How does Hal's character compare the stereotypical portrayal of a vampire in tv film, literature?

Damien said that he wanted to portray Hal as old school Nosferatu Bram Stoker type rather than Twilight Twinkling in the Sunlight style. Whilst he's nowhere near Twilight, he's not exactly the traditional vampire either. If you go back to the old Nosferatu type vampires of the black and white movie era they look a certain way. They move a certain way. They're almost Gollum-esque. Pointed fingernails, black, sunken eyes. You almost imagine them scaling walls and spreading out bat-wings. They don't have a whole lot of dialogue and you certainly don't 'feel' this need for redemption and goodness in them. Nosferatu is ugly, physically grotesque. If you imagine a creature that's been kept in the dark for so long that it no longer looks human, that's Nosferatu. Dracula, on the other hand, is a bit 'more' than that. Having said that, he's still all things sinister. Charming on one hand, yes, but you can't imagine him ever trying to keep the hunger at bay. Dracula is the 'ladies on tap' type. We've heard that Hal did similar things, i.e. kept a woman for months drinking from her as and when he chose. It reminded me of the sultry ladies in Bram Stoker's Dracula writhing around Keanu Reeves. I suppose if we 'travelled back' we might see this side to Hal. The Dracula side. Or, indeed, the tortured Louis (Interview with the Vampire) side - the vampire who is devastated by what he has become.

Hal has been 'kept in the dark' for a number of years (reminiscent of Nosferatu's 'look') but it has not made him any less human, physically, nor has it taken away his need for acceptance. He still strives for goodness when he's in his right mind. You can't imagine him creeping through the window of some unsuspecting girl and draining her to the point of death - but you can't imagine him lying in a field and glittering in the sunlight, either. He's isolated. He's out of touch with the world around him. He craves the taste of blood but he's put in rituals and some sort of mental programming to keep that under control. He is, in effect, the addict who is avoiding bars and street corners because he's not at the stage of having his need under full control. He doesn't want the temptation. He just wants to get on with his life without falling or failing again.

I suppose if were looking at 'likeness' in terms of TV vampires I can see a likeness (somewhat) in Angel from Buffy. He, too, wanted to remain 'good'. He wasn't as well developed, and Buffy wasn't exactly a literary and visual work of art, but I can't see Hal in Nosferatu and I can't see him in Twilight, but I can see him in Angel/Angelus. Angel had a dark side, like Hal's Lord Harry, and his 'good' side tried incredibly hard to keep that at bay. He drank pig's blood as a substitute

Spoiler

(which might be an explanation of sorts for certain things that have recently emerged, though I'm still not sure about that)

Articles suggest flashback Hal is very 'Anne Rice'. Anne Rice's vampires were all rather beautiful and rather complex and rather poetic.

How does Hal compare to other vampires in the Being Human Universe? From what we've seen I'd say that he is quite different to most on a lot of levels. He's similar to Mitchell in that he can set aside 'differences' and live alongside other 'types' (I imagine a cat/dog scenario when it comes to vampires and werewolves) and actively seeks out companionship with those who are not like himself. Like Mr Snow said, 'something about that forumula appeals'. For Hal, it's possibly the fact that it has worked once before and he hopes it will work again. He seems a man set in his ways. I can imagine him being thrown out on a limb if his tea is not prepared the way he is used to. There are no other vampires in the show who have the eccentricities Hal has - but, then, there have not been as many who are quite as old or quite as experienced.

Hal doesn't compare to any of the 'bad' vampires in the show, at least not in 'present day'. In the flashbacks, Hal is the nastiest of the nasty, the cleverest of the clever. He's the angel with a dirty face, the suarve, sophisticated, well spoken 'mob boss' (so to speak) who looks like butter wouldn't melt yet will castrate your family without batting an eyelid. Future Bad Hal is even more hideous. The Nazi comparisons were rife. He implemented the 'camps' and the branding and the exclusion. He was the poster boy for a regime of utter hideousness. You got the feeling that Mr Snow was the one who was in control but the fact that Hal was on the posters, was apparently the one who had all the ideas, that just left a bitter taste in the mouth (I started thinking Hitler/Himmler - one came up with the plans, the other acted as the 'face' for those plans - and the red, white and black armbands pretty much solidified the somewhat obvious comparison). It's hard to believe that the sweet, vulnerable, eccentric 'boy' (he doesn't appear a man in present day, not all the time) we had come to know on screen was capable of those things. But, apparently, he was. Which shows that, whilst we might have thought Herrick hideous, we might have thought Mr Snow as sinister as anything, our little Hal is just as bad, if not worse, given the right stimulus.

Regus was a vampire who had 'an obsession' somewhat akin to Hal's rituals. He spent his entire life documenting, researching and pulling together 'facts'. Whilst it didn't stop him from killing (he did after all turn Michaela) you got the feeling that he wasn't on the same level as the others and, given the right environment, he could have stayed 'one of the good guys'. So, in a sense, Hal was quite similar to Regus. An old vampire who really just wanted to have his mind occupied.

Mitchell - well, Mitchell always struck me as quite selfish. Quite immature. His encounters never felt like necessity, more like sexual urges. He never struck me as an 'addict' in the sense that Hal was. He was addicted to contact, to passion. It always had a voyeuristic vibe to it. It always felt like more than just satisfying a craving for Mitchell. When he 'got it on' with Lauren, even post-vamp, it seemed disturbingly gratifying. He looked to be having a whole lot of fun in the Box Car flashes.

How about the blood lust, and ways that drinking /abstaining from blood is explored in Being Human?
Well it's a very obvious 'addiction' metaphor, to me. It's interesting. They say that just one hit of heroin can turn a person into an addict. I was brought back to Hal's massive craving and shaking, quivering body after just one taste. It is that strong. It is that effective. It is that damning. Just one taste can set a person into a spin for years and years and years because in the minutes that drug is in effect the whole world (or so I've read) seems like the most glorious experience. Just living, breathing, is amazing. Every last worry and care is washed away on the tide of pharmaceuticals.

I'd say that, for vampires, it's a craving akin to that. Just one hit and they're hooked again. It's very difficult to give up after you've had that taste. It's hard to cut back after you've felt that 'high'. Hal was desperate after that first taste. He tried to hold off, you can see that, but he looked so unwell that second time with Cutler. Pale. Clammy. Desperate. Trying to hold off withdrawals but stuck with the knowledge that one little sip will make it all feel better ("Just one line, just one more"...the addiction was in fact truly portrayed in Lauren when she was promising to give up after just one more taste "to keep her going"...) Abstaining is like going tee-total - only, with tee-total vampires being such a rarity where would the support be? It's not like they can call some group and ask for a true sponsor.

I suppose blood, to vampires, is like food to us. It's necessity. Can you imagine starving yourself for four, five days only to be shown a slice of cake? A piece of meat? That would be devoured without thought just to satisfy the hunger.

Sorry, rambling.

-- Edited by RougeSang on Sunday 27th of January 2013 10:16:44 AM

This discussion has sparked off many thoughts about blood lust and addiction - thanks for giving me so much to muse over! - but ever since becca's comment on sun that cutler should've been a woman (sorry if that's a misquote, becca - can't remember your exact words) I've been pondering hal and cutler's relationship as maker and recruit..........an I feel like a bit of a ramble

When hal and cutler first meet in 1950, although hal is the one locked in a police cell, he is calm, articulate and immaculate.  Cutler appears dishevelled and nervous.  Why on earth would hal recruit cutler?

As the scene fades in hal is not actually looking at cutler and the 'it's not dissatisfaction.......for this domestic world' always struck me as hal talking more about his own (human) feelings than cutler's.  I believe that hal's recruitment of cutler is pure chance....he wasn't chosen or singled out.  For whatever reason, hal has decided that the 'family' solicitor must go, he needs a new one and cutler just happens to be on duty that day - 'destiny has decided....'.  He does not give cutler a choice, as Herrick gave Mitchell.  I suspect that hal sees cutler as being someone he will easily be able to manipulate.

Herrick did give the dying Mitchell a choice; but Mitchell still ran away, only returning to Herrick when he realised that he had nowhere else to turn. Herrick recruited Mitchell because he wanted a comrade; and they were comrades for many years.  Mitchell was special to Herrick. When Lauren tells him that Herrick is going to leave him alone, Mitchell is clearly taken aback.  Part of Mitchell needed Herrick too.  Ivan and Daisy seem to have a similar bond and potentially even Regus and Michaela

We are never told if Mitchell gave Lauren a choice (?), but I would assume not.  Mitchell tried to 'save' Lauren as an act of remorse,  but he didn't actually want a recruit. He immediately abandons her and she's left to the 'care' of Herrick - her grandsire (?).  Herrick's prime interest in Lauren is to use her to try go get Mitchell back.  It's not surprising she was screwed up!

Hal systematically breaks Cutler down, finally killing his wife - setting him free.  It is easy to believe that Hal genuinely believes this....that he has released cutler from his humanity - helped him to 'untangle' himself.  From this point on Hal must have been the centre of Cutlers world....everything else has been 'ripped' from him.  But I don't think Hal was looking for a comrade - I honestly think that the 'I had such high hopes for you' is about knocking Cutler down and asserting his own power - but neither was he abandoned. Over the next 5 years did Hal build him back up again (piece by piece)?  Or did their relationship continue in the same vein until Hal finally disappears? Is poor Cutler suffering from a version of stockholm syndrome....even after 55 years?!

It seems to me that from the first Hal and Cutler did not have a typical maker/recruit relationship within the bh context so it's not surprising that all hell breaks loose when they next encounter each other.  I may come back and explore that further, but that's enough for today!

Ok....bloodlust and 'the monster'.... a ramble bought on by last night's hal chat!  I've got a headache, and I want to go to bed...but, in order to sleep, I need to dump some of this out of my brain!

When hal leaves the woods to confront Larry it is reminiscent of when he leaves hh to go to the pawn shop and 'vent' in s4 ep2.  A decision is made and he strides off with a determined, and somewhat murderous, expression.  But the intentions are entirely different.

At the start of s4, hal has apparently been dry for 55 years, and the assumption is that he has been fairly isolated from the world. When Leo and Pearl pass on, and the barbershop cage comes crashing down, Hal feels alone and vulnerable.  He goes to the attic and is seemingly about to kill eve, until he is interrupted by tom - this is driven by vampiric survival (and eve!).  He hasn't drunk blood for 55 years, and his threat to eve is to stop her, not to feed from her.  As whimsy pointed out last night it seems as though, at this point, he comes out of a trance - but it's not as if he has regained control, there is no apparent struggle, he just comes to his senses....so did the monster take advantage of his vulnerability, or did hal simply allow it to surface?  Then he makes a decision - he blows down the dominos - giving in to this 'little urge' signals his intention to to sucumb to the big one!. That urge is for blood  The consequence might be the re-emergance of Lord Harry.....but this is primarily about satifying a craving.

When Hal sets off to confront Larry in s5 the decision he has made is to make Larry leave the house.  Considering how intimidated Larry was during their previous confrontation in the kitchen, I think it's reasonable to assume that Hal expects Larry to just pack up and go.  But Larry pushes all of Hal's buttons, and hal loses control....not to an addiction - Larry is a ww, so that is never an issue in this scene - but to 'the monster'.   Only....I wonder how much Hal actually chooses to lose control.   "there is something within me which I've been holding back and it so wants to be free......what you did to tom has given it the perfect excuse".  Isn't this a bit contradictory?  It smacks of self-denial to me.  If hal is holding the monster back, then surely it should be "....given me the perfect excuse"...to let go?  And, as we see in ep 6, fully fledged vampire hal (not as snappy as 'bad hal' is it?!) actually wouldn't jump to the defense of tom - so this threat is from tom's friend. Seems to me that hal is using 'the monster' as a means and a justification for what he wants to do.  

Hal is a vampire - he is the monster.  The one thing that has been consistant for Hal for the last 500 years is his desire for blood.  By controlling his desire for blood he tries to keep that monster behind a mask, but it is who he is, and he can let the mask fall away - either consciously or subconsciuosly.... especially if he is stressed, or passionate.  Drinking blood is a way of allowing himself to let go of the mask.

"Drinking blood means I have become the man I fear. Drinking blood is the overture to a greater catastrophe".  The desire to drink blood is the consequence of being the man he fears.....and that man is Hal!