Characters from the film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
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Dracula
Dracula / Vlad Dracula III
Played By: Gary Oldman
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The original Dracula was devoid of sympathetic qualities beyond a superficial polite veneer. This Dracula has a sympathetic backstory exclusive to the movie, despite his original Evil Plan to spread vampirism to England (it's shown in the movie that before he saw the picture of Mina, Dracula was already buying property in London, and this is why Jonathan Harker is sent to his castle to seal the property deal).
- Animal Motifs: Bats, wolves and rats.
- Antagonist Title: With the added author's name as bonus.
- Anti-Villain: Drac only wants to be reunited with his old love - or rather, his old love's reincarnation.
- Ax-Crazy: The only time he isn't trying to rape or murder people is around Mina.
- Berserk Button:
- When a priest coldly told Dracula that Elisabeta's soul was damned because she took her own life, Dracula flew into a rage, renounced God, and embraced vampirism.
- When Dracula told Johnathan Harker that the relationship between his clan and God has not always been mutually beneficial, Harker replied with an amused chuckle. Dracula did not see any humor in that and swung a sword at Harker, stopping just a foot away from his face.
- Big Bad: He is the primary villain of the movie.
- Blue Blood: Descended from a prestigious royal line, which he implies goes all the way back to Attila the Hun.
- Church Militant: Portrayed as one in the movie's opening, due to being part of a knightly order dedicated to fight the enemies of Christ. When he discovers his wife was damned to Hell for committing suicide, he rebels and becomes a vampire.
- Daywalking Vampire: Just like in the original novel, he's able to go out of his coffin during the day with no issue, but his powers are limited.
- Dracula: Naturally.
- Evil Laugh: He lets out one after feeding a human baby to his brides as Jonathan watches on in horror.
- Evil Makes You Monstrous: Along with his transformations, when he lets slip his glamor, it's an undeathly pale being with sunken eyes and bat like features.
- Fallen Hero: From a Christian perspective at least, he was a stalwart defender of Christianity against the Ottomans before turning into a wretched undead.
- Game Face: Naturally he has these when he vamps out. They usually vary though, sometimes it just the standard red eyes and fangs. Other times he'll have ridges and bumps (think Buffy's vampires).
- Glamour Failure: Several times during his old man form, he lets his vampire nature runs wild to the viewer (though not to Jonathan), his shadow moves independently from his body, he knocks down objects without touching them, floats in the air and lets out a demonic roar when seeing a crucifix. Amusingly at one point after reading Mina's farewell letter to him, he doesn't even bother trying to keep his "young" face as he weeps.
- Faux Affably Evil: In his old man form his relentless politeness does more to unsettle than reassure.
- Large Ham: Most prominently when he is in his "old man" form.
- Last of His Kind: Refers to himself as the last Dracul.
- Love Makes You Evil: His love for his wife causes him to renounce God and become a servant of darkness out of vengeance for being told her soul is damned to Hell.
- Love Redeems: At the end, his love for Mina causes him to revert back to his human self and presumably return to Heaven.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: When in his youthful form.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Towards Jonathan in his old man form, to incredibly creepy effect.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his truly monstrous nature, he has quite a few of these, mostly with Mina. He stops himself from biting her during this first encounter, protects her from a wolf that is harassing her and at first outright refuses to turn her into a vampire because he can't bear to see her damned as he is.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: He claims to be descended from Attila the Hun and doesn't take kindly when Jonathan chuckles at his lineage.Dracula: We Draculs have a right to be proud! What devil or witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood flows in these veins?
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Particularly in his grey suit.
- Stalker with a Crush: He telepathically spies on Mina before arriving in England and once he does he then follows her when she is out shopping before finally approaching her.
- Tears of Blood: Coupled with Broken Tears when he receives Mina's "Dear John" Letter.
- Tragic Monster: Being told his wife was damned to Hell by the same faith he had risked his life defending drove him to renouncing God and becoming a creature of darkness.
- Wicked Cultured: In his old man and young man forms he is this.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: As Mina can attest.
- Villain Protagonist: Even though he is the Big Bad, much of the story takes place from his point of view.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: We see that he can turn into a bat and werewolf like figure over the course of the movie.
- Would Hurt a Child: He gives a baby for his brides to feast.
- Yandere: When Mina marries Jonathan, Dracula murders Lucy in a fit of wrath.
Mina Harker
Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray/Harker
Played By: Winona Ryder
- Adaptational Wimp: In the novel, Mina was very strong willed before and after learning of vampires and Dracula, especially after being bitten, even offering to sacrifice herself to keep from turning (though Van Helsing stopped her since that would turn her regardless). Here though though she falls for Dracula hard, acts more like a sterotypical helpless woman and, though a bit aggressive in the final act, is only because the vampirism in her is talking and trying to aid Dracula rather then going against him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She becomes downright dangerous at the end of the film nearly seducing Van Helsing, blotting out the sun with a bizarre incantationnote to assist Dracula, and aiming a gun at the team trying to stop him. Though this could also be due to her starting to turn and a healthy dose of Love Makes You Crazy.
- Damsel in Distress: Subverted. The heroes certainly think she is this, but she doesn't want to be "saved" from Dracula and is actually the only character never in any danger from him, being his Love Interest.
- The Heart: To the vampire hunters, as she keeps the group united into stopping Dracula.
- I Am Not Pretty: When comparing herself to her voluptuous, sexy friend Lucy who have all the men fawning over her, Mina feels she is not pretty at all. This coming from a character played by Winona Ryder.
- The Ingenue: Mina seems to be this at first but when we see her looking at sexually explicit paintings in a copy of Arabian Nights it's hinted she's not as wholly innocent as she seems.
- Lady in Red: When she and Dracula have a private dinner together, she wears a wine-red dress with a low neckline, both highly uncharacteristic of her previous Proper Lady attire.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: She is the "light" to Lucy's "dark".
- Love Makes You Crazy: Her love for Dracula causes her to beg him to turn her so she can be with him forever, despite being married to Jonathan and knowing Dracula murdered her best friend. It also causes her to try and stop Van Helsing and the other men from killing Dracula.
- Mercy Kill: She beheads Dracula herself to allow him to finally die as a man rather than a monster.
- Morality Pet: To Dracula, who acts most humane around her.
- Past-Life Memories: Mina has memories of Elisabeta's life, revealed when she describes Transylvania and even Elisabeta's death without being told about either.
- Promoted to Love Interest: In this film she is the reincarnation of Dracula's beloved wife.
- Sanity Slippage: After she begins to turn she grows more irrational, aggressive and feral.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Towards the very end, the poised and ladylike Mina shows some genuine ferocity when she holds off Van Helsing, Jonathan and Lucy's three suitors with a shotgun.
- Spirited Young Lady: Played with; Mina seems to want to be the consummate Proper Lady but shows signs of a subtle rebellious nature, such as reading a racy and explicitly illustrated copy of Arabian Nights and curtly rebuffing Dracula's initial attempt to seduce her.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Dracula.
- Transhuman Treachery: She practically begs to be turned into a vampire so she can be with Dracula.
- Vampire Refugee: As with Lucy, she becomes weakened after being bitten and feeding on some of Dracula's blood. When Helsing puts her into a trance at one point to see Dracula's whereabouts and checks her mouth, Mina likewise has fangs forming and even lets out an inhuman growl. During the trip up the mountain, she tries to force Helsing to hurry so she can reach Dracula faster. When Mina and Van Helsing camp, she acts more aggressive, slapping away food offered to her and becoming susceptible to the brides' mind control. They nearly force Mina to seduce and bite Helsing before he manages to regain his senses and uses a wafer to bring Mina back to hers. And perhaps even more bizarrely, she manages to cast a spell to block out the sun, allowing Dracula to come out of his coffin.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Not exactly his girlfriend but Mina is clearly in love with Dracula at the end when she threatens the men who mean to kill him with a gun.
- Weak-Willed: It seems all you have to do is wave your hand in front of her face and she's in a hypnotic trance.
- Yandere: Shows slight shades of this towards the end when she magically causes the sun to be hidden to allow Dracula strength to fight Van Helsing and his team off and even using a gun to keep the men, including her husband, from finishing Dracula off.
Abraham Van Helsing
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Played By: Anthony Hopkins
- Adaptational Jerkass: To compliment Dracula's Adaptational Nice Guy, of course. While Van Helsing is still one of the good guys, he's repeatedly shown to be obnoxious, brash, insensitive, and seemingly more interested in killing Dracula to prove that he can, rather than out of any real desire to protect people.
- Brutal Honesty: He doesn't measure his words, often veering into Jerkass territory.
- Chewing the Scenery: Almost literally, when he shouts for Jack to "feed him".
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He has shades of this, sometimes veering into Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant.
- Deadpan Snarker: The biggest one in the movie, bar none.
- Delayed Narrator Introduction: He narrates the first half of the film to describe Dracula's origins and some general facts about vampires (such as them being able to walk in the sunlight, albeit weakened). Once he becomes part of the plot, he even lampshades this.
- Heel Realization: "We've all become God's madmen, all of us.''
- Hero Antagonist: To Dracula's Villain Protagonist.
- Large Ham: He turns into one big time after figuring out they are dealing with Dracula.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Van Helsing doesn't flinch at treating Lucy when her breasts pop out of her gown following her second attack, nor does he hesitate in destroying the Brides like he did in the books.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Performs this before Seward, Holmwood and Morris to prove that the supernatural exists.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He refers to Lucy as a "bitch of the Devil" and "whore of darkness", but he is still determined to save her life.
- Worthy Opponent: Despite his determination to slay the vampiric Dracula, van Helsing acknowledges to Mina that he admires Dracula's cunning nearly as much as he seeks to prevent Dracula's rise to power.
Jonathan Harker
Jonathan Harker
Played By: Keanu Reeves
- Decoy Protagonist: He is the first main character introduced to Dracula, as if the movie is setting him up as The Hero with Dracula as the antagonist. Alas, this is a love story between Drac and Mina, and Jonathan is shoved into the sideline.
- Distressed Dude: Jonathan is imprisoned in Castle Dracula, left at the mercy of his brides.
- Heroic BSoD: He has one when Dracula gives a little baby for his brides to feed.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In the end, even after everything that she has done, Jonathan, who may or may not have a chance at rekindling his marriage with Mina, allows her the time she needs to free her beloved Dracula from his immortal prison, trusting his wife will do the right thing.
- Locked into Strangeness: His hair goes prematurely grey after his whole ordeal in Castle Dracula.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: He tries to keep a British accent for the first act, but then he no longer has it after subsequent appearences because Keanu just wasn't very good at keeping it up.
- Took a Level in Badass: He eventually manages to get the strength needed to escape the castle. It's shorten in the main cut, but the deleted version saw him fight off the brides before falling into the waterway.
- Weirdness Censor: At first anyways, he doesn't seem to notice the unusual traits regarding the Count like him floating him front of him, mirrors shattering in his presence or him letting out an inhuman roar upon glimpsing his crucifix. He snaps out of it when seeing the Count wall-crawling on the castle's walls.
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra
Played By: Sadie Frost
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Originally a blonde in the novel, she is a Fiery Redhead in the movie.
- Ambiguously Bi: She most definitely likes men, but some
Les Yay with Mina takes place most notably when they kiss during a heavy storm in the gardens. - Animal Motifs: Reptiles in general: she wears an evening gown with snake embroidering and has a hairdo that resembles coiled snakes, the nightgown she wears when attacked by Dracula resembles a snake's belly, and her wedding/funeral dress was inspired by frill-necked lizards.
- Blood from the Mouth: Taken to the most literal sense possible when she actually vomits blood onto Helsing after being forced into her coffin.
- Break the Cutie: Starts the movie as a happy, carefree young woman about to be married. Then Dracula rapes, turns her and she becomes an undead monstrosity.
- Broken Bird: After she has been attacked and is beginning to turn into a vampire.
- Damsel in Distress: The very first woman victimized by Dracula upon landing on England. She doesn't get saved.
- The Ditz: She seems to be rather flighty and silly, if sweet.
- Dude Magnet: She's got no less than three men in love with her simultaneously at the start of the movie. And then Dracula comes along...
- Establishing Character Moment: In her introductory scene, she teases her friend about her sex life with her future husband. Despite this, she is shown to be genuinely nice and friendly to Mina, despite their differences in class.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Unlike the book, in which after being turned by Dracula, makes her once conservative beauty into sinfully sexy, her transformation turns her into some weird grotesque pale faced demon. However unlike the book, in which her husband and suitors are turned off by the beautiful woman's voluptuousness, she is able to seduce Arthur somehow through mind manipulation or some vampire power.
- Good Bad Girl: She's a genuinely kind woman, who just happens to really like flirting and romantic entanglements that her oppressive Victorian lifestyle usually forbids.
- Holy Burns Evil: Unlike most examples in the movie where the vampire warded off crosses. When one is thrusted in front of her face, she quickly backs off while screaming inhumanly at Van Helsing.
- Informed Attribute: Mina claims that Lucy is a pure and virtuous girl... while Lucy is flirting with three men in the same room. Though it could be she is speaking of Lucy's heart, which does seem to be a kind one, as evidenced when she encourages Mina to go to Romania to reunite and marry Jonathan rather than stay by her side, despite being clearly deathly ill.
- Hotter and Sexier: In the books, Lucy was portrayed as essentially The Cutie, pure, sweet and chaste. While the movie keeps her kindness, it throws chastity out of the window by turning her into a Ms. Fanservice that embraces her sexuality wholeheartedly.
- Lady in Red: Lucy wears a red gown when she is attacked by Dracula. The sexual nature is heavily emphasized in that scene.
- Little Dead Riding Hood: All three times she is bitten, she is wearing red clothing and she is believed to perish in her final attack.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: She is the "dark" to Mina's "light".
- Light Is Not Good: As a vampire, she is a completely pale woman in white ready to chew on an innocent child.
- Mind Rape: Along with literal rape, it's clear Dracula is inflicting this on her as well.
- Ms. Fanservice: Not only she has the attitude of being generally flirty and seductive, she is prone to getting topless every time Dracula feeds on her.
- Off with Her Head!: Not shortly after being staked, Helsing cuts off her head to keep Dracula from reclaiming her.
- Rape as Drama: During her first attack, Lucy is sleepwalking while Dracula arrives in England using his mind-control powers to lead her to a garden and take her quite forcibly.
- Spoiled Sweet: She is a wealthy young lady whose best friend is a humble school teacher.
- Undeathly Pallor: Much moreso than the other vampires in the movie. She's completely white as a sheet when she turns into a vampire.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: Lucy has an extensive collection of fine dresses throughout the movie.
- Upper-Class Twit: Lucy's greatest concerns seem to simply be flirting with her three suitors.
- Vampire Refugee: Not long after she's bitten, she mentions how her senses have improved to the point she can even hear the mice in the wall, but in the process keeps having nightmares. When she's bitten a second time and some garlic drops near her bed, she becomes more aggressive while trying to get it off. When Helsing and Quincy try to calm her down, she becomes suddenly seductive to the latter before suddenly sprouting fangs and nearly biting him. Helsing manages to pull Quincy away in time and sedate Lucy, but upon inspecting her mouth, sees the fangs forming from her upper gums, signifying her worsening condition.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: She gets topless everytime she is bitten by Dracula.
- Wight in a Wedding Dress: The burial dress Lucy wears as a vampire was purposefully meant to look similar to a wedding dress.
- White Shirt of Death: Just before being staked and beheaded.
- Would Hurt a Child: After being vamped, she nearly feasts on a little girl before the heroes stop her. And even when they do, she promptly drops the child to the floor with no regard for it.
R.M. Renfield
R.M. Renfield
Played By: Tom Waits
- Adaptational Wimp: In the books, he physically struggles with Dracula and comes close to killing him, while in mist form no less. He dies in the movie without putting up any resistance.
- I Die Free: In the deleted scene, Seward and Van Helsing find him mortally wounded in his jail, who tells them that Mina's salvation means Dracula's destruction and he is now freed in death.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Of sorts. While its not clear what role he played as Dracula's minion, he was promised immortality in exchange of his service. He ends up locked up in a madhouse without being much use for Dracula and complains how his master is willing to make Mina immortal, but not him, so he tries to alert Mina of his presence.
- The Renfield: Technically, yeah. Although in contrast to the trope's spirit and very much like in the source material, Renfield doesn't get to do anything useful or helpful to his master, since he is locked up inside an asylum.
- You Have Failed Me: He is in the receiving end of this trope, since he warned Mina of Dracula's arrival.
Lucy's Suitors
Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. Jack Seward
From left to right: Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. Jack Seward
Played By: Billy Campbell (Quincey Morris), Cary Elwes (Arthur Holmwood), Richard E. Grant (Jack Seward)
- Balance, Speed, Strength Trio:
- Jack Seward is The Smart Guy (the doctor who treats Lucy)
- Quincey Morris is The Big Guy (he provides the firepower)
- Arthur Holmwood is The Lancer (he is a Foil to Jonathan, representing someone who lost the woman he loved to the vampire)
- Chekhov's Gun: In the first scene they are introduced together, Lucy makes note of Quincey's bowie knife. That blade is used to kill Dracula at the end of the movie.
- Demoted to Extra: Much of their prominence from the books is diminished: Jack, in particular, takes over Jonathan as main protagonist after the latter is trapped inside Dracula's castle with his survival uncertain and the narrative following Jack's point of view as Lucy's health deteriorates. Also Quincey's experience with vampires is omitted.
- Eagle Land: Quincey is most definitely American and firmly on Type I territory.
- Everyone Has Standards: While Quincey might not make the most appropriate comments about Lucy (which Arthur reproaches him for), he is completely appalled by Van Helsing's tirades against her, calling him a "sick old buzzard".
- Functional Addict: Jack partakes in some narcotic substances, but they don't impair his skill as a doctor.
- Hero Antagonist: Fine, splendid men fighting to avenge the woman they loved, it just happens they are in the wrong end of the narrative.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Quincey pulls one at the end of the movie, after being mortally stabbed by Dracula's minions, he spends the last of his strength to plunge his bowie knife into Dracula's heart.
- Last Guy Wins: Arthur is the last man that appears in the party with the other two men and the one whom Lucy picks.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Arthur (the son/heir of a British aristocrat) and Quincey (a Texan cowboy) are a literal straightforward example.
- Satellite Character: Although all three have their distinctive characteristics, they are all defined for their love to Lucy.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Jack and Quincey also fits this dynamic quite nicely.
- Vampire Hunter: All three men turn into this following Lucy's turning.
Dracula's Brides
Dracula's Brides
Played By: Monica Bellucci, Michaela Bercu, Florina Kendrick
- Adaptational Villainy: With Dracula as the far more sympathetic figure in this work, The Brides suck up the wickedness in his place, presented as far more monstrous than the Tragic Villain Count himself.
- Animal Motif: Bugs and snakes roughly. When they meet Jonathan, they slither out from the covers like snakes and one of the brides has a few snakes in her hair. When Dracula discovers them, the one he throws into a wall flees like a cockroach while the other two form into a weird beetle formation of sorts and likewise back away in an unnatural manner.
- Bilingual Bonus: Their lines are completely in Romanian which makes sense due to their land of nature.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Not long after Dracula leaves Jonathan with the brides, he notes that the brides take care not to completely drain him in order to keep him weak so they can feed off him later. He manages to muster up enough strength to escape anyway however.
- Cross-Melting Aura: When the first bride unbuttons Jonathan's shirt. She reels at the sight of the cross necklace that was given to him by one of the passengers on his couch. However, she eventually recovers and uses her powers to melt it into nothing.
- Eats Babies: They are fed a live baby to eat in place of Harker.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Two of them are dark-haired and indeed pale due to being walking corpses.
- Feet-First Introduction: Sort of. When Jonathan comes into their chambers and they coax him to lay down. We see invisible bare footprints form on the bed making their way to him.
- Groin Attack: One of the brides does this to Jonathan by biting in his crotch when the brides seduce him.
- Holy Burns Evil: Somewhat, depending how big the religious symbol is. One of them manages to ward off Jonathan's cross since it was a little trinket but, in a deleted scene, when he escapes, he uses two candle sticks to form a cross which manages to drive them back. Near the end of the film, they try to hypnotize Mina into attacking Helsing. But he retaliates with a ring of fire and proclaims it holy ground. Indeed, this proves too powerful for them and they're forced to flee, but not without killing Helsing and Mina's horses to impede their travel.
- Kick the Dog: After Helsing prevents them from claiming Mina and wards them off. The brides retaliate by slaughtering and feeding on their horses (who unfortunately were outside Helsing's protective circle) to hinder their pursuit of Dracula.
- Missing Reflection: Oddly they have a mirror above their bed in their parlor. During the scene where they seduce Harker, it cuts to the mirror to show only him laying there (since vampires can't cast reflections) but we see imprints on the bed and invisible forces pulling at his clothes.
- Ms. Fanservice: The Brides are topless in their first appearance and one of them is played by Monica Bellucci in her prime.
- No Name Given: Much like the novels, their names are unmentioned.
- Off with His Head!: After the attack on the camp, Helsing finds their resting chambers and beheads them in their sleep before throwing their severed heads off a cliff.
- Rule of Three: The Brides number three and are always seen together, when they attack Jonathan (sexually) at the start of the movie, and when they attack Van Helsing (to kill him) at the end of the movie.
- Slasher Smile: The one with snakes in her hair sports a few. Particularly when she arrives to feed on Jonathan and, during the camp attack, lets one out despite Helsing waving fire at them to ward them off.
- Undeathly Pallor: Their skin is quite glossy, adding to their ethereal nature.
- Undead Barefooter: They don't wear shoes of any kind.
- The Vamp: Both literally and figuratively speaking.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: They pretty much seduce Jonathan when they find him in their parlor.
- Vampire's Harem: Serve this function to Dracula more or less.
- Wall Crawl: When Dracula flings one of the brides into a wall after catching them feeding off of Jonathan. She manages to avoid harm by sticking to it and crawling away. She even remains on the ceiling when she calls out Dracula for "never loving".
