Gabriel Van Helsing is the main protagonist and titular character of the 2004 action film Van Helsing, as well as its animated prequel Van Helsing: The London Assignment. He is a monster hunter under the employ of the Vatican. Gabriel is a re-imagined version of the iconic character of Abraham Van Helsing from the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Personality[]
Van Helsing is a lonely and silent man, always expecting something to happen, as prey expects an ambush. He has fought many battles (though he lost his memories so he doesn't remember) and hunted countless monsters for years. Even though he hunts without question, he is always asking the church for forgiveness, as he sees them becoming who they used to be. Besides, no matter how many monsters he kills, he is seen as a murderer to the eyes of the people, mainly because the general public doesn't know that monsters exist. He often works alone, but can be a good partner or a powerful ally. Despite his slight contempt for the church, Gabriel is a devout man who does God's work.
Appearance[]
Van Helsing is a tall, muscular, caucasian man with brown eyes, a faint stubble, and shoulder-length dark brown hair. He wears a long black duster coat, black leather vest and gloves, a gray sweater, a dark gray scarf, grayish green pants, and tall brown leather boots. He commonly also wears a black wide-brimmed fedora.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Gabriel was once one of God's mighty Angels in Heaven. He was known as the "Left Hand of God" and served as a messenger of God. He appeared to the prophet Daniel, revealing secrets about his future. He also appeared to Zacharias and to the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. He was also one of the four archangels whom God sent to deliver his messages to his prophets. Gabriel was also the angel sent to destroy Jerusalem.
At some point, Gabriel descended to Earth and took on living flesh, becoming human. During his time on Earth, Gabriel fought many great battles. He fought the Romans at Masada in 72 AD. At some point near the 1460s, he was under the service of the Knights of the Holy Order when he met Count Vladislaus Dracula, with whom he became close friends.
Later, Dracula broke the oath of celibacy of the Knights of the Holy Order. When the woman he loved was banished and killed, he tried to bring her back to life with dark magic, which forced Gabriel to kill him. Unable to deal with the guilt, Gabriel asked God to erase his memories, which He did.
Gabriel spent the next 400 years wandering the earth until one day after a battle, again with no memory, he was found half-dead crawling up the steps of the Vatican. Taken under the wings of the Vatican, he was sent to train under the monks and Mulahs from Tibet and Istanbul to combat the forces of darkness.
Van Helsing: The London Assignment[]
Gabriel and Carl travels to London to investigate a series of horrific and decidedly supernatural murders being committed by the mad scientist Dr. Jekyll in the form of his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. When tracking Hyde to his underground fortress, Van Helsing finds a young woman who claims to be Queen Victoria and discovers that Dr. Jekyll is in love with the Queen and, in order to keep her young, has been placed under a spell by Dr. Jekyll that turns her into a young woman for one night. In order to create the potion which causes the transformations, Dr. Jekyll needs the drained souls of his freshly killed victims. Thus, the killings will never stop. Dr. Jekyll kidnaps the Queen and uses the Golden Jubilee Balloon to escape.
Van Helsing uses his grappling gun to follow the balloon and then proceeds to board it. In the balloon, Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde in order to kill Van Helsing and crashes the balloon in the process. While fighting on the under-construction London Bridge, Mr. Hyde is shot through the arm but manages to escape. Upon returning the Queen, Van Helsing says that daybreak will break the spell, returning her to her real age. To reward him, the Queen kisses him, at the precise moment of daybreak, causing her to slap him and call for guards. Van Helsing sends word back to the Vatican about what has happened while he tracks Jekyll to Paris.
Van Helsing[]
Van Helsing fights Mr. Hyde in Notre-Dame.
Van Helsing eventually tracks down Mr. Hyde to the Notre-Dame Cathedral. A fight ensues between the two, ending with Van Helsing managing to throw Hyde out of the top of the building and to his death as he reverts back to Jekyll. Van Helsing returns to the Knights of the Holy Order's headquarters in The Vatican to inform of Hyde's death. There, Cardinal Jinette tasks Gabriel with traveling to Transylvania in order to find and kill a dangerous vampire count known as Dracula, and protecting Anna and Velkan Valerious, the last of an ancient Romanian family, whose ancestor, Valerious The Elder, vowed nine generations ago that his descendants will remain in Purgatory and will not enter Heaven until Dracula is destroyed. Van Helsing is given a torn piece of paper with a Latin inscription and a dragon insignia on it that matches that of his ring. Van Helsing hopes to earn pardon for his forgotten sins and regain his memory in this mission. He is joined by friar Carl, an inventor who provides support and weapons to the Order.
Arriving in Transylvania[]
Van Helsing and Carl arrive at the village.
Van Helsing and Carl arrive at a Transylvanian village and are immediately surrounded by a mob of distrustful locals. Anna appears in the scene and informs Van Helsing that they willl be disarmed, but Van Helsing refuses and so Anna orders the villagers to kill them. At that moment, Dracula's brides, Verona, Marishka, and Aleera attack the village and Van Helsing, using the new automatic crossbow built by Carl, slays Marishka by soaking his bolts in holy water and pinning the vampiress to a church's roof, forcing the other brides to retreat in anguish.
Van Helsing questions Anna.
The village, fearing that the vampires will come back for revenge, are about to attack Van Helsing and Carl when Anna steps in and stops them, thanking Van Helsing and inviting him a drink. Anna lets them into her family's castle, and Van Helsing questions her about Dracula. but she avoids him. Anna is about to go out to hunt Dracula on her own but Van Helsing stops her, knocking her out with a gas.
Hunt for Velkan[]
Van Helsing and Anna track down Velkan.
That same night, Anna is attacked by Velkan, now a werewolf, but Van Helsing shows up and the lycanthrope escapes. Van Helsing loads his revolvers with silver and goes out to hunt Velkan. He encounters the village's undertaker who tries to kill him, but the hunter effortlessly stops him. Velkan suddenly appears and kills the undertaker. Van Helsing is about to shoot Velkan when Anna shows up and stops him, allowing her brother to get away. Van Helsing, furious, chokes Anna and confronts her about it, telling her that Velkan is not her brother anymore. Anna is shocked that he knew the werewolf's identity and tried to kill him anyway. The two argue and Anna talks about a possible cure for lycanthropy Dracula might have. In the end, Van Helsing accepts to help Anna to try and save her brother.
First Encounter with Dracula[]
Van Helsing find Dracula's offspring.
The two track down Velkan to the supposedly abandoned Castle Frankenstein. When inside, they find the hundreds of cocoons of Dracula's children hanging from the ceiling, and discover he is trying to bring them to life. Using Dr. Frankenstein's methods, Dracula uses Velkan as a conduit to awake his offspring. The brides and the vampiric spawn atttack the village, meanwhile Van Helsing tries to shoot down as many spawns as he can to attrack Dracula's attention while Anna tries to save her brother.
Van Helsing discovers that Dracula cannot be killed.
Dracula confronts Van Helsing, who surprisingly recognizes him from his past, calling him "Gabriel". Van Helsing tries to stake him with silver and use a cross against him, but realizes that Dracula is impervious to all conventional vampire weaknessness. Van Helsing manages to sneak away in an elevator while Dracula is distracted by Velkan's screams. He reaches Anna in the castle's roof and uses his grapple gun to reach the cliff on the other side of the river, narrowly escaping Velkan, who had been starting to transform again.
Meeting Frankenstein's Monster[]
Afterwards, while walking under the rain, they take refuge in the ruins of a burn down windmill, suddenly both of them fall into an underground cave, where they find Frankenstein's Monster still alive. Though the Monster pleads to be killed so that Dracula cannot use him, Van Helsing decides to take him to Rome so he can be protected, not sensing any evil intentions from the creature.
Chase in the Forest[]
Van Helsing escapes from Aleera and Verona.
They flee in a carriage, but while crossing a forest in the Carpathian Mountains they are attacked by the brides and Velkan. The carriage plummets down a precipice and Verona tries to save the Monster, but on opening the door reveals that it is a decoy containing only stakes bundled against explosives, which kill her when the carriage hits the bottom. The real carriage is attacked by Velkan and catches fire, they manage to jump off and Van Helsing fatally shots the werewolf with silver.
Some time after, Anna finds is dying brother back in human form and passes away in her arms. Van Helsing appears and a grieving Anna furiously confronts him. It is then revealed that Velkan has bitten Van Helsing before dying, infecting him with the lycanthropic curse. Anna slowly retreats in shock, but suddenly Aleera appears and captures her. Gabriel tries to chase her down but reaches a cliff and can only watch as Aleera flies away and takes Anna to the city of Budapest, at the same time Carl and the Monster arrive to the scene.
Rescuing Anna[]
Van Helsing, Carl and the Monster arrive at Budapest looking for Anna.
In Budapest, Aleera appears and she and Van Helsing agree to trade Anna for the Monster at the All Hallows' Eve celebration. Van Helsing doesn't intend to exchange the monster, so he sedates him and hides him in a crypt before he and Carl head off to save Anna. Carl informs him that the next full moon is in two nights from now, so he has to find a way to kill Dracula before that happens and has no other choice but to the serve him.
Anna is being held captive at a masquerade ball and put under some kind of trance. Dracula attempts to seduce her and nearly bites and turns her in the process, but Carl causes a distraction and Van Helsing swings in from one of the acrobat's ropes and rescues her. Before they can get away, Dracula calls to him, refering to him as "Gabriel" again, and reveals that his zombies have captured the Monster, at the same time all the guests at the ball reveal themselves to be vampires. Van Helsing and Anna flee, encountering Carl who uses a sunlight bomb to destroy the vampires chasing them as the trio jumps from a window into the Danube river. The three watch as the Monster is taken away by Igor on boat. Carl reveals to Gabriel that Rome has ordered him to destroy the Monster so he can no longer be used for evil. Gabriel's werewolf rage takes over and he chokes Carl for this, but soon comes back to his senses and lets him go, apologizing to him.
Finding Castle Dracula[]
Escaping from Dracula's summer palace, Van Helsing, Anna and Carl return to Castle Frankenstein where they find all the equipment has been removed. At Anna's castle, Carl explains to them that Dracula was the son of Anna's ancestor and was murdered by "The Left Hand of God", but not before making a Faustian Bargain, which gave him new life as a vampire. Carl explains that although Anna's ancestor made the vow to kill Dracula, he could not kill his own son. Instead, he banished Dracula to an icy fortress from which he should not have been able to return, but the Devil gave him the power to fly, which eventually allowed him to escape.
Arrival at Castle Dracula.
Van Helsing then finds a portal to Dracula's castle disguised as a wall map of Transylvania which was completed using the paper that Van Helsing brought from Rome. They enter the portal and emerge on a cliff near Castle Dracula. As the castle gates are closed, Van Helsing uses his new werewolf powers to lift them both and jump high enough to reach an opening over the doors. Once inside, the trio encounters Igor and are about to kill him when they see the Monster being lifted into the laboratory. The Monster tells them that Dracula has indeed a cure for the curse of the werewolf. Carl deduces that only a werewolf can kill Dracula and that he uses werewolves to do his bidding, but needs a cure in case they have the willpower to turn against him. Van Helsing intimidates Igor to make him tell them the location of the cure, Carl and Anna depart with Igor to look for it, and Van Helsing and Anna share a kiss before separating.
Final Battle with Dracula[]
Van Helsing transforms into a werewolf.
Making his way into the laboratory, Van Helsing manages to reach the Monster, but not before Dracula's spawns are given life and Van Helsing is knocked out from the ceiling by Dracula, now in a giant bat-like form. Once Van Helsing reawakes, he is confronted by Dracula. Van Helsing tells Dracula that he knows his children will die if he is killed. Dracula, unfazed, confirms this to him, whereupon the clock tower on their back gives midnight and Van Helsing finally starts to turn into a werewolf, entering a final, brutal fight with Dracula who simultaneously turns into his demonic bat-like form. Van Helsing has the upper hand for most of the confrontation, and is even about to kill Dracula when the clouds block the moon and he briefly reverts back to human, Dracula reveals to him that he is actually the incarnation of the archangel Gabriel, "The Left Hand of God", as well as the one who originally murdered him. It is also revealed that Van Helsing's dragon ring actually belonged to Dracula. He offers to restore Van Helsing's memories, but Van Helsing refuses, deciding that "some things are better left forgotten". The sky gets clear and he transforms into a werewolf again, viciously lauching at Dracula and biting him in his neck, killing him and his offspring for good.
Aftermath[]
Van Helsing mourns Anna after killing her.
Meanwhile, Anna and Carl had retrieved the cure after killing Aleera and Igor. Anna makes her way to the laboratory just as Dracula dies, seeing a now transformed Gabriel. She runs at Van Helsing to inject him with the cure, hoping to catch him off guard, but he realizes and savagely launches at her, Carl arrives and is about to try and kill Van Helsing with the silver stake, only to be stopped by the werewolf. Van Helsing is about to kill Carl when he comes back to his senses at the last second, realizing that Anna successfully injected him with the cure, but was killed by him in the process. Van Helsing throws a mourning howl at the moon as he reverts back to his human form.
Van Helsing witnesses Anna's spirit ascending to Heaven.
Van Helsing and Carl hold a quiet ceremony for Anna and cremate her at the coast, as the monster departs on a raft, having been allowed a chance at life. As Anna's body burns, Van Helsing looks at the sky and has vision of her and her family in Heaven finally at peace, thanks to Dracula's death. Gabriel and Carl depart riding into the sunset.
Powers and Abilities[]
Archangel[]
Gabriel, in his true form, is an archangel of immense power. He possessed incredible destructive power, enough to destroy whole cities. However, because he is inhabiting living human flesh, he is both mortal and virtually powerless. His abilities in archangel form include:
- Immortality - As an archangel, Gabriel is immortal.
- Flight - Gabriel could fly through the heavens with his large swan-like wings.
- Self-Incarnation - Gabriel can create a living human vessel for himself to inhabit.
- Atmokinesis - Gabriel had the power to influence the weather.
Monster Hunter[]
Though he is an incarnate archangel, Van Helsing has no verifiable supernatural powers, but his human abilities make up for it, as they are on a greater scale than a normal man:
- Longevity - As a human, Gabriel is somewhere around 1800 years old in 1888, the year he's in Transylvania in the Van Helsing film (In his second scene with Carl, he mentions remembering the Siege of Masada). Further, it was Van Helsing who killed Dracula more than 400 years before, yet he retains the appearance and health of a fit man in his prime.
- Enhanced Strength - While not superhuman, his physical strength can easily allow him to lift or press his own weight. During his fight with Mr. Hyde, he was almost able to pull him off a building (but Hyde was able to counterattack).
- Enhanced Speed - Van Helsing has shown to be extremely agile as well as having great reflexes. His reflexes can stand up against creatures likes vampires or werewolves.
- Enhanced Durability - He can withstand attacks that would normally kill a man. He survived hits from Dracula's brides and Dracula himself and other creatures and the bite of a werewolf. After being bitten by a werewolf he was far more durable, even as a human, allowing him to survive a lightning strike (though he didn't receive the full impact) and surviving a fall from a tower.
- Detect Evil - Van Helsing refused to kill Frankenstein's Monster or allow it to be killed because he detects no evil in it. He explained to Anna Valerious that detecting evil in his prey is one of his abilities.
- Master Combatant - Van Helsing is a skilled warrior trained in combat for centuries by monks from different countries (as stated by Dracula).
- Hunter Instincts - Due to the fact that he has been hunting for years, Van Helsing developed an instinctive reaction to danger.
- Weaponry Expert - He has shown to be extremely proficient in handling almost every gun he uses. These include dual spinning razor-sharp saws, dual pistols, silver stakes, a crucifix, and his most important weapon, his repeater crossbow. He is also a very good aim, though he is not to be an expert.
Werewolf[]
Van Helsing becomes a werewolf.
Werewolf physiology - After being bitten by the werewolf Velkan he gained new abilities, also improving his old abilities.
- Superhuman Strength - He is far stronger than his human form, able to fight Dracula's vampiric form and overpower him. Even while in human form, he could bend thick iron bars, throw a power cell, and climb up a chain.
- Superhuman Stamina - He can fight longer than any human.
- Superhuman Durability - He was able to withstand all of Dracula's attacks.
- Superhuman Senses - His senses are far greater than any human.
- Superhuman Agility - Allows him to jump great distances and heights.
- Werewolf Venom - His fangs produced venom that could turn other humans into werewolves and also kill Dracula.
Werewolf weaknesses[]
- Full Moon Deprivation - If the full moon is covered by clouds, the transformation will end, until the clouds move.
- Werewolf Cure - The werewolf cure removed the curse, making him human again.
- Silver - Can kill werewolves.
Gallery[]
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