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Alucard
Arukado
Naming
Others Vlad III
Ultimate Vampire
Bird of Hermes
No-Life King
Count Dracula
Zamiel
Arucard
The Impaling Prince
Original アーカード
Romanization Ākādo
Personal information
Species Vampire
Gender Male
Date of birth c. 1431
Place of origin Sighișoara, Hungary
Age 608 years
Affiliation Hellsing Organization
Queen of England
Current status Active
Biology
Body type Amorphous
Sentience Sentient
Sapience Sapient
Behind the scenes
Universe Hellsing
Created by 平野 耕太 - Hirano Kōta
Designed by 平野 耕太 - Hirano Kōta
Performed by 中田 譲治 - Nakata Jōji (voice)
For plot involving this character, see the article at the series' wiki.

Alucard is the main protagonist and an anti-hero of the Hellsing series.

The kana used for his name is pronounced as "aka", and has the same sound as the Japanese word for "red".

History[]

Born as Vlad III, son of Vlad II Dracul, he was the prince of Wallachia. When he was still a child, Alucard was enslaved by Ottoman conquerors and molested by a high ruler, during the whole ordeal, he defiantly clenched a silver cross. When he became the Voivode of Wallachia, he launched an all-out war on the Turks that devastated both sides. After his defeat, Vlad himself was to be executed, but before he was beheaded, he drank of the blood from the battlefield and became a vampire. When he accepted the powers of darkness. Centuries later, in 1897, Abraham Van Helsing and his allies were able to defeat the count and kill his servants. Abraham then bound the vampire lord to the Hellsing family through mysterious ways.

Many years later, as Arthur Hellsing's servant, the count acquired the form of a teenage girl, and was given a new name, Alucard. In 1944, along with a 14 years old Walter C. Dornez, she is sent on a mission to stop Millennium's vampire production program. Decades later, in 1969, Alucard was imprisoned in a dungeon in the Hellsing family's manor by Arthur. Shortly after Arthur Hellsing's death in 1989, Alucard was awakened by Integra's blood, and after wounding Richard, he allows her to kill her uncle, thus making her the head of the Hellsing Organization and a master worthy of Alucard's servitude. The events of Hellsing then unfold, with the "new" Alucard acting as a war dog for Integra.

After absorbing Schrödinger, who "carried the will of the self-observing Schrödinger's Cat", neither Alucard nor the catboy could recognize themselves. Whilst neither are technically dead, they do not exist in one place because they cannot recognize themselves, and have thus become "no more than a set of imaginary numbers." Alucard seems to recognize his defeat, says farewell to Integra, and seems to disappear into thin air, leaving only the bloody Hellsing-pentagram on the ground, possibly symbolizing him being sealed away once again and all that remains of Schrodinger is his tie and the other items of the people who died. After 30 years, Alucard manages to return by killing off the 3 millions plus souls that resided in him so he could recognize himself again. In doing so, it appears that he gcan finally control Schrödinger as a familiar, having access to his powers, as shown by the fact that he appeared out of nowhere in Integra's bedroom and was perfectly fine after not having drank any blood for all that time. Before this, a span of twenty years without blood reduced him to a corpse-like state. He mentions that he killed everyone except one and says "and now I am everywhere and nowhere"; implying he now has full access to Schördinger's abilities.

Personality[]

Alucard

Alucard is often regarded as a wicked monster, due to his sadistic nature.[1]

Alucard fights with ferocity and often-extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been totally disabled and humiliated, however he does have some small shred of humanity left in him, as he is still capable of shedding tears (taken by Alexander Anderson to mean that he is not completely lost). As he is essentially immortal and invincible, Alucard is very egotistical as well, and freely taunts and belittles his opponents, often allowing them to inflict seemingly lethal wounds before healing himself and defeating them.

Even with his incredible powers, it is possible to take Alucard by surprise, usually because of his arrogance, as in his first meeting with Alexander Anderson, in which he assumed he had easily killed the opponent with a single bullet, but was caught off guard and had his head cut off when he regenerated.[1] Alucard also expressed deep disappointment that Luke was not a more worthy adversary, and he seems concerned with finding a worthy opponent,[2] a human with enough willpower to destroy him despite his strength.[3] With each failed attempt at his life Alucard restates his belief that "what defeats a monster is always a man", but the phrase could be interpreted on a more universal scale, i.e. "only a human can rid the world of monsters",[3][1] a similar statement being said by Ferguson.[2] This would imply that only one who retains their humanity can perform this task, of defeating a monster without another taking its place.

Sem título1

Alucard mourns for the fate of Anderson and his own.[1]

Underneath his cocky, arrogant attitude, Alucard seems deeply sad and is envious of humans, for they are blessed with the gift of death, while he himself is unable to die and must walk the Earth for eternity. He clearly regrets his decision to become an immortal monster, and has great respect for humans who have the willpower to endure old age and death. All of these feelings are shown at various points throughout the series, such as when Alucard tells the Queen that she was that "same spirited young woman from 50 years ago",[3][1] and that after that time she were truly beautiful. He becomes infuriated as Anderson stabs himself in the heart with the nail, as Anderson was making the same mistake Alucard made.[3][1] While facing off against Walter's younger, vampire form, Alucard says that Walter's old, aged body was "a trillion times more beautiful" than his new, vampiric one.[3][1] Alucard is also capable of affection, as he shows a great deal of it to Seras and Integra on occasions.

Arthur Hellsing explains it the best in chapter 72: "For what they all seem to seek is to wage war, and endless desperate, blood-stained struggles. Things quite close to crying loudly. I do not think they desire those things at all. On the contrary: all of this is their way of shouting and begging for death."

Vanhelsingalucard

Alucard is defeated by Abraham Van Helsing and the others.[1]

In conjunction, Alucard also holds a great affinity for humans who take pride in themselves, often expressing his desire to die by a mortal hand. He often shows respect for certain humans for their bravery, such as the Iscariot members who fought to let Anderson reach him.[1] Alucard has expressed extreme disgust with the vampires he has been hunting for the last 100 years, especially when they kill without purpose. He lists the two vampires' pointless killing in his catalog of how pathetic they are,[3][1] even demanding to know the motivation behind their rampage.[2]

Despite this, he is not entirely against immortality. Rather, he believes it is something one must earn. Presumably, he views his own transformation as an escape because he became one, in Anderson's words, so that he would "never have to cry again". He happily gave Seras immortality (despite his self-reflection) due to her indomitable will and courage, for continuing to fight against the monsters in Cheddar and not giving up even when she was about to die. He also viewed Walter in the same regard for a time, even indirectly offering him immortality, it is worth noting that he believes that Walter "took" immortality rather than "earned" it.

AlucardRaped

Vlad III as he is sexually abused by the sultan, holding his silver cross.[1]

Another important aspect of Alucard's personality is his relationship with God, as he was raised by the Turks as a prisoner, having even sustained sexual abuse as a child.[3][1] As a warrior, he believed that words alone were not enough, and that one must accomplish deeds in order to attract God's attention, a belief shared by his rival, Alexander Anderson. In accordance with this belief, he never asked God for favors, but instead did many great and terrible things, punishing evildoers and those who opposed his methods in his lands and abroad, for waging a war against the Muslims in hopes of bringing down "the New Jerusalem," and for sacrificing his troops and people to achieve that goal. He believed that, if he and his men put forth great enough effort and sacrificed enough, that God himself would intervene on their behalf. His actions caused even his own people to fear him, and subsequently only a small amount of his peasants and soldiers showed up to aid him in his last battle. When he lost his war and was taken prisoner by the Turks, he realized that he had failed. Feeling abandoned by God, he abandoned God in turn. In a moment of perfect despair, he drank up the blood of his scorched and besieged homeland and became a vampire. It is therefore possible that after renouncing God and becoming an immortal monster, Dracula quietly invaded England with the intent of conquest, ultimately a way of avenging himself against God, whom he blamed for his own mistakes.

This is similar to how Count Dracula was portrayed in Francis Ford Coppola's film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, which Hirano has cited as one of his greatest sources of inspiration.

Appearance[]

AlucardForms

"Girlycard", the "Count" and "Dracula" forms.[3]

As commonly seen among vampires, Alucard shows no visible signs of aging, his pupils are blood red, glowing bright when his glasses are off, and his dark hair's length changes according to his release states from short to knee length, and his usual outfit is comprised mainly in a classic Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, leather riding boots and a flamboyant, intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-length, red frock overcoat (similar to the duster coats often associated with cowboys) with cape (at the beginning of the manga it was a full-length trench coat). He also wears a red fedora hat with a wide, floppy brim and a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed orange sunglasses with goggle sidings. Alucard's gloves have five pointed seals on them which limit the personal use of his powers.

He appears in the same clothes that Sir Hellsing wore when he defeated Alucard when he was still count. This is seen when Alucard has his flashback.[1]

His younger form shown in The Dawn is likely the form he chose at the time, and possibly of someone he has absorbed in the past. In a flashback scene in Volume 4, a young Walter can be seen alongside an adult Alucard after the destruction of the Nazi vampire research program.[3] Later, in volume 9, he is in his so called "Girlycard" form, and admits "there's never any meaning in the form that he takes".[3] At a point, Alucard states "you must find it entertaining, I can change my shape into anything. The particular form I take...it means nothing to me."[4]

Release states[]

In Hellsing, Alucard has been shown to have six levels of restriction and six corresponding states, with lower numbers meaning greater levels of power. Under certain circumstances, Alucard can release some of his greater powers himself; a component of his restriction system called the "Cromwell Approval" seems to influence this.[1] However, Integra is shown giving him permission to release to level one, the state where he is in a red version of the black straitjacket like garb he is shown in when Integra finds him in her youth.[2]

Alucard is shown to be wearing a black leather jumper when he is at the Level One release state, and can often be heard stating what level he is releasing immediately prior to combat. This indicates a possible requirement of the release mechanism, but no further explanation was ever given officially, and is likely a literary device of the author, although he could also do it to unnerve his opponents. In the manga, Integra requests that Alucard's restriction system be released to Level Zero, the lowest level, allowing him full access to his most devastating powers.[3] Integra herself rules over Alucard's release states,[2] but she appears to have no physical control over them,[3] and given release state appears to simply be an order like any other she might give.

It is noticeable that Alucard's attire sometimes changes according to how much power he is using: as he charges up to engage in battle, first his sunglasses, then his fedora will disappear; in the manga he also removes his arms from the sleeves of his coat letting it simply just hang on his shoulders like a cloak whilst he fires from underneath it. It has been posited that these articles of clothing are direct physical manifestations of whatever system Hellsing uses to control Alucard, with his leather straight jacket representing his true nature. His gloves, which are engraved with the Hellsing seal (a pentacle decorated with occult symbols and several mottoes, reading: "Hell's Gate Arrested / Gott Mit Uns (God With Us)[5] / And Shine Heaven Now") are also thought to be part of this mechanism and the source of Hellsing's control over him (Alucard's distinctive gloves are visible in the vast majority of his transformations, even when he's not in a humanoid form).

When Alucard recalls being beaten by Abraham Van Hellsing, he still wears the gloves, despite the fact that he was not yet under their control. This is a continuity error, because when compared to the panel from the manga, it shows normal white gloves. In his final release state, Alucard reverted to his original form back when he was still Vlad III. In this form he appeared as his former, 45-year-old self with a thick beard and mustache. He also wore heavy medieval armor with a huge tattered cloak and carried a long sword. However, he quickly returned to his normal form when confronted by Anderson. The gigantic amount of armies that accompanied him in this state, along with the souls of every single person he has ever drank the blood of, accompanies this form as well.

AlucardLevel1

Alucard as his Level 1 state is released.

Up to level 1, Alucard usually takes his "Count" form, in which he usually fights with his guns, using his bare hands only against human targets or just to finish his vampire victims by impaling them. In his level 1 form, he usually wears the black leather jumper/coat seen on him right before Integra released the vampire from his captivity in the basement of Hellsing HQ. This form seems to be his most powerful one, since he used it against Luke Valentine (while still assuming that he was a very powerful opponent), Tubalcain Alhambra (whose powers amused him), Alexander Anderson (when the priest was enforced with Helena's Nail) and the vampirized Walter. In this form, Alucard seems to prefer fighting in hand-to-hand combat, however, he can also use firearms. It is also likely that he can only summon the hound dog Baskerville in this release state. With his level 0 release, Alucard takes the form he once had as "Dracula", as he likely sees it as the most fitting for his monstrous existence.

Abilities[]

AlucardEating

Alucard absorbs the blood, memories and souls of the millions killed in London.[1]

As a vampire he possesses enhanced strength, allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider to be heavy weaponry or impossible for a human to safely wield.[1] It appears that his clothing is part of his physical form due to the fact that when he regenerates, his clothing also repairs itself.[1]

Alucard is the closest thing to an immortal. For as he said himself "There is no such thing as immortals" but he does not age, although this is limited to the amount of humans he has devoured, which is a number in the millions (3,424,867 as said by him in the final chapter[3]). Other characters have difficulty wounding him, and when injured he reforms, being invulnerable to decapitation and staking until all of his absorbed souls have been defeated. He exhibits incredible accuracy when firing his twin large caliber handguns (his basic firearm being the .454 Casull armed with silver bullets, and a more powerful handgun code named "Jackal", armed with explosive rounds, designed specifically to fight regenerators like Father Anderson, Luke Valentine and Incognito), and is capable of accurately shooting targets while looking the other way. He can tear humans apart with ease and move faster than the eye can see, and is also seen passing through walls and moving up vertical surfaces. He shapeshifts into various forms, including bats, arthropods, demonic dogs, amorphous masses of darkness and humanoid forms (among them being a young girl, a form he took while infiltrating the Nazi group Millenium during World War II). He communicates telepathically with Seras (his fledgling) and can hypnotize humans.[1]

He can absorb memories through blood and is immune to sunlight, only having his power restrained by a series of seals presumably made by Hellsing (known as the Control Art Restriction System). Alucard can release the seals up to Level 1, but only the head of the Hellsing family can give the order to release Level 0, the final seal. Once he has released the special charm his gloves hold (CARS Level 1), numerous eyeballs surround him as seen in the fight between him and Luke, and he can morph into a massive "Demon Dog" named Baskerville. He also trades his traditional red fedora and duster for a black straight jacket with a large eyeball coming out of the center of his chest.

Once all his seals are removed, he can unleash the full power of all the souls he has devoured, effectively summoning them under his control, and reverting himself to his original human form with a medieval armor and sword. He also has the power to make giant spikes grow out of the ground, impaling his enemies, and although this is his most powerful form, it's also his most vulnerable one. In addition, at the end of the series, he becomes omnipresent (being both everywhere and nowhere) after absorbing Schrödinger.[3][1]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 Hellsing: Ultimate.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Hellsing anime series.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Hellsing manga series.
  4. Hellsing: The Dawn.
  5. A phrase commonly used on armor in the German military from the German Empire to the end of the Third Reich.
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