So vampires constantly drink blood, and their bodily functions have stopped.

So if their bodily functions stopped, where does said blood go? Is it digested? Do vampires need use of a bathroom....?

Does the blood simply replace the coagulated blood in their veins? If so, why do they need blood if they're dead? Blood is to keep the body alive.

Do they channel blood into some magical force or something? Does said magical force keep them alive?


I never see anything of that nature explained for any vampire anywhere. All it ever is is drink blood stay alive.

I asked a question about the term "undead" and someone (i think it was there) commented that the drinking of blood served a couple of purposes...in their opinion.

First is was a blood sacrifice. The act of making that sacrifice maintained the favor of the being that created them, and so presserved their power.
Second, this blood sacrifice served to preserve their corpse and allow them to maintain possession of it. So the blood kinda serves as a "mystical preserving agent", and possibly also aids in maintaining that link to their ethereal powers.

This was just an opinion offered, so I have no idea if there is anything to back that up. But I kinda like it. It works for me

[Edit] it could also be that they need fresh blood to re-energize their own tainted blood. It's my understanding that they aren't fully drained of blood, but are instead infected in some form which kills them, but allows them to return as a creature that's neither alive nor truly dead. Vampires, as I see them in the old tradition, are meant to be malignant beings/creatures that plague and corrupt the living world.

So vampires constantly drink blood, and their bodily functions have stopped.

So if their bodily functions stopped, where does said blood go? Is it digested? Do vampires need use of a bathroom....?

It would seem impossible, so don't quote me on it. The human body is not designed to process large amounts of blood for nutrition. There is not enough protein, carbohydrates, and fats present in blood to maintain a complex creature such as Homo Sapiens or any theorized offshoot mutations. When a human ingests food it is first broken up by chewing, then churned up in the stomach with digestive juices to form a bolus called chyme. It then passes into the small intestine where it mixes with bile salts which continue breaking it down on a molecular basis, mostly affecting fats at this point. The broken down nutrients pass through the wall of the intestines and into the bloodstream where they are carried to each cell or stored for later use. Indigestible bulk continues through the intestines, turning a dark brown from the bile. Water is absorbed from this mass in the large intestine depending on the needs of the body - a well-hydrated person will usually have a softer stool than a dehydrated person will. Water also enters the bloodstream, and this is what helps to maintain blood pressure. The pressure tends to balance itself in a healthy person because the bloodstream goes through a formation in the kidney called the Loop of Henle, where the narrowing blood vessel forces excess water and cellular waste such as urea out through the cellular wall into the kidneys, where it is excreted through the ureters into the bladder, and then out of the body via the urethral passageway.

A person physically unable to process his own food for nutrition therefore also could not process blood - it's the same process. Ingested blood does not transmit directly to the veins anyway - it would be chemically broken down by the digestive system. Theoretical ingestion of blood to supply these nutrients would therefore have to occur at least once a day, and would require the ingestion of the entire blood supply which could not happen as the stomach is far too small to hold that much liquid volume. Furthermore, such a mass would be difficult to pass thru the intestines as it has no fibrous bulk, would create an intestinal impaction, causing massive vomiting from the large concentration of iron present, and any vampire would have to eventually expel the waste, which would come out as a black, tarry, smelly goo. But this is a world of magic and walking, talking lizard/feline people, so real life is out the window.

Lorewise the body of the vampire does seem to have regular functions as mortals do, except the turning of ash and the transmogrification into bats or bat-like creatures. Serana "breathes" often times, vampires sweat(player is said to sweat after he has a nightmare). Lord Lovidicus produced sperm to impregnate his lover, a mortal Orc woman. We can assume the consumption of blood not only "a select few" of them to blend in and look human, they may also have humanly functions, etc.


Do they channel blood into some magical force or something? Does said magical force keep them alive?

The only thing I know for a fact is..

Blood keeps them sane, if they don't drink it they go insane/feral and after that they enter a coma like state of which they may never return from even if they are forced to drink blood while comatose (Skingrad count's wife is a prime example)

It apparently must hurt them badly if they don't feed as well since in Oblivion and Vanilla Skyrim the feral Vampires were all screaming louder than all the battle cries of the Nords..yeah "I NEED YOUR BLOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!" as soon as a living creature entered their cave/dwelling.


From a Scientific standpoint it makes no sense but meh.

They're dead by all accounts, but not in the traditional sense like a skeleton or a zombie. What separates a zombie from a vampire is that the vampire doesn't degenerate. Blood preserves the vampire. Hence, when the vampire does not get food, he gets old and decrepit despite their real age and eventually loses his sanity.

That's my theory anyways.

^ I guess that makes sense well as much as possible, blood keeps them from degenerating .

Maybe blood is some mystical symbol for life, and so the Vampire is taking a symbolic portion of their victim's life in order to sustain their own lives. As Renfield in Dracula says "The blood is the life."

I heard someone on here mention that vampires are in a constant balancing act between mortal and demon, the blood makes them more mortal but weaker, letting them blend in easier. So feeding helps them blend in more and become more human, whereas a lack of blood makes them more monster than mortal, hence the strength and the increased aggression to you. So he blood could help to rejuvenate the body, keeping them appearing mortal.

Who say's the body's metabolism has to shut down to become a Vampire? Don't they eat food?

As for Blood, it could the the Vampire disease contains agents that can break down blood into nutrients (Vampire Bats and other animals live exclusively on blood). These same agents break down the hosts blood, so that is why they need to feed. It is not so much the life force that is derived from the blood, but just the replacement of the blood that is key to survival.

Vampires being so vain just wove a story of mysticism and hocus pocus around what is just an attempt to keep their own condition from killing themselves.

Just to clarify.... ^CCNA, your quote isn't from me...but from Werewolf&Vampire.


Not that I don't agree with his statement...I just didn't say it