Alucard

Manga/OVA Canon

Anime Canon

• Alucard
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Alucard
Aliases	Vampire Alucard Hellsing's Trump Card No-Life King Ultimate Undead Nosferatu Alucard Killer Joker Vampire Hunter Nightwalker A Pitch-Black Monster Within Pitch-Blackness The Bird of Hermes Hit Man Mad Mouthpiece Zamiel Black Peril Devil Mad King Glutton King Immortal King Count Count Dracula Servant/Slave (by Integra) Sir (by Walter at times) Master (by Seras Victoria) J. H. Brenner (in Rio) Hellsing's Trashman (by Alexander Anderson)
Age	500s (1999)
Gender	Fundamentally a Male
Height	6'6" (198cm)
Species	Real Vampire (Monster)
Status	Alive (Undead)
Affiliations	Hellsing Organisation
Manga Debut	Hellsing: Volume 1
OVA Debut	Hellsing: Ultimate I
Seiyuu	Jouji Nakata
Voice Actor	Crispin Freeman

Alucard 《アーカード, Ākādo, OVA: Arucard》 is one of the three main protagonists of the Hellsing series created by Kohta Hirano, alongside Sir Integra and Seras Victoria. In both adaptations of Hellsing, he is voiced by Jouji Nakata in the Japanese sub and Crispin Freeman in the English dub.

He is the Trump Card and pride of the Hellsing Organisation which works against vampires and other such supernatural forces. He answers to only the Hellsing family and no one else, usually asking to the point of demanding for orders from his master by saying "Give me your orders, my Master 《命令オーダーをよこせ我が主マイマスター》" more than once until he gets a definitive answer. It has been implied that he is the most powerful vampire alive and the most powerful character in the series.

Appearance

Alucard has stated on more than one occasion that he can appear as whatever he wishes and that the forms he takes on any particular occasion reflect no meaning or purpose. As a result of taking so many human lives, those lives altered his identity to the point where "form" doesn't matter to him; no longer caring whether he's a man or a woman. However, his original form is a male, so he takes the form of a male and is referred to as such.

His inconsistent hair shape and length are attributed to the fact that he can willfully change it due to it being a part of his shadow. Alucard possesses pinkish-red (blood red in the OVA) pupils, which may glow when he is experiencing strong emotions. In the OVA, his eyes turned bright hot pink (grading to light) after absorbing Schrödinger. His teeth may also change from those of a typical human with slightly elongated canines, to large and triangular in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a great white shark. It appears that his clothing is part of his physical form because when he regenerates, his clothing also repairs itself. His physical body is inconsistent, with his arm's length that can range from normal to a little over his knee.

Alucard's distinctive gloves are visible in the vast majority of his transformations, even when Alucard himself is not in a humanoid form. In the OVA, on the back of each of Alucard's gloves is what appears to be an arcane symbol. It consists of a five-pointed pentagram inscribed inside a circle, with strange astrological or alchemical characters in the spaces between each of the points. There is a band of writing around the circle with the following inscription: "Hellsing ● Hells Gate Arrested ● Gott Mit Uns ● And Shine Heaven Now." Outside that band are more unusual characters, written in the Theban alphabet. Using letter substitution, it becomes clear that the runic words are English, writing out "Hellsing," "Hells Gate Arrested," and "Shine Heaven Now." At the bottom of the circle, towards the wrist, is a square with rounded corners and four horizontal lines, making a ladder of sorts within the square.

• Normal Form
• Restraint Form
• Young Girl Form
• Count Form

His most common form which he takes upon, referred to as "Normal Version 《通常Ver., Tsūjō Version》" in the guidebook. He appears as a tall, long-limbed, broad-shouldered adult man of indeterminate but reasonably young age, as is commonly seen among vampires. Though he can change the length and shape of his hair as it's a part of his shadow, he commonly can be seen having short, jet-black hair and his bangs fall slightly in his eyes, with strands on the sides of his bangs framing his face while bearing this form. His usual outfit is comprised mainly in a Victorian Coachman fashion. It includes a white long-sleeved shirt with an intricately knotted red cravat under a black double-breasted suit with red buttons, matching black trousers and a pair of dark brown leather riding boots, covered by a red, split and full-length, long coat with ruffles exclusive to the shoulders. On occasions, he also wears a red cowboy hat with a wide floppy brim; the band replaced by multiple white stripes and a pair of white circular, heavily tinted, pink-framed sunglasses with goggle sidings.

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The Restraint Version 《拘束, Kōsoku》 is the form Alucard shapes into when he releases Level One. He is commonly seen in this form sporting messy hair inconsistent with shape and length, and a variety of body types whether bulky or slender, but overall doesn't change that much in terms of physical looks. He takes on the form back when he was found by Integra in a straitjacket that kept his arms behind his back; having white hair due to him being locked up for 10 consecutive years in which he was unable to drink blood. He broke free of the restraints to protect Integra Hellsing from death. He is portrayed as wearing a white straitjacket, with several stripes across his front torso, shoulders, wrist, thighs, and ankles. The collar design was later slightly changed from its initial appearance in volumes 1, 2 and 4. He has used it in his fight with Luke Valentine, his fight with Tubalcain Alhambra, when he finally killed Alexander Anderson, and in his fight with Walter C. Dornez.

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One of Alucard's alternate forms resembles a little child, which is referred to as "Young Girl Version 《幼女Ver., Yōjo Version》" in the guidebook. It is also known alternatively as "Lolicard 《ロリカード, Rorikādo》" and "Chibicard 《チビカード, Chibikādo》" in the OVA. In this form, he is petite and slender with straight dark hair that drapes just below his shoulders. He wears a white office shirt under a white vest with a matching coat and scarf, white pants, white shoes, a white tie, a white trench coat, and occasionally, a fuzzy white cap. Although he changed his looks, Alucard didn't change his voice.

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Alucard is also capable of appearing as he did during his reign as Vlad Dracula in a form referred to as "Count Version 《伯爵Ver., Hakushaku Version》" in the guidebook. In this form, his general stature is unchanged, save for being perhaps slightly bulkier. His face appears to age from that of a young adult to that of the middle-aged man that he was when he died, and he grows a short, full beard and mustache. His hair also increases in length to his mid-back and becomes wild and unkempt. His attire changes from his usual suit to a full set of gunmetal grey plate armor and a tattered black cape with red inlay and a high collar, closed in by a rope (chains in its initial appearance). He acquires a Broadsword, which hangs from one of three belts at his waist. He also appears more reserved and stoic.

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Personality

As he is essentially invincible, Alucard is very egotistical. He freely taunts and belittles both his opponents and allies alike, often allowing his opponents to inflict seemingly fatal wounds before healing himself and counterattacking and pestering his allies frequently. One of his favorite methods of fighting is to allow himself to be blown to shreds before simply flowing back together, declaring that he cannot be killed by dogs. Alucard expresses extreme disgust with the vampires he has been hunting for the last 100 years, especially when they kill without purpose. He lists the two vampires' pointless killing in his catalog of how pathetic they are. Having been called a monster countless times, it's something he indulges the fact of, and takes pleasure from being so. Though immensely cocky, Alucard recognizes his status as simply just a servant to the Hellsing family; only answering to them and only doing what he is told to do. When the vampirized Walter C. Dornez who had betrayed Hellsing told Alucard to stand up and fight him, Alucard only did so because Integra ordered him to destroy Walter.

Alucard hates those who pathetically kill themselves amid battle; his emotional outburst when talking with Seras was caused by a fit of rage when he witnessed one of the GATE officers commit suicide after not wanting to end up as his comrades did. Alucard fights with ferocity, and often extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been completely disabled and humiliated. In war, he believes that everything is a gamble, a 50/50 in which the losing side gambles their hands with their weak cards resulting in their loss. Essentially, they are the ones who come and try to kill or die themselves trying. Whether or not the enemy is a mortal being does not particularly matter to Alucard, if they are to be offensive and hinder him from completing orders that he was given, then they are to be killed.

However, even with his incredible powers, it is possible to take Alucard by surprise, usually because of his arrogance. In his first meeting with Alexander Anderson, he assumes he had easily killed Anderson with a single bullet but is caught off guard when Anderson regenerates his wounds. Alucard also expresses deep disappointment that Luke wasn't a worthy adversary. Despite his disgust for homicidal vampires, he is not entirely against becoming something above human. Rather, he believes it is something one must earn. Presumably, he views his own transformation as an escape from death and a cowardly action of revenge for his wrongdoers. He happily let Seras choose to become something unhuman (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. Alucard states that resignation is what kills people, and once they've rejected resignation like Seras, humans gain the privilege of making humanity their footpath.

Underneath his arrogance, Alucard is deeply sad and appears to be envious of humans. Alucard also has great respect for humans who have the willpower to endure old age and death because he had none of these qualities when he faced death. All of these feelings are shown at various points throughout the series, such as when Alucard tells the Queen that she is the same "saucy filly" from 50 years ago and that now she is truly beautiful. He becomes infuriated when Anderson stabs himself in the heart with Helena's Nail and becomes a monster, as he views it as Anderson making the same mistake Alucard made. While facing off against Walter's younger, vampire form, Alucard remarks that Walter's old, aged body was "a trillions, quadrillions of times" more beautiful than his new, vampiric one. However, he does have some humanity left in him, as he is still capable of shedding tears and showing affection for those who are dear to him as he shows a great deal of it to Seras and Integra on occasions.

Alucard states that he wishes to find an opponent, a human opponent, with sufficient willpower to destroy him despite his strength; multiple times stating that the one who always defeats the monster, is always a man. Humans who he respects with all his heart (e.g. Alexander Anderson) are those who manage to exceed his expectations and confirm his beliefs that humans are indeed something extraordinary. In conjunction, Alucard also holds a great affinity for humans who take pride in themselves, often expressing his desire to die by a mere mortal.

As a human, he was raised by the Turks and was sodomized by the Sultan as a prisoner and as a child soldier. As a warrior, he believed that words alone were not enough to establish one's faith. Rather, he believed that the only way to attract God's attention was to accomplish deeds in his name. In accordance with this belief, he never asked God for favors, but instead did many great and terrible things. He became famous and feared for punishing and impaling evildoers and those who opposed his methods 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, God himself would intervene on their behalf.

His actions caused even his own people to fear him, and subsequently, only a small amount of his peasants and soldiers showed up to aid him in his last battle. When he lost his war and was taken prisoner by the Turks, he realized that he had failed and that his country, his kingdom, his people, his friends, and his family (his wife and his child) had all been killed because of his desire for revenge, greed, war, violence and power. Feeling that God had abandoned him, he traversed renunciation in spite of God; licking the blood of his beheaded men, thus becoming a vampire. This action, his past belief, even Alucard himself mocked his past self for believing in such fantastical paradise and going through extreme measures in order to achieve that, and the extreme failure of his conquest that brought fatal consequences in which God didn't save them from the Turks; in truth, it was his hatred against those who wronged him in his youth that drove his actions, and that he used the name of God to mask his own hate and lust for power and battle.

After 30 years, his demeanor has changed. He broke free of the chains of the traumatic past he endured that held him back for over centuries, now realizing that he has something to protect and people worth living for; no longer wishing to be killed by a mortal or hellbent on suicidal thoughts. In essence, his expansive future shattered his expansive past, and effectively, he gained his humanity back after having lost his sense of self.

Relationships

Allies

• Abraham Van Helsing: Abraham was once Dracula's archnemesis. He was the reason his empire fell and the one who helped Jonathan Harker and his friends in an effort to save Mina. However, after the actions of Van Helsing in which he had saved Dracula's life, Dracula pledged loyalty to Van Helsing. Later in his life, now renamed "Alucard" by Van Helsing's son, Alucard respects Van Helsing and his friends the most for being the ones who totally defeated him as mortal beings. Van Helsing also sometimes appears in Alucard's nightmares.

• Sir Arthur Hellsing: Arthur Hellsing was Alucard's previous master before Integra Hellsing. Nothing is known in specific details about their relationship, however in the OVA, Arthur was the one who renamed Dracula to "Alucard."

• Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing: Alucard is extremely devoted to Integra Hellsing, his current master and the Hellsing Organisation's leader. Alucard and Integra share a complex "master and slave" relationship. Integra has been connected to him since her father's death in 1989. He described her as his "beloved master," showing his undying loyalty to her. Integra finds Alucard's actions to be unsettling but trusts him with her orders; for Alucard, her hesitation and occasional trepidation that comes over her when giving Alucard orders tremendously excites and satisfies him, prompting Alucard to even remark that it aroused him. In addition to being her servant, Alucard could accurately be described as Integra's weapon, and she as his wielder. He made it very clear that although he can massacre her enemies without even a bit of hesitation or an ounce of regret, but what will kill is her intent.
  
  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. When Enrico Maxwell called Integra a sow, Alucard appeared and threatened to kill Maxwell for daring to believe he could leave England alive after insulting his master. In the midst after releasing Level Zero, Alucard met Integra and addressed Integra with his own title, calling her Count. After the 30 years he spent killing the absorbed souls so that he could recognize himself as himself, he revealed his return to Integra first, as he manifested in Integra's room. She tells him sorrowfully that she is an old woman now, but Alucard seems not to care in the least. Integra then bites her finger hard enough to draw blood. While Alucard is still seated before her, she allows her blood to fall into his mouth.

• Seras Victoria: Seras Victoria is Alucard's first fledgling since Mina Harker. Through Alucard, their relationship is master and slave. Alucard holds deep feelings of admiration towards his fledgling, Seras. He reveals to Walter that he turned her into a vampire on a whim based on Seras' own accord to live. He tells Walter that he finds her a fascinating creature and seems to admire her will to live despite the hellish events in Cheddar Village. As he watched her die, he apologized for shooting her and told her it was necessary, later giving her a choice to die as a human or become unhuman; she chose the latter. In the OVA, he actually went so far as to hold her hand. While he is frustrated with her refusal to drink blood at first, he is always confident that eventually she will drink and seems quite proud of her when the time comes.
  
  Alucard takes on a role of a mentor and teacher to help Seras reach her full potential. By volume 8, his arrival to London and after reuniting with Integra and Seras, he pat Seras's head in an affectionate way and says her full name twice, realizing her full potential and that she finally drank blood. When Alucard fought Anderson, Seras interferes with the battle and stops Anderson's blade from reaching Alucard's heart in a desperate attempt to save him, calling out for her master. 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: "I hear a voice. A voice calling me. Oh, huh. It's you." Before facing Anderson once again, he woke up and said to her: "You're so annoying Police Girl. As always, I can hear your voice just fine. Like an ear-splitting song." By volume 9, Alucard fully recognizes Seras' growth and tells her, "Go, Seras. A master needs a retinue. Go and put an end to that man's long dream." Later, he calls Integra and Seras his beloved master and beloved servant. In the end, Seras is the only one who has undying faith of his return.

• Queen of England: Alucard had previously met the Queen 50 years before the events of Hellsing. Upon his return from Rio de Janeiro, they speak to each other as old friends. Alucard sees her as the same "saucy filly" from 50 years ago, and that to his eyes, time has made her even 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.

Enemies

• Alexander Anderson: Anderson and Alucard have an intense and fiercely competitive rivalry that borders on kinship; their remarkable similarities and nature as polar opposites fuel both their intellectual and physical combat, making him a perfect and worthy rival for Alucard, something Alucard himself shares the thought of. In Badrick, during their first meeting and when Alucard won the stand-off that ended with Anderson getting a bullet to the head, Alucard called him a "fool" but noted the bravery of Anderson in attacking a vampire in the middle of the night head-on. Alucard was then caught off-guard when Anderson healed his wounds and started going on the offensive, revealing himself to be a Regenerator. The relationship between the two grows as the story evolves. The two almost seem content to live so that they can fight each other. Alucard sees Anderson as a means to fulfill his wish of being defeated by a human, holds high regard for Anderson's willpower and strength and as such, even compares him to the likes of Abraham Van Helsing; nothing else came close as to what excites him other than a confrontation with Anderson, going as far as disobeying Integra just for a showdown with Anderson.
  
  Yet even so, they are complete opposites in terms of what they believe in, their point of view, and their values. Even against Alucard's pleas and begs, Anderson resorts to trading his humanity to become God's Weapon; noting that it's something Anderson always wished that he was born as, and to defeat Alucard. When Alucard is caught in a deadlock by Anderson who had become the embodiment of what Alucard is completely against and truly hates; fully realizing that he is truly robbed of his chance to die in the hands of a human who truly exceeds his expectations and one that confirmed his beliefs, he completely loses all hope as his life flashes before him. Until then he is saved by Seras Victoria who gives him a glimpse of hope and reminds him of his ideals.
  
  After Anderson is defeated by an enraged and awakened Alucard, Alucard views Anderson as someone who made the same mistake as he did, and in an emotional outburst, cries blood as he remarks on the similarities within the way that they became a monster in a shattered and defeated voice. The sense of respect between the two is most apparent when Anderson tells Alucard not to cry and points out that Alucard became a monster so that he no longer had to cry, advising him to smile like he always does instead. Alucard bids his farewell and addresses Anderson as an "old foe," intending to see him in Limbo once he's done, to which Anderson smiles in response. When Anderson says his final amen, Alucard smiles as he utters "Amen."

• Walter C. Dornez: Alucard and Walter were old and close friends. Furthermore, Alucard commented on because of how many people they've killed over the years on their missions. Walter's first weapon was also Alucard's first ever weapon of choice, and had praised it throughout the years before the encounter with Anderson, in which, he asked Walter for a brand new gun and then, the Jackal was created and how it looked was already on Walter's mind, with "Jesus Christ is in Heaven" as the gun's inscription, as a mockery towards Alexander Anderson. Alucard respected Walter's old age and reminiscence about the past from time to time with John Bull and was excited by the prospect of witnessing Walter's true status as the "Angel of Death" again.
  
  However, when Walter betrayed Hellsing, Alucard begins to see him as a mere plaything, even going so far as to call Walter's younger vampiric body ugly and state that his elderly human body was "a trillions, quadrillions of times more beautiful." In the climax of their duel, Alucard shapeshifts into the form he took in 1944 Warsaw, as he views the fight as a kid's fight. Alucard understands that Walter only betrayed Hellsing so that he could fight Alucard and prove his superiority over Alucard; for this, Alucard claims that Walter hasn't changed even a little bit in the last 60 years. Hating traitors and calling out Walter over his hypocrisy, Alucard states that he'd never fight someone like [Walter] fairly on a one-on-one, as he couldn't care less about the lousy bet that Walter had made to prove himself out of shame and fear. By the time of Alucard's disappearance from existence, Walter bitterly and reluctantly admits that Alucard was right and that he had wasted his life so that he could have a go against Alucard.

• The Major: Alucard, in some strange sense, seems to almost feel a sense of joy upon the return of The Major and the Millennium Project, which was evidenced by him saying "I'll destroy you any number of times" upon hearing The Major's declaration of war; even complimenting the declaration, calling it "superb." Alucard seems to think of The Major, those who follows him, and even himself as "incorrigible warmongers."

• Luke Valentine: During the first fight between him and Luke, he was at first very impressed by Luke's abilities and commented on Luke's superb reflexes. Because Alucard rarely praises his opponents, this could be considered a form of respect, similar to how he praised Alexander Anderson. While the battle went on, Alucard asked for Luke's name once again; he stated that the battle was the most fun he had in ages, and remarked that Luke is above even "Category A" vampires.
  
  Once he transforms, however, and impatiently waits for Luke to regenerate his legs, he realizes that Luke is nothing but a spineless coward who runs away in terror when he is faced with an opponent more powerful than him. After Luke is eaten by the Baskerville, Alucard states that he was dog shit. When Luke is used by Walter as a marionette against Alucard, he once again praises Luke for his skills and states that his talents were wasted being fed to a dog, implying that Alucard regrets not turning Luke into one of his familiars. After successfully fooling Walter into attacking his double which was Luke's corpse, Alucard remarks that a half-eaten dog bait is surprisingly good.

Powers and Abilities

Real Vampire
Alucard is an extremely formidable and deadly opponent who can cut down most supernatural enemies without releasing the seals that contain his true power. He sometimes lets his opponents damage him, then regenerates as a way to taunt them. He demonstrates several unique abilities as well as the ability to regenerate from virtually any injury. The following are Alucard's powers gained from both his being a Vampire and years of occult research by the Hellsing Organisation.
Abilities
Superhuman Strength: As a transcendent vampire, Alucard is inherently strong. To start, his guns Jackal and Casull are far too unwieldy for a human to hold, let alone use, but he does both with ease. He has been seen going up barehanded against even some supernatural weapons and destroying them, such as Tubalcain Alhambra's Playing Cards. Despite their armor, Alucard was able to disembowel and tear apart several police officers with one hand. The extent of his strength is unknown, though it appears to vary with the release state that he is in, as his Restraint form has significantly greater feats of strength and durability than his other forms.
Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: Alucard is too fast for the human eye to follow, but specific vampires such as Walter and Alhambra, and Regenerators like Anderson can keep pace with him just fine. Alucard's reaction times are top-notch, letting him catch Rip Van Winkle's Magic Bullet with his teeth, despite a single one of these bullets penetrating an SR-71 multiple times while the plane was moving as fast as possible.
Superhuman Durability and Endurance: Alucard takes most damage without flinching or making a sound, quietly allowing the enemy to attack before retaliating tenfold. He can even attack after being torn asunder by bullets. After Rip Van Winkle crashes his Blackbird, he exits the craft without a scratch and easily destroys everyone aboard, even as they use high-caliber weaponry on him. He's been thrown through skyscrapers and bled excessively.
OVA Manga	Hematophagy: As a vampire, Alucard can consume blood raw. He has long, conical fangs to assist in this job as well as a serpentine-like tongue. His feeding habits have been seen to vary: from traditional neck-biting to simply ripping people to pieces and outright devouring them. Alucard doesn't seem to need blood to survive, however, if starved of it, he will enter an inactive death-like state. Aestivation: Alucard will enter a dormant state if he goes too long without blood. It is unknown if he can be starved to death, as he goes decades without a drop of blood before a young Integra finds him.
OVA Manga	Hemokinesis: Alucard has the ability to manipulate blood. This ability seems to be limited to blood outside of the body, as he is never seen influencing the blood of enemies while they are intact.
OVA Manga	Enhanced Regeneration: Alucard has the ability to perfectly and quickly recover from any physical injury. He has been torn to shreds by conventional weaponry and holy weaponry designed to kill his kind and has survived all of it. Holy weapons, while they do affect him more, are regenerated all the same.
OVA Manga Alucard explaining what a "third eye" is to Seras	Third Eye: Alucard has senses that are not only sharper than a mortal's, affording him abilities such as perfect accuracy, but he has abilities that they completely lack. In particular, he possesses a "third eye" which allows him to see things from far, far distances. Though he never uses it to do so, he can likely see through things that fool human eyes, as Seras does when facing Zorin Blitz. This is not an inherent ability and must be used consciously, as Alucard was unable to see through Alhambra's illusionary clones. Using his third eye, Alucard can also detect supernatural activity; in Warsaw 1944, Alucard knew The Captain was a werewolf the moment he saw him. Later during the incident in Badrick, he could see the blessings on Father Anderson's bayonets as well as the holy barrier preventing their escape.
OVA Manga	Dark Composition: Though he generally dons a corporeal, humanoid form, Alucard is made up of a highly variable otherworldly substance that is black in core and reddish on its edges. This can be especially seen whenever he takes heavy damage, the darkness being immune to conventional weaponry. Along with composing his being, it can serve as a weapon.
OVA Manga	Intangibility: Alucard has the ability to walk through solid objects, such as walls.
OVA Manga	Shapeshifting: Though form is of no particular importance to him, Alucard claims to be able to change into anything. He has changed into a child, several bats, amorphous darkness, and has several forms. It is unknown if he can take the shape of inanimate objects such as tables or chairs. During the fight with Rip Van Winkle, Alucard was shown spawning multiple arms to hold Rip Van still while he's sucking her blood. It is stated that he can also shapeshift into cockroaches and rats. Mist Body: Alucard is capable of turning his body into some sort of dark reddish mist in order to render attacks against him useless.
Telepathy: Alucard is able to communicate telepathically with his fledgling, Seras Victoria. The telepathy doesn't seem to have a maximum range.
OVA Manga While Integra and Walter was discussing, Alucard teleports from underneath the floor	Teleportation: Alucard is able to vanish and reappear at a different location. The range in which he can teleport from is unknown. He also can't cross large bodies of water this way as shown when he had to pilot a plane to the H.M.S Eagle and later take control of the ship in order to return to England via telekinesis.
OVA Manga	Telekinesis: Alucard showed said ability when he was able to move the HMS Eagle to London overnight. He also demonstrated the ability in the OVA when he knocked away two of the queen's bodyguards without even touching them, and how he slammed the door shut when the GATE team attacking him in the hotel tried to escape. It can also be assumed that he used telekinesis to toss all of the GATE team out of the hotel to impale them on flag poles.
OVA Manga	Hypnosis: Alucard has the ability to control minds, doing so exclusively with humans. The afflicted human will enter a euphoric, stupor-like state and their eyes will glow red. They will be pliant to all of Alucard's designs, doing and speaking as he wills. This hypnotic link is established through direct eye contact and does not waver, even when Alucard's attention is elsewhere.
OVA Manga	Gravity Defiance: Alucard, during his fight with Alhambra, is shown not only to be able to stand vertically on a wall, but run backward up it. When reaching London with the HMS Eagle and situated on the Thames River, Alucard leaped great distances and landed down within the center of the stare-down between the Ninth Crusade and the Last Battalion. This would indicate some ability to defy gravity.
OVA Manga	Weather Manipulation: The ability to control the weather to an unknown limit, as demonstrated by the fog created when he returned to London aboard the HMS Eagle. Later clearing the fog as soon as the Eagle aboard the Thames and he enters the battlefield.
Resistances to Vampiric Weaknesses: While Alucard still possesses some vampiric weaknesses, the few he has are greatly diminished. While holy weapons and items made of silver do more damage to him than mundane arms the level of damage and his reaction are far less than a normal vampire and don't leave any serious lasting injuries which are regenerated but slightly slower. Although immune to the sun, Alucard has mentioned that staying awake during the day simply makes him tired and that he simply hates it while not considering it a great enemy of some sort.
Soul Absorption
By draining a person of their blood, Alucard gains dominance over their soul and essence of life. He also takes on whatever knowledge they possess, as he is able to find out about Millennium by draining Tubalcain Alhambra of his blood. While Seras gives her familiar, Pip Vernedead, some free reign within her soul, Alucard seems content to completely dominate everything living inside him. The reservoir of souls in which he had culminated over the centuries was the key to his immortality. They are the lives he had taken from people whose blood he had sucked from; Alucard would've sacrificed one soul in order to completely regenerate from devastating blows that normally would end an average vampire (e.g. decapitation, impalement to the heart). Thus, one would need to kill Alucard more than a hundred thousand times to truly finish him off. Yet, as Level Zero separates the lives he had stolen, he is left vulnerable as a result; if one was lucky enough to impale Alucard's heart, then Alucard would truly be killed. A unique opportunity to truly kill Alucard that hasn't been present since a century before 1999 was created by The Major, who gave Walter the chance to do so. But as Alucard starts rebuilding his fortress, his soul supply mounted up to 3 million; Walter fails and his chances have infinitely dropped to zero. However, born from this single instant comes another opportunity to temporarily beat Alucard, that is by exploiting his ability to absorb the essence of one's very life.
OVA Manga Without alerting Vernedead who covered the entire manor as Seras' shadow, Alucard was able to appear in Integra's room unnoticed Without alerting Vernedead who covered the entire manor as Seras' shadow, Alucard was able to appear in Integra's room unnoticed	Schrödinger's Essence: After accidentally consuming Schrödinger and being lost within himself for 30 years, Alucard emerges with the Werekin's essence; his very nature to be "Everywhere and Nowhere." In short, the way Schrödinger's nature works is that he has to be aware of himself; as long as he continues to believe in that fact in which he is able to view himself as one singular person that exists, he can exist everywhere and nowhere. His nature can be simplified as "I think, therefore I am." Having absorbed souls that amounted to millions, Alucard wasn't able to perceive himself as himself. For 30 years, he had been killing all the lives inside of him except for one. Now he's nowhere, yet he can be anywhere. By absorbing Schrödinger, Alucard also gained Schrödinger's apparent immortality (something Alucard believed to have been just a myth). Yet, if he is to absorb the life of anyone then Alucard would disappear from existence as he wouldn't be able to perceive himself.
Familiar Control
Alucard can summon forth anyone's soul he had completely taken over at will. During the battle of London, Alucard released Level Zero, his final restraint, and unleashed all souls that he possessed to roam freely, wiping out the entire Ninth Crusade and almost all of the Last Battalion. He had thousands, if not millions, of familiars including Alhambra and Rip Van themselves, culminating and expanding to over three million during the climax. In the end, all of them had been slain, save for one.
OVA Manga	Baskerville: At some point, Alucard defeated and consumed the hound of Baskerville, a demonic black dog. The form and shape in which the hound appeared vary, as it manifested sometimes huge or tiny, bulky or thin. Nonetheless, the hound possessed powerful destructive capabilities. By consuming Luke Valentine, the hound received an additional capability that amped the speed. However, Baskerville was swiftly killed by Walter; the control ratio changed and Luke Valentine emerged from the hound's corpse.
OVA Manga	Tubalcain Alhambra: Consuming Alhambra's essence gave Alucard the ability to summon him with his Playing Cards at will and at any time. These destructive Playing Cards were able to penetrate and slice through armored soldiers easily, and created craters on the concrete floor; also appearing and disappearing at will. Alhambra's ability was lost after he was killed the second time by the flames Anderson created, along with Rip Van Winkle.
OVA Manga	Rip Van Winkle: After consuming Rip Van Winkle, Alucard could summon her with her outfit, musket still intact and her ability to fire "Magic Bullet" from her musket. The Magic Bullet easily destroyed multiple helicopters all at once and shredded an SR-71 reconnaissance jet at full throttle downwards. However, he lost this ability once Rip Van, along with Alhambra, was killed the second time by the holy fires summoned by Anderson.
OVA Manga	River of Death 《死の河が》: After Level Zero was permitted and Alucard was ordered to open the Final Restriction, Alucard released all the souls he had culminated throughout his life and allowed them to roam free within the streets of London, creating a bloody river that is dubbed the "River of Death" by The Major. The souls were killed amid Alucard's battle with Anderson (who had turned into God's Monster by using Helena's Nail) and Iscariot's Armed Priest Vanguard.

Control Art Restriction System

Main article: Control Art Restriction System

Alucard releasing restriction to Level One

Being too powerful to be left on his own, his power is restricted by the "Control Art Restriction System 《拘束制御術式, Kōsoku Seigyo Jutsushiki》" and has to be accessed by the approval of "Cromwell 《クロムウェル, Kuromuweru》." There are shown to be four levels of restriction and corresponding states, with lower numbers meaning greater levels of power. Alucard can release his power up to Level One by himself, but he needs his master's approval to release his final state - Level Zero, the lowest Level, allowing him full access to his most devastating powers. His gloves, which are engraved with the Hellsing seal, are the mechanism and the source of Hellsing's control over him. The term "The Bird of Hermes is my name/Eating my wings to make me tame" etched on his coffin is his pledge of loyalty to serve the Hellsing family after his capture. So not only does his coffin serve as his resting place, but it also serves as the promise and contract he made to the Hellsing family.

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Releasing Control Art Restriction System to Level Three, Level Two, Level One. Situation A. The Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until target is silenced.

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During the chaos ensuing in London, Sir Integra issues the command "Control Art Restriction System, Level Zero. Released. Fulfill your preparation. Declare it." However, Alucard's power is not unleashed until he incants the words written on his coffin, "The Bird of Hermes is my name. Eating my wings to make me tame 《私はヘルメスの鳥私は自らの羽根を喰らい飼い慣らされる》." This demonstrates what is called "the two-man rule," a protocol requiring the actions of two persons to advance, used in cryptography and nuclear weapons launches. Alucard remains at Level Zero for his final fights with Alexander Anderson and the vampirized Walter. In Level Zero, Alucard appears, at different times, in all forms seen throughout the series to that point. In the final minutes of his fight against Walter, Alucard adopts his form as a young girl to mock Walter's age-regression and his foolish gamble.

Weapons

Hellsing ARMS .454 Casull Auto

OVA Manga

The Casull 《カスール, Kasūru》 is a semi-automatic magnum pistol, based on two pre-WW1 handgun designs by Colt: the M1903 and M1905 pistols (the early versions of the M1911). The gun weighs approximately 6kg unloaded and has a magazine capacity of six 13mm Explosive Steel rounds, which were alloyed with melted silver from a Lanchester Cathedral cross. The overall design of the Casull is simple, using the Browning short recoil mechanism. Its most recognizable feature is its long slide, counteracting the weapon's heavy recoil with its weight. The barrel is 10 inches long (specified on the slide) and finished with titanium nitride which gives it a characteristic gold color. The Casull is able to kill normal vampires with only 1 shot. It is too heavy and unwieldy for a human to use, yet a perfect match for Alucard's strength. Caliber: 13mm Explosive Steel Rounds (modified by Hellsing from the original .454 Casull rounds) Total length: 335mm Weight: 4kg Magazine: 6+1 Rounds Inscription: Hellsing Arm 454 Casull Auto HELLSING ARMS WEAPON INDUSTRIAL Co. Ltd©

Hellsing Combat Pistol "Jackal"

OVA Manga

The Jackal 《ジャッカル, Jakkaru》 is a massive pistol made especially for Alucard, and one of the most powerful handheld weapons in the Hellsing series. It has a length of 390mm, a weight of 16kg, and a black gunmetal construction, and uses massive 13mm armor-piercing explosive rounds. The words "Jesus Christ is in Heaven now" are engraved upon it, in mockery of a similar statement on Alexander Anderson's gloves. In volume 9, it is revealed that the Jackal had an explosive device hidden inside of it by The Professor, who could detonate it with his remote if Alucard was to gain a significant edge against Millennium with it. Caliber: Customized 13mm Armor-Piercing Explosive Rounds Total length: 390mm Weight: 16kg Magazine: 6+1 Rounds Inscription: Jesus Christ is in Heaven now HELLSING ARMS WEAPON INDUSTRIAL Co. Ltd©

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 most notably, his many frequent impalements of his opponents (the Pastor and Huger with his bare hands, the GATE officers in Brazil on flagpoles, Rip Van Winkle with her own musket, and hundreds of victims in London during the Millennium/Vatican siege.). 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 Helsing, 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 (although Dracula never came aboard London to search for Mina as the narration implies).

Alucard's true Identity

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 44-49 (as the historical Vlad III's death occurred in either December of 1476 or January of 1477 and his birth year is around 1428–1431), he summons massive hordes of souls he had devoured during the centuries. These include his own Wallachian army, his slaughtered peasantry, the Turkish Janissary, war horses, and countless others. Throughout his battle with Anderson, Alucard frequently compares his rival to the group of men who defeated him a hundred years ago. In Hundred Swords (3), the other protagonists of Dracula are spoken of by Alucard - Abraham Van Helsing, John Seward (mistakenly written as "Jack" Seward in the manga), Quincey Morris, and Arthur Holmwood (Jonathan Harker is strangely left out). The final chapter of volume 8 consists of a flashback of Alucard's life and "death" as the former Voivode of Wallachia, Vlad III Țepeș.

Vlad the Impaler painting

Historically, Vlad Ţepeş was responsible for the deaths of between 40,000 and 100,000 of his enemies and various villains in his own country during his reign as the monarch of Wallachia (a major portion of what is now present-day Romania). His most well-known way of execution was impalement. For torturing people by impalement, it is alleged that his executioners learned how to have the victims placed so that the pikes, spears, or other shafts on which they had them impaled would pass most or all of the victim's vital organs, entering their lower nether regions and exiting near the back of their neck. In this way, the victims could be kept alive for days on end before they finally bled to death. When simply executing a person, they were typically impaled straight through the center of their torso, with the shaft entering their groin and exiting through the mouth.

Perhaps the best-known incident regarding Vlad's means of execution was the way by which he prevented the Ottoman Army from invading Wallachia again (following the fall of Constantinople) in 1462. Reports show that he had 20,000 captured Turkish soldiers and convicted criminals impaled and staked out on the borders of his capital city, Târgoviște. Mehmed II, the leader of the Ottomans (who was well-known himself for his use of psychological warfare), was sickened by the sight of the corpses outside the Wallachian capital and ordered his forces back to Constantinople.

Concept and Creation

Previously being the main character of the Hellsing prototype, his name was adopted by Hirano from a choose-your-own-adventure novel by the Irish author J. H. Brennan (the same fake name Alucard would later use in Rio). Trying to create an invincible character, Hirano depicted Alucard as a "man wearing a trench coat up to his neck as some kind of neck-protector, and the rest of his body acts to block any damage including physical, and from bullets." However, Hirano thought that the character ended up looking bad; so he switched his trench coat with a long coat and made him powerful enough that he doesn't need a bulletproof vest to cover him for his return in the new Hellsing series. Hirano described Alucard as someone who'll take no chances and gives no mercy in battle, and that he (along with Integra) are in no way "heroes" but "anti-heroes" or "dark heroes."

His character was deemed incompatible to work as a dynamic duo with Seras, so Hirano paired Alucard with Sir Integra and created the character Pip Vernedead so he could connect him with Seras during the narrative, a flow that was decided since one-third of the story had progressed through. He described Alucard and Integra's relationship as master and slave, while Seras and Alucard's relationship as one that is complicated, but close to ties of that of a family yet isn't father and daughter nor master and slave (because Alucard and Integra already shares the master and slave dynamic). The introduction of a rival organization meant that Alucard would have to have a rival, so Anderson was created to be Alucard's nemesis. Initially, he also thought about The Captain for the role but concluded that he was too weak. Even if The Captain joined the battle between Alucard and Anderson, Hirano doesn't think he would win. Though the story of Hellsing started from the perspective of Seras Victoria, it devolved into a story of an all-out battle with no specific focuses; yet, the root of the story was Alucard himself and his wants to be defeated by a human, that is, "a man always defeats a monster." As a character, Schrödinger was created to be the ultimate tool to defeat Alucard.

Hirano stated that he was inspired by John Lennon and a "little bit of Vash the Stampede." His sunglasses-goggles hybrid was inspired by Bolt Crank from the manga series Eat-Man, which in turn was a reference to the 1994 French film Léon: The Professional. With the "overlapping" design shared by Vash the Stampede and Alucard within the first 3 chapters of Hellsing, Hirano lamented that he shouldn't have given him the sunglasses as the similar design garnered many comparisons with Vash, for which he was criticized. His design was later stylized and updated in the latter half of volume 1, and his hat and sunglasses were completely dropped after volumes 3 and 4 respectively. His hat, which is inconsistent of design, is drawn more similarly to a cowboy hat rather than a fedora in more recent illustrations/sketches drawn by Hirano.

One-shot Alucard

Prototype Design

Initial Design

Stylized Design

After Alucard receives the Jackal, he is seen using it alongside the Casull in a dual-wielding style. The Jackal had 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 was almost always shown 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). Hirano was fully aware of this and stated that he doesn't care about the accuracy of the weapons and draws whatever he likes it to be drawn. In addition, Hirano jokingly said that Alucard's Casull has an endless amount of bullets, saying: "They're all cosmoguns that can hold a million rounds."

Name

Up until the release of Dark Horse Comic's Hellsing manga translation in the West, and the pronunciation of Alucard's name in the English dub, Alucard's name varied between Japanese and overseas sources, with the most well-known one writing out his name as "Arucard." This is due to the Japanese spelling of Alucard's name in katakana, "アーカード (Ākādo)." In Japanese, "r" and "l" are the same sound and are represented by the same character, so either "r" or "l" can be used in romanization. The spelling discrepancy caused Hirano to admit that he made a mistake regarding Alucard's name. Despite that being the case, the Japanese insisted that it should be kept as "Arucard." On official merchandise and website, Alucard's name is written as "Arucard." Arucard was kept in the subtitles for English releases after Funimation secured the rights for the series.

An alternative way of spelling out Alucard's name in Japanese is "アルカード (Arukādo)." Hirano is aware of this, as in one panel, Jan Valentine stated "アーカードだかアルカードだか知らねーが (Ākādoda ka Arukādoda ka shirane ̄ ga)," roughly translating to "I don't know if it's Alucard or Alucard," essentially poking fun of the whole debacle over the translation of Alucard's name. Dark Horse Comics avoided this by changing the dialogue completely to "Alucard? What the fuck ever, man!" In reverse, Alucard's name is spelled out as "Dracula," which is Hirano's intention. By the guidebook's release, Alucard's name is finally written as it is; not as "Arucard," but "Alucard." Though despite this, the English subtitles for Hellsing: Ultimate still calls Alucard, "Arucard." The ending of the tenth OVA mistakenly refers to him as "Sir Arucard."

Trivia

• Interestingly, in the English commentary for the first Hellsing: Ultimate OVA, Crispin Freeman notes that he was originally going to give Alucard a Romanian accent, but decided on an American accent instead. Most likely, the Romanian accent heard in the intro of the English OVA II, and the one in OVA VIII upon unleashing Level Zero was what Alucard was originally going to sound like.
• 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 transporting 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 around Vlad the Impaler's time and is also said to have known the formula to create the Philosopher's Stone.
  • Below the star on Alucard's gloves, it has the German words, "Gott Mit Uns," which translates to "God With Us." Interestingly, those words were used by the German military until the end of World War II, and during the Nazi era by the Wehrmacht (the regular German army) whereas the Nazi Waffen-SS used "Meine Ehre heißt Treue," which means "Loyalty is my Honor" instead.
• Before becoming a vampire, Alucard's eyes were a bluish-purple in the OVA. However, in his famous portrait, Vlad Tepes has brown eyes. There are also historical records that describe him as having "threatening" green eyes.
• How Count Dracula is portrayed in Hellsing is similar to how he was portrayed in Francis Ford Coppola's film, Bram Stoker's Dracula.
• The character Solomon from Genndy Tartakovsky's Sym-Bionic Titan cartoon is a visual reference to Alucard.
• Alucard appeared in the videogame Call of Duty as a playable operator, with Crispin Freeman returning to reprise his role as Alucard.