Abraham Van Helsing

(Some Aspects From the Dracula Wiki)

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is an aged Dutch doctor and a character from the 1897 gothic horror novel *Dracula*. The character is best known throughout many adaptations of the story as a vampire hunter and the archnemesis of Count Dracula.

## Biography

He was born on September 29th, 1833, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

He was very intellegent, and grew to have a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc, etc," indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise.

He had a son, who died at an unknown age. Van Helsing says that his son, had he lived, would have had a similar appearance to Arthur Holmwood. Consequently, Van Helsing developed a particular fondness of Holmwood. Van Helsing's wife went insane after their son's death, but as a devout Catholic, he refused to divorce her.

In 1897, Van Helsing was called in by his former student, Dr. John Seward, to assist with the mysterious illness of Lucy Westenra. Van Helsing's friendship with Seward is based in part upon a prior event in which Van Helsing suffered a grievous wound and Seward saved his life by sucking out the gangrene.

It is Van Helsing who first realizes that Lucy is the victim of a vampire and he guides Dr. Seward and his friends in their efforts to save Lucy.

In addition to this, Van Helsing had a well-developed, albeit ironic, sense of humor. When Arthur Holmwood mournfully proclaimed that the transfusion of his blood into the dying Lucy Westenra made her truly his bride, Van Helsing laughed and tells Jack Seward that if such is the case, both Van Helsing and Lucy are guilty of adultery, as Arthur was not alone in donating blood; Seward, his friend Quincey Morris, and Van Helsing himself had each given as well.

Count Dracula, having acquired ownership of England’s Carfax Abbey through solicitor Jonathan Harker, moved to the abbey and began menacing England. His victims included Lucy Westernra, who lived in Whitby. The aristocratic girl had suitors such as John Seward, Arthur Holmwood, and Quincey Morris. and had a best friend in Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker’s fiancée. Seward, who worked as a doctor in an insane asylum — where one of his patients, the incurably mad Renfield secretly serves Dracula— contacts Van Helsing about Lucy Westenra’s peculiar loss of blood. Van Helsing, recognizing the mark of the vampire, tried to save Lucy, but she died and returned as a vampire. Eventually, Van Helsing and a heartbroken Arthur destroyed the vampiric Lucy.

Van Helsing and his band of vampire hunters pursued Dracula back to Transylvania. There, they chase him down the Borgo Pass and corneredhim. Armed with knives, Jonathan Harker and Quincey Morris decapitate Dracula and impale his heart, killing him. Dracula's body then crumbles to dust.

Later, Van Helsing takes a grandfatherly role in regard to the young Quincey Harker, Jonathan and Mina's son.

## Equipment

Van Helsing is seen utilising many tools to aid him and his party in fending off Dracula, warding off vampires and in general defeating the undead:

* Skeleton keys used for lock picking to open the doors to many of Dracula's lairs located throughout London.
* Wreath of withered garlic blossoms.
* Silver crucifix, used to repel vampires.
* Sacred wafer brought from Amsterdam, contained in an envelope or crushed and sprinkled around him in a circle as a protective barrier.
* Electric lamps which could be attached or secured against the chest.
* Revolver and knife for use against enemies weaker than Dracula.
* The branch of a wild rose could be placed on top of a coffin containing a vampire; immobilising it.
* Mountain ash used to repel the undead.
* Wooden stake and hammer to pierce a vampire's heart.
* Golden crucifix necklace, given to Lucy Westenra.