Darkstalkers, known in Japan and Asia as Vampire (, Vanpaia?) and in some European releases as Vampire Hunter, is a series of 2D fighting games produced by Capcom during the mid-1990s for the CPS II arcade hardware. The series is notable for its cast of characters based on well-known fictional monsters (hence its Japanese title, Vampire) and introduced many of the concepts used in later Capcom fighting games, including the use of sixteen-bit color animation sprites later employed in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

There have been five arcade games in the series with a few console ports produced as well. The first in the series, fully titled Darkstalkers - The Night Warriors or Vampire - The Night Warriors in Japan and released in 1994, features ten playable characters (Demitri Maximoff, Jon Talbain, Victor von Gerdenheim, Lord Raptor, Morrigan Aensland, Anakaris, Felicia, Oboro Bishamon, Rikuo and Sasquatch) and two non-playable boss characters (Huitzil and Pyron) as the final opponents in the single-player mode. The game features the same gameplay system Capcom developed for the Street Fighter II series, but with several new gameplay features such as Air Blocking, Crouch Walking and Chain Combos.

The game featured a Special meter similar to the "Super Combo" gauge" in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which the player could fill up to perform a super powered special attack. Unlike the Super Combo gauge in Super Turbo, the Special in Darkstalkers gradually drains unless the player performs their super move, preventing players from preserving their super moves for later use. The second game in the series, fully titled Night Warriors - Darkstalkers' Revenge or Vampire Hunter - Darkstalkers' Revenge ( , Vanpaia Hantā?) in Japan and released in 1995, introduces several gameplay changes to the game.

The game introduces two new playable characters, Donovan Baine and Hsien-Ko, "Dark Hunters" who were out to hunt the other Darkstalkers in the game (hence the Japanese title, Vampire Hunter). The two bosses from the first game, Huitzil and Pyron, are now playable characters as well. The main change in Night Warriors is the ability for the player to stock up on their special gauge, allowing them to store more than one special gauge and preserve them through the entire match.

Two types of Super Moves are featured in the game: "ES Specials", which requires a portion of the Special gauge, and "EX Specials", which require an entire stock of the Special gauge to perform. Player can choose between a "Normal" gameplay style or one that offers Auto-Blocking.

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