Monday, March 28, 2005

   Alucard. It IS Alucard, Not Arucard, the Japanese do not have L's I believe, so that's why it's typed up as Arucard...It's Alucard=Dracula, not Arucard=Dracura!! It's just...NO DAMMIT!..*breathes* Below is a good description and explination of him.
(This is Not necessary to be read, I Promise!!!)

He's suave, he's strong, he's Super sexy, he has swarms of fangirls (I'm on of them, thank you! Back off!), he sports a dashing set of fangs . . . and the vampire Alucard is an unwilling servant of the Hellsing family, and the organization's trump card.

Of course, just because he's stuck in the position of a servant, that doesn't mean Alucard is subservient in any way. He holds an overarching contempt for humanity in general, and is downright disgusted by most of the vampires that Hellsing dispatches him to destroy. He may not be able to physically harm Integra (or, for that matter, bite her), but the two engage in regular verbal sparring matches, in which a certain sardonic smirk never leaves his face.

And it isn't like they just lob insults at each other, either. A discussion between Integral and Alucard is usually an intelligent, well-reasoned, calmly carried out debate . . . full of hidden nuances, carefully veiled threats, and a lot of things left unsaid. Underneath the civil appearance between these two is a whole lot of animosity - based on species; he can't stand being bound in servitude to a human and she's grown up hating vampires - but underneath that, there's a mutual respect and caring that neither would actually admit to.

Alucard has a lot of pride and dignity, being a very old and powerful vampire (567 years, actually). Put that together with plenty of disdain for humans, and you can see that he wouldn't ever confess to having a friendship-ish-thing with any of them. But he has a similar connection with Walter, even though the mild-mannered butler leaves it unsaid out of respect for Alucard's notion of dignity.

And Alucard has a bit of respect for Seras, the girl whom he turned into a vampire; she has yet to figure this out, since he treats her with plenty of contempt on the surface, and she's still too insecure to notice. He doesn't understand why she tries so hard to hold on to her humanity - he lost his own centuries ago, and has been doing just fine without it. But he can see the strength and potential within her, the qualities that will someday make her a worthy (in his eyes) member of the undead.

While we're at it, Alucard also has some spark of admiration for the counterpart trump card of the Iscariot organization, Paladin Alexander Andersong. Again, he shamelessly mocks the priest to his face, but has admitted that Alex is brave - and good for an entertaining fight on occasion.

So there you have Alucard. Aloof and mocking on the surface, but a very complex personality underneath - oh, and he has guns. Big guns. Can't forget about them. After all, he may be an enigma, but there remains one aspect of his character that's very simple: he aims, he fires, and things go boom.

Why do I love Alucard? The short answer is: because he's so damn cool.

I can and will give you a longer answer, but that's basically what it comes down to. Alucard's coolness is an overpowering and irrefutable aspect of Hellsing, one of the things that helps draw people to the series at first glance. Those people who haven't seen a lot of Hellsing tend to be Alucard fans, and this is why.

The guy has style. His long and uniformely red ensemble is very classy; his motions are elegant and minimalist, and it doesn't hurt that he never has to worry about dodging bullets; he wields his massive guns with the kind of artistry that comes when you execute art for art's sake. He does everything with superb confidence: he's good and he knows it.

Integra may be the title character of the Hellsing series, but I have to admit that Alucard is the embodiment of it. The elaborate panels of battle scenes that crisscross the manga, filled with the swirls of torn fabric and bodies, the swarms of bats, the whorls of darkness, the pools and splashes of inked-in blood - these usually involve Alucard, and those that don't seem to have the same signature nevertheless. The morbid wisdom and occasional philosophy that the series has to offer is frequently from Alucard's speech and actions; the rest of the time, although different characters have different perspectives to offer, the best and most lasting ideas are similar to his. The whole mood of the series is Alucard's mood as well: the cockiness, the violence, the confidence, the darkness, the humor in some places and the deadly seriousness in others.

In short, if you love Hellsing as a whole, you can't help but love Alucard. Of course, some of his traits endear me to him more than others. His inner struggles, for instance (and yes, I can hear you saying "What inner struggles?" They're brought to the surface rarely if at all - and I like that too - but they're there) fascinate me. His psychology fascinates me (hence the title). His self-confidence impresses me, as Integra's does.
Comments (3)