The World of Van Helsing

There are vampires among us. Like, a lot of them.

And there's one woman they all fear ...

You've met the characters. Now enter the world of Van Helsing. Get acquainted with these dark days and the creatures that lurk in the shadows with the 101 below. 

The World Pre-Rising

The Rising, the term used for the emergence of vampires as a dominant species, occurred in 2016 when the Yellowstone Caldera erupted and covered much of North America's skies in ash and smoke. Vampires, who had existed for centuries but fallen into myth and urban legend, take advantage of the darkened skies. They quickly grow in numbers and take control of the cities. 

The World Post-Rising

The Pacific Northwest has been taken over by different vampire factions that have loose affiliations with each other. There may be more vampire factions across North America ... and maybe even the world. 

Three years after The Rising, the ash and smoke in the skies have begun to clear, with sunlight peaking through more and more each day. Those under the rule of a high-ranking vampire known as Dmitri force their human collaborators (known as 'The Red Brigade') to do their bidding: some work in pollution factories to create more smog while others work on finding a way to give vampires immunity to sunlight. 

Basic Vampire Traits

• Van Helsing's vampires have advanced strength and speed and accelerated healing but are extremely sensitive to sunlight and UV light. While they don't immediately burst into flames upon exposure to sunlight, they do start to blister and burn, which leaves permanent scars. If they're exposed to sunlight or UV long enough, they will eventually catch fire and burn to death.
   
• The best way to kill a vampire is to cause enough massive and sudden blood loss that it cannot heal before bleeding out. Decapitation works nicely. So does destroying the heart. 
   
• Vampires need to feed on living blood to survive, whether it's human or animal. While vampires do like to bite and draw blood from other vampires, this is strictly done for pleasure as they cannot actually sustain themselves on vampire blood. 
   
• Speaking of pleasure, vampires cannot climax during sex, nor can they procreate. At the start of the series, vampires are still trying to figure out exactly why they can't procreate.
   
• Lastly, vampires do in fact age, albeit at a much slower rate than humans. The oldest generations are called The Elders, with the next eldest called The Ancients. Many vampire traits, such as advanced strength, speed and longevity, dilute with each generation that is sired. 

Vampire Type #1: Ferals

Ferals are vampires whose diet consists of non-human blood. They are the most animalistic of all vampires, having taken behavioral traits from the animals they feed on. These traits can include fangs and long teeth, claws, mottled skin and other bizarre adaptations. Ferals do not speak and can only coordinate with other ferals in a pack mentality.

Vampire Type #2: Julius' Brood

These are the baseline vampires that follow a powerful vampire known as Julius. Unlike ferals, baseline vampires are more 'human' in that they do not have fangs or claws and can speak and coordinate with other vampires. Julius' vampires are tribal in their culture; his 'warrior vampires' cover themselves in warpaint and blood before battle.

Vampire Type #3: Dmitri's Vampires

These vampires can be thought of as the Romans to Julius' Vikings. They're the most human-looking of the vampires, dressing more conventionally and behaving with more foresight than Julius’ brood. Under the watch of Dmitri and his power-hungry companion, Rebecca, they've built an infrastructure of human ghettos and blood farms to sustain their food supply, as well as pollution factories to keep the sky dark.

Get it? Good. Now you're armed and ready for the Van Helsing premiere on September 23 at 10/9c.