The Hall of Fame

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character in the novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. He is a Dutch doctor, of advanced age and a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., etc.", but is best known as a vampire hunter.

In the novel, Van Helsing is called in by his former student, Dr. Seward, to assist with the mysterious illness of Lucy Westenra. It is Van Helsing who first realises that Lucy is the victim of a vampire, and Van Helsing who guides Dr. Seward and his friends in their efforts first to save Lucy and then to end the vampire's threat once and for all.

Adaptations of the novel have tended to play up Van Helsing's role as the vampire expert, sometimes to the extent that this is depicted as his major occupation. In the novel, however, Dr. Seward is unaware of this side of his old friend (and furthermore, has no suspicion that vampires really exist, let alone that one is involved in the case), and requests Van Helsing's assistance simply because Lucy's affliction has him baffled and Van Helsing "knows as much about obscure diseases as any one in the world".

Van Helsing is described by his former student thus:

He is a seemingly arbitrary man, this is because he knows what he is talking about better than any one else. He is a philosopher and a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day, and he has, I believe, an absolutely open mind. This, with an iron nerve, a temper of the ice-brook, and indomitable resolution, self-command, and toleration exalted from virtues to blessings, and the kindliest and truest heart that beats, these form his equipment for the noble work that he is doing for mankind, work both in theory and practice, for his views are as wide as his all-embracing sympathy. [Dracula, ch.9]

Notable actors to have played Van Helsing in various screen versions include Edward Van Sloan in Universal Studios' Dracula series; Peter Cushing in Hammer Films' Dracula series; Laurence Olivier in the 1979 Dracula; Anthony Hopkins in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); and Mel Brooks in the parody Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995).

To be precise, Cushing's character in the Hammer movies was named J. Van Helsing, as seen in Brides of Dracula. The continuity of these movies had Dracula resurrecting in the 1970s, only to meet J. Van Helsing's grandson, Larimer Van Helsing, a "different" vampire hunter also played by Peter Cushing (notice the family resemblance)

Hugh Jackman played Gabriel Van Helsing, the eponymous hero of Van Helsing (2004), so that the filmmakers might hold certain rights to the character. While this Gabriel Van Helsing may have fought Dracula (who is called Vladislaus Dracula instead of Vladimir Dracula, for the same reason), the time period is actually set about ten years before the events in the book. Due to the plot details of the movie, even if it is supposed to happen in the same universe as Bram Stoker's Dracula, one might assume that Vladislaus Dracula is related to Vladimir Dracula, but is not Vladimir himself, as Gabriel Van Helsing is not Abraham Van Helsing.

In addition, there have been numerous works of the descendents of Van Helsing carrying on the family calling of opposing vampires. Examples include the comic book series, The Tomb of Dracula which featured Rachel Van Helsing, granddaughter of Abraham, as a major member of the principal hunters. There is also the anime television series, Hellsing, in which Integra Hellsing leads a British government strike force against supernatural menaces. (Included is a vampire named Alucard who is eventually revealed to be Dracula himself.) The previously mentioned Larimer Van Helsing also falls into this category.

There are several possible sources for the character of Van Helsing as described by Bram Stoker. German historian Max Muller is one possible suggestion, as an early draft of Dracula features a version of Van Helsing called Max Windshoeffel. Another is Theodore Roosevelt's uncle, Robert Roosevelt, who was a popular author, of Dutch descent, a scientist, and broadly matched Stoker's description in image and character. He was also a member of Stoker's "clique", which included Oscar Wilde and fellow Long Islander Walt Whitman. Arminius Vambery, a Hungarian professor who helped Stoker with his research into vampirism, is also a likely source for at least part of the character of Van Helsing.

A possible fictional source is a similar vampire-hunting paranormal expert, Dr. Hesselius, who appears in J. Sheridan Le Fanu's seminal 1869 vampire story Carmilla, as well as other supernatural tales by the same author.

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