Vampire

Vampires are supernatural creatures, found in various myths and folklore around the world, that feed on the life essence of humans- most commonly, blood. Vampires in Hellsing have notable traits such as sharp fangs and hunger for blood. They also are harmed by sunlight, although very strong vampires such as Alucard are resistant to such weaknesses. Vampires are the primary villains throughout the Hellsing storyline, even before the Millennium Organization is introduced.

Artificial Vampires
Vampires created through either the FREAK chip process or the Millennium Organization's special process are not created through the bite of other vampires, and are considered artificial. While clearly intended to resemble each other, both processes are very different and hold their own unique characteristics, making them hard to confuse with each other. Weaker to True Undead, Artificial Undead are all in a class of their own.

Millennium Conversion Process
Millienium's initial vampirization research was overseen by The Doctor, who experimented on World War II prisoners of war, and conducted at Millennium's Polish base. These vampires were created by investigation into the desiccated corpse of Mina Harker. It is implied the conversion requires a certain degree of invasive surgery. Initial subjects were barely better than ghouls and had an extremely limited lifespan (less than eight hours after the procedure was concluded), although the Doctor was certain their potential to spread the infection could offset this setback. Thanks to greater advancements in the procedure, the finished model was much better.

Millennium's artificial vampires lack the ability to convert others into vampires; all victims, regardless of gender or virginity status, are immediately transformed into Ghouls, but not vampires. They exhibit enhanced attributes such as greater speed and power, though these are remarkably inferior to true vampire power. While they run fast enough to overtake a car, they aren't skilled or clever enough to defeat a human in hand-to-hand combat.

While highly resistant to conventional human weaponry, silver affects them to grievous levels. They still have penetrable flesh as well, as the Wild Geese demonstrated by very effectively slaughtering Zorin Blitz's battalion with claymore mines and silver ammo loaded into normal weapons. Millennium's protocols demand that a tracking chip be added to the finished product to track movements, combat data, health, etc. This chip can also be used as a self-destruct device by completely destroying a target in blue flames, leaving no salvageable remains behind.

All of Millennium's research, data and materials related to the project are assumed to have been destroyed with the conflagration of the Deus Ex Machina.

FREAK Chip Conversion Process
This process was only seen in the anime series. While similar to the Millennium Conversion, the vampires controlled by the "FREAK Chip" were infected through a biological computer chip capable of forcefully entering the human brain and altering them from within to resemble vampires. Large amounts of chips loaded into a person could create an undead of greater power, but whom still was ultimately weaker than a True Vampire, or even a True Undead's fledgling.

True Vampires
The term "true vampire" is used in the Hellsing series to define vampires created naturally through exchange of blood between a vampire and a human virgin of the opposite gender. Attempts to convert non-virgins or virgins of the same gender will result in the creation of a ghoul. In the case of a successful blood exchange, the virgin party, or "fledging", will enter the first stage of vampirism.

While lacking the higher-level powers of the "master", they will possess superhuman strength and a psychic connection with their master. They will also have the weaknesses of other vampires. Upon the full consumption of a human's blood, the restrictions imposed upon the fledgling vanish and stronger abilities are unlocked, completing the transition to "True Undead" status.

Vampires use a host of powers regarded as unholy to prey upon humans and accrue power. The undead priest seen generally at the beginning of Hellsing's first volume or episode created masses of armed ghouls hoping to use them as his army, and depending on the chronicle used a form of enhanced speed, telekinesis, or hypnosis to seize Seras and use her as a pawn in a gamble to escape death at Alucard's hands. Additionally, vampires classically are purported to have a high pain threshold and a measure of enhanced strength, properties many Hellsing vampires share. Agelessness from the point of infection and a need to sleep in a coffin or in contact with the soil of one's birthplace are also noted.

The exact limits of a normal vampire are unknown, as the one observable bloodline known so far is Alucard's, whose makeup has been extensively modified by the Hellsing family to enhance his battle capabilities to the ultimate limits while reducing or altogether eliminating most known weaknesses, making the comparison unreliable at best. For example, Alexander Anderson used a massive amount of blessed bayonets during his first confrontation with Alucard, cut off his head and skewered it with another holy blade. He expressed, however, utter astonishment at Alucard's impressive regenerative abilities; given he is presented as an experienced hunter, it is safe to assume he had not encountered an equal to Alucard's abilities prior to the confrontation in Badrick.

Even with these special characteristics, though, there are certain common characteristics and weaknesses. Elongated fangs and red eyes are amongst the most obvious indication, as is the thirst for blood coming from other human beings. They have an unability to cross large bodies of water without means of external locomotion. "Holy" symbols, materials and relics are often treated as highly dangerous. Silver, particularly, is lethal to most of them. Blessed silver is even worse and may inflict extensive damage depending upon the blessings of the material.

The heart is often presented as a weak spot for a vampire, and thus is a popular target against them. Potent religious artifacts such as the Nail of Helena are able to imbue a strong holy aura in weaponry to make it incredibly deadly against vampires, and presumably other "unholy" creatures.

Alucard's Bloodline
As noted before, Alucard's bloodline is believed to be unique given the extensive experimentation the Hellsings have visited upon him, and coupled with his immense age and massive energy resources, this makes him a rather formidable enemy. His regenerative abilities are apparently only equalled by the power of the Nail of Helena and his command over shadow matter appears to be unique. The added strength is far superior, allowing even a fledging in the incomplete undead stage to wield weaponry as potent and hard to maneouver as the Harkonnen II Battle System.

Other abilities seen in this bloodline not observed in other vampires include a "third eye" capable of focusing images, allowing for superior targeting and the destruction of illusions, strength, levitation, and speed on par if not exceeding every other example thus seen. Seras Victoria, in the midst of an emotionally destructive attack, briefly lost control of herself and entered a brutal berserk state in which she relentlessly killed her attackers. It is not known whether this ability extends to other vampires of her own or other bloodlines. She also was able to resist the holy flames created by the power of Helena's Nail for a brief time before the fire began consuming her.

The control of solid shadows is also indicative of this bloodline, to the point it allows for extended flight if used correctly.