The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Resolving the Drakul/Dracula conflicting information

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Griffyn612:
Proposals for satisfactorily resolving the conflicting information that has been presented about Drakul and Dracula.

Please share any additional information I may have forgotten, and we can try to address any concerns.

1) Drakul is a starborn, and also a half-breed (source:Eb), and also something pureblood trapped in human form.
Proposal: Vlad II was a human starborn. One way or another, he was possessed by an immortal being or mantle, which fundamentally changed him into Drakul. He is not truly a half-breed, but is still a combination of human and creature.

2) Dracula joined the Black Court as an act of teenage rebellion, and also founded the Black Court.
Proposal: Vlad III was the son of whatever Vlad II had become, making him a half-breed that hadn't chosen. The strogoi, Romanian vampires, had already existed for millennia, and some were serving Drakul. They did not have an organized structure until Vlad III became one and formed the Black Court, making them into an organization.

Yuillegan:
So just to share some additional information, as I am not sure whether you have factored it in or not, I'll add a few things.

Drakul apparently has held multiple identities throughout history and had been some of histories more notorious monsters, and some who haven't been particularly well-remembered either. Jim specifically references how it's similar to Vadderung assuming different mortal identities over the centuries/millennia because of issues with humans remembering them.

Drakul also is the stated founder of the Black Court vampire race, but it was Dracula who organised and grew the numbers during the middle ages.

Both of the above statements are paraphrased from Jim's interview with the Dresden Files podcast (ep 77).


--- Quote ---1) Drakul is a starborn, and also a half-breed (source:Eb), and also something pureblood trapped in human form.
Proposal: Vlad II was a human starborn. One way or another, he was possessed by an immortal being or mantle, which fundamentally changed him into Drakul. He is not truly a half-breed, but is still a combination of human and creature.
--- End quote ---
I think I could get behind this if one additional factor is added: the being that possessed Vlad II has done this trick many times, but got trapped in Vlad II's body for reasons as yet unknown.

What do you think the benefit is for an immortal being to possess a starborn? It's almost certainly to do with the Cycle and Outsiders.


--- Quote ---2) Dracula joined the Black Court as an act of teenage rebellion, and also founded the Black Court.
Proposal: Vlad III was the son of whatever Vlad II had become, making him a half-breed that hadn't chosen. The strogoi, Romanian vampires, had already existed for millennia, and some were serving Drakul. They did not have an organized structure until Vlad III became one and formed the Black Court, making them into an organization.
--- End quote ---
I think that ties up nicely with what Jim said in the Dresden Files podcast interview. I also am assuming you mean the Black Court vampires when you say the strigoi?

Conspiracy Theorist:
What is the benefit of a human body?

For a creature purely of the Never Never it is having a body you dob’t have to conjure from ectoplasm only to have it ripped away each dawn. I wonder if Odin has the same deal, he is now mortal flesh relying upon the immortality of the Kringle Mantle, but he may have done this the slow way, replacing his godly flesh with mortal flesh through mortal sustenance. Harry has been warned of the opposite. We have seen the recruited Winter Fae born, raised and living in the mortal world, their flesh isn’t ectoplasm so presumably they have a lot less to worry about with dawn.

We can therefore posit that Drakul is a being from the Never Never who needed a quick fix, to stay relatively unencumbered in the mortal world and possession was the way forward, and if so why not have the advantages of a Starborn, such as immunity to the influence of Outsiders.

If possession is a quick fix, what necessitated this hasty (from the point of view of immortals) action? Clearly something big enough to worry Drakul, which would be gods, Titans, Dragons, angels, archangels and the White God themself. The White God and his servants try to save the human hosts of denarians, so this additional protection may have been a consideration. There is also a power level consideration - the Queens are about as powerful a being can be in the mortal world without breaking it (and presumably get the negative attention of the White God), entities at higher power levesl like the Mothers, Hades etc stay out of the mortal world, or dip in under restrictions like Ferrovax. The last Titan hid, and when she popped up was laid low by the Knights and a wizard armed and empowered by the White God.

The likelihood I think is that Drakul has been the source of many ‘outcast’ myths and legends, and whilst I doubt that he is Lucifer, he may be an outcast god or several gods such as Mars, Ares, Loki etc, as well as a host of other monsters shunned by mortal man.

Griffyn612:

--- Quote from: Yuillegan on July 31, 2021, 01:33:26 PM ---Both of the above statements are paraphrased from Jim's interview with the Dresden Files podcast (ep 77).

--- End quote ---
I hadn't read that yet, so thanks for that. It helps.

I still think the above fits to a degree. Drakul made Blamps/strigoi, and a short time later Dracula became one and went hog wild.

The question is, did Drakul body-hop and eventually get stuck, or did he just possess and get stuck in a starborn in ancient time and he just changed identity for millennia?


--- Quote from: Yuillegan on July 31, 2021, 01:33:26 PM ---I also am assuming you mean the Black Court vampires when you say the strigoi?

--- End quote ---
Yeah, my guess is that in the Dresdenverse, Drakul toyed around with making Blamps, either from a proto-strigoi creature or a strix.


--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on July 31, 2021, 02:18:05 PM ---

The likelihood I think is that Drakul has been the source of many ‘outcast’ myths and legends, and whilst I doubt that he is Lucifer, he may be an outcast god or several gods such as Mars, Ares, Loki etc, as well as a host of other monsters shunned by mortal man.

--- End quote ---
I agree that him being Luci is unlikely, as that would make the power use in Small Favor difficult. Hard to believe he'd help the denarians with that but not associate with them otherwise.

Now I'm going to have to go down the rabbit hole of "who has Drakul been?"

I'm currently getting a Mister Sinister vibe from him. Engineering Blamps, targeting those with powers to enhance them and turn them, obsessed with a particular blood line/type, working secretly from the shadows, hiding his identity. I'd say he's also like Apocalypse, in the raw power way, but not the personality way.

Griffyn612:
I'm leaning towards the historical ties between Greece and Romania, and the Wallachia region.

* We know Romanian strigoi have a root to the greek strix, which were nocturnal birds that scream and drink blood and hang upside down like bats and could be deterred with garlic.

* We know Keres, dark winged female/bird hybrids that were the Greek shepherds of souls that died violent deaths. The Keres were sisters to Thanatos, the Greek god of the peaceful death.

* There were Greek rituals, often associated with blood drinking, with Hecate.

* We know Hades and the Greeks had Cerberus and other hellhounds that guard hell to prevent spirits from escaping.

* We know Thanatos was a lesser death god, who for a time was said to shepherd souls, but was later replaced by Hermes.

* Thanatos was said to not like humans or the other gods.

* Thanatos was the child of Nyx (Night) and Erebus (Darkness).

* We know Drakul created the Black Court, either from scratch or from other species like strigoi and strix.

* The Blamps are said to have the full Stoker power set, including being nocturnal, shape shifting, and magics.

* We know the Black Court likes to use darkhounds, dogs that have the same dark power of the Blamps.

* We know Drakul had a servant for centuries named Hellhound.

I'm going to form a loose WAG that Drakul might be Thanatos.

* Let's say an ancient Greek performed a blood ritual for Thanatos, either to stave off death or worship it.
* Either by design or by accident, Thanatos ended up possessing the sacrificer or the sacrifice.
* Thanatos lived in that form for centuries, the embodiment of the undead.
* Over time he made Blamps (and who knows, maybe strix and strigoi as well) in the image of the Keres.
* He made darkhounds in the image of Cerberus and the other hellhounds.
* He sired or found a half-breed (Kincaid) to act as his personal watchdog/Cerberus.
* Kincaid's appearance under Harry's Sight was demonic, but more importantly it was superimposed by the "corpse-spector of death himself". Possibly Mavra hiding behind a veil as we've theorized previously, or possibly an imprint on Kincaid from his time with Drakul, "Death himself".

* He doesn't like humans or the other gods, and has motivations against both. Maybe he wants empty night because that's his mom and he has mommy issues. Maybe he wants to remake reality as a limbo between life and death, which he would rule alone. Or maybe he's got no great plan.

EDIT: I corrected Thanatos' parentage and added the bit about Kincaid's appearance.

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