Vampires are ubiquitous in modern pop culture. We’ve had stories about them for centuries. They pre-date superheroes as one of the most famous supernatural beings.
They exist in many cultures in one form or another, but the most notable are the European variants, the blood-sucking nobles who live as undead allegories for the state of royalty at the time.
All of these Vampire myths started from one source, one key figure who was so detested, reviled, and feared that the only explanation for his deeds was that he was a devil-sent fiend who fought falsely in God’s name.
Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler and Vlad Dracula, was the ruler of Wallachia, a region of modern-day Romania, in the 1400s. Many myths and legends were built around him for his bloody exploits.
He gained much of his fame when, as the country leader, he ruthlessly routed his enemies and famously brutalized them across the battlefields.
His wartime deeds became a thing of historical fiction, where they were already so awful it was easy to exaggerate them just a little to turn him into a living legend.
A bloody count of a distant land that was soaked with blood. That is how he became Dracula.
10 /10 The Father Of Dracula
Vlad III was the son of Vlad II, who earned the title of “Dracul,” which was the then known word for Dragon.
Vlad II was a member of the monarchical Order of the Dragon, hence his epitaph, and became a ruler of Wallachia following a military campaign for a time before the land was exchanged to his first son, Radu.
Vlad’s youth is primarily unknown, though it is agreed upon that he frequently moved through the Wallachian borders to Hungary and the Ottoman Empire for political reasons.
9 /10 The Voivode Of Wallachia
Vlad III assumed rulership of Wallachia for the first of several times in October of 1448 and was quickly routed from his position one month later. He took the throne after the death of his father and elder brother Radu.
However, his rule was contested by invasive forces from the Ottoman Empire who pressed up the Danube and threatened to capture critical territories.
Vlad’s supporter, John Hunyadi of Hungary, urged him to flee for his safety but refused. His rule was cut short, and he was forced into exile.