Marishka is the middle of Count Dracula's three Brides and a supporting antagonist in film Van Helsing. She was one of Gabriel Van Helsing's enemies and the first vampire that he killed when he arrived in Transylvania.
She was portrayed by Josie Maran.
Personality[]
Marishka is the middle of Dracula's three current Brides, and as such is forced to carry out menial tasks such as slaying any opposition that threatens their master's grand plans, though she doesn't seem to mind. Her past life implied she was once a dancer due to her flirtatious, carefree attitude which is reflected in her attire. A devilishly clever vixen who uses her beauty as a weapon against all those foolish enough to challenge her, Marishka is the one Bride who should never be underestimated. Notorious for playing with her food before eating it, Marishka has made countless, Transylvanian villagers wish for death long before it arrives.
Appearance[]
Marishka is an attractive young woman with fair skin and golden blonde hair with brown eyes. Unlike the other two Brides who wear dresses, Marishka wore a golden-white outfit that was reminiscent of a belly-dancer consisting with a top that exposed her midriff and wore fabric pants and she had long flowing golden sleeves that attached to her top. The way she dressed possibly hinted her early life as a gypsy. Another distinct feature that separated her from the other Brides was she wore a lot of gold jewelry. When Marishka used her vampire powers, her eyes would match the color of her outfit by glowing gold.
History[]
At the beginning of the film, Marishka, along with Aleera, and Verona are seen soaring over the mountains to regroup with Dracula after a heated battle with Frankenstein's Monster. They rush to rescue the creature from a nearby windmill that has been set ablaze by an angry mob, but they are too late. The monster is lost as the windmill collapses, and is engulfed by the flames. Together the Brides arrive weeping over the loss of Frankenstein's Monster, the very key element needed to bringing life to their undead children.
Marishka later attacked the village of Transylvania along with Verona and Aleera, in their Bat Creature forms, flying towards Anna Valarious and Van Helsing. She was first encountered upon the monster hunter's arrival in Transylvania. Marishka was told by Verona, oldest of Dracula's two Brides, to finish Van Helsing while the Vampires attacked the village looking for Anna. Marishka eagerly agreed and flew to attack Van Helsing, and was shot with multiple silver arrows that failed to strike her in the heart, causing her to crash into a house.
Marishka flies out of the house and appeared on the roof of a home, her wounds healing as she hissed at Van Helsing. Carl throws a bottle of Holy Water to him, but Verona grabs it and flings it into a well. Marishka took great pleasure in toying with Gabriel, teasing him seductively until Verona's impatiently ordered her to cease with her teasing and finish him off. When Carl, Van Helsing's close "sidekick", alerted him of a small fountain of Holy Water by the church in the village, Marishka smiled and hissed before she leapt from the roof tranforming back into a Bat Creature and rammed into Van Helsing, and repeatedly threw him into walls - only to bring Van Helsing closer to his crossbow, which he needed to finish her off. Soon becoming aware of this, she went from gloating hubris to intense panic and charged towards him.
Carl alerted Van Helsing of Marishka as she flew toward him, and Van Helsing ran to the fountain of Holy Water, dipping in the end of his crossbow, and fired upon the desperate vampiress. Marishka, finally realizing what he was attempting, swooped down to kill him, but she was too late. The silver, Holy-Water soaked arrows riddled Marishka as she tumbled through the sky, hurtled over Van Helsing and crashed into a church steeple of a nearby village home, pegged in place by the arrows. The other Vampire Brides sensed her mortal wounds and made their escape back to Dracula's Castle crying out her name, leaving Marishka gasping and screaming as the Holy Water starts causing her skin to disintegrate into mud and ashes, her bones clattering onto the ground, ending her multiple century-long life.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Immortality: Like all Vampires, Marishka are immortal so long as they feed on human blood.
- Superhuman Strength: Marishka have shown to demonstrate remarkable physical strength, despite their physical stature. They have been shown to be strong enough to lift cattle and throw them into a nearby house, as well as hit a human and send them flying several feet into the air.
- Superhuman Durability: Like their master and husband, Marishka can withstand a lot of physical abuse. However, their durability can't protect them against weapons holy in nature.
- Superhuman Healing: Like all Vampires, Marishka have the ability to regenerate lost and damaged tissue.
- Demonic Vampire Bat Form: Like Dracula himself, Marishka can turn into their demonic forms, gaining a boost to their physical powers as well as the ability to fly, the only difference between the forms of Dracula and the brides is that the brides' forms are more human(ish).