A dhampir or living vampire is a creature that is the result of a union between a vampire and a human in South Slavic folklore and many forms of vampire media. This union was usually between male vampires and female humans, with stories of female vampires mating with male humans being rare. The term is sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr.
In recent vampire fiction, dhampir refers to any hybrid of one human and one vampire parent. They are not vampires themselves, but a half-breed of both.
In the Balkans it was believed that male vampires have a great desire for women, so a vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman he was attracted to in life. Indeed, in one recorded case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a vampire, and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be vampires in order to reach the women they desired. In Bulgarian folklore, vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well. The sexual activity of the vampire seems to be a peculiarity of South Slavic vampire belief as opposed to other Slavs, although a similar motif also occurs in Belarusian legends.
Some traditions specify signs by which the children of a vampire can be recognized. Albanian legends state they have untamed dark or black hair and lack a shadow. In Bulgarian folklore, possible indications include being "very dirty," having a soft body, no nails and bones (the latter physical peculiarity is also ascribed to the vampire itself), and "a deep mark on the back, like a tail." In contrast, a pronounced nose was often a sign, as were larger than normal ears, teeth or eyes. According to J. Gordon Melton, from his book, The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, in some areas, a true dhampir possessed a "slippery, jelly-like body and lived only a short life—a belief that vampires have no bones."
Legends state that Dhampirs were normal members of the community, until they eventually died and became vampires like their parent, as vampirism was heritable. Some legends say that they had the ability to see invisible vampires. They would often use this ability and practice sorcery to start careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations.
The word dhampir is a conjunction of two Albanian words, "dham" (teeth) and "pire (drink)
