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Who wants to live forever? Not Alucard but he’s damned to do so. The character of Dracula has been a part of pop culture for over one hundred years and taken on many permutations and names. Sometimes a monster. Sometimes a hero. Sometimes both. Alucard in the Hellsing series, is one such form, but how did he become a vampire and work for an organization named and run by the family he once fought with? Let’s find out!

Centuries ago, Vlad Tepesh was a renowned warrior and lead many successful battles. Until a fateful fight that lead to all but him being slaughtered, he was tortured by his captors, he prayed for his god to listen and save him but felt he was forsaken. Figuring one good turn deserved another, Vlad would forsake his god and asked for help from anyone or anything who would listen. Whatever heard his cries for help answered, gone was the humanity of Vlad and now arose the vampire. Strong enough to kill his captors, Vlad would dispatch them quickly but realize this power came at a price, he now had to feed on human blood and he could never truly die.

Years went on and Vlad took on a name based off his father’s old moniker of Dracul, he would become Dracula, son of the Dragon. He’d begin machinations to spread his terrible curse and try to fill the void that was his life in his new undead state. This would culminate in a battle with the monster hunter, Abraham Van Helsing in the late 19th century. While some tales end the story with Vlad’s defeat, this was not the case this time. Instead, Van Helsing used binding magics to lock Vlad into service to the Van Helsing line. The Van Helsing family would use their knowledge of the occult and monsters to found the Hellsing organization to defend the world from supernatural threats, with the help from one of the most powerful supernatural threats of all, Dracula. He’d serve as Hellsing’s finest agent, having his powers augmented to aide him in their cause.

Forced to do good by fighting off monstrous hordes, this would begin to see a raise the world hadn’t experienced before due to the Nazi party beginning its attempts at world domination by uncovering occult power and creatures. By now, due to being the inversion of his villainous ways, Dracula was being called Alucard by the eldest Van Helsing who now lead the family business. Alucard would go up against werewolves, fellow vampires, ghouls, and all manner of hellish beasts during World War II while fighting along side exemplary human agents of Hellsing, such as Walter Dernoz, who would become a friend to Alucard.

During this time, Alucard took on a more feminine form, his powers allowed him to change his body the way most people can blink. Alucard would take on many forms, such as a beast of many eyes, or animals, often returning to the one he had when he was once human, wearing an outfit similar to the one Abraham Van Helsing wore when they fought. Alucard’s knowledge of the occult is vast since he has a “takes one to know one” mentality when it comes to the monsters he faces. As time went on, Alucard found humans to be a species worth admiring, especially those who could face aging and death with such courage that he did not possess. He now longs for a worthy death from a worthwhile adversary because he will not go down without a fight.

After the war, the elder Van Helsing found that Alucard was unnecessary and had him locked away in the organization to be used when needed. It wouldn’t be until the present day, when Integra Hellsing, the most recent member of the Van Helsing family, would be attacked by her uncle who was in charge of the organization tried to have her killed so he could maintain control. Integra knew of the monster in the basement and would go and unleash her ancestor’s servant to protect her. Alucard took a liking to her immediately, she was willing to do what was necessary to survive and wouldn’t go down without a fight and use every tool in her arsenal. Alucard was welcomed to become her greatest weapon.

Now working in the mordern day for Integra and with former field agent, Walter, now working as Integra’s aide, Alucard takes on paranormal dangers once more but he finds a new ally when he must nearly sacrifice a police woman to stop a monster, to save her, he turns her into a vampire and takes her under his wing. New threats loom for Alucard as he meets a priest that can stand toe to toe with him in combat, Alexander Anderson of the Iscariot Organization, the Vatican’s secret army that also hunts the supernatural. Alucard would gladly die at his hands if he proved capable and worthy enough to kill him.

There you have it! That’s not nearly the end of Alucard’s story, merely the beginning to the series Hellsing. Didn’t want to spoil too much and you should check it out. Try to keep these manga focused ones a little more spoiler free since manga tends to have a finite story compared to western comics that will keep going as long as there are readers. Alucard has been adapted several times in anime both as series and films. What Dracula stories are your favorite? See you next time!

For more heroes, villains, and everything in between check out more of the Character Spotlight!

Suggested Reading
Hellsing
Dracula

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net