Human servants are the daytime eyes, ears, hands and voice of the master vampire. Their word and wishes are considered to be that of the vampire whom they serve. Only a master vampire has the strength to create this bond with a human and they can only have one human bound to them at a time. It is considered a great gift to be bestowed upon a human. (GP) Only those who have proven themselves invaluable are made into servants.


Human servants are often created by vampires to increase their power. It is not only the vampire that gets more from this bond. As a result of the vampires sharing of themselves with their servant - the servant also gains more power and more strength. It makes them harder to hurt, allows them to heal easier and makes them resistant to many poisons. It also gives them immunity to the voice, mind and glance of the vampire that marked them. Because of this, the Human Servants must willingly serve the vampire they are bound to.

Despite the substantial increase in strength, if the Human Servant doesn't know how to use it, a skilled average human can beat them.

They age almost as slowly as vampires do, when they have full marks.

The Marks:

There are four Marks needed for a human to be fully bound to a vampire. Once the marks are given, they cannot be removed except through death. Until all four marks are given, it is possible that another vampire can mark the same human. The human is fully bound to the vampire who bestows the fourth mark first.

• First Mark - The vampire shares his/her life-force with a human. There are no visible signs of this being done, and can be unnoticed by the human in question.
• Second Mark - The human sees two spots of flame the shade of the vampire's eyes coming towards them, until they over lap their eyes. The human sees the world in the shade of the flames for a moment. In that moment, anyone looking at the person's eyes will see them glow the flame's shade.
• Third Mark - The vampire ceremonially takes blood from the human and shares their memories with the human and vice versa.
• Fourth Mark - The human drinks some of the vampire master's blood, while the vampire says something like -
  

  ' Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds with but one body, two souls wedded as one.'

  Each vampire may have a slightly different version of the ritual words but the overall meaning is the same.

The Results of the Marks:

More power and strength accompanies each Mark.

• First Mark: This mark imparts greater healing abilities on the human and makes them harder to hurt. The human has a higher threshold for pain, and more stamina. They are more durable. They are immune to almost all vampire tricks of the vampire that imparts the mark - including their glance, their voice, their minds.

The vampire gains very little from this mark except perhaps a link to the human.

• Second Mark: The human is immune to more powerful vampire tricks, and again, gains more stamina.

The vampire can be sustained by their servant through this mark, syphoning energy from them to keep them sane and healthy even if kept from feeding. They can enter their servant's dreams as a way of communication.

Though unable to bewitch their servants with their eyes or voice, vampires can still trick them using their minds, though it is difficult and requires skill and concentration.

• Third Mark: The vampire and human a have more direct mind connection and can now also communicate directly with each other when the human is conscious. There is also a sharing of thoughts, emotions and memories.

It also provides even greater healing ability to the human - an immunity to poisons. The vampires can also taste the food their servant eats. Many find this very sensuous and rewarding.

• Fourth Mark: The final mark, the last link, fully binds the life-forces of the two individuals together. Injuring or killing either one will have a detrimental effect on the other. They also gain the ability to know their counterparts mind (know what they are thinking, how they feel, etc.)
  
  After the fourth mark, the human servant will not age, though still remaining human, with the ability to still wear blessed symbols and enter holy buildings such as churches. The soul is not compromised, according to Jean-Claude.
  

A strong master vampire may survive the death of the human servant, but they will be greatly injured and weakened. A human may survive the death of the master, but will often be insane.

Known Human Servants:

A list of Human Servants and their Vampire Masters that are mentioned or discussed in the books.

• Anita Blake and Jean-Claude. In Guilty Pleasures, Jean-Claude gives Anita the first two Marks. The third mark is given in the Circus of the Damned to save her from the lamia's bite. All three marks were without her consent.
• Alejandro gives Anita all four marks during Circus of the Damned. All of them were forced on Anita without her consent.
• Burchard and Nikolaos - fully marked before Guilty Pleasures
• Karl Inger and The Earthmover (Mr. Oliver) - Fully marked before Circus of the Damned
• Marguerite and Yasmeen - fully marked by Circus of the Damned
• Sabin and Dominic Dumare - fully marked prior to The Killing Dance (triumverate)
• Anita and Jean-Claude - In The Killing Dance, three marks are given to save Jean-Claude and Richard's lives. Anita accepted the marks willingly this time. (triumverate)
• The Traveller and Balthasar - fully marked prior to Burnt Offerings
• Padma and Captain Thomas Carswell - fully marked prior to Burnt Offerings (triumverate)
• Musette and Angelito - fully marked prior to Cerulean Sins
• Augustine and Octavius- fully marked prior to Danse Macabre

Miscellaneous Information

Misc facts about Human Servants:

• Vampire Masters cannot bet against their own Human Servant when Humans Servants fight (CotD)
• Just being close to their servant increases the vampire master's power, touching ramps it up even more. (CotD)
• The Vampire Master cannot force the Human Servant to do his bidding though there may be a strong compulsion.
• 
  

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