Barnabas is the best. He didn't usually take blood to kill. Just to stay aliveÂ
I totally agree with this. Barnabas didn't ask to become a vampire, he just became one through a bad twist of fate. He was a reluctant vampire, filled with self-loathing. Even in the black and white episodes before we knew more about what had made him this way, you saw glimpses of how much he loathed what he was.
Runner-up: I loved Angelique as a vampire, I loved the delicious irony that she should suffer the same fate she had condemned Barnabas to. I also love her scenes with Barnabas once she puts the bite into him. Really awesome acting on both Lara's and Jonathan's part.
Tom made a creepy vampire but the scenes between him and Julia never really did anything for me. Whereas Angelique and Barnabas had a long and involving history together, Tom was someone Julia hardly knew. JMO
Dirk made a far more interesting vampire than he did as a human, I have to say! LOL