Gabriel Van Helsing

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Gabriel Van Helsing is a fictional character in the 2004 motion picture Van Helsing, the animated prequel Van Helsing: The London Assignment, and other media. He is portrayed in the film by actor Hugh Jackman.

[edit] Character Background

A new and different version of Bram Stoker's fictional character of vampire-hunter Abraham Van Helsing, this action character shares very few traits or history with the original character, apart from the profession of vampire-hunting, an existence in 19th Century Europe, and a connection to Stoker's fictional character of Count Dracula.

This Van Helsing's name was changed from Abraham to Gabriel by his creator, screenplay-writer and director Stephen Sommers. Sommers states he did not like the name Abraham. ^{[citation needed]}

Not much is known about the history of mysterious Van Helsing. Throughout the film Van Helsing numerous references are made to the Archangel Gabriel, the "Left Hand of God," and the fact that Van Helsing has nightmares about horrific battle scenes from history that may indicate a supernatural lifespan. At the end of the film, Count Dracula reveals that it was Van Helsing who murdered him, thus beginning the cycle which resulted in Dracula becoming a vampire. Also, in the film Van Helsing answers to his friar sidekick Carl that he remembers a battle with the Romans at Masada in the year 73 A.D.

The references to the archangel Gabriel may be a veiled reference to the role which that archangel played in the creation of vampires in the White Wolf role-playing game Vampire: the Masquerade. In the mythology of that game, Gabriel was the archangel that cursed Caine to be unable to bear sunlight and forever dwell in darkness.