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Eli is a child vampire that is centuries-old in both the novel and original film.

 Let The Right One In (2008 film)[]

In Let the Right One In Eli moves in next door to Oskar in the apartment complex he lives in, and the two eventually become very good friends. Eli can only survive by consuming human blood to live, and she also becomes ill and pukes when she eats or drinks anything else like human food. When she is hungry, her hunger puts her in physical pain. Eli also possess an immunity to the cold; this allows her to sometimes be barefoot when she goes out in the snow. It also makes climbing easy for her. If the character were exposed to the sun, she would be burned up and could eventually be burned to the point of bursting into flames. She also cannot enter both a home or room unless verbal permission is obtained from the individual whose house or room it is to do so (i.e. "you can come in") or else Eli will bleed abundantly. Eli also possess the power of flight as well as the inhuman strength.

In the novel, it explains that Eli is a centuries-old vampire whom is stuck in the body of a child as she was turned when young. The origin of the condition is only made clear in the novel, where it states that Eli was a boy who was mutilated by vampires to turn him into a vampire. This however is absent completely from the movie; however, it is referenced briefly where in a scene, Oskar catchers a glimpse of Eli's scarred genitalia in the movie. The movie ultimately does not depict the character's gender and keeps it ambiguous, they achieve this in the scene because they did not explain Eli's scarred genitalia. The 2008 movie directed by Tomas Alfredson, however does have Eli the vampire tell Oskar "I'm not a girl". 

Other Depictions[]

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Chloe Grace Moretz as Abby

Eli's name is changed to "Abby " in the American-funded motion picture Let Me In (2010) andn a four-issue graphic novel associated with the film. She was portrayed by actress Chloe Grace Moretz.

Abby's last name remains unknown, although she says her age is "twelve, more or less" adding later that she has "been twelve for a very long time." In a deleted scene, we see being her attacked and transformed by a vampire. The actress claims she and the director worked out that Abby had been attacked by her vampiric uncle.


The nature of Abby's vampirism is virtually identical to that of Eli's in Let The Right One In. She can only consume fresh human blood and without it, she grows weak, possibly even beginning to decay. Her bite is instantly infectious, which is why she tries to prevent her victims from fully transforming by breaking/snapping their necks, killing them. She is a shape-shifter (including, evidently, the power to grow functional wings), does not feel the cold, and exhibits extraordinary strength. Like some folkloric undead, she has a fascination with puzzles. Unlike Eli,

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Abby's "game face"

however, she seems to have begun to enter puberty when becoming a vampire. Her relationship with the twelve-year-old boy Owen has a distinct quality of flirtatiousness to it. It seems pretty obvious she was born female. She also has what might be called a "game face" like the vampires of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Lost Boys. In this form, she has a very different voice and seems considerably more bestial. In the film and graphic novels, we see her with a caretaker/companion named Thomas, a man well into middle age who seems jealous of her attention towards other young men. Evidence strongly suggests they've been together since he was approximately twelve years old. Their relationship has deteriorated into bitterness, but there remains some real affection at times. Thomas procures blood for Abby by murder. He would be considered a serial killer in this regard. In order to protect her, he

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Abby and Owen

keeps a container of acid with him while hunting. When he is caught, he pours it over his face to make identifying him impossible or at least more difficult. He survives this experience. Abby visits him in the hospital, where Thomas offers his blood to her. She takes it, killing him. His fall from the tenth floor afterwards, presumably, precludes his becoming a vampire.

Abby forms an emotional bond very much like love at this time with the boy Owen, a bullied child who lives in the apartment next door to hers. Ultimately, when he is nearly killed by four bullies in his school's swimming pool one night, she bursts in and slaughters them all. He is seen on a train with her at the story's end, tapping Morse code to each other through the traveling chest in which she hides from the sun. The implication is that he has taken Thomas' place.

When exposed to direct sunlight, Abby burns. She also cannot enter a private residence without someone's verbal permission. Public places, like the lobby of a hospital or a school gym evidently don't count. Whether she needs a distinct invitation every time or just for each entryway is unclear. If she enters without verbal permission, she begins to shake and bleed out from her ears, eyes and skin pores. She herself does not understand this process.

Relationships (Spoilers)[]

Hakam - Depicted as seemingly a father figure/guardian figure to Eli in the 2008 film.[1] He works to protect her from harm, keep the secret of her true nature hidden, and all the while also killing to fulfill her thirst for blood. He cares for her to the point where he was willing to physically harm himself so that he and Eli could not be followed and so that if he got caught (which he did), he would not be traced back to her[2]. The source book depiction of Hakam depicts him as a pedophile and while there are traces of this implication in the 2008 film, it is not directly mentioned. At the end of his life, he let Eli drink his blood and let himself drop to his death because of the care he felt for Eli. Eli was depicted to care for Hakam in return, but the fact that she seemed unaffected by Hakam's death, which was after she developed her relationship with Oskar, implies that she only really cared for him for the services he provided her[3].

Oskar - They developed a very friendly relationship over the course of all depictions of her character. She helps Oskar find the courage to stand up for himself against those who were bullying him and causing him harm. Oskar develops a strong connection to Eli because of the positive impact she had on him. It was later revealed that he developed romantic feelings for Eli and when he asks if she'd want to 'go steady', she accepts. This is after Hakam's death and it is depicted in the 2008 film that Oskar and Eli are both happy with their plans to be together, it is implied that Eli is only using Oskar in the same manner as Hakam, as a means of fulfilling her thirst.[4] Like many depictions of vampires since the 19th Century (such as "Lord Ruthven" in John Polidori's The Vampyre[5]), Eli may just be using her personality to manipulate Oskar. Meanwhile, Oskar cares for Eli to the point where, even after finding out and being disgusted by the fact that Eli kills people to survive, he is willing to take Hakam's place in killing for her.

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