In the series reboot Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Dracula is reimagined as an 11th-century holy knight named Gabriel Belmont and serves as the central character of the game and its two sequels.

Their last fight in the game places special emphasis on humanity, highlighted through Alucard's dialogue, where he reminds Dracula of his wife, Lisa.

[13] Hideo Kojima's input included advising Cox's team to redesign some of the lead character, Gabriel, who he felt needed a "more heroic face".

[14] Originally, Gabriel's design resembled a classic barbarian,[15] before Kojima then advised the staff to refine him into a character that was more relatable for the player.

[21] For Lords of Shadow 2, Gabriel had turned into Dracula which was the main focus of the game as it was the first time a mainline Castlevania title made him playabale.

This led to new forms of combat not seen before in the franchise, and the player gets stronger in order to make Dracula powerful enough to kill Satan, the reboot's antagonist.

[24] When Netflix created an animated series based on the franchise, director Adam Deats wanted to focus on Dracula's humanity by showing his transformation into a villain with the death of his wife, Lisa.

Warren Ellis' writing was praised by the staff as he has an "instinct for creating that human dimension for a character that makes you want to spend time with them even if what they ultimately do is not something that you're supportive of".

In Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, it is revealed that Dracula escaped and survived until 1591, when he kidnapped Christopher's son Soleil and tried to turn him against his father.

Set in 1830, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon explains how Dracula was defeated by vampire hunter Morris Baldwin a decade prior.

The main character is Hector, a "Devil Forgemaster" who served Dracula but left his service just prior to his defeat at the hands of Trevor.

Hector plans to live peacefully amongst humans, but his wife Rosalie is executed for witchcraft at the behest of fellow Forgemaster Isaac.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow takes place in 2035 and stars Soma Cruz, a high school exchange student who discovers he is the reincarnation of Dracula, who was permanently destroyed decades prior, and possesses the Count's ability to absorb the souls of monsters and assume their powers.

[33] Gabriel meets a man from the Brotherhood called Zobek, who states that a prophecy has been kept a secret by a select few, which tells of a pure-hearted warrior who will claim the Lords of Shadow's power to overcome evil.

[35] The epilogue reveals that in modern times Gabriel has become a vampire who identifies himself by saying "Eu sunt Dracul" in Romanian which can roughly translate to "I am the Dragon", "I am the Devil" or more popularly "I am Dracula".

[38] It is explained through the game's two DLC Packages Reverie and Resurrection that after the defeat of the Lords of Shadow, a powerful demon they locked away called the Forgotten One had begun to break free.

The story then moves to modern times in the first Lords of Shadow cliffhanger where a weakened Dracula feeds on a family to recover his health.

Zobek offers him his old weapon, the Vampire Killer, the only relic capable of ending his cursed existence, in exchange for him vanquishing the "acolytes" trying to bring Satan back.

The key to him regaining his power lies in his castle, which the cursed blood that kept it alive for centuries attempts to deter Dracula of his quest.

Throughout his journey, Dracula is aided by various allies, including Zobek's bodyguard and specters of his deceased wife Marie and a younger Trevor.

It is revealed that centuries ago, Alucard had come to Dracula with a plan to destroy both Zobek and Satan, using his sword, the Crissaegrim, on him to induce a deep sleep and thus setting the current events into motion.

The two set out to build a new life for themselves, contemplating moving to Whitby and resolving to not tell Alucard that they are alive for the time being, feeling that he needs closure.

[51] In a later article, they listed him as one of their favorite monsters in video gaming, stating a preference for the Castlevania representation of Dracula over others due to him having "a sense of fashion and style that few other versions possess.

[56][57][58] GamesRadar listed Gabriel seventh in their "Top 7... fallen heroes that became awesome villains", mentioning how his personality changed in the franchise when becoming a vampire,[59] but still found his backstory ridiculously tragic.

[60] In retrospect, GameSpot noted Gabriel's story did not feel like a Castlevania game despite visual similarities in terms of weapons and areas he explored.

[62] The Escapist criticized Dracula's characterization for coming to close to Kratos from God of War due to his angry personality and how weak he is portrayed sometimes in contrast to his previous incarnations as he now lacked the powers of having an army of his own.

[63] GameSpot further commented on Gabriel's characterization, claiming that while he possesses humanity in his debut, his transformation into Dracula and new actions will wonder gamers even if he is fighting for the sake of ending his own immortality.

[66] The Verge agreed in regards to Dracula's characterization, finding him as a "sympathetic character as opposed to cartoonish villain with no real motivation beyond an unjustified drive to be evil".

[69] In an analysis from the franchise, E. Charlotte Stevens from Birmingham City University claimed that noticed the character often shows signs of humanity when being surrounded by his family.

[70] IGN felt that the relationship between Alucard and his father was one of the best aspects of the second season due to the performance of their voice actors when they confront each other but suffer a mental breakdown upon acknowledging who are they facing.