Count Orlok

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Count Orlok, also known asNosferatu, is the titular main antagonist of the 1922 silent horror filmNosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

He is a reclusivevampire operating from a decrepit Romanian castle who spreads plagues among villages over the course of centuries, resulting in the deaths and transformations of many, until his undoing during a plague transmission in the distant fictional German town of Wisborg. He is based onCount Dracula from Bram Stoker's original novel.

Orlok is one of the most iconic monsters of classic horror, rivalingCount Dracula,Godzilla,Frankenstein's Monster, and theWolf Man. In this regard, he is also notable for being more faithful in many ways to the traditional representation of vampires in folklore, being a hideous demonic creature rather than an attractive gentleman.

He was portrayed by the lateMax Schreck.

Quick Answers

What is the origin of Count Orlok's character in Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror?

Count Orlok, from the 1922 film 'Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror', is a vampire from a ruined Romanian castle, known for spreading plagues. Posing as a Carpathian nobleman, he aims to move to Wisborg, Germany. His character is based on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

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How does Count Orlok spread plagues in the film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror?

In the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, Count Orlok is a vampire who resides in a dilapidated Romanian castle. He is known to spread plagues in surrounding villages, inciting fear and disorder. His association with rats suggests they may be instrumental in disseminating these plagues. Additionally, Orlok disguises himself as a Carpathian nobleman intending to relocate to Wisborg, Germany.

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What leads to Count Orlok's undoing in Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror?

In Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, Count Orlok's downfall is brought about by exposure to sunlight. This event concludes his reign of terror, during which he spread plagues from his dilapidated Romanian castle.

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How does Count Orlok's character differ from Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's novel?

Count Orlok, from Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, is a distinct character from Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. Unlike Dracula's gentlemanly charm, Orlok represents a demonic, diseased aspect of vampire lore. Operating from a dilapidated Romanian castle, Orlok spreads plagues, causing numerous deaths and transformations. His character aligns more closely with traditional vampire mythology than Dracula.

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Appearance[]

Orlok appears as a tall, bald vampire with pointed ears, white irises, thick eyebrows, sharp rat-like teeth, and long claws. His attire consists of a long dark hunting coat with dark pants and shoes. He also goes in disguise with a bulky overcoat and a feathered hat.

Personality[]

Count Orlok is a cruel, ruthless, and merciless vampire. He delights in causing chaos, usually through spreading plagues around Europe. He also has an obsession for Ellen's neck, possibly because he could sense her blood as being delightful. Orlok regularly associates himself with rats, but it's unclear if he truly cares for them or views them as tools to spread his plagues.

Biography[]

Background[]

Not much is known about Orlok's past, though it is implied that Orlok is an evil spirit spawned and created from the supernatural seed ofBelial, the lieutenant ofSatan. At some time, Orlok became a vampire, a creepy, demonic creature that feeds on blood. Orlok resides inside a decaying castle in a lost corner of Carpathia, where he stalks the surrounding villages and terrorizes the inhabitants over the centuries by plagues. As a result, few ventured out into the dark of night during his reign of terror.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror[]

Count Orlok first poses as a nobleman from the Carpathian Mountains who has a desire to move to the city of Wisborg in Germany. He lives in a ruined castle high in the mountains and local townsfolk refuse to go anywhere near this castle, save for the film's protagonist, the youngThomas Hutter, the assistant of a Wisborg estate agent, who travels to his castle to show properties for sale in Wisborg on the behalf of his boss,Knock, who in truth has been brainwashed by Orlok himself and is trying to help his master's plan. After his initial coach driver refuses to take him over to the castle, a disguised Orlok takes him over and negotiates terms to buy the previously mentioned property. Hutter accidentally cuts himself when cutting bread, and Orlok's vampiric urges spring, resulting in him biting Hutter's neck.

Hutter is oblivious that it was Orlok that bit him, and wrongly believes the bite mark to be that of mosquitoes, until eventually coming to the realization from a book about vampires. Hutter's wifeEllen senses that Thomas is in danger via telepathy and intervenes, resulting in Orlok being unable to touch Hutter any further.

Soon Orlok conceals himself in one of his soil-filled coffins and is loaded onto a ship bound for Wisborg. Onboard the ship, he kills every crew member with his plague via rat carriers until only the captain and his first mate remain. Later when the first mate goes to the cargo hold to investigate, Count Orlok rises from his coffin, terrifying the first mate who jumps overboard in fear. The captain ties himself to the wheel of the ship when Count Orlok creeps up on him and kills him.

Upon his arrival in Wisborg, he spreads the plague via the rat carriers, which kills many. Although it is heavily implied that the plague actually isn't real, and that it is Orlok himself who is causing the deaths by feasting on the residents. The local authorities declare a quarantine as a result of the plague coupled with mass hysteria among its denizens. Hutter and Ellen, present in Wisborg, become hopeless, but the latter realizes that she can exploit Orlok's urges in order to kill him. Orlok stalks and attacks Hutter's young wife, Ellen, in her room, but during the pleasure of drinking her blood, he is caught unaware by the rays of the rising sun. When he heard the crowing of a rooster, he suddenly realized his own flaw and was caught in the sunlight, which burns him away in a cloud of fire and smoke, killing him and ending his reign of terror.

Relationships[]

Family[]

• Belial(creator)

Allies[]

• Knock †
• Rats
• Thomas Hutter(formerly)

Enemies[]

• Thomas Hutter
• Ellen Hutter †
• Carpathian Mountains inhabitants
• Everyone else in Wisborg

Notable Victims[]

• Ellen Hutter - Bitten on the throat. This distraction results in his death from sunlight exposure.

Legacy[]

Count Orlok was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's famous Count Dracula; however, because the studio is unable to obtain the rights to Dracula, they opted for making their own character. In the end, the two vampires would become very different beings, as Dracula would become known for his gentlemanly charm and cunning, while Count Orlok would come to embody the much more demonic, diseased side of vampire lore.

Ironically, Count Orlok is actually much more faithful to true vampire mythology than Dracula, except for the deathly weakness to sunlight, which was added to the film and later became a staple of vampire fiction. In spite of all this, Orlok himself has grown to become almost as iconic as Dracula himself.

Count Orlok makes many recurring cameos and appearances in the showSpongeBob SquarePants, with his most famous appearance being his debut in the episode "Graveyard Shift", trying to scare SpongeBob and Squidward by flicking the light switch on and off, being referenced as "Nosferatu". The other characters, not scared but amused by this, shame him before he smiles. He also makes a few cameos inThe Simpsons.

Characters inspired by Count Orlok[]

Count Orlok has inspired an entire subspecies of vampire also known as Nosferatus (in honor of the film). These beings tend to be more monstrous-looking and vicious than the more human-like vampires seen in other fiction. They are also normally more demonic than normal vampires as well, midway between a vampire and a mutant.

• The Master - This Buffy villain was a prime example of a Nosferatu in popular culture and was obviously inspired by Count Orlok.
• Olrox - Count Orlok'sCastlevania counterpart, who looks the same and has the same name (albeit mistakenly romanized) and shares it's original counterpart's similarities with Dracula.
• Freddy Krueger - Although it seems strange at first, the slasher icon Freddy Krueger was inspired by Count Orlok, most likely the talon-like hands.
• Max Schreck - A fictionalization of the actor (portrayed by movie star William DeFoe) who played Orlok, amalgamated with Orlok himself, in the feature filmShadow Of The Vampire, in which the fact that Schreck is a real vampire is kept from the other crew members byNosferatu Director FW Murnau.
• Max Shreck - A non vampiric example of a character based on Orlok, or to be specific Orlok's actor of the same name.
• Baron Vain - This villain fromThe Modifyers bears a very similar appearance to Orlok, and also shares a similar title (as both Count and Baron are aristocratic titles).
• Kurt Barlow - An evil vampire created by famous horror author Stephen King, Barlow was a Vampire that originated from the Prim and became a Vampire. Though appearing as a Austrian nobleman in both the original novel and the 2004 two-part miniseries adaptation, the iconic two-part miniseries 1979 adaptation shows him as having a striking resemblance to Count Orlok, portrayed by Reggie Nadler.Barlow retains an Orlok-like appearance in the 2024 Salem's Lot feature film adaptation, portrayed by Alexander Ward, who also played Orlok's SpongeBob SquarePants counterpart.
• Godzilla (Trevor Henderson) - Although it seems very strange and unrelated at first, this version ofGodzilla from Trevor Henderson mythos is confirmed to be inspired from Count Orlok.

Other Media[]

Main article:Count Dracula (Nosferatu the Vampyre)

Main article:Count Orlok (2023)

Main article:Count Orlok (2024)

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Creation[]

• Count Orlok was largely conceived by Prana Film founder and occultist artist Albin Grau, who was also responsible for the look and spirit ofNosferatu (1922), including the sets, costumes, storyboards and promotional materials. Grau served in the German army during the First World War on the Serbian front. According to him, he was inspired to shoot Nosferatu after meeting a farmer during the Serbian campaign, who stated that his father was a vampire. After the war, Grau turned to film directorFriedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, also known as F. W. Murnau to direct his movie. Grau may have been modeled Orlok on the corpses he saw in the trenches of the Great War.^[1]
• Several other references to the war have been noticed in Count Orlok's association with rats, (a recurring niusance in the trenches), and the character suddenly appearing in thick smoke (which has been linked to the poison gas used during the front). The actor who portrayed Orlok,Max Schreck, also served in the trenches of the Great War with the German army. His military experience during the war have been thought to have influenced his performance in the film. InThe Nosferatu Story: The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors and Its Enduring Legacy, some authors have compared Orlok's appearance to stereotypical caricatures of Jewish people from the time in which the film was produced.^[1]
• Nosferatu's plot is very similar to Bram Stoker novelDracula, as the filmmakers originally wished to do an adaptation, but couldn't get the rights, so merely changed character names and certain details; the film still followed so closely to the novel that Stoker's windowFlorence Balcombe sued the filmmakers, and the judge even rule in her favor, although since the film hadn't been profitable, she instead chose to destroy all prints (though enough survived to reconstruct the film later).
  • However, there are some key differences between the novel and the 1922 film. UnlikeCount Dracula, who's bite transforms his victims into vampires, Orlok simply kill's his victims to feast on their blood; also, Dracula was portrayed as having both handsome and monstrous forms, whereas Orlok simply had his hideous rat-like humanoid state. In the end, Orlok is killed by sunlight, unlike Dracula, who is only weakened by it. Orlok was the first character in fiction to depict vampires as being fatally vulnerable to sunlight. Previous works had shown them being uncomfortable with sunlight, but not mortally susceptible to it.^[1]

Notes[]

• Along withDr. Caligari andDoctor Mabuse, Count Orlok is regarded as one of the most popular villains of silent era films.
• The imagery of Count Orlok fromNosferatu appears prominently in the music video presentation of the collaboration between David Bowie and Queen, "Under Pressure". Interestingly, Bowie himself once played a vampire in the feature filmThe Hunger.
• In some prints ofNosferatu, Count Orlok was given back the name of the character he was based and the other characters were given back the names of their Bram Stoker equivalent.
• In the 1979 remake ofNosferatu, some of the characters reverted to their original Stoker names, includingDracula.
• Director Murnau and producer Grau gave Orlok in the film a demonic lineage and an occult origin: Orlok is the creation of Belial, one of the Satanic arch demons. Belial in Psalm 41:8 - 10 is also associated with pestilence, with Orlok in film being the very manifestation of contagion, rats pouring out of his coffins onto the streets of Wisborg, spreading plague. Orlok's link to Belial is also highly significant because Belial is 'one of the demons traditionally summoned by Goetic magicians' - making Orlok someone who practiced black magic before becoming a vampire.

External Links[]

• Count Orlok on thePure Evil Wiki
• Count Orlok on theDracula Wiki
• Count Orlok on theNosferatu Wiki
• Count Orlok onWikipedia

References[]

Navigation[]

Villains

Books Dracula:Count Dracula |R.M. Renfield |Brides of Dracula |Lucy Westenra Dracul:Count Dracula Dracula the Undead:Elizabeth Bathory Movies Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror:Count Orlok |Knock Dracula (1931):Count Dracula |Brides of Dracula |R.M. Renfield Son of Dracula:Count Alucard Dracula (1958):Count Dracula |The Bride |Lucy Westenra Dracula (1970):Count Dracula |R.M. Renfield |Brides of Dracula Dracula vs. Frankenstein:Groton Nosferatu the Vampyre:Count Dracula |R.M. Renfield Dracula (1992):Count Dracula |Brides of Dracula |Lucy Westenra |R.M. Renfield |Ottomans Dracula: Dead and Loving It:Dracula |R.M. Renfield Dracula 2000:Count Dracula |Brides of Dracula (Lucy) Shadow of the Vampire:Max Schreck Van Helsing:Count Dracula |Brides of Dracula (Aleera,Marishka &Verona) |Vampires |Igor |Dwergi |Velkan Valerious |Grey Werewolf |Victor Frankenstein |Mr. Hyde The Batman vs. Dracula:Dracula |Penguin |Joker Dracula Untold:Mehmed II |Master Vampire The Invitation:Walter Deville |Brides of Dracula (Lucy andViktoria) |Mr. Field Renfield:Dracula |Teddy Lobo |Bellafrancesca Lobo The Last Voyage of the Demeter:Dracula Nosferatu (2023):Count Orlok |Knock Abigail:Abigail Lazar |Frank |Kristof Lazar |Lambert |Sammy/Jessica Nosferatu (2024):Count Orlok |Knock TV Buffy the Vampire Slayer:Dracula |The Three Sisters Penny Dreadful:Dracula Dracula (2013 series):Count Dracula |R.M. Renfield |Lucy Westenra Van Helsing:Dracula |Abaddon |B'ah |Sam |Brides of Dracula (Bathory,Michaela,Willem) |The Sisterhood Dracula (2020 series):Dracula |Elena |Lord Ruthven |Frank Renfield Video Games Nosferatu (1994):Nosferatu |Frankenstein's monsters |Zombies |Gargoyles |Ghosts |Robots |Werewolf |Apemen |Ghoul |Mud Elemental |Rock Golem See Also The Wolf Man Villains |Frankenstein Villains |Castlevania Villains

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