Dracula is, simply put, a broken man and a shell of his former self. While the most feared–and most powerful–of vampires, it\u2019s clear that Dracula always viewed himself as an enlightened philosopher king. As mankind devolved into the dark ages, he alone kept the knowledge of antiquity safe. Yet, neither humanity nor his fellow vampires grasped what he had done–humans seeing the knowledge he protected as dark magic and vampires seeing it as the consolidation of his unquestionable power. <\/span><\/p>\n And then he met Lisa.<\/span><\/p>\n To Dracula, Lisa was a unique existence. Like him, she treasured knowledge not as a weapon but as something wonderful. She so craved knowledge that she, a lone woman, confronted the king of all vampires to ask for it. Dracula had, after countless years, found a kindred spirit–and among the humans, not the vampires. He who had set himself above both humans and vampires was forced to confront the idea that he might have been wrong to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n As the two fell in love, married, and eventually had a child together, he was driven to better understand her–a cause she very much encouraged. After all, to better understand her, he needed to better understand humanity. <\/span><\/p>\n Of course, there was more to her motivations than just love. From the start, Lisa saw Dracula as what he could be, a savior of mankind and the shepherd to a new golden age. All he had to do was want to be one. The first step on this path was to have him see the value of humanity. Thus, she had Dracula journey across the land, meeting people both good and bad and helping those he could. <\/span><\/p>\n However, with Lisa\u2019s murder, any positive changes that came from his journeys were short-lived–perverted and twisted by Dracula\u2019s rage as he began his war of genocide against mankind. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Over the course of his travels, Dracula befriended two human individuals, Hector and Isaac. Both of them have the ability to forge life from death–to create new creatures from the corpses of the old. After Lisa\u2019s death, it is they that become Dracula\u2019s staunchest allies in his quest for revenge–not his vampire vassals. After all, while the vampires know Dracula as a king, Isaac and Hector know him as a man–a man who saved their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n Isaac, being raised as a slave, knows all too well the evils of humanity. He doesn\u2019t believe that humanity is worth saving–a belief bolstered by the fact that an enlightened being like Dracula has determined the same. Because of this, he is unwavering in his loyalty even when faced with Dracula\u2019s true plan for the complete genocide of mankind.<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, Hector\u2019s loyalty is not quite as iron-clad. A war of revenge against humanity, much less genocide, is not something Hector is equipped to understand–it doesn\u2019t fit with his worldview. He sees humans as just another animal and so such a war makes no sense to him. However, the idea that humanity is harmful and thus its population must be culled to a controllable level, that he can understand. Yet, his inability to comprehend Dracula\u2019s true plan is also what opens him up to manipulation by the vampires–specifically, Carmilla.<\/span><\/p>\n Carmilla is a vampire woman trying to make it in a vampire man\u2019s world. Originally turned as a vampire bride, her master grew old, cruel, and insane–so she killed him. She is both the most logical and sadistic of the villains–and the one that best represents the typical vampire viewpoint about what\u2019s happening. She doesn\u2019t question <\/span>what<\/span><\/i> is happening–i.e., a war with mankind–she questions <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> it is happening. She rightly surmises that this war is not one of conquest, but one of genocide–which is a problem when the species you\u2019re killing off is your species\u2019 entire food source. Thus, she sees Dracula as just another old vampire man who has lost his mind and thus needs to be dispatched like her original master–and she\u2019s not wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n While he may have originally acted out of rage, after a year of preparation and weeks of all-out war, Dracula\u2019s revenge has become a burden upon his soul. What he really wants is to die–but feels that he must get his revenge first. He cares not at all that vampires will become extinct alongside the humans. In his insanity, he expects his orders to be followed even if they are a pointless death sentence. It is all Dracula can manage to sit in his study and brood–delegating the war to Hector, Isaac, and his vampire generals while awaiting the news of humanity\u2019s complete obliteration. <\/span><\/p>\n Spiritually, Dracula died on the same day as his wife–and it\u2019s largely her fault. Lisa wanted Dracula to see the good in mankind–and he did, through her. He realized that what he loved about Lisa stemmed from her humanity. This is why he never turned her into a vampire. He feared what would be lost in the process. <\/span><\/p>\n In loving her humanity, he opened himself up emotionally, gaining a \u201chumanity\u201d all his own. But even after years of marriage, it was still new and fragile–and thus utterly shattered by her murder. Dracula was completely unprepared to deal with his loss and it broke him on a fundamental level. He loved Lisa so deeply that living in a world without her was unthinkable–the only thing more unthinkable was letting the world that killed her survive.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, even as Dracula\u2019s \u201chumanity\u201d is what sets mankind on the path to extinction, it is also what allows him to be defeated. Betrayed by Carmilla and Isaac, devoid of his vampire army, and low on blood, Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha take the fight to the vampire king. Yet, even together, the trio are largely outmatched–especially once Dracula unleashes his full power. Isolated from the other two, Alucard is manhandled by his father–thrown through wall after wall, door after door. Yet, this eventually leads the battling father\/son pair to Alucard\u2019s own childhood bedroom. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s only here, facing down a portrait of his wife with his son lying nearly broken at his feet, that Dracula sees what he is doing. He\u2019s about to kill the only part of Liza that remains in the world: the son they made together. What is left of his shattered humanity cries out and he realizes his own insanity for what it is. And it’s in this moment of lucidity he allows Alucard to drive a stake through his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n Castlevania<\/span><\/i> is, on its most basic level, a character piece examining the tragedy of Dracula. As showrunner Adi Shankar has said \u201c<\/span>What Dracula is doing is not really a war against humanity. It’s more a suicide note.\u201d It\u2019s a tale where a hope for redemption is crushed by the reality of an uncaring world–where someone who could have become mankind’s savior become its greatest threat. But even within this darkness, a new hope for the future is born in the form of an unlikely trio of companions–and even though Dracula\u2019s tale is done, theirs is only just beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n Castlevania<\/span><\/i> can be seen on <\/span>Netflix<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/01-1.jpg?resize=960%2C540\")
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