Count Dracula

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Count Dracula

Count Dracula is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is any person, persona, identity, or entity that exists in a The arts. The process of conveying information about characters in fiction is called characterisation....
, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Ireland novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Horror fiction novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London in London, which Irving owned....
's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula
Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 in literature novel by Irish people author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature....
.

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Encyclopedia

Dracula Dracula *Dracula* is an 1897 in literature novel by Irish people author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature.... character

Count Dracula
Gender	Male
Ethnicity	Székely Székely The Sz?kely or Szekler people , are a Hungarian language ethnic group. They are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. It is now generally accepted that they are true Hungarian people, or Magyars, transplanted there to guard the frontier, their name meaning simply ?frontier guards.? Their organization was of the Turkic type, and t...
Occupation	Transylvania Transylvania Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountains, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical regions of Crisana, Maramures, and Banat.... n nobleman Nobility Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
Allies	Brides of Dracula Brides of Dracula For the 1960 Hammer film, see The Brides of DraculaThe Brides of Dracula are fictional characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.... Renfield Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker....
Enemies	Jonathan Harker Jonathan Harker colour =#DEDEE2\| colour text =#000\| name=Jonathan Harker\| series =Dracula\| image =\| caption =\| first =\| last=... Abraham Van Helsing Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character and a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Netherlands doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the Post-nominal letters that follows his name: "Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Letters, etc., etc...
First appearance	Dracula Dracula *Dracula* is an 1897 in literature novel by Irish people author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature.... (1897)
Created by	Bram Stoker Bram Stoker Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Ireland novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Horror fiction novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London in London, which Irving owned....

Count Dracula is a fictional character

Fictional character

Bram Stoker

Romanians

], 26 Nov 2004. Reprinted at , retrieved 18 Dec 2005.External links *...
Prince, Vlad III the Impaler

Vlad III the Impaler

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler , also known as Vlad Dracula, or simply Dracula , was a Wallachian voivode....
. Since creation by Stoker, the character has fallen into the public domain

Public domain

File:PD-icon.svgThe public domain is a range of abstract materials?commonly referred to as intellectual property?which are not owned or controlled by anyone....
and subsequently appears frequently in popular culture

Dracula in popular culture

The character of Count Dracula from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, has remained popular over the years, and many films have used the Count as a villain, while others have named him in their titles, such as Dracula's Daughter, The Brides of Dracula, and Zoltan, Hound of Dracula ....
.

Biography

Count Dracula (his first name is never given in the novel) is a centuries-old vampire

Vampire

Vampires are mythology or folklore Revenant who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living. In folkloric tales, the undead vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive....
, sorcerer

Magician (fantasy)

A magician, sorcerer, wizard, or a person known under one of Magician #Names and terminology in fiction is someone who uses or practices Magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources....
and Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountains, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical regions of Crisana, Maramures, and Banat....
n nobleman

Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
, who claims to be a Székely

Székely

Attila the Hun

Attila , also known as Attila the Hun, was leader of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the Danube to the Baltic Sea ....
. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe....
near the Borgo Pass. Contrary to the vampires of Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
an folklore

Folklore

Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, superstitions, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group ....
which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula exudes a veneer of aristocratic charm which masks his unfathomable evil

Evil

Evil, in many cultures, is a broad term used to describe intentional negative moral acts or thoughts that are cruel, unjust or selfish. Evil is usually good and evil, which describes acts that are kind, just or unselfish....
.

His appearance is described thus:

In his youth, he studied the black arts

Black magic

Black magic or dark magic is a form of Magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers. It may be used for dark purposes or malevolent acts that deliberately cause harm in some way....
at the academy of Scholomance

Scholomance

The Scholomance was a legendary school of black magic said to have been run by the Devil. It was supposedly located near an unnamed lake in the mountains south of the city of Hermannstadt in the Transylvania region of Romania....
in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu

Sibiu

Sibiu is one of the largest cities in Transylvania, Romania with a population of about 175,000. It straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt River....
(also known as Hermannstadt) and became proficient in alchemy

Alchemy

Alchemy , a part of the Occult Tradition, is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties....
and magic

Magic (paranormal)

Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a conceptual system that asserts human ability to control or predict the nature through Mysticism, paranormal or supernatural means....
(Dracula Chapter 18 and Chapter 23).

Later he took up a military profession, combating the Turks across the Danube

Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
. According to Abraham Van Helsing

Abraham Van Helsing

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character and a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Netherlands doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the Post-nominal letters that follows his name: "Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Letters, etc., etc...
:

Using the black arts, Dracula returned from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with his three wives

Brides of Dracula

For the 1960 Hammer film, see The Brides of DraculaThe Brides of Dracula are fictional characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula....
for company.

In the 19th century, however, he acts on a long contemplated plan for world domination

WORLD DOMINATION

WORLD DOMINATION is Kompressor 's first compact disc release. The album was released in 2001 and re-issued with extra tracks in 2005....
, and infiltrates London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
to begin his reign of terror. He summons Jonathan Harker

Jonathan Harker

Real estate

Real estate is a law term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location. transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge and even rescues him from the clutches of his three bloodthirsty brides. In truth, however, Dracula wishes to keep Harker alive just long enough for his legal transaction to finish and to learn as much as possible about England.

Dracula then leaves his castle and boards a Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n ship, the Demeter, taking along with him boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he needs in order to regain his strength. During the voyage to Whitby

Whitby

Whitby is a town and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. Nowadays it is a fishing port and tourist destination....
, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a very large wolf.

Soon the Count is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray

Mina Harker

Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula....
, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra

Lucy Westenra

Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family. Her father is not mentioned in the novel and her elderly mother is simply stated as being Mrs....
. There is also a notable link between Dracula and Renfield

Renfield

R. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker....
, a patient in an insane asylum compelled to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula begins to visit Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood while simultaneously infecting her with the curse of vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her companions call upon the Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch are the people native to the Netherlands, a country in north-western Europe.Dutch people, or descendants of Dutch people, are also found in migrant communities world wide,See the Dutch #Dutch diaspora. and form a mentionable part of the population of Canada,Australia, South Africa and the United States....
doctor Van Helsing, the former mentor of one of Lucy's suitors. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, but does not speak out. Despite an attempt at keeping the vampire at bay with garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
, Dracula entices Lucy out of her chamber late at night and drains her blood, killing her.

Van Helsing and a group of men enter Lucy's crypt and kill her reanimated corpse. They later enter Dracula's residence at Carfax Abbey, destroying his boxes of earth, thus depriving the Count of his ability to refuel his powers. Dracula leaves England to return to his homeland, but not before biting Mina.

Eventually, the group of heroes — Lord Godalming, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Jonathan Harker, Mina and Quincey Morris

Quincey Morris

Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula....
— track the Count back to Transylvania and, after a vicious battle with Dracula's gypsy bodyguards, destroy him. Dracula's death is shorn of the rituals enjoined by Van Helsing. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart, Mina's narrative

Narrative

A narrative or story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or Non-fiction events. It derives from the Latin language verb narrare, which means "to recount" and is related to the adjective gnarus, meaning "knowing" or "skilled"....
describes his throat being cut by Jonathan Harker's kukri

Kukri

The kukri is a curved Nepalese knife used as both tool and weapon. It is also a part of the regimental weaponry and heraldry of The Royal Gurkha Rifles....
knife and his heart pierced by Quincey Morris's Bowie knife

Bowie knife

Bowie knife specifically refers to a style of knife popularized by Colonel Jim Bowie and first made by James Black , although its common use refers to any large Scabbard knife with a clip point....
while he is being transported in his coffin en route to Castle Dracula (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). This omission of the proper rituals of destruction has led some to express doubts whether Dracula has really been finished off. Dracula, it is suggested, may rise again.

Personality

Although he usually dons a mask of cordiality to deceive others, Dracula often flies into fits of rage when his plans are interfered with. When his three brides attempt to seduce and consume Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination. Though he is capable of forming romantic ties, he freely admits that they are temporary.

Dracula is very passionate about his warrior heritage, emotionally proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of multiple heroes. He does express an interest in the history of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
, speaking admiringly of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory world view; he pities ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses.

Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
is excellent, though strangely toned.

Powers, abilities and weaknesses

Count Dracula possesses numerous different supernatural

Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
abilities inherent in vampirism, along with additional skills derived from his abilities as a necromancer

Necromancy

Necromancy is a form of divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom....
which allow him to commune with the dead. His age and potency make him far more powerful than the creatures of traditional Eastern European folklore. He has enormous physical strength

Physical strength

Physical Strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using skeletal muscle. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training....
which, according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to 20 men. Being undead, he is immune to conventional means of attack. The only definite way to kill him is by decapitating him followed by impalement through the heart, although it is also suggested that shooting him with a sacred bullet would suffice. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent, being able to climb upside down vertical surfaces in a reptilian

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
manner. He has powerful hypnotic

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a mental state or set of attitudes usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions....
and mind control

Telepathy

Telepathy describes the purported transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the Senses#Five classical senses ....
abilities, and is also able to command the loyalty of nocturnal animals such as wolves and rat

Rat

Rats are various medium sized, long-tailed rodents of the Family Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus....
s. Dracula can also manipulate the weather, usually creating mists to hide his presence, but also storms such as in his voyage in the Demeter. He can shapeshift

Shapeshifting

Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology and folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a :wikt:metamorphosis of a person or animal....
at will

Will (philosophy)

Will, or willpower, is a philosophy concept that is defined in several different ways....
, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat

Bat

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of all bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of sustained flight ....
, dust and fog. He requires no other sustenance but fresh blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him. Without it, he physically ages at an accelerated rate.

According to Van Helsing:

One of Dracula's most mysterious powers is the ability to transfer his vampiric condition to others. As seen with Lucy and Mina, transfer of the curse is done through a bite to the throat, allowing the Count to ingest the victim's blood at the same time. The victim is transformed gradually, exhibiting physical weakness and a fear of holy objects, the transformation being complete when the body is completely drained. Oddly, all other vampires present in the novel are female, and there is no mention of Dracula's victims on the Demeter ever becoming undead (as they themselves are male). However, it is implied through his encounters with Mina Harker that a person to be turned must also consume some of Dracula's blood:

"By her bed stood a tall, thin man, clad in black. His face was turned from us, but the instant we saw we all recognized the Count-in every way, even to the scar on his forehead. With his left hand he held both Mrs Harker's hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare breast which was shown by his torn-open dress."

Although his acolytes share the Count's enhanced strength

Superhuman strength

Superhuman strength, also called super strength, super-strength or enhanced strength, is an ability commonly utilized in fiction....
, thirst for blood and aversion to holy objects, they do not appear to possess the more advanced powers of their creator, such as shapeshifting into animal forms and weather manipulation. There is one instance where the vampire Lucy shrinks in size in order to squeeze through a crack and reenter her tomb, and the brides of Dracula are observed turning into motes of dust that float in the moonlight, but it is never revealed if Mina and the other vampire acolytes possess the abilities to take the form of animals.

Dracula's powers are not unlimited, however. He is much less powerful in daylight

Daylight

Daylight or the light of day is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight outdoors during the Daytime . This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and both of these reflected from the Earth and terrestrial objects....
and is only able to shift his form at dawn, noon, and dusk (he can shift freely at night). The sun

Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
is not fatal to him, though, as it is in later adaptations. He is repulsed by garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
, crucifix

Crucifix

A crucifix is a Christian cross with a representation of Jesus' body, or corpus. It is a principal symbol of the Christianity religion. It is primarily used in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican churches, and Eastern Orthodox churches, and it emphasizes Christ's sacrifice— his death by crucifixion, which they believe brought about th...
es and sacramental bread

Sacramental bread

Sacramental bread, sometimes called the Lamb , Host or simply Communion Bread, is the bread which is used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist....
, and he can only cross running water at low or high tide. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so; once invited, however, he can approach and leave the premises at will.

Famous sayings of Count Dracula

"Welcome to my house! Enter freely. Go safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring! ... I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome" (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 5 May, Dracula Chapter 2).
"Listen to them - the children of the night. What music they make!" (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 5 May, Dracula Chapter 2: in reference to the howling of wolves).
"You will, I trust, excuse me that I do not join you, but I have dined already, and I do not sup." (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 5 May, Dracula chapter 2) This line was changed in the 1931 film adaptation
Dracula (1931 film)

Dracula is a classic horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring B?la Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal Studios and is based on the Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L....
to the more famous, "I never drink... wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
."
"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship." (Dracula Jonathan Harker's Journal Chapter 3).
"This man belongs to me!" (Dracula Jonathan Harker's Journal Chapter 3: addressed to his brides with reference to Jonathan Harker - expressing his possessiveness and ambiguous sexuality).
"Yes, I too can love. You yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so? Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will." (Dracula Jonathan Harker's Journal Chapter 3; Dracula admonishing his brides for having attempted to seduce Jonathan)
"And you, their best beloved one, are now to me, flesh of my flesh; blood of my blood; kin of my kin..." (Dr. Seward's Diary, 3 October, Dracula Chapter 21: to Mina)
"Your girls that you all love are mine already!" (Dr. Seward's Diary, 3 October, Dracula Chapter 23)

In popular culture

Dracula is arguably one of the most famous villains in popular culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of Distinction memes, ideas, Perspective s and Attitude s that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture....
. He has been portrayed by more actors in more film adaptations than any other horror character. Actors who have played him include Max Schreck

Max Schreck

Maximilian "Max" Schreck was a Germany actor. He is most often remembered today for his lead role in the film Nosferatu....
, Bela Lugosi

Béla Lugosi

B?la Lugosi was a Hungarians-born United States actor of theatre and film, well known for playing Count Dracula in the Dracula and subsequent Dracula ....
, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine

John Carradine

John Carradine was an United States actor, perhaps best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns....
, Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Christopher Frank Carandini Lee Order of the British Empire, Venerable Order of Saint John is an award-winning England actor and singer. He initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Film Productions films....
, Denholm Elliott

Denholm Elliott

Denholm Mitchell Elliott, Order of the British Empire was a distinguished England actor of theatre and screen, with over 120 major film and TV credits....
, Jack Palance

Jack Palance

Jack Palance was an Academy Award-winning United States cinema of the United States actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, but his career spanned half a century of film and television appearances....
, Udo Kier

Udo Kier

Udo Kier is a German people–England actor....
, Jonathan Massey, Frank Langella

Frank Langella

'Frank A. Langella, Jr.' is an Academy Award-nominated, Tony Award-winning United States Stage and film actor. His Tonys include two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Edward Albee's Seascape , and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool , and for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/N...
, Louis Jourdan

Louis Jourdan

Louis Jourdan is a French film actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including The Paradine Case , Gigi , The Best of Everything , and Octopussy ....
, Klaus Kinski

Klaus Kinski

Klaus Kinski was a German actor, famous for his ability to project onscreen intensity, and for his explosive temperament. He acted in over 130 films....
, Duncan Regehr

Duncan Regehr

Duncan Peter Regehr is a Canadian writer, multi-media artist, and film and television actor. He has also been a figure skater, an Olympic Games boxing contender, and a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor in his native Canada, before heading to Hollywood in 1980....
, Stefan Lindahl, Edmund Purdom

Edmund Purdom

Edmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom was an Italy-based United Kingdom actor and film director....
, Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman

Gary Leonard Oldman is an English people actor, writer, Film director, Film producer, voice-over artist and occasional musician who found fame in roles such as Sid Vicious in 1986 in film biopic Sid & Nancy and Count Dracula in 1992 in film blockbuster Dracula ....
, Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie William Nielsen Order of Canada is a Canadian American comedian and actor. Although Nielsen's acting career crossed a variety of genres in both television and films, he has achieved his greatest film success in comedies, including Airplane! and The Naked Gun series of films....
, George Hamilton

George Hamilton (actor)

George Hamilton in Memphis, Tennessee is an United States film and television actor and occasional film director....
, Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler

'Gerard James Butler' is a Scotland actor known for his portrayal of Leonidas I in 300 , Erik in the The Phantom of the Opera of The Phantom of the Opera, Gerry Kennedy in P.S....
, Patrick Bergin

Patrick Bergin

Patrick Connolly Bergin is an Republic of Ireland actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy ....
, Dominic Purcell

Dominic Purcell

Dominic Haakon Madbouli Myrtvedt Purcell is a British-born Australian actor, most active in the United States. He also holds an Republic of Ireland passport by means of his ancestry....
, Richard Roxburgh

Richard Roxburgh

Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains....
, Marc Warren

Marc Warren

Marc Warren is an England actor, probably best known for his British television role as Danny Blue in Hustle and Elton Pope in the 2006 Doctor Who series episode "Love and Monsters"....
, Rudolf Martin

Rudolf Martin

Rudolf Martin is a Germany actor. He has appeared in a handful of off-Broadway productions, and has also made guest appearances on numerous television series....
, Keith-Lee Castle

Keith-Lee Castle

Keith-Lee Castle is a British actor, particularly known for playing bad guys and vampires. He has guest-starred in numerous television shows, mostly British....
, and Bruno Pelletier

Bruno Pelletier

Bruno Pelletier , is a Qu?b?cois singer....
. The character is closely associated with the cultural archetype

Archetype

An archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all....
of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween

Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic mythology of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a Secularity celebration, but some Christians and Paganism have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones....
costume.

Allusions to history

Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu

Radu Florescu

Radu Florescu is a Romanians academia who holds the position of Emeritus Professor of History at Boston College. He was Director of the East European Research Center at Boston College and also a profesor of history....
and Raymond McNally in 1972, the supposed connections between the historical Transylvania

Transylvania

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a Historical regions of Romania and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians....
and Stoker's fictional Dracula attracted popular attention.

Historically, the name "Dracula" is the given name of Vlad Tepes' family, a name derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon

Order of the Dragon

The Order of the Dragon was a Chivalric order#Monarchical_or_dynastical_orders for selected nobility, created in Hungary in the late Middle Ages....
, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
, Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
and Bohemia

Bohemia

History...
, and Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

Image:HRR 14Jh.jpgThe Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480....
) to uphold Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
. Vlad II Dracul

Vlad II Dracul

Vlad II , known as Vlad Dracul , was a voivode of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He was the father of Mircea II, Vlad Calugarul, Vlad Tepes, and Radu cel Frumos....
, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage

Coinage

Coinage is:*A series of coins or coin struck as part of currency*Coinage by Region**Coins of the United States dollar**Coins of the pound sterling...
bore the dragon symbol.

Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history

History of Romania

This article provides only a brief outline of each period of the History of Romania; details are presented in separate articles ....
and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III except for his name. There are sections in the novel where Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show that Stoker had some knowledge of Romanian history but probably one of no great depth. Stoker includes few details about Vlad III save for referring to Dracula as "that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turks", a quote which ties Stoker's Vampire to the Wallachian prince in earnest, due to Prince Vlad's famed battles with Turks over Wallachian soil. However, while Vlad III was an ethnic Vlach

Vlachs

Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe....
, the fictional Dracula claims to be a Székely

Székely

The Sz?kely or Szekler people , are a Hungarian language ethnic group. They are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. It is now generally accepted that they are true Hungarian people, or Magyars, transplanted there to guard the frontier, their name meaning simply ?frontier guards.? Their organization was of the Turkic type, and t...
.

The story of Dracula as Stoker created it and as it has been portrayed in films and television shows ever since may be a compound of various influences. Many of Stoker's biographers and literary critics have found strong similarities to the earlier Irish writer Sheridan le Fanu

Sheridan Le Fanu

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic Literature tales and mystery novels. He was the premier ghost story writer of the nineteenth century and had a seminal influence on the development of this genre in the Victorian era....
's classic of the vampire genre, Carmilla
Carmilla

"Carmilla" is a Gothic novel novella by Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla....
. In writing Dracula, Stoker may also have drawn on stories about the sídhe

Sídhe

In Irish mythology, the aos s? are a magical people of immense power, who commanded abilities that rivaled the gods. These creatures were said to live in an alternate existence on the same dimension as humans, only their world was an invisible one....
— some of which feature blood-drinking women.

It has been suggested that Stoker was influenced by the history of Countess Elizabeth Bathory

Elizabeth Báthory

Countess Elizabeth B?thory , was a Hungary countess from the renowned B?thory family. She is possibly the most prolific female serial killer in history and is remembered as the "Blood Countess" and as the "Bloody Lady of Cachtice", after the castle near Trencs?n , in the Kingdom of Hungary, where she spent most of her adult life....
, who was born in the Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary , which existed from 1000 to 1918, and then from 1920 to 1946, was a considerable state in Central Europe....
. It is believed that Bathory torture

Torture

Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadism gratification of the torturer, as was the case in the Moors M...
d and killed up to 700 servant girls in order to bathe in or drink their blood. She believed their blood preserved her youth, which may be connected to the element of Dracula in which Dracula appeared younger after feeding.

External links

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Count Dracula

Biography

Personality

Powers, abilities and weaknesses

Famous sayings of Count Dracula

In popular culture

Allusions to history

See also

External links