They stalk the night, waiting, watching, wondering when one human will stray from the pack into a dark alleyway. When it happens, they strike! Fast as lighting, draining the blood from their victims. They are vampires.
Unlike zombies, anime is a genre that is rife with vampires. Unfortunately, for every dark creatures of the night that prefers solitude and blood to all else, there is some pretty little thing that makes sucking blood look adorable. Real vampires are noble, and if not noble, complete vicious in the pursuit of blood. If you are sick of all the lame vampires that populate anime, here are 20 of the most vicious vampires that fans can really get behind.
Best Vampire Anime Characters
Moka Akashiya from Rosario + Vampire
Of all anime vampires, Moka is easily the least scary. However, when her rosary comes off she can fight with the best of them. Although, even then, she is not vicious enough to be anything higher than last on this list. If we were counting sexy vampires, though, she would be pretty high up.
Mina Tepes from Dance in the Vampire Bund
Not unlike Moka, Mina Tepes is more pretty than viscous. While she is haughty and occasionally lightly violent to Akira, when it comes to other vampires, she would do anything for them if it meant protecting them. If it means she can save another vampire, then her fangs will come out.
Kojou Akatsuki from Strike the Blood
Kojou was just a normal human before a powerful vampire released her spirit into him due to an unknown wish he had asked for. Now, a nosebleed and some coughs serve as the herald for his vicious blood-hungry vampire side is about to come out. Due to the vampire that gave him her powers, he is also more powerful than other vampires.
Staz Charlie Blood from Blood Lad
Staz may be a powerful vampire and big shot in the demon world, but he is a complete human otaku, obsessed with human culture. While lazy, he should never be underestimated. He has a lot of crazed ferocity to bring to the table when he can be assed to do so.
Ferid Bathory from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
Although chatty, enthusiastic, and eccentric, Ferid is completely crazed. He often irritates others just to push them to the brink of violence. However, that is just a hobby, his true talents lie in his self-serving and traitorous plans.
Sunako Kirishiki from Shiki
Thousands of years ago, the little human girl that was Sunako was the daughter of a rich family. After she was bitten by a vampire nobleman from the West, she became a shiki. Her family kept her penned up and fed her servants, but one day, left her. After journeying for a time, she realized they had all long died. After finding an adoptive home with vampires, she suffers the loss of her mother, reacting to it by starting an all-out war.
Arcueid Brunestud from Lunar Legend Tsukihime
Arcueid was created by the True Ancestor, some of the oldest vampires in the world. They gave her the title of Brunestud, making her akin to vampire royalty. No one is sure why they created her, with most new True Ancestors only created for a purpose, but she was given the goal of becoming the strongest among them.
Aleister Crowley III from D. Gray Man
Aleister is a man with split personalities. One moment he is soft and kind, the next he is in full-on battle mode where he rips necks open like paper. This is all because of the innocence inside him that manifests in his vampire fangs. It allows him to enter a feral-type mode where he gains great strength and speed as well as the ability to drink Akuma blood.
Saya Otonashi from Blood+
While never confirmed, it is strongly implied that Saya is the last of the original vampires. With no weakness to sunlight and limited other vulnerabilities, she is able to hunt down chiropterans with great skill. Although not as neck-ripping as other vampires, her ferocity with a katana is something to behold.
Zero Kiryu from Vampire Knight
After his family of vampire hunters was killed in a vampire attack, Zero harbored a great hatred for them. Unfortunately, he was bitten in the attack and lives life as a vampire, something he has kept from many around him. As his body rejects blood tablets as a way of feeding, occasionally his vampiric urges come out explosively.
Shinobu Oshino from Bakemonogatari
Although she appears as a cute eight-year-old, Shinobu Oshino is actually a 500-year-old vampire. While she no longer needs to suck blood to survive, she does gain significant power from feeding on Araragi. While not particularly vicious in the current timeline, in a brief glimpse into an alternate timeline where Koyomi was killed, we see Shinobu as a berserk vampiric beast.
Mikaela Hyakuya from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
Mika hates vampires and was turned against his will. His sheer disdain for the breed leads him to put off feeding, which has the tendency to make him go blood crazy when he gets too hungry. Although for the most part he feeds off his vampire masters, there may come a day when he has to drink human blood or risk destroying everything precious to him.
Kaname Kuran from Vampire Knight
If this was a list for the most noble vampires in anime, Kaname would rank pretty high. He is one of the few pureblood vampires which gives him expansive powers, including being able to control others vampires. As he chooses not to use his powers, he has earned the respect of his colleagues. However, Kaname would do terrible, vicious things if it meant either protecting Yuuki or preventing a war between humans and vampires.
Cadis Etrama di Raizel from Noblesse: Awakening
After slumbering for hundreds of years, Cadis wakes to find the world has changed. He is baffled by modern technology, but never loses his poise. As the Noblesse, a vampire that watches over the nobles, his elegance is vicious enough.
Abel Nightroad from Trinity Blood
Although a clumsy pacifist on the surface, Abel is actually a Crusnik, a vampire that feeds on other vampires. While he tries ardently not to kill his opponents, he has sinned greatly in life and his peaceful nature can occasionally wane. When this happens, Abel is as blood-thirsty as the best of them.
Jirou Mochizuki from Black Blood Brothers
Jirou is a particularly old vampire of a special blood line. The older a vampire gets, the more powerful he becomes and the less his weaknesses hurt him. Jirou is a 200 year old vampire that is weak to sunlight and water. Previously he was in the Japanese Imperial Navy, but now he fights other vampires with his deadly sword.
Seras Victoria from Hellsing Ultimate
As an orphan of a police officer, Seras Victoria became a police officer herself. Unfortunately all that training never prepared her for vampires. After dying in her first encounter with one, she is brought back by Alucard, but refuses to drink blood to become a fully awakened creature of the night. This allows her to still have substantial power, but also make friends with humans like Pip. While she seems sweet, don’t be mistaken, she’ll rip your fingers off with her teeth.
D from Vampire Hunter D
D is a special vampire. He is a dhampir, the child of a vampire and a human. This situation makes him the ideal vampire hunter, although he still has many vampiric weaknesses. While he prefers weapons to his teeth, he is kind to those he rescues, but merciless to other vampires.
Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Although adopted by George Joestar, Dio Brando eventually tries to take over the Joestar family with his sociopathic personality and fails. Eventually he activates an ancient Mayan relic and becomes an unstoppable vampire. Combine his absolute insanity with supernatural abilities and you have an absolutely mad vampire that strongly rivals even our number one slot on this list.
Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate
You knew he would take the top spot. He’s Alucard, the King of Vampires. There are none stronger, none more crazed, and none more vicious. While he has a soft spot for Integra and Seras, he likes to torture his enemies. Why go for the easily kill when you can maim and mutilate them right up until the end? Cruel and twisted, Alucard is easily the most vicious vampire in anime.
Did we miss any of your favorite brutal vampires? We probably did. Why not tell us about it in the comments section below?
I think you covered most of my favourite vampires in this list. Thanks for sharing. I probably would have included Megumi from Shiki as well but she was kind of vicious even before she became undead.