Transylvania in popular culture

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Largely as a result of the success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Transylvania has become a popular setting for gothic horror fiction, and most particularly vampire fiction.[1] In some later books and movies Stoker's Count Dracula was conflated with the historical Vlad III Dracula, known as Vlad the Impaler (1431–1476), who though most likely born in the Transylvanian city of Sighișoara, ruled over neighboring Wallachia.[2]

Books[]

  • According to some versions of the story, the Pied Piper of Hamelin took the children of Hamelin to Transylvania. The story may be an attempt to explain the Ostsiedlung of the Transylvanian Saxons in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
  • Dracula, a novel by Bram Stoker. Much of the early action is set in Transylvania, the homeland of the title character.
  • Many important figures in Hungarian and Romanian literature came from Transylvania and treated the region extensively in their works. These writers include the Hungarians Áron Tamási, Albert Wass, and Károly Kós and the Romanians Liviu Rebreanu and Ioan Slavici. The Transylvanian Trilogy of historical novels by the Hungarian Miklós Bánffy is an extended treatment of the region's social and political history during the 19th and early 20th century.
  • Carpathian Castle, a book by Jules Verne. The action is set in a small village of Transylvania.
  • Überwald, a fictional region in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, is partly based on Transylvania, its populace including vampires, werewolves, dwarves, trolls, orcs, mad scientists and Igors. The name, meaning "across the forest," is a literal translation of "Transylvania" from Latin into German.
  • The Historian, a novel by Elizabeth Kostova. Part of the book is set in Transylvania, where the main characters search for clues about Dracula.
  • The Sight by David Clement-Davies is set in Transylvania, the book involving a wolf pack and their quest to stop a lone wolf.
  • The 25th Hour by Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu depicts a simple Transylvanian peasant caught in the turmoil of ethnic hate leading into the Second World war.
  • The Keep, a 1981 novel by F. Paul Wilson.
  • In the Harry Potter series Transylvania has a Quidditch team.
  • In the Left Behind series, the head of the global government, the Global Community, is a man named Nicolae Carpathia, who reigns from the Transylvania region of Romania.

Films[]

Bela Lugosi as Dracula

Television programs[]

Video games[]

  • Most Castlevania games revolve around the epic struggle between the Belmont lineage and Count Dracula who resides in Transylvania.
  • In Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge, Transylvania is said to be the ancestral home of Yuri. It is also featured as the map in the final mission of the Soviet Campaign.
  • In Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters, there is a Transylvanian era where the main boss is a vampire.
  • In Transylvania (computer game), the nation is the setting of the trilogy of graphic adventure games.
  • It is a location in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, where Blade the Vampire Hunter can be found and be playable, and where Venom is fought as a boss.
  • A level in Twisted Metal: Head On centered on a fictional castle in Transylvania.
  • The DuckTales video game has a level set in Transyvania, with ghosts and skeletons as enemies and Magica De Spell as the level boss and a vampire named Count Dracula Duck as the final boss (excluding Flintheart Glomgold).
  • Soviet Strike has a level set in an irradiated area of Transylvania, containing small "rivers" of radioactive material scattered around the terrain.
  • In Funcom's Conspiracy/Horror MMORPG The Secret World, Translyvania is included as an explorable region.
  • In War Thunder, one of the aircraft available for use by the player is IAR-81C, part of the IAR 80 series. All of the 448 World War II-era aircraft of this series were produced in Transylvania, at the IAR factory in Brașov.[5]
  • The 2021 video game Resident Evil: Village is set in the Transylvania region of Romania.

Music[]

Songs and albums[]

Webcomics[]

  • The webcomic Girl Genius takes place in a fictional version of Europe named Europa, one region of which seems to be named Transylvania as evidenced by the existence of a "Transylvania Polygnostic University" and also a "Pax Transylvania" across Europa maintained by an empire based out of the region, much like the Pax Romana.

References[]

  1. ^ Transylvania in fiction[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Transyvania & Dracula Archived 2007-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Universal Announces "Transylvania," Based on "Van Helsing"
  4. ^ Transylvania
  5. ^ IAR-81C at the War Thunder Wiki

See also[]

  • Dracula in popular culture
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