10 Memorable TV Vampires: From Angel to The X-Files

Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy on PreacherPhoto: Alfonso Bresciani (AMC/Sony Pictures Television)

We are very excited to see awkward vampires take NYC on What We Do in the Shadows, which debuts tonight on FX. But the show is merely the latest union of TV and vampires, a pairing that has yielded some of pop cultures most memorable bloodsuckers. From a huge field of undead contenders, here are our 10 favorites.

Granted, the Count is far more interested in teaching numbers to kids than he is biting anyones neck, but theres no denying hes a creature of the nightjust look at those fangs and that cape! His first appearance on Sesame Street was in 1972, which means hes been introducing young viewers to the idea of math-savvy vampires for nearly 50 years. And of course, he hasnt aged a day.

Not the godawful Johnny Depp-Tim Burton version from the movie. The true Barnabas Collins is the one played by Jonathan Frid on the gothic soap opera, which ran from 1966 to 1971 on ABC. Originally an 18th-century fancypants, Barnabas was turned into a vampire after breaking off his affair with a vengeful witch, and later popped up in the shows present-day setting after a treasure hunter opened the coffin that had been imprisoning him for generations. Dark Shadows is a corny show, as all soaps tend to be, but Barnabas had a unique blend of charm, menace, and gravitas that made him an instant fan favoriteand also helped propel the show through some of its more delightfully ridiculous storylines.

Buffys bae proved such a compelling character that he got his own spin-off. Angel ran for five seasons and transplanted the 18th-century vampire-with-a-soul from Sunnydale to Los Angeles, where he started a detective agency and promptly got embroiled in all manner of supernatural shenanigans. Angel was almost always a crusader for goodbut since he was a vampire, he had that built-in bad boy charm that Buffy (and all his subsequent partners) found difficult to resist.

Years before she was an Oscar winner, pop sensation Lady Gaga dipped into TV to play the Countess, the fiercely fashionable vampire who ruled the roost at American Horror Story: Hotels aging Los Angeles high-rise. It soon became clear that she wasnt just there as a result of stunt casting; Hotel took the time to dig into the characters surprisingly layered backstory, which traced her strange journey from Hollywood flapper to trophy wife to creature of the night/couture muse/child-kidnapper, and (eventually) ghost. Along the way she also provided Hotels link to American Horror Storys first season, visiting the murder house circa 1926 to unsuccessfully abort her not-quite-human son.

Obviously True Blood had a number of important vampires hanging around, but Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgrd)1,000-year-old former Viking; on-again, off-again love interest of Sookie Stackhouse; witty, sometimes to the point of being knowingly goofy; and almost laughably easy on the eyesinspired the biggest tsunami of pop-culture passion. Was there anyone who didnt have at least a teeny crush on this dude at the height of True Blood mania?

Weve had mixed feelings about Preacher, which has a fourth season on the way, but one thing its consistently gotten right is its interpretation of Irish vampire Cassidythe most hard-living undead dude on this planet since his transformation in 1916. Hes spent decades running from vampire hunters, though Cassidy doesnt generally act like a typical bloodsucker (he does, however, drink blood); hes also had his fair share of agonizing personal troubles. But he is a loyal friend, an enthusiastic partier, a hell of a fighter, and a fan of Justin Bieberalthough not of The Big Lebowski. Dont hold either of those last two facts against him, though.

The most famous vampire of all spent most of his time on the Showtime series in the charming form of Dr. Alexander Sweet, a zoologist working at the London Natural History Museum who woos Vanessa Ives, hoping their union will hasten his return to heaven. (In this telling, Dracula is Lucifers brother, cast out of heaven to Earth while his brother was banished to Hell.) She eventually figures out his horrifying true identity, and as a lead-in to the series surprise finale at the end of season three, she ends up giving in to himthough she eventually chooses death and redemption rather than joining with him to rule over humankinds final days.

Yep, another Dracula. The version in this animated Netflix show, based on the beloved video game, is in a class of his own, though, causing all manner of chaos and mayhem after his beloved wife, a gifted scientist, is accused of practicing witchcraft. Hes a character driven by vengeful anger but also melancholy and grief, though hes also extremely well-armed with his own demon hordes to help work through all that rage. His reign of terror is only halted thanks to another heart-wrenching family tragedy, as he allows his son, the vampire-human hybrid Alucard, to stake him before he does any more damage.

Obviously the great Grandpa had to make this list. A master of sarcasm, wacky inventions, and magic potions, the character (portrayed by Al Lewis) was the eldest member of the macabre family whose sitcom first hit the airwaves in the mid-1960sLily Munster, his daughter, was also a vampire. Grandpa was born in 1367, and his advanced age meant hed brushed up against real-life historical figures, some of whom popped up on the show on occasion, thanks to the wonders of time travel. And even though everyone always refers to him as Grandpa Munster, thats actually incorrect; his full name was Vladimir Dracula, Count of Transylvania. And yes, he might try to chomp on your arm...just for laughs, though!

What with all the aliens, government conspirators, and far weirder monsters already pinballing around, The X-Files didnt attempt too many vampire episodes. But one of themseason fives cheeky Bad Bloodis a series highlight. It mostly exists to contrast the divergent POVs of Agents Mulder (who believes hes encountered a vampire in the form of pizza delivery guy Ronnie Strickland) and Scully (whos like, Mulder, you just staked a random human being to death), but it has a lot of fun with vampire mythology, like the too-rarely-used idea that a vampire will have to stop and count anything spilled in their path (like, say, Mulders scattered sunflower seeds). Bad Blood features a guest-starring turn by Luke Wilson as a genial sheriff who knows more than hes letting on, but its The Sandlot alum Patrick Renna as the glowing-eyed, pointy-toothed Ronnie who really leaves an impression.

Honorable mentions: The Salvatore brothers, always chasing after the same woman on The Vampire Diaries; Matthew Clairmont, brainy academic vampire who falls for a brainy academic witch on A Discovery of Witches; and Count Burns, a vampire who looks an awful lot like a blend of Mr. Burns and Gary Oldmans big-screen take on Dracula, in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror IV.

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10 Memorable TV Vampires: From Angel to The X-Files

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero