There are vampires in books, series and movies. They recently became a very popular genre in culture, but they date back to 1897. This is because that was when Bram Stoker wrote the novel "Dracula". It was a story without equal. Since then, there have been several novels, such as "Twilight" or "The Vampire Diaries". There is a little truth behind the story of vampires, at least in the beginning. Dracula's character was based on the Romanian ruler, Vlad Tepes.
The Origins of Dracula
In 1431, Vald III was born by the ruler of Wallachia, just south of Transylvania. They were given the surname "Dracul", which translates to dragon. Which can be seen why Dracula got the name. The reason for this name was in the introduction to the Dragon Order.
Drag order
The order of the dragon served as a knighthood like others at the time. The need for knightly orders was after the Holy Wars. At first they were to protect the faith, but when the Order of the Dragon was formed this had lost its significance. King Sigismund of Luxembourg (Hungary) was the founder of this group. First, the dragon served as protection until it did not.
When Vlad II became part of the Dragon Order, the purpose was to remove the Ottoman Empire. The reason for Vlad's introduction seems to be the place in Wallachia. The matches visited Wallachia. It was a smart move to have Wallachia part of the Dragon Order to secure the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.
Experiencing violence
Vlad III and his brother spent many years helping the Ottoman prisoner after a trap against his father. The condition for the release of Vlad II was to leave his two sons in Turkey. While in captivity, Vlad learned the ways of the warriors and how to be a skilled rider. On top of that, they also learned science, philosophy and art. This contributes to the violence he witnessed at a young age. By 1447, Vlad II and his eldest son Mircea had died of war. Only then was Vlad free from the Ottomans, and his reign did not begin long afterwards.
Giving Dracula its name meaning
After his release from Turkey, Vlad had to fight for his father's seat. History has shown that he won this match. Once he was in a position of power, that was when he started working towards the infamous name. In 1448 a year after the murder of his eldest brother and father was when he took the throne.
The sad thing about him taking the throne was that it only lasted a short time. I say this because who wants to be a king who only rules for a short time? His reign lasted only two months and two months. After the two months, he was in exile. It was not until eight years later that he returned to the throne. This was when he began to become the infamous "Vlad the Impaler".
A Vampyres Reign
Eight years after his exile, Vlad used that time to plot how he would return to the throne. When he returned to the throne, where he lived for the next six years, his blood began to spill. Since he was back on the throne, Vlad wanted to make sure he stayed there. To ensure this, Vlad made all the people who were a threat to his power. He targeted nobles and all who had the power to remove him. Not only did he use force, but he also reduced the economic role of the nobles.
Because of his time held captive by the Ottomans, it is clear that this drove Vlad's anger against them for later in life. He witnessed the struggles on the Ottoman side growing up, and this led to his hatred being shown during the struggles he faced during his reign.
Violent Tactics
Vlad was a very violent person. In combat, this was where it was clear. During his reign there were many battles of which he found himself a part. He got creative with the way he wanted to take out enemies. But in honor of his name, it is safe to assume that his favorite method of killing his enemies was to impale them.
Impaling was one of many ways he would attack his enemies. He had also participated in beheadings, shelling and even skinning people alive. Overall, the violence was portrayed by him throughout history, in art as included, and even through legends.
On the other hand, it is unknown how many people he actually killed. I have found many articles that list numbers as high as 100,000 20,000 and as low as XNUMX XNUMX. So even though it's obviously a lot, there have been some exaggerations. It is believed that this is due to the stories from Germany.
Germany lays the groundwork for Dracula
There are many stories where the violence perpetrated by Vlad that the Germans wrote. There have been stories passed orally through Romanian history. Some of them are in line, and that helps with validity. In other aspects, like how many people fell on his hand. Germany and Wallachia were at war with each other during this time. So it made sense that the production of these stories was an exaggeration of the violent acts Vlad had committed.
Prince Dracula
In 1488, the short story "Prince Dracula", printed in Nuremberg, there are descriptions of what Vlad had done to the people he met. It is a very short story that I have written, but the translation does not censor any of the brutal details. There are cities he had burned. The story goes closer to the fact that it was 400 young boys that Vlad Dracula had killed.
Men, women, children and elders all fell victim to Prince Dracula. As the story unfolds, it becomes more and more cruel and shocking. This can easily be just a story, but history has shown that Vlad was not a person to mess with. It was made as if everyone who challenged the prince met impalement. Throughout the novel, the number climbs and climbs over small things.
In this German literature, it seems that the prince had a thirst for blood. Figuratively speaking, of course. In my research, I have not found any written documents that he had drunk blood. But in this story, it seems that he made children and fed them to his mothers.
Vampires and Vlad
It is very difficult to ignore the parallels between the portrayal of a vampire and the story of Vlad Tepes. If one were to read the short story about "Prince Dracula", it borders on a scary story. It seemed to the author that Vlad had an insatiable desire to harm others and spill too much blood. Whether it was hundreds of people at a time as it was seen in history, or less it was undoubtedly bloodshed.
This thirst for blood, similar to the thirst shown in modern times for vampires, may be the inspiration behind the character of Dracula. Although there are differences between Vlad and the Vampires today. Coincidences are inevitable and are easily noticed. Without reading Dracula, Who's the Count?
Vampires through time
Count Dracula
It was not until 1897 that "Dracula" was released and would become the first and most famous vampire of the time. Now maybe Damon Salvatore, for all those who saw "The Vampire Diaries" which I will talk more about in a bit. Bram Stoker is the author of the novel and sets it to take place in none other than Transylvania. That was where Vlad Tepes lived. Not only that, but the rough translation of "Dracul" is the word, the devil. Which Dracula is a devilish character. In the novel, the count has a thirst for blood that can be uncontrollable. Similar to Tepe's violent tendencies in war.
Bram Stoker
There was a lot of research that went into making the novel. Stoker thought a lot and spent a lot of time adding specific details to the novel. In Stoker's eyes, the work he created was anything but fiction. He saw "Dracula" as a warning of evil in the world. As it were.
There was more evidence of evil in the world. In 1888, Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who terrorized London with brutal crimes. The period from 1888 to about 1891. Although this is only suspected considering that no one was all charged with the murders, and the case is open to this day. Due to the uncertainty about the time of rippers, this caused many edits of the original "Dracula" manuscript. To limit the amount of panic the original story would have given the audience, the first 100 pages were not published. But these pieces are buried around and some were found.
First Dracula movie
In 1931, the first on screen was Dracula, which had the same title as the book. Although the first vampire film was released in 1922. Title "Nosferatu:A Symphony of Horror", the first film to ever show Stoker's vision. The story remained an adaptation where name and small details changed the story.
There was still an unparalleled thirst for blood, in the same way as Vlad, but the appearance of vampires has changed greatly since then. Vampires then had a very pale skin color, fangs that stood out overall, it seemed that vampires stood out. And while people in the film were afraid of the creatures, it was a secret. Although it was very clear that Dracula and Nosferatu were not human. It is also the idea of sunlight. In the original sunlight, it only weakened or got rid of the powers of vampires. In some recreation or new stories about vampires, this is not the case.
Twilight and The Vampire Diaries books / movies
To leapfrog a century or two ahead, it's time to look at vampires as teenagers and young adults see them today. It was a time when werewolves and vampires were popular in books and movies. They are still popular today, but there was a time when "Twilight", "The Vampire Diaries" and other books were brought to the screen.
Many changes were made from the original Dracula
came out and even the myth of vampires is different. "Twilight" also became a scapegoat in other works to make fun of the description of the transformation process. In "Twilight", vampires shine in the sun, and everyone has their own special power. "The Vampire Diaries" makes fun of the glowing skin, as it gets caught in the sun and burns them to death. This shows the different adaptations and evolution of "vampires".
During this rise in popularity among the supernatural genre, the appearance of vampires also changed greatly from "Nosferatu". Between 2006-2008, people were either Edward or Jacob (I was Team Edward). As you can see, Edward has a pale complexion but is attractive. Damon Salvatore is also an attractive vampire. Today this is normal. Vampire characters are alluring and sexy, creating popularity among viewers to get people to see or read the story.
The difference between turning humans into vampires
In "Dracula", the process of turning was simple. By a bite from a Dracula, it looks like they could become a vampire. Stoker does not go into detail in the transformation process. "Twilight" seems to have a similar process to "Dracula". When Bella is pregnant with Edwards' baby, the baby ends up hurting Bella and she has to give birth quickly. This brings her to death where Edward bites her in several places to ensure that she is injected with Vampire Venom. Her transformation takes three days until she is officially a newborn vampire.
"The Vampire Diaries" has the most complex process when it comes to transformation. The first is that a vampire blood can heal any damage. So a person who has vampire blood in the system must die. That is the first step. When they have died, they officially pass, but what is different here is that they have a choice in the matter. The person has 24 hours where they need to consume human blood to become a vampire, otherwise they die.
Evolution of Dracula
Prior to this, I had no idea that Dracula was based on a ruler of Transylvania or how much vampirism has evolved over time. The blood thirst that Vlad the Impaler experiences is related to the uncontrollable blood thirst found in "Dracula". Bram Stoker created a novel that became the basis for a supernatural being. Although "Dracula" was the first of the novel, it certainly will not be the last, but now I feel I have to read it.