Abraham Van Helsing

Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (エイブラハム・ヴァン・ヘルシング, Eiburahamu Vu~an Herushingu) was a minor, yet a character that's pivotal to the plot of Hellsing, a manga created by Kouta Hirano.

A Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., etc." The character is best known as a vampire hunter, and the arch-enemy of Count Dracula. He is an ancestor of Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and was Dracula's arch-nemesis.

He was voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka in the original Japanese sub, and Curt Lowens in the english dub of Hellsing: Ultimate.

Physical
In flashbacks, from what we see; he's a middle aged man with a rectangular face and has a stubble beard. He was also incredibly tall in stature, almost to the point where he was as tall as Dracula himself. Furthermore, much like Dracula, he has long limbs and has blue eyes with fair skin. He was also physically strong, to the point where punching Dracula made him bleed, however, to be fair; Dracula was severely weakened. Much like Arthur Hellsing when he was young, His hair was brown, and was - for the most part; slicked to the back, however, one of the most notable features are his two fringes that stick up on either side of his head, resembling horns.

However, despite his hair being slicked and short, in Hellsing Chapter 86, or Hellsing: Ultimate X, Abraham appears again; however, his hair is long and messy - the OVA made it so that the hair falls over to the right side of his eye, making him look actually like Alucard.

Attire
From what we see of him, it's hard to exactly tell what he's wearing, as he wore a different coat throughout his appearance in many of Alucard's dreams or flashbacks, here is the list.


 * In his first appearance (Volume 2 and chapter 26 of Hellsing, or Hellsing: Ultimate II), Abraham wore a duster coat similar to Alucard's, however, the one Abraham wore is noticeably darker.
 * During the fight with Anderson, Alucard recalls and named every person in the group which Abraham created in-order to defeat him, and Abraham appears, this time, wearing a coat similar to Alucard's, but it isn't a duster coat - just a normal, dark red coat.
 * In his last appearance, Abraham wore yet again, a duster coat similar to Alucard's.

For the more visible and consistent parts, Abraham wore a white shirt covered by a grey charcoal vest and a black cravat. He wore black dress pants and a pair of black business shoes.

Personality
It is hard to exactly tell what kind of person Abraham is in Hellsing. However, in the novel, John Seward, his student, described Abraham as:

"He is a seemingly arbitrary man, this is because he knows what he is talking about better than anyone else. He is a philosopher and a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day, and he has, I believe, an absolutely open mind. This, with an iron nerve, a temper of the ice-brook, and indomitable resolution, self-command, and toleration exalted from virtues to blessings, and the kindliest and truest heart that beats, these form his equipment for the noble work that he is doing for mankind, work both in theory and practice, for his views are as wide as his all-embracing sympathy."

- Dracula by Bram Stoker, Chapter 9: John Seward's letter to Arthur Holmwood.

Appearance in the manga
The first time he appeared in one of Alucard´s dreams, Van Helsing made many allusions to Dracula when referring to Alucard e.g. "So what are you going to do now, No Life King?". At the end of this dream, Alucard seems to cry blood. The second time Van Helsing appeared as a silhouette after Alucard transforms into the "Count", this last one is the most direct reference to the novel in the manga, since this time, besides Van Helsing, Alucard mentions Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. Seward, although, mysteriously, not Jonathan Harker as it is speculated that in this version Dracula killed him. He appeared for a third time in a flashback showing Alucard's previous deaths.

Abraham's Child
It is unknown if Van Helsing himself became the father of two boys, Arthur and Richard Hellsing, or if Arthur and Richard were Van Helsing's grandchildren. However, if a middle generation did exist, when this unknown Hellsing either retired or died, the reins of the Organisation were passed to the eldest child of Abraham.

Dracula Novel Description
"An elderly Dutchman and a prominent scientist, Van Helsing's expertise in vampirism comes too late to save Lucy, but his skills save Mina from suffering the same fate. A former teacher and a friend of Dr. John Seward, Van Helsing is the intellectual powerhouse and leader of the group that takes on and ultimately defeats Dracula."

- Page 451, Dracula by Bram Stoker; EXTRA MATERIAL FOR YOUNG READERS

Early Life
Abraham was born into a Catholic Dutch family in the mid 1800s. As he came into adulthood he married and settled down to start a family as he studied several fields of science, medicine, physics, and psychology. His family was wracked with tragedy when Van Helsing's only son passed away. The passing drove his wife mad to the point that she became dead to Abraham, yet his status as a devout Catholic prevented him from divorcing her. Abraham continued his academic studies to receive degrees and doctorates in several fields including medicine, philosophy, and scientific study. In the course of his career, Van Helsing became a professor and took on students. Among these students is a John Seward who would one day become a doctor himself. During an incident involving a knife that had come into contact with gangrene, Van Helsing was cut and poisoned by it. Thinking quick, Seward sucked the poison out and saved Abraham, a favor he wouldn't soon forget.

Events of Bram Stoker's Dracula
When the woman Seward cared most about, Lucy Westenra fell ill with a mysterious disease, Seward sent a telegram to Van Helsing requesting his knowledge of rare and obscure diseases to help cure her. Remembering his debt, Abraham made great haste in coming to their aid. Upon arriving, Van Helsing was instantly able to see Lucy's ailment was that of a Vampire's bite, but wary that Seward and his companions would find it crazy, he refused to immediately tell them his diagnosis. Van Helsing had been learning about the Vampire for quite a while, though the field of study is difficult to grasp for those who have no first-hand experience with them. In an effort to save Lucy, Abraham attempted several blood transfusions on the girl, but their attempts to save her were appearing for naught. Abraham then left for Amsterdam giving them explicit instructions to watch over Lucy and her family. Instructions that never arrived with those whom they belonged.

Upon returning, he found that Lucy had passed away from a wolf attack in the middle of the night, and had been buried. Despite the apparent death and burial however, several reports began to come in of a beautiful woman matching Lucy's description attacking innocents in the night. Finally realizing he couldn't hide the truth any longer, Van Helsing confided in Seward, and Lucy's other suitors Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood about the Vampire's curse and that their dear Lucy is now among the undead. The men soon found Lucy and, after a heated confrontation succeeded in killing her with a beheading, allowing Lucy to finally rest. At that point, Jonathan Harker joined the entourage after barely surviving an encounter with their previously unknown enemy. Now knowing his name, Count Dracula, the group set out to destroy the vampire once and for all.

Now in London, the horrid Count went to accomplish one of his goals, to take Mina Harker for himself. Having seen a photograph of her and Jonathan, Dracula found he desired her, and in the middle of the night he succeeded in biting her. He proceeded to drink from her and feed to her his own blood, making her into a vampire as well, but bonding her to himself as his servant Vampire. Knowing time is short, and the only way to save Mina is to defeat Dracula, Van Helsing lead a frantic search for the Count. Due to her telepathic link to the No-Life King, they were able to use Mina to trace Dracula's steps, finally finding his whereabouts after putting her into a hypnotic state.

Events of Hellsing
The group finally followed the count back to his castle and confronted him for a battle just before dawn. After a fierce fight, Van Helsing cornered the count and was able to drive a stake through the No-Life King, defeating the Count by the light of the coming dawn. The wafer marks left Mina's flesh, a fact that Van Helsing took the opportunity to shout at the disgraced vampire. However Abraham decided not to deliver the finishing blow to his felled foe, instead taking Dracula's now powerless form with him back to England.

The events of Abraham's life after defeating Dracula are unknown, but it is commonly known that he began research to tame his one-time enemy. Through science and possibly some form of sorcery, Van Helsing succeeded at his task and turned the once proud Count into a servant whom his family would later re-dub Alucard. The rest of Abraham's life is mostly unknown, though it is assumed that he settled down and had at least one other child.

Later by Van Helsing's own hand or the actions of his child, an Organisation was established in England to research and combat these occult and demonic threats to humanity, such as the Vampire. At some unknown point, Abraham's offspring converted to Anglicanism, and had the family name Anglicized as Hellsing. The Organisation would eventually take on this name as well, and become officially sanctioned by England and the Church of England.

Skills

 * Occult Knowledge: Abraham was an incredibly intelligent man, for an extent; he was a Doctor, Professor, Lawyer, Philosopher, Scientist and Metaphysic. Also, without his intelligence and remarkable skills, the group would've likely lost to Dracula. Furthermore, his knowledge of vampires and such, he was able to track down Mina Harker due to her telepathic link with the Count. His intelligence and knowledge also helped during his many experiments to the Count after he had been tamed, allowing him to be more powerful than before - however, for all eternity, he must serve the Hellsing family as their "Trump Card" or, their "lapdog". John Seward also described him as one of the most advanced scientists of his day, and an absolute "open mind".

Control Over Dracula
After defeating Dracula himself, without the groups knowledge, Abraham had secretly brought Dracula's body to his lab, where he does multiple experiments on the Count while making his own organisation - which is known as the Hellsing organisation. After Dracula realizes that Abraham had saved his life, he swore his life towards Abraham and his family and will likely serve their family for eternity.

Equipment

 * Wooden Stake and Axe: Abraham was shown having a Wooden Stake and an Axe (replaced by a pickaxe in the OVA) as his main weapon while fighting Dracula with the group. With his knowledge of vampires and such, he knew that the vampires heart was its weakness - and he was correct to an extent; Dracula was caught by Abraham's Wooden Stake in the heart - however, it was not completely destroyed; which allowed Dracula to live for some time, while Abraham taunts him and belittles him - calling him a miserable "No-life King", but however, turns out, the final strike didn't put an end to Dracula and he was later experimented on by Abraham himself.