Vampires are one of the easiest villains to place in a story. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book, comic, TV Show, movie, or game. The concept is universal and while the properties of a vampire change how they behave, everyone can get behind a good vampire story. It’s been a while since there’s been a great vampire-hunting game.
6:31
Related
The Best Vampire Games That Aren’t Castlevania
It may have help inspire an entire genre, but there are other fantastic vampire games out there that aren’t Castlevania.
Plenty have featured vampires though and strong ones at that like Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village. Does she make the cut of the strongest gaming vampires of all time? Let’s find out with some familiar and off-the-wall picks ranked by pure power and ingenuity on staying alive given their toolset.
8 Marivel Armitage (Wild Arms 2)
Wild Arms 2
- Released
- April 30, 2000
- Developer(s)
- Media.Vision
Marivel Armitage is one of the playable party members in Wild Arms 2, a turn-based RPG with a Western theme. Players will get her late in the game and she is optional. This means players have to work hard to get her up to snuff by completing side quests to power up her magic and drone-like weapons. If players do everything, they can make her an incredibly powerful character in terms of her spell work. To note, Vampires are called Crimson Nobles in the Wild Arms universe, and they are quite rare with Marivel appearing in cameos off and on in the games and other media.
7 Rachel Alucard (BlazBlue Entropy Effect)
Don’t Be Fooled By Her Apperance
- Released
- February 14, 2024
- Developer(s)
- 91Act
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Rachel Alucard is from the BlazBlue fighting game series and she was introduced in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. She’s been a main playable character since as an effective fighter in the ring. Her latest entry is a spinoff though, BlazBlue Entropy Effect, which is a 2D roguelike.
Related
Best Vampire Manhwa, Ranked
Vampires make for great adventures across all storytelling mediums, including manhwa, but not all vampire stories need to be about horror and blood…
At the start, players can choose one familiar character from the series to play as and Rachel is one of those heroes. Her trademark umbrella packs quite the punch and like Ragna, she’s a bit slower. She makes up for it in strength though as that umbrella packs a punch as does her vampiric powers of shadowy spells.
6 Rayne (BloodRayne)
Vampires vs Nazis
Shooter
Hack and Slash
Fighting
Action-Adventure
- Released
- October 15, 2002
- Developer(s)
- Terminal Reality , Big Boat Interactive , Full Fat Games
Rayne is from the titular BloodRayne franchise, a series that dives into the heart of World War 2. Rayne is a vampiric femme fatale who is going after both Nazis and vampires and spilling a lot of blood in the process. As Rayne, players can drain victims of their blood to heal her along with cutting them down with her twin blades. She’s also armed to the teeth with guns like she came from the set of The Matrix. Her magic game leaves something to be desired next to other vampires but she gets the job done with the tools she is given and has a lot of campy fun while doing it.
5 Astarion (Baldur’s Gate 3)
A Vampire So Bold He Could Charm His Way Into Heaven
9/10
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Astarion is from Baldur’s Gate 3 and can be recruited early in the game as a party member. Players can also choose to assume the avatar of Astarion and form the character more to their liking without the charm of the performance which is not the way most players will engage with the game. Astarion is not the strongest vampire in terms of sheer power as he dominates his targets with his tongue of persuasion instead. Also, he’s a stealthy character and can get the upper hand with the slit of a throat if he deems it necessary. It’s easy to see why he became a fan favorite quickly as he isn’t sore on the eyes either.
4 Jonathan E. Reid (Vampyr)
Play Doctor Or Become A Threat
5/10
Vampyr
- Released
- June 5, 2018
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Jonathan E. Reid is the main character of Vampyr who is a doctor. The game takes place in the gothic age of London wherein the streets are flooded with sick. One patient infects Jonathan with the vampiric disease, forcing players to make a choice. Should they stay weak and fight back the urge to drink blood to keep their doctor’s oath and heal patients, or should they feast on their patients and level up to become a god? Players who take the latter route can turn Jonathan into a bonafide deity who will become the ruler of the streets of London metaphorically. It’s a complex RPG with choices, making it a fitting entry.
3 Blade (Marvel’s Midnight Suns)
Beware The Day Walker
8/10
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- Released
- December 2, 2022
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Blade is one of the coolest vampires and vampire hunters in all of media. He’s great in the Marvel comics, and in some video games, and he was cemented onscreen thanks to Wesley Snipes in the late 90s and early 2000s. His best playable role in a game has to be the somewhat recent Marvel’s Midnight Suns as one of the stronger playable characters.
Related
Most Powerful Vampires In Anime, Ranked
Plenty of anime series feature supernatural creatures, and vampires are no exception. Here are some of the most powerful bloodsuckers anime has shown.
What makes Blade great is that he can do what other vampires can’t: walk in the sunlight. He has all the strength of a vampire without the weaknesses although he does succumb to bloodlust occasionally. While that power may not exactly translate into Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Blade is still one of the best characters in the game thanks to his core stats and skill set.
2 Kain (Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain)
Reborn For Vengeance
Action-Adventure
Top-Down
Hack and Slash
- Released
- November 15, 1996
- Developer(s)
- Silicon Knights
Kain is one of the older vampires in the gaming world. He first appeared in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, being turned into a vampire at the beginning of the game. Throughout the top-down RPG, Kain learns spells like the ability to illuminate darkness and various animal forms like a wolf that allows him to jump around. Animal forms and magic are a constant in the other games too along with his mastery of the sword and ability to drain blood to heal. He may not look like an appealing vampire like Edward Cullen from Twilight or Eric Northman from True Blood but Kain is not concerned with looks. He’s a demon pure and simple and will stop at nothing for power and vengeance.
1 Dracula (Castlevania)
The Most Notorious Vampire Of All Time Gets A Game Series
Dracula is the go-to vampire in popular media but there’s only one video game series where he is a constant threat: Castlevania. The Belmont clan has been cursed to deal with Dracula over centuries and that curse has been retconned through multiple iterations. For example, in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Gabriel Belmont becomes Dracula and that’s why the Belmonts are so adamant about stopping him. No matter his origins, Dracula can never die. He can be stopped, but he will return in some form at a later date, making him one of the most powerful vampires of all time.
More
Strongest Vampire Hunters In Anime, Ranked
The strongest vampire hunters in anime range from normal and enhanced humans to ancient vampires themselves.
