Vampires and monsters have long been staples of horror fiction, and they aren’t complete without the presence of vampire hunters. We’ve seen vampire hunters with a variety of personalities and personalities over the years. It doesn’t matter if you have superhuman talents or if you’re just a regular person with a strong desire to hunt vampires.
Vampire hunters are courageous, willing to put themselves in harm’s path to rid the world of terrible blood-sucking beasts. The protagonists are mostly motivated by revenge as a result of their tragic loss. Whether it was their parents or loved ones, it was usually the loss of a close relative that sparked their desire to hunt. Today, we’ll talk about ten Vampire Hunters you should be aware of whether you’re a vampire or a monster.
Blade – Blade Trilogy (1998-2004)
Amongst popular vampire hunters, Marvel’s “Blade” is one awesome and perfect vampire hunter who caused quite a lot of stir amongst comic book readers and later moviegoers. First appearing as a supporting character in the comic book “The Tomb of Dracula” issue 10 in July 1973, Blade seemed promising enough to impress audiences with his own storyline since then. Blade in the movie was born to Robert and Vanessa Brooks and was named Eric Brooks.
Vanessa, who was a nurse, got attacked by a vampire while having Eric at his prenatal stage which led to the vampire’s enzymes getting mixed and passing onto him. Later, growing into puberty, Eric realized that he is a half-human half-vampire with vampire-like tendencies but without their weaknesses.
He started training himself with diligence under his mentor Abraham Whistler, an expert vampire hunter, in hopes to avenge his mother’s death. He was stoic, cold and held a deep grudge against vampires. He later takes the alias Blade as his weapons were mostly sharp as a blade, and sets on a mission to eradicate vampires from Earth.
In 30 years, the human-vampire hybrid, Blade becomes the perfect vampire hunter and starts engaging in a war against Deacon Frost, the one responsible for killing his mother, by taking down his clubs and killing his associates. The half-blood vampire Blade grew infamy amongst vampires and gained the name “Daywalker” as he could walk during the day, unlike pureblood vampires.
With his vampire-like superpowers and high intellect, Blade is more of an anti-hero and is seen demolishing formidable vampires in the movie trilogy. Blade’s ruthless take on vampires with his fighting skills is incomplete without mentioning his extensive weapon collection. His weapons are made up of items that are fatal to vampires, such as sunlight, garlic, silver, and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid.
Among the ones shown in the movies, there is the Blade’s sword made of titanium with acid etching, a wide range of handguns using garlic-infused ammunition, EDTA, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid, a compound developed by Dr. Karen Jenson which reacts explosively upon entering the vampire bloodstream, silver stakes and UV lamps.
Being a half vampire half human Blade possessed superpowers like superhuman strength, senses, and agility, along with quick healing which in combination with his martial arts made him a sensational character in comic books and the cinematic universe.
Gabriel Van Helsing – Van Helsing (2004)
Following up next, we have Gabriel Van Helsing, who is a reinterpretation of Abraham Van Helsing, who appears in the 2004 action film of the same name. The principal and eponymous characters of “Van Helsing: The London Assignment” and “Van Helsing” are Gabriel Van Helsing.
He operates for the Vatican as a monster hunter. Van Helsing is a lonely and silent guy who is always waiting for something to happen, much like a victim anticipating an ambush. He has fought numerous battles and chased innumerable creatures for years, though he has lost his memories and hence cannot recall them.
Even though he hunts monsters without hesitation, he is always pleading to the church for forgiveness for those who wished to revert to their former selves. Furthermore, no matter how many monsters he kills, he is perceived as a murderer by the general population due to their ignorance of the existence of monsters.
He frequently works alone, although he may be an effective collaborator orally. Despite his minor disdain for the church, Gabriel is a devoted guy who works for God. Gabriel faced several major fights throughout his stay on Earth.
He was in the service of the Knights of the Holy Order in the 1460s when he met Count Vladislaus Dracula, with whom he became good companions. However, Gabriel slew Dracula in 1462 during a huge fight for reasons unknown. God destroyed Gabriel’s memory as punishment for this transgression.
Gabriel traversed the world for the next 400 years until he was discovered half-dead, creeping up the stairs of the Vatican after a fight, again with no recollection. Gabriel, in his actual form, is a powerful archangel. He has enormous destructive power, capable of destroying entire cities.
He is, however, mortal and helpless since he is inside living human flesh. He has three kinds of power, archangel powers, werewolf powers, and monster hunting powers. His abilities as an archangel include powers like immortality, the ability to fly through heavens with his large swan-like wings, self-incarnation, and smokiness, which is the power to control the weather.
He developed new talents and improved his existing ones after being bitten by the werewolf Velkan, which are- superhuman strength, stamina, durability, senses, agility, and werewolf venom. His monster-hunting powers are longevity, enhanced strength, speed, durability, and expertise in weaponry.
Sam And Dean Winchester – Supernatural (TV Series 2005–2020)
And now we are gonna talk about two lethal vampire hunters, who happen to be brothers. Along with his older brother Dean, Samuel “Sam” William Winchester was a hunter and a Man of Letters. He is one of the key characters in “Supernatural”. Sam and Dean are both linked to the Winchester and Campbell families.
The duo is also related to Cain and Abel. As a result, Sam was fated to be the genuine vessel of the fallen archangel Lucifer, while Dean was Michael’s. After their mother, Mary was slain by the demon Azazel, Sam and Dean were raised by their father, John, in the hunting life.
Sam gave up hunting to pursue a career in law, and he would have most certainly married his college girlfriend Jessica Moore if she had lived. Sam was hesitant to resume hunting at the start of the series. When Jessica died, he was forced to return to his hunting life. Sam is a compassionate, sympathetic, bright, and self-sufficient individual.
He is frequently the irritated voice of reason in his relationship with Dean, who perceives him as a nerd or prude and teasingly refers to him as a “bitch,” to which Sam generally answers with “jerk.” Dean admires Sam as a hunter and believes Sam will “have his six.” Although Sam tells Dean repeatedly that murdering humans is terrible, and he does not love his job as much as Dean does in subsequent seasons, he has not shied away from killing humans when required.
Sam possesses extraordinary mental strength. This is particularly visible in Swan Song, as he can psychologically conquer Satan’s captivity to avert the apocalypse. Sam is frequently assigned the task of gathering information for hunts because of his brilliance. In short, Sam was the “brain” and Dean was the “Muscle” of the duo.
He frequently remembers the facts that Dean ignores, and is more likely than his brother to establish connections. He also has a wealth of knowledge. Dean Winchester is shown to be understanding, witty, mischievous, and, immature in comparison to his younger brother.
Dean has often demonstrated that he is terrific with children and women. Dean prioritizes his family’s protection above all, including killing a demon and its human host to preserve Sam’s life, as well as giving his soul and suffering in hell to resurrect his brother. Dean is often vicious and violent when hunting, a chore he relishes, making him the cruelest of the Winchester siblings.
Unlike his brother, he despises what he hunts, especially demons, and is willing to murder them without hesitation. As a result, he has developed a prejudice towards most otherworldly entities and beings. Dean acknowledges that despite being the superior hunter, he sees himself as little more than a “grunt.”
Buffy Summers – Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
The next on the list is Buffy Anne Summers, a Slayer who was activated in the late twentieth century. She was summoned to be the Slayer in 1996, at the age of fifteen, after being born on January 19, 1981. Buffy was originally from Los Angeles, but after an incident with a vampire gang at Hemery High School, she relocated to Sunnydale with her mother.
She served as Hellmouth’s protector for seven years before the town was destroyed in mid-2003. Buffy was a one-of-a-kind Slayer in many aspects. She refused to give up her ordinary life for her supernatural destiny, and she frequently worked as a part of a team with her pals, the Scooby Gang.
Buffy was among the longest-living Slayers, resurrecting from the dead not once, but twice, then residing with the two subsequent Slayers, an act that shattered the mystique around the conventional line.
During their conflict with the “First Evil”, Buffy devised a plan to activate many Potential Slayers around the globe, effectively ending the traditional line of Chosen Ones. She committed her life to recruit and teaching the Organization’s ever-growing number of persecuted Slayers. Buffy’s personality before becoming the Slayer was that of a shallow blonde valley girl. She was initially snobbish towards those of a lesser socioeconomic status, such as Pike.
Her seclusion from her popular peers at Hemery High brought her newfound empathy for misfits like Willow and Xander. Buffy was a bit of a renegade who did not follow the typical Slayer traditions. Buffy’s independent and rebellious instincts culminated in a strong dislike for being controlled.
Buffy’s frequent sarcasm and a sardonic sense of humor were also a part of her noticeable characteristic traits. Buffy despised the use of conventional weaponry, owing to their ineffectiveness against most demons. Buffy was undoubtedly the most strong and successful Slayer of all time, going by her long Slayer career and multiple triumphs. The emotional ties she developed contributed to this, boosting her drive to live, in contrast to earlier slayers who were separated from everyone, leaving them less to live for.
Buffy possessed the usual Slayer abilities, such as superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, durability, and quick healing. Buffy has earned additional skills through spells in addition to the basic Slayer talents which are mystical protection and mystical link or telepathy. For a brief period, Buffy possessed various talents like slaypire, telepathy, enjoining spells, invincibility, Twilight’s empowerment, and collective slayer powers.
Jack Crow – John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)
The 1998 horror film “Vampires”, also known as John Carpenter’s Vampires revolved around the character John “Jack” Crow who was the protagonist and a vampire hunter in the film. The character originally belonged to John Steakley, as the movie is an adaptation of his novel of the same name. Jack’s origin story is short and simple as compared to other vampire hunters.
When he was a boy his father was bitten by a vampire which he had kept secret, and later transformed into a vampire and killed his mother. Jack had no choice back then but to kill his father and ever since then he is driven by his determination to hunt down vampires. With a black leather jacket, sunglasses, and his rough talking he appeared more like a bike gang member.
He is introduced to us in the movie as the leader of a team of Vatican-sponsored vampire hunters. The team led by Jack hunts down a bunch of vampires hiding in an abandoned house in the middle of New Mexico. While the other hunters made merry after the hunt, Jack was more concerned about the master of the vampires, Valek, who soon appears to seek revenge, killing everyone and infecting a local prostitute named Katrina.
Jack Crow is driven solely by his urge and determination and does not possess any supernatural ability or power. During Valek’s attack, he witnessed the death of all his fellow comrades and barely managed to escape with Katrina and his trusted lieutenant Tony Montoya. He used weapons like harpoons, regular handguns, and modified crossbows during his combat against vampires.
In the movie, Jack gets captured by Valek for a ritual to create a new breed of vampires. He is later rescued by Montoya and Guiteau and manages to kill Valek by exposing him to sunlight. Jack’s toxic masculinity was not well accepted by everyone, but the character did manage to get appreciation and is well noted in the list of vampire hunters.
Robert Neville – I AM LEGEND (2007)
Robert Neville in the movie “I am Legend” is a military virologist who spent three years in Manhattan in search of a cure for the fast-spreading Krippin Virus. Now, what is the “Krippin Virus”? Crippin virus aka VK was initially engineered from the measles virus by Dr. Alice Krippin to cure cancer.
Though the virus showed promising results, over time, it mutated to cause rabies-like symptoms in its hosts. The virus mysteriously escapes from the laboratory and creates havoc with a 90 percent mortality rate. Despite the military’s best efforts to contain the virus, it spread from Manhattan to the entire world killing 5.4 million people.
However, there were 600 million people who did not die from it, of which 12 million were naturally immune and the rest devolved into a breed of vampire zombies called the Darkseekers.
Robert, the main protagonist of the film, spends his life in a monotonous routine where he experimented on rats for a cure, sent radio broadcast signals for survivors, traveled around the city in search of food, and hid out in a secure apartment at night with his dog and closest pal, Samantha.
Though he is not exactly a vampire hunter by choice like the others on our list, the unfortunate conditions owing to the catastrophe has made him one. He is also immune to the KV and mankind’s only hope for survival. Robert is an organized person and his unflagging efforts for restoring normal human life despite his loneliness is what makes him the strongest competitor among vampire hunters.
Robert’s mental conflict between his sanity and consistency has been remarkably shown in the movie and he loses his sanity after he had to kill Samantha for being infected and showing early signs of the KV virus.
At this point, his rage overcomes his sanity and he ends up killing several Darkseekers by driving over them the next morning in an attempt to commit suicide. Although his car crashes, he is saved by Anna and Ethan. Robert is not blessed with any superpowers or abilities but is among those survivors of the KV who did not devolve into Darkseekers.
Abraham Lincoln – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The next on our list is none other than the former president of the United States from 1861 until 1865, Abraham Lincoln. The movie portrays Abraham “Abe” Lincoln secretly being a vampire hunter. Born on February 12, 1809, Abe lived with his parents Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in Indiana. Thomas worked for Jack Bart in his plantation and one day when Abe stood up for a beaten-up young African-American boy named William Johnson, he lost his job.
Abe’s mother Nancy, on the same night gets attacked by Bart and dies after a few days of sickness. Abe had witnessed Bart’s attack and upon his mother’s demise, he grew stubborn in seeking revenge on Bart. Lincoln attacks Bart at the dock after nineteen years and learns that Bart is no ordinary human but a vampire. He is soon overpowered by Bart but before he could be killed, Henry Sturges rescues him.
This marks the onset of Lincoln’s journey as a vampire hunter, andhe trains rigorously for a decade under the mentorship of Sturges. However, after defeating Bart, he finds out that his mentor was a vampire too and gives up his mission of hunting down Vampires. He marries Mary Todd, a resident of Springfield, Illinois and begins his political career.
He learns from Sturges how the slaves were exported to vampires as food and planned to abolish slavery after being elected as the 16th president of the United States. His motives were disadvantageous to the vampires, and one day his son gets bitten and killed by Adam’s sister Vadoma.
Lincoln orders confiscation of all silver items from the area to make vampire killing ammunition. Lincoln achieved his triumph in abolishing slavery and on 19 November 1863 he delivered his famous Gettysburg Address. He is later shot by John Wilkes Booth at the back of his head and takes his last breath at the Petersen house. Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter was iconic and taken well by audiences.
Being trained for a decade, Lincoln, was highly skilled in taking down vampires, even more than one at a time. His primary weapon of choice was his ax, with which he could cut down a tree with a single swing.
Edgar Frog And Sam Emerson In The Lost Boys (1987)
By now if your minds have painted the same variety of fearless action heroes filling in the shoes of a vampire hunter then this one will definitely change your imagery. Shifting from brutal, ruthless, and relentless vampire hunters we now look upon one of the two self-proclaimed vampire hunter brothers Edgar Frog and acquaintance Sam Emerson.
Edgar lived with his parents and brother Alan Frog in Santa Carla. Both the brothers were comic book fanatics and when they were given the job of their family comic books store’s assistant, he considered this to be a cover-up to his real identity as a vampire hunter.
Both the brothers had an unhealthy obsession with horror comics and vampires which initially seemed futile, but later their acquired knowledge helped them escape and even kill a vampire.
Edgar is well-read about vampires including their strengths and weaknesses and firmly believes that their town is infested by vampires. There he meets another teenager, Sam Emerson, who was a superior comic book geek and tells him about his vampire hunting profile. It’s not that Edgar is fearless or an expert in hunting down vampires.
He is very much scared of coming across a real vampire just like any other regular person. It’s just that his knowledge helps him plan a narrow escape or triumph over the vampires. Like once, he pulled a vampire named David out into the sunlight causing him to retreat. Sam on the other hand proved to be smarter than him on several occasions.
He is well-read about comics but does not have a strong taste for horror comics like Edgar. When Sam’s brother got infected by a vampire, he called the Frog brothers for help. The Frog brothers along with Sam Emerson were pretty decent vampire hunters and managed to kill a few vampires in times of crisis, the first hunt being Marko.
When the Frog brothers were dealing with Marko’s friend and vampire, Paul, Sam was attacked by another vampire named Dwayne who he killed by shooting an arrow. The trio consisting of the Frog brothers and Sam Emerson called themselves the “Awesome Monster Bashers”.
Daniel Holtz – Angel (1999–2004)
In the 18th century, Daniel Holtz was a vampire hunter and an adversary of the vampire’s Angelus and Darla. He was the most successful non-mystical vampire hunter in history, according to Wolfram & Hart statistics, with over 300 killings to his name. Holtz was an English vampire hunter who began murdering vampires around 1754. He pursued Angelus and Darla across most of Europe.
During his pursuit of Angelus and Darla in North Africa, he murdered 378 vampires. Holtz was placed in a magical suspended animation state and reawakened in Los Angeles in 2001. Despite having been suspended for nearly two centuries, Holtz was ready and eager to kill Angelus right away, with no need for bodily rehabilitation.
Holtz poisoned his demonic henchmen in order to punish them for being soulless soldiers of fortune. Holtz desired true warriors, those who believed in his cause and were willing to die for it. He was a God-fearing guy who pursued vampires because he felt it was God’s will. Holtz’s pursuit of Angelus and Darla became more personal with the murder of his family.
He seems to place a higher weight on emotion and personal character than a tactical advantage. Despite Sahjian’s efforts to bring Holtz up to speed, he remained largely unfamiliar with most current applications and ideas, referring to a computer as a “box”.
Holtz talks about ‘justice,’ which is stirring, but what he really wants is vengeance. He’s driven by it, blinded by it, and he’ll murder for it if you, me, or anybody else gets in his way. After watching Angel hold his kid Connor in his arms, Holtz concluded that murdering him would be insufficient retaliation and that it would be preferable for Angel to live and suffer by having to raise Connor on his own.
Holtz, as a regular person, possessed no autonomous extraordinary abilities. He was a superb fighter, though, and was regarded as the finest non-supernatural vampire hunter in recorded history. He was also a great leader and manipulator.
Lucian – Underworld (2003)
Up next we have Lucian from the “Underworld” movie series. Lucian, a Lycan, was portrayed in the Underworld films “Underworld: Evolution” and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” as a powerful vampire hunter. In “Underworld”, he was an antagonist, while in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”, he was the primary protagonist. Lucian is shown as a charming and honorable guy with strong leadership abilities. He is profoundly concerned about his fellow Lycans and, by extension, their bestial kin, the Werewolves.
Over the years, he’s gotten quite good at controlling his temper and keeping his emotions in check. Lucian was less worldly and more obedient when he was younger, blindly obeying their leader Viktor and defending the Vampire clan.
Since Viktor’s captivity, he has become the progenitor of the Lycans and the head of the Lycan resistance. Lucian was also the lover of Vampire Sonja, and was a crucial catalyst in the events of all Underworld films. Lucian was the first of the Lycans of the second generation. In the film “Underworld”, he was the commander of the Lycan horde, and he also appears in the precursor “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”.
Lucian was the offspring of a captive female werewolf who was slaughtered when he was a baby. He was marked with Viktor’s mark, indicating that he was enslaved during one of Viktor’s early reigns as a blacksmith.
He was a pure-blood Lycan, born of two werewolves. Lucian was a Lycan servant to Viktor’s tribe in the past. His connection with Sonja developed as they grew older, and it was later revealed that Sonja was pregnant with his child, resulting in a Lycan-Vampire hybrid. Lucian grows colder and more vicious as a result of his grief at the murder of his beloved Sonja and unborn child.
He appears to find no harm in killing Vampires or putting innocent mortals in harm’s way to attain his ambitions. He is not, however, uncaring or greedy; all he does is to improve the lives of his kind and avenge his family. In the movie, “Underworld: Rise of Lycans”, Lucian quickly reveals that he possesses the power to switch between his human and werewolf forms, making him the first Lycan.
Viktor has been using Lucian to infect human prisoners brought to the castle in order to exploit them as his own immortal superhuman slaves. As a result of Lucian’s triumphs, the Vampires begin to vilify him. Lucian is regarded as the “most dreaded and merciless ruler of the Lycan clan.” The Character is played by Michael Sheen and can easily be considered to be the strongest of all Vampire Hunter