Hellsing (anime)

Hellsing (ヘルシング,Herushingu) refers to the made-for-television anime based on Kouta Hirano's manga series of the same name. It was first broadcast in Japan on Fuji Television from October 10, 2001 to January 16, 2002 and ran in the United States from October 4, 2003 to December 27, 2003 on Starz!'s Encore Action cable channel. It finished at thirteen episodes long.

The anime follows a different storyline, especially towards the end, but with the same protagonists and main characters. The series was directed by Umanosuke Iida from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka and produced by Gonzo Animation.

Main characters

 * Alucard
 * The main protagonist and the most powerful warrior of the Hellsing organization. He is not just a vampire, but one of the eldest. Alucard's original "life" dates back to the 1400s. Although his true identity is not explicitly stated, it is implied he is Dracula, as it is his name spelled backwards. He is referred to as "El Nosferatu" by the Vatican's Section XIII. Hellsing manga, volume 8, In the last episode of the TV series there is a close up of Alucard's face and for a few seconds the screen splits and he resembles classical portraits of Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad III the Impaler), a voivode of Wallachia who provided the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel. When he first meets Incognito, he says that it is fine that Incognito's name is a puzzle, since his name is a riddle as well.


 * Seras Victoria
 * Seras was a member of the D11 special forces unit until being mortally wounded by Alucard in his destruction of a vampire masquerading as a priest. On the verge of death, she chose to allow Alucard to turn her into a vampire. Serving beneath Alucard, she now works for the Hellsing organization.
 * For some time after joining the Hellsing organization, Seras avoided drinking blood, fearing the loss of her humanity (the first time she encountered her medical blood ration, she was almost overcome by bloodlust). However, when Alucard drank the blood of a reporter in front of her, she finally acknowledged her vampiric powers and consumed blood.


 * Sir Integra Fairbook Wingate Hellsing
 * Integra is a 22-year-old noblewoman and the head and last member of the Hellsing family. She doubles as the leader of the Hellsing organization, and Alucard's "Master". She inherited the Hellsing organization at the age of 13 upon the death of her father. Although she often seems strict and domineering, she is respected and admired, even among her sworn enemies.


 * Paladin Alexander Anderson
 * A warrior priest or paladin who works for the Vatican's Section XIII, Iscariot. Anderson is Iscariot's ultimate weapon in the fight against the undead. With regenerative capabilities and a variety of holy weapons (including his signature blessed bayonets), his mission is nothing less than the complete destruction of all the demons of Hell. As this includes many of Hellsing's subordinates, Anderson is one of Alucard's greatest foes.


 * Incognito
 * This masochistic vampire is from "the dark continent," a reference to Africa. Though physically androgynous, he is generally thought to be male. Extremely powerful, he combines dark magic with an enchanted ArmsCor 40 mm grenade launcher that fires spines. Incognito vomits into the launcher's cartridges before loading; and he also is known to have a gatling gun as backup. During the final plot arc of the series he summons a snake-like being referred to as Sett and takes it into his body in order to use its power to attack Alucard. Incognito has regenerative powers which seem to be related to the purple stripes and sigils covering his body.

Secondary characters

 * Walter C. Dornez
 * Walter is a 69 year old retired member of the Hellsing organization. Though now serving as Integra Hellsing's butler, he still has proved the capacity to live up to his nickname "The Angel of Death" with deadly razor sharp wires. He has a close friendship with both Integra and Alucard.


 * Enrico Maxwell
 * Enrico Maxwell is the overzealous religious leader of the Iscariot Organization (Vatican Section XIII).


 * Luke and Jan Valentine
 * The Valentine brothers are "freaks", humans who were turned into vampires with the aid of a chip. They have much influence in the underworld. Their exact origins are unknown. Jan acts, looks and sounds like a member of the lower classes and uses strong profanity while Luke seems much more cultured and restrained. Both wear the same outfit, though Luke wears a white jacket over his. With an army of ghouls, they stormed Hellsing HQ. Their ghouls were armed with rifles, body armor, and shields. Jan uses a pair of heavily modified, suppressed P90s, while Luke uses a pair of sawed-off M1 Garand rifles. Jan faced off against Walter and Seras, while Luke descended into the basement to do battle with Alucard. Luke claims to be as powerful a vampire as Alucard, and their fight seems to be fairly even, until Alucard uses the gravity of the situation as an excuse to release (part of) the enchantments that bind him, letting him use a greater amount of power. Alucard overwhelms Luke and easily kills him, while Jan is shot full of mercury incendiary shells by Integra Hellsing. Integra then asks him to tell her who his masters were; Jan refuses and is ignited on fire, taking his secret with him to the grave.

Other characters

 * Helena
 * A young-looking vampire that spends her time reading and listening to "Solveigs Song" by Grieg. She appears to live alone in a dark old house. Despite her young appearance, she is quite old and becomes something of a role-model for Seras. Helena is eaten by Incognito, though she continues to live for a short time afterward, even after being beheaded.


 * Kim
 * A news reporter saved in Episode 2 from vampires, she tries to prove afterwards that vampires exist to the general public. One such feat was watching a snuff film being recorded in which a vampire would attack a man who clearly had no idea what is going on. When Alucard ends the recording and Integra arrives Kim states that as a reporter she has an obligation to tell the world, showing no guilt because she wasn't the one who made the arrangements. Owing to the nature of what she has done, Integra states that her crime is beyond human law, and authorizes Alucard to drink her (Kim's) blood.


 * Enrico Stivaletti
 * A foreign exchange college student who appears in Episode 3. He is actually the first artificial vampire shown implanted with the 'freak chip' as he attempts to turn another student Mick, with whom he was heavily implied to have been in a romantic relationship, into a vampire for the sake of "being together forever". After being apprehended and later placed in the morgue with the chip removed he is believed dead. This is later disproved when he comes back to "life" in search for Mick. Anderson was sent by the Iscariot Organization to destroy the foreign vampire but is rudely interrupted when Alucard is the one to kill him.


 * Harry Anders
 * An MI-5 Agent who apparently cooperates with Kim and is involved in the Hellsing exposure affair. Anders investigates the 'freak chips' and questions Helena, taking Seras along with him for protection. He is killed during an explosion of his car possible carbomb, the circumstances of which are unexplained. It is to be noted that Anders had been acquainted with Seras' father.


 * Bubbancy
 * A baobhan sith who infiltrated Hellsing HQ and tried to turn Integra into a ghoul, since the transformation can only be completed within the same sex. Apparently possessing great hypnotic powers, she got in without suspicion by mentally convincing everyone (except Alucard and Seras) that she was Integra's sister "Laura". In what is widely considered the most risqué scene in the series, she paralyzes, partially undresses, and bites Integra on her breast. Integra realizes then that she has no sister, and that the girl must have tricked her. She then stabs Integra in the stomach with a knife to begin drinking her blood, but is then dispatched by Alucard, who'd been delayed in an encounter with Incognito.
 * The text of the English dub is somewhat confusing, probably due to nonrecognition of the term "baobhan sith" (especially when rendered by a Japanese speaker). The original script is clearer: Bubbancy took the name Laura from the novel Carmilla (which, like Dracula, may be close to the truth in the history of the Hellsing world), but Integra also addresses her as a baobhan sith. Upon realizing her identity, Integra refers to the baobhan sith as the Countess Karnstein, this of course being another reference to the classic vampire novel, Carmilla.


 * Commander Peter Fargason
 * Commander of the Hellsing organization's Paramilitary forces. He is an older human male with a deep voice and was Seras Victoria’s first tactical trainer after she became a vampire. He is shot and killed by a British Army sniper during the stand off at the Tower of London.

Japanese Cast

 * Jouji Nakata - Alucard
 * Fumiko Orikasa - Seras Victoria
 * Yoshiko Sakakibara - Integra Hellsing
 * Nachi Nozawa - Alexander Anderson
 * Takumi Yamazaki - Incognito
 * Motomu Kiyokawa - Walter C. Dornez
 * Hideyuki Tanaka - Enrico Maxwell
 * Takehito Koyasu - Luke Valentine
 * Kazuya Nakai - Jan Valentine
 * Akiko Hiramatsu - Helena
 * Hisato Masuyama - Enrico Stivaletti
 * Takashi Taniguchi - Harry Anders
 * Mika Di - Bubbancy
 * Unshō Ishizuka - Peter Fargason

English Cast

 * Crispin Freeman - Alucard
 * K. T. Gray - Seras Victoria
 * Victoria Harwood - Integra Hellsing
 * Steven Brand - Alexander Anderson
 * Isaac Charles Singleton, Jr. - Incognito
 * Ralph Lister - Walter C. Dornez
 * J. B. Blanc - Enrico Maxwell
 * Patrick Seitz - Luke Valentine
 * Josh Phillips - Jan Valentine
 * Akure Wall - Helena
 * Pam Susslin - Kim
 * Arthur Russell - Harry Anders
 * Siobhan Flynn - Bubbancy
 * William Morgan Sheppard - Peter Fargason

Episodes

 * Hellsing Episode 1: The Undead
 * Hellsing Episode 2: Club M
 * Hellsing Episode 3: Sword Dancer
 * Hellsing Episode 4 :"Innocent as A Human"
 * Hellsing Episode 5 :"Brotherhood"
 * Hellsing Episode 6 :"Dead Zone"
 * Hellsing Episode 7 :"Duel"
 * Hellsing Episode 8 :"Kill House"
 * Hellsing Episode 9 :"Red Rose Vertigo"
 * Hellsing Episode 10 :"Master of Monster"
 * Hellsing Episode 11 :"Transcend Force"
 * Hellsing Episode 12 :"Total Destruction"
 * Hellsing Episode 13 :"Hellfire"

Trivia

 * Incognito does not appear in the manga and his name comes from the literal definition of the word, incognito. In episode nine, Alucard responds to Incognito's introduction by saying his name's "quite an enigma as well."
 * It has also been argued that, while Alucard may be inspired by, or is Count Dracula, Incognito may have been inspired by the vampire Count Orlok, from the 1922 silent movie Nosferatu.