Alucard

Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş
File:Alucard - Castlevania.png Official artwork of Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Universe	Castlevania
Debut	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Castlevania Requiem (2018)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System)
Species	Dhampir
Gender	Male
English voice actor	Yuri Lowenthal
Japanese voice actor	Ryōtarō Okiayu
Article on Wikipedia	Alucard (Castlevania)

Alucard (アルカード, Alucard), full name Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş, is the human/vampire hybrid son of Dracula, and recurring character in the Castlevania series. He first appeared as in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse as a supporting playable character alongside Trevor Belmont, with the purpose of defeating his father. After defeating his father, he goes into an eternal slumber. However, it wouldn't be until Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, where he would be awakened due to the disappearance of a Belmont.

Origin

Alucard is a playable character in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse and the main protagonist in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Born as Adrian Fahrenheit Ţepeş in 1459, he is the son of Dracula and the human Lisa Farenheit, making him a dhampir by nature and using the abilities of a vampire without many of the setbacks of vampirism. Adrian was present at his mother's execution in 1475, after she was tried for witchcraft and burned at the stake. Hearing her final words and being told to pass them onto his father, Adrian attmpts to dissuade his father from turning his anger against humanity, telling him that it would be more suitable to punish the ones responsible for the execution rather than everyone present for her burning. Dracula declares that there are no innocents for this crime, wounding his son, and beginning his war against humanity one year later by attacking the very same town where she was burned. Adrian then takes up the name "Alucard" as a way to symbolize his opposition to Dracula. In his debut in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, he can be recruited as one of several of Trevor Belmont's allies. Trevor encounters Alucard in the Catacombs below the Mad Forest's marshlands, and upon defeat, takes him as an ally. Together with he, Sypha Belnades, and Grant Danasty, they would be the first in history to directly confront and defeat the dark lord in his own lair.

Following his father's demise, Alucard was besieged by guilt of patricide, despite the threat he posed to the world and thus returned to his own coffin to rest. Trevor's bloodline would continue to live on as a Belmont would arise to confront his father over the centuries, his descendants Simon and Richter following in his footsteps.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night marks Alucard's first central role as the player character in place of a Belmont along with his more iconic design. Awoken to the distinct absence of a Belmont to confront Dracula, he rushes to the newly revived Castlevania with a mysterious new lord, initially equipped with the Alucard Sword, Alucard Shield, Dragon Helm, Alucard Mail, Twilight Cloak, and the Necklace of J. Before he can continue onward, he is confronted by Dracula's right hand man, Death who warns him to not interfere and turn back. When the young dhampir refuses, Death relinquishes him of his equipment, leaving him at a disadvantage though Alucard presses on, finding new equipment along the way. During his journey, he meets a now grown-up Maria who also wishes to confront the lord of the castle. Exploring further into the depths of the castle, he recognizes the scent of the Belmont bloodline commanding powerful monsters to attack him. Through this encounter, he discovers that Richter Belmont is now the lord of the castle.

Through another chance meeting, Alucard can meet Maria, informing her that Richter has taken over the castle. Maria challenges Alucard to a duel which he wins. She leaves in a hurry, giving him the Holy Goggles. He finally reaches the top floor of the castle to confront Richter and asks him why he is planning to revive his mortal enemy. Richter claims that with Dracula dead, his life as a hunter has no purpose, so he intends to revive and defeat him over and over to incite an endless cycle of battle. With the Goggles equipped while fighting Richter, Alucard discovers that the dark priest Shaft had corrupted and brainwashed him, using Richter as a pawn to overtake other hunters and keep the resurrection of Dracula uninterrupted. With Shaft exposed and defeated, Richter is released from his control. Moments after, an inverted castle descends from above. Sensing his father's impending return, Alucard explores the depths of this new castle alone, fighting Death and other powerful monsters along the way. There, he confronts Dracula one final time for the sake of mankind and in the name of his mother. Alucard deals a decisive blow, with Dracula asking his son what his beloved final words were, replying that her wish was not for Dracula to take vengeance on them, for theirs' is already a hard lot, and that she will love him for all eternity. Bidding farewell to his son, Dracula asks of Lisa's forgiveness for his crimes before perishing. With Dracula defeated once more, Alucard return to his sleep, hoping to do so for eternity.

Alucard is instead convinced by Maria to continue living among mortals, now living in a village along with Richter, leading to the events of the audio drama Demon Castle Dracula X: Tsuioku no Yasōkyoku (Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection). All seems fine for a while until an incubus named Magnus attacks innocent civilians with Alucard framed as the prime suspect. Alucard and an old servant of his named Lyudmil and Richter taking in two monster hunters named Sibyl and Alexis to find the true culprit. Alucard is eventually forced to kill Lyudmil after he had been brainwashed by Magnus, before finally killing Magnus himself.

Alucard would not appear again for a very long time, even in an instance where a Belmont was not present to fight Dracula until nearly two hundred later in the year 1999. Here, he is said to have fought alongside Richter's descendant, Julius, as well as members of the US Military, a Belnades clan member, and a priest from the Hakuba Shrine in Japan. Together, they seal Dracula's Castle away in a solar eclipse, cutting his father off from his source of power, and destroying him once and for all. Despite this, Alucard remained active as a member of a top-secret Japanese government agency, under the name "Genya Arikado". In the games Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and its sequel Dawn of Sorrow. Here, he works closely with the main protagonist Soma Cruz to unravel the mystery behind the return of Castlevania within the 2035 solar eclipse and later against members of the dark cult "With Light". Though Dracula's most recent defeat at the turn of the century was final, dark followers who had inherited his powers at birth simultaneous with his demise have attempted to carry on his legacy, starting with the resurgence of his castle. Though a Belmont is present to fight Dracula, only Soma (later revealed to be a reincarnation of Dracula free of his hate and vengeance) has the best chance of stopping them and hopes to do so to absolve himself of his past and start anew, with Arikado deciding to stick close in order to keep an eye on him. Though a supporting character, Arikado can be made playable in Dawn of Sorrow through the unlockable Julius Mode in his original Alucard form, featuring an original what-if scenario where he, Julius, and Yoko of the Belnades clan, confront a corrupted Soma who has fully become Dracula reborn.

In the Lords of Shadows timeline, Alucard is the name given to Trevor Belmont after he was turned into a vampire by his father Gabriel, now known as Dracula.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

“	Alucard will attack nearby opponents with a flurry of slashes. As the son of Dracula, he can also turn into a bat and charge at opponents further away. By the way, when you read "DRACULA" backwards, you get...?	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Alucard as he appears in Ultimate.

Alucard's weapon as an Assist Trophy is the Crissaegrim (sometimes referred to as Valmanway), an extremely rare and powerful sword in Symphony of the Night. Similarly, only the sword slashes are visible when attacking rather than the sword itself being visible in motion, similar to the original games. He is also capable of using the Power of Mist, a transformation that lets him travel through certain walls and avoid attacks completely, Soul of Bat, a bat transformation that leads into the Wing Smash tackle, and both his jump kick and back dash, which has become standard abilities for all Castlevania main characters since their introduction.

He also appears as a special guest character during Pit's conversations with Palutena in Palutena's Temple if Richter is present. Palutena formally introduces Pit to Alucard, with the latter recalling the events of Symphony of the Night afterwards before ultimately telling Pit not to underestimate Richter.

Finally, he is a Legend class Primary Spirit located in the Dracula’s Castle segment of the Dark Realm in World of Light. His Spirit Battle has the player fighting Simon while Alucard drops in to attack the player. Only Simon must be defeated to win. His Spirit can also be claimed from the Spirit Board or from the shop located in “Vault.”

Gallery

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  Alucard as an Assist Trophy in Ultimate.

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  Alucard as he appears in Ultimate.

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  Alucard attacking Meta Knight in Ultimate.

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  Alucard attacking Bowser Jr. in Ultimate.

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  Alucard's portrait in Palutena's Guidance, Ultimate.

Trivia

• The blog for Alucard references that his name spelled backwards is "Dracula".
  • Much like many of the bosses found on the Dracula's Castle stage, the name "Alucard" was taken from one of the many classic horror films that inspired the series. The name originated from the 1943 Universal film Son of Dracula starring Lon Chaney, Jr. in the title role. Chaney's character takes the name "Count Alucard" posing as a count from Hungary moving to an antebellum mansion in Louisiana. As the film's protagonist, Frank Stanely, learns almost at the beginning of the film, Count Alucard is indeed Count Dracula.
• Alucard is the only third-party special guest character to converse in Palutena's Guidance.
  • In this appearance, the reverb effect applied to his voice is the same as in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
• Alucard's other known fighting game appearance was in Castlevania: Judgement where he appeared as a playable character.
• Alucard cannot be summoned in Wii Fit Studio. It was stated during a tournament hosted by Nintendo Spain that he doesn't appear because the stage has a giant mirror, referencing how vampires do not have a reflection in mirrors.
  • Alucard is one of two Assist Trophies that doesn’t appear on specific stages, the other being Knuckles the Echidna on Green Hill Zone.

External Link

• Article on the Castlevania Wiki.