Abraham Van Helsing

> *"I'm looking for someone. Why, you ask? So I can kill him, of course."*
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Game

**Abraham Van Helsing** is a vampire hunter renowned for his ability to overcome even the strongest and most evil vampires. Being a former member of the British Army, he had almost perfect physical condition and combat ability. Warrant the metaphor of “Human Weapon.” For personal justification, he is in search of someone to settle a long-standing score.

He is one of the five characters the player can choose to pursue in the game as Cardia, and voiced by **Junichi Suwabe** in Japanese and **Ian Sinclair** in English in the anime.

## Appearance

Van is a handsome fellow, with a cold aura and appearance. He is tall with dirty blonde/light brown hair, sharp violet-blue eyes and fair skin.

He is mostly seen in military-like clothing, with weapons and other stationary gear.

A light-brown dress shirt with a black tie was neatly hidden by a brown-green double breasted dress coat with a brown buckle around the hips. Grey slacks are tucked into calf-high boots, with a holster strapped to his left thigh. A navy colored trench coat with the collar neatly folded is left open and the belt-sash left untied.

## Personality

Unlike the other male characters, Van Helsing is rather serious and keeps his strongest emotions locked up.

Prior to the Vampire War, he had been a kind, somewhat idealistic young man; he was a loving son and brother. Following the murder of his family, Van Helsing became cold, embittered, and stoic.

Initially, when he meets Cardia and the others, he comes off as antisocial and taciturn; whenever he does speak, he seems quite rude, selfish and abrasive.

However, his hard exterior is only a mask for the pain and guilt he carries within him for the crimes he was forced to commit; as the series goes on, it's revealed that he still retains his sense of humanity, although it's mostly expressed through his actions, not his words.

He is shown to be a sharpshooter and skilled combatant - whether with weapons, or bare handed; his strength and endurance are also shown to be unequaled, thus his title of the " HUMAN WEAPON " - although he never shows off.

He is also shown to be the voice of reason on more than one occasion when everyone else loses their heads.

### **History**

Flashbacks show that Van was the eldest child in his family. Shortly after his father's death, he departed for London, and signed up for the army to help with the finances at home, leaving his mother and younger brother behind.

The entrance exams were to take place on the army's training fields. He passed the exam easily despite being a newbie, catching the eye of the commanding officer, Jimmy Aleister, who also commanded the elite group, Twilight. Said commander took van Helsing under his wing, which led to them developing a close friendship.

As a member of Twilight, Van was ordered to get close to the vampire royal family. Once war was declared, Van was ordered to execute them. After spending time among the vampires, however—training Delacroix II and learning from the king himself—he came to realize that they were a peaceful people who would not be a threat to the empire. He relayed his findings to his superior Jimmy Aleister, and both of them agreed to inform Finis so as not to start a war. Finis, overhearing the conversation, informed Van Helsing that a war was inevitable, and when the said individual refused to carry out his assignment of killing the vampires, the leader of Twilight ordered Aleister to talk some sense into him. Aleister declined, however, standing by Van Helsing and supporting his decision, agreeing that bloodshed was unnecessary, even if the orders were given by someone close to Queen Victoria. Both Van Helsing and Aleister were imprisoned for treason, and were informed that their families were being held hostage by Twilight; if they refused their orders, their families would pay the price.
Reluctantly, Van Helsing carried out his assignment, murdering the vampires until he came face to face with the Vampire King himself, Delacroix I. The duel was a fierce and bitter one, ending in the death of the Vampire King; Van Helsing, fighting for breath, caught sight of the young prince, Dracula Delacroix II, staring at him in shock. Despite his orders to kill every member of the Royal Family, Van Helsing spared the boy's life, never including in his report that he was still alive.

On the day he was awarded for his role in the Vampire War, Van Helsing resigned from the said organization, embittered and disillusioned with Twilight; when asked by Aleister why he was leaving, he gave one reason:

***" I can no longer bring myself to kill. "***

He headed home, hoping to find solace and peace with the mother and younger brother he had left behind, however, upon his arrival, he found them brutally murdered, shattering his hopes. Upon getting in touch with Aleister, he learned that his mentor had also suffered the same fate, and both men set out to find the culprit responsible for the deaths of their loved ones; they eventually found the assassin, along with a letter with Finis' seal, giving orders to dispose of their families.

From that time on, he has had only one goal: ***kill Finis.***

### **Chapter 1: London Steam**

Abraham Van Helsing does not appear in this chapter.

### **Chapter 2: The Strongest Stalker**

Lupin's gang encounters Van Helsing for the first time at the boardwalk. He has come to capture "the monster" connected to Isaac Beckford who will lead him to Finis. He is surprised to see Cardia present herself in exchange for her friends' lives, as he hadn't expected a young woman. Lupin is able to take advantage of his distraction to jam Van's guns and force him into a compromise: in exchange for his cooperation, Lupin and the others will share their resources so that everyone can attain their goals. Van reluctantly accepts.

### **Chapter 8: Nobody Understands the Truth**

The gang goes out to search Isaac's secret lab, and Cardia decides to split off with Van. As they search, Van begrudgingly admits that he's grateful to the gang, as he would've never made such headway in his hunt without them. Cardia asks about his reason for hunting Finis, but he refuses to answer.

After Finis reveals the truth about Cardia's existence, Van appears and aims his gun at Finis's head. Cardia tries to stop him, but he rebuffs her and demands that Finis explain how he survived after Van blew his head off before. Finis only mocks him, but is then killed by Saint. Van is conflicted by this, but still maintains that he will help the gang find Isaac's whereabouts, even though Finis dying means that Delly now has the right to take his life.

### **Chapter 9: Serial Killer**

Shaken by the revelation that she is not human, Cardia leaves the mansion without telling anyone. Her plan is to go to her old home, but the trains have all stopped for the night. The station attendant warns her that there has been a series of gruesome murders around the city recently, with all the victims being young women. Cardia heads to Whitechapel to seek lodging for the night, but she is attacked and knocked unconscious.

When she wakes, she is bound to a chair and trapped in the London sewers. She hears the screams of a woman begging for mercy before Jack the Ripper reveals himself. She recognizes him as the station attendant from the other night, and he explains that while he is the serial killer who has been murdering women in the streets, he will not kill her because he was instructed to bring her to his benefactor. Cardia manages to burn through the ropes binding her to the chair and makes a run for it. Unfortunately, Jack is much stronger than her, far more so than an ordinary man.

Jack is about to murder her when Van Helsing arrives to save her. Because Cardia had been held in the same location for three days, the Horologium gases were able to accumulate enough so that Impey's Horologium detector was able to pinpoint her location. He explains that Jack is a former test subject from an experiment meant to bring out Hidden Strength, where the subjects are horribly tortured until their PTSD unlocks superhuman strength. While the experiment was meant to create super soldiers to fight in the empire's wars, it was ultimately deemed a failure; Hidden Strength could only be achieved by breaking its users minds and trapping them in living nightmares, making them too volatile to be deployed. All Hidden Strength users were thought to be dead save for Jack, who somehow escaped government custody.

Van Helsing defeats Jack, sparing him only because of Cardia's pleas that he not burden himself with any more deaths, but they end up hearing a recording from Jack's mysterious benefactor, known only as "Azoth." Azoth warns them that soon, London will be overflowing with evil. The voice jeers at Van, remarking that he shall have to play along like a puppet, just as he had in the Vampire War, as he wouldn't want to lose anyone else precious to him. This enrages Van, and he determines that Azoth must be Finis, because only Finis would know to use this information against him. Van and Cardia realize that the recording device is rigged to a bomb, and they dash out of the sewers before it goes off.

### **Chapter 10: Vampire**

Van and Cardia are questioned by Scotland Yard and Leonhardt about the explosion and Jack. Leonhardt reveals that they are looking into Azoth, as the Queen is determined to figure out who could have broken Jack out of his imprisonment in the first place. Van insists that it must be Finis, although Leonhardt is skeptical. They agree to work together to catch Azoth.

On their way back to Saint's mansion, Van reiterates that he needs Cardia only in order to get to Finis and complete his revenge, which hurts Cardia as she wishes for him to value her as a friend. Van, however, declares that she and the gang are just a means to an end for him, nothing more. Cardia ends up returning to the mansion alone, greeted by Delly at the gates. She asks if it's true that Van did kill Delly's family, and Delly confirms it, along with his intentions to seek revenge.

She is gently scolded for running off into the night but welcomed back into the Gang with open arms. After sharing her experience with Jack and Azoth, Fran notes that "Azoth" is another name for mercury in alchemy, and also the term used to describe the Philosopher's Stone, as the A and the Z represent the beginning and the end. He speculates that Azoth is trying to bring an end to the status quo and unleash something new.

The next morning, Van returns to the mansion with a newspaper detailing a gruesome murder that occurred that night. A nobleman, Viscount Brandl, and his entire estate were slaughtered by an unknown assailant, and with the timing, Van is certain that it is Azoth's work. The story unsettles Delly, who insists on coming with the gang to investigate the crime scene. They manage to deduce that the killer must have been a vampire. They later run into Aleister, who lets them know that he is in charge of Twilight, now that Finis is "dead" to the public, and therefore Twilight will not be coming after them any longer. Van explains that Aleister is trustworthy, as he was Van's mentor for many years and also has a vested interest in seeing Finis dead, as Finis betrayed him, as well.

Van, Delly, and Cardia go to 221B Baker Street to visit Sholmes to seek his expertise on the case. Sholmes reveals that the attack was only the latest in a string of murders that seem to be targeting individuals who advocated for the Vampire War. This confirms to Van and Delly that the assailant must be Neuntöte, Delly's former instructor. The gang works with Scotland Yard to protect the presumed next target, and Delly is determined to talk sense into his fellow vampire. Unfortunately, the target, Mauchly, is an arrogant man who refuses to cooperate with the Yard, which leads to their plans falling apart. It is revealed that Mauchly took advantage of the war to murder countless vampires in a misguided attempt to gain immortality by drinking their blood, hence why Neuntöte is determined to make him pay for his crimes. Van and Neuntöte battle, and Delly tries to get Neuntöte to see reason and give up his senseless bloodshed, but Neuntöte's mind is so warped by Hidden Strength that he tries to kill them both. They are able to subdue him enough for him to regain some clarity, but he takes his own life before the madness can return.

Van is left horribly injured after his fight. While he is resting in the mansion, Delly asks him why he would go to so much trouble to save him from Neuntöte when Delly is going to kill him. Van explains that Delly deserves his vengeance, but asks him to allow him to finish his before he dies at Delly's hands. Delly is confused and upset by this and demands to know why Van killed his family if he's clearly such a kind person, but Van doesn't answer, instead asking if there is any reason that would be good enough to justify what he did.

### **Chapter 11: Dollface**

Violent crime has been on the rise in recent days. Now that Van has recovered enough to be back on his feet, he tells the gang to forget about Azoth. Aleister comes to the mansion to explain that many of his men in Twilight have disappeared, and blames Finis. Van breaks off from the gang, coldly stating that they are now holding him back. Cardia, concerned by this turn, follows him out and begs him to reconsider. She can see his pain eating him alive, and she wants to be there for him. They are interrupted by the arrival of Leonhardt, who relays that several Hidden Strength users broke into the palace and set off suicide bombers. In the wake of the explosions was a note declaring that more violence is on the way, and the bombers cried "Long live Master Finis" before their deaths.

They end up going to Sholmes for his help again. He notes that many of the deaths have been of Finis's political enemies, save for one, the Marquis Renfield, who argued against Isaac's ideas and the Vampire War. Fearing that Renfield is next, they race to his home, only to see someone fleeing the area. This is revealed to be a vampire with Hidden Strength under the control of Finis, who emerges from the shadows to taunt them. As Delly holds off their vampire attackers, Cardia and Van confront Finis. Van accuses Finis of being Azoth, but Finis only remarks that Azoth's incidents have been interesting, but nothing more. He taunts Van by taking Cardia at knifepoint and reminding him of the death of his family. An explosion goes off at the palace, distracting Van and Cardia long enough for Finis to retreat. Meanwhile, Delly is unable to subdue his vampire opponents and is anguished over his inability to save his former comrades without killing them, but he is then attacked.

The gang searches for Delly, to no avail. Cardia regrets not staying behind to protect him (note: if Cardia chooses to stay behind, she will be murdered). Van is determined to walk down this path of bloodshed by himself, without dragging the others into it. Finally, he tells Cardia that back when he was a Twilight agent, he was sent to infiltrate the vampire stronghold before the war happened in order to monitor them for potential threats. He found the vampires there to be peaceful and kind, unlike the reports, and tried to argue against the war. Finis took his family hostage in order to force him to obey his orders. To protect his mother and younger brother, Van massacred the vampires who had so graciously welcomed him into their home. Finish, however, betrayed him by ordering for his family to be murdered. This is why Van cannot let Finis live. He admits, though, that his time spent with Lupin and the gang was warm, which is why he must leave; he is afraid that his bond with them will weaken his resolve to avenge his family. Still, he is glad to have met Cardia.

He leaves with Aleister to track Finis down. Aleister deduces that Finis must be at the St. Paul's Cathedral, as it is the base of Twilight's operations. Van reminisces about his early days in the army and how Aleister saw his potential and plucked him from the crowd to transfer to Twilight, where Aleister mentored him. He and Aleister were the ones to clear out the Hidden Strength users after the experiment ended. Years later, the Vampire War broke out, and while Van carried out his mission, he was unable to hunt down Delly as he was too overcome with guilt. He resigned from Twilight the day after he was awarded his knighthood, intending to return to his hometown to retire. But peace was never an option. He found his family murdered in their home. Soon after, Aleister met up with him, as his own family suffered the same fate, and they tracked down the assassin, who bore orders from Finis to kill both Van and Aleister's families. Thus, Van swore his vengeance.

In the present day, Cardia is determined to track Van down and bring him back from the brink of darkness. Saint notes that she has changed, and Lupin declares that it's because she is in love with Van. The gang follows the wheel tracks left by Aleister's automobile and deduces that they drove into the city. With Sisi's nose, they track Van's scent down to St. Paul's Cathedral. There, they have to fight off dozens of Twilight soldiers with Hidden Strength. Cardia goes on ahead to get to Van. In the lower levels of the cathedral, she finds Van and Aleister at a stand-off with Finis and his soldiers. Cardia confesses her love for Van. Finis finds this hysterical, for to him she is nothing but an artificial creation made to carry out their father's will. Finis gives Van the chance to kill him, once more. Van does so, only to see another Finis step into the room. Finis cannot die because there are infinite copies of himself, each bearing his consciousness.

However, Aleister takes command of the Twilight soldiers, revealing that they were working for him all along. An explosion goes off in another room, and Aleister explains that he has discovered Finis's secret and ensured the end of his immortality. This sends Finis into a rage before Aleister's men shoot Finis. Before Finis dies, he realizes that Aleister has been Azoth all along and reveals the truth, which shocks Van. Aleister's plan all along has been to push Van to the brink of despair by forcing him to relive his trauma over and over again. The one responsible for the deaths of Van's family members was not Finis but Aleister, and Aleister's story about his own family's death was a fabrication to make Van trust him. Hidden Strength is Aleister's creation, and while he had to dispose of his earlier prototypes, he has now perfected his latest test subjects who will now obey him without issue.

Van, seething at this betrayal, swears to kill Aleister. His eyes flash red, eerily similar to users of Hidden Strength. Aleister has his soldiers attack Van so that he may escape, and tells Van that he will wait for him at Tower Bridge.

### **Chapter 12: Waking Evil**

Elsewhere, Leonhardt struggles to handle the sudden uptick in violent crimes, with several Hidden Strength users wreaking havoc upon the city. Van, having handled Aleister's soldiers, rushes off in pursuit of Aleister. Cardia, armed with a tracking device courtesy of Impey and with Saint as backup, is hot on his heels. Saint has to fall back, though, when a figure dressed in armor appears.

Cardia catches up with Van as it starts to rain. He tries to rebuff her, but is no match for a maiden in love. Van pulls his guns on her and asks if she's willing to die right then and there, as that is the same fate that awaits her if she follows him. She doesn't back down. Angered, Van pins her against a wall and yells at her to leave him, because she is important to him and he won't be able to bear it if anything happens to her, not after everything that happened with his family. Cardia repeats that she loves him and will stay with him no matter what, and he thanks her for her love before knocking her out and leaving her behind at an abandoned mansion, safe from the rain.

Van goes to Tower Bridge to face down with Aleister, who is surprised that he arrived ten minutes behind his calculations. Aleister surmises that it's became of Cardia. He brings out a brainwashed Delly to fight Van with his Hidden Strength. Van is able to immobilize Delly and bring him out of his crazed state, but the mental damage of Hidden Strength leaves Delly begging for death so that he may rejoin his family. Van shoots him. However, it is revealed that all Van did was knock him out, and Cardia finds Delly injured by alive. Delly urges Cardia to go after Van, because Aleister has some kind of plan for him. Before Cardia goes, though, Delly tells her that he has given up on his revenge, and that Van should atone for his sins by living.

Cardia finds Van and Aleister back in Twilight headquarters beneath St. Paul's Cathedral. Hearing Delly's words only makes Van more conflicted, as he doesn't believe he should be forgiven. Aleister reveals that he has been slowly cultivating Hidden Strength in Van over the years, which is why Van is abnormally strong. As proof, Aleister goads Van into trying to kill him, but Van finds that he cannot because of the failsafe in Aleister's Hidden Strength methods that protects him from his creations. This finally breaks Van and he gives into Hidden Strength entirely. Aleister offers to let Cardia try to kill Van to save herself, but she sees through his ploy and refuses to comply, knowing that her trying to attack Van would only hurt Van further.

Aleister explains his motives: when his family was murdered many years ago, he felt not grief but astonishment at the beauty of death. Since then, he has tried to find another like him in the world, but since he could not, he decided to make one, choosing Van as his test subject. He takes his own life and urges Van to avenge him, planting into Van's mind that Cardia is the source of his misery, the reason why Aleister will die before his eyes. Mad with bloodlust, Van grabs Cardia by the throat and aims his gun at her chest.

Cardia willingly sacrifices herself to his vengeance. If her death will help him find peace, no matter how misplaced his wrath may be, she will accept it. Her selflessness is enough to snap Van out of his murderous rage, and he releases her. Horrified by his actions, Van stabs himself in order to put an end to his rampaging for good. As he lays bleeding out on the floor, Cardia begs him to stay alive long enough for Fran to come fix him.

If Cardia and Van's affection is high enough, then Van will regain consciousness enough to gently scold Cardia for being so loud right against his ear. He professes his love for her, and promises to stay alive to repent for his sins and stay by her side, forever grateful that she has never given up on him.

If Cardia and Van's affection is not high enough, then the stabbing will be fatal and Van will die in front of Cardia's eyes. In the wake of his death, Cardia holes up in the mansion, with no company save for Delly, as the rest of the gang has gone off on their own to pursue their original goals. Delacroix promises to stay by her, to honor Van, and Cardia eventually works up the courage to go visit Van's hometown.

### **Chapter 13: Stand By Me**

A month later, Van, fully recovered, now works as a bodyguard for Marquis Renfield, who has been helping Delly lobby for vampire rights. Now that Azoth and Finis are both gone, the rest of the gang has disbanded, but still visit every now and then. Van gives her a new dress and takes her up to the roof of Buckingham Palace to look over the city. Cardia may still be poisonous, but Van still wants her to experience as much of the world as possible. They dance on the rooftop, with Van promising never to give up looking for a cure for her condition.

In the epilogue, Cardia makes breakfast, after many trials and tribulations, and goes to wake Van. Cardia flashes back to the night before when Van offered to make breakfast, and everyone went pale. Everyone but Cardia knows that Van's cooking is entirely inedible, with Impey going so far as to note that the "human weapon" can even kill with his food. Even worse, Van is entirely unaware that his food tastes bad. The gang convinced Cardia to cook instead, and she managed to get Van to let her do so because who doesn't love a good wifey moment.

Cardia finds Van ass-naked in bed, reaching toward her. She gets flustered, but it turns out that he was just messing with her and reaching for his glasses. After they go down to eat, Van expresses his gratitude to her and that he enjoys her cooking. She promises to keep practicing so that she can make even better food, and Van teasingly offers to start sleeping in the same bed as her as thanks. Cardia rejects him, embarrassed, saying that she can't as long as her skin is poisonous, but he just waves it off and says that it can wait until after she is cured.

## Trivia

* Abraham Van Helsing placed 2nd in the official Code: Realize poll with a total of 1718 (20.5%) votes.
* Abraham Van Helsing is based on the fictional literary figure Professor Abraham Van Helsing; a character who is the leader of a group fighting against the vampire Count Dracula from the English horror novel Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897).
* Abraham Van Helsing makes an appearance alongside the other characters of Code: Realize in the Idea Factory otome card game *Sephirot ~World Tree of Time~* , which contains characters exclusively from otome games published by the company Otomate.

## Relationships

### Saint-Germain

They get along, for the most part, although Saint is perfectly willing to shoot him out of a cannon and straight through the sky.

### Arsene Lupin

They respect each other, with Lupin being wily enough to turn the tables on Van even though Van is objectively stronger than him.

### Cardia Beckford

At first, he sees her only as a means to achieve his goal of finding Finis. Over time, though, he comes to respect her compassion and heart. Because of her kindness, he wants to keep her away from his own darkness.

### Delacroix II

Their relationship is complicated. Prior to the Vampire War, Van was like an older brother to Delly. After the war, Delly wants to avenge his people by killing Van, but he is nevertheless still conflicted because he can't understand why someone so kind would have betrayed them.

### Finis

Van hates him for ruining his life, and Finis is mostly indifferent when he's not being petty.

### Impey Barbicane

They bicker a lot, because Van thinks that Impey is an idiot. He admits that Impey's food is great, but can't understand how such an idiot could make such good-tasting food. Impey is not above using Van as a human cannonball.

### Victor Frankenstein

They were acquainted with each other from their time in the queen's service, with Fran being a little in awe of him.

### Jimmy A. Aleister

Aleister is one of the people Van trusted unconditionally, due to their shared history. In other routes, Aleister is the first that Van will turn to if the gang needs any external help.

## References

1. ↑ http://aksysgames.com/code-realize/characters/abraham-van-helsing/