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This Villain was Headlined on March, 2022.

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NOTE: This article is about the original version of Count Orlok. For information on the 1979, 2023 and 2024 remakes, please click these three here.
Villain Overview

Your wife has a beautiful neck.
~ Count Orlok's most famous quote.

Count Orlok, also known as Nosferatu, is the titular main antagonist of the 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

He is a reclusive vampire operating from a decrepit Romanian castle who spreads plagues among villages over the course of centuries, resulting in the deaths and transformations of many, until his undoing during a plague transmission in the distant fictional German town of Wisborg. He is based on Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's original novel.

Orlok is one of the most iconic monsters of classic horror, rivaling Count Dracula, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolf Man. In this regard, he is also notable for being more faithful in many ways to the traditional representation of vampires in folklore, being a hideous demonic creature rather than an attractive gentleman.

He was portrayed by the late Max Schreck.

Appearance[]

Orlok appears as a tall, bald vampire with pointed ears, white irises, thick eyebrows, sharp rat-like teeth, and long claws. His attire consists of a long dark hunting coat with dark pants and shoes. He also goes in disguise with a bulky overcoat and a feathered hat.

Personality[]

Count Orlok is a cruel, ruthless, and merciless vampire. He delights in causing chaos, usually through spreading plagues around Europe. He also has an obsession for Ellen’s neck, possibly because he could sense her blood as being delightful. Orlok regularly associates himself with rats, but it’s unclear if he truly cares for them or views them as tools to spread his plagues.

Biography[]

Background[]

From the seed of Belial sprang the vampire Nosferatu who liveth and feedeth on human bloode.
~ The Book of Vampires.

Not much is known about Orlok's past, though it is implied that Orlok is an evil spirit spawned and created from the supernatural seed of Belial, the lieutenant of Satan. At some time, Orlok became a vampire, a creepy, demonic creature that feeds on blood. Orlok resides inside a decaying castle in a lost corner of Carpathia, where he stalks the surrounding villages and terrorizes the inhabitants over the centuries by plagues. As a result, few ventured out into the dark of night during his reign of terror.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror[]

Hutter meets Orlok

Orlok meeting Thomas Hutter

Count Orlok first poses as a nobleman from the Carpathian Mountains who has a desire to move to the city of Wisborg in Germany. He lives in a ruined castle high in the mountains and local townsfolk refuse to go anywhere near this castle, save for the film's protagonist, the young Thomas Hutter, the assistant of a Wisborg estate agent, who travels to his castle to show properties for sale in Wisborg on the behalf of his boss, Knock, who in truth has been brainwashed by Orlok himself and is trying to help his master's plan. After his initial coach driver refuses to take him over to the castle, a disguised Orlok takes him over and negotiates terms to buy the previously mentioned property. Hutter accidentally cuts himself when cutting bread, and Orlok's vampiric urges spring, resulting in him biting Hutter's neck.

Orlok rising

Orlok rising from his coffin

Hutter is oblivious that it was Orlok that bit him, and wrongly believes the bite mark to be that of mosquitoes, until eventually coming to the realization from a book about vampires. Hutter's wife Ellen senses that Thomas is in danger via telepathy and intervenes, resulting in Orlok being unable to touch Hutter any further.

Soon Orlok conceals himself in one of his soil-filled coffins and is loaded onto a ship bound for Wisborg. Onboard the ship, he kills every crew member with his plague via rat carriers until only the captain and his first mate remain. Later when the first mate goes to the cargo hold to investigate, Count Orlok rises from his coffin, terrifying the first mate who jumps overboard in fear. The captain ties himself to the wheel of the ship when Count Orlok creeps up on him and kills him.

Nosferatu 1384612i

Orlok's death

Upon his arrival in Wisborg, he spreads the plague via the rat carriers, which kills many. Although it is heavily implied that the plague actually isn't real, and that it is Orlok himself who is causing the deaths by feasting on the residents. The local authorities declare a quarantine as a result of the plague coupled with mass hysteria among its denizens. Hutter and Ellen, present in Wisborg, become hopeless, but the latter realizes that she can exploit Orlok's urges in order to kill him. Orlok stalks and attacks Hutter's young wife, Ellen, in her room, but during the pleasure of drinking her blood, he is caught unaware by the rays of the rising sun. When he heard the crowing of a rooster, he suddenly realized his own flaw and was caught in the sunlight, which burns him away in a cloud of fire and smoke, killing him and ending his reign of terror.

Notable Victims[]

  • Ellen Hutter (posthumously) - Bitten on the throat. This distraction results in his death from sunlight exposure.

Legacy[]

Mortal terror reigned!
Sickness now, then horrible death!
Only Lucy knew the truth,
And at her window...
Nosferatu!
~ Lyrics from Blue Öyster Cult's song Nosferatu, dedicated to the film and its villain.

Count Orlok was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's famous Count Dracula; however, because the studio is unable to obtain the rights to Dracula, they opted for making their own character. In the end, the two vampires would become very different beings, as Dracula would become known for his gentlemanly charm and cunning, while Count Orlok would come to embody the much more demonic, diseased side of vampire lore.

Ironically, Count Orlok is actually much more faithful to true vampire mythology than Dracula, except for the deathly weakness to sunlight, which was added to the film and later became a staple of vampire fiction. In spite of all this, Orlok himself has grown to become almost as iconic as Dracula himself.

Count Orlok makes many recurring cameos and appearances in the show SpongeBob SquarePants, with his most famous appearance being his debut in the episode "Graveyard Shift", trying to scare SpongeBob and Squidward by flicking the light switch on and off, being referenced as "Nosferatu". The other characters, not scared but amused by this, shame him before he smiles. He also makes a few cameos in The Simpsons.

Characters inspired by Count Orlok[]

Barlow-nalder-portrait

Kurt Barlow in Salem's Lot (1979 miniseries)

Count Orlok has inspired an entire subspecies of vampire also known as Nosferatus (in honor of the film). These beings tend to be more monstrous-looking and vicious than the more human-like vampires seen in other fiction. They are also normally more demonic than normal vampires as well, midway between a vampire and a mutant.

  • The Master - This Buffy villain was a prime example of a Nosferatu in popular culture and was obviously inspired by Count Orlok.
  • Olrox - Count Orlok's Castlevania counterpart, who looks the same and has the same name (albeit mistakenly romanized) and shares it's original counterpart's similarities with Dracula.
  • Freddy Krueger - Although it seems strange at first, the slasher icon Freddy Krueger was inspired by Count Orlok, most likely the talon-like hands.
  • Max Schreck - A fictionalization of the actor (portrayed by movie star William DeFoe) who played Orlok, amalgamated with Orlok himself, in the feature film Shadow Of The Vampire, in which the fact that Schreck is a real vampire is kept from the other crew members by Nosferatu Director FW Murnau.
  • Max Shreck - A non vampiric example of a character based on Orlok, or to be specific Orlok's actor of the same name.
  • Baron Vain - This villain from The Modifyers bears a very similar appearance to Orlok, and also shares a similar title (as both Count and Baron are aristocratic titles).
  • Kurt Barlow - An evil vampire created by famous horror author Stephen King, Barlow was a Vampire that originated from the Prim and became a Vampire. Though appearing as a Austrian nobleman in both the original novel and the 2004 two-part miniseries adaptation, the iconic two-part miniseries 1979 adaptation shows him as having a striking resemblance to Count Orlok, portrayed by Reggie Nadler. Barlow retains an Orlok-like appearance in the 2024 Salem's Lot feature film adaptation, portrayed by Alexander Ward, who also played Orlok's SpongeBob SquarePants counterpart.

Quotes[]

I have waited for you - I have waited too long - Now it is almost midnight. The servants are sleeping!
~ Count Orlok upon meeting Hutter.
You've hurt yourself... The precious blood.
~ Count Orlok trying to suck Hutter's blood from the latter's fingers.
Should we not spend a little time together, my very dear friend? Sunrise is far away and during the day I have to sleep, my friend, I will be in a very deep sleep indeed...
~ Count Orlok to Hutter, foreshadowing his true nature.
I'm going to buy the house... The beautiful, deserted house opposite yours...
~ Count Orlok to Hutter during the signing and his last lines in the film.

Trivia[]

Creation[]

OrloktheLordofEvil

Count Orlok

  • Count Orlok was largely conceived by Prana Film founder and occultist artist Albin Grau, who was also responsible for the look and spirit of Nosferatu (1922), including the sets, costumes, storyboards and promotional materials. Grau served in the German army during the First World War on the Serbian front. According to him, he was inspired to shoot Nosferatu after meeting a farmer during the Serbian campaign, who stated that his father was a vampire. After the war, Grau turned to film director Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, also known as F. W. Murnau to direct his movie. Grau may have been modeled Orlok on the corpses he saw in the trenches of the Great War.[1]
  • Several other references to the war have been noticed in Count Orlok's association with rats, (a recurring niusance in the trenches), and the character suddenly appearing in thick smoke (which has been linked to the poison gas used during the front). The actor who portrayed Orlok, Max Schreck, also served in the trenches of the Great War with the German army. His military experience during the war have been thought to have influenced his performance in the film. In The Nosferatu Story: The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors and Its Enduring Legacy, some authors have compared Orlok's appearance to stereotypical caricatures of Jewish people from the time in which the film was produced.[1]
  • Nosferatu's plot is very similar to Bram Stoker novel Dracula, and in fact follow so closely to the novel that Stoker's window Florence Balcombe sued the film makers, and the judge evenu rule in her favor. However, there are some key differences between the novel and the 1922 film. Unlike Count Dracula, who's bite transforms his victims into vampires, Orlok simply kill's his victims to feast on their blood. In the end, Orlok is killed by sunlight, unlike Dracula, who is only weakened by it. Orlok was the first character in fiction to depict vampires as being fatally vulnerable to sunlight. Previous works had shown them being uncomfortable with sunlight, but not mortally susceptible to it.[1]

Notes[]

  • Along with Dr. Caligari and Doctor Mabuse, Count Orlok is regarded as one of the most popular villains of silent era films.
  • The imagery of Count Orlok from Nosferatu appears prominently in the music video presentation of the collaboration between David Bowie and Queen, "Under Pressure". Interestingly, Bowie himself once played a vampire in the feature film The Hunger.
  • In some prints of Nosferatu, Count Orlok was given back the name of the character he was based and the other characters were given back the names of their Bram Stoker equivalent.
  • In the 1979 remake of Nosferatu, some of the characters reverted to their original Stoker names, including Dracula.
  • Director Murnau and producer Grau gave Orlok in the film a demonic lineage and an occult origin: Orlok is the creation of Belial, one of the Satanic arch demons. Belial in Psalm 41:8 - 10 is also associated with pestilence, with Orlok in film being the very manifestation of contagion, rats pouring out of his coffins onto the streets of Wisborg, spreading plague. Orlok's link to Belial is also highly significant because Belial is 'one of the demons traditionally summoned by Goetic magicians' - making Orlok someone who practiced black magic before becoming a vampire.
  • He was directly referenced in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Graveyard Shift", where in its ending, he's busted by the titular character and his friends for repeatedly switching the lights on and off.

External Links[]

References[]

Navigation[]

           Dracula logo Villains

Books
Dracula: Count Dracula | R.M. Renfield | Brides of Dracula
Dracul: Count Dracula
Dracula the Undead: Elizabeth Bathory

Movies
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror: Count Orlok | Knock
Dracula (1931): Count Dracula | Brides of Dracula | R.M. Renfield
Son of Dracula: Count Alucard
Dracula (1958): Count Dracula | The Bride | Lucy Westenra
Dracula vs. Frankenstein: Groton
Nosferatu the Vampyre: Count Dracula
Dracula (1992): Count Dracula | Brides of Dracula | Lucy Westenra | R.M. Renfield | Ottomans
Dracula: Dead and Loving It: Dracula | R.M. Renfield
Dracula 2000: Count Dracula | Brides of Dracula (Lucy)
Shadow of the Vampire: Max Schreck
Van Helsing: Count Dracula | Brides of Dracula (Aleera, Marishka & Verona) | Vampires | Igor | Dwergi | Velkan Valerious | Grey Werewolf | Victor Frankenstein | Mr. Hyde
The Batman vs. Dracula: Dracula | Penguin | Joker
Dracula Untold: Mehmed II | Master Vampire
The Invitation: Walter Deville | Brides of Dracula (Lucy and Viktoria) | Mr. Field
Renfield: R.M. Renfield | Dracula | Teddy Lobo | Bellafrancesca Lobo
The Last Voyage of the Demeter: Dracula
Nosferatu (2023): Count Orlok
Abigail: Abigail Lazar | Frank | Kristof Lazar | Lambert | Sammy/Jessica
Nosferatu (2024): Count Orlok | Herr Knock

TV
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Dracula | The Three Sisters
Penny Dreadful: Dracula
Dracula (2013 series): Count Dracula | R.M. Renfield | Lucy Westenra
Van Helsing: Dracula | Abaddon | B'ah | Sam | Brides of Dracula (Bathory, Michaela, Willem) | The Sisterhood
Dracula (2020 series): Dracula | Elena | Lord Ruthven | Frank Renfield

Video Games
Nosferatu (1994): Nosferatu | Frankenstein's monsters | Zombies | Gargoyles | Ghosts | Robots | Werewolf | Apemen | Ghoul | Mud Elemental | Rock Golem

See Also
The Wolf Man Villains | Frankenstein Villains | Castlevania Villains

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