Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Physical appearance

Dracula has been depicted many different ways over the course of the series. His appearance changes in nearly every game he is in. In the earliest titles, Dracula has a rather ethereal appearance, presenting himself as a very decayed and aged man with a long red cloak in the original Castlevania on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This look was taken even further in Vampire Killer, where he has no flesh on his body and his bones are exposed. In Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, he greatly resembles Death. He is shrouded in a black mantle and his face is that of a skull.

Dracula's in-game depictions are very different from his appearance in the official art for those games, which display him as a more atrocious version of the Béla Lugosi vampire stereotype with a widow's peak hairstyle. He reflects this image in such games as Haunted Castle and Akumajō Dracula (X68000), in which he wears a tuxedo with a cape.

Sometimes Dracula sports a dark sorcerer like appearance with long flowing robes as seen in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Castlevania: The Adventure. In Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Dracula appears as a young man with purple hair. Aside from displaying certain Japanese anime clichés, he still wears attire like he did in earlier games, like a tuxedo and a long dark cloak.

When Ayami Kojima became the regular illustrator of the series, Dracula took on an especially regal air with lavish clothing, as seen in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Dracula's appearances have been very inconsistent over the years. Sometimes he is an old man, other times he is young (Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin); sometimes he's ghostly, other times he appears fairly regular, but he always retains vampiric archetypical traits. As a human, Dracula was Mathias Cronqvist, a young man with long dark hair and light blue eyes.


Personality

Dracula has shown a certain level of inconsistency regarding his personality, although common elements have been an outstanding malice regarding the human race and God, and a well defined superiority complex (he thinks every creature is inferior to him) when confronting his enemies. When facing his son, Alucard, Dracula shows a softer side, and a clear love for his son, and also expresses his eternal love for Alucard's mother as well. After his death in 1797, Dracula becomes much more consistent, and seems devoid of many emotions, though the hostility and superiority complex still remain.

Some of his most consistent traits however are his deep cruelty and indifference to all the destruction he brings with him, while somewhat taking pleasure on the suffering he inflicts on others. He also justifies his actions by claiming that it is not by his power that he comes back, but through the malice of humans that makes his return possible, going as far as questioning whether he is truly "evil" because of this.

Despite being challenged and defeated numerous times by the Belmont Clan, he always seems to play with them at first before using his full power, possibly underestimating them while at the same time enjoying his battles with the family, something he does mention from time to time as he even looks forward to his next encounter against the Belmonts after being defeated.

However during his defeat in 1797, he actually feels for the first time regretful of his actions after knowing of Lisa's wish for him, although during his subsequent revivals he seems to feel nothing of that. A possible reason for this could be that the evil of humanity ensures that Dracula remains constantly evil and as such an embodiment of malice. Whenever Dracula's background is explained he often becomes what he is as a result of the loss of his loved ones and thus he can be seen as a rather tragic villain.

Unlike many recurring video game villains, Dracula is never really seen abusing his minions in any way. In fact he addresses to any of his subordinates respectfully and politely whenever he engages in any conversation, and even extends this trait to his enemies. He is also shown to be fairly grateful, as he often blesses and rewards those that serve him or otherwise helped in his resurrection, be it directly (as in the case of Shaft) or indirectly (like Shanoa) by usually offering power, a high rank within his army or even immortality.