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'Dracula' is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan in 1972. He is based on the character of Dracula from the novel of the same name written by famous English novelist Bram Stoker in 1897.

Contents

Publication History

Fictional character biography

Powers and abilities

Other Media

Notes and references

External links

Publication History

Dracula first appears in a Atlas Comics publication.^[1]
In Marvel Comics, Dracula appeared in a ''Tomb of Dracula'' comic^[2] which ended in 1979.
Several years later, Dracula resurfaced in an issue of ''The Uncanny X-Men''. However, in appearance, this lord of the undead did not much resemble the Dracula of old, and there remains some discussion among fans over whether or not this was the same Dracula as had appeared in ''Tomb of Dracula''. Although Wolfman and Colan's version had been established as inhabiting the regular Marvel Universe (and battling such super-heroes as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange), there are some who feel that the redesign of the character in the X-Men's story was an attempt to establish that the ''Tomb of Dracula'' version lived in his own alternate universe, apart from the mainstream Marvel world and characters.
Although Dracula (and all other vampires in the Marvel Universe) were eventually destroyed by the mystical "Montesi Formula" in the pages of ''Doctor Strange'', the vampire lord was revived. Marvel published a four-issue ''Tomb of Dracula'' miniseries, reuniting Wolfman and Colan, under its Epic Comics imprint in 1991, and revived Dracula and his foes in the short-lived ''Nightstalkers'' and ''Blade'' series in the 1990s. Most recently, Dracula took the title role in the miniseries ''Dracula: Lord of the Undead''.
''Apocalypse vs. Dracula'' featured Dracula battling the immortal foe of the X-Men in Victorian London.

Fictional character biography

Born Vlad Dracula in 1430 in Schassburg, Transylvania (now Sighişoara, Romania), as the second son of a Transylvanian nobleman. He was named prince of Wallachia and became ruler while still a child. Over the next several years, he struggled against the Ottoman Turks, losing and regaining his throne. Through an arranged marriage to a Hungarian noblewoman, he sired his daughter, Lilith. He sent his wife away and later married a woman named Maria, with whom he had a son named Vlad Tepelus.
In 1459, Dracula was mortally wounded by the Turkish warlord Turac, who brought Dracula to a gypsy named Lianda to be healed. However, Lianda was a vampire, and transformed Dracula into a vampire as well. Turac raped and killed Maria, and in revenge Dracula slew Turac, causing him to become a vampire. Dracula gave his son Vlad Tepelus to gypsies to raise.
Dracula defeated the vampire Nimrod in battle, and thus succeeded him at ruler of Earth’s vampires. Soon afterwards, he enhanced his own blood with that of Varnae, giving him greater powers than any other vampire. In 1471, Dracula abdicated his princehood.
In the 19th century, he faced opposition from Abraham van Helsing and Jonathan Harker in England, the exploits of which were recorded in the 1897 novel by Stoker, ''Dracula''. When the humans destroyed Dracula, his remains were placed in his coffin, concealed within a cave blocked by an enormous boulder. In ''Frankenstein's Monster'', the behemoth in the story was tricked into unsealing the cave and opening the coffin, thus, freeing Dracula.
In the 20th century, Dracula encountered numerous opponents, including Quincy Harker and Rachel van Helsing, the descendants of his enemies described by Stoker, vampire hunter Blade, his only known living descendant Frank Drake, vampiric detective Hannibal King, Mephisto, Doctor Sun, the X-Men, and others. Just before World War I, he was responsible for transforming Lord John Falsworth into Baron Blood. Doctor Strange destroyed Dracula and all of Earth’s vampires by casting the Montessi Formula, though Dracula eventually returned.

Powers and abilities

Dracula possesses far greater powers than most vampires. He has superhuman strength, , shapeshifting, flight (which is a usual attribution to most vampires with shapechanging abilities, see vampires in fiction), superhuman stamina, agility and reflexes; he is immune to aging, conventional disease, sickness and most forms of injury.
He ignores most assaults and can rapidly regenerate damaged tissue; however, he must drink blood regularly to survive, and is vulnerable to silver, garlic, sunlight, a wooden stake through the heart, and religious symbols (whose threat is related to the strength of faith of their wielder, provided said religion existed during his human life) and other magic items, such as the Bloodgem. Certain spells, such as the Montesi Formula, can destroy Dracula; however, in all circumstances of apparent destruction, Dracula has been revived by some means. If Dracula fatally drains a victim, that person will arise in three days as a vampire.
Dracula can manipulate the minds of others; commanding the minds of animals such as rodents, bats and wolves alike. With limited exceptions, he may control other vampires. He is capable of transforming into a bat — normal or human size — and into a fog or mist — partially or fully — and has the ability of weather control, such as summoning electrical storms. Like some vampires in other works of fiction, Dracula does not cast reflections and cannot enter a house without being invited. His powers have sometimes been greatly amplified and his weaknesses circumvented by magical sources, such as spells of the Darkholders.
Dracula is also a skilled combatant and swordsman, specializing in 15th century warfare and militaristic strategy. He has a gifted intellect.

Other Media

Dracula appeared in the ''Spider-Woman'' episode "Dracula's Revenge."
In 1980, an animated TV-movie was made based on ''Tomb of Dracula''. Much of the main plot was condensed and many characters and subplots were truncated or omitted. It was animated in Japan and sparsely released on cable TV in North America by Harmony Gold under the title ''Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned''.
Dracula appeared in the ''Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' episode "The Transylvania Connection" (AKA "The Bride of Dracula") voiced by Stan Jones.
Dracula appears as the main villain in '' portrayed by Dominic Purcell and under the name "Drake."

Notes and references

1. ''Suspense'' #7
2. ''Tomb of Dracula'' ran from issue #1 to #70
3. ''Tomb of Dracula'' #40

External links

★ The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Dracula

★ Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Dracula