"...However, what exactly makes me a savage? If my existence itself makes me savage, is that not the result of this world? Are not all the people of this age savages as well? If so, I should be a shining beacon for what this world wants me to be: the one to lead them. Do you not agree?"
The Belmont clan and their many allies have worked hard to rid the world of the horrible night, but even so, Dracula and many others have proven themselves clever, stylish adversaries in the face of their efforts.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Main Game Continuity
- Dracula was once a genius strategist named Mathias Cronqvist. Enraged at God when the love of his life died, Mathias manipulated his best friend Leon Belmont into defeating the vampire Walter Bernhard by having Leon's fiancee kidnapped and eventually sacrificed to create the "Vampire Killer". Stealing Walter's soul and taking the name Dracula, the new lord of the undead proved his mastery over the night until he lost his second wife Lisa at the hands of the humans. Continuing his war with the Belmont Clan and his and Lisa's heroic son Alucard for centuries, Dracula constantly shows himself a brilliant schemer: in the late 1500s, Dracula fakes his demise after Christopher Belmont defeats him so he can secretly corrupt Christopher's son and pit him against his father; in 1852, Dracula manipulates the entire cast in the form of a child named Malus while using a disposable Body Double to distract the heroes; and in the early 1900s, he uses the chaos of World War I to spread his influence and worship all across Europe. Tenaciously returning to life again and again when seemingly beaten, throughout all of his appearances Dracula never loses his trademark style or charm.
- Death is Dracula's right-hand and just as devious as his master. Posing as Walter Bernhard's servant, Death steals his soul for his master. When Dracula was killed by Trevor, Death poses as the mild mannered priest Zead, guiding reformed Devil Forgemaster Hector on his quest for revenge, succeeding in reviving Dracula's castle and almost making Hector the vessel for Dracula's resurrection. Returning time and again, Death frequently employs trickery and shows skill playing enemies off each other to revive his master, such as when he had Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin defeat the usurper Brauner so Death could finish him off and revive Dracula. Completely loyal to his master, when Alucard, Dracula's son, confronts Death, the Reaper tries to convince him to return to his father. As clever and as stylish as Dracula, Death has remains a consistent threat throughout the series and all Hunters of the Night know his reputation.
- Order of Ecclesia: Albus is a member of the Order of Ecclesia who, in an effort to protect his beloved adoptive sister Shanoa, sabotages her efforts to absorb the Dominus glyph and steals it for himself. Knowing how powerful and dangerous Dominus is, Albus kidnaps a group of villagers who have descended from the Belmont clan, using their powerful blood to mitigate Dominus' horrible side effects. Aware that he can't absorb glyphs the same way Shanoa can, Albus deliberately lets her follow him across the land, willingly giving up two of the three pieces of Dominus to watch how she does it so he can replicate it for the final piece himself. While ultimately driven to madness and slain by Shanoa, Albus' machinations end up saving Shanoa and trigger the downfall of both Dracula and their evil master Barlowe, surviving as a spirit long enough to sacrifice himself at the last minute to save Shanoa's life.
Lords of Shadow Games
- Dracula was once the heroic Gabriel Belmont, a champion of the light who saved the world from the fallen angel Satan himself before succumbing to the darkness. Deciding to remake the world, Dracula declares war on the Brotherhood of Light and destroys their champion, which leads to his confronting and killing his own son Trevor unknowingly, which later causes Trevor to rise as the vampire Alucard. Playing the villain to strengthen his grandson Simon, Dracula later enacts a plan with Alucard to destroy their enemies, the evil Lord of Shadow Zobek and the original Prince of Darkness Satan: allowing himself to be impaled and placed in hibernation for centuries, Dracula knows Zobek will awaken him to destroy Satan, and when Dracula regains his memory, he and Alucard can destroy both. Even at the end, Dracula shows why he is the supreme lord of darkness and chosen one of God simultaneously by destroying Zobek and even taking advantage of Satan's cowardly nature by fooling him into believing that he's willing to kill his son again to trick the angel into fleeing from Alucard's body, before finishing him for good.
- Alucard, formerly known as Trevor Belmont, is Dracula's son who matches his father in craftiness. Turned into a vampire, Alucard watches over his son Simon Belmont's quest to Dracula's castle, and helps him in his battle against the Dark Lord. Aiding the Brotherhood of Light against the Prince of Darkness, Alucard hatches a plan to end the conflict between good and evil: by putting Dracula into a deep slumber, the two great evils Zobek and Satan would return to conquer the world. When the time is right, Alucard would awaken Dracula and he would guide him into regaining his powers and memories, disguising himself as Zobek's lieutenant in the process, so that he could be able to battle them again and defeat them once and for all.
- Laura was a young vampire child who was abducted and turned by Carmilla to be her adopted daughter. After playing a game of chess with Gabriel, she shows him the way to Carmilla when she loses. Angry at her loss, Laura attempts to kill Gabriel, but relents when she sees the love between him and his wife Marie, and lets go of her petty grudge. She later convinces Gabriel to help her stop the Forgotten One from breaking free and destroying the world, and gives up her life so that Gabriel can turn into a vampire and challenge the Forgotten One.
Netflix Series
- 2017 series:
- Isaac is a Devil Forgemaster who begins as Dracula's last friend and ruthlessly competent lieutenant. An abused servant until he killed his master, Isaac believes the world will only know love once all humanity is purged. To this end, Isaac revives corpses as monsters for Dracula's army while effortlessly deposing of would-be threats to Dracula like Godbrand, with such efficiency even Dracula is never aware of the threat in the first place. After Dracula's death, Isaac continues his war on humanity, expanding his army through a path of slaughter that he ends by defeating a magician who's enslaved an entire town. Isaac's repeated experiences with the better side of humanity led to him questioning and eventually abandoning his mission, putting Dracula's memory to peace and deciding to embrace a brighter future, all while he simultaneously mounts a successful invasion of Styria that ends with the demise of the wicked, treacherous Carmilla and Styria conquered by his own hand.
- Hector is a Devil Forgemaster who came into Dracula's service due to his desire to cull humanity's worst elements. Though initially easily deceived by Carmilla in a plot that leads to Dracula's death and enslaved by Carmilla's sister Lenore, Hector abandons his naive nature and begins plotting against the Styrian Council. Hector proceeds in planning the bulk of Dracula's resurrection, stalling the Styrians' plans, and preparing traps and escape routes in the event of emergency, even noticing that something's off about a well-disguised Death. Upon the arrival of Dracula's vengeful ally Isaac, Hector traps Lenore in a magical cage and freely offers his life to Isaac before making peace with him when he realizes Isaac is not here to kill him. Hector then improvises his escape route into a path straight for Carmilla's death to save the world from her and cuts off his own finger to aid Isaac along that path, all while keeping a calm demeanor. After a lifetime of torment and abuse, Hector creates his own happiness, vowing to write a book to keep others from making his mistakes.
- Striga and Morana are two members of the Sisterhood of Styria and a pair of ruthless and brilliant vampire lovers who treasure one another dearly. While Morana is the careful strategist, Striga is a general and tactician, with both working to make Carmilla's mad schemes into feasible reality. The two devise a plan to subjugate the humans of Styria and Europe, launching campaigns to pacify them, with Striga rallying her vampire forces to crush an uprising and save Morana's life with her own personal day armor. Realizing that humanity will never cease resisting, the two turn on Carmilla's schemes before realizing their lead sister is dead. Deciding how to best ingratiate themselves in a decapitated Styria, Striga and Morana opt to set off together, affirming their love and deciding all they need for the future is one another.
- Nocturne: Olrox is an Aztec vampire who begins the series challenging Julia Belmont in revenge for his dead Mohican lover. Using her son Richter against her, Olrox overcomes and executes Julia while vowing to kill Richter one day when he's grown. Arriving in France many years later, Olrox finds himself opposed to the ends of the vampire Messiah, Countess Erszebet Bathory. Subtly aiding the heroes with information to oppose Bathory, Olrox involves himself personally to save his new lover Mizrak, before rescuing him from certain death at Bathory's hands.
