Vamp

Vamp (ヴァンプ) was an ex-member of Dead Cell with vampire-like attributes, including a taste for blood, the ability to run across or stand on the surface of water or vertical walls, superhuman speed and agility, and the ability to shrug off what would typically be a mortal wound (e.g. being shot in the head). Besides his seemingly vampiric abilities, he was also an expert with both combat knives and throwing knives.

Early Life
Born in Romania, Vamp lost his entire family in a church bombing in which he was pierced by a crucifix and buried in the rubble next to his parents. In order to survive, Vamp fed off of the blood of his family; this is how he acquired a taste for blood. According to Solid Snake, his name is not a reference to his vampire like behavior, but to the fact he is bisexual (and, according to rumors, former lover of Marine Commandant Scott Dolph, Fortune's father). He and Fortune have a very close friendship, being more loyal to each other than to any other member of the Sons of Liberty, even their own Dead Cell teammate Fatman.

At an unknown point in time, Naomi Hunter experimented with a certain type of nanomachine that allowed one to heal from wounds and sickness at an unusually accelerated rate. Naomi never had the chance to perfect the design, however, she stated that someone had taken her design, completed it, and used it to test on Vamp. The experiment was an obvious success, which was how Vamp appeared to be immortal.

During the Big Shell incident, Vamp rebelled with the rest of Dead Cell, joining the Sons of Liberty, being led by Solidus Snake. He was "killed" by Raiden three times: accidentally shot in the head and lower abdomen (the bullets meant for Fortune), a close-in duel in an attempt to prevent Raiden reaching Emma Emmerich, and a shot in the head whilst holding Emma at knife-point. Although Vamp was supposedly killed by Raiden, Vamp still managed to inflict Emma with a mortal wound. Vamp still managed to survive, however, and went into hiding.

In 2014, Vamp had joined with Liquid Ocelot, becoming one of his mercenaries. He was first spotted by Solid Snake when he traveled to South America to rescue Naomi. After tracking Naomi, Snake spotted her along with Vamp boarding a helicopter and Snake shot Vamp in the head. However, he was revived by his nanomachines with no ill effects. Shortly after, Vamp encountered Raiden in a marketplace in South America, pinned down by multiple GEKKOs. He proceeded to stab Raiden multiple times before Snake destroyed the cables that held Raiden down. Raiden then proceeded to engage Vamp in a duel, resulting in Vamp getting stabbed in the abdomen and Raiden sufffering severe injuries. However, Vamp's nanomachines revived him once again. After the fight, Vamp calls Liquid Ocelot, and reports that Solid Snake's genes were insufficient for unlocking the SOP system.

Later, when Liquid Ocelot headed to Shadow Moses to obtain Metal Gear REX's railgun for his own ends, Liquid told Vamp to stay behind, as he knew Snake would eventually come to stop them. When Snake finally arrived, Vamp challenged him. After seemingly "killing" him several times, with Vamp simply collapsing only to rise again moments later, Snake injected Vamp with a drug that repressed his nanomachines, thus making him "mortal" again. Raiden appeared to eliminate several Suicide GEKKOs, before Vamp challenged Raiden to finally finish him. As Otacon attempted to revive Metal Gear REX, Snake held off the Gekkos while Vamp and Raiden fought on top of REX with their knives. After Vamp incapacitated Raiden, he reached for Raiden's sword, only to have Raiden gain the upper hand, stabbing him in the stomach. Vamp then fell off of REX's head onto the floor, mortally wounded. However, his nanomachines became active again, keeping him alive but in severe pain. Vamp injected himself with a nanomachine suppressor, permanently disabling his nanomachines. Immediately afterwards, Vamp experienced massive convulsions before dying.

Abilities
Although Vamp's only real weapon is his seemingly unlimited supply of knives, with which he is extremely skilled, he also displays extraordinary physical tendencies. For one, his strength, speed and agility are far beyond that of a normal person, but his abilities even extend to the apparently supernatural.

During the Big Shell Incident, Vamp demonstrated several apparently gravity-defying talents, including, but not limited to, walking on water and running vertically up a support pillar. Solid Snake theorized later that the latter of these two incidents was possible through technology utilizing Van Der Waals Force, seen in use by the FROGS and even visible on Vamp's legs in 2014.

He also seems to have a degree of control over one's shadow. This is especially apparent during his fight with Raiden in the purification chamber, where he can stab Raiden's shadow and prevent him from moving.

However, perhaps Vamp's most notable trait is his apparent immortality. During the Big Shell Incident, Vamp was accidentally shot once in the forehead by Raiden, but was able to stand up, fully healed, moments later, demonstrating this ability for the first time. Following this, he was shot and stabbed fatally numerous times by both Snake and Raiden, each time awakening without a scratch.

Naomi later explained that this ability of immortality was due to the nanomachines inside his body healing his injuries at an accelerated rate, allowing him to regenerate before any normally fatal injuries succeed in killing him. This theory was confirmed when Raiden finally killed Vamp after Snake injected him with a nanomachine suppressor. Nevertheless, the extent to which these nanomachines influenced his other abilities is unknown, and there is no clear explanation for any of them.

"Deaths"

 * Victim to a church bombing as a child, he lost his entire family and was himself impaled on the church's cross for two full days, trapped below the wreckage.
 * Killed by two bullets fired by Raiden, ricocheted off Fortune's barrier and struck him in the head and lower abdomen in the bottom of Strut A.
 * Shot numerous times by Raiden before drowning in Shell 2 Core-B1 Filtration Chamber.
 * Shot in the front of the head by Raiden on the Strut L Oil Fence.
 * Shot in the head again by Solid Snake while in South America.
 * Stabbed in the stomach twice by Raiden in South America.
 * Shot numerous times by Snake in REX's hanger on Shadow Moses.
 * Stabbed, slashed, and cut several times by Raiden atop Metal Gear REX. Due to his nanomachines supressed by Solid Snake beforehand, these injuries, along with Naomi supplying him with a nanomachine suppressor so he can die in peace, finally killed him.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, Vamp adopted Fortune's desire for death persona, as he reacted with ecstasy when he believed that Raiden may be able to kill him, hence the quote "Could you be the one to finally finish me?"
 * It is possile that the dogtags later worn by Vamp belonged to his deceased Dead Cell comrades, although this was never revealed.

Behind the Scenes

 * When Vamp is battling Raiden atop Metal Gear REX, Snake will vocally display extreme reluctance to shoot if the player points the Rail Gun at Vamp and Raiden. This is a reference to Metal Gear Solid, when Snake does the same thing when pointing the Stinger at Liquid Snake and Gray Fox.
 * Early concept artwork of Vamp featured him as a woman.
 * A 2D sprite of Vamp can be seen in the background of Metal Gear Solid 2's ending sequence, when Rose appears to see Raiden outside Federal Hall.
 * Another Dead Cell member named Chinaman was planned for the game, who had the abilities to walk on walls, ceilings and on water. When the character was scrapped, his abilities were given to Vamp instead.
 * Vamp's character design is based on the famous flamenco dancer, Joaquín Cortés.
 * In the game plan for Metal Gear Solid 2, Vamp was stated to be of German descent. He was also afraid of the cross due to the trauma that he experienced during the church bombing in Romania.
 * Originally, Vamp was not to be fought until much later, which was within a Shrine in the Arsenal Gear. In fact, the fight against him in the purification chamber was originally intended to be for Chinaman. However, the shrine battle was cut as was Chinaman.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Notes and References
Vamp