Alucard (Hellsing)

Alucard
File:Frontp05.jpg Alucard in volume 1
Publication information
Publisher	Young King OURs
First appearance	Hellsing volume 1
Created by	Kouta Hirano
In-story information
Alter ego	Vlad III Dracula
Team affiliations	Hellsing, Protestant Church, British Crown, Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Order of the Dragon, himself
Notable aliases	Count Dracula, Vlad Ţepeş, Kazıklı Bey, J.H. Brenner
Abilities	Vast strength, Flight, The ability to pass through solid objects, Transformation, Teleportation, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Mind Reading, Hypnosis, Regeneration, Weather Manipulation, Summoning an army of souls (familiars)

This article deals with Alucard from the Hellsing series. For other uses, see Alucard (disambiguation).

Alucard (アーカード lit. Ākādo) is a character from the anime and manga Hellsing. He was designed by Kouta Hirano. Template:Spoilers

Alucard is the protagonist of the Hellsing manga, and also the most powerful warrior of the Hellsing organization. He is not only a vampire, but also one of the most ancient ones. He usually dresses up in a Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, riding boots and a flamboyant and intricately knotted bowtie, covered by a long red trench coat. He also wears a wide flapping fedora hat and a pair of circular, wire-framed sunglasses. He does wear other outfits however: in the manga he dons a suit (with a notoriously awful tie) for a trip to South America, and in his highest states of power release his clothes change completely, sometimes into an unlaced straitjacket, and at one point into a suit of medieval armour (more about clothes and release states below). He has an almost unbelievably vast range of supernatural powers, and is an expert gunfighter, his enhanced strength allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider heavy weaponry.

Despite his thirst for battle, Alucard is not without feelings. He has strong emotions that tie him with his Master, Integra Hellsing, friendship with Walter and a fatherly concern towards his 'child', Seras Victoria.

In the anime (both TV series and OVA) Alucard is voiced by Nakata Jouji. (中田譲治) In the US dubbed version, he's voiced by Crispin Freeman.

Note: In print, he is occasionally (and erroneously) called "Arucard".

Powers

Alucard demonstrates, in Hellsing's various incarnations, an astonishing and overwhelming range of supernatural powers (the range and strength of which have led some critics to remark that he is simply too omnipotent a character); these include, but are probably not limited to:

• Vast strength (limits are unknown, but Alucard can rip people apart "as if they were wet tissue paper")
• Flight
• The ability to pass through solid objects
• Manipulation of shadows into physical form (Although it isn't unheard of vampires controlling shadows the artwork does not distinguish between blood and shadows.)
• Transformation (Alucard can transform himself or parts of himself into bats, insects or a giant eight-eyed hellhound, for example.)
• Teleportation
• Telekinesis
• Telepathy
  • Mind Reading
• Mind Control or Hypnosis (fans sometimes call it the sex beam after a remark from Pip)
• Regeneration (Alucard can regenerate any part of his body. He can even be reduced to paste and pull himself back together.) [[1]]
• Weather Manipulation
• Summoning the souls of those whose blood he has sucked (familiars) that either sprout from his body or swarm about him as an army in the thousands.

File:Sikent3.jpg

Alucard in the TV series

Weapons

• Hellsing ARMS .454 Casull Auto 'Joshua' - This massive semi-automatic pistol is 29 cm (Almost 1') in length, making it too heavy and unwieldy for a human to use, but a perfect match for Alucard's strength. It fires custom-made explosive .454 Casull rounds, with the steel bullets bearing a core made from the melted silver cross of a Lancunian cathedral. It holds six in the magazine, and is actually a slightly enlarged (or inappropriately drawn) Strayer-Voigt Infinity, a variant of the Colt M1911A.

• Hellsing ARMS 13 mm Auto Anti-Freak Cannon 'Jackal' - With a length of 39 cm (Almost 1' 4"), weight of 16 kg (35.2 lbs), and made of black gunmetal, it is not a weapon a normal man could even hope to wield, but as its designer says, "It was never meant for a man." It fires special 13 mm armor-piercing, explosive, mercury-core baptized bullets, with casings of Macedonian silver, powered by "Marvell's Chemical Cartridge N.N.A.9." It is designed almost exclusively as a weapon to use against Iscariot's Alexander Anderson, who shrugged off the Casull rounds with ease. The words 'Jesus Christ is in Heaven now' are engraved upon it, in mockery of a similar statement on Anderson's gloves. Contrary to popular belief, the weapon does have a slide, the movement however is so minimal that there appears to be none at all.

Release states

Alucard's vast powers are controlled entirely by the heir to the Hellsing estate (Currently Integra Hellsing). The anime makes a point out of the director having to give Alucard verbal permission to use his most devastating powers. This is apparently enforced by something called the "control art restriction system." "Control art" may refer to the designs on Alucard's gloves. There are shown to be four levels of restriction and 5 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. Alucard can often be heard to state what level he is releasing immediately prior to combat, as in "Releasing control art restriction to level two." Why he says this is unclear. Given his personality, it could simply be to unnerve his opponents, or perhaps it is a requirement of the release mechanism. One theory is that the verbal statement somehow informs Integra of his release status - important information, given his vast power. In the manga, Alucard fully released his restriction systems, at the request of Integra.

Clothes and release states

Many fans have noticed that Alucard's state of dress seems directly related to the amount of power he's using: as he charges up to engage in battle, first his sunglasses, then his hat will disappear; in the manga he also removes his arms from the sleeves of his coat letting it simply just hang on his shoulders 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 the final, leather suited state 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 Hellsings 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).

In his final release state Alucard reverted to his original form back when he was still Vlad Tepes. In this form he appeared in his early 30s opposed to looking his early 20s with a thick beard and moustache. 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.

It is debated whether his younger form shown in Hellsing: The Dawn (nicknamed Girlycard) is 'state of release'.

The Dracula connection

One of the oft-discussed aspects of his character is whether or not he is actually Count Dracula (of Bram Stoker's novel). Hints have been given in both the anime and the manga, which can now be taken, along with his highly suggestive name - Alucard backwards is Dracula, to present irrefutable evidence:

• Anime:
  • Alucard impaled Incognito at the end of their fight in episode 13 in the same way that Vlad Tepes was famous for. Afterwards, his face is lit up by lightning to briefly reveal the image of Vlad Tepes for a few seconds (Tepes is the man said to be the historic origin of Dracula).
  • In his dialogue with Incognito, Alucard states that "his name is a bit of an enigma", or, depending on the translation: "My name is an anagram as well." When read inverse, ALUCARD becomes DRACULA.
• Age:
  • There is documentation by Kouta Hirano (Hellsing's creator) that says that Alucard is 567 years old. This is consistent with Vlad the Impaler being born in 1431 and the manga starting in June 1999. It is said that Vlad is the source of Dracula. If Alucard is Vlad, he'll have his 568^th circa early December 1999.
• Manga:
  • He impaled heavily armed Brazilian special tactics policemen (GATE) outside a hotel in Rio de Janeiro (volume 3).
  • In volume 4, he had a dream or a vision of the past, where he was pinned to the ground by who appears to be Abraham Van Helsing (a character from the Bram Stoker novel). The man says "Even her mark from the Eucharist Wafer is gone. She will never belong to you." This could be a reference to the Mina Harker from Bram Stoker's Dracula, to whom Dracula had given the curse of vampirism, and who had an allergic reaction to being touched by the Eucharist Wafer, the physical embodiment of the body of Christ. The mark disappeared after Dracula's supposed death. The man then addresses Alucard as 'Count.'
  • In volume 7, as "The Eagle" with Alucard on board sails into London, the narrator comments on another similar incident, that of the coming to England of Dracula.

"Once, a vampire came to England. To get a woman he personally desired...the vampire sailed aboard a schooner. The schooner dashed from wave to wave through the fog at unbelievable speed. The entire crew was killed. And so, the ghost ship, fully laden with corpses and caskets, made port in London. Her name is the Demeter. In Russian, the Demitri." (from Hellsing manga Volume 7)

• • In the second chapter of volume 8, Alucard removed the final restraints, calling upon all his 'familiars'. These turned out to include Rip van Winkle, Alhambra, and thousands of other people he had fed on throughout the centuries (even Turkish Janissary soldiers from the time of Vlad Tepes). They arose from a literal ocean of blood, emanating from Alucard's coffin (which he had stowed aboard the spy-plane used to reach The Eagle in vol. 5). Among them are knights riding undead horses, wielding banners representing Wallachia (Vlad Tepes ruled as prince of Wallachia). Finally, Enrico Maxwell utters the famous name 'Dracula', thus solidifying Alucard´s identity.
  • In chapter 70, Alucard goes into a flashback, in which he is shown to have rejected Christianity by the drinking of blood while he was on the Turkish execution block, about to be killed. Earlier in the same flashback we see a young Alucard (nicknamed "Babycard" by some in the fanbase) being dragged before a royally dressed figure and raped, consistent with Vlad the Impaler's history, where he and his younger brother, Radu, were given as hostages to the Sultan of the Ottoman empire, as a guarantee of cooperation between the two sovereigns.
  • Chapter 72, Heart of Dream, has a flashback sequence running simultanously with the action, where Integral recalls something her father, Arthur Hellsing, mentioned while he was struggling with his sickness. It focused on his beliefs regarding vampires, and his study of a particular specimen. This is obviously meant to be Alucard, as panels showing him battling Anderson in the present are shown throughout the dialogue. One of the names listed in connection with this vampire, is "Dracula", while another is "Count".
• Vampire Folklore:
  • In some traditional sources, such as Le Fanu's Carmilla, vampires could only use their original name, or an anagram of that name, hence why Alucard says his name is an anagram in the anime. The reason why the Hellsing organisation may have chosen to rename Dracula to Alucard is to hide his identity from other forces, keeping him as their trump card, or as a symbol of Alucard's new order to be the opposite/reverse of what he once was, thus Dracula backwards.
• Appearance:
  • Although there is some debate, some believe Alucard to look like Dracula, who was described as having long black hair, red eyes, thick eyebrows, and hawk like features. Alucard matches these features in all except his hair, which changes from time to time.
  • As mentioned above, during his final release state, when Alucard releases all the controls placed upon him, unlocking all his greatest powers, he looks very similar to Vlad Tepes, wearing medieval armor (Vlad Tepes ruled in the 15th century). Vlad Tepes is argued by some to be the inspiration for the fictional Dracula, especially since there were allusions to Vlad's history in the original Bram Stoker novel, (as Vlad Tepes was also called Vlad Dracula), and the two Draculas also share a similar physical appearance, except Tepes had a beard. In his final release state, Alucard also has a beard, connecting him to Tepes, and thus to Dracula.

Beliefs

Underneath his seemingly arrogant and everything-beneath-him personality, Alucard has certain strong beliefs himself; an irony, when one remembers that he repeatedly denies his Christian roots. One such belief is that only humans are capable of defeating monsters such as himself. He had mentioned this belief before; during the assault in Brazil, that was the reason he gave the SWAT team as to why they could not hope to defeat him (He compares them to dogs [lackeys] ). In chapter 71, while he was being burnt by Anderson's new-found powers, his belief enabled him to make a seemingly complete recovery from his wounds and give him new determination to face down Anderson.

Others simply came from his experiences throughout his long life. One such belief is the nonexistence of anything eternal; his own empire came crashing down when Dr. Van Helsing "killed" him a second time.