Hellsing: The Dawn

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Young Walter (right) and Alucard as seen in Hellsing: The Dawn, chapter 5 by Kouta Hirano. Published in Young King OURs.

Hellsing: The Dawn is a prequel to Kouta Hirano's manga Hellsing.

The Dawn features a fourteen year-old Walter C. Dornez and Alucard attacking the Millennium group's base of operations in Warsaw, Poland during September of 1944, in the midst of the Warsaw Uprising.

Integra's father - Sir Arthur Hellsing - and Sir Hugh Islands also make appearances. Arthur appears to have been a perverted and obnoxious drunk (although not incompetent) during that time.

Chapter One of the manga introduces us to the basic storyline of the Hellsing series. The creation of Ghouls, which are zombies used on the battlefield, is clearly portrayed. It also introduces us to Walter for the very first time, as a confident and somewhat cocky boy eager to face the battle. We are made familiar with Walter's weapon of choice, the flying wires.

In The Dawn, Alucard has taken the form of a young girl^[1], for reasons that are unknown for the time being. Indeed, the fanbase has taken to naming him/her "Girlycard". They both fight against Millennium's top-class vampires and others alike from the original Hellsing manga, including the Captain, a younger, more far-sighted Rip van Winkle, and a currently unknown figure wrapped in bandages simply referred to as "She" by the Doctor and the Major. "She" is speculated to actually be Zorin Blitz.

The Dawn is published at irregular intervals in special editions of Young King OURs. Six chapters have been published so far.

Because of its popularity, the importance of the story in relation to Hellsing, and the fact that some scenes from The Dawn were present in the OVA trailer, it is possible that The Dawn will be animated as part of the new Hellsing OVA series. This is further suggested by the appearance of Alucard, in his The Dawn form, at the very end of the first episode of the OVA. However, it still remains to be seen whether The Dawn will make a significant appearance.

It also remains to be seen whether The Dawn is ever to be published as a tankōbon like the original Hellsing manga.