Katie Gray

Hellsing is a manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It is about a powerful vampire named Alucard and his battle against supernatural forces in service of the Hellsing Organization. The manga has two animated adaptations. One is a television series by Gonzo which was produced early in the manga's original run and is largely based on the original screenplay by Chiaki J. Konaka. The second, Hellsing Ultimate, is an original video animation series produced by Geneon that closely follows the manga's storyline. The series takes place primarily in the United Kingdom, which is under attack by the undead forces characterized as a rogue Nazi battalion which survived the end of World War II. The Hellsing Organization is portrayed as a clandestine British royal order in charge of defending the Empire from supernatural threats. The character Sir Integra Hellsing serves as its leader and commands a blood pact with Alucard, Hellsing's most powerful weapon. Alucard is an ancient vampire character who was pressed into service by Integra's ancestor, Abraham Van Helsing, who founded the order. Alucard is accompanied by the character Seras Victoria, a young womanpolice whom Alucard turns into a vampire at the beginning of the series. Hellsing is opposed by Millennium, characterized as a remnant of the Waffen-SS which escaped to South America with its research about vampires and the occult. The war-obsessed Major leads Millennium's army of artificially created vampires in an assault on London. Between the two powers is Vatican Section XIII, the Iscariot Organization, a secret Catholic order of assassins which also specializes in combating the supernatural. Enrico Maxwell is the chracter who leads the organization and Alexander Anderson, a paladin with accelerated healing, is its strongest asset. Many of the characters in Hellsing were based on concepts from Hirano's prior works as a freelance manga artist. The characters of Hellsing have been praised by reviewers and have maintained an enduring presence in cosplay at anime conventions.