History ComicBook / AmericanVampire

* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:The Asian vampires. They bear some resemblance to the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies.]]

* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: European vamps are at the unfriendly end to the point they're described as (re)born without the human parts that would give them compassion, so they literally ''can't'' be good. Ironically, Sweet's line of American vampires are potentially incredibly friendly, having little to no HorrorHunger, no personality shifts, an easily sated blood thirst (Pearl survives for decades from mild feedings on her husband John). It's ironic because Skinner Sweet is perhaps the most misanthropic and sociopathic character in the series.

* UndeadChild: [[spoiler: As of the newest arc, we have several. Each of a different breed of vampire.]] Cashell's son Gus is another example, given Skinner vampirized him in the womb.

* VampireHunter: The Vassals of the Morning Star are a secret society of Vampire Hunters dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Unlike most vampire hunter organizations, however, the Vassals are remarkably metropolitan about who they employ, to the point of working with Pearl, [[HalfHumanHybrid Felicia]] and [[spoiler: Skinner]]. Also, unlike most such organizations, their prey is a variety that is not strictly vampires alone, but branches into many other lines of monster. By ''Second Cycle'', [[spoiler:Felicia Book's leadership causes them to take on ''any'' species of abomination except [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Carpathians]]]].

* DeathByDismemberment: [[spoiler:Brun is torn limb from limb as part of Dizz's IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure interrogation of Felicia in "Dark Moon".]]

** The types of vampires seen so far have been the European vampires (traditional vampires also known as Carpathian vampires, who believe themselves to be the dominant species), American vampires (jaws like rattle snakes and powered by the sun), Gaelic-Prime vampires, a shape-shifting type that is actually quite nice. Its other form is a pretty vicious looking creature with giant bat-like wings ( [[spoiler: Cashell's adoptive father was one before being killed by Sweet]] ), the Japanese vampire (introduced in the Ghost War story arc), a creepy looking thing with giant fucking teeth and no eyes, and the newest species to be introduced, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Homo Abominum Canis Asiatic-2]], which, like the Gaelic Prime species, were thought to be extinct but there are apparently enough left alive to pose a threat due to how a person can be easily infected if their wounds are exposed to the Abominum Canis' saliva (it is implied that the species tries to prevent this from happening however). Yes... their vampires are definitely different.

-->'''Hobbes:''' The term "vampire" is a ''colloquialism''. A word by common folk that we have adopted here at the [[CreatureHuntingOrganization VMS]] out of ''laziness''. ''"Abomination,"'' the proper term, is mercilessly adaptable, as is that black bloodline.

* VampireHunter: The Vassals of the Morning Star are a secret society of Vampire Hunters dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
** Unlike most vampire hunter organizations, however, the Vassals are remarkably metropolitan about who they employ, to the point of working with Pearl, [[HalfHumanHybrid Felicia]] and [[spoiler: Skinner]].

** The 'Survival of the Fittest' arc also revealed a few minor bloodlines, apparently ancestors of the Carpathian breed, who are vulnerable to different bands of the ultraviolet spectrum. It also revealed ancient vampires, enormous, golem-like creatures who's skin is so tough that it only tarnishes slightly when exposed to direct sunlight. They are extremely easy to kill (while they are asleep, but if they wake up, GodHelpUsAll).

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: As Hobbes notes, most vampire lines can have a [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire goodness]] or at least [[NonMaliciousMonster instinct-based]] mentality, but the Carpathian vampires are, one and all, twisted and evil.

The comic is written in arcs, each set in a different time period and locale. The first arc follows Pearl Jones, a girl struggling to make it big in Hollywood in the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]]. The second arc follows Cashell [=McCorgan=], a police officer during TheGreatDepression. The third arc follows Henry Preston joining a team of Vassals of the Morning Star agents to investigate rumors of vampires in the Japanese islands, against the backdrop of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The fourth arc follows Travis Kidd, a young rockabilly vampire hunter in the 1950s as he crosses paths with the Vassals. The fifth arc beginning in April will follow one of the survivors of the Taipan mission who has now become a vampire. The sixth arc (beginning in June) will reunite Pearl Jones and Skinner Sweet in 1950s Hollywood, during the Red Scare.

Thus far, there are also two mini-series, the first following Cashell and Felicia Book in Europe during UsefulNotes/WW2, and another upcoming one that follows Felicia some time after.

* DecapitationPresentation: Skinner does this to Felix Camillo's father in Issue 3. *shudders*

* {{Mummy}}: Joel is of a species that is the origin of the mummy mythology, and believes in Myth/EgyptianMythology to boot.

* OurMonstersAreDifferent: "Vampires" are more a general term than anything, with the taxonomy apparently including creatures resembling the legends of gorgons, dragons, werewolves, and zombies, among others.

* FightDracula: ''Survival of the Fittest'' has Dracula, the progenitor of the Carpathian bloodline, as the primary villain after it has broken out of its prison.

** Sputnik was launched by the Russians to keep check on The Beast.

* AssholeVictim: Chase Hamilton from the first arc. Not only did he [[UngratefulBastard backstab the vampire hunter who had saved his life]] and feed him to his quarry in return for fame, he fully assists with the European vampires' coven and feeds aspiring starlets to them. When he encounters the newly vampirized Pearl, he doesn't even ''remember'' he gave her to his partners the previous night. It's a bit hard to feel bad for Pearl making him her first kill. Little Feet Beales also deserves note given he spent years selling musicians to vampires to have their blood drained.

* BullyingADragon: A group of Japanese soldiers think it's a good idea to try to rape Pearl. A group of racist toughs also try to torment and murder Calvin Poole. As both these people are American Vampires, this doesn't end well. Calvin gives them one chance to stop before he just flat out butchers them.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: The Nazis have vampires among their ranks.

* VampiresAreRich: The Hollywood Coven is. The American vampires? Not so much.
** Heck, nearly all the Carpathians that get shown are rich.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The new breed has powers that the older vampires lack. (So far, they have elongated finger-claws, rattlesnake fangs, and are powered by sunlight, only becoming vulnerable during the nights of the new moon.) [[VampireVarietyPack There are also several other types of Vampires.]] Heck, they have an entire taxonomy for them! Essentially, the Vassals admit that there really is no such thing as a 'vampire'. There's just a lot of freakish, blood-drinking monsters in the world that happen to have enough similarities to be grouped together.

* KryptoniteFactor: Every vampire breed has some weakness. The Carpathians have sunlight and wood as theirs, while American Vampires become extremely weak on full moons and have a weakness to gold.

* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: Played straight with the [[VampireVords Euro vamps]] while the American species have distorted reflections.

* FlatEarthAthiest: It seems Lyndon Johnson was one. The VSS had been operating for the U.S. government for decades and had plenty of records and evidence of the existence of vampires. But after Johnson became President, he completely refused to believe in the existence of the supernatural, considered the VSS just a crackpot waste and shut them down.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The new breed has powers that the older vampires lack. (So far, they have elongated finger-claws, rattlesnake fangs, and are powered by sunlight, only becoming vulnerable during the nights of the new moon.) There are also several other types of Vampires. Heck, they have an entire taxonomy for them:
** The types of vampires seen so far have been the European vampires (traditional vampires also known as Carpathian vampires, who believe themselves to be the dominant species), American vampires (jaws like rattle snakes and powered by the sun), Gaelic-Prime vampires, a shape-shifting type that is actually quite nice. Its other form is a pretty vicious looking creature with giant bat-like wings ( [[spoiler: Cashell's adoptive father was one before being killed by Sweet]] ), the Japanese vampire (introduced in the Ghost War story arc), a creepy looking thing with giant fucking teeth and no eyes, and the newest species to be introduced, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Homo Abominum Canis Asiatic-2]], which, like the Gaelic Prime species, were thought to be extinct but there are apparently enough left alive to pose a threat due to how a person can be easily infected if their wounds are exposed to the Abominum Canis' saliva (it is implied that the species tries to prevent this from happening however). Yes... their vampires are definitely different.
** The 'Survival of the Fittest' arc also revealed a few minor bloodlines, apparently ancestors of the Carpathian breed, who are vulnerable to different bands of the ultraviolet spectrum. It also revealed ancient vampires, enormous, golem-like creatures who's skin is so tough that it only tarnishes slightly when exposed to direct sunlight. They are extremely easy to kill (while they are asleep, but if they wake up, GodHelpUsAll).
** [[spoiler: We've now seen a kind of American Vampire that predates Skinner Sweet, Mimiteh, the Native American vampire. It's a huge, terrifying lizard monster with orange skin, and a total immunity to sunlight.]]
** Essentially, the Vassals admit that there really is no such thing as a 'vampire'. There's just a lot of freakish, blood-drinking monsters in the world that happen to have enough similarities to be grouped together.

* DecapitationPresentation: Skinner does this *shudder*.
** [[spoiler: He does this to Felix Camillo's papi in issue #3.]]