When a vampire turns a mortal into a vampire, that first vampire is generally referred to as the second vampire’s maker. In other words, vampire makers make more vampires. The act of making a vampire involves drinking all the blood in a mortal, leaving the mortal on the point of death, and then allowing the mortal to drink the vampire’s blood. Once that happens, the mortal undergoes a transformation process, from life to death and from death to undeath, since a vampire is essentially an undead being. That maker has made not only a vampire but also his or her fledgling (child), whom they are often obliged to teach the ways of blood drinkers, although that is not always the case: Magnus makes Lestat and then kills himself before Lestat can learn about his new vampire nature.
Most vampires have the strength and ability to make other vampires, but there are exceptions to this rule. For example, Lestat has the power to make the six-year-old girl Claudia a vampire, but because of her diminutive proportions, Claudia, eternally trapped in a child’s body, does not have the strength to make a vampire fledgling of her own and depends on Louis to make for her a surrogate fledgling, Madeleine.
One basic problem with making a vampire is that the telepathic connection between maker and fledgling is severed. This happens when Marius makes Pandora into a vampire. He enjoys a delightful telepathic connection with her while she is mortal, but at the moment of her making, they can no longer read each other’s thoughts. In another case, Marius turns Armand’s mortal wards, Benji and Sybelle, into vampires as a gift to Armand, so that the telepathic connection among Armand, Benji, and Sybelle cannot be broken.
In the ancient tradition of the Children of Satan, who live by the Great Laws, it is forbidden for a fledgling to kill his or her maker. The punishment for this is death, as when Louis and Claudia attempt to kill their maker, Lestat. Santiago and other vampires at the Théâtre des Vampires punish them by killing Claudia and imprisoning Louis.
In all cases, makers give mortals not simply immortal life and bloodlust but also the great power in their blood. For instance, when Maharet turns Jesse into a vampire, she gives to her fledgling all the ancient power in her six-thousand-year-old blood, whereas if Jesse had been made by Louis, she would have been much weaker. As it stands, although Jesse is two hundred years younger than Louis, once Maharet makes her a vampire, Jesse becomes much more powerful than Louis.
Makers appear in Interview with the Vampire (1976), The Vampire Lestat (1985), The Queen of the Damned (1988), and every Vampire Chronicle. For more perspectives on makers in the Vampire Chronicles, read the Alphabettery entries Benji Mahmoud, Jesse, Lestat de Lioncourt, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Maharet, Sybelle, and Théâtre des Vampires.