Alucard

Alucard (アーカード, Ākādo) is a fictional character in the Hellsing anime and manga series created by Kouta Hirano and is the main protagonist of the Hellsing franchise.

The most powerful warrior of the Hellsing Organization, Alucard is no mere vampire; it has been implied in the series that he is currently the most powerful vampire in existence. He has a massive ego, and frequently gives enemies more than one chance to kill him before retaliating, if only to demonstrate his enormous powers. He is devoted to his master, Integra Hellsing, and gets along well with the butler Walter C. Dornez. He also has feelings of affection towards his fledgling, Seras Victoria.

In the anime (both TV series and OVA) Alucard is voiced by Nakata Jouji (中田譲治). In the English dub of both series, he is voiced by Crispin Freeman.

Appearance
He usually dresses in a Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and a flamboyant, intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a long red duster. He also wears a red fedora hat with a wide, floppy brim and a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed red sunglasses with goggle sidings. He has a vast range of supernatural techniques and is an expert gunfighter, his enhanced strength allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider heavy weaponry. He fights with ferocity and often extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been totally disabled and humiliated.

History
Alucard was born in the winter of 1431 as Vlad III Dracula, the son of Vlad II Dracul. He later became known as Vlad Ţepeş ("Vlad the Impaler") and as Kazıklı Bey ("the Impaling Prince") by the Turks. He lived and reigned intermittently as the Voivode of Wallachia until his "death" in 1476, at the age of 45. Alucard recalls "that day" from 523 years ago in chapter 71 Castlevania (2). The circumstances of Vlad's "death" and transformation are shown in chapter 70 Castlevania, but exactly how he became a vampire is unknown. During this flashback, it is revealed that he was captured by the Ottoman Empire when he was a child and sodomized by a high ruler (known best for clenching a cross during the ordeal). 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. Before he was beheaded, he drank of the blood from the battlefield and became a true vampire. Accepting the powers of darkness, the cross he had always carried with him shattered.

Centuries later, in 1893, the events of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula unfold in the flashbacks of Hellsing. Abraham Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, Jack Seward (Jonathan Harker, another character in the novel, is not mentioned) were able to defeat Vlad III, then known as Count Dracula, and kill all of his servants. In the flashback dream sequence of Volume 4 (episode 2 of the OVA series), Abraham remarks that Mina had been freed from the Count's grasp, just as she was in the novel. It is at this point where Alucard's back story begins to deviate substantially from Bram Stoker's book. In Hellsing, the Count was staked in the heart, but not destroyed; from that that point on, the Count became a servant for Abraham and his descendants, serving each successive generation. It remains uncertain if he was forced into servitude or if he was willing to serve the Hellsing family

The next known account of Alucard's life is during World War II, in 1944. Count Dracula now went by a new name given to him by Integra's father, Sir Arthur Hellsing, which was Alucard. Alucard, along with a 14-year-old Walter C. Dornez, was sent to Warsaw, Poland, to stop Millennium's vampire production program. The results of this mission are largely unknown at this point, as it is recorded in the ongoing prequel to Hellsing, Hellsing: The Dawn. Decades later, in 1969, Alucard was imprisoned in a dungeon in Hellsing manor by Arthur. According to Sir Hugh Irons in chapter 75 Heart of Iron, Arthur came to believe that Alucard was "too powerful a drug to be used as more than the occasional medicine". Shortly after Arthur's death in 1989, Alucard was awakened and resuscitated by Integra's blood when she came to his cell seeking rescue and her shoulder was clipped by a bullet. After just 20 years of imprisonment, Alucard saved Integra (then only 12 years old) from her traitorous uncle, Richard, and became her servant.

Personality
As he is immortal and almost 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 literally be shot to pieces 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 shoots off Luke's legs, telling him to regenerate them and pick up his gun and fight back. When Luke fails to do so, Alucard transforms a part of himself into his hell hound and devours Luke, saying:

"As a vampire you were a pathetic piece of shit, now you are nothing but dog shit."

However, even as an invincible vampire, Alucard can be stunned, usually because of his arrogance. In his first meeting with Alexander Anderson, he assumed he had easily killed Anderson with a single bullet, and was caught off guard when latter 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, who can destroy him.

However, underneath his cocky, dark, arrogant attitude, Alucard seems deeply sad and 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. Over the course of his existence, Alucard has come to realize that life needs death to make it precious. Alucard chose to become a monster to obtain power and escape death, and he regrets it. All of these feelings are shown at various points throughout the series, such as when Alucard tells the Queen that she is "that same saucy filly from 50 years ago" and that she is "truly beautiful now", when he becomes infuriated as Anderson stabs himself in the heart with the Helena's Nail in volume 8 (because Anderson is making the same mistake that Alucard made), and when Alucard says that Walter's old, aged body was "a trillion times more beautiful" than his new, vampiric body in chapter 74. His desire for a worthy opponent may be connected to his regret, as well; it could be interpreted as a desire to finally die in battle.

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 which would be the ultimate irony and truth. For an immortal vampire to be slain by a mortal human, and of how all monsters are destined to be slain by men. This would explain why Alucard often expresses such joy when facing off against Anderson, who was, up until Volume 8, a human. He often respects certain humans for their bravery, for choosing to remain mortal and accept death rather than choose the cowards way out and become a vampire.

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 catalog of how pathetic they are. In the original Gonzo anime version (Club M), Alucard makes his discontent apparent:

"You've gone and taken all those lives, and not even because you were thirsty. Is it fun? Is that what it takes for filth like you to get off?"

Despite this, he isn't entirely against immortality. Rather he believes it is a gift that must be earned and that is limited only to certain personalities or perhaps characters of sufficient will, which he may believe he lacks. As such he views suicide as the lowest of human will and a fool's way of escaping, being extremely offended when a GATE officer commits suicide to avoid being brutally killed by Alucard. He happily gave Seras immortality despite his self-reflection due to her indomitable will, courage, and unwavering resolve, even when facing off against the ghouls and the vampire priest. 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. 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).

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 shown that, when damaged with exceedingly holy weapons, a blow that might have killed or incapacitated him is instead directed to his resevior of souls (when nearly bisected by Nail-Anderson, hordes of his familiars burned away instead of Alucard dying).


 *  Regeneration : Alucard's ability to regenerate is considerably greater than any other vampire's, and may be due to the Hellsing family's experimentation. 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.
 *  Superhuman Senses 
 *  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'. He states that "if you shoot like humans do, you'll only miss like they do.".
 *  Superhuman Strength : The extent is unknown, but Alucard can physically rip humans and vampires apart with ease. He also ripped through Tubalcain Alhambra's card which was strong and dense enough to slice through uranium.
 *  Superhuman Speed : He can move faster than can be seen, and is faster than Mach Speed. He caught a magic bullet within his mouth [which tore through an SR-71 (which is made of multiple alloys, including VARIOUS amounts of titanium) and crushed it within his teeth].
 *  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.
 *  Shadow Manipulation : Manipulation of shadows into physical form.


 *  Shape-shifting : Alucard can transform himself or parts of himself into bats, insects, snakes, hellhounds, 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.
 *  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.
 *  Teleportation 
 *  Telekinesis : In the manga, Alucard uses this ability only once for certain; to close a door on a fleeing police officer. 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. However, whether this was telekinesis or the craft moving under it's own power is not adressed.
 *  Telepathy : Alucard can speak telepathically to his fledgling.
 *  Mind Reading 
 *  Mind Control and Hypnosis : (fans sometimes call it the "sex 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 about him as an army numbering in the thousands. 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.
 *  Blood Sucking : 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 hellhound had eaten Luke's body.
 *  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 blood.
 * Immunity to the weaknesses most vampires possess: 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).
 *  '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, could see the blessings on Father Anderson's bayonets).
 *  Combat Experience : In addition to his superhuman abilities, Alucard also possess 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.

While not directly confirmed, it appears that Alucard has acquired Schrodinger's quantum reality manipulation powers after absorbing him during the Millennium incident. This would grant him the ability to exist wherever and however he wishes, although it took him 30 years to be able to use this apparent power due to the complex nature of it. Though due to the events surrounding it, it may have simply taken that long for Alucard to be rid of the souls that restricted him from using this apparent power and his defeat during the Millenium incident. As stated by Alucard he rid himself of all the souls within him save one "and now I am everywhere and nowhere." The exact details of this apparent ability are unspecified, so for now this is all just speculation.

=Weapons= For more information, see Hellsing ARMS Casull and Hellsing Combat Pistol 'Jackal'. Alucard is an exceedingly lethal combatant even 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.

Release States
Alucard's vast powers are controlled entirely by the heir to the Hellsing family (currently Integra Hellsing). This is apparently enforced by something called the "control art restriction system." 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 the red straightjacket like garb he is shown in when Integra finds him in her youth. In the manga 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."

Clothes and Release States
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, 40-year-old self (as opposed to looking his early 20s) 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 accompany him in this state, constituting 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."

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 (also if you spell Alucard backwards, you get Dracula as further proof). Such early hints include his anagrammatic name, 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. 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 voivod 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 Millenium/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

 * 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.


 * It has been noted by some, that during Alucard's defeat flashback Prof. Abraham Van Hellsing is wearing a similar red outfit to Alucard's current dress. This seems to suggest that Alucard's regular state is his most humane as it mimics the one who defeated what he refers to as a 'monster' and it is also the form he was in when he turned Seras into a vampire. This act in itself showing much more compassion than Alucard usually shows to anyone other than Integra.


 * 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.