What was Characters based on?

Answer 1

The Dracula character was loosely based on the real-life Romanian prince, Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad the III, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracula), who lived in the mid-15th century.

Vlad the Impaler is known for his butchery and bloodthirst, and got the name "the Impaler" because he enjoyed impaling his victims on long, sharp sticks on the castle grounds, and watching them die slowly and painfully. Sometimes he even had picnics among the dead and dying victims. Unlike the fictional Dracula, however, Vlad was not known to drink blood.

Despite his legendary cruelty, he is regarded as a hero in Romania, even today, for defending his country against the Turks, and for keeping the crime level in his country at virtually zero. There is a legend that in the town where Vlad lived, there was a well that all the townspeople drank from, and beside the well was a gold goblet, a gift from Vlad to the townspeople. According to legend, the gold goblet was never, ever stolen, despite the fact that it was always left unguarded next to the well, because people were so terrified of Vlad that they dared not steal it.

He is also regarded as something of a Robin Hood type, who despised the rich and defended the poor, although this is really more legend than fact.

Besides all this, Vlad's modern-day supporters argue that Vlad's cruelty and butchery was completely normal for the times. This is not untrue; for example, Vlad's brother was buried alive by his enemies, after having his eyes gouged out.

There is an excellent, excellent book about Vlad, and about all the legends surrounding him, called In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires, by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu.

The two authors have also written a number of related books: Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431 - 1476, The Essential Dracula: A Completely Illustrated and Annotated Edition of Bram Stoker's Classic Novel, and Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times.