He planned on using the Belmont to become whole and he cast a curse on the young vampire hunter that would cause Soleiyu to do his bidding. Christopher Belmont came to the aid of his son and was forced to battle him. Christopher defeated Soleiyu and expelled Dracula's presence from his mind. By that time, using the spirits of four elemental castles, Dracula regained his corporeal form and he battled Christopher Belmont for the last time.
Christopher was victorious and destroyed Dracula, sending the vampire to sleep for one hundred years more. Dracula rose again in on an Easter night when his followers convened in a monastery to perform the unholy ritual to return him and his castle to the world and plunge mankind into darkness and despair.
Dracula was defeated by Simon Belmont , but not without dealing a critical blow to Simon's back and casting a curse on him. Similar to when he was defeated by Trevor Belmont in , Dracula left a curse on the land before his passing. Though Dracula was dead, he left both Transylvania and Simon Belmont in dire condition.
The only way to expel his curse was to collect his remains and destroy them within the ruins of Castlevania. Dracula's monstrous followers had free reign over many territories in the land while Transylvania was cursed and they hid the Count's remains in heavily guarded mansions. The weakened Simon Belmont retrieved all of the remains in and took them back to Dracula's Castle, where he burned the remains he had recovered.
To Simon's surprise, however, Dracula's ghost manifested through the Fang of Vlad , a remain unknown to Simon and tried to destroy him, but Simon defeated Dracula again, lifting the curse from the land and from his own body. Dracula's remains would wreak havoc in the world again when a young vampire hunter named Maxim Kischine sought out Dracula's remains as a means of proving himself as a hunter. He was envious of the Belmont Clan's status and wanted to confirm that he was stronger than them by finding the remains of Lord Dracula.
Like Simon Belmont fifty years earlier, Maxim retrieved all pieces of the remains in , but possession of Dracula's body parts caused Maxim's mind to split in two, birthing an evil spirit within Maxim.
Because Dracula was partially brought back in the world through Maxim, Castlevania reappeared. Because the evil spirit did not have full control of Maxim, the Castle wasn't whole. One half of the Castle was in the earthly realm, while the other half resided in a spiritual realm. The evil Maxim and the original Maxim wrestled for control of the body. Death aided the evil Maxim, because if the evil one took over completely, it would cause the Castles to unite.
Death saw Lydie Erlanger , a young maiden whom Maxim cared for, as a means to this. If the evil Maxim partook of the maiden's blood, her sacrifice would provide him the strength he needed to overcome the regular Maxim.
Death's scheme was foiled by Juste Belmont , the grandson of Simon Belmont, who exorcised the evil spirit from Maxim by gathering and presenting Dracula's remains. The spirit was drawn to the remains and relinquished its hold of Maxim's body, materializing as Dracula's phantom. Juste defeated the wraith, which mocked the Belmont Clan's quest as being futile, because Dracula would always return and they were doomed to hunt him for all eternity.
Dracula revived in , one hundred years after his defeat by Simon Belmont. He was brought back by the zealous dark priest Shaft and his congregation, who sacrificed a maiden to resurrect the Count and his castle. When Dracula returned, he dispatched his forces to pillage the land.
They kidnapped young women from a village, one being Annette , girlfriend of Richter Belmont. The Count sensed the connection she had with his mortal foes and, moreover, was taken with her beauty.
He offered her immortality so she could rule the world by his side, but she refused him, saying she would rather die. Richter eventually rescued all the maidens from Dracula's clutches, slew Shaft and defeated the Count. At this time, Dracula had become amused by the never ending cycle he shared with the Belmonts.
He knew he would return, so he wasn't dismayed by his defeat. Richter told him he had no place in the world, but Dracula said that it was not his choice that he continued to return.
He comes back through the will of humans that call upon him. Because of that, Dracula asked Richter if he could truly be called evil. Richter then told Dracula that while it was true that humans have had evil desires such as power, they also had other, good desires as well and declared that evil will eventually fall permanently. As he was disintegrating, Dracula, while conceding Richter's claim that evil would eventually be vanquished, nonetheless laughed at him in full confidence that he would return and that the Belmont's hunt was in vain.
Although defeated, Dracula returned five years later in , due to the efforts of Shaft's ghost. This time, it was his son, Alucard , who confronted him. Dracula was somewhat shocked to see his son again and awkwardly tried to convince him to see things from his point of view. He was upset about him constantly siding with the humans, despite everything they had done. He asked him if he had forgotten what the humans did to his mother, Lisa.
Alucard replied that he would never forget such an atrocity, but unlike him, he did not seek revenge against them, because that is not what his mother would have wanted. Alucard told his father that he could not allow him to plague mankind yet again and the two family members came to blows.
Because Dracula's resurrection was not complete, he was defeated by his son. At the end of the battle, Dracula set everything aside and only wanted Alucard to tell him Lisa's final words. Alucard told his father that she said to not hate humans; that if he could not live with them, then at least do them no harm. She also told Alucard to tell his father that she would love him for all of eternity.
For the first time in hundreds of years, Dracula was regretful for what he had done. He called out to Lisa to forgive him for his transgressions and said his goodbyes to his son as he faded away in death. Dracula rose sometime in the s. After , the Belmont Clan faded away and other organizations emerged with the hope of holding back Dracula and his forces in the Belmonts' stead. The most successful group was Ecclesia , due to Barlowe , the leader of Ecclesia, making a breakthrough discovery with the creation of Glyphs , symbols that utilized the power within all things, which the Ecclesia members were able to use in combat.
Because of Ecclesia's success, those in positions of power entrusted the organization with Dracula's bodily remains so that they may destroy the remains and hopefully end the scourge of Count Dracula for good.
Barlowe developed the ultimate glyph, Dominus , from the remains of Count Dracula. Barlowe used the cover story that Dominus would be used to destroy the Dark Lord, but in truth, Ecclesia's true purpose was to fulfill the wish of mankind, which in Barlowe's mind was the resurrection of Count Dracula.
Barlowe's plan was to use Dominus to destroy the seal on the remains that prevented Dracula's reemergence in the world. Barlowe needed someone to host the Dominus Glyphs and he chose his disciple, Shanoa , who was unaware of the true intent of Ecclesia and that using Dominus would end her life.
Shanoa discovered the truth and defeated Barlowe. The remains of Dracula then surged large amounts of dark energy into Barlowe, which he was able to use to resurrect Dracula at the cost of his own life. After Barlowe sacrificed his life force to the bodily remains, the Dark Lord and his castle returned yet again. Shanoa infiltrated Castlevania and made her way to the Throne Room where Dracula ruled over his castle and subjects. Initially, Dracula thought that Shanoa was the one that brought him back and asked her if she wished for eternal life or a place at his side in return for her service.
Shanoa told the Count that she had in fact gone there to destroy him. Dracula was amused by her response and welcomed her challenge, telling her that he had not danced in a while.
Shanoa's own power was not enough to destroy Dracula, but when she used the Dominus Glyphs that she was hosting, to the Count's surprise; she was able to defeat Dracula with his own power, sending him to his death.
Dracula would be resurrected some time later by unknown means, only to be killed by a distant relative of the Belmont Clan, Quincy Morris in Before being killed, however, he nonetheless managed to mortally wound Morris in the process.
Elizabeth had the Crown Prince of Austria assassinated, which resulted in war breaking out across the world. She planned to use the souls of the millions that died as a result of the Great War to revive her uncle. The resurrection rite took the two women all across Europe and they were chased every step of the way by two vampire hunters - John Morris, the son of Quincy Morris who carried the Belmont Clan's Vampire Killer and Eric Lecarde, a revenge-seeking Spaniard whose girlfriend was vampirized by Elizabeth.
The hunt came to ahead at Elizabeth's castle in England, where she and Drolta succeeded in resurrecting Dracula. The reawakening of the Dark Lord was short lived, however, as John and Eric scaled the castle and killed Elizabeth, Drolta and Dracula himself. Even though Dracula was slain, John paid the ultimate price as well and died from his dependency on the Vampire Killer.
Since he was not of the Belmont Clan , using the whip too much came at the cost of his life. In , Dracula was revived again by the vampire Brauner and as a result of the unprecedented state of despair the world was in during World War II. Brauner, having lost his daughters in the first World War, sought revenge on humanity and planned on using Dracula's power as a means to that.
Brauner immediately sealed Dracula away, as he only desired Castlevania 's power and legions of monsters for himself and had no intention of serving the Count. Brauner used paintings he made that were inundated with magic to secure his control of the castle. Jonathan Morris , the son of John Morris and the keeper of the Vampire Killer and his partner, a magician named Charlotte Aulin , were dispatched by the Church to investigate the castle and the possible resurrection of Count Dracula.
Through Charlotte's understanding of the paintings' magical composition, the duo was able to enter the paintings and destroy the evil within them, thus weakening Brauner's hold of the castle. Jonathan and Charlotte defeated Brauner, but the vampire was ultimately slain by Death.
The death of Brauner relinquished the seal he had used to keep Dracula from returning and with him gone, the Count was resurrected again to assume lordship of his castle. Dracula, in an unprecedented manner, suggested to Death that they use their combined power and then fought Jonathan and Charlotte in a two-on-two duel, eventually resorting to using Soul Steal on Death via the latter's request in order to transform into his true form and gain an advantage.
Nonetheless, Jonathan now had the power to destroy Dracula outright and just as he had brought him to his knees, the first rays of the sun entered through the window, vanquishing the Vampire Lord, although not before the Count mused that he'll someday regain his full power and that he'll see which of them will have the last laugh in response to Jonathan stating that Dracula will never win. The final resurrection of Dracula took place in , when he rose one last time and began a vicious campaign to destroy all of mankind.
He conducted a war similar to that from , with a massive army of monsters and demons. He was defeated by Julius Belmont with the aid of Alucard , a Belnades , military forces and other allies, and his bodily remains were destroyed.
Furthermore, a ceremony was conducted by the Hakuba family in which his powers and castle were sealed away inside a solar eclipse in a Shinto ceremony before his demise, thus finally ending Dracula's regeneration cycle and his tie with Chaos , the primal source of his Dark Lord powers and castle. In addition, the Elgos member Lucy Westenra later claimed that, while Dracula technically lived on as a figment within grimoires, it was impossible to revive him via the grimoires due to it requiring an unimaginable amount of power to do so even ignoring the morally reprehensible nature of doing such an act.
Even though the cycle of Mathias Cronqvist may have at last ended, the legacy of Dracula continued, as he was reincarnated 18 years later as Soma Cruz. Dracula has been depicted many different ways over the course of the series. His appearance changes in nearly every game he is in. In the earliest titles, Dracula has a rather ethereal appearance, presenting himself as a very decayed and aged man with a long red cloak in the original Castlevania on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
This look was taken even further in Vampire Killer , where he has no flesh on his body and his bones are exposed. He is shrouded in a black mantle and his face is that of a skull. In some cases, such as Symphony of the Night , he is also depicted with shoulder-length and unkempt white hair as well as a goatee, which bore some resemblance to how Bram Stoker 's Dracula described him in the narration.
In Castlevania: Rondo of Blood , Dracula appears as a young man with purple hair. When Ayami Kojima became the regular illustrator of the series, Dracula took on an especially regal air with lavish clothing, as seen in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
Dracula's appearances have been very inconsistent over the years. Sometimes he is an old man, other times he is young Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles , Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin ; sometimes he's ghostly, other times he appears fairly regular, but he always retains vampiric archetypal traits. As a human, Dracula was Mathias Cronqvist, a young man with long dark hair and light blue eyes. Regardless of how he appears in various games, Mathias and Soma Cruz notwithstanding, he is generally shown to have a very tall disposition, appearing at least twice as tall as his opponents in his more "human" form, usually requiring that his opponents jump to hit him.
Dracula has shown a certain level of inconsistency regarding his personality, although common elements have been an outstanding malice regarding the human race and God and a well defined superiority complex he thinks every creature is inferior to him when confronting his enemies.
When facing his son, Alucard, Dracula shows a softer side and a clear love for his son and also expresses his eternal love for Alucard's mother as well. After his death in , Dracula becomes much more consistent and seems devoid of many emotions, though the hostility and superiority complex still remain.
Some of his most consistent traits however are his deep cruelty and indifference to all the destruction he brings with him, while somewhat taking pleasure on the suffering he inflicts on others.
He also justifies his actions by claiming that it is not by his power that he comes back, but through the malice of humans that makes his return possible, going as far as questioning whether he is truly "evil" because of this.
Despite being challenged and defeated numerous times by the Belmont Clan, he always seems to play with them at first before using his full power, possibly underestimating them while at the same time enjoying his battles with the family, something he does mention from time to time as he even looks forward to his next encounter against the Belmonts after being defeated.
However during his defeat in , he actually feels for the first time regretful of his actions after knowing of Lisa's wish for him, although during his subsequent revivals he seems to feel nothing of that. A possible reason for this could be that the evil of humanity ensures that Dracula remains constantly evil and as such an embodiment of malice.
Whenever Dracula's background is explained he often becomes what he is as a result of the loss of his loved ones and thus he can be seen as a rather tragic villain. Dracula's transformation into a vampire did not come without its own usual set of vulnerabilities of course. Like most vampires, Dracula burns when he comes into direct contact with sunlight and the altered sense of vision he gained with his vampirism results in him being easily disoriented by the geometric shape of a crucifix.
Dracula is particularly sensitive to silver and magical weapons. Dracula's future in Castelvania 's animated series stands at a bit of a crossroads.
Dracula and his beloved Lisa were revealed to have been secretly resurrected by Death and St. Germain 's occult ritual and traveled from the castle relatively incognito. Future series can potentially explore Dracula's tragic background and the origin of his feud against the Belmont clan. It could also potentially reveal a descent back into villainy, showcasing his incredible powers and abilities while reminding audiences exactly why Dracula is the Lord of the Vampires.
Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter johnsjr9. John Saavedra johnsjr9. He lives in New York City with his two cats. Skip to main content area. Share: Share on Facebook opens in a new tab Share on Twitter opens in a new tab Share on Linkedin opens in a new tab Share on email opens in a new tab Comment: Comments count: 0.
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