Netflix's anime adaptation of the Castlevania video game franchise has just wrapped its fourth and final season, and with it, the memorable cast of characters. Longtime fans were happy to see Dracula's son Alucard make an appearance, and the character soon became the highlight of the show, thanks in part to his tormented and emotional past.
The fact that Alucard is half-human and half-vampire makes him naturally suspect to the outside world, and his once-happy family life soon descended into ruin, leaving him both sad and lonely. Such is the brilliant characterization of Castlevania that in spite of the many endearing qualities in Alucard, he is a gaping wound of sorrow noticeable to both fellow characters, and viewers alike.
Updated on July 23rd, 2021 by Derek Draven: Netflix has wrapped up its animated Castlevania series with a fourth and final season, which pulled out all the stops to deliver a very happy ending for its characters. That's important, given how much they suffered throughout the course of the show, especially Alucard. The son of Dracula had lost both his parents, which upended his life and left him alone. The sadness of the character can't be overstated, which is why it's important to analyze the turmoil he went through, before finally achieving happiness alongside his friends, and a thriving community, which he'd never had up to that point.
10 Alucard Grew Up Too Fast
Being half-vampire, Alucard possessed all their strengths and none of their inherent weaknesses. Raised by a benevolent human mother and a monstrously powerful father, this made for an unorthodox childhood. This partially explains why it raced too fast to a conclusion.
In one of the best quotes from the Castlevania series, Sypha Belnades points out that Alucard might just be an angry teen in an adult’s body. Without the social skills that come from being in a healthy community and the overbearing nature of his early life, Alucard essentially grew up too fast, making him ill-prepared for the tragedies still to come.
9 Dracula Rejected Him
Given that Alucard is Dracula's own son, he should have taken prominence in his life. However, after Lisa’s death, Dracula is so wrought with despair that he descends into nihilism, rejecting Alucard in favor of an unholy campaign of vengeance against humanity. Engulfed with rage, Dracula openly ignored Alucard's pleas for patience and forgiveness.
Alucard realized that his father’s plan to massacre the citizens of Targoviste was not what his mother would not have wanted, and engaged him in a fight. It ended with Alucard suffering a grave wound to the chest, while a greater wedge was driven between the two, forcing them to go their own separate ways.
8 Alucard Hated His Own Existence
Following his initial defeat at the hands of his father, Alucard went into self-imposed exile and slumber as a means to seal off his own bloodline. His decision betrayed his feelings about his own existence as a half-vampiric entity; a self-loathing position to take, rather than an opportunity to effect positive change.
Thus, he decides it best to end the bloodline by going into vampiric sleep. Alucard’s hatred towards his own nature and his isolation from the world spoke volumes about his own loneliness. He would find both peace, friendship, and community by the time the Castlevania series came to an end, but at this stage, he simply felt there was no other way.
7 Alucard Lost Both Of His Parents Through One Tragedy
When Lisa Tepes was charged with witchcraft and burned at the stake by the Bishop of Targoviste, Alucard lost one of the most important people in his life. Both father and son were permanently wounded by the loss, but Alucard perhaps more so, given that she represented the nobility and kindness of humanity.
Unlike Dracula, who still had his son at his side, Alucard felt as if he lost both his parents in one fell swoop. He lost his mother to the fanaticism of the Church, and he lost his father, who became cold and unfeeling and effectively cut Alucard out of his life altogether, leaving him alone in a very harsh world.
6 His Friends Don't Know How To Help
Trevor and Sypha were the closest things to friends that Alucard could count, especially in a world where he'd essentially lost everything. Though his relationship with Trevor was antagonistic from the start, the two eventually warmed to each other in their own unique way. Sypha, on the other hand, was more gentle towards him.
During their time in Belmont Keep, Sypha remarked how Alucard felt like a "cold spot in a room," and that his sadness was a "bottomless icy well," which was much different compared to Trevor Belmont's own overwhelming sadness. While Sypha could cheer Trevor up with a joke or a tease, she could do absolutely nothing for Alucard.
5 Alucard Felt Guilt For Killing His Father
Alucard's saddest moment of the series occurs shortly after he dispatches his father in one of the highest-rated episodes of the Castlevania series. It's one last-ditch fight to prevent a catastrophe that would have seen humanity torn to pieces the world over, a fact that Alucard could not stomach. The killing blow was struck when Dracula came to his senses after nearly beating Alucard to death.
He took this opportunity to slay Dracula in the middle of his own childhood bedroom, a place of many fond memories. Although the two briefly shared a loving moment before Dracula crumbled into dust, it meant the death of the other half of his family. After Trevor and Sypha had moved on, Alucard retreated into his ancestral home and broke down into tears, causing many viewers to do the same.
4 His Friends Left Him After Dracula's Death
After the death of Dracula, Sypha Belnades and Trevor Belmont say their goodbyes, giving Alucard a rare opportunity to deliver one of his funniest insults of the entire series. Trevor gives him a new purpose as the guardian of the innumerable secrets of Castle Dracula, and the Belmont Keep, which are both repositories of powerful, and potentially dangerous knowledge.
Neither Trevor nor Sypha seem to realize that Alucard is the one who has suffered the greatest loss, however. While they suspect that Alucard is hurting, they fail to realize the depth of which the pain goes, which is ironic given that Sypha had previously remarked about the pain and loneliness she can feel in his soul.
3 Alucard's Loneliness Forced Him To Create Imaginary Friends
Alucard might have accepted Trevor’s offer to stay as the guardian of Castle Dracula and the Belmont Keep, but his decision pushes him towards a lonely and saddened existence. He lives in relative peace, at the cost of anyone to share the enormity of Castle Dracula with. After a short time, he begins feeling the effects of this isolation.
His loneliness is so deep that he creates imaginary friends made of cloth and cotton, fashioned after Sypha and Trevor. This gives way to one of the most hilarious moments of the series when Alucard does vocal impersonations of both while poking fun at their character flaws. However, Alucard quickly admits that he might be falling into madness and despair.
2 The Tragedy of Sumi & Taka
It was a welcome respite for Alucard when he encountered Sumi and Taka, two warriors who sought him out in order to teach them how to kill vampires. He treated both Sumi and Taka with kindness, and as their intimacy grew, he even gifted them a portion of the knowledge and contents of the Belmont Keep.
However, he soon realized that this intimacy was nothing more than a farce. Sumi and Taka betrayed Alucard after believing he was manipulating them. In a cruel twist of fate, Alucard was forced to slay them both out of self-defense, a regrettable course of action that left him even more broken than before.
1 The Plunge Towards Darkness
Alucard once championed the kindness that his mother advocated for, and even stood against his own father's lust for vengeance. However, the deaths of Sumi and Taka weighed heavily on his soul, and he no longer yearned for the company of others. In that moment, he began teetering on the precipice between his own humanity, and his more bestial side, making him one of the most complex characters in the entire Castlevania series.
He demonstrates this plunge towards darkness by impaling the bodies of Sumi and Taka on wooden stakes, a technique made notorious by his own father. Their corpses were placed outside of Castle Dracula as a deterrent for anyone who came near. The warning was clear - stay away or face the consequences.
https://ift.tt/3qn465m
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario