Alucard

Alucard is arrogant, theatrical, violent, and almost impossible to intimidate. He frequently allows opponents to injure or apparently destroy him before regenerating, partly because overwhelming weaker enemies immediately offers him little satisfaction. His laughter, taunting, and deliberately dramatic displays of power make combat as much psychological domination as physical destruction.

His contempt is strongest toward supernatural beings who embrace monstrosity while lacking the strength or conviction to justify their arrogance. Alucard has little patience for ordinary vampires who assume immortality automatically makes them superior to humans. He is especially fascinated by humans who continue fighting despite fear, injury, and mortality, because their willingness to risk a finite life represents something he no longer possesses.

That belief shapes his rivalry with Alexander Anderson. Anderson is dangerous not merely because his weapons and regeneration can injure Alucard, but because he remains human while choosing to challenge a monster directly. Alucard regards that humanity as essential and becomes deeply angered when someone abandons it merely to gain enough power to defeat him.

Alucard is also completely loyal to Integra's authority. He mocks her, tests her nerve, and occasionally behaves as though he is waiting to see whether she will falter, but he follows her commands because she possesses the will to command him rather than merely the legal right.

Alucard possesses extreme supernatural strength, speed, reflexes, durability, senses, and regenerative ability. Conventional gunfire, dismemberment, and wounds that would immediately kill a human generally fail to stop him. He often deliberately receives attacks because his regenerative capacity makes damage useful for frightening or demoralizing opponents.

His standard firearms are the .454 Casull Auto and the Jackal. Both are oversized handguns designed for supernatural targets, with the Jackal developed specifically to inflict damage capable of overcoming Anderson's Vatican-engineered regeneration. Alucard's physical strength allows him to wield weapons whose recoil and weight would be impractical for an ordinary human.

Alucard can transform and distort his body extensively. He manifests shadow-like matter, additional eyes, mouths, animalistic forms, mist-like states, and other unnatural configurations. His powers also include extraordinary perception, movement through spaces ordinary humans cannot easily access, and the ability to overwhelm lesser supernatural creatures.

His power is controlled by the Control Art Restriction System. Higher restriction releases give him increasing access to his true strength. Level Zero is the final release and requires authorization from his master; at that level, he can unleash the enormous collection of familiars and consumed souls contained within him.

Alucard's familiars are souls taken through his vampiric existence. They can be manifested as independent entities rather than remaining merely an abstract source of regeneration. During the battle for London, Level Zero releases an enormous army accumulated across centuries, including previously defeated enemies absorbed into his being.

Late in the story, Alucard absorbs Schrödinger, whose paradoxical existence destabilizes Alucard's ability to recognize himself among the countless souls within him. After eliminating the other souls over a period of decades, he returns with Schrödinger's property of existing "everywhere and nowhere" so long as he can perceive himself.

Alucard begins the main story as the Hellsing Organization's ultimate supernatural operative. Integra deploys him against vampires and ghouls that ordinary military or police forces cannot handle, while Walter C. Dornez supplies specialized weapons and logistical support.

During the Cheddar incident, Alucard encounters police officer Seras Victoria, who is being held by a vampire priest. He offers Seras a choice before shooting through her body to kill the vampire behind her and subsequently turns her into a vampire. Seras then enters Hellsing under his supervision.

His encounter with Anderson establishes the principal personal rivalry of the early story. Anderson's blessed weapons and regenerative body make him one of the few human combatants capable of damaging Alucard seriously, while their opposing organizations represent Protestant Britain and Vatican Iscariot.

The larger threat emerges from Millennium, whose artificial vampires and military planning turn isolated supernatural incidents into open warfare. Alucard becomes central to Hellsing's response, eventually being ordered to release far more of his sealed power than conventional missions require.

Alucard is eventually revealed to be the vampire who was once Vlad III, the historical ruler whose life and transformation lie behind the Dracula legend. His servitude to the Hellsing family originates in his defeat by Abraham Van Helsing and his companions, after which generations of the Hellsing family bound and modified him as their weapon.

During Millennium's assault on London, Integra authorizes Level Zero. Alucard's released familiars devastate both Millennium forces and the Vatican's crusading army, stripping away much of the enormous reserve of souls that usually protects him.

Anderson then uses the Holy Nail of Helena in an attempt to gain enough sacred power to destroy Alucard. Alucard is horrified because he views Anderson's choice to become a supernatural monster as a betrayal of the very humanity that made him a worthy opponent. Their final battle ends with Alucard tearing out Anderson's heart and destroying the Nail's hold over him.

Millennium's final plan uses Schrödinger's paradoxical existence against Alucard. After absorbing him, Alucard loses a stable sense of self among the millions of souls he contains and disappears. He returns decades later after reducing those souls until he can once again recognize himself.

Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing is Alucard's master and the human whose orders govern his power. Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing possesses authority to release his restrictions, including Level Zero, and Alucard respects her precisely because she refuses to be intimidated by him.

Seras Victoria is the vampire Alucard creates at Cheddar. He repeatedly pressures Seras Victoria to accept her vampiric nature rather than existing halfway between human habits and supernatural instincts. Creator commentary describes their bond as closer to teacher, comrade, or family than the master-servant relationship Alucard has with Integra.

Alexander Anderson is Alucard's greatest personal rival. Alucard respects Alexander Anderson's willingness to fight monsters as a mortal human and considers him one of the few adversaries who might earn the right to kill him.

Walter C. Dornez has known Alucard through Hellsing's long history. [When Walter C. Dornez betrays Hellsing and accepts artificial rejuvenation from Millennium, their final confrontation becomes partly a battle over Walter's desire to prove that he could defeat Alucard before age rendered that impossible.](#spoiler)

Abraham Van Helsing is the human who defeated Alucard in the nineteenth century and established the relationship that ultimately bound the vampire to the Hellsing family.

Arthur Hellsing was Integra's father and Alucard's previous master. Arthur Hellsing kept Alucard sealed beneath the Hellsing estate before circumstances led Integra to release him.

The Major is Alucard's principal strategic enemy during Millennium's war. The Major understands Alucard's nature unusually well and constructs the larger operation around destroying or neutralizing him rather than merely defeating Hellsing conventionally.