Warren Ellis Felt it was “Absolutely vital” to Change Dracula’s Entire Understanding in Castlevania Because of a Key Element They Couldn’t Ignore
Inspired by the popular video game series, the Castlevania anime series is a dark medieval fantasy. The series centers around Trevor Belmont, the last living member of the disgraced Belmont family, as he fights Vlad Dracula Tepes to prevent the destruction of Eastern Europe.
Belmont is no longer alone as Dracula and his army of vampires get ready to purge the planet of humanity’s stain. He and his outcast allies race against time to discover a means of delivering mankind from the grief-stricken Dracula.
As the primary antagonist of Season 1 and Season 2 of the Netflix original series, Dracula is also a complex character. Despite being intelligent and lordly in stature, Dracula lacks the charm that is often associated with predatory villainous characters. He has a feral and threatening nature that is only accentuated after Lisa’s death.
Why Did Warren Ellis Change Dracula’s Character in Castlevania?
In an interview with Warren Ellis, the prominent author and creator of Castlevania, Ellis extensively discussed the notable characters of the anime series. Of course, Vlad Dracula Tepes took precedence and they took to discuss his character.
The interviewer noted that Dracula, especially in the first season when he is with his wife and again much later when he is dealing with his lieutenants, almost comes off as a sympathetic figure. Then, they asked Ellis whether that shift came out of working with the character, to which he replied:
For me it was absolutely vital. Christopher Lee (Note: In the Hammer Horror films) as that stentorian, almost alien Dracula, who has clearly killed people, was a lot of fun don’t get me wrong and hugely influential on all of the material but I needed something else. Every person in the show needed to be an actual, functioning person. That had to go double for Dracula.
After this revelation, Ellis went on to praise the voice actor for Dracula and said:
Of course once we cast Graham McTavish as Dracula my work was done. He has such a rich, emotional, warm tenor to his voice and his performance that you can’t help but wonder what happened to this man to get him to this place and you can’t but wonder what he’s hiding.
Ellis also elaborated that the stakes were higher after understanding the mood and emotional condition and stated that he was trying to make things a little bit richer. Well, congratulations, Sir, you have accomplished that!
Warren Ellis Praises The Voice Actors Of Castlevania
Warren Ellis had only but high praises for the voice actors of Castlevania. The interviewer picked up on that and stated that he had spoken at other places about how much he enjoyed working with the voice cast on the show and that he would even rewrite lines of dialogue for them on the spot.
The interviewer then questioned now that he was writing the show with that in mind, how has that changed what he wrote and the process for deciding on lines of dialogue, and Ellis responded:
You can name any actor on the show and I can tell you how I have changed writing their character because of their performances. Each one has shown me something new that I have either folded into the writing or has caused me to write the character in a different way.
Ellis further stated that it was a terrible thing to fall in love with one’s actors, but counters it by saying that the voice actors were simply too good and brought so much to the show that he’d be an idiot to not fold it into the writing.
When the interviewer asked why he said it was a terrible thing to fall in love with one’s actors, Ellis commented that when that happens, one just starts writing for their actors and thinking of fun things for them to do. You lose what it was that attracted them to the project. These performers approached them because they found the scripts interesting, and they hoped to continue providing them with entertainment.
You can watch Castlevania on Netflix.
