1. ANGEL   "What about Angel?"   "Yeah, I can just see him in a relationship. 'Hi, honey. You're in grave danger. See ya next month!" -- Willow and Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Angel" (01.04)
FROM:	Buffy and Angel (played by David Boreanaz)
BORN:	1727
TURNED:	1753
SIRE:	Darla (Julie Benz)
DRINKS:	Animal blood (except when evil, and occasionally with cinnamon)
ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS:	Darla, Drusilla (Juliet Landau), Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Nina (Jenny Mollen). Also Spike (James Marsters) in a lot of fanfiction.
LAST SEEN:	IDW’s post-finale Angel comics (latest issue: #33, “Letters Home: A Jamesian Interlude”) as well as in Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 comics (latest: #35, “Twilight, Part 4”)
FORTHCOMING:	Angel #34 on July 30, and Buffy Season 8 #36, written by Joss Whedon himself, expected out in the Fall

Whether half-naked or fully-evil, Angel is a vampire with a past, a soul and a whole lot of cool. In his ensouled incarnation, Angel is the angst-ridden doer of daring deeds, saving all kinds of days (and weeks, and even months) with his strength, speed, mad skillz and righteous indignation. Without his soul, he is beyond evil, beyond cruel, delighting in torture and torment, bringing all around him down with a maniacal smile and an unparalleled flair. And either way, he looks great in black. Angel’s intriguing dichotomy, the saint and the sinner, coupled with his intense passion and brooding mystique all combine to make him a vampire creation beyond compare. Plus, he’s funny! And he even managed to score when he’d been turned into a Muppet! Did Spike do that? No. Which is why Angel is Whedonverse vampire representative on this list, in case you were wondering. (Though, yes, Spike is awesome, too. No one’s saying he isn’t! Don’t hate us.)

HONORABLE BUFFY AND ANGEL MENTIONS: The glory that is Spike -- of course -- plus Drusilla, Darla, VampWillow (Alyson Hannigan) and Sunday (Katharine Towne, “The Freshman”, 04.01)

FURTHER READING: a review of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by K. Burtt; a review of Angel by K. Burtt; After the Fall: Angel by Rachel Hyland


Shoe-obsessed fashionista in the Carrie Bradshaw mould, but also monarch of the vampires with amazing, unheard-of powers and a hot, pre-destined husband, Queen Betsy is a irreverent and unending delight. From her snarky commentary on life as a newly-risen vampire, to her snarky interactions with her friends, family, minions and suitors (including eventual consort, Sinclair), to her snarky opinions on everything from the need for a conventional Church wedding -- even if she and her groom are vampires -- to proper hair maintenance, Betsy brings the humor with an honest, if self-involved, panache that cannot help but amuse. She also highlights one of the more disquieting aspects of being a vampire: no chocolate. What a terrible fate!

Related: Dead and Doing It by Rachel Hyland and Kate Nagy

3. LESTAT DE LIONCOURT “I can ‘fall in love’ with anybody - man, woman, child, vampire, the Pope. It doesn't matter.” -- Lestat, Blood Canticle
FROM:	The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire (1994), played by Tom Cruise and Queen of the Damned (2002), played by Stuart Townsend
BORN:	1760
TURNED:	1780
SIRE:	Magnus, who then promptly committed suicide
DRINKS:	Human blood
ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS:	Nicolas, Louis, Claudia, Akasha, Dora, Gretchen, Merrick, Tarquinn, Rowan Mayfair, David Talbot… basically, everybody.
LAST SEEN:	On Broadway!

He is a man of grand passions and volatile temperament. He is constantly seeking family, even while pushing his beloved(s) away with his flamboyant tantrums. He defiantly glories in his condition even while kind of hating himself. He never met a rule he didn’t break, a thrill he didn’t seek, or a beautiful someone he didn’t love. He has been an actor, a rockstar, the ruler of New Orleans, consort of royalty and friend to witches. And he has so captured the popular imagination as to have even been the subject of a Broadway show by Elton John and Bernie Taupin (Lestat: The Musical--with lyrics like: “My skin that once was golden brown/ Is cold and white as winter snow/ These evil points that pierce my gums/ These lacquered nails that seem to glow,” how astonishing that it closed after little more than a month). While Lestat, by the end of The Vampire Chronicles, had become unutterably tedious, his early appearances in that series created a whole new kind of vampire -- and a whole new genre of vampire fiction -- that continues to flourish to this day. He was sex incarnate (which is something of an accomplishment, since Rice-ian vampires cannot even have sex) and is still, he is one of the most fascinatingly flawed vampires ever created. And his rockband was called The Vampire Lestat. So, y’know, he’s modest, too.

FURTHER READING: Anne Rice in our Top 13 Geek Goddesses, by Rachel Hyland and Kate Nagy...

	4. JOSEF KOSTAN "I don't have the energy to kill everyone who pisses me off... I hire some people." -- Josef, “Fated to Pretend” (01.13)
FROM:	Moonlight, played by Jason Dohring
BORN:	1599
TURNED:	Around 25-30 years later
SIRE:	Unknown
DRINKS:	Human blood, mostly from willing female donors known as “Freshies”
ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS:	The ill-fated Sarah Whitely, lawyer Simone Walker Last Seen:
LAST SEEN:	Watching a traitorous vampire named Emma burn in “Sonata” (01.16). And, uh, he’s now on Facebook.

Josef is a successful businessman who looks insanely young for his immense wealth, and has caused no little stir amongst the 21st Century media who love nothing more than a financial wunderkind. Immaculately dressed and with impeccable comic timing, half of Josef’s appeal lies in his deceptively innocent appearance; his unselfconsciously sweet smile and sincere chocolate eyes hide a calculating and cynical soul, jaded by his 400 years. Unapologetically delighting in his status as ruler of all he surveys, Josef’s ruthlessness is alleviated by his love of a human woman, Sarah, and his best-friend, the sporadically interesting Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin). Fiercely protective of vampire privacy, Josef could have been a by-the-numbers Elder, but played by the inimitable and magnetic Jason Dohring, he became unique and irresistible, and was undoubtedly the best thing about CBS’s largely misguided Moonlight.

FURTHER READING: a review of Moonlight by Rachel Hyland.

5. SELENE "I am a Death Dealer, sworn to destroy those known as the Lycans. Our war has waged for centuries, unseen by human eyes. But all that is about to change." -- Selene, Underworld (2003)
FROM:	Underworld (2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006), played by Kate Beckinsale; Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), played by Lily Mo Sheen
BORN:	More than 600 years ago
TURNED:	At  least 600 years ago
SIRE:	The dastardly Viktor (Bill Nighy)
DRINKS:	Animal blood (human blood is forbidden), and the super-extra-strength blood of Alexander Corvinus (Derek Jacobi) that one time.
ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS:	Werewolf/vampire hybrid, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman)
LAST SEEN:	On the run in Underworld: Evolution; as a youngster in the more recent prequel

Just when it seemed impossible for anyone to look hotter in black leather than Angel or Spike, along came Kate Beckinsale as Selene, perched atop a balcony railing before effortlessly springing to the ground, off to deal death to werewolves whilst swinging her shiny black handguns and even shinier hair. The skin-hugging clothes, the awesome fighting skill, the casual ease with which she jumps off and over things, her indescribable beauty and her delicious accent all combine to make Selene intriguing; add to that her deep love of Ben from Felicity and a truly impressive impassivity, and she is absolutely captivating.

FURTHER READING: a review of Underworld by Brad Crammond

	6. NICK KNIGHT "I learned that I have to live with the choice I made 800 years ago. And forgiveness is not something you ask for. It's something that you earn. Here. Among the living." -- Nick Knight, "Be My Valentine" (02.23)
FROM:	Nick Knight (1989), played by Rick Springfield and Forever Knight (1992-96), played by Geraint Wyn-Davies
BORN:	Sometime around 1200 AD
TURNED:	30 or so years later
SIRE:	Lucien LaCroix (Nigel Bennett)
DRINKS:	Animal blood, usually out of wine glasses and goblets
ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS:	Vampire Janette (Deborah Duchene) and Dr. Natalie Lambert (Catherine Disher)
LAST SEEN:	Heartbroken, then dead, in the very final episode of Forever Knight, “Last Knight” (03.22)

Seeking a cure for his condition and redemption for his misdeeds, vampire Nick Knight is a Detective in the Toronto police force whose “allergy to sunlight” has him on permanent nightshift. His appeal hampered only by his early-90’s blouson-style shirts and bouffant, Nick is nevertheless an attractive and anguished hero who wants only to make up for all the evils he and his kind have perpetrated throughout the centuries. His slow-burn relationship with Medical Examiner Nat humanized him considerably, as did his contentious friendship with cop partners Don Schanke (John Kapelos) and, later, Tracey Vetter (Lisa Ryder). His stormy relationship with his sire, LaCroix, and long-time ex Janette (Deborah Duchene) make for some tiresome flashbacks, but Nick’s virtuous mission to Save His Soul still has the power to compel. Also, he can fly.

FURTHER READING: a review of Forever Knight by Rachel Hyland