A vampire hunter is someone who specializes in finding and destroying vampires and sometimes other creatures of dark fantasy as well.
There is no direct evidence that vampire hunters actually existed during the times when vampire lore was common among the Slavic and Romanian people. However, like other mythic or folkloric creatures, the vampire hunter has found popularity in fiction and popular culture. It is commonly believed that some con-artists had found a way to make a profitable business out of pretending to be vampire hunters, although exactly how this might have been done is almost entirely a matter of speculation.
The most widely known example of a vampire hunter is Abraham Van Helsing of the novel Dracula and in other works of fiction adapting or modifying that work. Other more recent figures include Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the television show and movie of the same name, BloodRayne from the eponymous video game and its sequel, as well as the Belmont family of the Castlevania videogame series.
As well as being knowledgable about vampire lore, vampire hunters in fiction are often armed with an eclectic mix of items and weapons.
While predominantly depicted as human, examples of other types of vampire hunters also exist. Dhampiric figures, having a mix of human and vampire blood, are a popular form. Examples of this include D of Vampire Hunter D, Donovan Baine of Darkstalkers, Blade of the Blade series of comic books and movies, and Alucard of the Castlevania videogame series. Moroii, the living, breathing offspring of two undead vampires, are said to make even better vampire hunters than Dhampirs, though in folklore are believed to be much rarer, as are their appearences in both folklore and fiction.
The anime series Hellsing features an entire organization dedicated to fighting vampires and supposedly founded by Abraham van Helsing. Its two greatest assets are full-blooded vampires bound to serve the Hellsing Organization's master, Sir Integra Hellsing.
The image of the vampire hunter is often a mysterious and dramatic avenging hero, an eccentric extremist, or sometimes a bit of both. A hunter may be a heroic figure, a lonesome avenger, or sometimes even a bounty hunter-style character. Vampire hunters have also popularly been depicted as hunting various creatures other than vampires as well.
There is also a board game from Milton Bradley called Vampire Hunters.