"Vlad had no remorse. He killed without any hesitation. He chose the most cruel ways to kill."
- Vaclav Havlik, medieval sword master
Vlad the Impaler, the prince that defended his kingdom from the invading Turks, Vs... Sun Tzu, the legendary strategist who changed warfare in China forever...WHO IS DEADLIEST?!
History
Vlad was born in Sighișoara, Transylvania, in the winter of 1431 to Vlad II Dracul, future voivode of Wallachia and son of the celebrated Voivode Mircea the Elder. His mother is believed to be the second wife of Vlad Dracul, Princess Cneajna of Moldavia. He had two older half-brothers, Mircea II and Vlad Călugărul, and a younger brother, Radu III the Fair.
In the year of his birth Vlad's father, known under the nickname Dracul, had traveled to Nuremberg where he had been vested into the Order of the Dragon. At the age of five, young Vlad was also initiated into the Order.
In 1436, Vlad II Dracul ascended the throne of Wallachia. He was ousted in 1442 by rival factions in league with Hungary, but secured Ottoman support for his return agreeing to pay the Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) to the Sultan and also send his two legitimate sons, Vlad III and Radu, to the Ottoman court, to serve as hostages of his royalty.
Vlad III was imprisoned and often whipped and beaten because of his verbal abuse towards his trainers and his stubborn behavior. These years presumably had a great influence on Vlad's character and led to Vlad's well-known hatred for the Ottoman Turks, the Janissary, his brother Radu for converting to Islam and the young Ottoman prince Mehmed II (even after he became sultan). He was envious of his father's preference for his elder brother, Mircea II and half brother, Vlad Călugărul. He also distrusted the Hungarians and his own father for trading him to the Turks and betraying the Order of the Dragon's oath to fight the Ottoman Empire.
Vlad was later released under probation and taken to be educated in logic, the Quran and the Turkish and Persian languages and works of literature. He would speak these languages fluently in his later years. He and his brother were also trained in warfare and riding horses. The boys' father, Vlad Dracul, was awarded the support of the Ottomans and returned to Wallachia and took back his throne from Basarab II and some unfaithful Boyars.
Even during his lifetime, Vlad III Țepeș became famous as a tyrant taking sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing. After Vlad's death, his cruel deeds were reported with macabre gusto in popular pamphlets in Germany, reprinted from the 1480s until the 1560s, and to a lesser extent in Tsarist Russia.
Estimates for number of his victims ranges from 40,000 to 100,000, comparable to the cumulative number of executions over four centuries of European witchhunts. According to the German stories the number of victims he had killed was at least 80,000. In addition to the 80,000 victims mentioned he also had whole villages and fortresses destroyed and burned to the ground. These numbers are most likely exaggerated.
Impalement was Vlad's preferred method of torture and execution. Several of the woodcut from the German pamphlets of the late 15th and early 16th centuries show Vlad feasting in a forest of stakes and their grisly burdens outside Brașov, while a nearby executioner cuts apart other victims. It was reported that an invading Ottoman army turned back in fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses impaled on the banks of the Danube. It has also been said that in 1462 Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, a man noted for his own psychological warfare tactics, returned to Constantinople after being sickened by the sight of 20,000 impaled corpses outside Vlad's capital of Târgoviște.
Allegedly, the reputation of Vlad's cruelty was actively promoted by Matthias Corvinus, who tarnished Vlad’s reputation and credibility for a political reason: as an explanation for why he had not helped Vlad fight the Ottomans in 1462, for which purpose he had received money from most Catholic states in Europe. Matthias employed the charges of Southeastern Transylvania, and produced fake letters of high treason, written on 7 November 1462.
Weapons
The Steel Crossbow is a light, easy to carry, accurate, strong (projectile power), distance crossbow.
The Kilij is a curved single edged Turkic sword, because of the curved blade it makes it a good chopping and hacking weapon.
The Halberd is a poleaxe. This weapon consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It has a hook or a thorn on the back side of the axe. It can hack/chop, thrust/stab, and hook the enemy. It is a lethal weapon.
The Hand Cannon is a portable mini cannon. This firearm can fire either pebbles or shaped iron or stone balls.
| Short Range | Kilij |
| Mid Range | Halberd |
| Long Range | Steel Crossbow |
| Special Weapons | Hand Cannon |
Deadliest Warrior: Legends weapons
Short Range: Kilij, Turko-Mongol Saber
Medium Range: Military Fork, Ranseur
Long Range: Steel Crossbow, Javelin
Armor: Wallachian Robes, Chain Mail Coat
Joke Weapon: Farmer's Pitch Fork
Final Strike: he thrusts his medium range weapon into his opponent. Then he raises it up on the ground until he gets it in perfect balance. Then he walks away leaving the opponent on the pole.
Simulated Battle
The battle starts out with Vlad sneaking up to Sun Tzu's campsite, where Sun Tzu has sat himself down to a cup of tea . Close by, Vlad sets his shield into the ground and readies his hand cannon, firing a shot which destroys the general's teapot. Vlad laughs as he has taken the general off guard, but Sun Tzu raises his repeating crossbow and gets off a few shots and runs away. Vlad ducks behind his shield but is struck in the shoulder. Relatively unharmed, Vlad pulls out the bolt and readies his hand cannon again, but Sun Tzu is nowhere to be seen.
Collecting his effects (a steel helmet, his shield, and his halberd), Vlad runs off searching for Sun Tzu. But the general is not far away as he gets the drop on Vlad by shooting him from a tree with a flaming arrow. The Son of the Dragon is thrown to the ground by the force of the shot, but still remains relatively unharmed as he scrambles to his feet while putting out the small fire. Sun Tzu jumps down from the tree, but is promptly stabbed in the thigh by Vlad's halberd. Sun Tzu yells in pain and strikes the halberd with the edge of his hand, breaking it at the head which astonishes Vlad. Sun Tzu kicks Vlad in the face while he is still distracted and pulls out the halberd, hobbling away as Vlad gets back up and collects his helmet and shield again.
Not far away, Sun Tzu pulls out a spare armor set and a zhua hidden undearneath fallen foliage. Above him, The Impaler watches him, preparing his steel crossbow. Vlad walks a little ways and sees the general's armor nearby and takes his shot. The armor falls over and Vlad goes to investigate, only to find that he shot a decoy. The real general then jumps down, disarming Vlad from his shield using the zhua. Vlad dodges another swing from the zhua and draws his kilij, slashing Sun across the midsection as he recovers. The general falls back again, as Vlad pulls off his gauntlet, revealing that the zhua managed to cut his forearm. The enraged Prince of Darkness picks up his kilij and charges Sun Tzu, who pulls out his jian and clashes with the warrior king. Both warriors cross swords until Vlad severs both of Tzu's hands at the wrist. The general drops to his knees as The Impaler raises his sword over his head, but stops in midswing from decapitating his victim. Grinning wildly with an evil laugh, Vlad Tepes Dracula has other ideas for the fallen general.
A shot of the Wallachian countryside is shown as terrible sounds and screaming are heard offscreen. When the camera cuts back to the warriors, it is revealed that Vlad has impaled the defeated Sun Tzu on a large stake. Vlad places his sword in front of his face as an act of respect towards his fallen enemy and gives a loud victory roar as he raises his kilij in the air.
Trivia
- It is the second match-up that involved amputation and the only match-up where in the final simulation the defeated warrior was finished by a weapon not on the Warrior's official list.
- Vlad is the first ancient warrior with a gunpowder weapon.
- Vlad and Sun Tzu are the only warriors wearing either formal wear or body armor throughout their episode.
- Vlad had nicknames "The Prince of Darkness", "The Impaled Prince", "The Impaler" and "Dracula"
- According to an online poll, Vlad the Impaler was the most popular ancient celebrity on Deadliest Warrior.
- Vlad reappeared in the Vampire/Zombie episode as the inspiration of the most famous vampire- Dracula.
Gallery
