosts, similar to the more common vampiric power of calling particular animals.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Blake_mythology#Undead