The "proper" vampire hasn't been... [i]Ever[/i]. Vlad the Impaler was when vampires really became a thing and the only notable traits for "Vladpyre" was that he drank blood and mysteriously vanished from his coffin. An attribute that was surprising about olden day mythos vampires as they really started to develop from Vlad's legendarily vicious streak is that the vampire could supposedly only get into your house if you opened the door and invited them in. Yes, you could defeat the malevolent monsters by simply closing a door in their face.

Obviously nobody thinks of that when they think of "classic" vampires. They think of Bram Stoker's Dracula. They think of Interview with the Vampire. Hell they might even think of the Blade trilogy.

The real truth to vampires is that anything goes at this point, honestly. The only "universal" traits people seem to give much of a damn for is that they don't like sunlight, have sharp fangs to bite you with, and have an apparently unlimited storage capacity for blood instead of drinking until their eyeballs pop out of their sockets from the blood pressure. Just do what you want with the vampire. Make it anything you want. My only personal request is don't make the fuckers sparkle because... [i]Really?[/i]

EDIT

Although I must add, I honestly think the best modern interpretation of "legitimate" vampires is Vampire: The Masquerade. The clans and their politics and so on in the modern world is fantastic. I love all the powers and how it comes together to form a very strong mythos for them.