After watching footage of the new dlc am I the only one struck by the familiarity of the Vampire lord form to that of Marcus Corvinus "the 1st vampire" from the Underworld 2 movie?
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/4/43212/1157852-4346012_gal_super.jpg

When Marcus's wings are folded up they function and look exactly the same as those in the Skyrim DLC.
Also I can draw a lot of similarities between Serena (Dawnguard dlc) to Selena (main-character of the Underworld franchise). [hell their names are even similar]
Lycan form in underworld is also very similar to that of the lycan transformation in skyrim but that is easily attributed to the fact that almost ALL werewolves in movies and games look the same.
There are a lot more but I don't want to spoil for people but seriously I can't be the only one that is thinking that this is TOO similar to be simple coincidence.

I totally agree. I love Bethesda to death, but their originality is running out.

There are so many varieties of vampires and werewolves out there that you're going think they copied somebody somehow

Let's hope Hearthfire won't be like Harry potter

If only vampires' glowing eyes were blue instead for orange. xP

Also though, the Vampire Lords weren't originally designed by Bethesda. The Vampire Lords were designed by some modder for a contest thing Bethesda was doing or something, so he/she probably took the Underworld vamps and was like "Omg, vampire politics for Skyrim."

I think the Vampire Lords were apart of that Game Jam video, but I can't remember.

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/attachments/plumbing/38006d1320972698-plastic-toy-down-toilet-brown_nose-2-.jpg

True, true. Bethesda did take their influences from Underworld though while adding a twist to their own.

I said similarities, I didn't say that the story is exactly the same. Obviously magic, deadric worship, and stuff like that doesn't work in the modern biology based definition of vampires shown in Underworld but that doesn't completely discredit the fact that major parts of the plot and intrigue are incredibly similar.

Yes, they were a part of the Game Jam video, which was when all the people at Bethesda had a week to design something and figure out how to put it in the game by the end of the week. One of the folks at Bethesda came up with the Vampire Lord as their contribution to it.

Oh really? I thought it was a modder, shows what I know! But still, point is valid, Vampire Lords are Marcus, the Vampire Royal Armor is a colored version of Sonja's outfit from the 3rd movie, Harkon even had lines that were reminiscent of Viktor.

If I recall in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula turned into the Vampire Lord form before Underworld and Bethesda ever thought about implementing it.

Its basically the standard for modern Nosferatu esque Vampires or the standard for a Vampire's true form.

Lucky for you when you listen to Serana B!tch and complain constantly like a Whiny Teenager you will drop all similarity to Selene and move on

I don't remember him turning into this kind of thing (though it's been a while since I read it). I remember him transforming into a bat, a wolf, a dog, and fog though.

I should reread that book...

It was in the movie representation of it if I recall..I may entirely wrong but someone did post quite a few pictures before Dawnguard came out to prove people wrong when they said the Vampire Lord was a rip off of Underworld..when really its as the poster said "The standard of a modern Nosferatu"..since then movies like Van Hellsing started using it..and what a coincidence..Dracula again turns into it.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqycGdGyqVyhPdKVRNwLGOyMnV1GYrYg6bpuoFFXaNt-frUpxDhQ

Van Hellsing: http://images.wikia.com/vanhelsing/images/b/ba/Dracula.jpg

Underworld 2: https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpVpELkRJFLPKXc1SrefzAy_-DRW7IlN9KmIddJp4f5rBk4Us_JA

Ah. That may be the case. Whenever people refer to Dracula or Van Helsing, I instantly go back to the novel. Can cause confusion when we're talking about movies based on books when they have key differences.

On a related note: You should check out Dracula (the Bela Lugosi film as well as the book) and Nosferatu if you can find them. Both have some very impressive techniques considering the years of their production.

I'll look into those and by the way I edited my previous post with images.

Oh yeah... Forgot about the Vampire Lord being in the movie version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but I do remember it in Van Helsing.

I don't think the look is inherently bad or anything like that, but if given the choice, I would have preferred Volkihar to be like the ones in Immortal Blood.

Meh. it gives the Volkihar a significant edge over other Vampires and explains why they are the strongest in Skyrim though it sort of makes me wonder if...the Volkihar are the original Vampires ever created..I mean Lore wise the original vampires were set in Skyrim so wouldn't they be the strongest since they are the first but its said the Volkihar are the strongest?

Its plausible the original Vampires took on the name of Volkihar as the name of their clan also they are apparently the only Vampire clan that we know of with Pureblooded Vampires...the only other Lore one is the first ever Vampire.

ripped off bram stoker's Dracula? who cares, that movie was awesome

Also, Serana has a very curious resemblance to Kate Beckinsale.

There's been many topics on this subject already. But yes, the v. lord form very closely resembles Marcus' transformed state. They might have even directly copied it from the movie and simply edited a few things to make it look slightly different. Honestly though, it's quite an obvious conclusion, but they made it fit into the game rather nicely, so I'm not one to complain about it.

Colledge of winterhold/plotholes.

Kate Beckinsale isnt a whiny teenager

Serana looks like she got turned into a Vampire at 18 so shes had 4000 years to perfect her 18 year old attitude.