Portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr. Played by Hal Handerson Creator Curt Siodmak Species Vampire | Gender Male Family Dracula First appearance Son of Dracula Movie Alucard | |
Created by Robert and Curt Siodmak Similar Dracula, Postmortem, Adri Nital, Hamilton Slade, Turac | ||
Count Alucard is a fictional character created by American filmmakers Robert and Curt Siodmak for their 1943 horror film Son of Dracula. Like his father Count Dracula, Alucard is a vampire, a mythological creature that lives by sucking the life force from living creatures. Alucard was first performed by Lon Chaney Jr. in Son of Dracula and has since been featured in other movies, comics, television shows, video games and other forms of media. The name "Alucard" is "Dracula" spelled backwards.
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Creation
Alucard was created by Universal Studios' Robert Siodmak and his brother Curt for their 1943 film Son of Dracula. They made the name "Alucard" by spelling "Dracula" backward. Son of Dracula is the third film in Universal's Dracula trilogy, preceded by Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936). Like Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolf Man, it is an example of a monster movie with no novelization history.
In Son of Dracula
Alucard is the first son of Count Dracula, King of the Vampires, and is "Prince of Vampires", later revealed to be Dracula himself. At the beginning of the film, Alucard is an old man who is invited to the US, where he meets Katherine Caldwell, a woman who secretly dates and marries him. However, when her jealous boyfriend, Frank Stanley, attempts to kill Alucard, the bullets pass through him and hit Katherine. News of the incident reach Professor Lazlo, who suspects that this may be a case of vampirism. Meanwhile, Alucard turns Katherine into a vampire. When confronted, Katherine says that she still loves Frank but wanted immortality, and tells him how to destroy Alucard. Frank sets Alucard's coffin on fire, killing him.
Since Son of Dracula, the character has not appeared in a Universal film.