Vampires Are Rich: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Life Sucks]]'' brings this up, then explicitly rejects it as unrealistic. The undead protagonist works night shifts at a convenience store, and most of the vampires around him are hardly doing better.

* The Carpathian/European vampires from [[American Vampire]] represent old European nobility and thus are loaded. So much that in the miniseries ''Survival Of the Fittest'' they're a major financier of the [[Those Wacky Nazis|Third Reich]] as they are big on [[Fantastic Racism|racial purity]] [[Unfortunate Implications|as well.]]

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Cronos]]'': Guillermo del Toro's film features a [[Our Vampires Are Different|working class alchemic vampire]].

* Inverted in ''[[Near Dark]]'', in which the vampires not only aren't rich, but are essentially penniless drifters who steal as well as kill to survive.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]'' by [[Bram Stoker]]: Count Dracula is the go-to example. Jonathan Harker notes that Dracula doesn't have any servants, as that would be a huge drain for an aristocrat in a poor country. Of course, the true reason for the lack of servants [[Incredibly Lame Pun|kinda sucks]].

** Dracula doesn't have any servants because no local is willing to come anywhere near his castle, and most vampires are portrayed as far less intelligent and focused than the titular Count, who himself is considered mentally challenged by Van Helsing, so they would make poor servants, as well. Dracula is portrayed as rich, and even the source of his wealth is explained to an attentive reader: Harker sees him put a mark next to a will'-o-the-wisp, and when later questioning him about it he explains that there is a buried treasure in the lands supernaturally marked so that it will only appear in one night in a year. It was this treasure that he used to fund his expedition to England.

* ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'': The Cullen family own their own island (off the [[You Fail Geography Forever|west coast of Brazil]], evidently) and can apparently afford to purchase or build any number of honeymoon cottages, luxury cars, and gemstones. One of the vampires explicitly mentions that it's due to Alice's ability to read the future and the relevant impact it has on the stock market. Before Bella ever meets Edward, the first thing she notices is the incredibly expensive cars that they drive parked in the school parking lot.

* Some ''[[Discworld]]'' vampires.

** Otto Chriek works for the newspaper (though it's possible he only does so to indulge his one great passion, photography.)

* Subverted in a (humorous) how-to book on how to be a vampire. It says that being a vampire doesn't make you rich, so it recommends ways of making money for which being a vampire is helpful: selling collectibles (objects that are cheap can become valuable when you sell them after decades or centuries), theft, being a con artist or cardsharp.

* Subverted in the graphic novel ''Life Sucks''. [[Vampire Vannabe]] Rosa imagines a society of rich and cultured vampires; real vampire Dave is stuck working for his vampire master at the all-night convenience store.

* Played with in Elrod's ''[[The Vampire Files]]'', in which Jack Fleming gets a lot richer over the course of several books, but ''only'' because he pockets some cash each time he gets into a feud with the mob. If only the gangs had left him alone to un-live his un-life, he'd still be scraping by selling stories about spider-gods to pulp magazines.

* In Elizabeth Bear's [[New Amsterdam Books|New Amsterdam]], vampire Sebastien de Ulloa observes he has more money than he could ever spend. However, his lifestyle tends to upper middle class comfort more than complete luxury.

 

* ''[[Angel]]''

** Angel himself is not as rich as he could be. However Angel always does seem to have enough money to start over when he moves. He also had enough money stashed away to pay Cordy, Wes, Gunn and Fred their salaries yet rarely does he accept money from his clients. ''And'' he owns a hotel that never has guests. He did stash that bag of loot from the unfortunate lady in he hotel for fifty years, so he certainly has a major emergency fund at hand.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' and ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'', this can be played straight or averted depending entirely on how many dots in the "Resources" merit a vampire has. Stereotypically, vampires tend to get richer with age and certain clans are more liable to collect wealth and earthly goods than others. Some clans, like the Ventrue, tend to Embrace people who were already rich while still alive. Other clans, like Gangrel and Nosferatu, tend (or may even prefer) to live in destitution. The flavor description of the Finance skill in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' has an elder Ventrue informing a neonate that money does not come with becoming a vampire. The elder offers to demonstrate his financial acumen by playing the stock market.

* ''Night Life'': Vampyres and other Kin in theRPGhave to work and/or steal to get money, in keeping with the grungy motif of the game.

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Touhou Project]]'', Remilia and Flandre seem comfortable in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Complete with a [[Ninja Maid]] with [[Time Stands Still|Time Hax]] that helps her speed up chores, and a Kung Fu master for a gate keeper. According to Memento in a Strict Sense the mansion often holds party at night and invite other people in Gensokyo.

* ''[[The Sims 2]]'': In the Night Life expansion vampires are introduced, with vampires NPCs that fit this trope (since they are obvious parodies of Dracula, even being counts) adding them to your household can give around 50 thousand simoleons. [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] might fit them as well since vampires have problems with the Sun.

* Jurgen in ''[[Sam and Max]] Beyond Time and Space'' is living in a Gothic-looking German castle. ''The Devil's Toybox'' reveals that, prior to being bitten, he was an amateur archaeologist and a follower of [[Eldritch Abomination|Yog-Soggoth]]. He was either already a wealthy aristocrat or made his money after becoming a vamp.

* LaCroix, Ming Xao, Strauss and Isaac in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines|Vampire: the Masquerade- Bloodlines]]'' (who are old vampire leaders who are 'upper class') play this straight. Other vampires, like Bertram, Nines (and his crew) and Beckett, not so much.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Nosfera]]'': Nosfera has her own castle complete with servants.

* ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' got Delacroix who live in a nice (if [http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/(Chapter_2)_Bunnies_and_Puppies not big]) house with a housemaid, wear nice clothes (and buying more when the mood strikes), get around in a nice car, and in general don't run into any visible constraints on expenses/allowance (but of course they don't flaunt it, either). When a vampire from Europe visits, he dresses and acts like an [[Upper Class Twit]], though not over the top.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Vampire Tropes]]

[[Category:Rich People]]