Blog: about Vamps the Space Ranger

"Vamps the Space Ranger" is the love letter to science fiction of a cosplayer and pinup model. I love to say that she is my original character, but the truth is that there is very little that is "original"... Vamps is an amalgamation of concepts that I like, tributes to movies and comics and small shameless thefts brought together in a retro futuristic skin.

It was born as my burlesque project to create futuristic shows and pin-up photography, clearly inspired by Barbarella. But little by little, in addition to designing her outfits, I also began to create her story, to imagine her personality and more and more hints were added to explain her background... Why Vamps? (obviously at the begginig was just a short of my socials nickname Vampisaurus). Where does she come from?

Today I want to talk to you about that background and winks so that you understand a little better where the character is growing. I think I want to end up writing erotic stories with her or maybe start her own comic for adults. But let's go with her story:

Vamps is a ranger for hire, an explorer of the unknown areas of the galaxy who has become an expert in Xeno-archaeology (here my most direct inspiration was Dr. Aphra from Star Wars and of course characters like Lara Croft or Indiana Jones). She works for the highest bidder (sometimes museums, sometimes private collectors, smugglers, governments...), but at the bottom of all her work and commissions lies a personal motivation: her job is not a coincidence since she seeks clues to the whereabouts of her lost home planet.

Her decimated  race is reviled in known space as they live nomadic and homeless lives scattered across the galaxy. And it is no coincidence that they are unwelcome on most planets, as they all have a common, unappreciated ability: they are psychic vampires who feed on others energy. Most hide on the capital planets, stealing crumbs of energy from the thousands of citizens who pass by without realising they are being a bit drained. Some better trained ones work in the underworld where their skills are honed for use by the outer rim syndicates. As a rule almost all hide their race (their human-like appearance helps them to go unnoticed)... except Vamps. Well that is obviously not her real name, but tired of being shunned and hearing everywhere the insult of "Space Vampire" as her kind are often called, she adopted the insult until it became her identity. She slowly built up a reputation, established herself with her own ship and companion droid, and now for a hefty amount of credits you can hire her to travel into uncharted or most troubled territories of the galaxy for you. A space Ranger for hire!

There is one more detail about Vamps, her connection with erotic science fiction, her side that turns her into a character in a pulp story for adults... Although I have already commented on the Barbarella comic as inspiration, another source of inspiration for me creating Vamps was the Lifeforce movie and Vampirella comics. As you already know the entire species are psychic vampires as they feed on the energy of others to restore their own, but while many only need eye contact, closeness or your attention to borrow your life force, Vamps feed on sexual energy. It is a strange variation even among her own, which in addition to turning her into a dangerous bed partner, has made her solve some of her worst troubles thanks to her "last resort"... Because the more aroused you get, the stronger Vamps gets! (somebody said a space archaeologist sucubus? Lol).

I am aware that there is still a lot to polish, names to create, stories to tell... but I am looking forward to create little by little more background for my (un)original character. I've always loved erotic photography and science fiction, so Vamps (photosets and collabs with different authors/artists) has become one of the most anticipated "side effects" of this Patreon project for me.

Of course if anyone has ideas for this character I'd love to read them, don't hesitate to PM me!