Special Abilities

Within The Old Ones: The Beginning of the Immortals universe, some vampires have special abilities gained or enhanced when they are turned.

Explanation

When a human transforms into a vampire, they bring their strongest human trait into their new life. When someone has a particularly intense skill, it heightens after their transformation and becomes a power of some sort. For example, André acquires a mental shield that is originally only covered him; but throughout his immortal interims, he could project it to surround those around him. A large majority of vampiric gifts are based on the mind, but there have been certain exceptions as some powers work physically.

Eric has explained that every gift is unique, never working the same way twice because no one ever thinks exactly the same way. This is proven by the differences in similar gifts among vampires, for example Eric and Isabella, Ariana and Camille, or André, Vincent and Michael. It has been speculated that gifts can be passed down genetically, but influence of intrauterine environment during pregnancy and upbringing during infancy and teen years have not been assessed.

Categories

Certain powers' capabilities land in specific categories, though it is rather difficult at times because no talent ever works the exact same way. For instance, an ability that protects any part of the bearer is called a "shield", and one that tracks a target is called a "tracker", which is also known as one of the most common talents. Since Eric and certain other vampires possess abilities to "read" things, they can be considered "readers"; also, vampires with the power to project a sort of illusion can be considered "illusionists".

Quantifiable Supernatural Talents

Name	Ability	Examples
André	Mental ShieldAndré's gift is a mental shield. André's shield is so strong that it's been working without his knowing, most likely, since birth. It protects him from "gifts" that affect the mind. Eric can't read his mind, Diana can't cause him pain and Sariah can't shock him. Through practice, André learned he could expand his shield in order to protect others when he originated as a vampire, causing them to become immune to mental gifts. Although at first it was quite hard for him to maintain his coverage of others, he was soon able to cover a great distance and a large number of people with ease. André can expand, retract, shape and mold his gift at will; virtually blanketing himself and those he's protecting. Although much more straining to him, André can also lift his shield off of his mind altogether. This allowed Eric to read his mind for the first time.	In Season 3, André shielded himself and his allies in the battle against Kristina's Coven.
Eric	TelepathyEric's gift allows him to hear/see the thoughts of others. All except for Camille. Eric can hear groups at a time, although he has stated that he has learned to drown out extra voices by focusing on one in particular. The closer or more familiar Eric is to an ancient vampire, human, or wolf's mind the better or clearer he can hear them. A stronger bond also allows him to hear them from a greater distance, though no greater than a few miles. Eric's ability seems to work best with other vampires.	Eric found most of the minds of adults at New York University to be unimaginative, but couldn't hear what Camille was thinking at all. He also had the displeasure of reading Matthew's mind. In Season 3, Eric used his ability while confronting Kristina's Coven to know their plans and intentions.
Vincent	Tactile Thought Projection & Anti-ShieldVincent's gifts seem to be the opposite versions of his siblings' abilities. He has the power to break through mental shields, and project his visions and thoughts into others by making physical contact with them.	In Season 1, Vincent used his ability to transfer her thoughts into Ariana's consciousness in order to let her know about himself. He also used his talent to show the visiting vampires his side of the story.
Camille	PrecognitionCamille can see into the future. She can focus in on certain people or search for certain events. Her visions aren't perfect, as the final decisions regarding the future must already be made. This makes predictable things like the weather easy for her to read. She also can't see anything involved with the werewolves or vampire hybrids.	In Season 1, Camille tells the family that the newborns are coming to fight them. In Season 5, Camille's ability allowed her to warn her family about the confrontation with the Imperial Coven.
Michael	Pathokinesis Michael can feel the emotions of those around him as well as manipulate them according to his content. Michael's gift is no illusion, Camille's shield would not protect against it.	In Season 2, Michael felt Kate's anxiety and calmed her down, so much that she fell asleep. In Season 4, Michael used his power to temporarily calm everyone down when The Old Ones and the werewolves almost got into a fight.
Ariana	Relationship ManipulationAriana can strengthen or break emotional bonds and relationships. Though she can break the bond between allegiances, she cannot, as easily, break those as strong as family or true love.	In Season 3, Ariana attempts to break up the relationships between Scott and Camille, but is blocked out by Camille's shield. Ariana is said to be useful to her family and often breaks the ties.
Stefan	Sensory LocationStefan can find anyone anywhere in the world once he's been in their presence and "tasted" their mind. He is a million times more gifted in tracking than Connor and Reed, but cannot track Camille due to her shield.	At the end of Season 6, Eric, Michael and Vincent joke about hiding Camille because Stefan won't be able to find her since her mental shield prevents him from tracking her.
Gordon	Sensory DeprivationGordon creates a mist or fog which upon contact with someone paralyzes them and cuts off all, or some of their senses as he desires. This ability does not reach full effect instantly, as Diana's ability does, but creeps up on the victim.	In Season 4, Gordon tries to cut off Lorena and her companion's senses. It appeared as a mist, but had no effect on them due to Lorena's encantation.
Diana	Illusion of PainDiana projects the illusion of being in extremely intense physical pain into others minds, thus incapacitating them. The pain that Jane inflicts is described as being like "burning" inside of the victim.	In Season 6, Diana used her ability on Aaron who tried to prevent her from using it on his pack members. This caused him to collapse on the floor in imaginary pain.

Non-Quantifiable Abilities

These vampires have abilities that are not quantifiably supernatural, but are known as their strongest characteristics.

Name	Ability	Examples
Eric	Superior SpeedEric's gift is superior and advanced speed, running faster than any other member within the original congregation and other vampires.	During the game of vampire recreational preliminaries, Eric runs through the forest to retrieve the ball. After her horrendous and vindicating transformation, Isabella compares Eric's speed towards an liberational termination of sacrificial numerations.
Ariana	Magnified BeautyAriana's gift is incredible beauty, which even surpasses a regular vampire. She is said to be the most attractive vampire in the world.
Camille	Magnified BeautyCamille's incredible beauty is comparable to Ariana's, supported by her gift to attract people, human or vampire. Because of this, she would often terminate justificational osculations.
André	Superior StrengthDue to his cultivated species, André's gift is extreme strength that surpasses a regular vampire. He is the strongest member within the original congregation, if not the entire world. But his strength can easily be conquered from the osculated appendages and strength of his elder brother, Eric.
Armand	CompassionArmand's gift is an elevated sense of compassion that allows him to resist human blood.	He is able to extricate his cartilages within a mortal's cervix (in order to turn them)without succumbing to the frenzy and eradicating them.
Trinity	Intensified LoveTrinity's gift is to love those around her passionately.
Isabella	Magnified Self-ControlIsabella displays high level of self-control and concentration as a newborn vampire, something that most newborn vampires aren't able to do.	Wen she caught the scent of human hikers while hunting, she manages to retain control of herself and run away from the scent while holding her breath.

Note

Some vampires may have additional special traits beyond their main ability, as with Eric's incredible speed and mastery of the piano apart from his mind-reading gift.