I think Carmilla’s big advantage is how easy it would be to underestimate her, while Dracula’s big disadvantage would be his overconfidence. Also, Carmilla must have a large network of allies and co-conspirators to constantly pull off her “hurt girl in need of help” routine. Dracula, on the other hand, can’t even get servants in his castle – at one point in the book Jonathan Harker actually sees Dracula making his bed! In a fair fight that Dracula took seriously, and for which he was fully prepared, he probably would beat Carmilla. But Carmilla would use subterfuge, mind games, and her network of allies, to insure her opponents never get a fair shot at her.

Please pardon my taking so long to send this reply – it has just occurred to me that, these being aristocrats of the Old School and High Society Vampires, ferociously loathing somebody is absolutely no reason not to sneer at each other in the Very Best company (An Archduke IS an Archduke, after all).

Thank you for the compliment! “Officially” in Ghastly Affair (as per “A Gothic Companion to Gothic Icons”) Dracula and Carmilla are bitter rivals. But I see no reason why your idea wouldn’t work either. Dracula and Carmilla could very well make peace with each other to face the threat of Countess Bathory, for example.

In any case, my compliments on a wicked looking Dracula!

Thank you! As for “Beauty and the Beast”, Beauty is obviously a True Innocent! I’ll have to read the original story to decide about the rest. I know the opposition between the evil Fairy who transformed Beast, and the good Fairy who helps Beauty undo the curse, is a big part of the earliest version.