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Renfield is the young secretary of Dr. Seward. After drinking from Dracula, and sharing the blood bond, he develops a strong interest in Vanessa Ives.


Appearance and Personality[]

Renfield is a man in his thirties, with a very neat appearance and friendly manners. Staid and refined in the workplace, and lascivious among the filthy streets of London, where he spends money on prostitutes and opium dens.

During a trance interrogation by Dr. Seward, it becomes clear that Renfield is a lonely, sad person who always felt ignored and uncared for. While it's probable that he paid prostitutes trying to feel something like intimacy and power, these escapades did not provide him with what he was truly looking for: a friend and/or someone who loved him.

When Dracula captures him and turns him into a Familiar with orders to spy on Vanessa, he gives him insight into his own feelings and desires, making Renfield obsessed with Ms. Ives. Dracula elects him to be his "chosen one", providing him with special treats like allowing Renfield to feed from him or to feed from the corpses before the others. It remains unclear if Dracula acts this way because of an emotional connection to Renfield (as a Familiar, Renfield must do his master's bidding no matter what, making the "treats" entirely unnecessary). In some way Dracula fulfils Renfield's longing for a parental figure, making him eager to serve and turn his back on the "wretched world" that he feels rejected him.

Once fully transformed, Renfield shows the craving for blood and the disposition to wildness and violence characteristic for Familiars. He also displays their typical disregard for society's norms.

Under Dr. Seward's hypnotic trance however, it becomes apparent that the human side of him is still very much alive beneath Dracula's control. Deep inside, Renfield is horrified by what he has witnessed and what has become of him. Showing compassion, fear and remorse, he helps Dr. Seward by giving away Dracula's hiding place. The doctor's gentle and compassionate demeanor towards him brings to light Renfield's vulnerable nature. Renfield says that he wished for her to be his friend (which might explain why, though he could restrain Dr. Seward with relative ease, he did not actually harm her) and that this friendship might have saved him from ending up the way he did.

History[]

The secretary of Dr. Seward is a man with a lecherous vice that has led him directly into a vampire's den, where he was trapped by a vampire identifying himself as Dracula. Dracula expressed an interest in Vanessa Ives and tasked the man with spying on her.[1].

Skills and Abilities[]

  • Enhanced Agility: Renfield developed increased agility after becoming a familiar.[2]
  • Enhanced Senses: By becoming a familiar, Renfield becomes less and less dependent on his glasses, finally discarding them completely. His other senses are enhanced as well, for example, he can smell the blood within a person.
  • Enhanced Strength: Only a few notches above the average human's. He was able to restrain Dr. Seward with some level of ease.

Appearances[]

Memorable Quotes[]

  • "Let her be. And let this wretched world end and let another begin. The world of the night. The world of the bat and the owl and the spider. The blessed dark!"


Gallery[]

Videos[]

References[]

Trivia[]

  • Like Dr. Seward, Renfield is also inspired by a character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, he was a patient in Dr. Seward's insane asylum in the novel, and also a servant of Dracula.
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