User blog comment:Dargoo Faust/Halloween Special: Dracula (Van Helsing) vs. Dracula (Dracula Untold)/@comment-3189283-20181016090901

Let's see shall we

If we just look at the abilities at face value then it's clear that the Van Helsing version is rocking the superior set of powers. In terms of strength and speed the two are roughly comparable with both being able to move faster than most humans can comprehend and casually tear through stone and steel. However from what I can remember from Dracula Untold, Vlad Tepis' healing ability pales in comparison to his opponent as it seems to take a few seconds to heal whereas Vladislaus can heal seemingly instantly. Both share weather manipulation but again Vladislaus seems to the edge here with a greater variety of manipulation being able to use elements to attack rather than just creating clouds and lightning.

Then we come onto the unique abilities; Vlad Tepis' bat horde and Vladislaus' demon bat form. The Bat Horde is certainly devastating and would be a massive boost for Vlad Tepis in terms of damage output but I'm not entirely sure how effectively he can actually use them. The one time he used them in the movie it was against a massive army that he already knew was coming and he was directing the attacks from afar. Fighting one on one in close quarters combat is an entirely different situation and he's probably not going to get the chance to direct his bat horde while under constant pressure from Vladislaus, not to mention the fact he has to actually summon them in the first place. Vladislaus' demon form only sees use when he faces a powerful opponent but it's more practical in the given scenario and he'll be quick to bust it out once he sees how powerful his opponent is.

With all of this taken into account it would seem like the Van Helsing Dracula has this one in the bag but Dracula Untold's version has one major thing working in his favour; he's a much better trained and skilled soldier. I've only seen bits and pieces of Van Helsing but Vladislaus' appears to be the typical arrogant super powerful evil guy who likes to toy with his opponents. He's faced loads and loads of vampire hunters sure but they're nowhere near his level of power and he likely hasn't had to properly exert himself in combat until he came up against Van Helsing's werewolf form. Vlad Tepis on the other hand was a skilled and accomplished fighter before he turned into a powerful vampire and proved himself able to take on opponents on his skill level and utterly trounce them. In the initial stages of the battle Vladislaus is going to be cocky and sure of himself because of his great power and this is something Vlad Tepis can exploit by going hard right from the beginning, catching the older vampire off guard with his ferocity and power.

In the end this is your classic battle of a guy whose uber powerful but poorly trained and a dude whose less powerful but is a more skilled warrior. Vladislaus is clearly the superior vampire physically and in terms of his powers but he lags sorely behind Vlad Tepis when it comes to applying those powers to combat. Neither of these two versions weaknesses are going to play much into it as they share the same aversion to sunlight and stakes and their unique weaknesses of holy items and silver are unlikely to be present in the battlefield. So it really does come down to the question of if Vlad Tepis can overcome his significant power handicap with his greater skill as a warrior.

TBC