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| “ | By becoming a vampire, I obtained eternal life. That was my goal. It was my revenge against God! We have risked our lives and fought for the sake of God… But God mercilessly stole away the one I loved most… When all I ever wished for was Elisabetha's safety!! If limited life is God's decree, then I shall defy it!! And within that eternity, I shall curse Him forevermore! | „ |
| ~ Mathias Cronqvist forsaking God and becoming Count Dracula. |
| “ | It is not by my own power that I am resurrected. It is the greed of humanity which calls me back. And thus, by might, I rule. Might becomes the one and only justice in this world! | „ |
| ~ Dracula to Richter Belmont in Rondo of Blood. |
| “ | What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk… have at you! | „ |
| ~ Dracula's most iconic quote, taken from the French writer André Malraux. |
Count Vlad Țepeș Dracula, better known simply as Dracula, is the main antagonist of the Castlevania franchise.
Once a human crusader named Mathias Cronqvist, Dracula turned against God and allied with Death after the loss of his beloved wife, Elisabetha. By manipulating his best friend, Leon Belmont, into killing a powerful vampire named Walter Bernhard. From there, Mathias was able to become a vampire and claim Walter's power for himself, thus becoming Count Dracula, the Dark Lord and emissary of God's antithesis, Chaos.
Centuries later, Dracula met a woman named Lisa and fell in love once more. The two married and had a son named Adrian, only for Lisa to be wrongfully accused of witchcraft and executed by the Wallachian church. Ever since, Dracula has returned time and time again, summoning vast armies of monsters from his lair, the titular Castlevania, intent on conquering the world and destroying all of humanity to avenge Lisa's death. However, his plans are continuously opposed and foiled by his archenemies, the Belmont Clan and his own son, now known as Alucard.
In Japanese, he is primarily voiced by Norio Wakamoto; however, he has also been voiced by Hiroya Ishimaru in Rondo of Blood, Nobuhiko Kazama in Lament of Innocence, Charles zi Britannia in Code Geass, Mahito Ōba in Curse of Darkness, and Jouji Nakata in Judgment. In English, he was voiced by Michael Guinn in Symphony of the Night and Castlevania 64, Crispin Freeman in Lament of Innocence and Dead by Daylight, Patrick Seitz from The Dracula X Chronicles to Harmony of Despair, and Vinay Murthy in Grimoire of Souls.
Appearance[]
Dracula's Bela Lugosi style appearance in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
Dracula looks like a typical vampire, with chalk-white skin and bright red eyes, clad in luxurious medieval attire and a long, high-collared, red-linen black cape. However, depictions vary from game to game.
In the early games, he resembles Bela Lugosi's portrayal in the famous 1931 Dracula film; clad in the "classical" tuxedo, clean-shaven, with short, sleeked black hair in a widow's peak.
However, Symphony of the Night set his aspect as an old aristocrat twice as tall as an adult, with long grey hair, a thin moustache and a goatee (making him heavily resemblant of his original book counterpart), wearing an ornate coat, a sash belt, and an ascot tie. He sometimes appears in ornate robes, or younger-looking.
Dracula almost always becomes a gigantic demon, most often resembling a humanoid monster with horns and red bat-like wings. His most common transformation resembles a dark blue (or greenish) draconic gargoyle, with wings attached to his arms, which was also seen looking like a black, bat-like demon. But he has also appeared as a Mesopotamian-looking idol, an insectoid dragon, or an immense purple devil.
Throughout the series, he has turned into a giant bat, an immense vampiric face, a gigantic and devilish goat head, or turned his cape into a repellent mash of demonic figures with skull-like heads and gigantic arms and wings.
Personality[]
| “ | However, what exactly makes me a savage? If my existence itself makes me savage, is that not the result of this world? Are not all the people of this age savages as well? If so, I should be a shining beacon for what this world wants me to be: the one to lead them. Do you not agree? | „ |
| ~ Dracula expressing his misanthropy to Annette in Rondo of Blood. |
Dracula is scornful, hateful, cruel and ruthless, driven to cover the world in darkness and swarm it with demons. Yet he is refined, erudite and poised, with perfect manners and imposing presence. He is very polite, discussing motives with foes, though usually laced with sarcasm and dark humour. In some games however, he only shows scathing spite and arrogant taunts.
He is very cordial to his vassals and generous to those who resurrect him, valuing their loyalty and granting their wishes if they pledge obedience. Yet, he is harsh, unforgiving to traitors, fully willing to use or to sacrifice his followers as he sees fit or kill anyone he dislikes on the spot, and to abduct and vampirize women who stroke his fancy at the drop of a hat.
Finally, he is highly intelligent and cunning: acting through unwitting pawns and proxies, predicting people's actions, devising smoke-screens or false tracks to confuse his foes, or back-ups to plague them even if they win.
Dracula in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
Losing his first wife made Dracula reject God as a cruel, ungrateful tyrant. He vowed to curse him forever and steal the world away from him. Losing his second wife made him loathe humanity, dismissing them as greedy, petty, false and unworthy (while he is worse) and yearning to crush them.
He states that everyone, heroes included, bears darkness in their hearts and should stop denying their own selfish desires. He states that there is no freedom, people being willing slaves to their religions which he likens to his harvest of souls. Finally, he blames humanity's wickedness for all of his returns, stating that they desire and deserve the darkness he spreads.
Dracula often taunts his foes, telling them that they struggle in vain and that he will always return despite their best effort. He is quite rightfully confident in his might, but he keeps underestimating the Belmont and Belnades clan when they always prevail. However, his softer side resurfaces when facing his son or remembering his wives. Despite their feud, he bears no ill will towards Alucard, and he has once expressed regret over his evil ways after being reminded of Lisa's last wish. Later games hint that even he is tired of the endless cycle and longs for respite.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | You should bear that in mind. God is unable to help the souls of those terminated by my hand! | „ |
| ~ Dracula |
Dracula as seen in Castlevania Chronicles.
As expected from the adversary of God, Dracula is frighteningly powerful. It has been speculated that the longer he is around, the younger and mightier he becomes. When he unleashes his full might, he becomes a huge demon and his power skyrockets.
His main abilities are the power of Dominance (absorbing the souls and powers of his victims), Mimicry (copying other peoples' power), and Hellfire (conjuring and controlling fire from Hell itself).
Dracula has unmatched vampiric powers, with overwhelming yet seldom used strength, speed, agility and fighting skills. He can hypnotize victims to sleep in a blink, turn into a wolf, one or a swarm of bats, mist or a poison cloud, or his cape into wings. He drains blood at contact and manipulates it, compels beast hordes, and commands the weather and elements.
He mastered science and alchemy as a human, and he is now the source of dark magic. He can perceive people's presence and links to others, or thoughts all around the world; project himself everywhere; teleport people; possess things and people; bestow abilities; among many others…
A rejuvenated Dracula in Castlevania 64.
Dracula holds total control over Evil. He rules Hell and draws power from the Chaotic Realm where human malice gathers. Every wicked being will naturally obey him, his mere presence driving normal people to madness and corrupting his surroundings.
He can radiate pure darkness or evil energy, increase people's malevolence, twist landscapes and people into monstrosities, steal, compel souls, and control ghastly or spiritual energy.
He spreads all manners of plagues and disasters, from natural ones to magical like downpours of blood. He can curse entire countries, withering the land and corrupting its denizens, even after his death. He can warp reality, bend space and causality; cast endless night over his domain; drag foes into hellish planes; create and transform entire places, such as his sentient, demonic castle he fully controls, once creating four huge magical castles out of nowhere.
Not only Dracula "lives" forever, but only striking his head or his chest with special sacred weapons can harm him. Even worse, he always resurrects after a century, when human malice reaches its peak. Not counting people reviving him through Dark Rituals.
Other Media[]
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow[]
- Main article: Dracula (Lords of Shadow)
Netflix Series[]
- Main article: Dracula (Netflix's Castlevania)
Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy[]
- Main article: Dracula (Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy)
Dead by Daylight[]
Dracula was introduced as a playable Killer in the 33th Chapter in the asymmetric multiplayer game Dead by Daylight, being simply called "The Dark Lord" in-game.
Quotes[]
Symphony of the Night[]
| “ | Richter: Dracula. Die now, and leave this world! You'll never belong here! Dracula: Oh, but this world invited me. Your own kind called me forth with praise and tribute. |
„ |
| ~ Dracula and Richter |
| “ | BEHOLD, MY TRUE FORM, AND DESPAIR!!! | „ |
| ~ Dracula revealing his true form. |
| “ | Lisa, forgive me. Farewell, my son… | „ |
| ~ Dracula's last words after being defeated by Alucard. |
Lament of Innocence[]
| “ | Mathias: I needed a powerful vampire's soul. That is all. Leon: Are you saying you used me? Mathias: Not just you. Your betrothed, Sara, Rinaldo, and Walter… I used all of you. I never thought it would go so well, though. |
„ |
| ~ Mathias revealing the extent of his manipulations to Leon. |
Order of Ecclesia[]
| “ | Dracula: Such a lovely maiden… are you the one to whom I owe this great pleasure? Tell me your desire, child. Is it eternal life you seek? A place by my side? | „ |
| ~ Dracula, welcoming a potential servant only to be rebuked. |
| “ | Bah ha ha ha ha ha! What an amusing woman! Come to me, child; I haven't danced in ages! | „ |
| ~ Dracula greeting Shanoa before their battle. |
Trivia[]
- He is based on Bram Stoker's character, based in turn on the infamous Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia.
- His tragic downfall was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
- In Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Dracula's appearance resembles that of a grim reaper instead of a vampire.
- According to his bio in Castlevania Judgment, Dracula is approximately 220 centimeters (7 feet 3 inches) tall. Unfortunately, his height has constantly fluctuated in nearly every game, so this is mostly inconsistent. Regardless, he's always appeared at least twice as tall as his opponents.
- In Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Dracula casts a shadow in his castle stage, which is weird because vampires are traditionally unable to cast a shadow or a refection in a mirror, as they lack a soul.
- It is possible that this is a reference to the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, where Count Dracula had a living shadow.
- However, though hacking and changing the stage into Wii Fit Studio, Dracula does cast a refection in the stage's background mirror; this is due to the fact that developers never thought people would hack the game.
External Links[]
- Dracula on the Castlevania Wiki
- Dracula on the Super Smash Bros. Wiki
- Dracula on the Dead by Daylight Wiki
- Dracula on Wikipedia
[]
 Villains
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Followers of Darkness Dark Lords Others | ||
 Villains
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Blaster Master | ||
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