Dracula



Dracula is a fictional character, the antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. He has been featured in many video games, primarily in Castlevania. Dracula is a fantasy character created by the Irish author Bram Stoker, who used him as the main protagonist of the novel Dracula. Dracula is said to be the vampiric reincarnation of Vlad III, Romanian medieval lord that ruled over Wallachia. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler because he used to impale criminals, so managing to keep the land of Wallachia crime-free for as long as he ruled.

Dracula In Castlevania
During the crusades in the 11th century, he was known as Mathias Cronqvist, a genius tactician and alchemist that fought alongside Leon Belmont against heathens in the name of the church. During this holy war, Mathias' wife, Elisabetha, became ill from an unknown disease and died shortly thereafter. Mathias could not stand the loss of his loved one and became bedridden. In the months that followed, Mathias curses God for Elisabetha's death and plots to find and control two stones infused with alchemy, the ebony and crimson stones. The ebony stone grants eternal night and the crimson stone has the power to turn it's user into a powerful vampire. Mathias manages to secure the crimson stone and learns the location of the ebony stone which is in possession by a vampire named Walter Bernhard.

With the crimson stone in his possession, Mathias is able to ally himself with Death and their plan is to not only steal the ebony stone from Walter but also to take away all his dark powers and fuse them with Mathias. In order to accomplish this, Mathias orders Death to influence Walter into kidnapping Leon Belmont's fiancee, Sarah, in order for the noble knight to take on the vampire in battle thus weakening the dark lord in the process. The plan is executed perfectly. Before Leon is able to deal the final blow on Walter, Death comes in and sucks away the vampire's soul and transfers it to Mathias. With both the crimson and ebony stones plus Walter Bernhard's soul, Mathias becomes a powerful vampire however he is not strong enough to battle with Leon. Death deals with Leon while Mathias flees the castle.

Mathias goes into exile and as the centuries pass, he becomes the king of darkness, ruler of all the creatures of the night, Dracula. During his years in exile, he meets with Lisa Farenheights and the two of them fall in love. This forbidden love results in the birth of Dracula's only son, Alucard. Lisa is accused of being a witch by villagers and is burned alive. Alucard witnesses her death and final message for her lover - "That she would love him for all eternity". Upon her death, Dracula vows his revenge against mankind.

Dracula is immortal. Every time he is slain by the hands of a Belmont, he rises from the dead every 100 years along with his castle. Centuries of battles between the Belmont clan and Dracula ensue until the year 1999 in which the dark lord's body is finally vanquished by the hands of Julius Belmont. Dracula's castle is sealed away in a solar eclipse, forever to be trapped there for all of eternity. Despite this, however, the night of Dracula's demise also sees the birth of Graham Jones, a man who is thought to be the reincarnation of the Prince of Darkness. Jones' discovery of his dark powers eventually result in the events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and the continuation of Dracula's unholy legacy.