What is Count Dracula?
{{no sources|date=March 2025}} [[File:Bela Lugosi as Dracula, anonymous photograph from 1931, Universal Studios.jpg|thumb|[[Béla Lugosi|Bela Lugosi]] as Dracula, anonymous photograph from 1931, Universal Studios.]] '''Count Dracula''' is the [[Title role|title character]] of [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 [[Horror fiction|horror]] novel ''[[Dracula]]''. He was a very strong influence on [[vampire|vampires]] in later works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been inspired by the 15th-century [[Wallachia|Wallachian]] prince [[Vlad the Impaler]], who was also known as Vlad Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most famous powers is that he can turn others into vampires by biting them. == Meeting Jonathan Harker == At the beginning of the book, Dracula tricks a [[lawyer]] named [[Jonathan Harker]] into coming to [[Transylvania]] and signing things saying he can own land in London. When Harker cuts himself shaving, Dracula tries to drink his blood but runs away when he sees Harker has a [[cross]]. Dracula locks Harker in his castle, kidnaps a child and feeds it to three women and feeds the child’s mother to wolves when she comes back for her child. When Harker writes to his fiancée [[Mina Harker|Mina]], to tell her, Dracula steals and burns the letter. Dracula also dresses up as Harker so he can do horrible things and have people think it’s Harker who did them. Harker realizes that Dracula sleeps during the day so he tries to kill Dracula with a shovel during the day but Dracula survives. Then Harker escapes Dracula’s castle. == The Demeter == Dracula has himself buried in dirt inside of crates so he can be taken to England in a ship called the [[Demeter]]. Dracula transforms into a wolf and kills the crew before escaping the ship and going to England. == Murdering Lucy Westenra == Dracula transforms into a bat and bites a woman named [[Lucy Westenra]]. Dracula also tells [[Renfield (character)|R.M. Renfield]] that he’ll feed