About
"What is a man ? A miserable little pile of secrets !"
Dracula, to Richter Belmont, in Symphony of the Night's Prologue
Vlad Tepes, Dracula
Japanese Name: Dorakyura
Role: The Lord of Darkness
Age: 937 (as of destruction in 1999); born 1062
Appearances: Every game
Weapons of Choice: Hell Fire (Soul)
Bats
Flame Demon (Soul)
Demonic Megiddo (Hyper Attack)
Special Abilities: Power of Dominance
Relatives: Elisabetha Cronqvist (1st Wife, Deceased)
Death (Second-in-command and Close Friend)
Lisa (2nd Wife, Deceased)
Alucard (Son)
Kid Dracula (Son, non-canon)
Elizabeth Bartley (Niece)
Soma Cruz (Possible Reincarntaion/Good counterpart)
Official Background Dracula is known to be the major antagonist of the series. He seeks to destroy humanity each time he's resurrected and fights the legendary Belmont family.
Dracula is the main villain in most of the Castlevania titles. He first appears in the series as the main villain of Akumajō Dracula (for many platforms). He is also the final boss of almost all of the games, the only exceptions being the first and last games in the series' chronology (Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (1094) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2035) and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2036) respectively). However, it can be noted that one of the last bosses in Dawn of Sorrow and Aria of Sorrow fights exactly as Dracula does in previous games.
The Dracula of Castlevania is loosely based on Bram Stoker's character, which was in turn based on the infamous Vlad Tepes of Wallachia. The Castlevania Dracula draws some history from both, but instead of preying on maidens this one threatens whole realms with his armies at the least, and at worst is presented as the very embodiment of evil.
Dracula did not receive much characterization in the earlier games of the Castlevania series, but in later games he is depicted as arrogant, disdainful of humanity (whom he regards as petty and greedy), and somewhat abusive towards his own minions.
Although in some games he simply sits around in Castlevania waiting for the hero to show up and kill him (such as in the case of Sonia or Trevor Belmont), he also has a penchant for kidnapping the loved ones of the current Belmont hero (usually their bride, girlfriend, or mentor) with the intention of sacrificing them to gain power or vampirizing them to spite the hero. However, unlike his predecessor Walter Bernhard, he has never managed to accomplish this, with his victim always being rescued by the hero in the nick of time (the only exceptions being his brief possession of Christopher Belmont's son Soleiyu in Castlevania Adventure II, and an alternate ending of Castlevania: Dracula X, in which Richter Belmont's girlfriend Annette is transformed into a vampiress skull sorceress to fight him, and a similar alternate ending occurrence in The Dracula X Chronicles).
In-game appearance:
Dracula from Symphony of The Night.
Dracula in his demon form in Curse of Darkness.In almost all of his in-game incarnations, Dracula initially appears as a stereotypical vampire count, complete with long black cape. His facial appearance throughout the series has evolved, however. Earlier games give him the face of the traditional Hollywood Dracula (clean shaven with a widow's peak hairstyle), where in later titles, starting with Rondo of Blood, Dracula is portrayed more similarly to his appearance in the original novel, usually with a mustache, goatee, and long, white flowing hair. In Lament of Innocence, which revealed Dracula's origin as Mathias Cronqvist, he was clean-shaven with long black hair and garbed in robes which hinted at his study of alchemy. In Portrait of Ruin he once again appeared as a stereotypical vampire, this time based on the look of actor Bela Lugosi in the 1931 film version of Dracula, possibly due to Portrait of Ruin's (set in 1944) chronological proximity to the release of that film. Surprisingly, his face in this form was one of the closest to his "original" appearance as Mathias. In Order of Ecclesia, Dracula appears to be no older than 30, with a thin, pale face, and lank gray hair that falls in front of his glowing red eyes. He is shown to be arrogant and highly amused at Shanoa and Albus's attempts to defeat him.
With regard to his varying age, in Kojima's artwork (which is the most faithful to the novel with regard to the Count's appearance), the more established and powerful Dracula is, the younger he appears to be. This is in reference to the novel Dracula, in which the Count "ages backward" when he has fed on a great deal of blood and thus fortified himself. In Dracula X Chronicles and Castlvania Chronicles, he appears to be perhaps 30, and is implied to be well-established in power. He has likely been awake in this world for some time before the Belmont clan attacks. Conversely, in Symphony of the Night and Curse of Darkness, he appears as a much older man since he is newly-resurrected and hasn't yet had the chance to eat anyone and gain more strength. This applies as well in Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, both of which feature a newly-awakened and older-looking Dracula. Certainly, this age/power association is not always present, but it is quite prominent.
His most common form of attack is to teleport from one part of the screen to another, then open his cape to fire a spread of three small fireballs at the player. In later games he can also fire larger, meteor-like fireballs. Usually, he can only be damaged by striking him in the head or neck area.
In some games (Such as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse or Castlevania: Bloodlines), instead of the typical vampire count, Dracula appears as an evil sorcerer who attacks the player with various spells including walls of flame and lightning strikes.
After being defeated in his initial, humanoid form, Dracula usually morphs into a larger, more powerful demonic form, although the exact nature of this form varies from game to game, ranging from a standard bat-like winged demon to a dragon-caterpillar hybrid. For a pictorial index of Dracula's different forms, see Dracula Forms. The only games in which Dracula does not change forms are Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (in Lament of Innocence, in which Leon does not fight him, he transforms into a normal-sized bat).
Dracula, to Richter Belmont, in Symphony of the Night's Prologue
Vlad Tepes, Dracula
Japanese Name: Dorakyura
Role: The Lord of Darkness
Age: 937 (as of destruction in 1999); born 1062
Appearances: Every game
Weapons of Choice: Hell Fire (Soul)
Bats
Flame Demon (Soul)
Demonic Megiddo (Hyper Attack)
Special Abilities: Power of Dominance
Relatives: Elisabetha Cronqvist (1st Wife, Deceased)
Death (Second-in-command and Close Friend)
Lisa (2nd Wife, Deceased)
Alucard (Son)
Kid Dracula (Son, non-canon)
Elizabeth Bartley (Niece)
Soma Cruz (Possible Reincarntaion/Good counterpart)
Official Background Dracula is known to be the major antagonist of the series. He seeks to destroy humanity each time he's resurrected and fights the legendary Belmont family.
Dracula is the main villain in most of the Castlevania titles. He first appears in the series as the main villain of Akumajō Dracula (for many platforms). He is also the final boss of almost all of the games, the only exceptions being the first and last games in the series' chronology (Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (1094) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2035) and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2036) respectively). However, it can be noted that one of the last bosses in Dawn of Sorrow and Aria of Sorrow fights exactly as Dracula does in previous games.
The Dracula of Castlevania is loosely based on Bram Stoker's character, which was in turn based on the infamous Vlad Tepes of Wallachia. The Castlevania Dracula draws some history from both, but instead of preying on maidens this one threatens whole realms with his armies at the least, and at worst is presented as the very embodiment of evil.
Dracula did not receive much characterization in the earlier games of the Castlevania series, but in later games he is depicted as arrogant, disdainful of humanity (whom he regards as petty and greedy), and somewhat abusive towards his own minions.
Although in some games he simply sits around in Castlevania waiting for the hero to show up and kill him (such as in the case of Sonia or Trevor Belmont), he also has a penchant for kidnapping the loved ones of the current Belmont hero (usually their bride, girlfriend, or mentor) with the intention of sacrificing them to gain power or vampirizing them to spite the hero. However, unlike his predecessor Walter Bernhard, he has never managed to accomplish this, with his victim always being rescued by the hero in the nick of time (the only exceptions being his brief possession of Christopher Belmont's son Soleiyu in Castlevania Adventure II, and an alternate ending of Castlevania: Dracula X, in which Richter Belmont's girlfriend Annette is transformed into a vampiress skull sorceress to fight him, and a similar alternate ending occurrence in The Dracula X Chronicles).
In-game appearance:
Dracula from Symphony of The Night.
Dracula in his demon form in Curse of Darkness.In almost all of his in-game incarnations, Dracula initially appears as a stereotypical vampire count, complete with long black cape. His facial appearance throughout the series has evolved, however. Earlier games give him the face of the traditional Hollywood Dracula (clean shaven with a widow's peak hairstyle), where in later titles, starting with Rondo of Blood, Dracula is portrayed more similarly to his appearance in the original novel, usually with a mustache, goatee, and long, white flowing hair. In Lament of Innocence, which revealed Dracula's origin as Mathias Cronqvist, he was clean-shaven with long black hair and garbed in robes which hinted at his study of alchemy. In Portrait of Ruin he once again appeared as a stereotypical vampire, this time based on the look of actor Bela Lugosi in the 1931 film version of Dracula, possibly due to Portrait of Ruin's (set in 1944) chronological proximity to the release of that film. Surprisingly, his face in this form was one of the closest to his "original" appearance as Mathias. In Order of Ecclesia, Dracula appears to be no older than 30, with a thin, pale face, and lank gray hair that falls in front of his glowing red eyes. He is shown to be arrogant and highly amused at Shanoa and Albus's attempts to defeat him.
With regard to his varying age, in Kojima's artwork (which is the most faithful to the novel with regard to the Count's appearance), the more established and powerful Dracula is, the younger he appears to be. This is in reference to the novel Dracula, in which the Count "ages backward" when he has fed on a great deal of blood and thus fortified himself. In Dracula X Chronicles and Castlvania Chronicles, he appears to be perhaps 30, and is implied to be well-established in power. He has likely been awake in this world for some time before the Belmont clan attacks. Conversely, in Symphony of the Night and Curse of Darkness, he appears as a much older man since he is newly-resurrected and hasn't yet had the chance to eat anyone and gain more strength. This applies as well in Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, both of which feature a newly-awakened and older-looking Dracula. Certainly, this age/power association is not always present, but it is quite prominent.
His most common form of attack is to teleport from one part of the screen to another, then open his cape to fire a spread of three small fireballs at the player. In later games he can also fire larger, meteor-like fireballs. Usually, he can only be damaged by striking him in the head or neck area.
In some games (Such as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse or Castlevania: Bloodlines), instead of the typical vampire count, Dracula appears as an evil sorcerer who attacks the player with various spells including walls of flame and lightning strikes.
After being defeated in his initial, humanoid form, Dracula usually morphs into a larger, more powerful demonic form, although the exact nature of this form varies from game to game, ranging from a standard bat-like winged demon to a dragon-caterpillar hybrid. For a pictorial index of Dracula's different forms, see Dracula Forms. The only games in which Dracula does not change forms are Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (in Lament of Innocence, in which Leon does not fight him, he transforms into a normal-sized bat).
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