Difference between revisions of "Dracula"

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{{CIT article}}
[[Image:VladDracula.JPG|thumb|200px|Earliest known portrait of Vlad Dracula.]]
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[[Image:Dracula Cameo.jpg|thumb|200px|A person dressed as Dracula on Halloween 1995.]]
 
[[Image:Dracula Cameo.jpg|thumb|200px|A person dressed as Dracula on Halloween 1995.]]
  
'''Dracula''' is a [[vampire]]. [[Greg Weisman]] has stated his intention to use the character in the [[Gargoyles Universe]] but we do not as of yet know how, or in what form. [http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=4796] [[Princess Katharine]] once mentioned that "vampires and [[were]]s" were vulnerable to silver, but it is not clear whether this information is accurate or whether Dracula specifically shares this vulnerability. ''([[Ill Met By Moonlight|"Ill Met By Moonlight"]])''
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'''Dracula''' is a [[vampire]] figuratively immortalized by Irish novelist Bram Stoker. [[Greg Weisman]] has stated his intention to use the character in the [[Gargoyles Universe]] in one form or another. [http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=4796]
  
As in the real world, Dracula is a well known figure of legend and popular culture. Several characters, including [[Elisa Maza]], have mentioned Dracula in relation to creepy places or situations. ''([[Awakening Part Three|"Awakening: Part Three"]], [[The Mirror|"The Mirror"]])'Dracula is also a popular [[Halloween]] costume, with at least one person dressed as Dracula attending the Greenwich Village block party in [[Timeline#1995|1995]]. ''([[Eye of the Beholder|"Eye of the Beholder"]])''
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As in the real world, Dracula is a well-known figure of legend and popular culture. Several characters, including [[Elisa Maza]], have mentioned Dracula in relation to creepy places or situations. ''([[Awakening Part Three|"Awakening: Part Three"]], [[The Mirror|"The Mirror"]])'Dracula is also a popular [[Halloween]] costume, with at least one person dressed as Dracula attending the Greenwich Village block party in [[Timeline#1995|1995]]. ''([[Eye of the Beholder|"Eye of the Beholder"]])''
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It has been hinted that Dracula himself will one night roam the hallways of [[Castle Wyvern]]. [http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=47]
  
 
==Real World Background==
 
==Real World Background==
The infamous vampire was based on the even more infamous, Vlad III, prince of Wallachia. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes in Romanian), Vlad Dracula, or just Dracula.
 
  
Born in 1431 to Vlad Dracul and Princess Cneajna of Moldavia, he had an older brother named Mircea and a younger brother named Radu the Handsome. Dracula earned his name, when, at the age of five, he was initiated into the Order of the Dragon, as his father was before him.
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In Stoker’s novel, Count Dracula was originally a medieval Transylvanian Voivode who waged war against the Ottoman Empire.  An accomplished “soldier, statesman, and alchemist”, he supposedly studied at the Scholomance, a legendary school of the dark arts hidden somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains and overseen by the [[Satan|Devil]] himself.
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Dracula eventually rose from the grave as an undead vampire, presumably due to his necromantic studies.  For centuries he terrorized the local peasants, lurking in a ruined castle somewhere in the Borgo Pass and attended by three female vampires who may be his wives, daughters or concubines.
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In the later years of the 19th century, Dracula conceived a plot to relocate himself from the desolate wilderness of Transylvania to the bustling metropolis of London, where he could prey on its “teeming millions” in relative anonymity.  To this end, he lured Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, to his Castle to facilitate the purchase of a new lair in London.  Once Harker has outlived his usefulness, the Count abandons him to the mercies of the three vampiresses.
  
Under pressure from the neighboring Ottoman Empire, Vlad and Radu were given up by their father as hostages so he could continue to rule as a vassal for the Sultan. While a hostage, Vlad developed a hatred for his brother and for Mehmed, who would later become the next Sultan.
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Once arrived in England, Dracula begins preying on Lucy Westerna, a young British socialite.  Over the course of several weeks, he slowly drains her of blood until she inevitably succumbs to death and rises again as a vampire herself.
  
In 1447, Vlad's father was assassinated, and his brother Mircea was blinded with hot iron stakes and buried alive, allegedly under orders of Hungarian regent John Hunyadi. The Ottomans invaded Wallachia and the Sultan put Vlad III on the throne as a puppet ruler. His rule at this time would be brief; Hunyadi himself invaded Wallachia and ousted him the same year.
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Dracula is eventually exposed and driven from England by a team of erstwhile vampire hunters lead by Prof. Abraham Van Helsing, a Dutch doctor and metaphysician.  The team also includes Jonathan Harker escaped from Castle Dracula, his wife Mina Harker nee Murray, English Lord and the late Lucy’s fiancée Arthur Holmewood, Van Helsing’s protégé Dr. Jack Seward and American adventurer Quincey P. Morris.
  
Vlad lived in exile with his uncle, Bogdan II, until his assassination by Petru Aron. Vlad fled to Hungary and became an adviser to Hunyadi. In 1456, Hungary invaded Serbia and drove out the Ottomans. Vlad III simultaneously invaded Wallachia with his own contingent. Both campaigns were successful, although Hunyadi died suddenly of the plague. Nevertheless, Vlad was now prince of his native land. Vlad used severe methods to restore order in Wallachia, and was constantly on guard against enemies from both outside his borders and within.  
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The novel reaches its climax in the shadow of Castle Dracula, where the hunters race to intercept Dracula’s coffin before his mortal servants can carry it back to the safety of his domain. The heroes manage to fight their way through the vampire’s minions, though Quincey is mortally wounded in the process.
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Just as the sun is about to set and Dracula regain his full powers, Harker and Quincey drove their iron knives into the vampire’s throat and heart respectively. The Count’s undead form crumbles to dust and his evil seemingly ended forever.
  
During the 1450s, Vlad allied with Hungary against the Ottoman Empire. The most important of these attacks took place on the nights of June 16–17, when Vlad and some of his men allegedly entered the main Turkish camp (wearing Ottoman disguises) and attempted to assassinate Mehmed. Unable to subdue Vlad, the Turks left the country, leaving Radu the Handsome to continue fighting. Despite Vlad achieving military victories, he had alienated himself from the nobility, which sided with Radu the Handsome. By August 1462 Radu had struck a deal with the Hungarian Crown. Consequently, Vlad was imprisoned by Matthias Corvinus.
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As a vampire, Dracula possesses a number of supernatural powers. First and foremost, he is virtually immortal and supposedly invulnerable to mortal weapons.  He possesses the strength of twenty men and can climb sheer walls in a “lizard like” fashion. He can summon storms and winds, command “meaner” animals such as rats and wolves, change his form to that of a wolf, bat or mist and mentally influence certain sensitive humans such as sleepwalkers and the mentally ill.  By far, his most sinister power is the ability to transform his victims into undead like himself via a blasphemous “Baptism of Blood”.
  
Vlad was imprisoned from 1462 until 1466, but managed to gradually win his way back into the graces of Hungary's monarch; so much so that he was able to meet and marry a member of the royal family, Countess Ilona Szilágy (the cousin of Matthias), and have two sons who were about ten years old when he reconquered Wallachia in 1476. The openly pro-Turkish policy of Vlad's brother, Radu (who was prince of Wallachia during most of Vlad's captivity), was a probable factor in Vlad's rehabilitation. During his captivity, Vlad also converted to Catholicism, in contrast to his brother who converted to Islam.
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Dracula is also cursed with a number of weaknesses and limitations due to his unnatural nature.  Most notably, he must feed on the blood of the living to maintain his undead existence, and spend at least a portion of every day sleeping in the consecrated soil of his own grave.  He is repulsed by garlic and religious iconography such as a crucifix.  He casts neither shadow nor reflection.  He cannot cross running water under his own power except at slack or full tide, nor can he enter a home unless previously invited. Contrary to subsequent adaptions, Dracula is not burned by sunlight and is quite capable of operating during the daytime if need be.  Though he can only call upon the majority of his supernatural abilities at night.
  
There are several variants of Vlad III the Impaler's death. It is generally believed that he was killed by the Janissaries near Bucharest in December 1476 during the Battle of Vaslui.
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According to Van Helsing, Dracula can only be slain by driving a wooden steak through his heart, cutting off his head and stuffing the mouth with garlic; or by firing a “sacred bullet” into his coffin.  Though this seems to contradict the end of the novel where he is apparently slain by common iron knives.
  
Vlad left behind an infamous legacy, as stories about him and his atrocities spread far and wide across Europe. But he was truly immortalized when Bram Stoker wrote his book entitled ''Dracula'' which was published in 1897, about a powerful vampire named Count Dracula living in TransylvaniaHowever, recent research suggests that Stoker actually knew little about the Prince of Wallachia. Some have claimed that the novel owes more to the legends about Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th century Hungarian countess who murdered hundreds of her servants, and allegedly bathed in their blood to maintain her youthRegardless, many popular adaptations of Stoker's character combine the book with the Prince's notorious life with the notion that he was punished for his brutality with the curse of being a vampire.  
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Dracula’s name is derived from that of the historical 15th century warlord Vlad Dracula AKA Vlad the ImpalerScholars are divided as to what extant Stoker’s fictional Count was inspired by the historical Vlad, or if Stoker even knew much about the historical Vlad beyond his name. On the one hand, both the Count and Vlad were Voivodes (a title roughly translating as “Prince”) who fought the Ottomans before being betrayed by their “unworthy brother”Vlad’s habit of disposing of his enemies via being impaled alive and other gruesome methods certainly fits the Count’s morbid and sadistic personality.
  
His Romanian surname "Drăculea" means "Son of Dracul" and is derived from his father's title, Vlad the Dragon; the latter was a member of the Order of the Dragon created by Emperor Sigismund. The word "Dracul" means "the Devil" in modern Romanian but in Vlad's day also meant "Dragon" and derives from the Latin word "Draco", also meaning "Dragon". The suffix "Ulea" can be translated as "Son of".
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On the other hand, Vlad never ruled Transylvania, ruling instead the neighboring principality of Wallachia.  Though Vlad was born in Transylvania, arguably making it his “native soil”. The historical Vlad was Romanian, an ethnic Vlach descended from the ancient Dacians who inhabited the Balkans in Roman times.  Stoker’s Count is Hungarian, an Ethnic Székely who proudly boasts direct descent from Attila the Hun. The most likely explanation is that Stoker mixed and matched various aspects of Eastern European history and folklore, prioritizing dramatic effect over historical accuracy.
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
*{{wikipedia|Count_Dracula}}
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*[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345 “Dracula” by Bram Stoker at Project Gutenburg]
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*{{wikipedia2|Dracula|Bram Stoker's ''Dracula''}}
 
*{{wikipedia2|Vlad_Tepes|Vlad the Impaler}}
 
*{{wikipedia2|Vlad_Tepes|Vlad the Impaler}}
*{{wikipedia2|Dracula|Bram Stoker's ''Dracula''}}
 
  
 
[[Category:Canon-in-training characters]]
 
[[Category:Canon-in-training characters]]
 
[[Category:Real world characters]]
 
[[Category:Real world characters]]

Revision as of 11:43, 14 August 2016

This is a canon-in-training article. Information in this article is subject to change before it becomes canon.
A person dressed as Dracula on Halloween 1995.

Dracula is a vampire figuratively immortalized by Irish novelist Bram Stoker. Greg Weisman has stated his intention to use the character in the Gargoyles Universe in one form or another. [1]

As in the real world, Dracula is a well-known figure of legend and popular culture. Several characters, including Elisa Maza, have mentioned Dracula in relation to creepy places or situations. ("Awakening: Part Three", "The Mirror")'‘ Dracula is also a popular Halloween costume, with at least one person dressed as Dracula attending the Greenwich Village block party in 1995. ("Eye of the Beholder")

It has been hinted that Dracula himself will one night roam the hallways of Castle Wyvern. [2]

Real World Background

In Stoker’s novel, Count Dracula was originally a medieval Transylvanian Voivode who waged war against the Ottoman Empire. An accomplished “soldier, statesman, and alchemist”, he supposedly studied at the Scholomance, a legendary school of the dark arts hidden somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains and overseen by the Devil himself.

Dracula eventually rose from the grave as an undead vampire, presumably due to his necromantic studies. For centuries he terrorized the local peasants, lurking in a ruined castle somewhere in the Borgo Pass and attended by three female vampires who may be his wives, daughters or concubines. In the later years of the 19th century, Dracula conceived a plot to relocate himself from the desolate wilderness of Transylvania to the bustling metropolis of London, where he could prey on its “teeming millions” in relative anonymity. To this end, he lured Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, to his Castle to facilitate the purchase of a new lair in London. Once Harker has outlived his usefulness, the Count abandons him to the mercies of the three vampiresses.

Once arrived in England, Dracula begins preying on Lucy Westerna, a young British socialite. Over the course of several weeks, he slowly drains her of blood until she inevitably succumbs to death and rises again as a vampire herself.

Dracula is eventually exposed and driven from England by a team of erstwhile vampire hunters lead by Prof. Abraham Van Helsing, a Dutch doctor and metaphysician. The team also includes Jonathan Harker escaped from Castle Dracula, his wife Mina Harker nee Murray, English Lord and the late Lucy’s fiancée Arthur Holmewood, Van Helsing’s protégé Dr. Jack Seward and American adventurer Quincey P. Morris.

The novel reaches its climax in the shadow of Castle Dracula, where the hunters race to intercept Dracula’s coffin before his mortal servants can carry it back to the safety of his domain. The heroes manage to fight their way through the vampire’s minions, though Quincey is mortally wounded in the process. Just as the sun is about to set and Dracula regain his full powers, Harker and Quincey drove their iron knives into the vampire’s throat and heart respectively. The Count’s undead form crumbles to dust and his evil seemingly ended forever.

As a vampire, Dracula possesses a number of supernatural powers. First and foremost, he is virtually immortal and supposedly invulnerable to mortal weapons. He possesses the strength of twenty men and can climb sheer walls in a “lizard like” fashion. He can summon storms and winds, command “meaner” animals such as rats and wolves, change his form to that of a wolf, bat or mist and mentally influence certain sensitive humans such as sleepwalkers and the mentally ill. By far, his most sinister power is the ability to transform his victims into undead like himself via a blasphemous “Baptism of Blood”.

Dracula is also cursed with a number of weaknesses and limitations due to his unnatural nature. Most notably, he must feed on the blood of the living to maintain his undead existence, and spend at least a portion of every day sleeping in the consecrated soil of his own grave. He is repulsed by garlic and religious iconography such as a crucifix. He casts neither shadow nor reflection. He cannot cross running water under his own power except at slack or full tide, nor can he enter a home unless previously invited. Contrary to subsequent adaptions, Dracula is not burned by sunlight and is quite capable of operating during the daytime if need be. Though he can only call upon the majority of his supernatural abilities at night.

According to Van Helsing, Dracula can only be slain by driving a wooden steak through his heart, cutting off his head and stuffing the mouth with garlic; or by firing a “sacred bullet” into his coffin. Though this seems to contradict the end of the novel where he is apparently slain by common iron knives.

Dracula’s name is derived from that of the historical 15th century warlord Vlad Dracula AKA Vlad the Impaler. Scholars are divided as to what extant Stoker’s fictional Count was inspired by the historical Vlad, or if Stoker even knew much about the historical Vlad beyond his name. On the one hand, both the Count and Vlad were Voivodes (a title roughly translating as “Prince”) who fought the Ottomans before being betrayed by their “unworthy brother”. Vlad’s habit of disposing of his enemies via being impaled alive and other gruesome methods certainly fits the Count’s morbid and sadistic personality.

On the other hand, Vlad never ruled Transylvania, ruling instead the neighboring principality of Wallachia. Though Vlad was born in Transylvania, arguably making it his “native soil”. The historical Vlad was Romanian, an ethnic Vlach descended from the ancient Dacians who inhabited the Balkans in Roman times. Stoker’s Count is Hungarian, an Ethnic Székely who proudly boasts direct descent from Attila the Hun. The most likely explanation is that Stoker mixed and matched various aspects of Eastern European history and folklore, prioritizing dramatic effect over historical accuracy.

See Also