Sire

Sires are vampires who have created, or 'sired', another vampire. Almost all vampires have a sire (save for born vampires) and the relationship between sire and progeny can vary.

Creating Vampires
For a vampire to be considered a sire, it seems they must be the one to feed from and kill their progeny. Even if the progeny has been fed on by other vampires previously, only the vampire that ultimately kills the progeny, resulting in them rising from the dead, is considered that vampire's sire. For example, Bianca Olivier repeatedly fed on Lucas Ross, but in the end it was Charity More who took his life, and so Charity, not Bianca, is Lucas's sire. Most, though not all, sires take it upon themselves to teach their progeny how to survive as vampires.

Born vampires do not have sires; instead, they become full vampires by taking a human life. However, in Hourglass, Charity attempts to drain and kill Bianca to make her a full vampire, which suggests it could be possible for a born vampire to be sired.

Special Abilities
Sires have the special ability to enter the dreams of those they have sired, allowing them to manipulate the dreams and communicate with their progeny. This requires a great deal of energy and requires that the sire also be sleeping; when Charity repeatedly enters Lucas's dreams in Afterlife, Balthazar More is surprised at the frequency she does this and theories she must be sleeping almost constantly. However, John Redgrave didn't seem to have this problem when he entered Balthazar's dream, though Redgrave only did this once, rather than multiple times; he was also substantially older and more powerful than Charity. The ability to enter dreams can be done over long distances and apparently does do not require that the sire know where their progeny is; it is implied that siring a vampire creates a special bond between the two. Balthazar states that usually, entering a progeny's dreams is an affectionate gesture; however, it can be twisted and used to frighten or torment a progeny. Progeny apparently cannot willingly block or allow entrance of their dreams to their sire, allowing some more sinister sires to easily take advantage of their bond.

Sire Bond
The relationship between sire and progeny can be complex and varies in its exact nature. It is indicated that many vampires have very positive, or at least amicable relationships with their sires. Sometimes, the relationship between a sire and progeny is like that between a parent and child. In other cases, the relationship can become romantic in nature, as demonstrated by Celia Olivier, who fell in love with her sire Adrian and ultimately married him.

Other sires have far less positive relationships with their progeny; most of John Redgrave's progenies, in particular Balthazar, seem to despise him or merely tolerate him, likely due to his cruelty and domineering nature, as well as the fact he never gave them any choice in the matter. Redgrave views his progeny as subordinates and expects complete loyalty from them; he kills Lorenzo for his defiance without a second thought and tries to kill Balthazar too. Balthazar, in turn, has tried repeatedly to kill his sire and Constantia is also revealed to have been plotting against him. Redgrave tends to rather abusive towards his progeny, not unlike an abusive parent.

Balthazar has a love-hate relationship with his progeny, Charity, who both loves him as her brother, and resents him for making her a vampire. Charity and Lucas have a very negative relationship; she turned him solely to cause suffering to him and his friends, and regularly manipulates his dreams. Mrs Bethany seems to have no relationship whatsoever with her sire, who only turned her at her request, as he found it amusing that a Black Cross hunter would beg to be made the very thing she despised.

It is unknown what happens to the bond between sire and progeny if a vampire is made human again; however, as the person is no longer a vampire, is seems likely that the bond between them is severed. Presumably, the same thing were to happen should one of them die.

Known Sires

 * John Redgrave (sired Constantia, Lorenzo, Balthazar and presumably many others)
 * Balthazar More (sired Charity)
 * Charity More (sired Lucas Ross)
 * Unknown vampire (sired Mrs Bethany)
 * Adrian Olivier (sired Celia)

Etymology
The term sire typically refers to the male parent of an animal. In vampire fiction, it is often used to describe a vampire who creates another vampire (as it is in the Evernight series); however, most of the time no distinction is made between a male vampire who creates another, and a female vampire. In some works, different terms, such as 'creator' or 'maker' are used instead. Sire is also an archaic term of address for a member of royalty or nobility.