13:17 - Dracula vs. Belsnickel

[UMPIRE]

SEASON 13, ROUND 17

Dracula

Slot: The Team's Horror Icon
Season Wins: 3
Season Losses: 0
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about Dracula at Wikipedia
Official Site: Estate Of Bram Stoker

Belsnickel

Slot: The Team's Christmas Themed Character
Season Wins: 0
Season Losses: 2
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about Belsnickel at Wikipedia
Official Site: Public Domain

Battle Terrain
Christmas Vs. Halloween: Fear vs. Joy

[Culwych1]

Kids these days dress up as vampires for fun - as do adults who long to become creatures of the night and live as part of Dracula's court. That is amusement, admiration, and desire, but no fear these days. That plus the world is fully aware of exactly how to kill vampires - pretty much everyone and their gran would be covering the house in garlic and crosses, and sharpening their stakes the moment anything weird cropped up on social media. 

Sweets however bring joy wherever or whoever you are, and Belsnikel is like a 100% free sweet delivery service. He can deliver to countless houses in one night - imagine how many sweets he could deliver in 48 whole days! 

Belsnikel wins, by being able to more easily spread his emotion further. 

[Twogunkid]

Name recognition is a key factor here. Old Dracula movies still scare kids Belsnikel is a second fiddle Santa, Dracula is second fiddle to none.

 

Consider in the novel, Dracula creates fear by turning Lucy into the Bloofer Lady serial killer. Renfield inspires fear in his corruption by Dracula. Belsnikel further spreads fear by terrifying children with the threat of flogging.

From wikipedia "Belsnickel is a man wearing furs and sometimes a mask with a long tongue. He is typically very ragged and disheveled. He wears torn, tattered, and dirty clothes, and he carries a switch in his hand with which to beat naughty children, but also pocketsful of cakes, candies, and nuts for good children. " Kids see Belsnikel and they will rightfully flee from him. Belsnikel is playing for my team here.

[Culwych1]

47 minutes ago, Twogunkid said:

Name recognition is a key factor here. Old Dracula movies still scare kids Belsnikel is a second fiddle Santa, Dracula is second fiddle to none.

 

Consider in the novel, Dracula creates fear by turning Lucy into the Bloofer Lady serial killer. Renfield inspires fear in his corruption by Dracula. Belsnikel further spreads fear by terrifying children with the threat of flogging.

From wikipedia "Belsnickel is a man wearing furs and sometimes a mask with a long tongue. He is typically very ragged and disheveled. He wears torn, tattered, and dirty clothes, and he carries a switch in his hand with which to beat naughty children, but also pocketsful of cakes, candies, and nuts for good children. " Kids see Belsnikel and they will rightfully flee from him. Belsnikel is playing for my team here.

Nah, I guarantee that if there was wind of the fact that there was a real Dracula, there'd be a queue of people knocking on his door to either kill him, interview him, invite him to join a dating show on TV, or simply oggle at him. 

Whereas the tales of a real Belsnickel would have kids behaving themselves and waiting eagerly at the door to find out if they've been good enough for cakes and candies. Kids would be better behaved, it'd bring families together, and it would be 48 days of Christmas cheer!

[Twogunkid]

6 minutes ago, Culwych1 said:

Nah, I guarantee that if there was wind of the fact that there was a real Dracula, there'd be a queue of people knocking on his door to either kill him, interview him, invite him to join a dating show on TV, or simply oggle at him. 

Whereas the tales of a real Belsnickel would have kids behaving themselves and waiting eagerly at the door to find out if they've been good enough for cakes and candies. Kids would be better behaved, it'd bring families together, and it would be 48 days of Christmas cheer!

All it takes is one caning and Belsnickel is cancelled. Dracula is capable of adapting. He blends into London society seemlessly, he has a host of identities and minions who he can use to drum up fear and an actual vampire serial killer will cause panic.

[Peypeypeypey]

I think people underestimate how cool Dracula is. He's got so many versions and looks to pick from, and many of them are still instantly recognizable as Dracula. He should have this

[Culwych1]

15 hours ago, Twogunkid said:

All it takes is one caning and Belsnickel is cancelled. Dracula is capable of adapting. He blends into London society seemlessly, he has a host of identities and minions who he can use to drum up fear and an actual vampire serial killer will cause panic.

This is the vampire who struggled in the 1890s and was defeated by 2 men. We are in an era of mass communication, vampire in every media, and special task forces to deal with every issue. In order to spread fear he must put himself on the radar, and that means risking death. 

Belsnikel only needs a few people to spread the word around Christmas and the joy will come naturally with little opposition. 

[Twogunkid]

6 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

This is the vampire who struggled in the 1890s and was defeated by 2 men. We are in an era of mass communication, vampire in every media, and special task forces to deal with every issue. In order to spread fear he must put himself on the radar, and that means risking death. 

Belsnikel only needs a few people to spread the word around Christmas and the joy will come naturally with little opposition. 

And once Belsnikel beats a child it's all over for him.

Dracula can easily go undetected for a long time. Consider prior to the events of the novel he had ruled for centuries.

[Culwych1]

8 hours ago, Twogunkid said:

And once Belsnikel beats a child it's all over for him.

Dracula can easily go undetected for a long time. Consider prior to the events of the novel he had ruled for centuries.

This may be a whole new era of children who are good! Imagine the joy. And also there is so much candy to give.

As to Dracula, he didn't go undetected in London and was beaten by 2 normal guys. He may have ruled for centuries but that's not going either undetected or possible in modern times.

He may try and slink around but modern DNA techniques, cameras everywhere etc will mean he is caught in days. Especially as the whole point is to spread fear as widely as possible. 

[Twogunkid]

18 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

This may be a whole new era of children who are good! Imagine the joy. And also there is so much candy to give.

As to Dracula, he didn't go undetected in London and was beaten by 2 normal guys. He may have ruled for centuries but that's not going either undetected or possible in modern times.

He may try and slink around but modern DNA techniques, cameras everywhere etc will mean he is caught in days. Especially as the whole point is to spread fear as widely as possible. 

As a middle school teacher, there are still plenty of kids who misbehave, and a beating will certainly get your guy cancelled.

The Van Helsings had been prepping for centuries to hunt Dracula (and to nitpick it is 4 guys), and Dracula still created a new serial killer Vampire in London.

Cameras won't catch Dracula, Vampires don't show up in mirrors.

[Culwych1]

6 hours ago, Twogunkid said:

As a middle school teacher, there are still plenty of kids who misbehave, and a beating will certainly get your guy cancelled.

The Van Helsings had been prepping for centuries to hunt Dracula (and to nitpick it is 4 guys), and Dracula still created a new serial killer Vampire in London.

Cameras won't catch Dracula, Vampires don't show up in mirrors.

A beating might get him cancelled in some western countries, but it is perfectly acceptable in a lot of the world. The challenge is to spread it around the world.

I don't think digital cctv and other cameras use mirrors like they used to in the old days, but not sure.

That's my point as well, what Van Helsing prepped centuries for is basic common knowledge now!

Edited February 2 by Culwych1

[DSkillz]

Hmmm, ... 

Belsnickel's appeal seems limited to German regions of the globe, while Dracula is generally recognized worldwide. The head vampire just might have the edge here. 

[Culwych1]

30 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

Hmmm, ... 

Belsnickel's appeal seems limited to German regions of the globe, while Dracula is generally recognized worldwide. The head vampire just might have the edge here. 

That is exactly my point. Everyone knows Dracula. Heck, the most successful films featuring Dracula in recent times were this guy:

Even if he goes on a killing spree, the world is A. Not going to be that scared, especially considering the things we humans do to each other, B. Have so much common knowledge on defeating vampires that were confined to a few specialists in Draculas time, and C. The modern world has evolved so much that he'll be exposed very quickly

[UMPIRE]

Match Final Results

Dracula: 6
Belsnickel: 4