Have you ever imagined what would have happened if the Covid19 outbreak had turned people into lethal vampires rather than just sick? That is, after all, the central concept of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s 2014 television series.
The plot of “The Strain” revolves around an ancient form of vampirism that spreads like a virus. It is spread by vampires known as ‘Strigoi’ and the ‘Strain Worms’ that live within them. The four-season show aired from 2014 to 2017, yet it received a shockingly low viewership.
So, in this excellent horror television program, Guillermo del Toro effectively blends science and mythology and delivers us with some of the scariest vampires ever seen- ‘The Strigoi.’ In this video, we will delve into the world of vampires, learning about their origins, history, and supernatural tales. Let us get this party started, shall we?
What Are Strigoi Vampires?
The most interesting aspect about the Strigoi is the origin of these creatures. The Strigoi are not supernaturally immortal undead entities but the result of a parasite that takes control of a human’s biology. Yet, there is a bit of supernatural backing behind the creation of the seven Ancients or the first-ever vampires from the series.
The Ancients were created by the remains of a fallen angel, named ‘Ozryel’. Over time, the splintered fragments of this fallen angel reanimated into vampires, and led to the creation of more vampires called the Strigoi, by virtue of the mind, and body-bending worms called the Strain Worms or simply Strain.
These minutely thin capillary worms serve as the vector for vampirism. Once they successfully enter a host’s bloodstream, they introduce an incurable virus with an extremely short incubation period. This virus takes over the host’s physiological and neurological functions, which in turn mutates the host into a Strigoi. Once the Strain Worms enter a host, their transformation is almost always inevitable.
The primary change that the host undergoes is the transformation or replacement of the tongue into a six-feet long proboscis. This retractable proboscis has various functions and serves as Strigoi’s most important body part. It can be used to feed off another human being or as a tool of reproduction.
The capillary action of the stinger absorbs the fresh nutritional blood and also acts as a mode of transport for the Strain Worms into new hosts, hence facilitating reproduction. The resultant newly born vampire retains most of their human traits as far as outer physiology is concerned.
However, the Strigoi’s jaws are set a bit lower than a normal human’s, and the mouth opens in a snake-like fashion when the stinger is supposed to be deployed. You’d be surprised to know that this huge stinger is actually a molded form of the tissues from the host human’s lungs and throat. Therefore, the resultant Strigoi is left bereft of speech and the requirement to breathe. However, monosyllabic speech is still possible.
Apart from the transformation of the lung and throat into a stinger, the host body goes through a plethora of other changes. For instance, unnecessary body parts such as hair, nails, and even genitalia are shed off. The skin becomes immensely pale and silvery, but a recent blood-feeding may give the skin a red tone.
Because of their extremely high metabolism, the Strigoi’s insides witness hastened exothermic reactions, which increase their body temperatures to an average of 48.9 °C or 120 °F. And, of course, they develop fangs and razor-sharp teeth, but these are probably for the offense because the feeding essentially takes place through the stinger.
The lost fingernails are replaced by talons, while the middle finger becomes increasingly powerful and long. As mentioned earlier, the reproduction takes place through the stinger, which makes the human genitalia redundant. The genitalia is shed off, and a mature Strigoi has no specific gender, an opposite of a hermaphrodite if you will.
Instead of separate digestive and circulatory systems, a Strigoi develops a more rudimentary single system through which flows a white viscous fluid, or the vampiric equivalent of human blood. It is this white fluid in which the Strain worms swim and exist, but this blood has immense healing properties and can heal humans. But if enough care is not taken to strain out the Strain Worms, then the human intaking the white blood may become infected.
Immediately after a host becomes infected, they go into a state of suspended animation for almost a day and wake up the next night as a newborn vampire. Upon waking up on the night following the infection, the Strigoi experience a confused state, both mentally and physically. However, within the next seven days, they take control of their body while the vampirism from the Strain Worms takes control of their minds.
Upon full maturity, they develop inhuman speed, strength, stamina, and agility. A special kind of Strigoi is the one that is born from a woman who was infected while she was pregnant. Such Strigoi is called ‘The Born’, and lack the Strain Worms in their body; they are extremely intelligent and need to drink human blood for sustenance.
Source of the Vampirism– Strain Worms And The Science Behind It
The traditional lore about vampires suggests that a human turns into a vampire after another has bitten them. However, Del Toro’s vampires are a combination of mythology and science because the source of vampirism is not a bite but a unique parasitic worm that releases certain viruses that transform the physiology and psychology of the host.
The exact origin of these Strain Worms is largely ambiguous in the source material, but it is possible that the seven body parts of the fallen angel ‘Ozryel’ became infested with some kind of earthly worms. Perhaps, these naturally occurring worms became corrupted and turned into something else entirely.
Over a period of time, the Strain Worms got the potential to turn their unfortunate hosts into copies of the seven Ancients. Apart from the pale white Strain worms, there exists the Crimson Worm. These are a more potent form of Strain Worms that bear the very essence of ‘The Master’, or the most powerful and unrestrained one of the seven Ancients. The Crimson worms give their host the power to control other Strigoi, obviously because they carry in themselves a part of the very soul of The Master.
As far as the scientific backing behind the Strain Worms is concerned, both the television series and the source material do not clearly describe the nature of the viral infection brought about by the Strain Worms.
And, neither do they specifically talk about the science behind the transformation of the hosts. However, we do have a few probable theories. The virus that the Strain Worm injects into a host is essentially a retrovirus or a virus that changes the genome of the host it invades. When a retrovirus infects a cell, it makes a DNA copy of its genome into the host cell’s DNA.
Naturally, the Strigoi virus exhibits a more complex structure than a commonly found virus such as the Covid19 virus. While Covid19 merely hijacks the host to multiply itself, the Strigoi virus changes the DNA structure of the host.
The larger genetic coding of a Strigoi virus enables the fluids inside the Strain Worms to act as a methylating agent, which weakens the desirability of the host cells to strictly adhere to the general cell function instructions. In simpler words, the Strigoi virus repurposes the cellular functions and structure of the host, to facilitate vampirism. And as far as immortality is concerned, it is attained through indefinite cellular regeneration and reproduction.
It All Started 3000 Years Ago
In 1000 BC, the river Yarden traversed through such a vast piece of land that five large cities flourished on its lush, fertile banks. Out of these, the proudest city was that of Sodom. It was strong and rich, its walls almost forty feet high and six feet thick. The people of Sodom plastered the walls with Gypsum so that they would shine bright when the sun’s rays fell on them. All those who lived in Sodom enjoyed its riches, but it came at a high price.
They had to offer their firstborn as a sacrifice to Moloch, the deity they worshipped. And the people happily paid this price, probably because they believed in nothing but their own hedonistic pleasure and perversions that came with it. However, the atrocities and barbarism in Sodom were growing to unsurmountable levels, and God wouldn’t have it anymore.
So, God sent the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Ozryel to destroy the corrupt and unholy city of Sodom and its sister city Gomorrah. The angels were pure and perfect in every way, they possessed unblemished and shiny skin, with no ounce of hair on their bodies or any discernible sex.
At the gates of Sodom, the three angels were greeted by a pious man named Lot. He requested them to stay with him in the hopes of persuading them to forgive Sodom. His wife made them dinner, and his virgin daughters washed their feet.
This was the first time that Ozryel had experienced the pleasure of the flesh and human touch; he was confused yet curious about it. When Lot’s wife cut her hand while cooking, Ozryel got captivated by the red liquid because it was divine. When Ozryel beheld the woman’s blood and learned of its biology, he realized that God truly made man in his own image. But by now, the denizens of Sodom learned about the three perfect strangers and came to Lot’s house demanding to see the perfections, so that they could derive pleasure out of them.
Despite Lot’s requests, the men of Sodom didn’t back down. Michael arrived and blinded the mob with the light of God. In the ensuing chaos, Ozryel entered the city and was fascinated by the pleasures they enjoyed and the perversions they indulged in. He saw how the people were freely using God’s gift, but they were as far away from God as was possible.
Eventually, Ozryel’s exploration brought him before a silvery house of sinister pleasures, and inside it was a woman, the host of the house, and the peddler of horrors. She wept beholding his magnificence, but all he felt was anger, curiosity, and the sensation from the terror she felt. In an impulsive move, Ozryel gashed his teeth into the woman and drank her blood.
But Ozryel’s thirst for personal violence and destruction was all but quenched. He needed more, he needed to kill another being and drink their blood. So, after Michael destroyed the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ozryel lured him into a deserted place. As Michael bathed in the sun’s glory for one last time before leaving Earth, Ozryel struck him from behind and slashed open Michael’s throat, drinking his silvery blood.
Gabriel appeared, appalled he beheld Ozryel in the most treacherous act. But Ozryel was far from redemption, and he suggested to Gabriel the idea of becoming the gods on Earth and ruling humans while feasting on their blood, a divinity that God gave humans but denied the angels. Gabriel summoned the angel Raphael and seven others with him.
While Raphael pinned Ozryel with an arrow of light, the seven archangels tore apart Ozryel’s four limbs and two wings. They also tore his mind and throat, the devices because of which sin and thirst were born. These pieces were flung far and deep into the depths of the sea where they were supposed to rest until the Day of Judgment. But with time, their blood seeped into the sea beds and gave rise to the seven Ancients.
The Seven Ancients – The First Host
The Seven Ancients were created wherever the seven parts of Ozryel fell. It’s important to clarify that it wasn’t the body parts of Ozryel that transformed into the seven Ancients but rather the white fluid and the worms that invaded their respective hosts. These worms were more than pathogens, and as such, they were more like sapient substances, and their vassals became their vessels.
And as was seen in the first episode of the second season, The Master expressed his desire to change his present host body, as it had become fragile. Speaking of the Master, he was the youngest Ancient and the only one who went rogue. As for the other six, they were not all for spreading the gift of immortality to just about anyone.
After they fed on a host, he or she was immediately killed to check the spread of vampirism. However, The Master didn’t believe in this conservative attitude and held no qualms when it came to spreading his infliction onto others. This conflict of interest led to the Vampire War.