A topic of much fan debate is whether or not Vincent is actually a vampire. Many say there is little evidence supporting the vampire theory even if Vincent did sleep in a coffin, has unnatural red eyes, has died before, does not age, wears a cape like a stereotypical vampire, and…
This is starting to sound like more than just a “little evidence.” But those who would discard Vincent’s vampiric attributes cite one undisputable fact: Vincent can exist unharmed in sunlight. It is disputable whether or not sunlight susceptibility is the defining factor in identifying a vampire. The need to drink blood is more commonly cited as the greatest characteristic of a vampire, and in Final Fantasy VII, Vincent is never shown drinking blood. Many people take this to mean that Vincent conclusively does not drink blood. But let’s keep in mind that the majority of characters in FF7 were never shown eating or using the restroom, but that doesn’t mean the characters never did these things.
Oh, but something like drinking blood would have surely prompted a dialog, right? Well, I thought Vincent transforming into a monster for his limit break would have struck the party as unusual and prompted a conversation, but it didn’t. This doesn’t prove Vincent drinks blood, but it keeps the possibility open.
Even if one believed Vincent did not need to drink blood, can his other vampire characteristics be overlooked? The problem with giving Vincent the label of “vampire” is the drastic differences between depictions of vampires throughout mythology and fiction. Here I will look at the various characteristics that describe vampires and whether or not Vincent satisfies these.
The Need For Blood:
Common to nearly all vampire myths is the need for blood. Often human blood is required or desired for a vampire’s survival, but many popular conceptions of vampires can survive on animal blood. In a few instances vampires are depicted not as blood suckers but as energy drainers that steal vaguely defined “life energy” from humans. Of the vampires that drain blood, the majority of the time blood is taken covertly from one isolated victim to avoid witnesses.
Vincent never demonstrated the need to drink blood in Final Fantasy VII, although if he was a vampire, it is highly unlikely he would make this known to the other characters if he could drink blood secretly. There is also the possibility that Vincent himself did not drink blood but one of his other forms may. Chaos might enjoy blood on occasion, if not out of some base desire then to scare the crap out of the enemies.
Fangs:
In many vampire stories, vampires have fangs they use for drinking blood. The teeth that typically make up a vampire’s fangs are the upper canines, which have been elongated compared to a normal human. Some vampires have “retractable” fangs that look like normal human teeth until they are elongated to drink blood. Other vampires must strive to hide their fangs if masquerading as a human. This is often accomplished by talking and smiling in a very controlled manner where one’s lips do not part enough to fully reveal the canines.
Vincent wears a cape with a very high collar, leaving his mouth hidden most of the time. It is unknown if he has fangs and is hiding them or if he has some other reason for the high collar. When looking at screenshots from the upcoming FF7 movie “Advent Children,” I have not found an image that conclusively reveals whether or not Vincent has fangs. For now I will say it is still possible for Vincent to have fangs.
Vampire Creation/Undead:
Typically a person becomes a vampire by dying first. In several myths an improper burial can result in a vampire or the corpse of a person who committed suicide becomes a vampire. Vampires made in this way typically share many characteristics with zombies and are often considered “undead,” animated but without a soul or human intelligence. These vampires often mindlessly search for blood, killing ruthlessly with an animalistic ferocity.
The other common myth for vampire creation is that it must be done by another vampire. A person is drained to the point of death and then given the blood of a vampire. The vampire blood brings the person back to life as a vampire. These vampires are often portrayed as human-like, with intelligence and personality. Some works of fiction portray these clever vampires as soulless and evil, but other stories have these vampires capable of both good and evil, just as humans are.
Vincent died (see Ehrgeiz Description) and was brought back to life by Hojo’s experiments, somewhat fulfilling the vampire myth. Vincent clearly isn’t a zombie-like vampire, or even “undead” by the standards of FF7 (phoenix downs kill undead creatures, but revive living characters, including Vincent). There were no obvious sources of vampire blood in FF7, so if Hojo revived Vincent as a vampire, Hojo would have created vampirism for the first time in the FF7 universe through his experiments.
Aging/Immortality:
A vampire is forever, barring an unfortunate run in with a wooden stake, decapitation, or too much sun. There are other more obscure ways to kill vampires in mythology, and there are versions of vampires resistant to the above mentioned methods of death (such as sunlight resistant vampires). The important thing is that vampires are hard to kill and can expect to enjoy many, many long years in an ageless body.
Vincent is ageless according to the official sources, and given his healing limit breaks he’s pretty hard to kill. Vincent is as immortal as most vampires. What can kill him is left to speculation, but sunlight certainly does not kill him (though he may sunburn easily).
Superhuman Abilities:
In most mythology vampires have a range of superhuman abilities that make them especially threatening. These abilities range from superhuman strength, speed, and agility to strange powers like invisibility, mind control, and levitation.
Although Vincent does not possess all of these abilities, he certainly has enough to match a typical vampire. In the game, Vincent levitates when he first exits the coffin and also when he casts magic in battle. Vincent tends to combine his levitation with graceful aerial flips, which demonstrate some of his superhuman agility. In the trailers for the FF7 movie Advent Children, Vincent moves with superhuman speed to save an unarmed Cloud from an enemy. Whether or not Vincent has superhuman strength in his human form is not known because Vincent’s weapon of choice is a gun. Other powers like invisibility and mind control have not been displayed by Vincent.
Shape-Shifting:
Many vampires in mythology and fiction have the ability to transform or shape-shift into creatures such as wolves, bats, and demonic forms. A few vampire stories, including “Dracula” have vampires transforming into mist.
Vincent clearly satisfies this aspect of vampirism, since his limit break ability is to change into one of four monstrous creatures. Two of his forms are very similar to the common mythological forms of vampires: Galian Beast which is very wolf-like and Chaos, a bat-winged demon. Vincent’s other two forms have more in common with other monsters of fiction than they do with vampires.
Vampire Style and Personality Traits:
In modern fiction, vampires have become “standardized” to a certain degree. In movies and television, vampires are often portrayed as dark and mysterious. Modern vampires lurk on rooftops, wear sunglasses at night, and wear stylish trench coats. If the film is about an older, more traditional vampire, you can bet the vampire wears a cape, sleeps in a coffin, lives in a castle or old mansion, and is either an incredibly charming seducer or is reclusive and brooding with very few vampires falling between these two extremes.
Both modern and classic vampires are often depicted as feral when attacking, with their features taking on a more animalistic appearance. A more extreme example of this is the vampires of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where a vampire’s facial features warp to have a more primitive looking brow and cheekbones. An unnatural eye color is also a common mark of the supernatural and many depictions of vampires have unusual eye colors like yellow, orange, and red.
Vampires tend to be caste as mainly two different personality types. The evil, soulless vampires tend to enjoy their power and may manipulate and torment their victims long before the victim even realizes the source of their misery is a vampire. The good or more human-like vampires of fiction tend to view their existence as cursed and may seek a cure for vampirism or may commit themselves to a life in exile to avoid harming others.
Vincent fits the traditional vampire description, having slept in a coffin for many years in an eerie old mansion. Perhaps Hojo forced that detail on Vincent, but Vincent chose to stay there and Vincent continues to wear the blood-red cape he was originally found in. Vincent’s red eye color marks him as a supernatural being and adds to his overall appearance as a vampire. Vincent also has the vampire habit of lurking on rooftops (as seen in the official wallpaper) and in trees (as seen in Advent Children). Vincent’s view of his existence also corresponds with the vampires who see themselves as “cursed.” To quote Vincent: “This body is… the punishment that’s been given to me.” He also harbors intense guilt about his past, which he silently broods about. Vincent is easily the most reclusive of all the party members. He certainly has the right temperament to be a vampire.
Vincent satisfies many of the vampire characteristics above, even if it cannot be conclusively shown that he drinks blood. Because there are many different versions of vampirism in fiction, it seems reasonable to view Vincent as a vampire (even if he doesn’t 100% fit your pet definition of vampire). I certainly wouldn’t assert that Vincent is a soulless, evil vampire who would kill without regret, but I don’t think someone has to be evil to be a vampire.
Perhaps possessing so many vampire characteristics isn’t enough to convince you Vincent may be a vampire of some sort (though I hope it is enough to convince those of you reading this that you shouldn’t be adamantly against other people believing Vincent is a vampire). When deciding whether or not Vincent truly is a vampire, it is also important to look at the motives of the man who made Vincent what he is: Hojo.
Hojo had the means to do some incredible and cruel things to Vincent. So would Hojo want to make Vincent a vampire? The transformations Hojo forced on Vincent suggest a “horror movie monster” theme (Galian Beast is similar to a werewolf, Death Gigas is a Frankenstein-like creature, Hellmasker is a hockey mask-wearing, chainsaw maniac, and Chaos is a winged demon). Why stop there when Hojo could make Vincent himself fit into the monster theme? If Hojo could do that, then Vincent could never be human, even if he stopped fighting and never used his limit break transformations again.
Hojo was responsible for Vincent’s red eyes and for locking Vincent in a coffin. It is also likely that Hojo chose Vincent’s current wardrobe. I doubt Vincent had the opportunity to select his own outfit before being locked in the coffin, if so he’d still be in his Turks outfit. With all the work that went into the details, it certainly seems like Hojo wanted Vincent to look like a vampire. Whether or not Hojo had any success making Vincent into a real, blood drinking vampire is not known, but I bet Hojo tried. Hojo wanted to make it very clear that Vincent was a monster, and making him a vampire would certainly aid that goal.
Evidence from another game:
Shadow Hearts, an RPG produced by ex-Squaresoft employees, featured a vampire character sharing Vincent’s last name: Keith Valentine. Keith, like Vincent, was asleep for many years in a coffin before being woken up by the main character in the game. Keith possessed superhuman speed, invisibility powers, and the ability to cast spells which absorbed HP from enemies and returned HP to himself. These abilities were given names like “Blood Sucker,” which one would expect from a vampire, but even when the spell was cast, Keith never actually sunk his fangs into any creature’s neck. The closest analogy to FF7 would be an HP absorb spell, which due to the materia system, any character was capable of casting. In Shadow Hearts, magic was unique to the character.
It was made very clear in Shadow Hearts that Keith did not require the blood of humans, did not burn up in the sunlight, and did not have any problems with crucifixes or garlic. (Keith laughs about these misconceptions in the game.) In Shadow Hearts, Keith’s immortality and a few other vampire characteristics were enough to call him a vampire. Given that there are so many similarities between Vincent and Keith, isn’t it proper to call Vincent a vampire as well? Using the same last name was clearly intentional, perhaps to draw a parallel between the two vampire characters. (Shadow Hearts was made after FF7 by ex-Squaresoft employees and there were other references to FF7 in the Shadow Hearts games, such as a mad scientist named Hojo.)