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 knives and close-quarters combat.

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 was bisexual (and, according to rumors, former lover of Marine Commandant Scott Dolph). He later shared a very close friendship with Dolph's daughter, fellow Dead Cell member Fortune.

Prior to his membership of the Navy SEALs anti-terrorist squad Dead Cell, Vamp was subjected to experimental nanomachines, which would allow him to heal from wounds and sickness at an unusually accelerated rate. The nanomachines had previously been developed by Dr. Naomi Hunter, and her design was later perfected by other interested parties. The experiment proved to be a success, resulting in Vamp gaining his apparent immortality.

In 2009, Vamp and the rest of Dead Cell joined the Sons of Liberty terrorist group, led by Solidus Snake, and participated in taking over the Big Shell decontamination facility. During the incident, he appeared to die on three seperate occasions, each caused by FOXHOUND operative Raiden: he recieved a shot to the head and lower abdomen (the bullets having been deflected by Fortune's "luck"); he "drowned" after recieving injuries from Raiden, while attempting to prevent the rescue of Emma Emmerich; and he later fell to sniper fire, while holding Emma at knife-point. Although Vamp was knocked into the ocean, he still managed to inflict Emma with a mortal wound. Despite these encounters, however, Vamp was able to survive.

By 2014, Vamp had joined forces with Liquid Ocelot, becoming a subcommander within his mercenary army. He was spotted by Solid Snake in South America, during the latter's mission to rescue an imprisoned Naomi Hunter from Liquid. After tracking down Naomi, Snake watched as she and Vamp boarded a helicopter, and proceeded to shoot Vamp in the head. However, Vamp was revived by his nanomachines with no ill effects. Shortly afterwards, Vamp fought again with his previous adversary, Raiden, in a local marketplace. Raiden was eventually pinned down by multiple Gekkos, where Vamp stabbed him multiple times, commenting on Raiden's own "immortaility." Destroying the Gekko's tethers, Snake freed Raiden, who proceeded to engage Vamp in another duel, which resulted in Vamp being stabbed in the abdomen and Raiden suffering severe injuries. Raiden was able to escape after Vamp collapsed due to his wounds, though the latter's nanomachines revived him once again a short time later. Upon awakening, Vamp contacted Liquid Ocelot, and reported that Solid Snake's DNA had been insufficient to unlock the Patriots' SOP System.

After Liquid Ocelot had journeyed to Shadow Moses Island and retrieved the original Metal Gear REX's rail gun, he ordered Vamp to stay behind in REX's underground base, as he knew Snake would eventually come to stop them. When Snake finally arrived, Vamp challenged him. After Vamp collapsed, upon sustaining heavy injuries, Snake realized this would only be temporary. Remembering Naomi's words during their escape from South America, regarding the truth of his immortality, Snake grabbed Vamp in a CQC hold, and injected him with a drug that repressed his nanomachines, thus making him "mortal." Raiden then appeared, eliminating several Suicide GEKKOs that were intending to destroy the remains of the underground base, before Vamp challenged Raiden to finally finish him. As Otacon attempted to revive Metal Gear REX, Snake held off more 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, knocking the sword free from Vamp and running him through with the blade. Defeated at last, Vamp asked Raiden to finish him, to which Raiden responded by cutting Vamp down. Vamp then staggered and fell off of REX's head onto the floor, mortally wounded. However, his nanomachines became active again, keeping him alive but in severe pain. Naomi then supplied Vamp with a nanomachine suppressor, resulting in Vamp injecting himself with it, permanently disabling his nanomachines. Vamp began experiencing massive convulsions before finally dying for good.

Abilities
Although Vamp's only real weapon was his seemingly unlimited supply of knives, with which he was extremely skilled, he also displayed extraordinary physical capabilities. For one, his strength, speed and agility were 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 this was possible through technology utilizing van der Waals force, seen in use by the Haven Troopers, and even visible on Vamp's legs in 2014.

He also had an ability of accurately predicting the movements of the enemy by their muscles and thus reacting accordingly. However, this ability could be nullified if the enemy in question wore a pressurized suit, as Raiden proved when he fired at Vamp and ended up grazing him in the cheek.

He also seemed to have a degree of control over one's shadow. This was especially apparent during his fight with Raiden in the purification chamber, where he could stab Raiden's shadow and prevent him from moving. Otacon hypothesised that this "shadow-binding" technique was some form of hypnotism; the power of suggestion augmented by Vamp's speech and movements, coupled with the manipulation of the light reflecting off the blade of his knife.

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.

"Deaths"

 * Killed by two bullets fired by Raiden, which ricocheted off Fortune's barrier and struck him in the head and lower abdomen, in the Strut A deep sea dock.
 * Shot numerous times by Raiden before drowning in the Shell 2 Core B1 filtration chamber.
 * Shot in the forehead by Raiden on the Strut L oil fence and fell into the ocean.
 * Shot in the forehead 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 Island.
 * Stabbed, slashed, and cut several times by Raiden atop Metal Gear REX. Due to his nanomachines having been supressed by Solid Snake beforehand, these injuries, along with Naomi supplying him with a nanomachine suppressor so he could die in peace, finally killed him.

Trivia

 * Shortly after Vamp was revived before a shocked Fortune, in the Big Shell's deep sea dock, he tells her that he "had already died once," and that he "can't die twice."
 * During Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, Vamp adopted Fortune's desire for death, reacting with ecstasy when he believed that Raiden may be able to kill him, hence, his quote, "Could you be the one to finally finish me?"

Behind the Scenes

 * Early concept artwork of Vamp featured him as a woman.
 * Another Dead Cell member named Chinaman was intended to appear in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, who had the abilities to walk on walls, ceilings and on water. When the character was scrapped, his abilities were given to Vamp instead.
 * 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.
 * Vamp's character design is based on the famous flamenco dancer, Joaquín Cortés.
 * In the gameplan 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.
 * A 2D sprite of Vamp can be seen in the background of Metal Gear Solid 2 's ending sequence, when Rose appears before Raiden outside Federal Hall. This can be seen more easily in Manhattan's 3D stage model in The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2.
 * When Vamp battles Raiden atop Metal Gear REX in Metal Gear Solid 4, 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.
 * It is possible that four of the five dogtags later worn by Vamp belonged to his deceased Dead Cell comrades, although this was never revealed.

Appearances

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

Notes and References
Vamp