Alexander Anderson (anime)

"Our mission is t' punish any heretic who would deny the word of God! We will crush yer unholy body and salt th' earth w' yer dust! Amen!"

- Alexander Anderson

Alexander Anderson (アレクサンド・アンデルセン) is a Vatican priest and agent of Iscariot.

Alexander is the Iscariot, or Vatican Section XIII's, trump card. As Iscariot's ultimate weapon in the fight against the undead, he's a specialized human called a "Regenerator". 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.

In the English dub of the Anime and OVA, he is portrayed as having a Scottish accent, and voiced by Steven Brand in the dub, and by Nachi Nozawa in the sub.

Physical
Father Alexander Anderson has short, spiky gold hair, green eyes, brown/tanned skin, a defined squared jaw, and light facial hair. He also has a large, wedge-shaped scar on his left cheek. he was depicted with prominent, sharp canines, possibly to heighten his resemblance to a vampire and make him a symbolic counterpart to Alucard, the "tame monster" of the Hellsing Organisation. He is shown to be an imposing, middle-aged man, as well as lean with broad shoulders, and is quite tall, being slightly taller than or as tall as Alucard.

Clothing
He wears circular, wire-rimmed glasses (which later got destroyed in episode 7, but were replaced in episode 13), a large white cassock which has purple trim, white pants, grey boots, a white shirt, white gloves, and a silver cross around his neck. On his gloves, there are inscriptions written across the crosses drawn on the back:


 * For the right hand, Jesus Christ is in Heaven
 * For the left hand, Speak with Dead (later changed to Speak with the Dead)

Personality
Alexander Anderson normally appears as a calm and collected priest that even strangers respect, such as the woman that greeted him when he was leaving the train, to which, Anderson kindly responds "God be with you, my child" with a smile in his face -the same line was also said to a woman that appeared to be a prostitute.

Alexander Anderson is an ardent Catholic. He is extremely determined to achieve his end, usually by whatever means necessary. His words and his constant quoting of scripture indicate a clear, almost fanatical obedience towards "The Word of God". and, like Maxwell, displayed an immense hatred for Protestants. Anderson resents England's control over Northern Ireland, which he believes is Catholic territory, and states it is his mission to kill unbelievers. He's a man on a mission to slay every vampires on earth, even those who works with them to kill their very own kinds - thus, leading him to kill Gareth Henderson. He spits out many quotes from the bible as some sort of "purification" so that the soul of the vampires that he's slaying may finally be able to rest. Paladin Alexander Anderson's actions are vaguely relativist. He ignores his true mission, and instead focuses on the basic requirements of his crusade; thus, attacking Seras Victoria, Alucard and killing Captain Gareth of the Hellsing Organisation, though Gareth was a human being and attempting to exterminate the same target as Alexander Anderson. While his orders from Iscariot specified the extermination of a single rogue vampire, he engages in combat with Alucard as well, because of his beliefs that the Iscariot's mission was truly to slay all inhuman beings. Whether they are ones that work with humans or not - they're still beings that deny god and therefore, a demon.

He has a burning hatred towards vampires and, to an extent, all undead beings as he believes that they are demons that had betrayed God themselves. However, his hatred towards them aren't solely caused by that. in episode 7, a flashback reveals that before he became Iscariot's trump card, he was actually just a normal soldier until one night when an unnamed vampire killed all of his crew and then, Anderson, fearing for his life and scared that he may turn into a ghoul - tried killing himself by shooting himself through his mouth. Suddenly, someone or something saved him from this fate - and that was what seeded his hatred for vampires. He appears to be quite embarrassed of his actions then, as suicide is one of the worst sins one can commit in the bible. Anderson must've known the consequences of doing so - thus, when fighting Alucard, having his arms was shot off by Jackal, it took so long to regenerate. During that time, instead of giving up, Anderson was willing to do whatever he could to prevail, leading him to take an extreme option. This move greatly stunned Alucard, causing him to spare Anderson for his bravery. However, hides it by saying that he had just had enough fun for tonight.

Nevertheless, Anderson is a calm and collected priest. He's an extremely complex character, and his motivations aren't completely clear.

Enrico Maxwell
Though they never truly interacted, at least on-screen, it can be assumed that Anderson is at least loyal to him, unlike in the OVA where he ends up killing Maxwell.

Alucard
Alexander, in this version, despises Alucard. He stated that even if vampires, such as Alucard and Seras, are allies with human, and hunt down their own kind, they're still nothing but corrupted inhuman monsters. He states that it is his mission to rid the world of vampires. He insults Alucard for being inhuman. Ironically, Alexander is a Regenerator, which Alucard has pointed out; "you're less than inhuman, a pitiful defect, a failed science project.", to which, Anderson defends himself by saying that this technology is God's divine gift.

However, Alucard's actions in episode 7, are quite interesting as he chose to not kill Alexander when he had the chance to do it. The reason is not clear, but Alucard said that he had enough. Alucard doesn't think that Regenerators are monsters, but also believes that they aren't humans either. As such, Regenerators like Anderson are not allowed to kill him, as only a human can do that.

Alucard reminds Anderson about the vampire he was fighting when he was still a human, to which he points a gun at his own mouth,as to not become a vampire, or a ghoul.

The Hellsing Organisation
Anderson has a certain hatred toward the Hellsing Organisation as a whole - going as far as displaying no remorse when killing them. To an extent, vampires or not, Anderson will gladly kill them. His extreme fanatical beliefs and such eventually leads to Gareth Henderson's death, which caused the Hellsing Organisation and Iscariot's already-bad-relationship to become much worse. This lead to Alucard and Anderson's second battle. As quoted by Anderson in episode 3, "Even if you serve non-humans, you're still a corrupted inhuman monsters". This displays his hatred for those who work with vampires very clearly, believing that, even if they're working together with humans to slay their own kind, they're still demons whose souls are already gone when they became an undead monster. Anderson holds a deep grudge towards the Hellsing Organisation's leader, Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing; displayed in the end of episode 3, where, after Integra stopped the two trump cards from fighting, Anderson argued that Iscariot's mission is to fight vampires, therefore, an action like this shouldn't be stopped, but instead, praised. However, after Integra had shown the letters from Iscariot's leader, in which, he told Anderson to come back. He smirks and tells Integra that he's sure that they'll meet again very soon with the way he says it almost feeling like a threat.

Overview
As Iscariot's "trump card", he is the single greatest warrior the Vatican can bring to bear. Anderson possesses extraordinary strength, speed, senses, balance, coordination, and stamina, far above what is considered normal for a human. It is unknown if these abilities are a result of artificial, biotechnological enhancement or a combination of his natural skill and fighting experience.

Strength

 * Superhuman Strength: With his immense strength, he can slice a train in half using only two of his bayonets with ease.
 * Superhuman Speed and Reactions: His reflexes are sufficient to allow him to react to bullets, although he prefers to take them head-on thanks to his regeneration.
 * Superhuman Durability and Endurance: Enhanced by his regeneration, Anderson is very durable. He effortlessly shrugged off shots from a dozen automatic rifles (none of which pierced through his flesh), while Alucard has often been ripped apart by such weaponry. He also took a shot from Alucard’s Casull point-blank, leaving a bullet lodged in his skull. He furthermore was hit twice more in the torso with the same weapon and survived, regenerating quickly. He could take several blows from Alucard who can easily tear apart human soldiers and vampires with single strikes. Anderson’s incredible endurance allowed him to keep running straight toward Alucard, even while having two of his arms shot off by The Jackal.

Abilites

 * Alexanderregenerator.pngRegeneration: Father Anderson is a "Regenerator," meaning that he is able to restore body parts that are lost and heal himself. This is clearly demonstrated in episode 3. Alucard's bullet enters Anderson's head, but he recovers quickly and appears unscathed. This has raised some confusion over why Anderson retains the scar on his left cheek. The most likely explanation is that he received the scar before he gained his regeneration ability (he was also shown in a flashback in the episode 7 with the scar, further proof of this). Thanks to his healing, Anderson is very durable. He is able to shrug off automatic-gunfire and even Alucard's explosive silver bullets with ease. Anderson claims that his ability is "the divine gift of God," but later states that it is due to "man's technology.", Alucard states that Anderson is less than human and a "failed science experiment." Though much stronger than the regeneration of average vampires, Anderson's healing is not without its limits. Using the Jackal, which was specifically designed for use against strong Regenerators like Anderson. during a battle in a subway. Alucard shoots off both of Anderson's arms with the Jackal and they don't regenerate (or regenerates much slower than usual). Anderson is forced to flee, and he is not seen again until the final episode where he is in a crowd watching Alucard fight Incognito. At this point, his arms have been restored.
 * AlexanderbayonetsAnime.pngBayonet Mastery: Alexander Anderson uses scores of blessed bayonets (presumably made of silver). The blessed nature of the bayonets can sting vampires and negate their regeneration. He skillfully wields the bayonets with great dexterity in close-combat like swords and can also throw them with extreme accuracy (especially considering that he often throws the bayonets in large numbers, usually holding them between his fingers). The type of bayonet that he uses the most appear to be Austrian sword bayonets, with custom hand grips for an easier hold. In episode 7, it is shown that The Jackal is capable of shattering the Blessed Bayonets. In the same episode, Alexander uses his Bayonets to slice a train in half.
 * Scripture Manipulation: Anderson can summon a horde of scripture pages and use them for a variety of purposes:
 * Holy Barriers: Anderson can affix scripture pages onto the walls of a building to erect a barrier to ward off vampires. Specifically, Seras was blocked from escaping, as if there was a physical wall. In episode 3, Anderson can use the scriptures to purify the house and prevent the use of black magic.
 * Transportation: Anderson can use Bible pages to seemingly teleport. He used this to flee his fight with Alucard in the subway fight after having his arms shot off.
 * Ensnaring: Anderson was shown to use Bible pages in order to trap Alucard. Specifically, he used them to entangle Alucard's arms before slicing his head off.

Before Hellsing
Most of Alexander's history, before meeting Alucard, is largely unknown. However, in episode 7, Duel, some light is shed on it. After he was disabled, he eventually gets up and tries to kill Alucard once again. He recalls a time in the past, before he became a priest and a regenerator, when he served as a soldier. His squad was killed by a vampire that looked very similar to Alucard. Fearing that he would be turned into a Vampire or a Ghoul, he contemplated suicide by shooting himself. He was saved by some unknown person or thing. This could explain th extent to which he is proficient in use of bladed weapons, and likely serves as a reason why he is so fervent in his crusade against the undead.

Blessed Bayonets
His Bayonets are specialized, each of them being blessed and probably made of silver, making them highly dangerous to vampires. He wields them in close-combat like swords and often holds them between his fingers. He also throws the bayonets at his target, with stunning accuracy for a human. Some of the bayonets are shown to have hand guards in the manga and TV series. The type of bayonets he uses the most are similar to Austrian sword bayonets, with custom hand grips for easier slashing and stabbing.

They are shown deflecting Alucard's Casull gunshots, with only the Jackal shattering the bayonets.

Voice Actors

 * French Dub: Emmanuel Gradi
 * German Dub: Oliver Stritzel
 * Japanese Dub: Nachi Nozawa
 * English Dub: Steven Brand
 * Italian Dub: Mario Zucca
 * Brazilian Portuguese Dub: Marcelo Pissardini
 * Spanish Dub: Carles Martínez Davó

Alexander Anderson Manga-to-Anime differences

 * Since The Captain is removed and Alexander himself being a Side Character, Alucard's rival is the Anime original villain, Incognito.
 * In the Manga, Alexander's past is unknown, and leaves him as a bit of an enigma. However, in the Anime, it was shown that he used to serve in the Military, and almost killed himself, hoping to avoid the fate of being turned into a ghoul. The canonicity of this remains up for debate, but general consensus believes it to be non-canon.
 * Alexander's appearance is much darker in the OVA and manga.
 * Alucard considers Alexander a worthy opponent in the Manga. In the Anime, Alucard states that he is neither a Monster nor Human, therefore he cannot defeat him.