Mathias Cronqvist

Warning! This article contains spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

See also: Dracula

Mathias Cronqvist
Japanese name(s)	マティアス・クロンクビスト Matiasu Kuronkubisuto
Role(s)	Alchemist Knight Tactician
Species	Human Vampire (by the end of the game)
Gender	Male
Date of birth	1062
Date of death	1094 (transition to Dracula) 1999 (final death)
Age	32
Status	Deceased (resurrected several times until his final death in 1999)
Affiliation(s)	Cronqvist Family
Abilities	Master tactician Skilled manipulator Machiavelic methodist
Firstappearance	Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Appearances	1094: Lament of Innocence
Relatives	Elisabetha Cronqvist (first wife) † Lisa (second wife, only after the transition) † Adrian Țepeș (son, after the transition) Soma Cruz (reincarnate after 1999)
Partnerships	Leon Belmont (close friend, then enemy) Death (associate)
Dialogue	Dialogue page
English voice(s)	Crispin Freeman
Japanese voice(s)	Nobuhiko Kazama
Music theme	"Dracula Appears"

"We have risked our lives and fought for the sake of God... But God mercilessly stole away the one I loved most... When all I ever wished for was Elisabetha's safety!! If limited life is God's decree, then I shall defy it!! And within that eternity, I shall curse Him forevermore!"

— Mathias, during his revelation to Leon

Mathias Cronqvist (マティアス・クロンクビスト, Matiasu Kuronkubisuto^?) is one of the main characters in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. He was Leon Belmont's good friend. Initially a master tactician, he is eventually revealed as one of the main antagonists of the game –and even the entire series– (later known as Count Dracula), as he manipulated Leon in order to enter the final stage in possession of the Crimson Stone.

History

In the world of knights who lacked education, Matthias was a genius tactician who was even called Cronqvist the Wise. Because Mathias's family had books recording secret arts transmitted orally concerning alchemy, a science that experiments with the arcane, Mathias himself had a detailed knowledge of alchemy. His beloved wife, Elisabetha, died from illness while he was on an expedition. Mathias was grief stricken and bedridden and Leon was forced to continue the campaigns without his friend. When Leon's beloved was kidnapped, Mathias told him that it was the doing of a vampire who had a castle in the east.

In fact, Mathias had deceived Leon. In deep mourning, Mathias devised a plan to take revenge on God for stealing Elisabetha by becoming a vampire and living eternally. He manipulated Leon, Rinaldo, Sara, even Walter and his monsters, in order to obtain a vampire's soul with the Crimson Stone, and he was reborn with it. He then offered Leon to join him and become immortal, because Leon suffered the same loss. Leon refused, with Matthias, while disappointed that Leon refused to see things his way, deciding to let his new henchman Death deal with Leon and fled by turning into a bat. Death was ultimately defeated, and had delivered a message to Matthias from Leon: Leon, as a result of Matthias's actions, had vowed that his clan would forever hunt him. As time went on, Mathias renamed himself Dracula, taken from the Romanian word "Dracul" meaning dragon and devil.

For more details on his later life, see Dracula.

Gallery

Main article: Mathias Cronqvist/Gallery

Trivia

• The name "Mathias Cronqvist" is likely a reference to Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary from 1458 to 1490. Corvinus had Vlad III Drăculea as his vassal at times and even once as his prisoner. This connection to the historical Dracula may have influenced the way Koji Igarashi chose to name his antagonist.
  • Mathias wife's name, Elisabetha, is a variation of Elizabeth, also the name of the real Matthias's wife, Elizabeth of Celje.
• 
  The name "Mathias Cronqvist" could also be a corruption of Vlad Ţepeş's real name "Wladislaus Dragwlya", as both signatures look similar in appearance.
• The surname Cronqvist is Swedish in origin and means "crown twig".
• It is revealed on the Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Japanese official site that Mathias earned the title of "Count" in the Crusades, a fact that is later referenced on his new identity, Dracula.
• It's worth noting that Mathias bears a striking resemblance to Alucard's disguise as Genya Arikado, which makes sense considering they are father and son. However, this could also be merely coincidental since Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence's original character portraits were created by the same artist, Ayami Kojima.
• In a promotional artwork for Lament of Innocence, Mathias is seen holding Elisabetha's body in a similar manner to Dracula with Lisa in the Symphony of the Night prequel manga, foreshadowing Mathias's connection to Dracula.

• 

  Portrait of a man who could reference Mathias in Julius Mode of Dawn of Sorrow.

  In Julius Mode of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, in the room where Soma Cruz is fought, there's a painting in the background that might be intended to reference Mathias, who Soma technically acted as a reincarnation of. However, this is mere speculation.
  • The portrait makes a reappearance in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, as well as Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.
• Mathias's English voice actor, Crispin Freeman, provided the voice for Hector, the main protagonist of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
  • He also provided the voice for the vampire Alucard in the anime series Hellsing, in which Alucard is in fact Dracula himself.
• The reasons for Mathias's fall and metamorphosis seem to be strongly inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is an adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel, Dracula. Both Mathias and Coppola's Dracula renounce God and seek and obtain immortality out of anger at the death of their wives. While Elisabetha does not commit suicide, she does pass away while Mathias is absent 'fighting in God's name' (it has been proposed that this was during the First Crusade; however, this is not possible as according to the game's canon Elisabetha died in 1093, one year before the events of the game - Pope Urban did not call the First Crusade until November 27, 1095). Furthermore, she shares the name of Dracula's wife in the film.
  • In addition, like in the film, four centuries separate the moment when Mathias became a vampire and the moment when he was vanquished (in the Castlevania mythos, defeated by Trevor Belmont for the first time).
• After Dracula was defeated in Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, when talking with his father, Alucard indicated that when he was with Lisa, he regained his humanity, which may imply that he briefly lived during that time as Mathias Cronqvist until her execution reverted him back to being Dracula.

See also

• Dracula
• Tepes Family Tree

External links

• Matthias Corvinus at Wikipedia
• Mathias Cronqvist at the Castlevania Fan Wiki