Alucard

Alucard (アーカード, Ākādo) is the main protagonist of the Hellsing anime and manga series created by Kouta Hirano. He is the most powerful warrior of the Hellsing Organization which works against vampires and other such supernatural forces. Alucard is no mere vampire; it has been implied that he is the most powerful vampire, as well as the most powerful entity in the entire series, even before obtaining relative omnipresence at the conclusion of the manga.

He is devoted to his master Integra and is Walter's closest friend. He also has mixed feelings of love and affection towards his draculina Seras Victoria. He is both the TV series and OVA. In the English dub of both series, he is voiced by Crispin Freeman.

Appearance


He has short jet black hair and his bangs fall slightly in his eyes and strands on the side of his bangs frameing his face, his eyes are blood red which have slanted pupils like a cats and glow brighter red when his glasses are off. His hair length changes according to his release states from short to knee length. His usual outfit is comprised mainly in a classic Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and a flamboyant, intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-length, red frock overcoat with cape (At the beginning of the manga it was a full-length trench coat). He also wears a red fedora hat with a wide, floppy brim and a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed orange sunglasses with goggle sidings. Alucard's gloves have five pointed seals on them which limits personal use of his powers. He has a vast range of supernatural techniques and is an expert gunfighter. As a vampire he posseses enhanced strength allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider to be heavy weaponry.

Personality
He fights with ferocity and often extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been totally disabled and humiliated. However, he does seem to have some small shred of humanity left in him, as he's still capable of shedding tears, taken by Alexander Anderson to mean that he is not completely lost. As he is essentially immortal and invincible, Alucard is very egotistical. He freely taunts and belittles his opponents, often allowing them to inflict seemingly fatal wounds before healing himself and obliterating his enemy. One of his favorite methods is allowing himself to be blown to shreds before simply flowing back together. It could accurately be said that rather than killing his opponents, Alucard breaks them. An example can be seen in volume 2 when Alucard fights Luke Valentine. When Luke gains an advantage over Alucard, victory seems within his grasp. The tides turn when Alucard transforms a part of himself into a hell hound. Alucard then shoots off a part of his leg telling him to regenerate them and pick up his gun and fight back. When Luke fails to do so, Alucard devours Luke, declaring him as little more than dog food.

However, even with his incredible powers, Alucard can be taken by surprise, usually because of his arrogance. In his first meeting with Alexander Anderson, he assumed he had easily killed Anderson with a single bullet, but was caught off guard when he regenerated. Alucard also expressed deep disappointment that Luke was not a more worthy adversary. In the anime, he seemed concerned with finding a worthy opponent. In the manga however, it is revealed that he wishes to find an opponent, a human opponent, with sufficient willpower to destroy him despite his strength.

Underneath his cocky, arrogant attitude, Alucard seems deeply sad and is envious of humans, for they are blessed with the gift of death, while he himself is unable to die and must walk the Earth for eternity. He clearly regrets his decision to become an immortal monster, and has great respect for humans who have the willpower to endure old age and death. All of these feelings are shown at various points throughout the series, such as when Alucard tells the Queen that she is that "same spirited young woman" from 50 years ago, and that now she is truly beautiful. He becomes infuriated as Anderson stabs himself in the heart with the Helena's Nail in volume 8, as Anderson is making the same mistake Alucard made. While facing off against Walter's younger, vampire form in chapter 74, Alucard says that Walter's old, aged body was "a trillion times more beautiful" than his new, vampiric one.

Arthur Hellsing explains it the best in chapter 72: "For what they all seem to seek is to wage war, and endless desperate, blood-stained struggles. Things quite close to crying loudly. I don't think they desire those things at all. On the contrary: all of this is their way of shouting and begging for death."

In conjunction, Alucard also holds a great affinity for humans who take pride in themselves, often expressing his desire of being killed by a human/mortal. He often shows respect for certain humans for their bravery, such as the mortal Iscariot members who fought to let Anderson reach him. Alucard has expressed extreme disgust with the vampires he's been hunting for the last 100 years, especially when they kill without purpose. In chapter 3 of the manga (Murder Club), he lists the two vampires' pointless killing in his catalogue of how pathetic they are. In the original Gonzo anime version (Club M), Alucard makes his discontent apparent, demanding to know the motivation behind their rampage.

Despite this, he isn't entirely against immortality. Rather, he believes it is something that must be earned. Presumably, he views his own transformation as an escape because he became one, in Anderson's words, so that he would "never have to cry again". He happily gave Seras immortality (despite his self-reflection) due to her indomitable will and courage, for continuing to fight against the monsters in Cheddar and not giving up even when she was about to die. He also viewed Walter in the same regard for a time, even indirectly offering him immortality. It can be said that he believes that Walter "took" immortality rather than "earned" it.

Another important aspect of Alucard's personality is his relationship with God. As a human, he was a crusader, a knight who fought against the Muslim Turks to spread Christianity. As a warrior, he believed that words alone were not enough; that one must accomplish deeds in order to attract God's attention, a belief shared by his rival, Alexander Anderson. In accordance with this belief, he never asked God for favors, but instead did many great and terrible things. He became famous for punishing evildoers in his own lands and abroad, for waging a war against the Muslims in hopes of bringing down "the New Jerusalem," and for sacrificing his troops and his people to achieve his own goals. He believed that, if he and his men put forth great enough effort and sacrificed enough, that God himself would intervene on their behalf. When he lost his war and was captured by the Turks, he realized that he had failed. Feeling abandoned by God, he abandoned God in turn. In a moment of perfect despair, he drank up the blood of his scorched and besieged homeland and became a vampire. It's possible that Dracula's plan in England, which began with invasion and probably would've ended in conquest, was a way of avenging himself against God, whom he blamed for his own mistakes (this is similar to how Count Dracula was portrayed in Francis Ford Coppola's film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, which Hirano has cited as one of his greatest sources of inspiration).

Arthur Hellsing
Arthur Hellsing was Alucard's previous master before Integra Hellsing.

Seras Victoria
Seras Victoria is Alucard's first fledgling since Mina Harker. As such, there is much speculation from Alucard's companions as to why he decided to change her. Alucard seems confused by his own actions but ultimately decides that it was a whim based on Seras's own decision to live. He tells Walter that she is a fascinating creature and seems to admire her will to live despite the hellish events in Cheddar Village. While he is frustrated with her refusal to drink blood, he was always confident that eventually she would drink and seemed quite proud of her when the time came.

As stated by Hirano the relationship between Seras and Alucard is complicated in that it is more than a strict "master and servant" relationship. Alucard takes on a role of a mentor and teacher to help Seras reach her full potential. As Seras was orphaned at a young age, her fondness and love for Alucard that could be similar to a daughter's love for her father. There is also a lot of Romantic and sexual tension between them in both the ova and tv series.

As far as Seras is concerned, there is a great deal of love and fondness for her master in both the tv series and ova. At times Seras seems nervous and uneasy around Alucard due to his constant early berating about her being a pathetic vampire. She also strongly objects to Alucard's unnecessary cruelty towards human beings. While she does not partake in the slaughter of the SWAT team, she aides Alucard in his combat with Tubalcain AlhGambra and later attempts to fight Alexander Anderson (though her attack is comically cut short). As the series progresses, her shy and nervous behavior towards Alucard is mostly overcome once she becomes a full-fledged vampire and he addresses her with her full name.

During Alucard's fight with Anderson, Seras comes to his rescue in a desperate attempt to save him. After stopping the strike by Anderson, Seras' alarmed calls bring Alucard back from torpor. The last visage in his dream was Seras' face, ending the flashback and chapter with the words: "There is a voice. There is a voice calling out. It's...you?." Before facing Anderson he compliments her: "Why so loud police girl? Your voice sounds fine regardless; like fragments of shattered melody..." By volume 9, Alucard fully recognizes Seras' growth and tells her: "Go with our master. Go and conquer, Seras". Later, he describes her as a servant who loves only him. In the end, Seras was the only one who had unwavering faith that Alucard would return.

Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing
Integra is the Hellsing Organization's leader and current master of Alucard. In both versions of Hellsing, Alucard and Integra share a complex but strict "master and servant" relationship. Integra has been connected to him since her father's death. Arthur Hellsing named her the new head of the Hellsing Organization, a decision that drove his jealous brother to try and kill her. Using the air ducts, Integra snuck into the dungeons of the Hellsing estate's sublevels and found Alucard's corpse in one of the rooms. Shortly upon discovering him, Richard finds her and shoots her. The bullet grazed her arm and the blood from her injury fell onto the corpse, awakening Alucard. He kills all the men in the room and severes Richard's arm before pledging his allegiance to his new master. After protecting her from Richard's final attempt to kill her, Alucard allows Integra to kill her uncle herself. In the television series, Alucard offered Integra to be a vampire shortly after his awakening, but only when she bravely defied him did he consider her worthy of his respect and servitude and fit to be the head of the Hellsing family. Alucard claimed that Integra would "always be that same little girl to [him.]"

Over the years, Alucard and Walter help her grow and mature into the leader and master she becomes. As such, Integra is the only person whom Alucard will obey. Integra is also one of few people whose life and honor Alucard will bother to openly protect. In Episode 9 (Red Rose Vertigo) of the television series, Alucard is moved to shock and rage when Incognito implies that Integra has been killed. Rather than stay and fight, Alucard makes a hasty return to the Hellsing manor to kill Bubbancy before she could turn Integra into a ghoul. In Volume 2 of the manga (Hellsing Ulitmate III in the OVA), when Enrico Maxwell calls Integra a sow, Alucard appears and threatens to kill Maxwell for daring to believe he could leave England alive after insulting his master. In Volume 8, Alucard addresses Integra with his own title, calling her "hakushaku" ( 伯爵 ) or Count, meaning that he accepts her as his equal in power. But not as a spouse or lover.

Walter C. Dornez
Alucard is Walter's closest friend. However, when Walter betrayed Hellsing, Alucard saw him as a plaything. He once tried to offer Walter immortality as he did with Seras.

The Queen
The Queen of England was a character that Alucard had previously met 50 years before the events of the Hellsing manga and OVA. Upon his return from Rio de Jainero, they speak to each other as old friends. Alucard sees her as the "same spirited young woman he met fifty years ago," and that to his eyes, "time had made her more beautiful." This is one of the few moments where Alucard and another character openly express affection for one another, as the Queen touches his face as she talks to him, and Alucard looks at her with a gentle and genuinely kind expression.

Alexander Anderson
Anderson and Alucard have an intense and fiercely competive rivalry that borders on kinship; their remarkable similarities and polar opposites fuel both their intellectual and physical combat.

Before Hellsing
Alucard was once known as Count Dracula, also known as Vlad III Dracula, the son of Vlad II Dracul. Born in 1431, he later became known Vlad Ţepeş ("Vlad the Impaler") and as Kazıklı Bey ("the Impaling Prince") by the Turks, gaining a fearsome reputation throughout the lands. He is arguably the first vampire that ever existed.

It is revealed in Alucard's flashback in Chapter 70 of Hellsing, that he was enslaved by Ottoman conquerors when he was a child and sodomized by a high ruler. During the whole ordeal, he defiantly clenched a silver cross. When he became the Voivode of Wallachia, he launched an all-out war on the Turks which devastated both sides. Eventually, his troops were defeated, his people were killed (many by his own hands), and his homeland was set ablaze. Vlad himself was to be executed. However, before he was beheaded, he drank of the blood from the battlefield and became a true vampire. When he accepted the powers of darkness, the silver cross he had always carried with him shattered. Centuries later, in 1897, the events of Bram Stoker's Dracula unfold in the back-story of Hellsing. Abraham Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and Jack Seward (Jonathan Harker, the last member of their group, is left out of the Hellsing version of the story) were able to defeat Count Dracula and killed those who served him.

He was given a new name, Alucard, by Arthur Hellsing. In 1944, Alucard, along with a 14-year-old Walter C. Dornez, is sent on a mission to Warsaw, Poland, to stop Millennium's vampire production program. They presumably destroyed the project, but it's main architects escaped. Decades later, in 1969, Alucard was imprisoned in a dungeon in Hellsing manor by Arthur. According to Sir Hugh Irons, Arthur Hellsing came to believe that Alucard was "too powerful a drug to be used as more than the occasional medicine".

Present Time
Shortly after Arthur Hellsing's death in 1989, Alucard was awakened and resuscitated by Integra's blood. After wounding Richard, Alucard allows Integra to kill him, thus making her the head of the Hellsing Organization and a master worthy of Alucard's servitude.

As the Hellsing Organization's most powerful agent, he is sent to a village called Cheddar to exterminate a vampire. While there, Alucard meets Seras Victoria, the last survivor of the police unit sent in to stop what they believed to be an ordinary human murderer. When the priest-vampire takes Seras hostage to try to bargain with Alucard for his life, Alucard shoots through her chest to kill the vampire. He then gives her a choice; to die, or to become a vampire. Seras chooses the latter. Later, while exterminating ghouls in Badrick, Northern Ireland with Seras, he encounters Alexander Anderson of the Iscariot Organization. After wounding Seras, Anderson engages in a battle with Alucard and is seemingly killed with a single shot to the head. However, Anderson reveals himself to be a regenerator and heals from his wound. After demonstrating that the Casull's bullets have no effect on him, he stakes Alucard with multiple bayonets and decapitates him. He nearly kills Seras, but is stopped by Integra, who reminds him that he is outside Vatican jurisdiction. Anderson simply attacks Integra, slicing up her bodyguards but finding that Integra is not such an easy target. Before Anderson can make another move, Alucard regenerates and challenges him again. Seeing that Alucard can effortlessly regenerate from any wound inflicted upon him, Anderson retreats, vowing to kill all three Hellsing members at a later time.

Later, Seras and Walter are seen discussing Seras's need to sleep in a coffin rather than a bed. When Walter mentions how uncomfortable Seras appears to be with this, Alucard berates her for it, reminding her that it was her own choice to be turned. However, when she appears distraught by his lecture, he relents and tells her to "keep taking baby steps" for as long as she needs to. Then, Alucard is introduced to his new weapon, the Jackal, by Walter. After being taken through all of it's various accoutraments, Alucard declares the weapon to be perfect. His revelry is interrupted by the Valentine-brothers' ghoul army invasion of the Hellsing HQ. While Walter and Seras go to protect the members of the round table conference from Jan Valentine, Alucard goes to the basement to wait for Luke Valentine. After a short preamble, the two of them begin to fight. During the battle, it becomes apparent that Luke is no ordinary vampire; he can regenerate from wounds made by the Casull and is fast enough to dodge Alucard's bullets. Just when he becomes assured of victory however, Alucard laughs, regenerates, and expresses his delight with Luke's abilities. Alucard then releases his first restriction seal and launches a terrifying assult on Luke, who attempts to flee, only to have both his legs blown off by the Jackal. Alucard, who is under the impression that Luke is as least as powerful as himself due to Luke boasting, excitedly demands that Luke regenerate and continue the fight. Luke, scared out of his mind, can only scream "Monster!" at Alucard, who realizes that Luke is not as powerful as he had hoped. Disappointed, Alucard transforms his right arm into a massive, doglike head and contemptuously devours Luke.

When the invasion is over, Hellsing finds itself lacking in troops and hires mercenaries, who are doubtful of the actual authenticity of the Hellsing Organization's purpose. After phasing through a wall to make an impression on Pip Bernadotte and his mercenary band the Wild Geese, Walter reveals to Integra that the head of the Iscariot Organization, Enrico Maxwell, wishes to set up a meeting with her in a London art museum. Walter and Integra meet Maxwell at the museum, as well as his compatriot Renaldo. When Maxwell begins to insult Integra (going so far as to call her an "English sow"), Alucard appears and threatens to kill him for his disrespect. Maxwell responds by summoning Anderson, who approaches Alucard and ignores Maxwell's orders to stop. Alucard responds in kind, and just as the situation is about to become violent, Seras walks a group of elderly tourists between the two would-be combatants. Remarking that the moment has "lost its magic" due to Seras, Alucard stands down, with Anderson following suit. Later that evening, Alucard is seen reminiscing with Walter about Millenium's first destruction, and after an apparent memory lapse from Walter, remarks on how awful growing old must be. Integra then arrives and charges Alucard to find and destroy Millenium in South America, and to take Seras and Pip with him. Upon his arrival, he and Seras (still in a coffin) check into a ritzy hotel and plan to meet Pip later that evening to begin their investigation. However, Millenium strikes first; a SWAT team under the control of Millenium agent Tubalcain Alhambra storms the hotel. Having been told that Alucard and Seras are terrorists and receiving shoot-on-sight authorization, the SWAT team enters Alucard's room and shreds him to pieces with gunfire. Alucard, however, simply regenerates and butchers the unit. As Alucard finishes, he witnesses the last member of the unit commit suicide, and appears to be infuriated by it. When Seras objects to the slaughter of innocent humans, Alucard loses his temper and shouts at her that the rules of war do not allow for mercy to their enemies, regardless of who those enemies are. When she nearly starts to cry, Alucard, seemingly regretting his outburst, reiterates his point more gently. After receiving confirmation of his search and destroy mission from Integra, Alucard charges Seras to take both their coffins to the roof of the hotel. When asked what he himself will be doing, Alucard replies that he still needs to "check out", and as such he will leave through the front door.

Upon exiting his room, Alucard is attacked by the remaining SWAT members, and he proceeds to sadistically and brutally massacre them. After killing the last SWAT members by impaling them on flagpoles, he is engaged by Alhambra in person. After a brief battle which causes serious collateral damage in the observing crowd, Alhambra manages to hit Alucard with several of his razor sharp, ultra durable playing cards, which Alucard appears to have some difficulty regenerating from initially. The two of them make their way to the roof of the hotel, where Alucard releases his restriction seals and vanishes. After fending off an assault from Seras, Alhambra re-engages Alucard, only to have his knee inverted with a kick and his arm split lengthwise after a failed attempt to do the same to Alucard with one of his cards. Alucard then consumes Alhambra to gain information on Millenium's plans, but gains only the limited knowledge that Alhambra himself had on Millenium, and thus receives an incomplete picture of their plans. As Alhambra's remains burn, Pip arrives with a helicopter and escapes with Alucard and Seras.

Alucard and company then set up shop in a small Brazilian town after the fiasco in Rio, where from Alucard calls Integra to report in. He tells her that he is now aware of what Millenium is planning to do, and Integra orders him back to London after a small verbal jab from Alucard. When Seras and Pip return (apparently from buying groceries), they begin to brainstorm how to return to London when Anderson kicks in the door. He and Alucard exchange a few hard punches before drawing weapons. Anderson, however, simply stakes a set of release papers to a wall, explaining that the Vatican will be providing their transport home. In London, Alucard and company join a meeting involving the Iscariot and Round Table-management, presided over by Queen Elizabeth II herself.

After exchanging a tender geeting with the Queen, Alucard reports on Millenium's plan to use their newly bred vampire army to avenge their defeat during WWII. Immediately after this report, Schrodinger appears and sets up a video conference between Integra and the Major. After the Major states his intentions, Alcuard tells him it will be a pleasure to destroy Millenium again and blows Schrodinger's head off as per Integra's orders. Some time later, the Royal Navy receive reports of a Millenium hijacking of an aircraft carrier, the HMS Eagle. Integra, Walter, and Alucard journey to London to devise a way to recapture the ship. After listing and shooting down several possibilties, Walter comes up with the idea to use a modified SR-71 to get Alucard to the Eagle. Alucard then uses the plane to fly over the Eagle, well out of weapons range, and then to nosedive straight towards the ship before it can get it's engines started. The Nazi soldiers and Millenium first lieutenant Rip Van Winkle attempt to shoot him down, but Alucard simply covers the SR-71 with his own body, keeping it in once piece long enough to crash into the flight deck of the Eagle. As he moves to confront a terrified Rip, the Nazi soldiers attempt to kill him while Rip retreats. Alucard brushes off their attack and butchers the lot of them. He then moves to confront Rip again, who gathers her courage and attempts to blast him into the ocean with her magic bullets. Right on the verge of falling off the ship, Alucard casually catches the bullet in his mouth and shatters it. He then punches Rip, stakes her to a wall with her own gun, and devours her. After consuming Rip, he lets out a maniacal laugh as the Major prepares his troops to attack London.

Despite the strategy of stranding in the ocean (as vampires cannot cross water), he manages use his shadows to take control and sail the stalled ship. Alucard begins his journey back to London on board the Eagle as Millenium burns London, opposed only by an advance force of Iscariots lead by Alexander Anderson.

He later communicates telepathically with Seras during the attack on the Hellsing manor by Millenium forces led by Zorin Blitz, prompting her to learn how to see through Zorin's illusions.



As the Vatican continues to fight the Last Battalion and murder the civilians of London, Alucard at last reaches London. Covering his arrival in a city-wide cloud of fog, he leaps from the Eagle (situated in the Thames river), and floats down between the Vatican forces and the Last Battalion, about to engage each other. When he lands, both Alexander Anderson and The Captain of Millennium move to confront him, each ignoring the other in favor of killing Alucard. Alucard shouts to Integra to give him an order, and she responds by ordering him to kill every one of Hellsing's enemies. To this end, she orders him to release Level Zero, Alucard's final and most devestating form. Every one of his enemies is overcome by dread as he initiates his release, sensing the horror that is to come, and attack him. Anderson and The Captain, seeing their attacks have no effect on Alucard, retreat while the Vatican and Millenium soldiers continue desperately to attack him. Ultimately, they are unable to harm him, and the shadow matter Alucard's body was reduced to during the joint attack on him envelopes his foes like a tidal wave. As the shadow matter spreads throughout the city, human bodies begin to rise out of it, revealing that Level Zero is in fact the release of all the souls Alucard has devoured in corporeal form. As the Last Battalion and the Vatican prepare for the onslaught, Alucard takes the form of Vlad "the Impaler" Tepes, appearing as he did when he first became a vampire. His forces wash over the Last Battalion and the Vatican while Tubalcain Alhambra and Rip Van Winkle, now familiars, destroy the Vatican's air forces. As the one sided carnage draws to a close, Alucard greets Integra and Seras, acknowledging his pride in Seras for finally becoming a true vampire. He is then attacked by Anderson in the middle of this reunion. Telling his arch enemy to come and kill him if he can, the two engage in a duel, with Alucard in his Vlad Tepes form wielding a broadsword.



When Anderson backs off to throw his bayonets at Alucard, Alucard shifts back to his Count-form and draws his guns, introducing Anderson to the Jackal. Anderson charges Alucard again, only to have the majority of his left upper arm blown off by the Jackel. Alucard then leaps behind a swarm of his familiars, out of reach of Anderson, who is then peppered with Alhambra's cards and shot by Rip Van Winkle's bullet. Badly hurt, with the wound in his left arm not regenerating, Anderson pauses to catch his breath while Alucard mocks him with the seemingly impossible odds of actually killing him. Anderson, disregarding these odds, prepares to charge into the familiar horde, with Alucard looking on approvingly. As Anderson cuts his way to Alucard, Alucard revels in the thought that Anderson might be the human opponent he has been searching for; the one who might actually kill him. Anderson is finally stopped by Alucard's familiars but just as they are about to kill him, he is saved by a group of the remaining Iscariot-priests led by Heinkel Wolfe and Yumie Takagi. These priests engage in suicide bomber tactics to provide a path to Alucard for Anderson, which he utilizes successfully. Anderson then reveals his trump card, Helena's Nail, and prepares to stab himself with it. Horrified, Alucard shouts to him not to do it, telling him that he had enough strength as a man to win and begs him not to make the same mistake that he (Alucard) made. Anderson declines, saying that he does not wish to be a man, but a terrible storm of heartless, tearless piety, and stabs the nail through his own heart. Alucard, beside himself with fury, walks up to Anderson and points the Casull at him, screaming at him for his foolishness, but Anderson cuts off the arm with the Casull and Alucard's head in one motion. His headless body then blows off Anderson's head in return. As the two of them fall back, their bodies catch themselves and start to regrow their lost pieces. Alucard's pieces reappear as their usual shadow matter, but Anderson's head regrows as a half human mass of thorny vines. Alucard then unloads upon Anderson, blowing off numerous chunks of the priest's body, but to no avail. He then shoots a Jackel round at the nail itself, only for the bullet to be stopped in mid flight by Anderson's vines. Anderson, smiling, then leaps into the air and casts a bayonet at Alucard's head, impaling him and doing the first real damage to ever be dealt to him. Vines errupt from the blade in Alucard's head and set him aflame, burning his horde of familiars (which is just an extension of his form) as well.

Alucard then has flashbacks concerning his past (possibly his life flashing before him), and relives being sodomized by a Turkish high ruler and losing his war against them. These visions culminate in his decision to become a vampire as he is about to be executed. Fortunately for him however, Seras intervenes and grabs Anderson's blade, preventing the monster of God from cutting Alucard further. She is quickly consumed by the burning vines as well, but holds out, screaming for Alucard to awaken. As she is about to be overcome, Alucard regains his senses and takes hold of the blade as well. He sadly tells Anderson that, as a monster, he cannot win, and proceeds to somehow consume Anderson's vines and shatter his blade. As the vines dissolve, Alucard transforms into his jumpsuit form and charges Anderson. Anderson attempts to stop him with move vines but to no avail; Alucard plunges his hand into Anderson's chest, removes both the Nail and Anderson's heart, and rips him in half. As Anderson's pieces fall, Alucard closes his hand upon the heart and the Nail, destroying them both. Instead of gloating or laughing as with his other defeated foes, Alucard is overcome by grief and screams at Anderson for making the same mistake that he did. Anderson quietly laughs however, and says to Alucard "Monsters don't cry. And that's why you became one, isn't it? So you wouldn't have to." This gets Alucard's attention and he gets ahold of himself as Anderson continues with, "When a man's tears dry up forever, they become a monster...so laugh...just as always." Anderson exchanges a few final words with Alucard and then crumbles to dust with a final, "Amen", echoed by Alucard.

The scene of mourning is then interupted by a rejuvanated Walter decending from the sky onto Anderson's crumbling remains. Walter explains to his former family how he has betrayed Hellsing of his own free will, and Alucard tells him sorrowfully that his old body was far more beautiful than his new, immortal one. As he sadly kneels in Anderson's ashes, Walter shouts at him to stand up and fight. Alucard then askes Integra to reaffirm her kill order which she does, to the delight of not only Alucard, but The Major Walter as well. As Integra and Seras leave to Graf Zeppelin II, Alucard and Walter begin their battle. Walter initially seems to have the upper hand since most of Alucard's fighting methods are useless against him. When he is about to use the Jackal against Walter, the pistol is revealed to be made by Millennium as The Doctor uses his remote to destroy it. Alucard then creates a hellhound out of his body, nicknamed "Baskerville" by Walter, who cuts it in half. A disgusted and confused Luke Valentine crawls out of its body, much to the amusement of Alucard. The hound's corpse and Luke are both then hijacked by Walter's wires, and he begin's to control them like puppets. As he uses them however, Walter's wires go slack and he coughs up blood due to his hasty transformation. Alucard then shoots the controlled Luke and dispatches the hound after being bitten in half by it. Walter then re-engages a regenerated Alcuard himself, cutting his arms and legs off, slicing his torso in half, and suspending him in the middle of the room with wires. After collapsing and regressing in age, Walter then picks up a piece of rebar and impales what he believes to be Alucard through the heart with it. In actuality, it was only the body of Luke Valentine disguised as Alucard who, now in the form of a young girl, snappingly punches Walter. This blow causes Walter to revert back to his 14-year-old body, with Alucard theorizing as to the cause of his regression. Alucard then taunts Walter, telling him that he was afraid of becoming old and useless, and that his victory over Alucard would just provide a self esteem boost. Alucard then begins to absorb the blood from the deceased inhabitants of London and the two defeated militaries.

Alucard continues to absorb the city's dead as Walter vertically bisects him with his wires, which is as futile as his other attacks. Alucard then grabs Walter, who appears to have given up at this point, contemptuously mocks him and Anderson for their respective failures, and prepares to kill Walter. Unknown to Alucard, Schrödinger commits suicide as Alucard drinks the city's dead, combining his remains into the river of human blood flowing to Alucard. Alucard inadvertantly absorbs his soul as he drinks, and when he does, The Major claims that Alucard has lost. The vampire arrogantly mocks him for saying so, but as he does, he sees the sun rise. As he gazes at it, he recalls that whenever he thought he was about to die, he saw the sun rise in just the same manner. This time however, for some reason, it seems more beautiful to him than ever before, and he starts to disappear as the Major explains to Integra what is happening. He explains that as long as Schrödinger can recognize himself, he exists everywhere and nowhere; but because he is absorbed by Alucard, he became a part of Alucard and was thus no longer a separate entity that could recognize itself. Thus, Alucard, now containing Schrödinger, can no longer stay in phase with the rest of reality and is becoming "a set of imaginary numbers", existing on some level but not in reality. Integra shouts an order at Alucard not to disappear, but as his numerous eyes continue to close, he tells Integra that there is nothing he can do, and bids her farewell as he closes his final two eyes. All that is left is a bloodstained Hellsing pentagram in one of the cobblestones in the street.

In the final chapter, Alucard re-appears in Integra's bedroom after a 30 year absence. He approaches a sleeping Integra and leans down, apparently with the intention of biting her. Before he can do so however, Integra wakes up and unloads a handgun into him, knocking him to the floor. The commotion alerts Seras, who kicks open the bedroom door and turns on the lights. The two women find themselves staring at Alucard, who is sitting up against the wall regenerating. Integra, now as an old woman, asks him to explain what he was doing this whole time, and he tells her that he was killing his own lives except for one so that he could exist with Schrodinger's powers. She asks him if he is hungry, to which he responds that, after 30 years of not eating anything, of course he is. When Integra regretfully comments on how old she is now, Alucard simply tells her that it is fine with him. She then smiles, bites her finger, and gives him a drop of blood while welcoming him home.

Powers and abilities
Alucard demonstrates, in various incarnations of the series Hellsing, an astonishing and overwhelming range of supernatural attacks; these include, but are probably not limited to;
 *  Immortality : This ability is rather ambiguous, as Alucard himself has stated that immortality is a myth. However, what it most likely refers to is the human souls inside Alucard; it has been speculated that, when damaged by blow that would have killed or incapacitated him such as exceedingly holy weapons, the damage is instead directed to his reservoir of souls. Because this ability doesn't really grant him true immortality, it can be considered as psuedo-immortality. Although, this ability is no longer the source of his immortality after he absorbed Schrodinger's soul which did grant him immortality. Before he absorbed Schrodinger, Alucard states he's now "hungry", and starts to absorb the dead city of London, after which his soul count was equal to three million, four hundred and twenty-four thousand, eight hundred and sixty-seven. However, the "soul count" theory is just a fan theory, and has never been definitively proven. But it was stated by Anderson that this was the reason for him not being able to kill Alucard.
 *  Regeneration : Alucard's ability to regenerate is considerably greater than any other vampire's. He has regenerated from a pool of blood and from being blown to shreds by gunfire, incinerated completely, etc. When damaged to an extreme extent, his body simply turns into a shadow-like substance and reconstitutes. Exceedingly holy weapons have been shown to incapacitate him for a time, but even Anderson augmented with Helena's Nail could do no permanent harm to him. While regenerating against Anderson, he became a shadow entity at one point.


 *  Superhuman accuracy : Alucard has been known to hit targets at great range using handguns while looking the other way. He does this by using his so-called 'third eye'.


 *  Superhuman strength : The extent is unknown, but Alucard can physically rip humans and vampires apart with ease. He can slice through Tubalcain's card which is sharp and strong enough to easily cut through a uranium shell propelled at it without the slightest damage to the card. He can rip right through body armor with ease and lifted a falling fighter jet with just his upper body and didn't use any of his arms.


 *  Superhuman speed : He can move faster than can be seen. He can quickly move up a large building while appearing as a glint of light to Tubalcain identical to how Luke was appearing to Alucard  
 * Superhuman reflexes : he has demonstrated the ability to catch bullets (both Rip Van Winkle's and ordinary ones). He caught Rip Van Winkle's magic bullet, which punctured a SR-71 moving down at Mach 2.8+ speed several times in rapid succession before causing it to explode and intercepted missiles, with ease.


 *  Intangibility : The ability to pass through solid objects.


 *  Superhuman agility : The ability to defy gravity to an uncertain limit. He is also seen leaping impossible distances and can go up vertical surfaces.

 Shape-shifting : Alucard can transform himself or parts of himself into bats, insects, snakes, hell hounds, other human forms including a little girl, an amorphous mass of darkness, and many other forms. Alucard has four known human forms, each with different characteristics and weapons. He also states that his form means nothing and that he can take any form that he chooses.
 *  Shadow manipulation : Manipulation of shadows into physical form, which he can then use however he wishes.


 *  Weather control : The ability to control the weather to an unknown limit, as demonstrated by the fog created when he returned to London aboard the H.M.S Eagle.


 * Illusions: The ability to cast illusions, such as when he tricked Walter into seeing Luke Valentine as himself.


 *  Teleportation: The ability to disappear and reappear somewhere else.


 *  Telekinesis : In the manga, Alucard uses telekinesis to close a door on a fleeing SWAT officer. He also launched six SWAT officers into the air and guided them to flag poles where they were impaled. Alucard is later seen moving a broken down air-craft carrier from the Gulf of Italy to the Dover of London all in a little less than 40 minutes, only traveling at a few knots.


 *  Telepathy : Alucard can speak telepathically to his fledgling.


 *  Mind-reading 


 *  Mind control and hypnosis : (fans sometimes call it the "Love Beam" after a remark from Pip).


 *  Summoning : The ability to summon familiars, the souls of those whose blood he has sucked in a variety of forms that either sprout from his body or swarm around him as an army numbering in the millions. These familiars can also include animals such as horses and the weapons and abilities that the familiars possessed in life, but Alucard can only use this ability when Control Art Restriction System Level Zero is released.
 *  Bloodsucking : The ability to suck a person's blood and absorb their soul and, consequently, their knowledge and memories. (He learns more about Millennium after absorbing Tubalcain.) He can also absorb blood through his clothes and skin, as he does with Luke Valentine's blood after his hell hound had eaten Luke's body. Alucard can draw in blood over vast distances (at least throughout the city of London).


 *  Hibernation : Alucard is able to survive long periods of time without consuming blood, but is able to fight at a usual level of strength after drinking even the smallest bit of blood.


 *  Immunity to vampiric weaknesses : His abilities and health are not in any way compromised by such things as sunlight or silver. In fact, it appears that the only weapons capable of harming him to any real extent are the most holy of Christian artifacts, such as Father Anderson after augmenting his abilities with Helena's Nail (a nail, which was from the True Cross, which crucified Jesus Christ, and was blessed in his blood) but even that did no permanent, or even lasting, damage.


 *  'Supernatural sense' : The ability to sense supernatural activity (In The Dawn, a prequel to Hellsing, Alucard knew the Captain was a werewolf the moment he saw him, and in the OVA, he could see the blessings on Father Anderson's bayonets).


 *  Combat experience : In addition to his superhuman abilities, Alucard also possesses centuries of combat experience. While he usually relies on crushing his opponents with sheer power, he does at times use strategy. When he fought Alhambra, Alucard used shadow duplicates to distract him, allowing Alucard to close the distance between them and deliver the death blow.


 *  Schrödinger's powers : At the end of the series, Alucard has acquired Schrödinger's quantum reality manipulation powers after absorbing him during the Millennium incident. This grants him the ability to exist wherever and however he wishes to. This enables him to be omnipresent at any given time.


 * It is not known what Hellsing changed on Alucard's/Dracula's original powers. However, the ghoul army formed by the devoured souls in Alucard can be one of these. Dracula didn't use this ability against Prof. Van Helsing and his crew according to the flashbacks in the manga (and of course according to Bram Stoker's novel, which is a base of Hellsing). In addition, Van Helsing admitted that they had destroyed all of the vampire's servants (which means these servants can't re-appear in 1999). Maybe by some process the Hellsing Organization made advantage of the terrifying amount of the souls restored in Alucard, and made it possible to release them on the battlefield in Control Art Restriction System Level Zero. (In the ending of Hellsing OVA II, which is a trailer of The Dawn, it can be seen that some of the WW-2 german soldiers are impaled much like the Millenium and Crusader infantry in the battle of London. Also, the Major seem to know much about Alucard's release states. However, it is yet to be revealed in the ongoing Dawn-series whether this assumption is true or not.)

In connection with this, it seems like that Alucard can't (or maybe just doesn't want to) turn his same-sex maled victims to "walking" ghouls like other vampires. All the same-sex maled victims are restored as devoured souls, but they can be summoned on the battlefield. The other possibility is that the ghoul-making ability of the Millenium's vampires is a weakened form of this restoration; they can't storage the souls like their exemplar, Alucard, but they can use the zombified victims in combat. (This theory can be true for other vampires as well, if Alucard was the first vampire walking on the Earth.)

Weapons
Alucard is an exceedingly lethal combatant even when unarmed, due to his extensive supernatural abilities and strength, but he also uses various weapons in battle. These have included swords, machine guns, and traditional vampire-slaying tools such as stakes and crosses. Additionally, Alucard has two signature weapons, a pair of oversized and overpowered handguns named the .454 Casull and the Jackal. In Hellsing: The Dawn, he wielded a Thompson Sub-Machine Gun. The ammunition for Alucard's Casull appear to be hollow point rounds, giving them even more stopping power.

Release States
There are shown to be six levels of restriction and six corresponding states, with lower numbers meaning greater levels of power. Under certain circumstances, Alucard can release some of his greater powers himself; a component of his restriction system called the "Cromwell Approval" seems to influence this. In the Gonzo anime's final episode, Integra is shown giving him permission to release to level one, the state where he is in a red version of the black straitjacket like garb he is shown in when Integra finds him in her youth.

Alucard is shown to be wearing a black leather jumper when he is at the Level One release state. Alucard can often be heard stating what level he is releasing immediately prior to combat ("Releasing control art restriction to level two"). This is, perhaps, a requirement of the release mechanism, but this has never been confirmed, and is likely a literary device. Another possible reason is that it is to unnerve his opponents as he goes into battle. Given what has been seen of his personality, this is quite likely. In the manga, Integra requests that Alucard's restriction system be released to Level Zero, the lowest level, allowing him full access to his most devastating powers. It is clear in the Gonzo series that Integra herself is in control of Alucard's release states, but in the manga she appears to have no physical control over his powers. Instead, a given release state appears to simply be an order like any other she might give:

"Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems three...two...one, approval of Situation A recognized. Commencing the Cromwell invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."

It is noticeable that Alucard's attire sometimes changes according to how much power he is using: as he charges up to engage in battle, first his sunglasses, then his fedora will disappear; in the manga he also removes his arms from the sleeves of his coat letting it simply just hang on his shoulders like a cloak whilst he fires from underneath it. It has been posited that these articles of clothing are direct physical manifestations of whatever system Hellsing uses to control Alucard, with his leather straight jacket representing his true nature. His gloves, which are engraved with the Hellsing seal (a pentacle decorated with occult symbols and several mottoes, reading: "Hell's Gate Arrested / Gott Mit Uns / And Shine Heaven Now") are also thought to be part of this mechanism and the source of Hellsing's control over him (Alucard's distinctive gloves are visible in the vast majority of his transformations, even when Alucard himself is not in a humanoid form).

However, in Hellsing OVA II, in the flashback scene where Alucard recalls being beaten by Abraham Van Hellsing, Alucard is still seen wearing these gloves, despite the fact that he was not yet under their control. This is a continuity error, because when compared to the panel from the manga, it shows normal white gloves. In his final release state, Alucard reverted to his original form back when he was still Vlad III Dracula. In this form he appeared as his former, 45-year-old self with a thick beard and mustache. He also wore heavy medieval armor with a huge tattered cloak and carried a long sword. However, he quickly returned to his normal form when confronted by Anderson. The gigantic amount of armies that accompanied him in this state, along with the souls of every single person he has ever drank the blood of, accompanies this form as well.

It is debated whether his younger form shown in The Dawn is a 'state of release'. Some fans claim that the Hellsing family suppressed Alucard's powers, sealing them away into a much smaller body, in order to conduct scientific experiments on him, eventually making him into the vampire that he is in the manga. Others say that he chose this form on his own accord, simply because he can take any form that he likes. In a flashback scene in Volume 4 of the Hellsing manga, we can see the young Walter alongside an adult Alucard after the destruction of the Nazi vampire research program. In volume 9, in his 'Girlycard' form, Alucard also admits "There's never any meaning in the form that I take". This could indicate that Alucard's appearance is controlled primarily by himself. Also, in Hellsing: The Dawn, chapter 5, Alucard states, "You must find it entertaining, I can change my shape into anything. The particular form I take...it means nothing to me."

To sum it up, the release states are not just the markers of Alucard's growing powers, they also has an affect on his appearance and fighting methods as well. Up to level 1, Alucard usually takes his "Count-form": even with his new personality, he still takes the form he once had as Count Dracula. (It can be assumed that the vampire sees this form as the one which is fitting his monstrous being the most.) In this state, he usually fights with his guns, using his bare hands only against human targets or just to finish his vampire victims by impaling them.

In his level one form, he usually wears the black leather jumper/coat seen on him right before Integra released the vampire from his captivity in the basement of Hellsing HQ. This form seems to be his most strongest one, since he used it against Luke Valentine (assuming that he was a very powerful opponent), Tubalcain Alhambra (whose powers amused Alucard), Alexander Anderson (when the priest was enforced with Helena's Nail) and the vampirized Walter. In this form, the vampire seems to prefer fighting in hand-to-hand combat, however, he can also use firearms. It is also likely that he only can summon the hound dog Baskerville in this release state.

Identity


Alucard's true identity - that of both the historical Vlad Ţepeş and the fictional Count Dracula - is only hinted at in the earlier volumes. Such early hints include his anagrammatic name (Alucard is Dracula, reversed), the title of the series and the name of Integra's family, and the impalement of the GATE officers in volume 3. From there, the hints become much less vague, and his identity as the fictional Count Dracula is brought to light. In volume 4, a dreaming Alucard recalls his defeat at the hands of Abraham van Hellsing, which marked the beginning of his servitude to the Hellsing family. In volume 7, the narration alludes to the Count's arrival in London aboard the Demeter, from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.



In volume 8, his full identity is made plain when Integra places his control level at zero and greets him with, "Welcome back, Count." Reverting to the body he had at the time of his "death" at age 45, he summons massive hordes of souls he had devoured during the centuries. These include his own Wallachian army, peasantry, Turkish Janissaries, war horses, and others. Throughout his battle with Anderson, Alucard frequently compares his rival to the man who defeated him a hundred years ago - Abraham van Hellsing.

Additionally, in Hundred Swords (3), the other protagonists are spoken of by Alucard - Abraham van Hellsing, Jack Seward, Quincey Morris, and Arthur Holmwood (Jonathan Harker is strangely omitted). The final chapter of volume 8 - Castlevania (1) - consists of a flashback of Alucard's life and "death" as the Voivode of Wallachia, Vlad III Dracula. Another indication that Alucard is Vlad is the fact that he frequently impales his victims; the priest and Leif with his bare hands in volume 1, the GATE officers in Brazil on flagpoles in volume 3, Rip Van Winkle with her own musket in volume 5 and hundreds of victims in London during the Millennium/Vatican siege.

Most of these revelations are not present in Gonzo's TV series. However, the final episode does feature a visual reference to Vlad Ţepeş, and Alucard refers to his name as being "a bit of an enigma" when speaking to Incognito before they fight. There are few obvious references to the character of Count Dracula. Also in the last few minutes of the anime's last episode Incognito is impaled. Impaling his enemies was common practice for Vlad III The Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş, also known as Dracula). Additionally, upon Incognito's defeat, a close-up is seen of Alucard with half his face shrouded in shadow. When lightning flashes, the other half of his face is revealed to be that of the Impaler.

Trivia

 * Below the star on Alucard's glove it has the German words, "Gott Mit Uns". Translated to "God With Us"
 * In the original fan-translation of the Hellsing Volume 2, the translators incorrectly translated Walter's line referring to the Jackal, making him call it the "Joshua" even though the Katakana reads "KASURU", which would be the correct Katakana for "Casull". Since then, many fans have perpetuated the name, so much so that ADV (the Official European Distributor for the TV Series) called it "Joshua" on their Official Website, the Special Features, and the booklets on their DVD release. Regardless, this name is incorrect as it never appears in the Original Japanese version of either the Manga, TV series, or OVA, or any official Translations of Hellsing, not even ADV's, as they use Geneon's dub and subtitles.
 * In many of the sequences after Alucard receives it with the Jackal, he is seen using it alongside the Casull in a dual-wielding style. The Jackal has a left-facing case ejector, something most guns do not have, and this makes it appear as though the gun was meant to be used with the Casull. However, Alucard is almost always shown in the Manga and the Anime holding the Jackal in his right hand and the Casull with his left, causing the case ejectors to face each other (which would throw spent shell casings into his face). This clearly is an error on Hirano's part, as anyone with as much experience using guns as Alucard would know to face the case ejectors outwards; in the OVAs, this is exactly the case. The two guns could also be a reference to Ebony and Ivory, the two trademark pistols of Dante from the Capcom video game series, Devil May Cry, with both pairs of pistols sharing coloration and large size.
 * It has been noted by some that during Alucard's flashback Prof. Abraham Hellsing is wearing a similar red outfit to Alucard's usual dress. This seems to suggest that Alucard's regular state is his most humane as it mimics the one who defeated him.
 * Hirano has admitted he drew inspiration for Alucard's appearance off of Vash the Stampede from the manga and anime series Trigun (notice the similar coat and glasses). This is most notable in Volume 1, when Alucard's art design was vastly different from the rest of the Manga.
 * In some scenes of the manga, the pentagram on Alucard's gloves changes to a hexagram or sometimes disappears entirely.
 * Alucard's name is Dracula spelled backwards.
 * Alucard has two Paganism references on him. The obvious one is the Pentacle symbol on his gloves. The second is his epithet "The Bird of Hermes." Hermes was the Greek messenger god, noted for his winged sandals and ability to fly. Hermes was also noted for trasnporting souls to the Underworld, while Alucard in contrast devours them.
 * "The Bird of Hermes is my name/Eating my wings to make me tame" is also part of the Ripley Scroll, a medieval work about emblematic symbolism. George Ripley was an alchemist who lived round about Vlad the Impaler's time and is also said to have known the formula to create the Philisopher's Stone.
 * Oddly during the final episode of the anime, during the brief moment when it shows half of Alucard's face as that of Vlad Trepes, his skin is paler than that of his vampiric self, despite this form being able to go out in the sun.
 * Ironically Vlad the Impaler was a catholic, though Alucard seems to have a dislike for them. However it is probable that Alucard abandoned religion after his transformation into a vampire and only tolerates the religious squabbles for the sake of his masters. The other possibility is that the wallachian prince, who was Orthodox in origin, shared the opinion of his "own" Church towards Catholicism, seeing it as a constantly violent, united force under the command of the Pope. This opinion can still be shared by Alucard, according to his words in the second volume of the manga. ("It's always the same. Rome has changed little in two millenia.")
 * It is implied that Alucard might not ever truly be defeated. He is unable to die or be destroyed, by any in-series means, but he can allow himself to enter a state of rest and peace, a "brief respite between [his] dreams", once he thinks he has found a strong willed mortal, worthy of being his opponent. After he tests his opponents and finds them worthy, he is comforted to see that humanity still persists and assumes his self-perceived place, as a "monster to be brought down by humans".
 * During Integra's flashback in the anime, Alucard looked surprising similar to Viral from Gainax's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, after that anime's time skip.

Forms

 * The first form Alucard had in OVA was in a black straightjacket that kept his arms right behind his back,he broke free of the restraints in order to protect Integra Hellsing from death.Alucards appearance changed since then but every now and then he goes back to this form,he has used it;in his fight with Luke Valentine,his fight with Dandy Man, when he attempted to board the Eagle and succeeded, when he finally killed Anderson, and in his fight with Walter.
 * In World War 2 on when he arrived in Warsaw, Alucard took on the form of a 14 year old girl, known as "Girlycard". Although he changed his looks, Alucard didnt change his voice. In this form, Alucard wears a hat made of fur, a white suit including a long coat, and for a weapon he has a tommy gun.
 * When Alucard was sent by Integra Hellsing to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with Seras Victoria and Pip Bernadotte, he changed his form to what seemed to be a buisness man. Only Alucard's chlothes seem to change hear, as his hair is as it was before Abraham Van Helsing defeated him, Alucard wears a dark grey suit with a longcoat he only wears over his shoulders, along with the gogglesided sunglasses he usually wears.
 * Alucard is Count Dracula, the King Of Vampires and the first vampire in existence, which means when he was human he was originally Vlad The Impaler, a 3 time voivode of Wallachia. Alucards Vlad form is his "original" form, and when he is using it he wears shining silver armour and a large green cape (red on the inside). Vlad originally had a beard, but when Alucard takes on his Vlad form he has no beard, but he does have a mustache and stubble all around his face, also when he returns to Integra Hellsing and Seras Victoria in london, Seras asks "Vlad"; you originally had a beard didnt you?.