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 Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:36 am
Does D have a first name? Despite the current understanding that "D" is the one letter initial for "Dracula", as his father would have used as a signature, I heard a rumor along time ago that D's true first name was Derillian. I read this somewhere back in 2001, but I can't remember the website that I saw this stated. I kind of brushed it off after many sources claimed: 'D, wanting nothing to do with his father save for killing him, refuses to go by his true name. Instead, he shortens it to the first letter.' However this morning I was browsing around the internet and someone who claims to be the translator for the Novels still coming out in English hinted that D's true first name: "Hasn't be revealed yet." Could it be something other then Dracula?
Dracula is not truly Count Dracula's name. We have all come to the understanding that Dracula's true name is Vlad Tepes III "Drăculea - Dracula" (meaning: son of the Devil/Son of the Dragon) from the House of Drăculeşti. The Drăculeşti were one of two major blood rival lines of Wallachian voivodes of the House of Basarab. Drăculeşti & Danesti bloodlines were in constant battle for the throne from the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. Descendents of Drăculeşti would eventually come to dominate the rule of this principality until its unification with Transylvania and Moldavia by Mihai Viteazul in 1600. The legacy of the Drăculeşti began in 1386 with the rule of Mircea cel Bătrân, one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history.
Dracula is a surname acquired through the sacred Order and Knighthood, as Vlad earn the name being the son of Vlad II Dracul or "The Devil/The Dragon". Vlad II received the surname Dracul in 1431, after being inducted into the Order of the Dragon founded by Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, as part of a design to gain political favor for the Catholic Church and to aid in protecting Wallachia against the Ottoman Empire. If Vlad Tepes III did become the vampire known as Dracula then he is merely going by his surname and not by his true name. Possibly because of the diabolical implication to his devilish existence.
Now why would D be named Dracula? Did Vlad name him that? It's true that D is descended from the house of Drăculeşti. So his surname or what today we'd call "Last name" could be shortened to Dracula or D. Since VHD comes out of Japan, where the last name comes first, that would explain why he goes by "D". D will introduce himself by just an initial of his last name, which reveals how private, formal and impersonal he intends to keep himself from the world around him. Possibly why he didn't fall for Carmella's illusion of his Mother in the movie Bloodlust. D's mother would probably never call her son "D", but by his true first name. But what would his first name be? Does he have a first name?
:: Correspondence of Interest ::
[X], [X] Kevin Leahy's email replies!// Translator of Mr. Kikuchi's "Vampire Hunter D" novels being published by Dark Horse Press. // [X] Cathy Krusberg's reply from The Vampire Hunter D Archives at altvampyres.net
[X] D- Armageddon Preview w/ Summary - by Jesse Stuart
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:40 pm
Interesting thought. I always thought that D stood for Dracula. We all know that D hates his father, and I think it is possible that Vlad could have passed this name down to him. Perhaps as a way of never dying himself. I am sure that even vampires know they are never truely immortal, but with another going by his family's name he would go on.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:08 pm
Yeah I have to say that I have always thought that his name was Dracula but because he hated his father he changed it to the first letter, but who really knows? I haven't heard any other rumors but I have thought about his name since the first book.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:23 am
I believe that his surname: "D" is short for Dracula but because Vampire Hunter D was created in Japan, Dracula or D (Last name) comes first when he states his identity to others. If you hate your Father's surname so much all you have to do is change it, but maybe Japan feels differently about that? Why didn't D just change his last name? Why keep the family name if he hates his father so much? He may have reduced the size to disguise it, but why keep it? Maybe deep down inside, D feels a strong sense of pride in knowing that he is not just any Dunpeal and that his Father is the great Vampire King. But really... if he hated the name so much he could have changed it and taken an alias.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:25 pm
True enough but perhaps it has to do with personal honor. I don't know much about japanese culture, but I'll ask my beau and get back to you guys with what he says. He knows alot about Japan and is a huge fan of D, so maybe he has some insight.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:34 pm
Okay okay, I got some of his insight that might help. He said that he doesn't believe that Dracula is what D stands for because he doubts that his father would give him the same name. Instead he believes that D stands for something else, and the reason he shortened it and not changed it is because D uses this as a reminder for what he is. He knows what he is and no matter how much D loathes himself, there is also apart of him that loves what he is. That's why he thinks D kept the first letter of his name instead of just changing it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:31 pm
~Masquerade Of The Night~ Okay okay, I got some of his insight that might help. He said that he doesn't believe that Dracula is what D stands for because he doubts that his father would give him the same name. Instead he believes that D stands for something else, and the reason he shortened it and not changed it is because D uses this as a reminder for what he is. He knows what he is and no matter how much D loathes himself, there is also apart of him that loves what he is. That's why he thinks D kept the first letter of his name instead of just changing it.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:23 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:48 am
Hey twilight, I love your sig!!!
I think that it being what he is sounds plausible but at the same time it would be like he is denieing himself an identity by calling himself what he is instead of his name. That is what I think but at the same time it seems like it could be true. I don't know anymore.
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:49 am
maybe its something stupid like "dumb-a**", thats why he wants people to call him "D"cuz it sounds cooler.
or maybe he has a name like "Susan", or "Mary" and just changed his name to "D" so that people would take him seriously.
i tell ya, if a guy like that came up to me and told me that his name was Susan, i would die laughing.
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Dark Hakuryu Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:41 pm
Hmm. You know, it could just be we haven't learn what D's name means. And as Anime Betty stated, D could just stand for his breed. I'm pretty sure that even if D's father did give D his surname, D wouldn't take it. He does spend a lot of time hunting his dad down, I think, trying to kill him or something. (at least that is what I got so far as D's motivation...) The first book, Left Hand laughs at D when he first introduces himself and calls it Ironic. So, the initial D must stand for something Ironic thus making the Rumor that D stands for Derillian wrong basically. Cool name though.
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:55 pm
I just wanted to share with the Guild a response I received from Cathy Krusberg the WebMistress from The Vampire Hunter D Archives at altvampyres.net in association with VampireHunterD@yahoogroups.com - The oldest and most active VHD e-mail discussion list; for this threads very question...Sent Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:07 pm ~ Anime Betty ~ Does D have a first name? Despite the current understanding that "D" is the one letter initial for "Dracula", as his father would have used as a signature, I heard a rumor along time ago that D's true first name was Derillian. I read this somewhere back in 2001, but I can't remember the website that I saw this stated. I kind of brushed it off after many sources claimed: 'D, wanting nothing to do with his father save for killing him, refuses to go by his true name. Instead, he shortens it to the first letter.' However this morning I was browsing around the internet and someone who claims to be the translator for the Novels still coming out in English hinted that D's true first name: "Hasn't be revealed yet." Could it be something other then Dracula? I don't know where you saw the post you refer to, but it's pretty easy to ascertain whether it was made by the actual translator, Kevin Leahy. (I don't think it's a secret that his online handle is usually some form of matsutaro.) He reads this group, but he may not be able to chime in on this discussion; last I heard he was somewhat overwhelmed with translating the next novel. ~ Anime Betty ~ ...Dracula is not truly Count Dracula's name. We have all come to the understanding that Dracula's true name is Vlad Tepes III "Drăculea - Dracula" (meaning: son of the Devil/Son of the Dragon) from the House of Drăculeşti. I'm cutting this here because I think there is an important distinction to be made. Yes, there are historical Draculas, the most famous of whom is Vlad III of the House of Basarab, also known as Vlad Tepes. HOWEVER -- and this is an important however -- there is very little reason to believe that the Dracula of the Vampire Hunter D universe corresponds one-to-one either with the fictional character Dracula in Bram Stoker's novel (or any work derived from it) OR with the historical figure known as Dracula. It's true that Bram Stoker used the name of a historical character for his vampire, but his chief motive apparently was linguistic rather than historical -- his notes emphasize that "Dracula in the Wallachian language means Devil." This tidbit, and everything else Stoker knew about historical Draculas, comes from a single source: William Wilkinson's _An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia_ (published 1820). However, Stoker did not attempt to represent the life of a particular historical character as background for the count: he cobbled together obscure details from various sources to make a background for a fictional character who is apparently an ethnic Hungarian. (At the time of Stoker's writing, Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the count reflects to himself as Szekely, and the Szeklers were Hungarians; and the Count initially -- unthinkingly -- addresses his guest as "Harker Jonathan," putting the patronymic first -- as is done in the Hungarian language.) So we have a Hungarian Count Dracula who was not associated with any historical character until (IIRC) the 1950s, when an article in _Notes and Queries_ made the connection with Vlad III. He was not popularly associated with a historical character until the 1970s, when Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu's book _In Search of Dracula_ was published. Nothing in Stoker's notes (which I believe were recently published in book form) indicates that Stoker was trying to represent the details of a historical character's life: he chose a name that had an ominous meaning and threw together some exotic historical background details for flavor. (Sources: Cliver Leatherdale, _Dracula Unearthed_, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, UK: Desert Island Books, 1998, pp. 66-69; Elizabeth Miller, _Dracula: Sense and Nonsense_, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, UK: Desert Island Books, 2000, pp. 142-143, 208-209.) ~ Anime Betty ~ Now why would D be named Dracula? Did Vlad name him that? It's true that D is descended from the house of Drăculeşti. So his surname or what today we'd call "Last name" could be shortened to Dracula or D. Since VHD comes out of Japan, where the last name comes first, that would explain why he goes by "D". D will introduce himself by just an initial of his last name, which reveals how private, formal and impersonal he intends to keep himself from the world around him. Possibly why he didn't fall for Carmella's illusion of his Mother in the movie Bloodlust. D's mother would probably never call her son "D", but by his true first name. But what would his first name be? Does he have a first name? Is the VHD universe Dracula even named Vlad? We have no reason to think so, just as we have no reason to believe this about Stoker's character Dracula. It's true that the novels are written in Japanese and were originally published in Japan, but the culture portrayed in the novels is distinctly Western. The name that probably most clearly indicates this is Greco Roman (possibly inspired by the Greco-Roman dance briefly mentioned in the movie _Lust for a Vampire_): given name Greco, family name Roman. On the other hand, if D's father really is a Hungarian, well, yeah, his family name would come first. ~ Anime Betty ~ I believe that his surname: "D" is short for Dracula but because Vampire Hunter D was created in Japan, Dracula or D (Last name) comes first when he states his identity to others. If you hate your Father's surname so much all you have to do is change it, but maybe Japan feels differently about that? Why didn't D just change his last name? Why keep the family name if he hates his father so much? He may have reduced the size to disguise it, but why keep it? Maybe deep down inside, D feels a strong sense of pride in knowing that he is not just any Dunpeal and that his Father is the great Vampire King. But really... if he hated the name so much he could have changed it and taken an alias. There's an awful lot we simply don't know, and given the heavily Western flavor of the books, I'd be reluctant to attribute it to Japan. FWIW, the Vampire Hunter D dokuhon (not translated into English) includes an article by translator Kevin Leahy with twin Japanese and English titles: "Dorakyura no D, Dampiiru no D / D for Dracula, D for Dhampir." The article itself is in Japanese (which I can't read worth spit), so I don't know how or even if Kevin defends this title, but it more than suggests that D's sobriquet may have multiple significances. It's my understanding that Mr. Kikuchi is deliberately being cagey in revealing details about D and his background. According to a post Kevin made to this group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VampireHunterD) on August 12, 2007 (message 6387), "Mr. Kikuchi has said that all the questions will be answered in time, but once all that has been explained, there is no more to the series." So, to conclude: ~ Anime Betty ~ So does D have a first name? Has Hideyuki Kikuchi ever revealed D's true first name? Maybe we're happier not knowing. The sentence that begins with D's true name may end with "sayounara." -Cathy Krusberg (vhd12090@isp.com)
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:10 am
Well I asked Kevin myself and this is his answer... ^.^ heart ~ Anime Betty ~ ----- Original Message -----
From: "Betty Okami"
To:
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 4:17 PM
Subject: Does D have a first name?
Hello Sir! ^__^ It's an honor to send you a message. I'm a little nervous,
but I thought I'd try asking you. Maybe it was revealed already in Japan
long ago but was D's first name ever revealed? Is D short for Dracula? Or
does it just mean Dhampir because he really doesn't have a name? I thought I'd ask. I was surfing the internet a few nights ago and someone on another website forum was saying that D's name hasn't be revealed yet. So those who suspected that D was short for the surname; "Dracula" are wrong? I would love to ask Hideyuki Kikuchi, but wasn't sure how to go about that... ^.^ Anyhow I'm a member of the website Gaia
Online.com and apart of a Vampire Hunter D Fan Guild at
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/index.php?gmode=index&guild_id=88765 and that is the thread discussion I started there. Thanx! ~ Betty 
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 3:02 am
 ~ Anime Betty ~ From: Anime Betty
To: "Kevin, Akemi, Anna&Luna"
Subject: Re: Does D have a first name?
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009 1:49 AM
Thats right. I did ask in the egroup the same questions. ^.^ I was very surprised to see your online smilie lit up and thought it was the perfect chance to ask you. But there is so much to D besides a name. I can't believe that revealing his name might mean the end of the books and the stories? ~__~ There's much more behind D's life and history, It can't mean the end to know if he has a first name? Maybe the D is only short for his Surname and not that important to figure out? *sighs* Thank you so much for emailing me back! ~ Betty 
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:45 pm
::My Conclusion::
Being in America for many years we didn't have access to the novels in the 80's. So the oldest American fans of D would be the ones who discovered the animated movies. And if you go by the first movie, Larmica and her Father Count Magnus Lee both came to the conclusion that "D" had to have been the son of their Sire "Count Dracula". Even the portrait they have of their illustrious ancestor, reflects some startling resemblances to the Vampire Hunter D. D didn't deny their questions, he really doesn't have to. He mentions words that Larmica knows came from their great ancestor; "Count Dracula" who she prays to and seems to know something about. At least in the VHD movie storyline. So alright if it's not the Vlad Tepes III or Bram Stoker's Count Dracula thats fine. But it is supposedly a Count Dracula ( Romanian, Hungarian or Hollywood.) So D's surname would be that of his father.
Maybe Kevin Leahy's earliest fan perspective/suspicion is right? Maybe D was the very first Dhampir and that all other half breeds who were born
after took their (breed) name from him? There is no proof in the movies or the books as of yet to support this idea but it's a possibility. This is purely speculation but D might serve for both the first and last name(s). His first and last names may both start with D's. "Dracula (last name first) Dhampir (first name/title after)" = "Dorakyura no D, Dampiiru no D / D for Dracula, D for Dhampir." ^.^ That explains his prowess, knowledge of his father's ways, incredible longevity and powers of resurrection (like the Hollywood Count Dracula is able to after being staked through the heart). Of course this is still all speculation and guess work. We will have to wait and see I guess until the end to know. There are many maybes, but please remember that Hideyuki Kikuchi loves his old Hollywood movies of Count Dracula, especially the ones with Christopher Lee. ^___^ So D's true father = Christopher Lee's Dracula!!!
Dorakyura Dampiiru-San
aka
Mr. Dracula Dhampir
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