It's weird they all seem to go mad in similar ways, mind.
That's a result of cross-generational purposeful trauma and treatment thanks to the Lahmians. They really put some elbow grease into ruining the unlives of the Strigoi, managing to uncompromisingly shit on just about 100% of all Strigoi for a really, really long time. No other vampire group would let them in, and would attack them or kick them away, and the Lahmians would make sure every human group knew about them when they tried to infiltrate or just be in hiding. Most Strigoi are older generations already, because they very rarely spread their bloodline further. But
all Strigoi were utterly ruined by the loss of Strigos but could have recovered...if the other Bloodlines didn't go all in on fucking them over continually for centuries.
The Strigoi became so terrified of exposure and extermination that they were forced to live in dark, secret places, far from Humans and civilisation, and they fed only on indigents and hermits, lepers and Ghouls, or most usually, vermin and the already dead. In a century, the great kingdom of Strigos was no more, and its once great princes turned to yelping dogs, hiding in the shadows and stealing scraps.
But it is also noted that the Strigoi come from Ushoran. And like all the Bloodlines, they take inherent traits from the 1st Gen. And that Ushoran was never as good at leadership as Vashanesh/Vlad, nor as skilled as Abhorash, but that he was straight up incredibly powerful even as a mortal. Pure hardcore strength.
It is the lifestyle, though, that is the main thing:
The lifestyle that forced them into the dark corners of the world has also driven them deeper and deeper into their own dark natures. The more they dwell in the shadows and the bowels of the earth, the more they come to resemble shades and beasts. All pretence of their humanity has fallen away, leaving only the Vampire hunger and the pure essence of the predator, shaping their flesh to better hunt, kill, and feed. Their bodies curve and bend, their claws become harder and sharper than steel, their fangs grow longer and far more deadly. The most distorted fall onto all fours, their legs and spine twisted, and spikes protrude from their backs. Their ears become pointed like a bat's, and their mouths extend out like that of some sort of daemonic wolf. As time passes, they no longer resemble anything remotely Human; instead, theyare creatures of some deformed nightmare. Eventually, their mind also follows suit, slipping slowly away from their aristocratic delusions, until all that is left is the vague memory of absolute power and the limitless rage at having lost it.
^ That right there is the main sticking point for the Strigoi. It is, I think, entirely possible that if sufficiently hounded and ruined to the sheer inhumanely petty and determined effort of Neferata against Ushoran's Bloodline, that other vampires of other bloodlines could reach this state. If, that is, they managed to stay alive that long. It's the darkest expression of the vampiric predatory abomination which Neferata created, and it took many hard decades to centuries of being hounded literally every second out of any stretch of civilization which reduced the Strigoi and began to overall traumatize and affect their entire Bloodline as a group into being what they are now. At this point, its even noted that when the Strigoi grant the Kiss, which is very rare, those newly sired Strigoi literally immediately start shifting/changing/degenerating just like their Sires into their malformed states.
That's how badly Neferata screwed them over.
What Vampire faction does Luther Harkon fall under?
By Bloodline, he's very technically a Blood Dragon, I suppose. I don't think Abhorash would have changed him, but his brother is possible.
Either way, it doesn't matter. Aside from the Strigoi...and the Necrarchs...and the Jade-Blooded...and the Mahtmasi...
Okay, for the Blood Dragons, Von Carsteins, and Lahmians, there's a lot more crossover between them in terms of temperament and abilities. They have to actively strive to lean one way or the other, however, for that to really mean anything. The majority of the vampire captains under Harkon, for instance, would be declared 'Von Carstein' by bloodline, with the necromancy and raising and leadership and what not going by their usual personalities and behaviors and skill-sets. Harkon, too, even without his whole non-magic field thing going on, was definitely a lot closer to a Von Carstein in temperament/behavior/abilities/methods than a Blood Dragon or Lahmian or any of the others. And so on.
I mean, if you really, really go hardcore into magic and stop feeding and just do the Dhar thing, I imagine given long enough any vampire could slowly devolve into Necrarch-y, but its a bit wiggly.
To reference Night's Dark Masters again:
The blood of Vampires contains more than just strength and hunger. The skills and powers of the First Children are passed down into each generation, giving great strength and ancient magical ability in all of their descendants. Blood Gifts encompass the various powers a mortal gains upon transforming into a Vampire. Vampires of particular bloodlines are more likely to gain some Blood Gifts over others, but the lines have been muddied since the time of the first seven Vampires, and thus, traits of different lines have a tendency to manifest in unexpected places.
So it is definitely not impossible for vampires nominally of one bloodline to find themselves leaning towards another.
