Dracula (Castlevania)

Dracula
Castlevania series character
Dracula as he appears in Symphony of the Night, artwork by Ayami Kojima
First game	Castlevania
Created by	Hitoshi Akamatsu
Designed by	Noriyasu Togakushi (original design) Ayami Kojima (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night onwards)
Voiced by (English)	Scott McCulloch (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) Crispin Freeman (as Mathias Cronqvist in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence) Douglas Rye (Castlevania: Curse of Darkness) Patrick Seitz (Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Castlevania Judgment) Robert Carlyle (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Norio Wakamoto, Nobuhiko Kazama (as Mathias), Mahito Ooba, Hiroya Ishimaru, Jouji Nakata

Dracula Vlad Ţepeş or simply known as Dracula (ドラキュラ, Dorakyura^?) is a fictional character from the multi-platform Castlevania video game series. A vampire and sorcerer, he is the main antagonist of the series and the final boss of almost every installment. He is the overall primary protagonist in the rebooted Castlevania trilogy Lords of Shadow — though he takes on his classical antagonistic role in the game Mirror of Fate— where his origin is heavily altered, as he is reimagined as being part of a holy order who eventually falls from grace and becomes the vampire Dracula.

The Dracula of Castlevania is based on Bram Stoker's character in the novel of the same name, who was in turn likely named for 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, he loves his son Alucard.

In the series reboot Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Dracula is reimagined as an 11th-century holy knight named Gabriel Belmont and serves as the central character of the game and its two sequels. The Lords of Shadow series tell the story of Gabriel's quest to save the world, fall into darkness and journey of redemption. The series portrays Dracula in a more sympathetic light, compared to his original counterpart.