History Fridge / VanHelsing

* Anna seems to be a bit of a FauxActionGirl but if you think about it, she's a woman in Victorian society so it's likely the men in her family did most of the fighting and Anna was most likely trained to defend herself but not given as many opportunities to do so. Most likely she started fighting full time when her father disappeared but she still had her brother to help her. It makes her Fridge/SvenHassel where she [[spoiler:stakes Aleera]] that much better.

* Anna seems to be a bit of a FauxActionGirl but if you think about it, she's a woman in Victorian society so it's likely the men in her family did most of the fighting and Anna was most likely trained to defend herself but not given as many opportunities to do so. Most likely she started fighting full time when her father disappeared but she still had her brother to help her. It makes her CrowningMomentOfAwesome where she [[spoiler:stakes Aleera]] that much better.

* The Valerious family made a vow that they would never rest and enter Heaven until Dracula is dead. This is actually applied literally, which many of them misunderstand, believing they must be the ones to finally kill him. This is not actually the case. If Anna dies before Dracula, the curse still will be lifted if he were slain later by another... because the last Valerious would actually be ''Dracula himself''. He was the son of the Valerious who initially made the vow, thus his death would still allow the family to rest as the vow would now be applicable to him as the only Valerious left to fufill it.
** ...That makes sense. But you do remember that [[spoiler: Werewolf!]]Van Helsing had already killed Dracula by the time [[spoiler: Anna dies]], right?
** I think quite simply, they misunderstood the vow. They believed that if they all died before Dracula did, they wouldn't ever enter Heaven... but the point is, ''they would regardless'', even if it was only after Dracula died. If they died after Dracula died, same result, just sooner. Thus, [[spoiler:when Anna died after Dracula, we see her and her ancestors entering Heaven at the end]].

* Dracula is the son of Valerious, one of Anna's ancestors, which means they are related. If that's the case, how can you justify the [[UnfortunateImplications ballroom]] [[IncestIsRelative scene?]]
** The same way you justify it between any two people of a very old village: distance (both genetic and, considering [[ImmortalProcreationClause vampire sterility]], social). On the other hand, you could justify it as Dracula being Dracula.
*** Minor point but: vampires in this movie aren't sterile, at least with eachother, andd the ImmortalProcreationClause doesn't apply. The plot itself revolves around Dracula and his brides having ''a lot'' of offspring that are born dead.
*** In the original novel two of the brides share similar features to the Count while one of them is blonde and described as "the First". The three are also called his sisters rather than brides. The implication being that two of them were his daughters with the one. So for him, even if Anna was his daughter, I doubt he'd care.
*** Besides, their common ancestor lived ''over four hundred years ago.'' Even if every single Valerious didn't have children until they were fifty years old, Anna and Dracula would have less than one percent of their genetic material in common.

Has been moved to the [[Headscratchers/VanHelsing Headscratchers]] page.

*** Minor point but: vampires in this movie aren't sterile, at least with eachother, andd the ImmortalProcreationClause doesn't apply. The plot itself revolves around Dracula and his brides having ''a lot'' of offspring.

** The same way you justify it between any two people of a very old village: distance (both genetic and, considering [[ImmortalProcreationClause vampire sterility]], social). On the other hand, you could justify it as [[CompleteMonster Dracula being Dracula]].

Go to the [[Headscratchers/VanHalesing Headscratchers]] page.

* Anna and Velkan have a whole group of people helping them fight the werewolf at the start. Who are these people and why are they not seen again? Anna could have used all the help she could get.
** For a Friar/Tinkerer/Comic Relief character, Friar Carl proves to be damn good at making improbably difficult throws. Wooden bucket to a bat in the air? Check. Syringe to someone swinging quickly on a rope well over 20 feet away? Check. Stake to the same person on a castle from an even greater distance? Check! Why is this guy Van Helsing's supply guy instead of kicking ass alongside him?
** If you realize that Anna is a woman in Victorian Europe as another troper noted above, the villagers might of been willing to help Velkan because they thought he was their last hope and the hero. When he failed not only do they think his sister isn't as capable, their spirits are broken and would rather live under the thumb of a tyrant than risk their lives following a princess
* The big reveal of ''Van Helsing'' is that only a werewolf can kill Dracula, which is oddly convenient considering Van Helsing just became one himself. After all, why would Dracula have a servant that was lethal to him? Wouldn't it be in his best interest to kill them all off? This may be a bit of a stretch, but I came to the conclusion that the werewolves in Van Helsing were originally servants of good that at some point became corrupted or enslaved by either Dracula himself, or some other form of evil. It's really the only explanation he found that makes any sense beyond plain and simple DeusExMachina.
** This troper chalked it up to one of two possibilities: the first was that Dracula followed the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" school of thought (that is, keeping all werewolves where he could keep an eye on them was safer, plus he got some killer bodyguards to boot). The second is that ''Van Helsing'' was just supposed to be a DarkerAndEdgier adaptation of the Universal monster movies. In those, mythology didn't usually matter - anything went! So of course there were convenient connections between all of the monsters. They were following the Universal way.
** There actually was someone in the Middle Ages-Rennaisance sort of time that suggested the exact same thing. He got whipped for such a suggestion, but its still an interesting idea.
** The movie would still make sense - perhaps moreso - if it was a DeusExMachina, becuase Van Helsing is quite explicitly referred to as a servant of God. We know that Satan helped Dracula rise to power in the movie, so it's just as plausible to assume that Van Helsing received some supernatural help of his own through all of the coincidences that helped him defeat Dracula. Especially the antidote tossing scene.
** Now that you mention it, I just realized the whole only-a-werewolf-can-kill-Dracula thing is a reference to Universal's older MonsterMash movies (which featured reluctant werewolves) along with the original ''Dracula'' novel (which gave Dracula the power to control wolves). The Wolf Man had Larry Talbot get bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Bela Lugosi. ''Abbott and Constello Meet Frankenstein'' had Larry Talbot kill Dracula (also played by Lugosi). So that means that ''Van Helsing'' has Dracula killed by a werewolf bitten by a gypsy werewolf controlled by Dracula, while the older stories has Dracula killed by a werewolf who was bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Dracula. It's a massive continuity joke. The only thing to make it perfect would have been if Igor or the Monster had turned out to be vampires, too. - PollyNim.
** Taken from the OurWerewolvesAreDifferent page. "An interesting variation was the Hounds of God. In the Baltic regions, it was believed that Werewolves were given their powers not by the Devil, but by God to battle the forces of the devil". If that's the case then a werewolf being the only one who can kill Dracula, who was raised by the devil, makes sense. Why he kept them around i can't say.
* Hey, anybody miss that Van Helsing's given name in the movie is ''Gabriel''? If he's a servant of God... you do the math. -- Manu.
* Almost certainly reading too much into it, but Dracula's being a LargeHam despite claiming to be incapable of feeling emotion does make sense if you assume he's deliberately overacting in the hope of BecomingTheMask and regaining the ability to feel.
* Why don't any of the Villagers carry bows to deter the Vampires? It'd work a lot better than having lame pitchforks and hatchets... and one guy looks to be carrying a ''rake''. Whats he going to do? Create an impenetrable barrier of ''leaves''?
* The Village has a large well, yet they never have a priest bless the water to become Holy Water, then rig up some kind of pump they could use as a water-cannon to deter the vampires? Its not actually that unfeasable this could be done with what they have on hand.
** Holy water works on the brides but wouldn't have much effect on a revenge seeking dracula.
* Why did Dracula kill Dr. Frankenstein? They only realise later that they can't make it work, and he was the only one who knew how... ''well, duh''?
** Vampires have a long history of being complete jerks to the living.
** The reason they can't make it work is because they don't have the ''monster''--the machine worked fine, they just didn't have the power source. It was only after Drac kills the Doc that he loses the Monster--at that point, he figured he had everything he needed. Also, Dr. Frankenstein ''did'' just run Dracula through with a sword. Sure, it didn't do anything more than put a hole in his suit, but it was pretty clear the good Doctor wasn't planning to cooperate.

** Vampires have a long history of being complete jerks to the living.

* Why did Dracula kill Dr. Frankenstein? They only realise later that they can't make it work, and he was the only one who knew how... ''well, duh''?

* FridgeBrilliance: Anna seems to be a bit of a FauxActionGirl but if you think about it, she's a woman in Victorian society so it's likely the men in her family did most of the fighting and Anna was most likely trained to defend herself but not given as many opportunities to do so. Most likely she started fighting full time when her father disappeared but she still had her brother to help her. It makes her CrowningMomentOfAwesome where she [[spoiler: stakes Aleera]] that much better.
* FridgeLogic: Anna and Velkan have a whole group of people helping them fight the werewolf at the start. Who are these people and why are they not seen again? Anna could have used all the help she could get.

* Why did Dracula kill Dr. Frankenstein? They only realise later that they can't make it work, and he was the only one who knew how... ''well, duh''?
* FridgeBrilliance: The Valerious family made a vow that they would never rest and enter Heaven until Dracula is dead. This is actually applied literally, which many of them misunderstand, believing they must be the ones to finally kill him. This is not actually the case. If Anna dies before Dracula, the curse still will be lifted if he were slain later by another... because the last Valerious would actually be ''Dracula himself''. He was the son of the Valerious who initially made the vow, thus his death would still allow the family to rest as the vow would now be applicable to him as the only Valerious left to fufill it.

* Why did Dracula kill Dr. Frankenstein? They only realise later that they can't make it work, and he was the only one who knew how... ''well, duh''?

* Almost certainly reading too much into it, but Dracula's being a LargeHam despite claiming to be incapable of feeling emotion does make sense if you assume he's deliberately overacting in the hope of BecomingTheMask and regaining the ability to feel.

** Now that you mention it, I just realized the whole only-a-werewolf-can-kill-Dracula thing is a reference to Universal's older MonsterMash movies (which featured reluctant werewolves) along with the original Dracula novel (which gave Dracula the power to control wolves). The Wolf Man had Larry Talbot get bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Bela Lugosi. Abbott and Constello Meet Frankenstein had Larry Talbot kill Dracula (also played by Lugosi). So that means that Van Helsing has Dracula killed by a werewolf bitten by a gypsy werewolf controlled by Dracula, while the older stories has Dracula killed by a werewolf who was bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Dracula. It's a massive continuity joke. The only thing to make it perfect would have been if Igor or the Monster had turned out to be vampires, too. - PollyNim.

** Now that you mention it, I just realized the whole werewolf-can-only-kill-Dracula thing is a reference to Universal's older MonsterMash movies (which featured reluctant werewolves) along with the original Dracula novel (which gave Dracula the power to control wolves). The Wolf Man had Larry Talbot get bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Bela Lugosi. Abbott and Constello Meet Frankenstein had Larry Talbot kill Dracula (also played by Lugosi). So that means that Van Helsing has Dracula killed by a werewolf bitten by a gypsy werewolf controlled by Dracula, while the older stories has Dracula killed by a werewolf who was bitten by a gypsy werewolf played by Dracula. It's a massive continuity joke. The only thing to make it perfect would have been if Igor or the Monster had turned out to be vampires, too. - PollyNim

* Hey, anybody miss that Van Helsing's given name in the movie is ''Gabriel''? If he's a servant of God... you do the math. -- Manu.