Alucard (アーカード, Ākādo) is a fictional character in the Hellsing anime and manga series created by Kouta Hirano and is the main protagonist of the Hellsing franchise.
The most powerful warrior of the Hellsing Organization, Alucard is not a mere vampire, it is suggested that he is the most powerful vampire currently existing. He usually dresses in a Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and a flamboyant, intricately knotted red bow tie, covered by a long red trench-coat. He also wears a red fedora hat with a wide, floppy brim and a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed red sunglasses with goggle sidings. However, he does wear other outfits. He has a vast range of supernatural techniques and is an expert gunfighter, his enhanced strength allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider heavy weaponry. He fights with ferocity and often extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been totally disabled and humiliated. He has a massive ego, and frequently gives enemies more than one chance to kill him before retaliating, if only to demonstrate his enormous powers. He is devoted to his master, Integra Hellsing, and gets along well with the butler Walter C. Dornez. He also has feelings of affection towards his fledgling, Seras Victoria.
In the anime (both TV series and OVA) Alucard is voiced by Nakata Jouji (中田譲治). In the English dub of both series, he is voiced by Crispin Freeman.
Powers and Abilities
Alucard demonstrates, in various incarnations of the series Hellsing, an astonishing and overwhelming range of supernatural attacks; these include, but are probably not limited to
* Immortality (which is assumed with how many souls he has absorbed, though it was merely fan theory that states that, and never proven and or hinted. It was proven wrong when Anderson attacked Alucard when all of his souls were released, and he was still able to regenerate perfectly fine).
* Regeneration: Alucard's ability to regenerate is considerably greater than any other vampire's, and may be due to the Hellsing family's experimentation. He has regenerated from a pool of blood and from being blown to shreds by gunfire, incinerated completely, etc.
* Superhuman senses.
* Incredible accuracy: Alucard has been known to hit targets at great range using handguns while looking the other way.
* Superhuman strength: extent is unknown, but Alucard can physically rip humans apart with ease. He also ripped through Tubalcain Alhambra's card which was strong enough, and dence enough, to slice through uranium.
* Superhuman speed: He can move faster than can be seen, and is faster than Mach Speed. He caught a magic bullet within his mouth which tore through an SR-71 ( which is made of multiple alloys, including VARIOUS amounts of titanium. ) and crushed it within his teeth.
* Intangibility: The ability to pass through solid objects.
* The ability to defy gravity to an uncertain limit. He is also seen leaping impossible distances and can go up vertical surfaces.
* Manipulation of shadows into physical form. (Although vampires controlling shadows isn't unheard of, the artwork sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish between blood and shadows.)
* Shapeshifting: Alucard can transform himself or parts of himself into bats, insects, snakes, hellhounds, other human forms including a little girl, an amorphous mass of darkness, and many other forms. Alucard can has four known human forms each with different characteristics and weapons.
* The ability to control the weather to an unknown limit, as demonstrated by the fog created when he returned to London aboard the H.M.S Eagle.
* Teleportation.
* Telekinesis: In the manga, Alucard is seen telekinetically moving a broken down air-craft carrier from the Gulf of Italty to the Dover of London all in a little less than 40 minutes, only travelling at a few knots.
* Telepathy: Alucard can speak telepathically to his fledgling.
* Mind reading.
* Mind control and hypnosis (fans sometimes call it the "sex beam" after a remark from Pip).
* Summoning familiars, the souls of those whose blood he has sucked in a variety of forms that either sprout from his body or swarm about him as an army numbering in the thousands. These familiars can also include animals such as horses and the weapons and abilities that the familiars possessed in life, but Alucard can only use this ability when control art restriction system level zero is released.
* The ability to suck a person's blood and absorb their soul and, consequently, their knowledge and memories. (He learns more about Millennium after absorbing Tubalcain.) He can also absorb blood through his clothes and skin, as he does with Luke Valentine's blood after his hellhound had eaten Luke's body.
* Hibernation: Alucard is able to survive long periods of time without consuming blood, but is able to fight at a usual level of strength after drinking blood.
* Immunity to the weaknesses most vampires possess. His abilities and health are not in any way compromised by such things as sunlight or silver. In fact, it appears that the only weapons capable of harming him to any real extent are the most holy of Christian artifacts, such as Father Anderson after augmenting his abilities with Helena's Nail ( a nail which was from the True Cross which crucified Jesus Christ and was blessed in his blood).
* The ability to sense supernatural activity (In The Dawn, a prequel to Hellsing. Alucard knew the Captain was a werewolf the moment he saw him, and in the OVA, could see the blessings on Father Anderson's bayonets).
* In addition to his superhuman abilities, Alucard also possess centuries of combat experience. While he usually relies on crushing his opponents with sheer power, he does at times use strategy. When he fought Alhambra, Alucard used shadow duplicates to distract him, allowing Alucard to close the distance between them and deliver the deathblow.
* While regenerating he gains a great immunity to anything that tries attacking him, leaving it non-effective
While not directly confirmed, it appears that Alucard has aquired Schrodinger's quantum reality manipulation powers after absorbing him during the Millenium incident. This would grant him the ability to exist wherever and however he wishes, although it took him 30 years to be able to use this apparent power due to the complex nature of it.
Weapons
Alucard is an exceedingly lethal combatant even unarmed, due to his extensive supernatural abilities and strength, but he also uses various weapons in battle. These have included swords, machine guns, and traditional vampire-slaying tools such as stakes and crosses. Additionally, Alucard has two signature weapons, a pair of oversized and overpowered handguns named the .454 Casull and the Jackal. In Hellsing: The Dawn, it was still during the time of WWII so he wields a Thompson SMG.
Release States
Alucard's vast powers are controlled entirely by the heir to the Hellsing family (currently Integra Hellsing). This is apparently enforced by something called the "control art restriction system." There are shown to be six levels of restriction and six corresponding states, with lower numbers meaning greater levels of power. Under certain circumstances, Alucard can release some of his greater powers himself; a component of his restriction system called the "Cromwell Approval" seems to influence this. In the Gonzo anime's final episode, Integra is shown giving him permission to release to level one, the state where he is in the red straightjacket like garb he is shown in when Integra finds him in her youth. In the manga Alucard is shown to be wearing a black leather jumper when he is at the Level One release state. For lower levels of release, he has the ability to lower his seals at will, to an extent. Alucard can often be heard stating what level he is releasing immediately prior to combat ("Releasing control art restriction to level two"). This is, perhaps, a requirement of the release mechanism, but this has never been confirmed. Another possible reason is that it is to unnerve his opponents as he goes into battle. Given what has been seen of his personality, this is quite likely. In the manga, Integra requests that Alucard's restriction system be released to Level Zero, the lowest level, allowing him full access to his most devastating powers.
"Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems three...two...one, approval of Situation A recognized. Commencing the Cromwell invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."
