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Seras is a Dhampir, half-vamp half-HUMAN, so she could see herself in the mirror, depending on which lore Hirano chose. Serbian lore says that can't but Bulgarian lore doesn't say so we assume they can.

the other guy? The Dandyman I guess? which part was that? I know Alucard uses his shadow as decoys to distract him. But which part are you talking about?

Seras is not a Damphir.

In folklore and legend there are many different types of vampires. They have a large range of abilities and appearance and they always vary depending on their strength, age and the way they were made.

Sera’s reflection scene was done for comic relief, an anime trick that never truly happens.

Alucard’s special, he's an original vampire, he’s old and he’s had the help of Hellsing’s research. Alucard can do almost anything because he’s so powerful, so I wouldn’t be surprised with him breaking a few rules.

I’d probably go into much detail later, when my head starts working again.

There has never been a set of standards that vampire must meet in order to be considered vampires. The vampires in Hirano's Hellsing are based primarily on the vampires in Bram Stoker's Dracula which, in turn, were based on vampires in Eastern European folklore. However, both Hirano and Bram Stoker took liberties in their portrayals of vampires.

If we are to understand the role of the mirror in the legend of the vampire, we must first examine the mirror itself. There are many superstitions surrounding the mirror. The most famous is that breaking a mirror will bring 7 years of bad luck. There is another that claims that if a mirror falls from a wall and breaks by itself, someone in that household will soon die. There is another that states that someone seeing their reflection in a room where someone has recently died will soon die themselves.

In rural communities in Romania, when a family member lay dying of certain ailments, mirrors were turned to face the wall so that, upon death, the spirit would rise unimpeded to Heaven and that the deceased would not be tempted to pursue immortality by entering the world of reflections. In the world of reflections, it was believed, one can live for all eternity. But the price of such an eternal life is eternal misery, since those who choose to enter the world of reflections can never enter Heaven and, therefore, can never find that perfect peace and spiritual contentment which only God can give.

It is usually said that vampires do not cast reflections in mirrors because mirrors reflect people's souls and vampires, being undead, have no souls. It is often said that vampires do not cast shadows for the same reason. It is sometimes said that vampire do not cast reflections in mirrors because many mirrors are made using silver, which repels vampires and other creatures of the night.

In the Hellsing OVA, vampires have cast both reflections and shadows. In OVA I, Seras casts a reflection in a handheld mirror. In OVA II, Luke does not cast a reflection in a mirror on a wall, but does cast a reflection in Alucard's sunglasses and on Alucard's wineglass. It is believed that Seras casts a reflection because she is only half-vampire and still retains many of her human traits. Luke's reflection is a little harder to explain. It has been suggested that Luke's reflection is absent in the mirror because it contains silver and that it is present in the sunglasses and the wineglass because they do not. It is also possible that, considering Alucard's ability of shadow manipulation, a vampire's shadow is an extension of themselves.

In the end, I think that, in Hellsing, vampires' reflections and shadows are used for artistic purposes. If you examine every instance that a vampire's reflection or shadow appears, you will notice that it plays an important artistic role.

I don't think so, Shad, I can easily see him doing that as a loophole.

I'd do that sort of thing myself, infact, I am guilty of bending rules...
For instance, of my own OC's has always been a vampire, yet she's broken a number of rules, and I've made loopholes.
I'd say it's really a vital part of writing to leave loopholes, as long as they're ones in your favor.
I leave loopholes everywhere. >_>
<_<

Luke's reflection is absent in the mirror because it looks cool, it shows "Dude, there's a frickin' mirror and he's standing right infront of that and not there.... and now his eyes are glowing red....SWEEEEEEET"

However, it is THERE in the wineglass because it looks cool, as is it there in Alucard's glasses: because EVERYTHING looks cool reflected in Alucard's glasses.
Playing an artistic role is a fancy way of saying: That looks frickin' awesome and way too cool. O_O


Hirano likes things to be cool, and the creators of the OVA's follow this for obvious reasons: 'Cause making things cool is cool, 'cause no matter what, cool is a good thing, so who cares, as long as it's cool everyones happy. xd

Once upon a time Taliesin Jaffe talked about meeting with Hirano.... who didn't seem to care what he did with the english voice cast, as long as it sounded cool.

*In Jan Valentine tone*
...So we cool?.... Dude? *get's hand stomped on*

I think ShadowsHeir has a good point. So many of the vampires in Hellsing are atypical - either synthetic or Alucard (or a vampire made by Alucard) - that it's hard to tell what the rules should be. confused Even the characters usually seem confused. biggrin

How Alucard was altered by the Hellsing family is never elaborated upon, so it cannot be determined which of his abilities are natural and which of his abilities are not. However, it sometimes seems as if all of his abilities are natural. Let's examine exactly what we know Alucard is capable of:

1. Superhuman strength, speed, and senses
2. Hypnosis
3. Creating new vampires
4. Shapeshifting
5. Defying gravity to a certain extent
6. Weather manipulation

All of these abilities originated in Bram Stoker's original novel.

7. Devouring people's lives

This ability also originates in Stoker's novel. It draws upon the ancient belief that "the blood is the life". In Dracula, Renfield says that "I used to fancy that life was a positive and perpetual entity, and that by consuming a multitude of live things, no matter how low in the scale of creation, one might indefinitely prolong life. At times I held the belief so strongly that I actually tried to take human life. [Dr. Seward] here will bear me out that on one occasion I tried to kill him for the purpose of strengthening my vital powers by the assimilation with my own body of his life through the medium of his blood". In Hellsing, every life that a vampire devours becomes one with its own.

8. Regeneration

This ability is common in vampire fiction. However, Hirano takes the ability to regenerate to a whole new level. Hirano's vampires can regenerate from wounds that are typically fatal in vampire fiction, including decapitation. Hirano has linked a vampire's ability to regenerate to a vampire's ability to, literally, devour people's lives.

9. Shadow manipulation
10. Summoning familiars
11 Phasing through solid matter

These abilities are also common in vampire fiction. The ability to phase through solid matter may be a reference to Stoker's novel, in which vampires can "come out from anything or into anything, no matter how close it be bound or even fused up with fire".

12. Apparent immunity to the weaknesses most vampires possess

If the Hellsing family is responsible for any of Alucard's abilities, I think that this is the most likely possibility.




I mentioned this above. As strange as it seems to me, I think that it is the most likely explanation.

Silver was believed to be effective against the creatures of the night, especially vampires and werewolves, probably because of its association with the night and with the moon. Medieval alchemists used the symbol of the crescent moon to denote silver in their alchemical formulas.


Lastly, I think that Alucard's shadow may be a reference to F. F. Coppola's film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was a major source of inspiration for Hirano while he was writing and drawing Hellsing. In the film, Dracula casts a shadow, which often moves about on its own and is even capable of knocking things over.

Remember that, in Bram Stoker's novel, vampires can walk about by day.