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There are four groups of vampires named in the Dresdenverse:

  1. White Court: they clearly have souls, they're basically humans possessed by a demon
  2. Red Court: unknown
  3. Black Court: fairly sure they are soulless
  4. Jade Court: unknown, only mentioned once

I can't decide about the Red Court – I suspect they might have souls, but there is one reference to what happens if the Reds were to turn a wizard (e.g., Harry), they would have access to all of that wizard's abilities and knowledge. But why? If the person still had a soul, presumably they could resist/fight. It's possible they meant by using torture, but that wouldn't require turning them into a vampire, nor would it really get the full use of their abilities. (Assuming full Red Court, not the pre-feeding ones, obviously they still have souls). It could also be the Red King had enough mind-control of them, to make them "willing" allies, not sure.

And I haven't read anything in-series about the Jade Court, other than their being one-time allies of the White Council, which is hard to deduce much from.

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  • @Radhil, yes, I meant pre-feeding version by "half-turned", I can correct that. But do you have any evidence they became soulless after that? Obviously they physically transformed, but was that it?
    – John C
    Commented May 12, 2020 at 20:05

2 Answers 2

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Dresden discusses who has souls and who doesn't several times in the context of soulgazes. We have on-page proof that Red Court vamps can't be soulgazed and that White Court vamps can be. I assume that Black Court cannot be as they're essentially dead, but can't find a direct reference in the texts I have digitally. Jade Court is mysterious and unknown.

Outside of vampires, Fae and Demons do not have souls. Werewolves and fallen-angel possessed humans do. Wolf-weres do not.

Bianca is Red Court and soulless

I ignored it, meeting Bianca’s gaze as I came level with her. Vampires don’t have souls. She didn’t have to fear my gaze.

Butcher, Jim. Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3) (p. 309). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Chalk up the blanket statement that Vampires don't have souls to an overgeneralization by an unreliable narrator, because White Court vamps do appear to have souls:

Thomas is White Court and ensouled

It was only the second time I’d ever seen a soulgaze happen to someone else. There was an instant where both of them locked their eyes on each other’s. Molly’s eyes widened suddenly, like a frightened doe’s, and she jerked in a sharp breath. She stared at him with her chin twisting to one side, as if she were trying—and failing—to look away. Thomas went unnaturally still, and though his eyes also widened, it reminded me more of a cat crouching down in anticipation, just before pouncing on its prey. Molly’s back arched slightly and a soft moan escaped her. Her eyes filled with tears. “God,” she said. “God. No. No, you’re beautiful. God, you hurt so much, need so much. . . . Let me help you. . . .” She fumbled for his hand.

“What just happened?” “You soulgazed Thomas. You both lost perspective. He nearly ate you.”

Butcher, Jim. Changes (The Dresden Files, Book 12) (p. 258). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Mavra is Black Court and unclear The state of her soul isn't explicitly stated, but she's dead. I can read this as either Harry avoiding her eyes to avoid a horrific soulgaze or to avoid vampiric powers.

Her dead man’s eyes looked down at me, and I had an abrupt understanding of why Michael had called her “it.” Mavra wasn’t a woman anymore. Whatever she was, she wasn’t a person. Not like I understood people, in any case. Those eyes pulled at mine, pulled at me with a kind of horrid fascination, the same sickly attraction that makes you want to see what’s under the blanket in the morgue, to turn over the dead animal and see the corruption beneath. I fought and kept my eyes away from hers. “Come, wizard,” Mavra whispered, her face utterly without expression. “Let us test one another, thou and I.” I

Butcher, Jim. The Dresden Files Collection 1-6 (The Dresden Files Box-Set) . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Non Vampires

There were only two kinds of people whose eyes I could meet for more than a second or two: the people who had already met my eyes in a soulgaze were one kind; inhuman beings from the Nevernever were the other.

Butcher, Jim. The Dresden Files Collection 1-6 (The Dresden Files Box-Set) . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

the fae have no souls to gaze

Butcher, Jim. The Dresden Files Collection 1-6 (The Dresden Files Box-Set) . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Demons, however, are a different matter. Demons aren’t people. They don’t have the problem of having a soul, and they don’t worry about silly things like good and evil, or right and wrong.

Butcher, Jim. The Dresden Files Collection 1-6 (The Dresden Files Box-Set) . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

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  • Apparently we can add Kraken to the list, after Harry soul-gazed one in Battle Grounds.
    – John C
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 22:12
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The soul issue is a matter of opinion and would require defining what a soul is in the Dresden verse among other things to answer

I will address the implied question about the Red Court

Having a soul does not make one selfless being turned means your former allies will try their best to kill you, perhaps a few individuals would allow themselves to die rather than become a monster but only a few, most would join their new faction wholeheartedly.

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