Vampyros by RobertMacQuarrie1 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Vampyros

The being that was once Vampyros had rather innocent origins. Thousands of years ago on an alien planet, Vampyros had been an idealistic scientist. He dreamed of being able to provide the means of healing any and all illness. In his studies, Vampyros made a breakthrough in which he crafted a machine that could transfer the life energy from one organism to another. However, the system had drawbacks. The transfer would irrevocably drain and weaken the donor, and the recipient would merely feel replenished and reinvigorated, but their wounds or illnesses would not truly be healed. It was a stopgap measure at most. Still, Vampyros believed this was the method that could fulfill his dream, and he devoted his life towards his invention.

However, this devotion soon became an obsession. Vampyros began devoting more and more of his life to perfecting the process, but he could never find the correct method. He lost contact with family and friends. His relationship with his fiance deteriorated until she left him for another lover. And still he pursued his research, confident that if he finally made his breakthrough he'd be able to make up for lost time. As the years went on, Vampyros found himself succumbing to the ravages of old age. Desperate to continue his work, Vampyros decided to use the process himself to prolong his lifespan so he could complete his work. At first he only chose to use plants to draw life energy from. Then he moved onto animal life. As the years went on, Vampyros rendered the vast, lush wilderness surrounding his remote laboratory into a desolate wasteland. Vampyros mind also began to decay. He believed that only a few short years had passed, when in reality it had been several decades, and all of his friends, family and loved ones had already passed away. The society around him had progressed to the point where they no longer required his research, having found several medical breakthroughs on their own. And yet, Vampyros still pursued his obsession.

Desperate to prolong his life and with his body decaying, Vampyros enhanced his form with an array of cybernetics, constructing a mobile life support system around him. He then made the grim conclusion that he would have to start drawing life from other humanoid beings in order to truly perfect the process. At first he began with criminals. But then he expanded to innocent beings. The old, the sick, those on the fringe of society, none of these individuals provided Vampyros with the breakthrough he was looking for. When he decided to go after the young, abducting younger and younger victims to further his research, it was that act that brought down the authorities on him. With nowhere on his planet he could hide, Vampyros fled to the starts to complete his work.

Out in the void of space, Vampyros slowly succumbed to his growing madness. As the cybernetics took more and more of his organic body, so too did he lose any semblance of the man he once was. Now, his entire quest was to grant more time for himself. He had forgotten the man he once was, the being that once dreamed of healing the sick and saving those on death's door. Now, all that mattered was his own potential immortality. He redesigned his spacecraft to allow him to consume the life force of entire worlds. Again, he started small- drawing the life from planetoids that had no sentient life. But not being satisfied with the life he drained from these worlds, he expanded his options to worlds with a sentient populations. After harvesting these worlds, he would then enhance his own machinery with the advanced technology these civilizations left behind. After several centuries, Vampyros craft was the most advanced spaceship in the galaxy, practically invincible and with a vast array of weaponry, all powered by the life energy stolen from the various civilizations Vampyros consumed in his mad quest for immortality. Vampyros himself became a twisted amalgam of flesh and technology, fueled by the stolen life force of a thousand worlds. Vampyros has already lived for thousands of years, and could live for thousands more on the life energy he stole. But he will never be satisfied. All that matters is his continued existence.

Vampyros is driven above all by his hunger. All that matters to the dark being is his own continued existence. To that end, entire civilizations can fall before him if it nets him even a few more days alive. His long life is justification enough for him to do what he does. His longevity is enough in his eyes to justify anything. To him, all living beings are just prey for him to consume in his quest for immortality.

Vampyros main power comes from a combination of his arcane technology and the stolen life energy he has accumulated over the centuries. His spacecraft, once a small and meager vessel, has been enhanced into a vast, labyrinthine construct. It's weaponry can devastate a planet within minutes. It has also been designed to be the primary source by which Vampyros can draw energy from entire planets. Vampyros physical form is enhanced by various cybernetics, and powered by his energy stores. While his physical flesh is aged and decayed, kept alive only by various techno-organic methods, he is still incredibly strong and durable. Vampyros can wield his stolen life energy as a weapon, blasting opponents with fiery tendrils of energy. Vampyros can also use said energy to enhance his personal shields. However, doing so greatly enrages him, as he considers that "Stolen" from him, leaving him with less time to remain alive. As such, he tries to avoid direct physical confrontations if he can, instead preferring to act through agents or proxies if he can.

Vampyros came into contact with Starfighter when his starcraft entered into the solar system with the intent on consuming Earth. Starfighter stood in his way, and became the first being to ever drive the monstrous being back and deny him his feast. As such, Vampyros has despised the young hero ever since. Vampyros is perhaps the most dangerous opponent Starfighter has ever faced, as his mad hunger to devour all in his path means that practically all sentient life in the galaxy is at risk.

Origins

For the next set of Starfigher villains, I really wanted to expand the scope a bit and include some baddies from outside the regular setting of the series. Bad guys that would not be as reoccurring as other villains, and could give the series a greater stage than before. Given that the character is named "STARfighter," it made sense to have a series of alien baddies.

For Vampyros, I wanted a "Big" villain. Someone that could be a massive threat on a worldwide scale. In order to do that, I needed to find a villain that could provide a threat that would truly endanger an entire planet or planets, but could also be realistically defeated on a regular basis but not undermine their menace. The problem with villains like Thanos and Darkseid is that their goals are so huge that their regular defeats just undermine their credibility. They are supposed to be threats to the entire universe. But if they can be thwarted repeatedly, it counters the notion that they are the worst of the worst. Plus, one needs to ask just what motivates these characters to continually try and "Take over the Universe." A character like Galactus has a great motivation, as all he wants to do is eat. But, again, because he's so powerful, if he is continually defeated by the heroes it just undermines his threat.

So that line of thinking led to the creation of Vampyros. His motivation is simple- hunger. To eat and eat and eat in order to stave off death for just another day. He's powerful, but not so to the point where he can't conceivably be beaten. But he also has an enduring motivation to keep coming back and continue to threaten our heroes again and again.

For his look, I kind of had two ideas for his character. One is a big, black, cybernetic devil. The second was of a smaller, weaker form, a walking corpse strung together with tubes and cybernetics, with the notion that he would simply transform into his more demonic form for combat. I couldn't find a look that fit both, so I decided to merge them together for the end result you see here.