Dracula , whose full name is Dracula Vlad Tepes, is a fictional vampire from the multi-platform Castlevania video game series. He is the main villain of the series and the final boss of almost every installment, the only exceptions being the first and last games in the series' chronology.
The Dracula of Castlevania is based on Bram Stoker's character in the novel of the same name, which was in turn very similar to the infamous Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia. The Castlevania Dracula draws some history from both, but instead of preying on maidens this one threatens whole realms with his armies at the least, and at worst is presented as the very embodiment of evil.
He is, however, capable of loving relationships (his evil nature is partly fuelled by the loss of two women he loved) and despite their differences is fond of his son Alucard.
Dracula's appearance is very inconsistent throughout the series' history. It has been subtly revealed in Castlevania Aria of Sorrow that this is because of Dracula's physical body dying when he is defeated, and thus he is reborn with a new one which is then summoned, unbeknownst to the new host (Soma Cruz) itself, into Castlevania.
In just about every game, he wears very aristocratic clothing, whether it be a tuxedo (a la Bela Lugosi) or some sort of royal garb (complete with medals and medallions). His face has evolved into many different forms. Initially, his face resembled that of Bela Lugosi's Dracula in the first few games (this appearance was reused in Castlevania Portrait of Ruin). Every few games, his appearance changed from one sort to another.
In Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo and the beginning of Castlevania Symphony of the Night, he had the form of an anime character with medium length, dull purple hair. He has a more demonic look in Castlevania Dracula X and Castlevania Bloodlines. The more recent look of Dracula, starting with Symphony of the Night, gives him a beard or goatee of some sort and longer hair. His hair color still changes between a dark brown or black and a gray color.
His facial proportions also change. He has a very heavyset and muscular looking face in the Nintendo 64 Castlevania games, whereas he has a more thin and elegant face in Symphony of the Night and the first two hand held games. In Curse of Darkness, Dracula wears a long robe of some sort, with a more realistic version of the Symphony of the Night face.
His most common form of attack is to teleport from one part of the screen to another, then opening his cape to fire a spread of three small fireballs at the player, whereas in later games he can also fire larger, meteor-like fireballs these attacks are called "HellFire" and "Dark Inferno" respectively. Usually, he can only be damaged with strikes to the head or neck area. After being defeated in his humanoid form, Dracula usually morphs into a larger, more powerful demonic form.
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