Alucard (Castlevania)

"Dracula... in the name of my mother, I will defeat you again."

- Alucard, Castlevania

Alucard, also known by his real name Adrian Farenheights Tepes, is a protagonist from Castlevania who is the son of the main antagonist, Dracula. As the offspring of an unnatural bond between Dracula and a human woman named Lisa, Adrian had special powers, preordained to be stronger than any human but not potentially as strong as his father especially in the dark arts. After Lisa was killed, mistaken for a witch, Adrian grew up under the influence of his father, whence he was taught in the dark arts and molded into a warrior who would one day fight for the side of evil.

Adrian's existence did not come without quirks, as the gentle, human side of his mother always seemed to cloud his "better judgment", as Dracula would have put it. Before his mother's death, Adrian was by her side. Even though he was enraged, she insisted that he not take that anger out on the humans as their lives are already full of hardship. With those thoughts forever implanted into his being, his mind always wandered as he questioned his father's intentions. After standing by for as long as he could, he broke away from his father's army and disappeared. Understanding that Dracula was going to implore his wrath on the people, Adrian would turn his efforts towards destroying his father's army, hopefully encouraging him to reconsider. Furthermore, he chose to go under the name "Alucard" — his father's branded name in reverse — to represent that he stood for beliefs opposite those of his father.

Alucard is an adept swordsman, and typically wields one-handed swords. Alucard's other attacks use dark magic. As a shape shifter, Alucard can change into a bat, a wolf, or even mist.

Appearance
Alucard always dresses in black, in his first appearances wearing the typical dress of a vampire at that time, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1797) used a more Romanized and elegant attire while in the installments of the Sorrow Saga (Beginning in 2035) he, in his second identity of Genya Arikado, dyes his hair black and wears a black tuxedo.

Alucard is known for having a "beautiful" appearance and superhuman strength as well as the gift of eternal youth, immortality, and anything else you would like in a mortal. Alucard is considered the quintessential vampire hybrid because it seems that he combines vampire's traits with his human side (given by his mother), as can be seen in Symphony of the Night. He has vampiric powers such as bloodlust and spells, and also possesses human attitudes such as eating, sleeping and, perhaps, being immune to the sunlight.

Personality
Alucard, at first glance, looks like a cool individual of few words and strong determination. However, he also endures great suffering because of his blood curse, a curse to roam the world forever fighting and having to endure the death of his friends and colleagues. Alucard is pessimistic, always has a plan for everything, leaves nothing to chance, and will do everything necessary to end Dracula regardless of the cost.

Alucard always seems to stay away from the people around him, given his vampiric condition. He decided to completely exile himself from the world under an eternal sleep. He did not awake from it until Symphony of the Night. It also seems that he forges camaraderie quickly in precarious situations, as seen in helping Sonia Belmont, and also the assistance provided as a minor character in Dracula's Curse.

In Symphony of the Night, Alucard feels completely responsible for dealing with Dracula, whatever the consequences. Speaking to Maria, he is indifferent about Richter being under evil control. Alucard bids a cold goodbye to Richter and Maria at the end of Symphony. Though forges little human attachment, it is notable in Symphony that when the Succubus posed as his mother Lisa, Alucard's emotions flared. Alucard also does not withhold his feelings to fight once more against his father, who at the end of the battle quotes some sentences spoken by his mother.

Dracula's Curse
In 1476 when Trevor Belmont was on his own quest to hunt out the Count Dracula who had controlled his son to become evil, Alucard would be waiting for Trevor Belmont to come by. Alucard acted like a boss (not a real boss) at this point, testing the skills of the hero. Alucard was surprised by Trevor's strength when he was defeated and asked if he could join Trevor on his quest.

If you accept his offer, he then becomes one of the four playable characters in the game.

After helping to destroy Dracula, and despite his good intentions, Alucard couldn't help but feel guilty for patricide. To ease his pain, he put himself to rest, submerging his powers.

Symphony of the Night
In 1797, due to an unexpected lack of a Belmont, Alucard had no choice but to awaken from his slumber to investigate the matter and infiltrate Castlevania. He was able to find out that Richter Belmont had been seduced by evil and was controlling the castle.

With the help of Richter's sister-in-law, Maria Renard, they were able to find out the truth: The dark priest Shaft was controlling Richter and wanted to raise Dracula from his dark slumber. After releasing Richter from Shaft's control, Alucard entered an upside-down version of Castlevania, with more powerful enemies, and confronted Shaft.

Having defeated Shaft, Alucard discovered that his efforts were in vain, as Shaft's plan had come to fruition regardless. He solely defeated his father in combat once more, and sent him back to the grave, though Dracula did show a spark of humanity after Alucard told him Lisa's last words: that mankind should be left in peace, and that she would always love him. He then planned to put himself back at rest but Maria, who had developed a strong attraction to him, eventually set out to convince him to stay.