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 is 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. Although Dracula debuted in the original Castlevania, his origins lie in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, which took place long before. He was once a former Crusader and partner to Leon Belmont named Mathias Cronqvist. After returning home from a successful campaign to find his wife Elisabeta to be dead, Cronqvist gains a hateful view of the world and declares war on God for taking her away. Cronqvist takes control of an artifact known as 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, however, Lisa was burned at the stake by paranoid witch-hunters when her medicine stopped an epidemic. Enraged against those that took the life of his wife, and not knowing of her plea to Adrian to not hate humans, Dracula declared war against humanity. He was stopped 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 in a black sabbath, 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.

Throughout the 19th Century, Dracula is repeatedly revived by his loyal followers. By 1897, he began to spread his influence across continental Europe by moving to Carfax Abbey in England. The realtor he invited to the castle, Jonathan Harker, soon discovered his host's true nature as a vampire, sending letters to his friends in London. Harker became directly involved when his wife, Mina, was bitten by Dracula and showed signs of vampirism. Harker, together with Abraham van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, John Seward, and Quincey Morris, an American descendant of the Belmont clan, chased Dracula back to his castle in Romania, where Morris dealt the final blow, dying shortly afterwards.

Dracula returned twice more during both World Wars, dealing with Quincey's son John and grandson Jonathan, as well as their respective companions Eric Lecarde and Charlotte Aulin, before a final battle broke out on July 17th, 1999. Dracula was destroyed, once and for all, by Julius Belmont, together with a Belnades clansman, a priest from the Hakuba Shrine in Japan, Alucard, and members of the US Military. Although Dracula died, portions of his power was passed down to those who were born on the day of his death, and his soul reincarnated as Soma Cruz in 2017. Soma learned of his heritage when the castle manifested in a solar eclipse over Japan in 2035, but he was able to resist Dracula's influence despite being felt drawn to the castle, making Julius promise to kill him should he become the evil count.

One year later, Soma braved 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. Though he nearly succumbed to Dracula's influence, he again refused to let the vampire reincarnate through him and ultimately thwarted the cult's plans. An alternate "what if" scenario has Soma being corrupted into becoming Dracula, forcing Julius, Yoko Belnades, and Alucard to defeat the him.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dracula's two forms as they appear in Ultimate.

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. Nothing to Lose plays during the battle. On the stage itself, Dracula appears only as a shadow. Dracula's design is based off his official concept art from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, designed by Ayami Kojima.

Dracula begins the fight in his regular humanoid form. The battle opens with Dracula on his throne holding a glass, which he tosses behind him 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.

Dracula's first form uses the following attacks:

• Hellfire, a set of three fireballs fired horizontally. This first appeared in the original Castlevania.
• Dark Inferno, a horizontal wave of alternating large fireballs that must be ducked or jumped over. This originates from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.
• A circling variant of three Dark Infernos that alternate between moving clockwise and counter-clockwise, which can be absorbed. This attack was first used by Graham Jones in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.
• Fire pillars that appear from the ground after a moment. At low health, he combines it with Hellfire and Dark Inferno. 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, a swarm attack where Dracula rushes in the form of several bats. This originates from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

When his health bar is depleted, Dracula will transform into a large demon as depicted in Rondo of Blood, fully restoring his health in the process; however, in this form, he can be struck anywhere. Rather than warping around to move, he will run or jump during certain attacks. During this phase of the battle, he uses a different set of attacks:

• Ghost Chaser, a barrage of homing spirits. It originates from Portrait of Ruin.
• A burst of fireballs and a wave of electricity. These were his primary attacks in Rondo of Blood.
• A single claw swipe. Dracula may use this either while standing still or while dashing towards the player.
• A jumping slam that produces a shockwave.

The characters that fight Dracula in Classic Mode are Luigi, Pac-Man, Simon, and Richter. Defeating Dracula in Classic Mode is a challenge, which unlocks the Black Night music track. In World of Light, Dracula is the boss of Dracula's Castle, a dungeon in the Dark Realm, and must be defeated in order to make Dharkon appear. Defeating Dracula here rewards the player with the Dracula and Dracula (2nd Form) spirits. Dracula reappears during the final battle as part of the boss rush.

Spirits

• Dracula Spirit.png

  1075. Dracula Spirit

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  1077. Dracula (2nd Form) Spirit

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  1078. Kid Dracula Spirit

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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  Dark Inferno Circle

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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 Swipe

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  Ghost Chaser

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  Jumping Shockwave against Richter

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  Claw Slash

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.