Vampires in Azeroth

I would certainly accept some arguments about the classic horror movie types being somewhat different, but if you wanted to come up with a triad of spooky monstrous races, you would cover a lot of ground with zombies, werewolves, and vampires.

Interesting, then, that two of these three are represented by playable races in World of Warcraft. The Undead are obviously a bit more complex than zombies - having regained their free will and their minds, the Forsaken have to navigate a crisis of personality to decide whether they are the same people they were in life or if they should embrace their new nature (Sylvanas has clearly chosen the latter.) Werewolves are also given more detailed background in the Worgen, with their ties to Druidism and Night Elf culture, again on top of that question of identity as to whether they're just humans with an affliction or if the "curse" has given them a new identity and life (Genn has clearly chosen "human.")

Vampires are a far less broadly represented type in World of Warcraft, but we certainly have some examples.

First off, the Nathrezim, aka Dreadlords, are Demons who share a lot with the classic vampiric archetype. They tend to be haughty, manipulative, and mysterious. I don't actually recall if they are said anywhere to actually drink blood, but one thing that distinguishes them from the modern mythos surrounding vampires is that they aren't undead. They're demons. In a sense, they're already in a more profound state of evil than mere vampires. Were the lore a bit different, one could imagine them corrupting the first mortals to become vampires.

Next we have a pretty explicit example: the San'layn. These are Blood Elves who fought alongside Kael'thas in the Illidari's march on Icecrown, falling to the Scourge and transformed into bloodsucking fiends. We of course dealt with these guys a fair amount in Wrath of the Lich King. What's interesting is that they are apparently putting in an appearance in Battle for Azeroth, aiding the Horde in their fight against the Alliance. Given that they are undead elves and the Scourge seems far less unified under Bolvar than it was under Arthas, it's not too crazy to think that the San'layn would make natural allies of the Forsaken, and some are speculating that they might be a new Allied Race. As much as I'd like a playable vampire race, a fifth Elf race (and the third from Quel'thalas, though I do think you can get around the old "how are there so many people in this place that was supposed to have lost 90% of their population to the Scourge" question thanks to the fact that these guys could have been part of that 90%) is maybe a bit much. Even Elder Scrolls only has four, and that's counting Orcs!

Finally, we have most non sequitur: the Vampirates in Stormheim. There is basically no explanation given for why there's a group of pirates in eastern Stormheim who have all become vampires. They seem to largely be human, but with a Vrykul leader.

If we set aside the Nathrezim, one could speculate on a connection between the San'layn and the Vampirates. The Lich King clearly has a great deal of control over the Shadowlands, and while Chronicle kind of dismissed my long running theory that the Lich King was actually a Shadowlands entity first before Kil'jaeden got to it, it's not so crazy to assume that there's some real connections there. Similarly, while never explicitly stated, it seems likely that Helheim is a part of the Shadowlands. That would make Haustvauld a portal into the Shadowlands themselves, which puts these vampiric sailors very close to a portal there.

So perhaps there's a general source of vampirism that both the Lich King and Helya tapped into in the Shadowlands.

With the Legion gone, I've been arguing that Blizzard really needs to expand the lore of the Shadowlands lest we wind up with all Old Gods all the time as our recurring bad guys. You want some vampires? I know where you can find (or rather put) some vampires.