Dracula (Castlevania)

Dracula, also known as Dracula Vlad Tepes and Mathias Cronqvist, is one of the main characters from the Castlevania series.
== Charactah Account ==
Before he became Dracula, hewas Mathias Cronqvist — a genius war strategist from the Middle Ages. After his wife Elisabetha died while he was fighting in the crusades, he suffered a crisis of faith and decided that God was at fault for his wife's death. Mathias used his friend Leon Belmont to steal the soul of a powerful vampire named Walter Bernhard with the Crimson Stone, gaining the allegiance of Death. He reveals that he had forsaken God, who took away his wife, and will continue to curse Him for eternity. He retreats and changes his name to Vlad Tepes, while Leon swears that he and his family will dedicate themselves to his destruction.
Dracula found a second chance at redemption after meeting a woman named Lisa. They bonded and Lisa gave birth to half-vampire Adrian F. Tepes aka Alucard. Unfortunately, Lisa ended up crucified for practicing medicine. Dracula snapped, declared that humans are the real monsters and decided to wage war against the world, and God himself. Thankfully for humanity, Leon's oath lasted throughout the centuries, and the Belmont Clan (with assistance from the Morris and Belnades families on occasion) have thwarted his undead armies every time.
== Appearance ==
=== Cartoons ===
* Castlevania
* Castlevania Season 2
* Castlevania Season 3
* Castlevania Season 4
=== Video Games ===
* Castlevania
* Castlevania (1999)
* Castlevania Advance Collection
* Castlevania Anniversary Collection
* Castlevania Chronicles
* Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
* Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
* Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
* Castlevania Judgment
* Castlevania Legends
* Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night
* Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood
* Castlevania: Bloodlines
* Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
* Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
* Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
* Castlevania: Dracula X
* Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
* Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
* Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
* Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
* Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
* Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
* Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
* Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
* Castlevania: Order of Shadows
* Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
* Castlevania: Resurrection
* Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
* Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
* Castlevania: The Adventure
* Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
* Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
* CR Pachinko Demon Castle Dracula
* Dead Cells
* Demon Castle Dracula: The Medal
* Evolution Skateboarding
* Konami Classics Volume 1
* Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra
* Konami GB Collection Volume 1
* Konami GB Collection Volume 4
* Konami Krazy Racers
* Super Castlevania IV
* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
== Trivia ==
* According to an employee who worked for Hitoshi Akamatsu, director and lead programmer of the three Famicom Castlevania games, defeating Dracula in the first Castlevania was supposed to yield 10,000 points. However, due to a bug produced for setting a wrong bit, the player only obtains one point for defeating him instead.
* On the same interview to this employee, when he asked Mr. Akamatsu why Dracula's body parts scattered flying in every direction when defeating his first form, he replied that this was a foreshadow of Dracula's resurrection; possibly being the origin of the concept of gathering Dracula's body parts in the sequel, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.
* According to Mr. Akamatsu, Dracula's demonic form that is fought during the second phase of his boss fight is intended to be an "incarnation of the curse of man" and not Dracula himself. That's why when Simon Belmont defeats him, he gets cursed.
* Mr. Akamatsu also explained how the rotating gears in Dracula's castle represent his heart. They turn so long as Dracula is alive. That's the reason why in the ending of Castlevania the clock tower collapses, but the rest of the castle remains.
* In the best ending of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, a hand emerges from Dracula's grave after the ending narration, implying that he returned regardless. However, this was retconned with the next chronological game in the franchise, Harmony of Dissonance, where it was made clear that Dracula was still dead fifty years later.
* Originally, in the Japanese version of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, along with selling his own soul to increase his powers, Dracula also sold Alucard's, an act that turned his son into a vampire. This was later retconned with the inclusion of Lisa to the storyline, making Alucard into a dhampir from birth.
* In addition, the "third form of Dracula" in Dracula's Curse was suggested in the Japanese version to actually be Dracula reviving a powerful demon in order to gain more power instead of an actual transformation.
* Dracula's final form in Castlevania: Bloodlines shows him with a second mouth on his stomach. This could be inspired by some Medieval depictions of the Devil, showing him eating damned souls and spitting them out through his second mouth.
** Dracula's sprite in the game particularly resembles the piece "Lucifer Waiting for the Last Judgment" from Livre de la Vigne Nostre Signeur (c. 1450-1470). Apart from having a secondary face/mouth on the stomach area, he also has two additional smaller faces on his shoulders, and the characteristic pose of his legs is nearly identical to the artwork.
** On this note, it's worth mentioning that Dracula's title, Maou (Demon King) has sometimes been translated as "Satan" in some games, based on some Japanese Bible translations, implying both being the same entity or at least to play a similar role.
* Although Dracula's portrait artwork for Symphony of the Night depicts him with yellow eyes, his in-game dialogue portrait depicts them as glowing red (via superimposed graphics over Ayami Kojima's original design).
* One of the pieces of concept art for Dracula included in the Castlevania: Curse of Darkness OST had his pose reused for his character art in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.
* Dracula's artwork as Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was slightly altered from its original appearance, removing all traces of blood. This was likely done to avoid raising the game's age rating, as Symphony of the Night has a higher age rating than Ultimate in all regions.
* In Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Dracula appears as the final boss in Pac-Man's Classic Mode due to the fact that he is chronologically the first SSBU boss who appeared in a video game (in the very first Castlevania game). Similarly, he appears as the final boss in Luigi's Classic Mode as a subtle reference to the Luigi's Mansion subseries in the Mario franchise, which dealt with a similar premise to Castlevania regarding combating supernatural horrors in a haunted building (coincidentally, haunted mansions playing a key role in Simon's Quest). He also acts as a standard boss for Sephiroth's Classic Mode, as a subtle reference to how both characters acted as final bosses of their respective games (Dracula to various Castlevania games, and Sephiroth for Final Fantasy VII). Ironically enough, it also indirectly and unintentionally referenced Alucard's fights against Dracula in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Symphony of the Night and Julius Mode in Dawn of Sorrow, due to Sephiroth having a similar physical appearance to Alucard.
== Gallery ==
File:Dracula (Castlevania) Render 01.png
File:Dracula (Castlevania) Render 02.png
File:Dracula (Castlevania) Render 03.png
File:Dracula (Castlevania) Render 04.png
File:Dracula (Castlevania) Render 05.png
== External Links ==
* Dracula at Castlevania Wiki
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Category:Castlevania