You Can Always Count on Him
Dracula: “Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will! Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring!“
Dracula
Count Dracula is the world’s most famous vampire. Children have feared him for centuries while teens and adults still flock to his movies. Bram Stoker’s creation was inspired by a divisive prince of Wallachia called Vlad the Impaler.
Dracula popularized vampires and their tropes. Entering the public domain has only further spread his reign of terror. Name any franchise and it’s safe to bet that the characters have fought him at some point.
With so many portrayals, one wonders which are the best. Which Draculas are the strongest, the scariest, the most entertaining, or so iconic that they stand out from the horde? Who is the best? Let’s find out.
#5 Dracula: Fate/Apocrypha
Played By: Ray Chase, Ryotaro Okiayu
Darnic: “Vlad Tepes, I order you with a Command Seal, activate your Noble Phantasm: Legend of Dracula!”
Fate/Apocrypha “The Holy Man Returns Triumphant” (Season 1, Episode 12)
Lancer: “Darnic, you bastard! [transforms against his will] NO! I… am not… a vampire! I’M NOT!”
Darnic: “Oh, but you are. You are the vampire Dracula!”
Our first Dracula is one of the most powerful incarnations. He’d kill me for putting him on this list, but he’s earned the spot.
Warring factions of mages summon heroes from myth and history to fight for the Holy Grail. The Black Faction’s leader summons Vlad the Impaler, who is code-named Lancer of Black. Vlad is cunning and brave, but hates that his family has been tied into the Dracula story. He plans to claim the Holy Grail and erase the concept of Dracula from history.
Vlad has powerful magic called Noble Phantasms that annihilate armies. Demonic Defender of the State enhances his magic, strength, speed, and durability while he is in Walachia. Kazikli Bey creates spears that can be summoned anywhere, even inside of opponents. Combining these abilities makes the Black Faction’s base unbeatable.
Legend of Dracula is Vlad’s trump card. He gives up the first two Noble Phantasms to transform into a berserk and nigh-invincible vampire. He will never willingly use it and both factions called a truce when he was forced to. Count Dracula defeated a team of demigods led by Jeanne d’Arc before finally dying from another saint’s ambush.
#4 Hammer Horror
Played By: Christopher Lee
Dracula: “You are an interfering man, Professor. Do not meddle, or you will have to deal with me.”
Satanic Rites of Dracula
Dracula is one of the few monsters that talks. You can reason with him or listen to his grandiloquent rants. This incarnation prefers to be strong and silent.
Vampire hunter Jonathan Harker infiltrates Dracula’s castle to slay the Count. He is killed, drawing the attention of master hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). The doctor and his allies slay several vampires before cornering the Count and forcing him into sunlight.
You can’t keep a good Dracula dead. He returned to life several times, seeking women to marry and oceans of blood. Each time Van Helsing and his descendants were ready to fight the fiend. Drac’s schemes grew more devious with each resurrection, culminating in an attempted genocide via biological warfare.
Christopher Lee’s Dracula was a very different beast from his predecessors. He rarely spoke, acted feral, and was a practicing Satanist unlike his inspiration, a Christian crusader. He lacked many of the standard vampire powers, but made up for their absence with presence. Victims rarely resisted being bitten, which Lee used to showcase the studios’ newfangled technicolor cameras with vivid red blood.
#3 Dracula: Castlevania
Played by: Graham McTavish
Dracula: Go now! Go to all the cities of Wallachia: Arges! Severin! Gresit! Chilia! Enisara! Go now, and kill! Kill for my love! Kill… for the only true love I ever knew. Kill… for the endless lifetime of hate before me.”
Castlevania “Witchbottle” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Most incarnations of Dracula focus on the supernatural aspects. Drinking blood, turning into animals, killing to survive, and other nightmarish sights are the moneymakers. But Dracula was once human. So what happens when Vlad Tepes is in the driver’s seat?
A doctor named Lisa traveled to Dracula’s castle to demand an apprenticeship. The Count was impressed by her bravery and hired her. Over time, they fell in love and had a child. Unfortunately, the church believed Lisa to be a witch and burned her at the stake while Dracula was away.
Dracula unleashed an army of demons on Wallachia. Several generals took care of the night-to-night massacres, freeing the Count to mourn Lisa’s death. He admits to close allies how empty he is without her and implies that he is suicidal. But if he’s going down, he’s bringing all of humanity with him.
Wanna know more about this Dracula? Check out our reviews for the entire run of Castlevania.
#2 Hellsing
Played by: Crispin Freeman
Alucard: “Every time I die, this is the vision that greets my eyes. And every time I think, ‘How lovely that sunlight which I forsook so many centuries ago…”
Hellsing: Ultimate “Chapter X” (Season 1, Episode 10)
There’s no telling how many people Dracula has killed over time. But if he’s so good at killing humans, what would happen if he decided to switch gears and hunt monsters instead?
Van Hellsing defeated Count Dracula in the past and magically bound the vampire to serve his family. They experimented on him, creating an unstoppable monster to defend humanity: Alucard. The vampiric control passed through the Hellsing bloodline until falling into the service of their latest heir, Integra.
Alucard is snarky and loves slaughtering enemies in gruesome ways. Dig past the devil may care facade and you’ll find a traumatized king searching for a human worthy of killing him. That’s not easy since Alucard is one of Dracula’s strongest incarnations. He can regenerate from anything, shapeshift, summon familiars, and has really big guns.
Most of Alucard’s powers are sealed and can only be used at Integra’s command. As a last resort, she can order him to release all of the seals and become Dracula once more. Doing so summons all of his victims as undead minions, a surging river of corpses.
#1 Dracula (1931)
Played by: Bela Lugosi
Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
Dracula (1931)
There’s a reason that Universal’s first portrayal of the vampire king remains the most famous. It is unlikely our previous four Draculas would exist without this Universal Horror classic.
Count Dracula hires realtor Renfield to help him buy a house in England. He drives the employee mad before departing for his new home. The vampire preys on women while being pursued by wizened monster hunter Van Helsing.
Dracula was as eccentric as his actor, Bela Lugosi. He’s portrayed as genteel, but detached. Many scares are built on him intensely staring as he looms near victims. The special effects are simple but effective at making Dracula seem unnatural.
This incarnation of Dracula only appeared once more, matching wits with Abbott and Costello while trying to conquer the world. He died in battle with The Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), ushering out the age of Universal Horror movies. But you can’t keep Drac down forever. He was reborn in 2023’s Renfield, with Nicholas Cage filling Lugosi’s long abandoned cape.
What is your favorite incarnation of Dracula? Is there one you like better than these? Tell us in the comments.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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