The Vampire Diaries Universe, consisting of The Vampire Diaries, a long line of vampire-related television shows, films, and books. Different stories hold separate perspectives on vampires, their abilities, and how to represent them.
One of the book series with a different stance on vampires from the television trilogy is "The Saga Of Darren Shan," written by Darren Shan. The novels were adapted into a movie in 2009, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. The books follow Darren Shan, who sacrifices his human life to save his best friend, Steve, from a poisonous spider bite. The price to save Steve is to become Mr. Crepsley's assistant, so Darren willingly becomes a Half-Vampire. But, vampires are not the only form of a creature of the night.
Sire Bond
This is a rare occurrence where a newly transitioned vampire becomes sired to the vampire whose blood died in their system. Elena Gilbert finds herself in a sire bond after drowning with Damon's blood in her system.
The sire bond amplified Elena's feelings for Damon while also having her agree with him all the time and act in a way he would like. If Damon said Elena couldn't drink blood from a bag, then she couldn't until Damon told her to. The sire bond was one of the most hated storylines on The Vampire Diaries.
Sire Line
As much as the Mystic Falls gang would have liked to kill Klaus, there is one poignant reason why they can't. As it turns out, if an Original is killed, every vampire in their sire line dies with them.
This means that any vampires an Original turned, or any vampires they had turned, would all perish if one of the Mikaelson siblings died. Elena and her friends learned this with Finn's death, then used the sire line to their advantage to finish Jeremy's hunter's mark by killing Kol.
The Originals
Vampires had to come from somewhere, and The Vampire Diaries explained theirs with The Originals. The Mikaleson siblings, Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, and Finn, were transformed into vampires by their mother, Esther, after Henrik's death.
Using Tatia's blood, that of a Petrova Doppelgänger, Esther Mikaelson had created the first vampires. The history in the universe richly describes how the family also holds the Original Hybrid. The Mikaelson siblings had existed for over a thousand years, exploring the world.
Half-Vampire
On The Vampire Diaries, there is a twenty-four-hour period for people in transition to drink blood and become a vampire officially. Once the time is up, if they haven't had human blood, they will die. During "The Saga Of Darren Shan," there is an alternative.
To save his best friend Steve, Darren makes a deal with Mr. Crepsley to be a Half-Vampire. While not being as powerful as others, Darren can be out in the sun longer than Mr. Crepsley.
Transition
In "The Saga Of Darren Shan," transition occurs by blood to blood connection through fingertips. This is a vastly different transition process to what occurs in The Vampire Diaries Universe. To turn into a vampire, first, a human must drink or ingest vampire blood. Then, the human must die with the vampire blood in their system.
To officially transition, the person must drink human blood within twenty-four hours of dying. If they do not drink human blood in that time frame, they will die.
Drinking Blood
In Mystic Falls and New Orleans, vampires use their fangs to bite into human necks, arms, or wrists to drink their blood. They may drink them dry if they are particularly angry, like Damon or Klaus, or are considered a Ripper, like Stefan. However, the rules are different for Darren Shan and Larten Crepsley.
They use their fingernails to make an incision in the vein, drink small amounts, then heal the human with saliva. Vampires in the novels do not have fangs, and instead, use their fingernails for a variety of things.
Vampaneze
Likely thought of as the more traditional vampire, the vampaneze is a separate group interested in killing their victims after taking their blood. While Darren s Mr. Crepsley, learning how to become a true vampire, his best friend Steve eventually s the opposition.
Having wished to be a vampire, Steve was upset to be turned away by Mr. Crepsley. However, he willingly ed the vampaneze, who was willing to take him. In the film Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, Steve turns transitions into a member of the vampaneze far earlier than in the novels.
Sunlight
One of the biggest struggles for vampires in Mystic Falls and New Orleans is the sun. They can go out at night without a problem, but the sunlight will cause them to burn and die quickly. The way around that issue is a daylight ring. Created by witches, a daylight ring allows vampires to walk around during the day without dying in the sunlight.
Darren Shan and Mr. Crepsley don't have a similar ring. The sun will cause them to burn after a couple of hours, although they can withstand the sun longer than those in The Vampire Diaries Universe.
Hierarchy
In "The Saga Of Darren Shan," there is a set hierarchy for vampires. There is a way of doing things and a council to keep vampires in line. A trip to Vampire Mountain introduces Darren to the extensive world and rules of vampire society.
In The Vampire Diaries Universe, things are more like anarchy than anything else. While Marcel Gerard does have a hold over the vampires in New Orleans, along with his own set of rules, that only extends to the New Orleans area. Everywhere else, vampires do whatever they wish. While there are Original Vampires, they do not hold a set of laws vampires should follow. In fact, they are often part of the chaos vampires bring.
Aging Appearance
In the novels, Darren Shan turns into a vampire at a young age. But, that does not prevent him from physically aging, even though it does take far longer. Darren would age far slower than humans, but he would eventually physically grow.
This is not the case in The Vampire Diaries Universe. Once a vampire is turned, they become immortal and continue to appear the physical age of when they turned. For the Mikaelson siblings, they have appeared the same physical age for over a thousand years.