Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476)If Dracula had ever truly walked the earth as a creature of flesh and blood rather than a fictional figure in books and on the silver screen, then The person who deserves that terrible title would have to be Vlad Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, or simply, Dracula. Feared by thousands due to his cruel and unusual punishments and unquenchable bloodlust, Vlad the Impaler ruled Wallachia, now part of Romania, from 1456 to 1476. But what exactly separates him from the other tyrants? , murderers and rulers? The legend of Dracula is actually not that far from the truth. Born in 1431 in Transylvania to a military governor named Vlad Dracul, Vlad Dracula would be raised to be a ruler. The elder Dracul, who was ruler of Wallachia, was a member of the secret brotherhood, the Order of the Dragon, created in 1387 by the emperor to support Christianity and defend the empire from the Islamic Turks. Dracul in Romanian means devil, and adding an "a" at the end means "son of", so Dracula literally means "son of the devil". With his strict upbringing in a chaotic environment where battles were constantly fought, Dracula soon took pleasure in the pain of others and wanted nothing more than to become the ruler of a country just like his father. In 1447 the throne of Vlad Dracul was taken by the Tirgoviste boyars. Dracula was captured during the coup, but managed to escape and from then on plotted his revenge on Trigoviste and tried to regain the throne that had been his father's. In 1456, after raising an army of soldiers, Dracula ascended the throne and obtained the title of Prince Dracula, ruler of Wallachia. It was during this period of his reign that his reign of blood and terror began. Construction of a new castle began immediately for Dracula and many slaves lost their lives due to unfavorable working conditions. Dracula loved seeing the weaknesses of his fellow men and did everything he could to exploit them even more. One day Dracula decided to clean up his Kingdom and free it from all the handicapped, poor, lazy people, born with an illness or someone he simply didn't like...