HANSHANS
Real Name: Hans
Identity/Class: Human warrior (15th century)
Occupation: Vampire-hunter;
previous occupation unrevealed
Group Membership: None (part of an unofficial line and grouping of vampire-hunters)
Affiliations: Rache van Helsing and her father
Known Relatives: Unidentified sister (deceased), unidentified son (see comments);
Abraham van Helsing (deceased), Abraham's presumptive son (deceased, possibly also named Abraham - see Abraham's profile's comments), Rachel van Helsing (vampirized, destroyed), Jeremiah van Helsing, August van Helsing;
Noah van Helsing (not directly related, adopted into the van Helsing family)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly a tavern in a village at the bast of (presumably) the Carpathian mountains, near Castle Dracula, Snagov, Transylvania, Europe;
prior nation of origin unrevealed
First Appearance: Dracula Lives#12 (May, 1975)
Powers/Abilities: Hans was brave enough and loyal enought to his family to risk his life against the supernatural.
He had some experience as a horseman and archer. He carried a bow and arrow, as well as a dagger.
Height: Unrevealed; perhaps 5'8"
Weight: Unrevealed; perhaps 150 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white comic; they appeared lighter, so perhaps green or light blue)
Hair: Blond
History: 
(Dracula Lives#12 - BTS) <1465> - Dracula left Transylvania for a few months and explored the surrounding countries, enjoying some variety until he lost interest in it. During this time he slew Hans' sister.
(Dracula Lives#12 (fb) - BTS) - The priest in the village told Hans only silver could kill a vampire (that's obviously not true, as wood, sunlight, and other things can be fatal...but it was the 15th century, and ignorance can be forgiven). Hans obtained a silver arrow.
He also learned from friends that his sister's killer was named Dracula
and that he lived in a castle in Transylvania, to which he had departed.
(Dracula Lives#12) - Six weeks after his sister's burial, Hans futilely tried to rally the people of his village against Dracula, showing them his silver arrow and trying to convince them Dracula was a vampire.
The others noted how they needed to stay behind to support their
families and noted that the killer had not struck in weeks, so perhaps
the threat was over.
Without their support, Hans departed on his own. An older village tried to dissuade him by noting what was done was done and that this wasn't worth his own death, but Hans assured him that it was.
Hans made the long trek to Transylvania, starting out initially on horseback. When his horse died, he continued on foot, making it to a village beneath the mountains that held Dracula's castle before exhausting himself.
Bone-wearing and half-frozen, Hans burst through the door of the village's tavern before collapsing.
(Dracula Lives#12 (fb) - BTS) - As the tavern master and his daughter, Rache, helped Hans to a bench, they found his silver arrow. Realizing he was likely a vampire-hunter, they considered him a friend and ally, and they took him to her father's bed to allow him to rest and warm back up.
(Dracula
Lives#12) - As Hans awakened, Rache greeted him with a bowl of
(presumably) hot soup, introduced herself (as Rachel), and explained
how they had found the arrow and considered him a friend.
Over an undisclosed period of time, Rache and Hans fell in love.
After a night in which they consummated their relationship (if they had not already), Hans got up in the middle of the night to complete his mission of vengeance. He silently prayed he would return to Rache by morning.
(Dracula Lives#12 (fb) - BTS) - Dracula and/or his agents overpowered Hans, stabbing his own arrow in his chest, killing him. Dracula then had his servant/carriage-driver, take Hans' body back to the village.
(Dracula Lives#12) - Early in the light of day, Rache had a premonition that death had struck. Dracula's servant then approached and cast Hans' dead body out of his horse-drawn carriage before returning to Castle Dracula.
Rache's grief soon gave rise to a grim determination: Somehow sensing that she would have a son from the last night's romance, she vowed that her son would learn what had happened here and that one day, he or his children, would face Dracula and destroy him.
(Vampires: The Marvel Undead: Vampire-Hunters entry) - Rache had a son and raised him to avenge Hans.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and Tom Sutton.
Rache seemed pretty certain she was going to have a son from their romance the night before. The story indicated that her vow that her son or his children would destroy Dracula was the start of the enmity between Dracula and the van Helsings. The Vampire-Hunters entry in Vampires: The Marvel Undead confirmed that Rache had a son and raised him to avenge Hans.
We only know that Dracula slew Hans' sister...we don't know whether she was vampirized (and, if so, if Hans had to destroy her, or what)
Sorry, Hans...always go after vampires in daylight, and as early in the light of day as possible.
We don't know what country Hans was from, other than that it was not Transylvania, but almost certainly one of the nations in Transylvania's relative vicinity, as Hans headed there on horseback. It was far enough and cold enough that his horse perished in the journey.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Hans should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Dracula Lives#12/3, pg. 8, panel 5 (tavern);
panel 6 (face and soup bowl);
panel 8 (mostly full, with tavern outfit);
pg. 9, panel 1 (full, with Hans);
pg. 10, panel 1 (evening wear);
panel 2 (tavern exterior, father, face)
panel 7 (vow)
Appearances:
Dracula Lives#12/3 (May, 1975) - Gerry Conway (writer), Tom Sutton (artist), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Last updated: 02/26/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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