Dracula (Castlevania)

Dracula Vlad Tepes or simply known as Dracula (ドラキュラ), whose real name is Mathias Cronqvist (Gabriel Belmont in the reboot, Lords of Shadow), is a fictional character from the multi-platform Castlevania video game series. A vampire and sorcerer, he is the main antagonist of the series and the final boss of almost every installment.

The Dracula of Castlevania is based on Bram Stoker's character in the novel of the same name, who was in turn likely named for Vlad III Dracula 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. He is, however, capable of loving relationships (his evil nature is partly fuelled by the loss of two women he loved) and despite their differences is fond of his son Alucard.

Conception and design
Dracula's appearance is very inconsistent throughout the series' history. In just about every game, he wears very aristocratic clothing, whether it be a tuxedo (a la Bela Lugosi) or some sort of royal garb (complete with medals and medallions). His face has evolved into many different forms. Initially, his face resembled that of Bela Lugosi's Dracula in the first few games (this appearance was reused in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin). Every few games, his appearance changed from one sort to another. In Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo and the beginning of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, he had the form of an anime character with medium length, dull purple hair. He has a more demonic look in Castlevania: Dracula X and Castlevania: Bloodlines. The more recent look of Dracula, starting with Symphony of the Night, gives him a beard or goatee of some sort and longer hair. His hair color still changes between a dark brown or black and a gray color. His facial proportions also change. He has a very heavyset and muscular looking face in the Nintendo 64 Castlevania games, whereas he has a more thin and elegant face in Symphony of the Night and the first two hand held games. In Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Dracula wears a long robe of some sort, with a more realistic version of the Symphony of the Night face.

His most common form of attack is to teleport from one part of the screen to another, then opening his cape to fire a spread of three small fireballs at the player, whereas in later games he can also fire larger, meteor-like fireballs: these attacks are called "HellFire" and "Dark Inferno" respectively. Usually, he can only be damaged with strikes to the head or neck area. After being defeated in his humanoid form, Dracula usually morphs into a larger, more powerful demonic form. In some games, such as Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Dracula consists of three forms in total.

Castlevania and Simon's Quest
Dracula first appeared in 1986's Castlevania, set in 1691. At this point the plot of the series was very simple - Simon Belmont took up his ancestral weapon, the Vampire Killer whip, and ventured into Dracula's castle to defeat its proprietor. The original game had no in-game text to drive the story along. The plot of Castlevania was re-used in the remakes Vampire Killer, Haunted Castle (arcade game), Super Castlevania IV and Castlevania Chronicles.

In the manual of the second game, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, it is revealed that in his dying moments at the end of the first game Dracula had placed a curse on Simon which condemned him to slowly die of his wounds. In 1698, Simon set out to gather Dracula's scattered body parts and use them to resurrect the Count in the ruins of his castle. Simon then defeated the reborn Dracula once again.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Game Boy titles
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse was a prequel to the original game, starring Simon's ancestor Trevor in 1476. This game introduced Alucard, Dracula's estranged son. In Dracula's Curse, it is stated that Dracula "practiced sorcery in order to create a bad world filled with evil". The people of Transylvania secured the aid of Trevor Belmont, who journeyed to Castlevania and met up with several allies along the way, including Alucard, Sypha Belnades and Grand Dynasty.

Concurrent to the release of Nintendo Entertainment System trilogy were two games on the Game Boy. In Castlevania: The Adventure, set in 1576, Christopher Belmont defeated Dracula in typical circumstances. It is later revealed that Dracula escaped and survived until 1591, when he kidnapped Christopher's son Soleiyu and tried to turn him against his father. In Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, Christopher defeated Dracula again and saved his son.

Dracula X series
The Castlevania series took a dramatic turn with the PC Engine game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (remade for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Castlevania: Dracula X and later remade and ported for the PlayStation Portable as Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles). This game took place in 1792 and starred a new Belmont named Richter. This was the first game in the series to use substantial voice acting to further the narrative. Dracula is resurrected by a cult led by a dark priest named Shaft. He proceeds to kidnap several villagers including Richter's girlfriend Anette (who was renamed to Annet Renard in Castlevania: Dracula X and became Maria's sister) and Maria Renard. In the "best" ending of the game, Richter saves all the kidnapped women and defeats Dracula.

Rondo of Blood was followed by a critically acclaimed PlayStation sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The protagonist of this game was Alucard, who entered Castlevania in 1797 following the disappearance of Richter. Symphony of the Night introduced the character of Lisa, Alucard's mother and Dracula's wife who had been executed as a witch for preparing medicine to help the sick. As the game progressed, Alucard discovered that Shaft had placed Richter under a dark spell, the idea being that Richter would destroy all other enemies of Dracula. Alucard defeated Shaft then faced his resurrected father. They exchanged words before Alucard defeated Dracula, telling him Lisa's last words: "Do not hate humans. If you cannot live with them, then at least do them no harm, for theirs is already a hard lot". Dracula cried out for Lisa's forgiveness as he returned to the abyss.

A loose prequel to Symphony of the Night was released for the Game Boy called Castlevania Legends. In this game, Sonia Belmont, heavily implied to be Trevor's mother, faces Dracula circa 1450. Alucard is also featured in the game, and it appears that Sonia and Alucard were lovers. Series producer Koji Igarashi, who was not involved with Legends' development, has declared it to not be an official part of the Castlevania canon.

Bloodlines and Nintendo 64 games
The Mega Drive received one Castlevania game, Castlevania: Bloodlines. This title was set in 1917 and attempted to tie the series closer to Bram Stoker's novel. The protagonists were John Morris and Eric Lecarde. John was intended to be the son of Quincy Morris from the novel. This game introduced Dracula's niece, Elizabeth Bartley, named for Elizabeth Bathory. It was implied that Bartley arranged the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in order to precipitate World War I. She resurrected Dracula but she and her uncle were defeated by John and Eric.

The two Nintendo 64 games, Castlevania and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, took place in the mid-19th century. In these games, Dracula's return is accomplished through the unusual method of having him reincarnated as a child named Malus.

Game Boy Advance titles
The first Castlevania title for the Game Boy Advance was Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Set in the early 1800s, Circle of the Moon explained how Dracula had been recently defeated by vampire hunter Morris Baldwin. At the start of the game, Dracula is resurrected by his disciple Camilla. The player assumes the role of Nathan Graves, a student of Morris Baldwin, who once again defeats the newly-resurrected Dracula.

The second GBA title was Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which took place in 1748. Simon's grandson Juste was the main character. He entered Castlevania to save his childhood friend Lydie Erlanger. Their friend Maxim Kischine resurrected Dracula in order to prove his worth as a vampire hunter. As usual, Dracula was defeated by Juste.

The third and final GBA title was Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, which featured a deeper plot than the previous two. Set in 2035, the game starred Soma Cruz, an American high school student visiting Japan with his friend Mina. The villain of this game was not Dracula, but Graham Jones, a cult leader who believed himself to be Dracula's reincarnation. The game also introduced the amnesiac Julius Belmont, who defeated Dracula for the last time in 1999. As the game progressed, it was revealed that Soma himself was actually Dracula's reincarnation, and possessed the Count's power to absorb the souls of various monsters and thereby assume their powers. In the best ending of the game, Soma overcomes the darkness and defeats Graham.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox games
The first Castlevania game to be released on the PlayStation 2 was Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. This prequel journeyed back further than any previous game, taking place in 1094. The game introduced Crusaders Leon Belmont and Mathias Cronqvist. In 1093, they returned from a campaign to find that Mathias' wife Elisabetha had died. He became bedridden with grief. A year later, Leon's fiancée Sara disappeared. Mathias told Leon that she had been kidnapped by a vampire named Walter Bernhard, who lived in a castle in the Forest of Eternal Night. Leon forsook his title and arms in order to venture into the castle and save Sara. He was given a weapon known as the Whip of Alchemy by an alchemist named Rinaldo Gandolfi, who lived in castle's grounds. Leon eventually rescued Sara, but she had already been infected with the vampire's curse. She sacrificed her soul to imbue the Whip of Alchemy with the power to destroy Walter, turning it into the Vampire Killer seen in later games. Leon then returned to the castle and defeated Walter. Walter, who possessed an artifact known as the Crimson Stone, believed that he would return from the dead, but Death appeared and informed Walter that he no longer held power over death. Mathias then appeared and revealed that he had orchestrated the entire scheme in order to gain possession of the Crimson Stone. Mathias blamed God for Elisabetha's death, and planned to revenge himself upon God by becoming immortal. He offered Leon the chance to join him in eternal life, which Leon refused. Disappointed, Mathias escaped, leaving Leon to battle Death. Leon defeated Death and sent him with a message to Mathias that "the Belmont clan will hunt the night". Series producer Koji Igarashi has confirmed that Mathias eventually becomes Dracula.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Curse of Darknes was a sequel to Castlevania III, taking place in 1479. The main character is Hector, a "Devil Forgemaster" who had served Dracula but left his service just prior to his defeat at the hands of Trevor. With his dying words, Dracula had placed a curse upon the land. Hector planned to live peacefully amongst humans, but his wife Rosalie was executed for witchcraft at the behest of fellow Forgemaster Isaac. Hector swore revenge upon Isaac, but it transpired that this was a ploy - Isaac intended to use Hector as the vessel for Dracula's return. Hector defeated Isaac, who himself became the vessel. Hector then faced Dracula, defeated him, and used his powers to dispel the curse.

Nintendo DS games
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, for the Nintendo DS, was a sequel to Aria of Sorrow and once again starred Soma Cruz. This time, Soma faced a cult led by Celia Fortner who wished to resurrect Dracula in order to bring about the arrival of the ultimate good to balance the ultimate evil. In the "bad" ending of the game, Soma succumbs to Dracula's power, and this unlocks a non-canon storyline called "Julius Mode" in which Julius ventures through the castle and defeats Soma. In the "good" ending, Soma once again overcomes the darkness within.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was a sequel to Bloodlines. The player takes control of Jonathan Morris, John Morris' son, and Charlotte Aulin. In this game, Dracula's castle is resurrected by vampire artist Brauner during World War II. At the end of this game, Dracula takes the unusual step of fighting alongside Death, before morphing into a final, demonic form.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was set around 1800 and featured a holy order named Ecclesia which had apparently created a power named Dominus with the ability to defeat Dracula. However, it transpired that Dominus was actually constructed from Dracula's own power, and the Order made Dominus to break the seal on the casket imprisoning his soul, as their leader Barlowe believed Dracula's return was secretly mankind's greatest desire. After Dracula's resurrection, the main character, Shanoa, faces and defeats him.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Dracula appears in the post-credits scene of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a reboot of the series. The game follows Gabriel Belmont in the year 1047, but the epilogue reveals that in modern times Gabriel has become an undead creature who identifies himself as "Dracul" in Romanian. A secondary character, Zobek, finds Dracul hiding in a ruined church and tries to win his support against the acolytes of Satan. Before Gabriel disappears, Zobek tells him he will free him of his immortality if he helps him. This plotline has yet to be followed up.

Reception
Dracula was listed as the third top villain of 2006 by Game Informer. He was also listed as the number 7 most recurring video game character who has died repeatedly and been resurrected. He is ranked third on EGM’s Top Ten Badass Undead. GameDaily ranked him number sixteen in their "Top 25 Evil Masterminds of All Time" article, noting his persistence. His persistence resulted in him being ranked amongst the most persistent video game villains of all time by GameDaily. IGN listed him eight in their "Top 10 Most Memorable Villains" article, noting his grudge against the Belmonts and calling him "the Timex of villains." In a later article, they listed him as one of their favorite monsters in video gaming, stating a preference for the Castlevania representation of Dracula over others due to him having "a sense of fashion and style that few other versions possess." They would also list him as the 23rd best video game villain, calling him one of the most prolific video game villains ever. GamesRadar listed him first on their list of video game villains who never stay dead, stating that he has died more than any other video game villain ever and that like The Legend of Zelda antagonist Ganon, he never learns from his previous battles.