Vampire breath

[frayadjacent]

Alright, I looked at the oft asked Buffy questions and searched the threads so I don't believe this has been asked before, but I thought Vampires didn't have breath and didn't have to breath? (That's why Angel couldn't give Buffy mouth to mouth at the end of Season 1 and why he survives being put under water by Connor in his own series.)

If they don't then how did Angel and Spike blow smoke?
And how does Spike make Drusilla pass out by choking her and cutting off her air supply during Becoming part 2 at the end of Season 2?

I'm sure there's other examples that I'm too lazy to list, I just recently finished Seasons 1 and 2.

[Bluebird]

You know I thought I understood it, in that Angel simulates breathing around other people to avoid raising suspicions. But then if he can breath why can't he give CPR?

And the thing with Drusilla in 'Becoming', I've never understood.

[Joyce Summers]

This actually has been discussed numerous times on this board, just under different thread titles.

Angel simulating breathing means it looks like he's breathing and he breaths out air, but his body does not perform the biological task of taking in Oxygen, converting it to CO2, etc, etc and this is why he can't give Buffy CPR.

As for Drusilla, Spike doesn't cut off her breath, but holds her in a certain hold which cuts off the blood supply to the brain I believe. Someone on the board has pointed this out, not me, and so probably has more of a clue of what they were talking about, haha. But the chokehold he had on her, cut off her blood which as far as we know DOES affect a vampire. Blood being a big deal with them and all.

[frayadjacent]

That still doesn't explain the blowing out of the smoke though.

[Kana]

I think the person who mentioned Dru may have been me lol. My basic thing about vamps and science (and Maths) is that Joss isn't a scientist (or mathmatician) and buffyverse vampires as far as we know are fictional. Basically anyone looking for a total explanation of how vampires work isn't going to get one.

Yeah, vamps need some sort of blood supply to the brain or they suffer hallucinations (without mammalian blood) or trauma (if their own blood supply is cut off.

Vampires can breath (but don't need to) but in general (kind of lame I know but...) they are not life giving vessels, so supposedly their breath doesn't have the same mystical, life giving qualities humans do, like a life force in general (seen in Couplet) or properties in th brain (seen with Glory). This explains how they can blow smoke, speak and sing.

[InsaneMystic]

leethehost agrees: do you need breath to talk?
I'm not sure if that's irony or a real question, but you most definitely need "air passing your larynx and mouth and/or nose cavity" to talk, even though it may be unnecessary for this air passage to be "breath" (I guess we're stuck with having to assume there's some mystical/"élan vital" difference between "breathing" and "sucking in and puffing out air").

Actually, I could go into detail here (heh, one of those few times that having studied Phonetics back in my university days comes in handy :biggrin: ) but the easiest way of checking it is to try holding your breath and speak at the same time. About the only sound you'll be able to make (barely) heard is a "P". :wink:

[Buffanator]

Ok... here's my (lame-o) attempt at explaining it...

Vampires don't HAVE to breathe... but they CAN breathe. They don't HAVE to eat food... but they DO, & they enjoy it to a point. They can even get drunk, as witnessed by Spike on many occasions. ;)

But the reason Angel couldn't give CPR to Buffy is because he can't CREATE breath... he can't "give life" only take it away.

So, that's my lame-o buffyverse explanation. I kinda like it; think I'll stick to it. :D

[Dlou444]

I had to dig to find my answer, but at least I didn't have to type it again...

Well, there are just too many "medical mysteries" to Vampires, you see.

Like they bleed when no heart pumping. They can heal quickly with no real source of healing..like pumping blood and nothing to make platelets with. They appear to become out of breath when fighting heavily also, even though they don't breathe.
And then there is the fun of somehow piercing the heart with wood can cause them to burst into flying dust...something certainly more X-Files than Forensic Files!

So, here is MY theory!

Blood DOES pump, though not exactly the way ours does. Vampires drink the blood and the supply makes it flow. Kind of like if you dump water into a mold for a pond. It flows around until it reaches everything. Thus supplying the necessary movement for vampires to bleed and heal.

Since, this blood usually comes from living things, it comes with it's own supply of oxygen.
(Think 9th Grade Bio class. Goes to the lungs and get oxygen, travels around then comes back and gets more.)
Without SOME oxygen, the blood cells would die very quickly and the vampire would start to decompose. Since we can SEE them breathing at times, I think we can assume that it's partly habit, but it could also be that they need to have access to SOME oxygen to keep things going. Not as much as us, because they don't need to keep their heart pumping or digest food like we do. Thus, they don't actually INHALE like we do in order to do CPR, just oxygen to be roughly around the lung place so that the blood they drink has access to SOME.
And that when you cut off ALL oxygen the blood starts to "flow" more slowly, thus making them at the very least sluggish.


Which would explain Spike not liking being drowned all that much (of course he was already weak in other ways and they didn't appear to be feeding him, so his blood was probably ALL gooky.) Drusilla, well, she's just a fruit-cake, she can't tell a dead bird from a live one, I doubt it take much to knock her out. It would HELP explain Angel being in the ocean. Weak from no blood AND, perhaps what little oxygen he could absorb from the water. It would also explain why in Season 1 of Angel when the whack-o doctor injects him with the paralytic drug, he actually goes foggy and passes out. He doesn't have a heart to stop beating, which was the guy's plan, BUT, if his lungs do serve a MINOR purpose, and they stop...then he'd get sluggish feeling and pass out.

It's a stretch, but it DOES cover everything, right?

[palabravampiress]

Sorry. This made me think of Spike's "Sorry; you've got Angel breath" line. Hehehe.

Also... Buffy spends a lot of her time kissing dead guys. I'll bet vamps have really ooky breath. I mean, if you kiss a smoker, he tastes like an ashtray. If you kiss a drinker, he tastes like alcohol. If you kiss a guy who likes to eat garlic... you get the picture. When it comes to breath, you are what you eat. Does this apply to vamps, too? Do they taste all metallic and bloody? Cuz if so... ewwww. Grossness. I'd rather kiss an all-in-one smoker/drinker/garlic fiend than a blood sucker. Unless I'm anemic, I guess... in which case I imagine the metallic taste would appeal. Hey! Maybe Buffy's anemic.

Anywho... at least we know from Harmony that some vamps brush and floss. Maybe most vamps maintain good oral hygiene, and so vamp breath is not a problem.

I'm sorry for taking this thread in the funny, less-than-serious sort of direction, but I just couldn't help it. I saw the thread title and got tickled.

[frayadjacent]

hehe, you've got "Angel breath"

[palabravampiress]

Kemy agrees: Spike and Angel are pedantic enough about their appearance to be into flossing/brushing and mouth wash I'd think.

Hehe. True. Maybe they do it while they're waiting for their hair color/hair gel/eyeliner/fingernail polish to dry.

Dude... they are sooo silly looking! I told my sis that I used JM as the actor image for twin RPG characters with different personalities (normal JM as the straight-laced brother and "Spike" JM as the wilder one) and she was like, "but what about his funny hair?" I was like, "You think the man still goes around with his hair just by choice like that now that the show is over? No way!"

[Kemy]

Yeah the two of them preen themsevles far more often than they act Vampiric. Metrovampiresexual? LOL

Plus I think we do see Spike sitting around in his crypt blowing on his nails waiting for the polish to dry in one episode, even telling Buffy off for hitting him while they were still wet.

And doesn't Angel do that checking-his-breath thing waiting for his meet up with Cordelia in season 3 of Angel?

I still think the most ridiculous thing was Buffy lying near dead from suffocation/drowning, telling Xander he "had no breath" despite the fact he was panting from all the running. And in the cold underground lair, we can even see his breath. For being 250 years old, hes not always that bright.