Dracula

Dracula Vlad Ţepeş
File:Dracula Artwork.png Official artwork of Dracula from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Universe	Castlevania
Debut	Castlevania (1986)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Castlevania Requiem (2018)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System)
Species	Vampire
Gender	Male
Article on Wikipedia	Dracula (Castlevania)

Dracula (ドラキュラ, Dracula), full title Count Dracula Vlad Ţepeş (ドラキュラ・ヴラド・ツェペシュ伯爵, Count Dracula Vlad Tepes) is the main antagonist of the Castlevania franchise. He is loosely based on the historical figure Vlad the Impaler, as well as the titular antagonist in the Bram Stoker novel Dracula.

Origin

Dracula is a vampire who commands an army of monsters and is the lord of a haunted castle in Transylvania. He has a variety of magic at his disposal, such as teleportation, conjuring projectiles, and transforming into different beasts, which he frequently does when he's nearly defeated. He is primarily opposed by the Belmont clan of vampire hunters. Though the Belmonts and other heroes repeatedly kill him, Dracula typically revives alongside his castle once every century, though his followers have also resurrected him prematurely.

Although Dracula debuted in the original Castlevania, his origins lie in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, where he was once a former Crusader and partner to Leon Belmont named Mathias Cronqvist, but becomes hateful and declares war on God for the sudden death of his wife. Cronqvist takes control of the Crimson Stone and becomes a vampire, eventually changing his name to Dracula Vlad Ţepeş.

Dracula's life would then change in 1455 when he met a young woman named Lisa Farenheit, who entered his castle to learn the art of medicine. This gave Dracula a newfound faith in humanity and ended his war against God, later settling down and having a son named Adrian. In 1475, after Lisa is burned at the stake by paranoid witch hunters, Dracula declares war on humanity, not knowing of Lisa's plea to Adrian to not hate humans. He was defeated by Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, Grant Danasty, and his son, now taking up the name Alucard, in 1476.

Nearly two hundred years later, Dracula returned from the grave and fought against Trevor's descendant, Simon. Simon was victorious in his battle, but received a seemingly unhealable wound. In his dying breath, Dracula had cursed Simon to be slowly killed from the inside-out. Simon undoes the curse by reviving Dracula and destroying him once more.

One hundred years later, Dracula was revived by the Dark Priest Shaft, organizing a raid on Aljiba, the hometown of Richter Belmont. Richter traversed through the castle and defeats Dracula, rescuing four maidens who were to be the next sacrifices, including Annette, his fiancée, and Maria Renard, his relative. Five years later, Richter vanishes while investigating the mysterious reappearance of Dracula's castle, followed by Maria, and then by Alucard, awakened after a centuries-long slumber. Shaft had brainwashed Richter into becoming lord of the castle, with the actual intent of guarding the castle so that Dracula could be resurrected uninterrupted; however, Alucard rescues Richter and quashes the resurrection of his father, telling him the last words of his wife.

Since then, Dracula is repeatedly revived by his loyal followers before a final battle breaks out on July 17th, 1999, where he is permanently destroyed by Julius Belmont. Upon Dracula's death, portions of his power were passed down to those who were born on that day, and his soul reincarnated as Soma Cruz in 2017. Soma learns of his heritage when the castle manifested in a solar eclipse over Japan in 2035, but he resists Dracula's influence, making Julius promise to kill him should he become the evil count. One year later, Soma braves a replica of Dracula's castle to stop a cult that sought to resurrect Dracula through the aid of others who had inherited portions of his power, which he thwarts. An alternate "what if" scenario has Soma being corrupted into becoming Dracula, forcing Julius, Yoko Belnades, and Alucard to defeat him.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dracula's two forms as they appear in Ultimate.

As a stage element

Dracula appears as a background character on Dracula's Castle. When the moon disappears and bats gather around Dracula's coffin, lightning will flash and reveal Dracula's shadow in one of the windows.

As a boss

Dracula appears as a boss in Classic Mode and Adventure Mode: World of Light. He does battle in a boss area resembling the Dracula's Castle stage, but with a flat and empty layout that extends to the side blast zones. Nothing to Lose plays during the battle. In Classic Mode, he is fought in Luigi, Pac-Man, Simon, and Richter's routes. In World of Light, he is fought at the end of the Dracula's Castle dungeon in the Dark Realm, and must be defeated before the player may challenge Dharkon. He reappears during the Final Battle as part of the boss rush.

Defeating Dracula in Classic Mode is a challenge, which unlocks the Black Night music track. Defeating Dracula in World of Light outside of the boss rush rewards the player with the Dracula and Dracula (2nd Form) spirits.

Dracula begins the fight in his regular humanoid form, based on Ayami Kojima's artwork for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The battle opens with Dracula on his throne holding a glass, which he tosses aside as he gets up, then warps onto the stage to start the fight. Like in his own series, Dracula moves about the stage by teleporting in a beam of light. Dracula only takes damage when hit in the head, which has traditionally been his weak point since his first appearance. Attacking any other part of his body creates a small mist effect, which resembles Alucard's mist transformation.

When his health bar is depleted, Dracula will transform into a large winged demon, as depicted in Rondo of Blood. His health is fully restored, and he uses has an entirely different set of attacks. Unlike his first form, Dracula's second form may be damaged by hitting any part of his body, and will walk and jump instead of warping to move.

Moveset

First form

Move	Damage	Description
Hellfire		Dracula takes a step back and wraps himself in his cape, then flings it open to launch a spread of three fireballs forward. This first appeared in the original Castlevania.
Dark Inferno		Dracula takes a step back, then holds out his arm as he launches a series of large dark fireballs forward. The fireballs alternate between being just above the ground and at about Dracula's height, which is high enough to miss short or crouching characters. This originates from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.
Magic orbs		Dracula wraps himself in his cape, then flings it open and holds his arm out to his side, launching multiple sets of red and blue magic orbs. These orbs either revolve around him with sets flying in an alternating clockwise and counter-clockwise fashion as they spread outward, or fly straight with sets alternating between all cardinal and diagonal directions. The red orbs are more powerful than the blue ones, but both types can be absorbed. This move resembles one used by Graham Jones in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, which used Dark Inferno's fireballs instead of orbs.
Fire pillars		Dracula raises his arm, and harmless flames appear on the ground, either with many appearing at once or in a sequence. After a moment, these flames erupt into tall fire pillars that hit multiple times. At low health, he combines it with one of the above three moves. It resembles a combination of his primary attack in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Dario's fire pillars in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and one of his attacks in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.
Bat Moon		Dracula thrusts his cape upwards, then transforms into a swarm of bats and rushes ahead to deal darkness damage. This originates from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Second form

Move	Damage	Description
Ghost Chaser		Dracula spits a series of three spirits, which initially float up in front of him before flying towards the player's current location. They disappear upon reaching their destination. It originates from Portrait of Ruin.
Fire burst		Dracula charges up, then spits a wide spread of three fireballs aimed at the player, which explode on contact. This was one of his primary attacks in Rondo of Blood.
Electric wave		Dracula charges up, then spits an electric wave forward, which is nearly as tall as him. This was one of his primary attacks in Rondo of Blood.
Claw swipe		Dracula swipes in front of him with his claws. He may either perform it in place or while taking a step forward.
Claw combo		Dracula performs a series of three claw swipes while stepping forward with each swing. The final swipe deals darkness damage.
Dark claw		Dracula does a wide overhead swing with his claws, which deals darkness damage and can meteor smash. He may either rear back and perform it in place or take a step forward.
Jumping slam		Dracula jumps to a different spot on the stage. His landing deals damage.
Shockwave punch		Dracula jumps, then slams his fist into the ground, producing a shockwave that moves to both ends of the stage. The initial jump, falling punch, and shockwave all deal damage.

Spirits

The Dracula and Dracula (2nd Form) spirits are obtained by defeating Dracula in World of Light. The Dracula spirit may be enhanced into Soma Cruz at level 99.

• Dracula Spirit.png

  1075. Dracula

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  1076. Soma Cruz

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  1077. Dracula (2nd Form)

Gallery

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  Screenshot of Dracula as he appears in Ultimate.

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  Dracula's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Dracula's shadow as seen in the Dracula's Castle stage.

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  Hellfire

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  Dark Inferno

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  Magic orbs

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  Bat Moon

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  Dracula teleporting

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  Fire pillars

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  Dracula's body becomes mist if attacked anywhere other than his head.

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  Fire burst

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  Electric wave

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  Claw combo

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  Ghost Chaser

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  Shockwave punch against Richter

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  Dark claw

Trivia

• Dracula casts a shadow in the Dracula's Castle stage, despite vampires traditionally being unable to cast shadows, as they lack a soul.
  • This could be a reference to the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, where Dracula has a living shadow in his form.
• Dracula and Rathalos are the only third-party bosses in Adventure Mode: World of Light.

External Link

• Article on the Castlevania Wiki.