Vlad III

"Impotent fools, how dare you said such mockery before me! I am no Hell's spawn or Satan's minion, I am a loyal servant of the Lord, one that would willing to darken himself in His Holy Name. I am the Holy Dragon, the Shield of Christianity, and the Vampire of God. So I dare you. Whisper such bullshit one more time and I swear not even God's mercy can save you from the fate I will force upon you..."

- Vlad III.

Vlad III was the holy king of Wallachia of Romania, born at 1431 by Vlad II Dracul, who became a vampire under the authority of God.

Overview
During his time as Vlad Tepes, his father was called "Dracul," meaning "dragon" or "devil" in Romanian because he belonged to the Order of the Dragon, which fought the Muslim Ottoman Empire. "Dracula" means "Son of Dracul" in Romanian. Therefore young Vlad was "son of the dragon" or Son of the Devil. Scholars believe this was the beginning of the legend that Dracula was a Vampire. He was known as the Impaler due to the brutal ways he punished his enemies.

Vlad lived in a time of constant war. Wallachia was at the frontier of two great empires: the Ottoman Turks and the Austrian Hapsburgs. Treachery, vindictiveness, and revenge ruled the day, as young Vlad soon discovered.

Appearance
Vlad is dressed in a royal fashion, appearing as black as a shadow in the night, contrasted with his pale face and long, silk-like white hair. He gives off an overwhelming presence, causing ceaseless trembling wherever he happens to look. This does not stem from fear due to a violent nature, but rather that those exposed to his icy gaze recognize themselves as hopelessly weak and powerless existences before him.

Personality
"I swear to God, if you mentioned that fuckin' book one more time..."

- Vlad III.

Though there is an aura of danger about him, he in fact possesses a modest and considerate personality. His opinions and unrestrained manner of expression lend easily to the impression that he is a sociopath who has disengaged himself from the standard mores of society.

He is angered by the legend of "Count Dracula" that has stained his name, so he wishes to restore his name's honor. Although he will not deny the path he walked in life, even those to which he has resigned himself like the war against the Turks and his imprisonment, he cannot forgive his name being smeared with blood, telling of a humiliating legend of a blood-starved fiend, in matters that did not involve him in any way. He tries to ignore the reputation of the vampire modeled after him in a mature manner, but somehow, representations of him that he comes across will end up being destroyed.

Slaughter for the Throne
Vlad lived in a time of constant war. Transylvania was at the frontier of two great empires: the Ottoman Turks and the Austrian Hapsburgs. Treachery, vindictiveness, and revenge ruled the day, as young Vlad soon discovered. Vlad was imprisoned, first by the Turks, who hauled him away in chains, and later by the Hungarians. Vlad's father was murdered, while his older brother, Mircea, was blinded with red-hot iron stakes and buried alive.

From 1448 until his death in 1476, Vlad ruled Wallachia and Transylvania, both part of Romania today. Twice he lost and reclaimed his throne, once by fighting his own brother, Radu. Although the Vatican once praised him for defending Christianity, it disapproved of his methods, which soon became infamous. Vlad's favorite method of torture was to impale people and leave them to writhe in agony, often for days. As a warning to others, the bodies would remain on rods as vultures and blackbirds nibbled the rotting flesh.

A Devil on Earth
Dracula was known for slaughtering his own people simply to avoid war. When the Ottoman army attempted to invade Wallachia in the early 15th century, they encountered several thousand impaled and rotting corpses staked on the banks of the Danube River. Historical records state that the Ottoman emperor saw his forces return shortly after, many of them sobbing and ranting that whoever had slaughtered all those people had to be the Devil.

During one battle, Vlad retreated into nearby mountains, impaling people as he went. The Turkish advance was halted because the sultan could not bear the stench from the decaying corpses and the sultan was none other then Mehmed II who is known for his use of psychological warfare. Another time, Vlad was said to have eaten a meal on a table set up outside amidst hundreds of impaled victims. On occasion he was also reported to have eaten bread dipped in blood.

Birth of Dracula
Unfortunately for Vlad, however, his reign came to an end when he was captured by the Turks and was to be executed accordingly. He eventually fell in December 1476 while fighting the Turks near Bucharest, Romania. As he prepared for his impending death, Vlad internally prayed to an external force to save him from death and someone answered.

Vlad entered a state of Limbo as he peered into the pool of blood beneath him and materalizing before him was Satan himself. The Devil was impressed by his sheer bloodlust and ferocity but was also intrigued by his religious views as Vlad believed that if they continue to constantly kill in the name of God then He would finally present Himself before His flock as He would no longer be tolerant over the blood being spilled unto the lands. Satan then offered to make a deal with him, gifting him extraordinary power to destroy those who wronged him and to use it to establish himself as his own God since the Abrahamic God did not appear when Vlad called out to Him in exchange for his soul.

However, Satan did not truly realize the amount of faith that Vlad had for the Abrahamic God. As so, he was surpised when Vlad refused the deal due to his loyalty to God even in death, his refusal to be a pawn of the Devil and his diginity as a king. In righteous fury, Vlad declared that Satan will always be his enemy and attacked him in this limbo. While ruthless and relentless in his attacks, Vlad stood no chance compared to Satan who still was intrigued in him. Satan forced his will over Vlad by making him drink the Devil's blood just as he was executed by beheading.

Afterwards, they beheaded his corpse and had his head was displayed in Constantinople, however, despite his demise, the Impaler was able to avoid his fate, escaping through Limbo and thus in the process, became the historical Dracula. As Dracula, he is widely known as the King of all Vampires, and the most powerful vampire of all time. No vampire in history is able to match his brutality and power, and rightly so.

Aftermath
After his time, Vlad was stuck as a immortal undead. With no faith, no family and no home to call his own, he watch all events unfold until being found by the Infernal Emperor Lucifer who imprisoned him in a castle made specifically for him. With his power and rage, Dracula was treated as one of the most powerful vampires in existence with many hunters fearing his name. He later turned the members of the Order of the Dragon into powerful vampires such as himself and became a ruling body of vampire society.

However, light had shined in his undead life when the True Archangel of Death Azrael appeared before him in peace. The Angel explains that Vlad was intended to become a vampire so that other vampires didn't enslave humanity. Finding out his purpose in undeath, Vlad went back to his new castle before going out to find the other vampiric nobles. Unknowingly, he was watched by Carmilla who was sent by the Vampire God Absalom to observe him.

Myths and Legends
This word became Anglicized to "Dracula" and Bram Stoker used this form as the eponymous title for his 1897 Gothic novel and its main antagonist, Count Dracula. Although both the real Vlad and the fictional Dracula originated in Romania, it is to be noted that their specific ethnicities and default languages differed: Vlad the Impaler was ethnically Vlach and spoke Romanian during his time, while Dracula was depicted as being Szekely, a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group still in existence in the current day.

Quotes

 * "No, no, there’s no need to think ill of either of us. You people must kill me, and I must kill you all. It’s tragic, but that’s how reality is. Besides, it is my duty as a king to kill those who invade my country. So there’s no need to grieve." - Vlad III.


 * "The first of us all. The eldest vampire in the world. The strongest and the greatest. Once he was a human, but he was unlike any human you would know. He was said to be one of, if not the, most cruel and barbaric humans that ever existed. So much so, that he wasn't even regarded as such in that category. When he became a vampire, he is now something much, much worse. He could destroy the world if he desired, and plunge everything into darkness and evil. You'd never know, and that's what makes him terrifying." - Jacob van Neck.


 * "Fight! Fight for the glory of your God! God does not help those who kneel before Him! God does not save those who pray for mercy, for those are not true prayers! Would you beg in the presence of your Lord? Your impiety begs only for death! True prayer is forged in battle! Dazzle your Lord with your prayer, and you shall know Him! You shall know Jerusalem! After the tearing, the crushing, the breaking of men's bones, when the fruits of our prayers lie at our feet, God will descend from His throne on high to bring judgement upon His wretched and pitiful servants!" - Vlad III.


 * "Tell me. Did your promises come to pass? Where's your God? Where's your Kingdom? What's the matter? Answer me, King? Mad king! They're all dead. Every last soul dead. In service to you and to your promises. For your prayers! For your paradise! For your God! ALL WERE SACRIFICED! Enemies and allies! The people you swore to protect! The country you would rule! Men! Women! Old and young! Even... yourself." - Count Dracula to Vlad III.


 * "YOU AND I ARE THE SAME! You are me... I was just the same! Don't you understand, this is how I became what I am?" - Count Dracula to Vlad III.


 * "Who are you?" - Vlad III when he first saw Mathias Cronqvist.
 * "My apologies, your majesty. *Bows* My name is Mathias Cronqvist, and this is my companion Zead."
 * "Mathias... Cronqvist, that name sounds very similar. Do you perhaps have a connection with the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus? And for what reason do you come here?"
 * "*Small Chuckle* No. Our names being similar is completely coincidentally. The Cronqvist Family, which I am the head of, comes from the kingdom of France. I've come here to meet with the one who gave so much trouble to both the Ottoman Empire and the Hungarians. Meet with the one known as the Impaler."
 * "And have I met up with your expectations, Lord Cronqvist?"
 * "Oh no, your majesty. You have far surpassed any expectations I had of you." - Vlad and Mathias' Conversation

Trivia

 * The name Dracula has been used constantly for leaders of vampires or powerful figures in Vampire history.
 * For example, another vampire known as Count Dracula had terrorized humanity before being killed by Quincey P. Morris and Abraham Van Helsing.
 * Vlad loathes the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, which he considered had ruined his reputation even though it wasn't meant for him.
 * The saints of Heaven, along with Avicebron and Solomon, once had to chain him down to make sure he not going to slaughter the writer and his entire family.
 * The human Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco is a flamboyant German socialite who achieved fame through a claim of adopted lineage from Vlad III.
 * There is a rumor in the Shadowhunter community that he and his acolytes impaled prisoners of war to summon the demon-witch goddess Hecate, who was pleased by the sacrifice and turned them into the first vampires.
 * The majority of the supernatural world, saved for the Shadowhunter themselves, acknowledged that this is nothing more than stupid propaganda created to smear Vlad III's name and honor.
 * No one really sure what's happened to the Shadowhunters responsible for the rumor.
 * There is a rumor that Vlad III is in a secret relationship with Jeanne d'Arc.

Image Sources

 * (Vlad III.jpg) Dracula Commission by NazNemati
 * (Vlad Tepes 002.jpg) Portrait of Vlad III from Ambras Castle
 * (Theodor Aman - Vlad the Impaler and the Turkish Envoys.jpg) Vlad the Impaler and the Turkish envoys by Theodor Aman
 * (Impaled.gif) Woodcut of Vlad III dining among the impaled corpses of his victims from a 1499 pamphlet
 * (Vlad III Tepes Dracula.jpg) Vlad III Dracula by StanislavSvetlozarov
 * (Vlad III Looking Good in a Suit.jpg) Lookin' Good by jch15jch15
 * (Hellsing vlad the impaler by jch15jch15 d72ydze-fullview.jpg) Hellsing ~ Vlad the Impaler by jch15jch15
 * (Cm vlad dracul by shizen1102 dehf0xw-fullview.jpg) CM: Vlad Dracul by shizen1102
 * (S052 Stage4.png) Vlad III Berserker Stage 4 from Fate/Grand Order
 * (Yande.re 422542 fate apocrypha fate stay night lancer of black (fate apocrypha) male mukade (siieregannsu) vlad iii (fate).jpg) Vlad III Lancer of Black by Mukade (Siieregannsu)
 * (Black.Lancer.full.2181252.jpg) Vlad III Lancer of Black by ???
 * (Lancer Dracula book.png) Lancer tearing a copy of "Dracula" in half from Fate
 * (Carmilla vlad iii and carmilla fate and 2 more drawn by cis05 435820d952b68a636f0a84565513679b.png) Vlad III and Carmilla by cis05