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Entire Thesis (pdf)

Chapters:

  1. Summary of Known Information
  2. The Order of Aurelius
  3. An Alternate Theory of Vampirism
  4. Appearance and Habitat
  5. Feeding Habits
  6. Preferred Victims
  7. Sexual Idiosyncrasies
  8. Torture
  9. Other Known Idiosyncrasies
  10. Pre-Death Biography
  11. Summary of Strengths and Weaknesses
  12. Conclusions

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CHAPTER ELEVEN: Summary of Strengths and Weaknesses

I have given these in tabular form, for quick reference by Watchers in the field. Notes follow below.

CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTH WEAKNESS
"Love" This emotion, or its vampiric analog, grants him persistence in difficult situations, if his consort is threatened Love also makes him prone to recklessness and lack of forethought
Fighting Skills Enormous. Has killed two Slayers.
Longevity He has already lived longer than over 90% of his kind.
Forethought/Planning Rarely shows any sign of these abilities. Prone to impulsiveness.
Long Range Goals None apparent (see "Forethought"). Low risk of apocalypse-induction, unless prompted by Drusilla.
Advanced Vampire Skills No accounts of precognition, hypnotism, thrall, flight, or shape-shifting.
Physical Appearance A creature of noted beauty. This characteristic makes him highly successful in luring prey.

As I have shown, William the Bloody is a formidable adversary, but it should be noted that he has as many weaknesses as strengths. While I can certainly conceive of his surviving many more centuries, there are some key points one may wish to keep in mind if ever faced with this particular vampire (1). Our subject has left a long trail of bodies and mayhem behind him, sufficient to make at least a first approximation of his habits, and his most notable strengths and weaknesses.

As with all vampires, William the Bloody possesses supernatural strength. As this is nothing unique to vampires in general, we will disregard it as a particular strength at this time. However, he does have finely developed fighting skills, which combined with his strength create a formidable opponent (2).

According to several sources, including Mr. Giles (3), William the Bloody has combined street fighting with an unidentified branch of martial arts, a combination that has rendered him nearly unbeatable in a physical confrontation against a being of similar strength. In fact, it has been suggested that even his (grand)sire would not be able to defeat him in a life-or-death battle (4). And, to reiterate, he has killed at least two Slayers as of this date, and has made several attempts on the life of Buffy Anne Summers, the current Slayer (3). Miss Summers' own case is special and will be disregarded for the purposes of this discussion of William the Bloody's fighting ability.

William the Bloody's physical appearance assists him in increasing his body count. According to many sources, this vampire is extremely attractive and very sexual (5). As many serial killers have discovered, it is much easier to lure prey with a strikingly handsome face. As one victim's diary recounted, "His skin was alabaster, and cheekbones as sharp as the rocks by the sea. He made my body sing with anticipation, and my lips longed to feel his own." (source suppressed by request of the author's family) Shortly after this was written, her body was found, drained and bloated, at the seaside.

This leads us to William the Bloody's final strength, which can also be viewed as a significant weakness: his apparent ability to love. While the concept of a soulless thing being capable of love could certainly be the subject of an entire series of volumes, I will attempt to discuss this aspect of his personality succinctly. William the Bloody has been coupled with the vampire Drusilla, his probable sire, since his turning. He has been known to defend her and even sacrifice himself for her well-being. Any threat to Drusilla's existence results in the demise of the threatening creature in a swift and painful fashion. As shown by Jansa (6), there is no impetus like love.

But just as his love gives him a decided edge against an opponent, so can it work to his detriment. William the Bloody tends to lack forethought and often charges into battle without planning. This is clearly demonstrated by the Massacre at Viewridge, MA, USA (6), where the vampire ran into a burning barn in pursuit of Miss Dearborn, the Slayer at that time. He emerged without his trophy, but with a debilitating burn to his entire body. William the Bloody puts his 'emotions' before his thoughts, and this characteristic will ultimately bring about his downfall.

There have been no documented attempts at unleashing apocalypse by this vampire. This demonstrates a profound lack of initiative and long-range goals, as the standard number of attempts at world destruction or world domination by one vampire is five over the course of a 150 year life-span (8). In fact, there is extensive proof that his only fascinations are with his consort, modern music, American fried foods, and a strange obsession with black, casual clothing (3, 4, and 9). There seems, therefore, to be little threat from this creature on a larger scale.

Finally, unlike many vampires of his tenure, William the Bloody has failed to achieve any upper level vampire skills. His assets lie solely in his appearance and fighting skills. His consort is proficient at precognition and hypnotism, but he has failed to acquire any advanced abilities of his own. For example, he cannot fly, nor shape-shift. A vampire of his age should at least be showing early signs of one of these talents. Field Watchers can take heart, however, in the knowledge that when they are faced with William the Bloody, what they see is what they will get.

NOTES

(1) Herman, Frederick. "Worst Case Scenario - Surviving Creatures of the Night". Tallahassee: University Presses of Florida 1996.

(2) Branter, Jan and Petersen, Peter. "Never Look a Vampire in the Mouth". New York: Penguin Publishing 1943.

(3) Brockman, Harry ed. "Famous Vampire Skirmishes". Maple Park: Never Never Publishers 1982.

(4) Giles, Rupert. "A Watcher's Diary". (unpublished) 1962-1998.

(5) Summers, Buffy. "A Slayer's Diary". (unpublished) 1996-1998.

(6) Jansa et al. "Illustrated History of New England Massacres". Philadelphia: Pendant Publishers 1977.

(7) Piston, Joan and Harten, Randy. "Chance Encounters - A Book of Finding Love in All the Wrong Places". Maple Park: Never Never Publishers 1987.

(8) Slandish, Michael. "Statistics of the Undead". Chicago: Stodgy Presses 1996.

(9) Travers, Quentin et al. "Who's Who in the World of Damned Creatures". London: CoW Publishing 1988.