Count Dracula is the title character and main antagonist of Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel Dracula (1897). He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character were inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad III Dracula, who was also known as Vlad the Impaler, and also believed to be inspired by Sir Henry Irving and possibly other actors with aristocratic backgrounds that Stoker had met during his life. Count Dracula is one of the best-known fictional figures of the Victorian era.