

In Vampire Knight, if a vampire hunter family gives birth to twins, one will
be weak and the other will be strong.

According to
[vampireknight.wikia.com](http://vampireknight.wikia.com/wiki/Vampire_Hunter#Vampire_Hunter_Curse):

> For the pair to become powerful hunters, the stronger one has to devour the
> other and become one.

How much of the weaker twin does the stronger twin devour? Does the stronger
one drink the blood of the weaker one or actually eat their flesh. Is this
ever explained in canon or by the author?


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2013-02-22T14:20:02.427
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2013-04-06T13:40:54.587
2013-02-23T03:28:56.743
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question
vampire-knight
How much of their twin does the other twin need to eat?


The particular issue of quantity consumed is never addressed, in-universe or
out. The twin does literally devour the flesh (and, consequently, much of the
blood) of the "victim". However, since this happens during the pregnancy, the
fetus is likely autonomous (for the most part), and thus would consume it in
its entirety.

### Background

This phenomenon is known in real life as "vanishing twin syndrome"
([Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_twin) \- **warning:
graphic medical images** ). There are cases of both partial and complete
consumptions.

Consequently, because of the real-life nature of this issue, it has been seen
throughout history. Most primitive cultures believed that twins meant
something spiritually, even in terms of magic and righteousness.[[ref
1]](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/801409) Some thought fraternal twins
were the sign of adultery, and identical twins were the sign of divine
paternity.[[ref 2, pg.1, paragraph
3]](http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/22324/0000769.pdf;jsessionid=87F1C301E9196741B7A767AC25CA38E2?sequence=1)
Often, in older societies with high infant mortality, only one twin would even
survive the birth. To explain this to the surviving twin, explanations of
magic and myth were often used.[[ref 2, pg. 2, paragraph
2]](http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/22324/0000769.pdf;jsessionid=87F1C301E9196741B7A767AC25CA38E2?sequence=1)

### Why this is important

I know what you're thinking: "Does this relate to the question?" It does,
because it somewhat shows the roots of this concept in _Vampire Knight_. Twins
were often lost before they were born, and so legends came to be about why and
how this happened. One such legend is that two identical twins are, in fact,
one being which has separated. In order to regain their full strength, they
must be reunited—one must be absorbed.

### Summary

So, _how much_ does the strong twin have to eat to become whole? According to
the legends, it only has to be enough to kill the weaker twin, so that the
life force can be absorbed. Let's say it took a small bite from the arm of its
victim—that would likely not kill it, and would do nothing overall. But
eating, say, the head or heart (or the entire body), would be sufficient for
the victim to die. Assuming these legends are the roots of the concept in
_Vampire Knight_ , the same logic would apply.


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answer