Vamp

Vamp is a vampiric member of Dead Cell and a villain from Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4.

Past
Vamp was born in Romania and lost his entire family in a church bombing, while he was pierced by a crucifix and buried under rubble with his parents. To survive, he was forced to drink his family's blood, which Vamp would continue to have a taste for. Before he joined Dead Cell, Vamp was the subject of a new nanomachine experiment that was designed to accelerate his ability to heal and recover from disease.

The experiment was successful, making Vamp seemingly immortal, and he became one of the first members of Dead Cell. After Colonel Jackson, Dead Cell’s leader, was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually died, Vamp took command of the unit until Fortune became leader.

Metal Gear Solid 2
In 2009, Vamp and other Dead Cell members joined forces with the Sons of Liberty, a terrorist organization under the command of Solidus Snake. They helped in taking control of the Big Shell, an offshore cleanup facility in New York. During the takeover, Vamp tracked down the Alpha team of SEAL’s Team 10 and slew the entire unit single-handedly. He also attempted to launch a sneak attack against Raiden, a FOXHOUND agent, but a survivor of Team 10, Iroquois Pilskin, distracted Vamp. However this revealed his identity as Solid Snake to the Dead Cell member when he was injured and Vamp noticed he had a similar scent to Solidus. The apparent vampire went after Raiden again, but Fortune contacted him, ordering him to return since she’d managed to capture President Johnson. Vamp met up with her on the B–C connecting bridge and carried the president along with the Football into the Shell 1 Core, while Fortune dealt with the SEALS. Later, while Fortune was fighting Raiden on the Deep Sea Dock, Vamp showed up and told her that Fatman had apparently gone rogue and turned into a “stereotypical mad bomber”. Raiden tried to use the distraction to shoot Fortune, but her “luck” deflected the bullets so that they hit Vamp. Despite this seeming to kill him, he woke up after Raiden left and explained to Fortune that he couldn’t die twice since he’d already “died once”. Later on, Vamp caught Soldius Snake on a Harrier jet he was piloting as the son of Big Boss fell off the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge. As Solidus took the co-pilot seat, he and Vamp attacked Raiden and a Kasatka helicopter under the command to the Philanthropy. Raiden managed to shoot down the jet, but it was caught by the Metal Gear RAY prototype and Solidus ordered Vamp to leave. He retreated to Shell 2, using his apparently supernatural powers to run across the water’s surface and up a support pillar. Vamp later found out from Revolver Ocelot that Raiden was apparently going to rescue Emma Emmerich so as to have her install a worm cluster in GW, plant underwater mines in the now flooded Shell 2, and wait in her cell. Vamp and Raiden ran into each other in the Big Shell’s purification chamber. But he miscalculated Raiden’s movements due his muscle movements being “different” and his face was grazed by gunfire. Vamp explained the Arsenal Gear had a purified hydrogen bomb onboard and hinted that Dead Cell was framed, before the two battled each other. Vamp was beaten, sinking into the purified water as he bled, but still he survived, sneak attacking Emma Emmerich as she was crossing an oil fence. Vamp held her at the tip of his knife, eventually stabbing and killing her, but was shot with a sniper rifle by Raiden.

Metal Gear Solid 4
In 2014, Vamp had become part of Liquid Ocelot’s forces, acting as a subcommander for his army of mercenaries. Solid Snake spotted him telling Laughing Octopus not to kill their soldiers while on a mission in South America to rescue Naomi Hunter. Snake tracked down Naomi and found her boarding a helicopter with Vamp, who he shot in the head. But the former Dead Cell member regenerated and soon afterwards, battled Raiden in a local marketplace. Eventually a number of Gekkos pinned down Raiden, allowing Vamp to stab him multiple times and noted the “immortality” granted by Raiden’s cybernetic exoskeleton. However Snake freed Raiden, who took Vamp on again and they both suffered severe wounds. The former Dead Cell member eventually collapsed from his injuries, allowing Raiden to escape, only for Vamp’s nanomachines healed him again. After regaining consciousness, Vamp called Liquid Ocelot and reported that Snake’s DNA wasn’t able to unlock the Patriot’s SOP System. As they escaped, Vamp discussed their plans with Liquid Ocelot and Naomi to get Metal Gear REX’s rail gun from Shadow Moses Island. As they were talking, Vamp discovered Metal Gear Mk II, which had been secretly planted on their craft and wrecked it. After Liquid Ocelot succeeded in obtaining REX’s rail gun, he ordered Vamp to wait in REX’s underground base, knowing Snake would interfere. The former Dead Cell member also sealed the door to the cargo elevator and warehouse, forcing Snake to face him. Vamp battled Snake and eventually fell unconscious from his wounds and Snake remembered Naomi’s words telling the truth behind Vamp’s immortality. He injected the ex-Dead Cell member with a drug that suppressed his nanomachines, taking away his regenerative powers. As Raiden arrived on the scene, Vamp challenged him to finish him off and the two battled on top of Metal Gear REX. The ex-Dead Cell member eventually succeeded in disarming Raiden and reached for his sword, but Raiden knocked the blade out of his hand, driving him through with it. Mortally wounded, Vamp fell to the ground, but his nanomachines started up again, keeping him alive but in terrible pain. Naomi gave him a nanomachine suppressor, which Vamp injected into himself, permanently deactivating the nanomachines and finally died after a number of terrible convulsions.

Abilities
Vamp wields a seemingly unlimited supply of knives that he is highly skilled at wielding. He possesses incredible strength, speed, and agility, apparently extending into the realm of the supernatural. Vamp also has a superhuman sense of smell, as seen when he could tell by smell that Iroquois Pilskin was actually Solid Snake. However his most notable ability is his seeming immortality, as seen when he recovered from apparently dying on a number of occasions. This is due to the nanomachines in Vamp’s body which increase his healing abilities so he can regenerate from fatal wounds. He has demonstrated the ability to defy gravity such as running on water or vertically up surfaces, though this may have to do with some form of technology since Vamp was wearing the boots of Haven Troopers, who performed similar feats. He can also predict people’s movements simply by observing their muscles, but this doesn’t work if the person is wearing a pressurized suit. Vamp can also control a person’s shadow to a degree, such as when he impaled Raiden’s shadow, actually preventing him from moving. Otacon believes this is a form of hypnotism, using the power of suggestion, reinforced by Vamp’s movements and speech and combined with the manipulation of light reflecting off of his knife.

Trivia

 * When Vamp said he already died once after being revived in front of Fortune, he may be referencing the church bombing he was caught in as a child.
 * During his time allied with Liquid Ocelot, Vamp seemed to have inherited Fortune’s desire to die, becoming enthusiastic at the idea of Raiden possibly being able finishing him off.
 * Vamp’s character design is based on Joaquín Cortés, a famous Flamenco dancer.