Dracula: Born Again

Submission for the Dracula: Untold Billboard Contest on Deviantart. (You guys know how I feel about fan-art.)

Reading the rules, especially where it was required to illustrate one of Dracula's main transformations, I had to ask myself "When did Vlad Dracul truly become Dracula?" After a while, I found a solution.
Throughout most of the film, Vlad the Impaler is only seen fighting with his powers. True, he may be officially a vampire by now, but he wasn't exactly Bram Stoker's monster we've come to know and love. That all changed, though, in the climax. As he's trapped in a room filled with silver pieces with the man who betrayed him (Christian symbolism, anyone?), he is rendered powerless, almost weaker than the man he's fighting. To overcome his enemy and save his son, he is required to use something he came with- not an army of super-bats, not super-speed-on-the-verge-of-teleportation, not even his strength. He must use his cunning. He must use his expert swordsmanship and combat abilities that he was boasted of in the beginning of the movie. Even more fitting given his pre-mortem one-liner:

"Not Vlad the Impaler. I am Dracula."

Rendered in Photoshop