Augustine Vampire refers to a vampire that has been a subject to the many experiments carried out on vampires by the Augustine society. It also means a Vampire that feeds on their own kind when they're injected with the Ripper Compound. This kind of vampire was introduced in Season Five.
Damon Salvatore was the latest Augustine vampire following Jesse, up until Gone Girl when Elena Gilbert became an Augustine Vampire due to Katherine , who possessed Elena, injecting the Ripper Compound on herself so Elena would be affected as she knew she was going to be removed from her body.
It is revealed by Wes Maxfield in No Exit that Damon is his Subject Zero after being injected with the Ripper Compound, which is what Elena was going to be injected with and become, before she was saved by Stefan.
In No Exit, it appears that Damon is able to keep himself in control as long as he feeds every 8 hours on vampire blood, any more extended period of time will result in Damon becoming rabid and have no control over his urges and will feed on any vampire he can find.
Damon is the first vampire to be injected with the Ripper Compound, Wes calls Damon, his Subject Zero/ Patient Zero.
Elena becomes an enhanced Augustine Ripper after being injected with a new serum involving werewolf toxin.
A human being should be turned into a vampire by the typical procedure, then there are two ways to turn a normal vampire into an Augustine Vampire.
The first method involves selective feeding of particular types of blood which seem to affect both their psychology and physiology, increasing their strength and driving them to feed on vampire blood. The process takes a few days to weeks to complete.
The second method is much faster, and is simply injecting a vampire with the Ripper Compound, and that will make a vampire thirst for the blood of other vampires.
History
Whitmore's experiments
In The Cell, Damon tells Elena about Dr. Whitmore experimenting on him in the fifties. It was during his time there that he met Lorenzo, the two became friends and came up with a plan to escape from the Augustine society. Every year Dr. Whitmore hosted a party where the guests drank the blood of his experiments, if a vampire was strong enough they would be able to escape. However this wouldn't be easy as the vampires were given very little blood, just enough to keep them alive, so Enzo gave Damon his ration in addition to Damon's own every day for a year and Damon grew strong again. On the night of the party Damon was able to escape but a fire was started and the bars of Enzo's cage where lined with vervain so Damon had to turn off his emotions and leave Enzo behind to burn. It is revealed years later that Enzo survived.
Maxfield's experiments
Jesse has transitioned into a vampire and is being held and starved by Professor Maxfield for experimentation.
In Monster's Ball, Maxfield runs some experiments on Jesse who has completed the transition to vampire but has not fed for three days. Jesse continuously questions his immense hunger throughout Maxfield's observations. Maxfield comments that Jesse is a "perfect candidate".
In Dead Man on Campus, Jesse is able to escape from Maxfield and attacks his roommate Aaron due to his heightened senses. Caroline and Elena promise to teach him to make use of his abilities, starting with healing Aaron. As he and Caroline dance, he finds himself being urged to feed on her. He then confronts Dr. Maxfield as to why he wants to "feed on the girl that I like?". Maxfield explains that he was able to "modify" his physiology so that humans won't be his prey. Jesse attacks Damon but as Damon remarks he is stronger due to his age, Jesse proves him wrong and begins to feed on him. Jesse is ultimately killed by Elena in an attempt to save Damon. Caroline is saddened by his death as she and Elena promised to help him.
In Total Eclipse of the Heart, Damon Salvatore is injected with the Ripper Compound and then Feeds on Joey (another Test subject) to the point where he feeds so hard he rips his head clean off in just a matter of seconds. He is the only known Augustine Vampire in existance due to Jesse Being killed by Elena. Damon may have the ability to control his Augustine Vampire urges around those he has strong feelings for such as Stefan, Elena and Enzo. The episode ends as Damon stares mencingly at Enzo, Both realizing Damon feeds on his own kind.
Damon as ripper
In No Exit, Enzo has been turning people into Vampires for Damon to feed on as Enzo's calculated that Damon needs to feed on vampires blood every 8 hours otherwise Damon will become rabid and feed on whatever vampire he can find. They turn a Human and then when he has transitioned, Damon feeds and then rips the vampires head off. They're then trapped in the house by Wes and The Travellers, Wes then has one more test to do, which is seeing how long his Subject Zero aka Damon can last without vampire blood before feeing on those he cares about, as Enzo is trapped with Damon. Enzo proceeds to chain Damon to a chair so that he does'nt feed on Enzo. As Enzo calls Stefan and Katherine in Elena's body, Wes then appears and shoots Enzo so that he can see how his Subject Zero fairs with being chained up and how much stronger his urge is than Jesse's.
Damon easily breaks free from his chains in a matter of seconds which suprises Wes, Damon then attacks Enzo, but he is able to knock Damon down but Damon instantly gets back up to attack Enzo. He then feeds on Enzo and does'nt stop until The Travellers then increase the acidity in Enzo's blood which makes Damon throw-up his blood, Damon then shouts at Enzo to leave so Damon does'nt kill him. Later on Damon is seen looking severely depressed and upset after having to force his last friends to leave him, Stefan and Katherine then arrive, to which Damon seems angered by this as he doesn't want to feed on them. When Stefan tells Damon he's not leaving him, Damon then displays his Augustine Vampire appearance to scare them off to no effect as Stefan says 'I'm not scared of you Damon'. Katherine then enters and tempts Damon to feed on her by cutting her hand, though Damon is able to resist the urge for a long time, he eventualy gives in and he begins to feed on Katherine, Stefan attempts to stop him, but to no avail. Katherine then kicks Stefan a stake to kill Damon, though Stefan doesn't consider killing Damon an option and then cuts his arm with a piece of glass to lure Damon away and then snaps Damon's neck.
InGone Girl, as a final act of revenge against her Doppleganger Elenafor having the life that Katherine should've had, she injects Elena's body with a werewolf venom enhanced version of the Ripper Compound. Wes developed this version from the venom he extracted from Nadia's blood who had been biten by Tyler Lockwood in No Exit. According to Wes this enhanced version would be more lethal to vampires than the original he injected Damon with.
Katherine injects the Ripper Virus into Elena's body when she possessed her.
In While You Were Sleeping, Damon and Elena are both given a antidote for their particular versions of the Ripper Virus. The antidote was made by Wes who developed it by Enzo letting him experiment on him from No Exit until sometime before his death in Gone Girl. After Wes' death the Traveler's took possession of all his and the Augustine vampire research. Thus the Travelers have both the Ripper Virus and the antidote for it.
Physiology
Augustine vampires possess the same physiology as regular vampires, though they have a hunger for vampire blood and appear to be strong for vampires their age. The urge to feed on other Vampires appears to be so strong that it affects their personality when they feed, this is seen in Total Eclipse of the Heart, when Damon becomes an Augustine Vampire, as when he feeds on Joey he no longer seems to retain any of his personality, this is because the Ripper Compound causes the subject to become a Ripper. When they feel the urge to feed on other vampires. For example when Damon feeds on Joey, Damon says nothing when Enzo tells him to stop as he loses all of his persona and the ability to communicate when he feeds.
Unlike normal vampires who's veins only grow around their eyes, an Augustine Vampire's veins grow down to their cheeks. This is most likely due to their increased bloodlust.
An Augustine Vampire apparently cannot feed upon itself or on another Augustine Vampire, otherwise it would have been an easy matter to statiate their bloodlust by feeding upon themselves.
Powers and Abilities
They possesses the standard powers of a vampire although to a heightened degree although not all Augustine Vampires were given the enhancements.
Jesse overpowers Damon.
Super Strength - Augustine vampires, even those who are just days old in terms of vampire age, are physically much stronger than humans and most vampires and grow stronger with time. They can toss a fully grown human across a room with great speed and force. Their strength is also more powerful then werewolves that are not in wolf form. Despite being far younger, Jesse was able to overpower Damon Salvatore as result of being genetically enhanced by Dr. Maxfield. It seems that the source of their superior strength is that they feed on vampire blood. It is unknown how they would fare against a hybrid, a transformed werewolf, a werewolf with a moonlight ring, or an Original vampire. Elena, a newly turned Augustine strength itself is much more stronger than when she was a normal vampire.
Super Speed - Augustine vampires possess the same speed as average vampires; able to accelerate their movements to cover short distances in an instant, faster than the human eye can see. When running across long distances, they appear as vibrating blurs of motion.
Emotional Control - The supernatural ability to control and manipulate the emotions of one's self, and can turn on and off emotions and humanity.
Mind Compulsion - Vampires have the ability to control minds, plague people's dreams, and alter/erase human memories.
Dream Manipulation - Vampires can control dreams and subconscious. The vampires can produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming. Other effects of this ability is the distortion of reality and trapping people in their dreams.
Damon's heightened senses
Heightened Senses - Vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight and smell that far exceed those of humans and werewolves.
Immortality - A vampire stops aging once turned. Upon their transformation, vampires then on become immune to all conventional illness, disease, virus and infection.
Healing Factor - Vampires heal extremely quickly, but still feel the pain of a wound before it heals. Vampires can snap their bones back into place after being broken and have been seen to fully recover from gunshots, stab wounds, and torso impalement. The only injury that cannot be healed on its own is a werewolf bite.Human blood has also known to make the healing process faster.
True Face - A Vampire's True Face is the appearance they are hiding under their normal human face. When a Vampire's True Face is revealed, the whites of their eyes turn blood red, dark veins appear under their eyes, and their canine teeth, and in the case of some vampires, their canine teeth along with their lateral incisors or first premolar, extend into razor-sharp fangs. A Vampire's True Face can be revealed whenever they wish, but it will appear against their will whenever they are: Aroused by the scent of blood, or are feeling intense emotions (Anger, lust, sadness etc.). A Vampire's fangs are extremely sharp which gives them the ability to tear into almost any substance (Such as flesh) and tear off parts of the body, such as limbs or heads. A Vampire's True Face will appear for the first time soon after they complete the transition.
Sire Bond - Although rare among them, Sire Bonds can be formed when a human is turned with the blood of the vampire whom they had strong human feelings for.
Telepathy - An advanced form of mind control that allows vampires to mentally communicate over a vast distance. Damon and Elijah have been shown to mentally communicate with others from a distance sending distress calls and mental images. Klaus has also been shown sharing his memories with others.
Illusions - As seen with Lexi, vampires have the power to create illusions and trick the minds of others into seeing/feeling things.
Enhanced Emotions - Vampires experience emotions more powerfully than humans. Emotions like love, joy, and happiness are intensified for vampires allowing them to live life more intensly. This ability allows vampires to feel emotions at their peak regardless of their age. Original Vampires have been shown experiencing emotions as powerfully today as they did 1,000 years ago. Conversely sadness, depression, guilt, fear and anger are also amplified causeing most vampires to "turn off" their emotions.
Super Agility - Vampires possess superhuman agility. They have shown that they can move, jump very high, climb, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion. Vampires can jump with their super speed too. Vampires that feed on human blood can jump much higher than vampires that feed on animal blood. These abilities increase with age.
Weaknesses
Decapitation - The act of dismembering or removing the head of a vampire will result in permanent death.
Fire or Sunlight - The act of exposing a vampire to fire or sunlight for a long period will result in permanent death. A vampire's body, even in death, is highly flammable and will combust instantly.
Jesse after he is staked by Elena.
Wood - Wounding a vampire with a wooden weapon will cause the vampire to become severely weak. Stabbing a vampire through the heart with a wooden stake will result in permanent death. Elena was able to kill Jesse by driving a sharp piece of wood into his heart.
Vervain - The act of exposing or ingesting a vampire with vervain causes a vampire to become severely feverish and weak. Also, If a vampire's skin is exposed to vervain, it can result in burning them. Also vampires can't compel anyone on vervain.
Heart Extraction - The act of extracting or removing the heart of a vampire will result in permanent death.
Invitation - Vampires cannot enter a home without an invitation by the owner.
Magic - Vampires are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft including the creation of harmful magical objects.
Desiccation - Vampires who abstain from blood for extended amounts of time will eventually desiccate into mummification.
Vampire Bloodline - If an Original vampire dies, all vampires descended from their bloodline will slowly perish.
Werewolf Bite - The bite of a werewolf is extremely lethal to vampires. It will cause them to hallucinate, grow severely weak and go rabid until it kills them. Klaus' hybrid blood can cure the bite.
Broken Neck - Breaking a vampires neck is a common way to subdue one, it will not kill them but it will keep them unconscious for several hours and when they are still unconscious they won't have a pulse and appear to be dead.
The Cure - If a vampire takes the cure it will become human again. The blood of last doppelgangers can be used in a spell to undo the magic of vampirism, which reverts the vampires to the state of death before their transition.
White Oak Ash Dagger - It is rumored If a vampire daggers an Original vampire, they will die while the Original is neutralized.
Gilbert Device - Invented by Johnathan Gilbert (Enchanted by Emily Bennett), the Device was a weapon designed to emit a high-frequency noise that could only be heard by vampires and werewolves.
Doppelganger Blood Magic - If a doppelgangers blood is used in the Magic Purification Spell, all vampires' abilities will be stripped from them little by little and then they will be brought back to the last stage of their human life: Death. They will then relive the way they died when they transitioned into vampirism.
The Devil's Star - The Devil's star can cause a 1000 cuts into another's body.
Animal Blood - As revealed in season 1, animal blood weakens a vampire's strength.
Physical Trauma - Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds and broken bones will cause a vampire pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely within seconds. It seems physical trauma can hurt them anywhere on the body (ex-eye gauging, drowning).
Sage (Herb): As demonstrated by Esther in Dangerous Liaisons , a witch using sage in some sort of spell can negate a Vampire's super hearing in a certain area.
Known Augustine Vampires
Vampire
Description
Status
Age
Lorenzo
Enzo became an experimental Augustine Vampire and was experimented on in the 50's, he was locked up and experimented for 70 years and tortured for those years and killed Megan King while has was in captivity, Enzo is now free and he is no longer an experimental Augustine Vampire.
Elena, became an Augustine Vampire in the episode Gone Girl as she was injected with an improved version of the Ripper Compound her Boyfriend Damon was injected with the original compound. Elena later becomes cured.
Jesse is college student that was fed blood by Caroline Forbes to heal his injures and was killed by Wes Maxfield in order to turn him into a vampire and study him.
Augustine vampires are comparable to the Reapers depicted in Blade II. Like Reapers, Augustine vampires are a race of genetically engineered "super-vampires" that possess superior strength, increased bloodlust, and who feed on both humans and vampires.
This new species is similar to the species in the second book from the Salvation trilogy of the books. In the second book Unspoken genetic vampires serve as the main antagonists.
Damon is the first main character to become an Augustine Vampire, this is most likely because his character suits the effects of the Ripper Compound.
Augustine Vampires were probably created in the likeness of Mikael. Presumably, their apparent superiority in strength to normal vampires is rooted on the fact that they feed on their own kind, and Mikael, who was recognized as the strongest Vampires in existence prior to his demise, exclusively fed on Vampires.
They appear to have much greater strength as displayed when Jesse a few week old vampire was able to beat Damon with ease.
Damon is Wes's Subject Zero.
Damon is the first vampire to be injected with the Ripper Compound, as Jesse was conditioned to feed on vampires using Enzo's blood.
Elena is the second main character to become an Augustine Vampire.
Elena and Damon are cured of the Ripper virus inWhile You Were Sleeping. They are no longer Augustine Vampires.
