Why does sunlight kill vampires......?

Question

i am watching Interview With A Vampire at the moment, and there was a bit where Claudia gets out of her coffin, and tip toes past sunlight coming through the window.

it made me wonder why sunlight kills them...does it have any logic behind it?

Answer 1

Well vampires are creatures of the night lol what did you expect?

Personally, I think most of that is nosense.

I guess it just bothers me because I'm an energy vampire and right when people hear the word "vampire" they start thinking i go around drinking blood lmao that is far from it xD

Answer 2

In certain circumstances, magnesium can be an explosive element; this means that no vampire will risk direct sunlight for fear of spontaneous combustion.

forensic evidence suggests that vampire perspiration contains magnesium-based substances which are liable to combustion in certain conditions, including high air temperature and specific light wavelengths; when illumination is high.In effect, this means direct sunlight around dawn and dusk or a 'bright' day, even with substantial cloud cover.

Answer 3

Because they never use sun block & they all burn up. Factor 50 should do it!

Answer 4

I guess because bats sleep by day and go out at night.  That's all I can think of.  Claudia is a very funny vampire at the beginning.

Answer 5

it is a metafor for the age long fight between good and evil

as many folklore goes good always prevails

also the fundelmental view that all bad things only happen at night therefore a vampire could not exist in the day

Answer 6

Sunlight hurts the eyes accustomed to darkness. It does not kill.

Answer 7

Great question  but I have no answer and I don't want to bother...

Answer 8

[edit] Physical Characteristics

Vampires are extremely strong - even the new dead are capable of lifting cars.

Vampires are faster than most humans, but it is difficult to tell how much faster. In most cases where a vampire appears to teleport or move with blinding speed, the vampire has actually used its "mind tricks" to conceal its movement.

Vampires' senses of hearing and smell are also very strong.

Vampires are able to appear human only after years of practice. Newly made vampires have difficulty smiling without showing their fangs, and feel as if they are made from carved wood.

Vampires have the ability to remain completely still, expressionless, and silent. New vampires learn this as they age, while older vampires use this often for effect.

When a human is bitten at a certain age they tend to look the same age for a long time.

[edit] Vampire Feeding And Conversion

Vampires can drink human, lycanthrope, or even animal blood for sustenance and to maintain their spiritual power. They cannot eat physical food, though they can experience the taste of food through human servants. Animal blood is not a sufficient diet. A vampire can survive for extended periods without human or lycanthrope blood, but may be driven insane by the experience. One such vampire, Sabin, began to rot from the inside out after trying to go off blood "cold turkey" at the request of his lycanthrope lover Cassandra.

Vampires are capable of turning humans into vampires by draining their blood; as a result, many vampires do not drain a human more than three times a month. A sufficiently powerful vampire, however, is capable of turning a human with a single bite.

In modern times, it is impossible for a lycanthrope to contract vampirism (or a vampire to contract lycanthropy). This, and the fact that lycanthrope blood seems to more sustaining than regular human blood, is the reason why vampires prefer lycanthropes as blood donors. In pre-historic times it seems that human beings could once be infected with vampirism and lycanthropy simultaneously, resulting in incredibly powerful hybrids. The Mother of Darkness seems to be the oldest and most powerful example of such a hybrid. Others include her "children" and certain members of "The Harlequin".

When a vampire first rises, it may be confused or dangerous. As a result, persons who might rise as a vampire are stored in a locked morgue, and attended by a vampire counselor who supplies the newly risen dead with an animal to feed on and helps them adjust to their new status.

If a human is killed during a group feeding and then rises (a very rare occurrence), he or she will rise as an "animalistic vampire," with little or no cognitive ability and with extreme strength and resistance to pain, and can only be controlled by the master that made it, and even then only if he or she is powerful enough.

[edit] Repelling or Killing Vampires

Vampires cannot enter a person's home without invitation. When Anita revoked her invitation to Jean-Claude, he was pushed out of her home by an unseen force.

Vampires burn in sunlight, and are generally unable to rise during the day, remaining dead in their coffins or resting places. Age and power allow some vampires to rise earlier than nightfall, and vampires raised by necromancers (such as Damian, Willie McCoy, and Ellie) can move about during the day as well. Lesser vampires who rise during the day may be animalistic, as are several members of Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life when inadvertently awakened by the power of the visiting Traveler. A few vampires (such as Oliver and Warrick) are able to walk about in indirect sunlight, although the Vampire Moroven can walk (at least temporary) in full sunlight and can with a very few of her own created Vampire's (Damain & Perrin) grant this ability to them as long as she is touching them, although it appears that Damain may have gained the power to temporary day-walk from Anita when he became a member of her tri-.

Vampires can typically be killed by fire, decapitation, or a stake through the heart, or any other form of extreme physical trauma to the head or heart (such as a shotgun blast). Silver generally causes wounds that heal with approximately the same speed as humans, and thus head or heart shots may be fatal.

[edit] Mental Abilities

Vampires have a variety of mental powers, most of which depend on eye contact.

"Rolling": Vampires can "roll" victims by making eye contact. "Rolling" typically refers to a temporary hypnotic state that vampires can use to conceal their movements (giving them the illusion of instantaneous movement), to give commands to the victim, or to reduce the pain of a vampire's bite. Victims with supernatural power, such as other vampires, animators, human servants, and lycanthropes, display varying amounts of resistance to this technique, but most people avoid the technique by not looking vampires directly in the eyes.

"Deep Rolling": Given time, a sufficiently powerful vampire can put a victim into an effectively permanent hypnotic state. In Guilty Pleasures, Aubrey uses this technique on Anita's friend Catherine in order to blackmail Anita -- Anita knows that once deeply rolled, Catherine is Aubrey's to command unless Anita meets his demands. Vampires sometimes pretend to release a rolled human to appease the police, but if they have been "deep rolled" they can still recall them.

Mass Hypnosis: Some vampires are able to exert a hypnotic effect over an entire crowd. For example, one of the vampire comedians at the Laughing Corpse used mass hypnosis to convince his audiences that he was funny. Mass hypnosis does not have the same permanent effects as "deep rolling". Mass hypnosis is not a widely known vampire power, and has its limits. For example in Bloody Bones, Anita doubts that any vampire could hold three murder victims simultaneously hypnotized while killing them. This form of "mind control" is the only one currently considered legal.

Vampire's Bite: A vampire's bite can (but apparently does not always) provide the vampire with mental control over the victim. In Guilty Pleasures, Nikolaos bites Anita and states that after a few bites, her control over Anita will be absolute. Anita is able to remove the effect of the bite by disinfecting the wound with holy water. In Circus of the Damned, Anita states that a vampire must enter a victim's mind during a bite to gain control over the victim. A vampire's bite can be sexual.

Empathy: Vampires refer to being able to "smell" emotions such as fear and lust, and some vampires are able to detect lies. It is not clear precisely how much of this ability involves literal scent and how much involves mental powers. However, mental powers are clearly a significant component; once Jean-Claude makes Anita his human servant, he is unable to read her emotions, which suggests that the technique is not purely physical.

[edit] Master Vampires

After a few centuries, some vampires reach "master vampire" status. Other vampires will never become master vampires, although their abilities continue to increase with age to a certain limit. For example, although Damian is more than twice Jean-Claude's age and more powerful than most non-masters in the series, he is still weaker than most masters and was unlikely to grow any stronger without magical assistance. A sourdre de sang appears able to mask and r****d the development of master vampire status in his or her followers; Warrick, for example, had his powers grow and master status develop during an extended absence from Morte D'Amour's presence.

Master vampires are more powerful than typical vampires with regard to the general abilities discussed above, have the ability to control lesser vampires, and may also develop additional powers. Some of the abilities that master vampires may display include the following:

[edit] Call Animals

Some master vampires have one or more animals to call. Mr. Oliver had the ability to call snakes, Belle Morte can call felines, and the Master of Beasts can call nearly every animal. This ability also allows them to summon and command animals and lycanthropes of that type. A sufficiently powerful lycanthrope can interfere with this call, however. For example, Nikolaos had the ability to call rats and wererats but Rafael temporarily blocked her call, preventing her from calling the wererats of his Rodere against their will. Some masters can call non-animals: Samuel, for example, can call mermaids and mermen.

[edit] Rise Early

Some master vampires, such as Nikolaos, Oliver, and Warrick, are able to wake, move, and use their powers during daylight (but must remain in shadow). It is unknown, however, how far Warrick's power extended. Aubrey, although not a master vampire, was capable of at least reflexive motion during daylight if threatened. Damian, Anita Blake's vampire servant, was able to move and survive in the sun in Incubus Dreams after receiving another mark from Anita.

[edit] Empathic Voice Manipulation

Jean-Claude and Mr. Oliver have the ability to form an emotional or hypnotic connection with their voices. Anita characterizes Jean-Claude's voice as having an almost physical sensation, and typically describes his voice as "silk against skin" or "fur against skin." Asher also has this power, but while Jean-Claude is able to portray joy and pleasure better, Asher is able to portray sadness and bitterness better. It is somewhat unclear whether this difference is inherent in the power, or simply due to the individual vampire's personality.

[edit] Human Servant Creation

Most or all master vampires appear to be able to create a "human servant." By marking a human with four suc

Answer 9

according to legend etc, sunlight is to do with God (and God said; 'let there be light') and, seeing as Vampires are creatures of Satan, they cannot stand the sun.

Answer 10

As a Vampire I can tell you why we have to exist in the dark and shun sunlight at all times, this is because....wait...what are you doing opening thoose blinds...NO NO...ARGHH.