Creature Feature: Ultimate Love Triangle

Love triangles – always a popular theme from Elizabeth Bennett, Mr Rochester and Mr Wickham all the way through to Jennifer, Angelina and Brad. Recently I’ve noticed in my reading that one particular type of love triangle seems to come up a lot – the one between a girl, a werewolf and a vampire. And I’m not just talking about Twilight here (although watching the latest film in the saga did help inspire this posting – as did reading the second H+W Investigations book, Taken By The Others with Shia, Royce and Chaz). This type of triangle seems to pop up a lot in Urban Fantasy ever since Anita Blake first found herself caught between master Vampire Jean-Claude and head werewolf Richard Zeeman and is increasingly popular in paranormal YA novels. What is it about werewolves and vampires that attract our feisty heroines so? As I was pondering this, I thought I’d compile a list of pros and cons for each as boyfriend material…

Two of my favourite Vampire boyfriends!

Vampire Boyfriend

Pros

• Long-lived and nearly immortal, so he should be there for you always
• Usually good looking (hey, we all like a hot guy on our arms!)
• Wealthy – long life usually means vampires have a strong property and saving portfolio (again nice to have – we all like a bit of luxury!)
• Sexy – the vast majority of vamps are portrayed as sexy and attractive, with the ability to unleash your own deep desires

Cons

• Night time dates only – no daytrips to the beach!
• Cold to the touch
• Hard to reach emotionally – all those years may leave him detached from human emotions
• Have to be careful that a dinner date, doesn’t mean you’re the dinner!
• Will never grow old with you
• Never father children (Okay, that isn’t the case for Edward and Bella but I think that’s the exception rather than the rule!)

Werewolf Boyfriend

Alcide, one sexy werewolf

Pros

• Will take clothes off a lot!
• Protective of you and your relationship
• Extremely masculine
• Likes animals (sometimes for food!)
• Daylight dates are a go…perhaps hiking in the woods…?

Cons

• Might have to share him with a pack – could take up a lot of his time
• May not always think before he acts (instinctive)
• Has a temper – usually the jealous type.
• Beware of beard burn!
• Be unavailable for a couple of nights a month at least…

Hmm….tough choice for the girls. I’ve taken generic ideas of both vampires and werewolves here rather than limiting it to one author’s take. Generally the vampire is consider the more sophisticated option – more usually found in the city, in a suit (with or without cape). The werewolf is the more natural option found in the woods and close to nature.

Two very different options…which would you choose? Is there anything you want to add to my pros & cons list for either? J