One thing I've always loved about vampire stories is that there are no hard rules. Vampires can be whatever the author wants them to be as long as they're internally consistent within the story. This makes them extremely versatile monsters that can be constantly re-invented and none of them are "wrong".
For example, sometimes all it takes to turn into a vampire is to be bitten by one. And sometimes you have to drink the vampire's blood to turn. Or, sometimes a vampire can just drain your energy without transferring any blood at all.
Of course, the rules can also get a bit ridiculous. Maybe the vampire is required to obsessively count grains of rice first. Or maybe they're required to hop around with their arms out (the chinese Jiangshi). Maybe they can turn into a wolf, a bat, or... fog.
So what's the most ridiculous rule or type of vampire you've come across?
(For the image on this post I wanted the most ridiculous picture of a Jiangshi I could find. I went with a shot from Robo Vampire which has a really fun RiffTrax. The only other Jiangshi I'm aware of is in the NES game Phantom Fighter... because I've never watched any of the Mr. Vampire movies)
That's funny! Those were used as enemies in Super Mario Land. I never knew what they were based on. They have little hats and hop at you. They also come back to life after being stomped on. It all makes sense now!
https://youtu.be/3e4Qgl2e_T0?t=1402
Wow, that is impressive! I can't believe you actually remembered a random enemy from Super Mario Land! I watched that video clip and you're totally right, those have to be Jiangshi. Crazy!
Oh, I played that game for hundreds of hours as a kid, and I still do a playthrough every couple of years.