Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Van Helsing
aka: Van Helsing From Beneath The Rue Morgue

Go To

Characters who appear in the 2004 film Van Helsing and tropes associated with them.


    open/close all folders 

    Van Helsing 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/18372830jpg_r_1280_720_f_jpg_q_x_xxyxx.jpg
Click here  to see Van Helsing as a werewolf
Portrayed by: Hugh Jackman

"To you, these monsters are just evil beings to be vanquished. I'm the one standing there when they die... and become the men they once were."

An amnesiac monster hunter sent from Vatican City.


  • Absurdly Sharp Claws: As a werewolf, his claws leave slash marks in a stone statue.
  • Action Hero: Van Helsing is re-imagined as one such a character, going into fights against supernatural monsters and the like.
  • Age Lift: Zig-Zagged. Physically he's much younger than his book counterpart, but he's Really 700 Years Old as he mentions fighting in Masada in 72 AD which would make him more than 1800 years old. Being an Angel Unaware, it's highly likely that he's far older than recorded history. Regardless, this makes him far older than Dracula, who actually states that he was born in 1422 which would only make him 466 by comparison.
  • Adaptational Badass: One of the entire points to making the film was to reinvent the Van Helsing character into a younger, Action Hero type. For those who know Dracula, but not Stoker's Dracula: The original Abraham van Helsing was an Omnidisciplinary Scientist who spoke comically broken English. He was well built, but getting on in years, and did not perform any notable act of physical skill; he was purely The Smart Guy.
  • Adaptational Name Change: Abraham to Gabriel.
  • Adaptational Origin Connection: It's implied that he killed Dracula for unknown reasons, which makes him indirectly to blame for his transformation into a vampire.
  • Amnesiac Hero: It's mentioned on several occasions that he lost his memory before showing up at the doorstep of the Knights of the Holy Order. Dracula also implies that this isn't the first time he's tangled with Van Helsing—related to Angel Unaware below, he all but confirms that Van Helsing is actually the archangel Gabriel and does directly say that the mysterious ring Van Helsing has is actually his and, among other things, he wants it back.
  • Angel Unaware: He's implied to be this due to repeatedly being referred to by Dracula as "Gabriel" and, at one point, the "left hand of God". Van Helsing also early on mentions to Carl that he remembers fighting Romans at Masada in 72 AD. The Novelisation actually downright confirms this: Van Helsing is mentioned as having two large disfiguring scars between his shoulder blades, right where wings would be. The scars would seem to imply they were forcibly torn out.
  • Archangel Gabriel: Heavily implied to be Gabriel himself, and therefore the one who originally murdered Count Dracula, explaining the latter's familiarity.
  • Audible Sharpness: His werewolf claws extend with a Wolverine-like SNIKT.
  • Automatic Crossbows: His main weapon against the vampires is a gas-powered gatling gun-style crossbow.
  • Badass Longcoat: An inseparable black one made of leather.
  • Badass Normal: Easily manages to hold his own against the hulking Mr. Hyde, werewolves, and vampires.
  • Brutal Honesty: He casually admits to Hyde that he would rather bring him in dead than alive.
  • Coat, Hat, Mask: Wears all three in his first scene, but quickly ditches the mask.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: He has almost none of his memories, and the Holy Order believes that this is in penance for a past sin. It's implied, but never confirmed, that he's the archangel Gabriel, who was Brought Down to Normal for some reason. What we do learn is that this isn't the first time he's fought with Dracula
    Van Helsing: [To Carl after insisting] I remember fighting the Romans at Masada.
  • Deadly Disc: He uses little handheld buzzsaw-like razor discs both as melee and thrown weapons. Notably, he cuts Mr. Hyde's arm with one, and pins Igor to a wall with another.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments. For example, after cutting off Mr. Hyde's arm, he quips, "I'll bet that's upsetting."
  • Destructive Saviour: In his first scene, he shatters Notre Dame's Rose Window while fighting Mr. Hyde, and is called out by Cardinal Jinette for his lack of subtlety.
  • Detect Evil: He explains to Anna that he can sense evil, telling her that, while Frankenstein's monster may have been created by evil, it isn't actually evil itself.
  • The Dreaded: The mention of his name is enough to make an angry mob back down.
  • Due to the Dead: He makes the sign of the cross upon the sight of a death or a body.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: After being bitten by Werewolf!Velkan, his lycanthropy starts to manifest, granting him such boons as Super-Strength and Super-Reflexes, which he fully uses to his advantage in the climax.
  • Experienced Protagonist: By the time of the film, he's already an accomplished monster hunter whose reputation precedes him even in the distant and remote Transylvania.
  • Genre Savvy: For starters, there's his knocking every door in Dracula's castle off its hinges to avoid any Ghost Butlers.
  • Grappling-Hook Pistol: He uses one to escape Frankenstein's castle, as well as offensively to impale Mr. Hyde in the chest.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: He is stated early on to be the most wanted man in Europe, due to his Destructive Saviour tendencies and the fact that many of the creatures he takes out revert to human upon death.
    Van Helsing: [To cardinal Jinette] Do you think I like being the most wanted man in Europe? Why don't you and the Order do something about it?
  • Hunter of Monsters: Van Helsing's stock in trade.
  • In Name Only: The only thing Gabriel and Abraham have in common is that they both fight Dracula. Gabriel is a young hunter who prefers to be on the field, Abraham was an old scholar who prefers the research part of monster hunting.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: He gives off this attitude early on, complaining about his negative public image and nearly walking out on the Cardinal out of disgust for the Knights of the Holy Order's unwillingness to go public and clear things up.
  • Made of Iron: He gets punched by Mr. Hyde, thrown through a roof, and slammed around by Dracula's brides, and just keeps getting up to keep fighting.
  • Mercy Kill Arrangement: When he decides to use his Slow Transformation into a werewolf to his advantage against Dracula, he sends Anna and Carl to retrieve the cure, but also gives Carl a silver stake to kill him with in the event they don't get the cure to him in time.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction when he realizes that he killed Anna as a werewolf when she administered the cure.
  • Nerves of Steel: He doesn't even flinch when Hyde drops down from the rafters for a Jump Scare.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Strangely, with Hugh Jackman's English accent, some American pronunciations seep through at times as well. (Strange because Jackman is Australian.)
  • Religious Bruiser: He's part of a holy order, and constantly crosses himself and utters "Requiescat in pace" when he kills a monster.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Whatever he is, he has no respect for any rules except his own.
    Van Helsing: The laws of men mean little to me.
  • Vampire Refugee: When he, infected with lycanthropy, discovers that Dracula can only be killed by a werewolf bite, he takes advantage of the situation to confront Dracula while Anna and Carl go Find the Cure!, ordering Carl to kill him if they don't get the cure to him in time.
  • Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Averted; he refuses to kill Frankenstein's monster because he can see the monster isn't evil.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He's absolutely furious when his superiors order him to kill Frankenstein's monster simply because he's not human, even though he's not evil.
    Van Helsing: Do they know him? Have they talked with him? Who are they to judge?!

    Anna Valerious 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/annavalerious.jpg
Portrayed by: Kate Beckinsale
Dubbed by: Ethel Houbiers (European French)

"And who will kill him if not me? Who will show courage if not me?"

Princess of the Gypsies and the last remaining Valerious family member.


  • Action Girl: Although she doesn't accomplish near as much as Van Helsing in practice (save for, most notably, staking Aleera through the heart,) she constantly throws herself into battle and makes it clear she could hold her own if only it weren't literal monsters attacking her. She is also capable of some seriously impressive acrobatic stunts.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Her idea of a sensible solution when confronted with a horde of vampires is to grab a mace that was mounted on the wall, brandish it, and start to throw herself into the horde. Fortunately, Van Helsing is there to drag her out of harm's way. It's also what saves him from permanent lycanthropy, as her doing this is what allows her to give him the cure...at the cost of her life.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: No matter what happens to her, her hair is still gorgeous and her makeup is perfect. She does bleed in the third act, but only a trickle from her lip. Even when she's killed by Van Helsing's werewolf form, her body shows no signs of external trauma.
  • Captive Date: Dracula takes Anna to his masquerade ball and forces her to dance with him while waiting for Van Helsing to arrive. No ropes used, but it's clear he's using some kind of mind control or muscle control.
  • Chekhov's Skill: She displays a lot of acrobatics throughout the film - backflipping onto her feet when the werewolf cage knocks her, jumping backwards from a rooftop to a tree and still landing on her feet, and running up a wall to grab a torch, backflip and land on her feet. She's then able to swing from one tower in Dracula's castle to another on one cable, and catch the cure as it's being thrown in mid-air. The second also foreshadows how she'll be able to catch a silver stake thrown by Carl to stab Aleera.
  • Combat Stilettos: Downplayed. Her boots are high heels, but are not that high and are closer to character heels, which are designed for dance and therefore possible to run in if someone is experienced.
  • Died Happily Ever After: She's proven right about being Together in Death with her family. When Van Helsing sees her spectral soul in the clouds, she has nothing but joy at finally being with her lost family.
  • Dies Wide Open: The shot of her dead body has her eyes wide open and sightless.
  • Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Inverted during Anna and Velkan Valerious' first fight in the film (against a werewolf); Anna uses a sword, while Velkan uses a revolver loaded with silver bullets.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She throws herself at a lycanthropic Van Helsing without even pausing to give him the werewolf cure. He fatally attacks her in the process.
  • Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Goes into battle wearing high-heeled boots and a corset.
  • Last of Her Kind: She's the adult last Valerious (and probably the last one period) after her brother is killed. With her death, the family is extinct.
  • Made of Iron: She's able to keep walking after being thrown through buildings. Tragically subverted when being tackled by the werewolf Van Helsing snaps her neck.
  • Ocean Awe: She's the princess of a landlocked kingdom, and her family has spent years fighting monsters threatening her home, which means she's never had the chance to visit the sea. She longs to do so and says that it must be gorgeous. She never gets to see the sea in life, but Van Helsing lays her to rest near the sea. She gets to see it as a soul before she moves on to the afterlife with the rest of her family.
  • Of Corsets Sexy: She's a glamorous Action Girl, and is introduced with a slow motion tilt upwards to show off the beauty of the corset.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Her main problem in the action scenes is that she's way over her head fighting the vampires, as opposed to Van Helsing, who is experienced with killing monsters and is implied to even be an archangel with amnesia.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She leads her people in their crusade against Dracula.
  • She-Fu: Downplayed. She does a lot of backflips and acrobatics in the movie, but usually fights with weapons.
  • Single Line of Descent: Nine generations of the Valerious family have fought Dracula. Anna Valerious is the only one left to bear the family name and carry on their crusade after her brother is turned into a werewolf.
  • Together in Death: She brushes off Van Helsing's sympathy regarding her family being dead by saying she'll "see them again." The end of the movie shows this to be true, as all nine generations of the Valerious family have finally been allowed to enter heaven.
  • You Killed My Father: Her desire to kill Dracula is fueled by her need to avenge her family.

    Friar Carl 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carl6.jpg
Portrayed by: David Wenham

"I'm actually just a friar."

Van Helsing's sidekick and gadgeteer genius.


  • Badass Bookworm: Carl might not be a fighter like Van Helsing, but he is well-endowed with knowledge of monsters alongside the most effective methods of killing them.
  • Big Damn Heroes: To Anna when he throws her a silver stake just as Aleera finally decided to stop messing around.
  • Disguised in Drag: In the animated prequel he poses as a woman to fool Hyde into attacking him.
  • Innocently Insensitive: He comments that what he does takes talent as opposed to just making a sword...as he crosses paths with one of the Order's blacksmiths, who shoots him a Death Glare.
  • Insufferable Genius: He's pretty open about his belief of how far ahead of their time his inventions are, even compared to everything else the Order has.
  • The Lancer: To Van Helsing, though he is not by any means a fighter, he serves as a nice Foil to our hero.
  • Lover, Not a Fighter: He outright says he's "not a field man."
  • Mr. Exposition: Lampshaded in the scene where he is explaining Dracula's backstory and he gets annoyed when Anna and Van Helsing fill parts of it in.
  • Properly Paranoid: When Anna and he find the werewolf cure in an ice like substance at the climax of the movie, Anna tells him to grab it. He counters if there's one thing he's learned, it's to never stick your hand in a viscous material. Sure enough when Aleera attacks them, the "ice" gets thrown at her and burns her face. Prompting an I Told You So to Anna.
  • Nun Too Holy: He has no problems cursing and having sex because, in his words, he's technically a friar, not an actual monk.
  • Rescue Sex: He saves a random townswoman from falling to her doom by making a diving catch. She's very grateful... and quite happy that he's not bound by vows of chastity. We don't see either of them again for some time...
  • The Smart Guy: He's especially skilled in manners of machinery, biology, history, and the supernatural, being the go-to guy for technical knowledge for Van Helsing. He even managed to help figure out the riddle behind the entrance to Dracula's castle when others could not for centuries.
    Anna Valerious: The suns sets in two hours, we've been looking for him for more than four hundred years!
    Friar Carl: Yes well, I wasn't around for those four hundred years, now was I?

    Frankenstein's Monster 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frank_9.jpg
Portrayed by: Shuler Hensley

"'Monster?' Who's the monster here?! I have done nothing wrong, and yet you and your kind all wish me dead!"

A humanoid creature made of seven men (parts of them) by Victor Frankenstein.


  • Adaptational Angst Downgrade: He has considerably less existential angst about being created through experiments and not being a normal human than his book counterpart, presumably because Victor Frankenstein didn't abandon him this time.
  • Adaptational Heroism: While a Tragic Monster in the original novel and Universal films, he is still very much a villain. This one never kills anyone, is presented as a complete innocent and even begs Van Helsing to kill him to save humanity from Dracula's plans for him.
  • Adaptational Wimp: He can be hurt by normal weapons. In the Universal classics, he receives bullets in his body and is referred to be indestructible, and in the original novel, he is shot in the shoulder and recovers relatively quickly with no lasting effects.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Unintentional, but he ends up rescuing Anna when he crashes into the room Aleera and she are fighting in. He later manages to keep Aleera at bay while Anna goes to get the werewolf cure for Helsing.
    • Subverted when he tries to carry Frankenstein to safety in the opening scene after Dracula attacks him, but the doctor is already dead.
  • The Big Guy: He is a very massive being, the result of many human bodies stitched together.
  • Big "WHY?!": He yells this upon seeing his creator's corpse.
  • Cultured Badass: There is a Bible in his hideaway, and he defiantly recites Psalm 23:4note  after being captured by the undead.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Sure, he may look monstrous, but Van Helsing can tell he is not evil and stops Anna from killing him.
    Van Helsing: This thing, man, whatever it is. Evil may have created it, may have left its mark on it, but evil does not rule it. So I cannot kill it.
  • Faking the Dead: After the windmill fire, he spent over a year hiding underground.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: When Anna calls him a monster, he calls her out with the quote above.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: While he's a strong believer that Humans Are the Real Monsters, he does everything he can to make sure Dracula doesn't get his claws on him in order to save mankind from Dracula's evil. When he gets busted, he allies with the party in order to stop Dracula from finishing his plan.
  • Large Ham: About half of his lines are spoken via shouting.
  • Living MacGuffin: For a given value of "living" in any case, but it's very important that Dracula gets his hands on him since he can be used to power a battery for Dracula's children gaining ever-lasting life.
  • Mythology Gag: When the carriage is set on fire, he yells and tries to cower away from it, as a nod to Universal's creature famously being afraid of fire.
  • No Indoor Voice: He tends to bellow out many of his lines with exceptional volume.
  • No Name Given: He is simply called Frankenstein's Monster.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: He gets to live this time around, and sails off to explore the world at the end of the film.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Given his Friendless Background, he only shows the odd moment of genuine sweetness to the protagonists.
  • You Killed My Father: After witnessing Dracula killing his "father", he throws the vampire into a fireplace.

    Igor 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/van_helsing_photo_van_helsing_6229226.jpg
Portrayed by: Kevin J. O'Connor

The sadistic assistant to Dr. Victor Frankenstein; he quickly betrayed his old master to help Dracula, who pays better.


  • Card-Carrying Villain: Admits to abusing the werewolf because it's who he is.
  • Composite Character: He has the role of Fritz from the original Frankenstein movie, but the name (pronunciation, not spelling), accent, posture, and antagonistic role of Ygor from Son of Frankenstein. He also serves Dracula as The Renfield.
  • Disney Villain Death: Knocked into an abyss by a stray wire while chasing after Carl.
  • Evil Genius: Since Dr. Frankenstein is dead and the monster he created vanished, Dracula employs Igor's knowledge of the laboratory in an effort to recreate the doctor's last experiment.
  • The Farmer and the Viper: To Victor Frankenstein. The good doctor took Igor in and gave him a home, but Dracula promised him that he'd be paid.
  • The Igor: Duh. A humpbacked, ugly man that serves a master for scientific experiments. The kick is that he betrayed Dr. Frankenstein and now serves Dracula, who relies on Igor to recreate Frankenstein's experiments.
  • The Man They Couldn't Hang: In the novelization, he reveals he was previously hanged by villagers, showing off an old noose scar.
  • Nothing Personal: Assures Frankenstein that he's only betraying him for the money, and not out of any sense of mistreatment.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: When captured by the heroes and forced to lead them to the werewolf cure, Igor plays along until he gets an opportunity to trap Carl and Anna in the chamber and make his escape.
  • Shock Stick: He violently tries to kill Carl with his electric prod at the climax. In the videogame, it's his weapon.
  • The Renfield: To Dracula, though he's employed for his technical expertise rather than to be a manservant.

    Dracula 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dracula.jpg
Portrayed by: Richard Roxburgh

"Let me reintroduce myself. I am Count Vladislaus Dragulia. Born 1422. Murdered 1462."

The dreaded king of vampires in Transylvania.


  • Adaptational Badass: Van Helsing wasn't the only one who got a massive badass upgrade. This Dracula has the common powers as the original, only he is nearly invulnerable to every weakness such as wooden stakes and crosses.
  • Arch-Enemy: To Van Helsing, though it's more personal from Dracula's end...
  • Badass Boast: "You can't kill me, Victor...I'm already dead!"
  • Bait the Dog: He screams in despair when he senses Marishka's death... and then he tries comforting his remaining brides by assuring them he'll turn another bride. They're about as unimpressed as the audience.
  • Big Bad: He is the primary threat of the movie and the lord of all the antagonistic monsters. He wants the Valerious family to die off so they're no longer a threat to him, and he wants to dominate the world with his newborn breed.
  • Cross-Melting Aura: Pulls this off when Van Helsing attacks him with a cross. He provides the current page image.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
    Dr. Frankenstein: Good God! I'd kill myself before helping in such a task!
  • Deal with the Devil: After his original death, he made such a deal and became a blood-sucking undead. When his father locked him away, the Devil gave him a winged monster form.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Played With. After his attempt to bring his children to life at Castle Frankenstein fails, he concludes Dr. Frankenstein "took the key to life to his grave", and he send his werewolf servant to kill Anna and Van Helsing. Then his werewolf servant finds out the Frankenstein monster is alive, and Dracula can indeed bring his children to life proper.
  • Dracula: He's loosely based on the Dracula of the original novel, including having three brides.
  • The Dreaded: He terrorized Transylvania for several centuries, and almost everyone fears him.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted with his brides, as he finds them to be replacable and gets over Marishka's death rather quickly, much to the disgust of Aleera and Verona. Played straight with his offspring as he's visibly saddened by their deaths after they were temporarily brought to life.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He's the progenitor for the vampire race who has murdered countless innocents directly or by proxy, but even he's perplexed to find Igor torturing their werewolf lackey, and comes close to quoting The Golden Rule at him. Though, he could be doing this because he needs him alive, and is going to torture him to death regardless.
  • Evil Former Friend: It's implied that he and Van Helsing used to be comrades-in-arms before Dracula's disillusionment with God and fall to evil forced Van Helsing to assassinate him, causing Dracula to become the Monster Lord of today and setting the stage for their future battle.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Between snark, fake brooding, megalomania, and occasional bouts of No Indoor Voice, it's safe to say that this version of Dracula enjoys Chewing the Scenery as much as he enjoys drinking blood.
    [When he wakes up after Marishka's death.] "MARISHKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
  • Evil Uncle: He's presumed to technically be this to the entire Valerious clan, unless he had children when he was still human (in which case his advances on Anna become that much squicker).
  • Familial Foe: Nine generations ago, the Valerious family made a pact to kill Dracula, and only two of them remain alive to keep trying.
  • Faux Affably Evil: For a bloodsucking hellbeast, he's surprisingly pleasant and polite. He'll still happily watch you crumble and fall with a cold smile on his face.
  • Henpecked Husband: He tells Frankenstein at the beginning that his evil plot to bring his children to life is at least partly motivated by his brides' insistence, although later on he is shown to be the one in control.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Dr. Frankenstein impales him with a sword, and later Van Helsing with a silver stake, but both do nothing to him.
  • It's Personal: As it turns out, Gabriel was the one who killed Dracula while he was a human, and he has since nursed a vicious grudge against him.
  • Kissing Cousins: He attempts to seduce Anna, his father's great(5x)-granddaughter, into becoming his new bride. She however is disgusted by him, though for other reasons besides their distant relation...
  • Monster Delay: His demon form is at first glimpsed from the distance or in the shadows. It is not until he realizes Van Helsing has found a way to enter his castle and he gets pissed off that his monster self is finally shown to the audience.
  • Monster Lord: He's the lord of all vampires, he controls werewolves, and he's described by Cardinal Jinette as the ruler of every wicked creature in Transylvania.
  • No-Sell: He shrugs off being stabbed in the heart with a silver stake with, "Hello, Gabriel".
  • One-Winged Angel: His bat form looks positively demonic.
  • Papa Wolf: He will kill anyone who attempts to exterminate his children.
  • Pet the Dog: He claims to be incapable of feeling love and treats his brides like they're completely replaceable (trying to reassure Verona and Aleera by saying he'll find "another bride" after Marishka's death), but he seems to genuinely desire their companionship, restraining himself and comforting Aleera and Verona after he momentarily snaps at them. He likewise appears truly shaken when his and his brides' offspring perish after he succeeds in temporarily bringing them to life.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: He's pretty ecstatic that he's going to show "that God isn't the only one who can create life". He also shows signs of this when claiming Gabriel is a Cosmic Plaything, stating he himself was once the same but "escaped".
  • Seeing Through Another's Eyes: The novelization states he can see through his monster servants' eyes. Which also answers the question in the film of how a savage werewolf could communicate to Dracula that it saw the Frankenstein monster alive.
  • We Can Rule Together: When he realizes he can't control Van Helsing in his werewolf form, he tries to convince him to join him. One can also argue that his offer to Anna to become his next bride is this as well, offering her immortality and a place by his side in return for her life.
  • Vampire Monarch: Not only is he the most powerful vampire around and lords over pretty much everyone else, it's implied he is the Monster Progenitor for vampirekind based on his origin and dominion.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Among the vampires that call him "Master" at the All Hallows' Eve ball, a few of them are undead children.
  • You Can't Kill What's Already Dead: Not only is he immune to traditional vampire weaknesses, he even voluntarily impales himself on a sword Dr. Frankenstein threatened him with to demonstrate as such.
    Dracula: You can't kill me, Victor. I'm already dead.

    Velkan Valerious 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/velkan.png
Click here  to see Velkan as a werewolf

Portrayed by: Will Kemp

"Anna... RUUUUUUUUN!!"

Anna's brother and a werewolf under Dracula's command.


  • Big Brother Instinct: He shows great concern for Anna during the werewolf hunt, and is bitten and knocked off the cliff after shoving her out of harm's way. He also tries hard to warn Anna of Dracula's real plans, and resists hurting her as a werewolf as best he can.
  • Body Horror: As a werewolf, his transformations are a painful moment where he tears his skin and reveals the werewolf fur aside from the bones that suddenly grown into a canine form.
  • Composite Character: Although Velkan is an original character, he took some elements from Larry Talbot, among them, "The Wolf Man" title. And since he's both Romani and the werewolf that bites the protagonist, he has elements of Bela from that film too.
  • Distressed Dude: Once Anna finds out he's alive, she tries to rescue him from Castle Frankenstein.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: Although not in a way that's beneficial for the heroes, or Velkan himself.
  • Face–Monster Turn: He's an antagonist for most of the movie following the opening. Not because he wants to be, but because Dracula can control him while he's in his werewolf form.
  • Forced into Evil: Thanks to being turned into a werewolf, he's under Dracula's control completely, and has no choice in what he does.
  • Mr. Fanservice: His shirt comes off when he transforms into a werewolf, and he spends the rest of his human screen time in just a pair of ripped pants.
  • Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Believed to have been killed at first, when really he was just infected and captured.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's introduced using himself as The Bait to lure out a werewolf.
  • Two Aliases, One Character: Quickly revealed to be the second werewolf.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: A canine-humanoid monster whose transformation consists of ripping his skin off and is at the orders of Dracula after his first full moon.
  • Resist the Beast: When he reunites with Anna again after he's presumed dead, he spots the full moon through the window and screams at her to run as his transformation begins.
  • Wall Crawl: He drags and trashes himself up the wall before he starts transforming in front of Anna.
  • You Killed My Father: Velkan is furious upon learning that Dracula killed his father before he is fully consumed by the werewolf curse.

    Dr. Frankenstein 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frankenstein_97.png
Portrayed by: Samuel West

"It's alive... IT'S ALIVE!"

The creator of a reanimated human made of seven men body parts, grave robber and scientist allied to Dracula.


  • Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed as the novel's incarnation is more of a morally ambiguous character than a truly heroic or villainous one. But here, he doesn't abandon his creation and is absolutely horrified to learn that it will be used to bring Dracula's offspring to life. He's also stated to have been nice to his assistant, Igor. Unfortunately, Dracula pays him better.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: He's noticeably kinder towards his creation here than his novel counterpart. More specifically, the literary Victor abandoned the monster almost immediately after he noticed one tiny little flaw in his "perfect" creation, while here the monster is undeniably grotesque—even moreso than when he was played by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film—but Victor loves his "son" all the same is planning to take him away someplace he'll be safe when he learns that the villagers have gone full Torches and Pitchforks.
  • Benevolent Boss: Igor acknowledges that he's been one in every way that mattered... Except for paying him as much as Dracula offered.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The doctor prefers to die after listening to Dracula's plans. He does because he did not know that Dracula is a vampire.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: In the movie Novelization, Frankenstein has been hypnotized by Dracula into abandoning his friends, betrothed, and ethics for the experiment and is only vaguely able to recall them. His love for the monster is genuine, but is also a reflection of how there is no one else left for him to care about because of his madness and isolation.
  • Didn't Think This Through: He clearly didn't think the locals might take exception to what he was doing.
    Dracula: Where are you going to run, Victor?! Your peculiar...experiments have made you unwelcome in most of the civilized world!
  • Dr. Frankenstein: Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a misunderstood scientist that worked for Dracula because he offered his laboratory to allow him to conduct his experiments and sincerely thought the man believed in his work. If anything, his worst quality would be graverobbing in the name of science, as evidenced by the angry mob trying to hunt him down on the night that his creation awakens. He even has a completely different reaction to his creation compared to the original Victor, where he completely dotes over him like a father would to a newborn child and his first instinct is to flee the castle with his creation to protect him from the mob. Unfortunately, his alliance with Dracula is cut short since he outlived his usefulness.
  • Fatherly Scientist: Unlike most incarnations of the doctor, Victor actually cared for his creature despite his gruesome appearance.
  • Mad Scientist: Creating a creature made of seven reanimated body parts for a vampire lord.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: When he learns Dracula only ever supported him and funded his research because it would give the vampire lord the means to reanimate his brood and conquer the world.
  • Oh, Crap!: Does this twice; firstly when he sees the angry Transylvanian mob coming to storm his castle, and when he finally realises what Dracula is.
  • Papa Wolf: Once Dracula reveals his true agenda, Frankenstein immediately decides to protect his "son" from being used as a means to an end.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's killed off not long after being introduced, but much of the plot hinges on Dracula trying to recreate his experiment.
  • This Cannot Be!: His horrified reaction to seeing Dracula impale himself on the sword Frankenstein was trying to use to keep him at bay.
  • Unwitting Pawn: He thought Count Dracula was helping him create his Creature because Dracula believed in his work. But once the Monster is brought to life, Dracula reveals he was solely using Victor so he could use the Monster's artificial life to bring his vampiric children to life.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Dracula kills him after creating the monster.

    Dracula's Brides 

Tropes applying to the Brides as a whole.

Dracula's female companions.


  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: In their vampire form, there are no nipples or genitalia visible.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Marishka is the blonde, Verona the brunette and Aleera the redhead.
  • Co-Dragons: They act as Dracula's lieutenants.
  • Color-Coded Characters: Aleera has pink, Verona green and Marishka yellow.
  • Dark Action Girl: They all have their moments.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They grieve each other whenever one of them dies, are loyal to Dracula, and deeply mourn any lost opportunity to bring their children to life.
  • Evil Is Hammy: They tend to have dramatic reactions for certain things.
  • Harping on About Harpies: Probably the first instance of combining this with vampires.
  • Magic Pants: Their clothes transform along with them.
  • Ms. Fanservice: They're all gorgeous, scantily clad women.
  • Named by the Adaptation: Were unnamed in the Dracula novel, named in this one.
  • One-Winged Angel: They're all able to transform into Winged Humanoid bats.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Their eyes glow different colours - pink (Aleera), yellow (Marishka) and blue (Verona) - at diferent points during the film.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: Marishka (despite being the middle bride) is the Child - the most playful and impulsive of them. Verona is the Wife - she's confirmed to be the Queen Bride and is seen giving orders and advice. Aleera is the Seductress - she has by far the most subtext with Anna.
  • Vampire's Harem: They are all Dracula's wives with whom he spawned his hundreds of thousands of children.
  • Xenafication: Compared to the original novel. All they did was try to seduce Jonathan and later Mina. Here they're essentially Dracula's own personal Charlie's Angels.

Aleera

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ydghehl.jpg
Portrayed by: Elena Anaya

"Anna, my love. It is your blood that shall keep me beautiful. What do you think of that?"

The redheaded bride and the last one to survive after Marishka and Verona's deaths.


  • Adaptation Dye-Job: As far as the original Dracula novel goes. The third bride was said to be another brunette.
  • All There in the Manual: According to her actress, Aleera is the youngest of the brides, which explains her more childish nature compared to the other two.
  • Antagonist in Mourning: Sarcastically subverted as she's about to kill Anna:
    Aleera: Be happy in the knowledge that I shall weep over your dead body!
  • Arch-Enemy: Considers Anna to be hers.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Double subverted. When Anna spills a vat of some kind of acid substance, it splashes over Aleera's face. We see her face is horribly burned but it heals immediately.
  • Body Horror: Got a bit of acidic ice thrown on her which burned off half her face. Granted her regeneration healed it, but it wasn't at all pleasant to look at.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Lampshaded by Anna after stabbing her with a stake. "If you're going to kill someone, kill them. Don't stand there talking about it."
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Implied by some of her dialogue and in the novel the main reason Aleera despises Anna is because she believes Dracula desires to make Anna one of his Brides (given some of his dialogue at the masquerade ball to Anna, she might be onto something - and in the original script, he makes it clear that this is his goal) and Aleera has no intention of sharing.
  • Depraved Bisexual: A vicious vampire and married to Dracula, who also takes time to perv on Anna before trying to kill her. Interestingly, in the original script this element isn't present, she comes across as a borderline yandere who wants Dracula all to herself to the point of being willing to go against his orders and kill Anna at the ball instead of potentially turning her (Dracula, however, sees right through her and casually intervenes, foiling her plan).
  • The Dragon: Becomes this after Verona is killed.
  • Designated Girl Fight: Anna's is with her. Though she herself averts it, facing Van Helsing plenty of times too.
  • Evil Redhead: The only redheaded of the brides yet she is very cruel and crazy.
  • Fiery Redhead: Fiery as in friggin' evil and crazy, as well as the usual aggression.
  • Giggling Villain: Indulges in this quite a bit.
  • Just Toying with Them: Even worse than Marishka, especially in her fight with Anna in the climax; she spends most of her time playing with Anna rather than going for the killing blow. It ultimately costs her when Anna kills her as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: Isn't too proud to retreat from a fight when things turn bad.
  • Lady in Red: In her deleted scenes at least, specially since she tries to seduce Anna in there.
  • Lecherous Licking: Indulges in a spot of this with Anna during their final fight.
  • Light-Flicker Teleportation: She vanishes mid-lightning flash while toying with Anna in the dark near the movie's end.
  • Lightning Bruiser: She's arguably the fastest of the vampires, and still pretty strong.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Her default gown shows off her chest some. When telling Van Helsing about the trade in Budapest, she leans forward to give the camera a good look at her cleavage.
  • Nightmare Face: While all the brides do them in some form or another, she really seems to love doing them.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: She originally got a sparkly red one for the masquerade ball - but her scenes in that were sadly cut.
  • Princesses Prefer Pink: As Dracula's bride, that would make her a countess technically, and she has a dazzling pink dress.
  • Psycho Pink: She's fond of cackling, toying with her prey, and of course killing her enemies, and she does it all in shocking pink.
  • Psychopathic Womanchild: Aleera comes across a bit as this; she enjoys toying with her victims for her own amusement, then flies off the handle when they do things she doesn't want them to do ( i.e., fight back).
    Aleera: [after Anna pisses her off] You can't go until I say you can go... and I say you can go WHEN YOU'RE DEAD!!!!
  • Slipknot Ponytail: For some reason her hair is partially up when she and Verona corner Anna. When they transform back, her hair comes down and remains that way for the rest of the movie.
  • This Cannot Be!: Her reaction to Anna staking her.
  • The Vamp: The most sexual of the three Brides.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Only moderately so, but she seems to get more ruthless and bloodthirsty after the deaths of Marishka and then Verona.
  • Vampires Are Sex Gods: Though she seems to be the odd one out in this film. She's considerably more sexual than Dracula or her 'sisters'.

Verona

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cecb0cb38ddd2a2dac764abc35c5c679.jpg
Portrayed by: Silvia Colloca

"I can feel fresh blood rushing through her veins."

The dark haired bride and the main leader.


  • All There in the Manual: According to her actress, Verona is the "Queen Bride", and it's most noticeable in the scene where Aleera and Verona have Anna cornered during the village attack. Aleera attempts to shove past Verona, demanding "first bite", Verona snarls at her and Aleera quickly capitulates. As well, although the original script has Aleera and Anna refer to her by name, these scenes were cut and her name is never mentioned in the movie at all.
  • Brainy Brunette: Gives various orders and battle plans to her 'sisters'.
  • Cleavage Window: On her default gown.
  • Creepy Blue Eyes: Her eyes are naturally dark brown, but can flare to a bright, unnaturally blue shade.
  • The Dragon: She is the leader of the brides until her death.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: As the Queen Bride (at least according to her actor) she's the main one of the brides to lord over Dracula's creatures alongside Dracula himself. This includes wanting to fill the world with her demonic offspring.
  • Green and Mean: Downplayed, but her white dress has shades of green.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: She gets an arrow right through the ankle in the village. She later dies when an exploding carriage fires hundreds of stakes at her.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: After the first attempt to give life to the vampiric children fails and Marishka is killed soon afterward, Verona wants to abandon their plans rather than risk heartbreaking failure and another clash with Anna and Van Helsing. Dracula vetoes this.
  • Lady Macbeth: To Dracula, in that his main quest is her insisting for a way to make her offspring live.
  • Little "No": Her last words are wailing "no" quietly as she's impaled with hundreds of stakes.
  • Mama Bear: Her offspring are demonic abominations, but she loves them, fights to protect them, and is genuinely heartbroken whenever Frankenstein's technology fails to animate them.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Unlike the other two brides, she doesn't play around. Seen when she orders Marishka to stop messing with Van Helsing and just finish him off already.
  • Oh, Crap!: When she realizes the carriage is full of stakes.
  • Only Sane Man: She's more no-nonsense compared to Marishka and Aleera.
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Is just as pale as her companions.
  • Red Herring: Pulled off by the heroes nonetheless. The carriage Van Helsing is driving is a decoy. Verona falls for this and ends up killed.
  • Team Mom: Verona is a villainous version. In addition to her desire for actual motherhood, she cares about the safety of Dracula and the other brides and speaks against a few strategies that will endanger them.
  • Villainous Friendship: She clearly cares about her fellow brides and mourns Marishka's death.

Marishka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marishka.png
Portrayed by: Josie Maran

"Too bad, so sad."

The blonde bride.


  • All There in the Manual: Her actress says she is the middle Bride and a former gypsy.
  • Annoying Arrows: Van Helsing shoots her with several and she just pulls them out without batting an eyelid. Since the wounds heal almost immediately, this is pretty justified (well, at least until Van Helsing douses the arrows in holy water).
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: At first played straight, as any injuries Van Helsing hits her with disappear when she transforms. But averted when she suffers the most unglamorous death out of the three Brides.
  • Blood Knight: Gladly goes charging into combat at Van Helsing.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Lampshaded when Verona orders her to stop teasing and actually kill Van Helsing. In her defence, Anna then says that Van Helsing is the first one to kill a vampire in over a hundred years, giving her a decent reason to be this confident.
  • Demoted to Extra: In a sense. In the novel, the blonde was the leader of the Brides.
  • Dying as Yourself: She is killed while in her vampire form. She then fades to her human form...before disintegrating into dust.
  • Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: She has a bit more jewelry than Aleera or Verona.
  • Evil Laugh: When she throws Van Helsing around for a bit, she flies through the air cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West.
  • Flat Character: Has the least characterisation out of the three brides, since she's killed off fairly early on, and a lot about her can only be inferred from what we learn of the other two later.
  • Hot Gypsy Woman: She's apparently a former gypsy. However, she averts any other physical stereotypes associated with gypsies - being blonde haired and fair skinned.
  • Just Toying with Them: During her fight with Van Helsing, she mostly just throws him around while laughing wickedly. Verona even has to tell her to knock it off and go for the kill.
  • Light Is Not Good: She's blonde haired, fair skinned, dresses in a white and yellow outfit and wears a lot of gold jewelry. She's also a vampire and insanely bloodthirsty.
  • Middle Child Syndrome: She's the middle Bride and she's the first one killed off. In her second scene no less.
  • Oh, Crap!: When she realizes that she's just flown right at Van Helsing when he's loaded the crossbow with holy water. Before that, she also has a moment when she realises that her tossing him around like a rag doll has deposited him within easy reach of his crossbow.
  • Slasher Smile: Tosses one of these at Van Helsing when she realises he intends to try and race her to get to his crossbow before she can get him.
  • Supernatural Gold Eyes: Her eyes turn this colour when she bares her fangs.
  • The Tease: Spends a lot of time posing and baring her teeth at Van Helsing.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: She's killed off by Van Helsing in her second scene, so the audience doesn't get a chance to learn much about her.

    Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jekyllhyde.png
Mr. Hyde (above) and un-transformed Dr. Jekyll (below)
Portrayed by: Stephen H. Fisher (Jekyll, movie), Dwight Schultz (Jekyll, London Assignment), Robbie Coltrane (Hyde), Bob Joles (game)
"You are a big one. You'll be hard to digest."

A vicious and large murderer with double personality disorder.


  • Adaptational Badass: In the prequel Jekyll keeps Van Helsing at bay with well-tossed potions, setting his lair on fire as he escapes.
  • Adaptational Nationality: He's English in the original book, but Scottish here. Might double as a reference to the fact that Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote the original book was Scottish and the fact that "Jekyll" is a Scottish surname.
  • Adaptational Ugliness: In the book Hyde was apelike and ugly, and his evil made people sense something off without knowing why. Here he's essentially the Victorian Hulk, looking truly inhuman and monstrous. Jekyll is also elderly and sickly-looking, while in the book he was middle-aged but handsome.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Dr. Jekyll in The London Assignment. Mr. Hyde is collecting souls as part of his plan to seduce Queen Victoria.
    • In the video game's prologue, Jekyll has a buxom Damsel in Distress tied up in his laboratory for Hyde.
  • Age Lift: In the original novel, Jekyll was fifty with Hyde being half as old in appearance. The The London Assigment establishing Jekyll as having been a young man when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, Jekyll has to be at least in his seventies and Hyde physically in his thirties.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Van Helsing cuts off one of his arms with a tojo buzzsaw, whereupon it graphically shrinks back into one of Jekyll's arms.
  • Bad People Abuse Animals: He was apparently responsible for the killing of three goats and "a rather nasty massacre of poultry" before Van Helsing confronts him in the cathedral.
  • Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The animated prequel, The London Assignment, reveals that he's Jack the Ripper.
  • Big Bad: Of The London Assignment prequel film. He is also the Starter Villain at the film's beginning when Van Helsing chases him in Paris.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: He gleefully admits to his crimes when Van Helsing confronts him about them:
    Van Helsing: Dr. Jekyll, you are wanted by the Knights of the Holy Order-
    Mr. Hyde: It's Mr. Hyde, now! (Cackles evilly)
    Van Helsing: For the murder of twelve men, six women, four ch-
    Mr. Hyde: Four children, three goats, and a RATHER nasty massacre of poultry!
  • Cigar Chomper: He's introduced smoking a cigar that he snuffs out with his own tongue. And then he eats it.
  • Dying as Yourself: Hyde reverts to his human form just before he dies, which causes the police to mistakenly think Van Helsing murdered an innocent man.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He's pretty polite and talkative to Van Helsing when they first meet, and then backhands him across the attic before attacking him.
  • Genius Bruiser: Downplayed, but he's not Dumb Muscle either and fights somewhat strategically.
  • I Am a Humanitarian: Implied, when he tells Van Helsing, "You're a big one. You'll be hard to digest."
  • Icy Blue Eyes: That really stand out in the dark attic room Van Helsing confronts him in.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: He takes the loss of his arm pretty calmly, and continues fighting and mocking Van Helsing.
  • A Rotten Time to Revert: A tug-of-war with Van Helsing's grappling hook results in Hyde accidentally being catapulted off Notre Dame Cathedral... and on the way down, he reverts to the all-too-human Dr Jekyll. The poor bastard has just enough time to look down and realize what's happening before he hits the ground with a crunch.
  • Shout-Out: Similar to his depiction in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hyde's depicted here as a Hulk-like beast with Super-Strength.
    • Hyde's cry of "The bells!" during his fight with Van Helsing in Paris may be an in-Verse example, as Jekyll was well-educated and may have read The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Jekyll's evil plan in The London Assignment centers around using a combination of science and unholy magics to rejuvenate, brainwash and marry Queen Victoria. Like a typical stalker, the doctor had long ago deluded himself into believing that Her Majesty shared his affections as far back as her coronation.
  • Starter Villain: He is the first antagonist encountered by Van Helsing in the film.
  • Torso with a View: Hyde has a hole right through his right arm from his face off with Van Helsing in London.
  • Violent Glaswegian: He's a "deranged psychopath"(Van Helsing's own words) who speaks with the natural accent of Robbie Coltrane.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Four of them, according to Van Helsing.

    Top Hat 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tophat.png
Portrayed by: Tom Fisher

The undertaker of Anna's village.


  • Asshole Victim: Rude towards Van Helsing and attacks him from behind, leads the village to kill both Frankenstein and his creation, he gets killed by Velkan-werewolf.
  • Ax-Crazy: He's actively grinning as Anna tells the villagers to kill Van Helsing and Carl before realizing who they are and also seems to be the main instigator of the attack on Frankenstein's castle.
    Burn it. Burn it down.
  • Dirty Coward: He tries to attack from behind Van Helsing with a shovel, but the hero stops him. He then gets scared and justifies that it's his nature.
  • Smug Snake: He insults Van Helsing despite his reputation and gets a proper retribution at the fangs of Velkan.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: A white haired man who rivals some of the monsters in the movie in unpleasantness.

    Dr. Moreau 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drmoreauvanhelsing.jpg
A mad scientist that creates monsters.
  • Big Bad: Of the From Beneath the Rue Morgue comic.
  • Karma Houdini: He escapes even though his lab was destroyed.

Alternative Title(s): Van Helsing The London Assignment, Van Helsing From Beneath The Rue Morgue

Top