Dracula (Earth-43)

Dracula of Earth-43 was an adversary of Batman and a powerful vampire lord.

Pre-Red Rain
Dracula's early history is largely unknown. What is known is that one of his servants, Tanya, was freed from his control by the sight of her master attacking an innocent child. Developing a "blood substitute" to avoid feeding on humans, Tanya dedicated herself to fighting Dracula and won several of his followers over to her side. However, none of them were unable to directly fight him, as Dracula still possessed a mental link to them and could control them.

Red Rain
Eventually, Dracula made his way to Gotham City, where he and his minions fed upon Gotham's marginalized (homeless people, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc.) to increase their ranks, aided by the mayor's reluctance to admit the situation to the public. In an attempt to cover up the true nature of the attacks, Dracula's minions always slashed the throats of their victims to cover up the bite marks. Eventually, Dracula, by his own admission, was driven so mad by the "tainted blood" of Gotham that he was no longer concerned with getting caught, having become a total monster.

The murders eventually gained the attention of Batman, who investigated and surprised one of Dracula's minions just as she killed another victim; seeing the bite marks, Batman slowly realized the truth.

Dracula eventually came across Batman when the latter was saved by Tanya and her "Others" after coming across a vampire nest. Arriving in his monstrous bat form, Dracula used his mind control powers to force Tanya and her minions to their knees, and then to commit suicide with their own stake guns. However, before the latter could be carried out, Batman freed them by attacking Dracula, only for Dracula to slash his chest open. Using this to his advantage, Batman drew the shape of a cross on the wall with his own blood, leaving Dracula at a stalemate as the vampire lord was simultaneously drawn to the blood and unable to approach the cross. After several hours, Dracula was forced to flee from the approaching dawn, vowing that Batman's blood would be his.

Dracula subsequently kidnapped Batman's ally, Commissioner Gordon, and held him hostage, bleeding him from a wound in his neck without biting him to prevent him from returning as a vampire. Meanwhile, Batman and Tanya lured Dracula's minions into the Batcave, where Batman set off pre-planted explosive charges to destroy Wayne Manor and expose the inside of the cave to the sunlight, killing both Dracula's and Tanya's forces.

Batman, having been granted some vampiric abilities by Tanya, subsequently armed himself with silver batarangs and tracked Dracula down just in time to save Gordon. In the ensuing battle, during which Batman found himself unable to match Dracula's incredible strength, Dracula, enraged that Tanya gave him the "gift," bit into Batman's neck and drained him of his blood. Nonetheless, Batman managed to impale Dracula on the remains of a tree that had been struck by lightning, putting an end to the vampire lord's reign of terror; unfortunately, Batman was transformed completely into a vampire by Dracula's bite.

Legacy
However, some of Dracula's forces remained, and unable to think beyond their next victim after Dracula's death, were taken over by the the Joker, who coordinated their feedings to turn all of Gotham's major crime families.

Despite continued struggles with his bloodlust, Batman continued the fight against the vampires, Gordon, Alfred, and a team of Gotham police officers staking the majority of the vampires as they slept during the day, while Batman and his new ally, Selina Kyle, took out those remaining in a warehouse at night; in the process, however, Selina was killed by the Joker, and Batman, in a grief-stricken rage, succumbed to his vampire instincts and drained the Joker of his blood. Horrified, Batman fled the scene and arranged for Gordon and Alfred to stake him now that he had become a monster like Dracula.

Unfortunately, Gordon and Alfred neglected to behead him after the staking; thus, Batman was driven insane by his bloodlust and the subsequent months he spent decaying in his crypt. When the stake was removed, Batman embarked on a rampage, slaying most of Gotham's villains for their blood, all while remarking that he was now no better than Dracula, if not even worse.