WALTER C. DOLLNEAZ
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Having been in the employ of the Hellsing family for well over 50 years, Walter was formally the Hellsing Organization’s most skilled retainer, or "trash man", if you will. Along with Alucard, Walter has slaughtered countless midians from as far back as World War II with such a precision and fury he has attained the title of ‘The Angel of Death’. Now retired from the field of combat Walter now serves Sir Integra as an intelligence operative in the fight to keep England free of the dark horrors that besiege it.
Throughout the majority of Hellsing's story, Walter is ever-present as the organizations loyal butler and assistant tactician.
The following section will discuss Walter, his history, his story and his character traits in detail. Due to story spoilers pertaining Walter's past and its noted effects on the story's later chapters, Walter has been given a special biography page detailing content not discussed here. This is the spoier-free version of Walter's biography.
Click Here to see his biography featuring spoilers of the manga post volume 6.
Please click a section below to skip to it.
- Statistics
- Walter's Early Life - Warsaw, September 1944
- 1999 And on: Millennium Returns
- Powers and Abilities
- Walter's Name
- Walter in the "Hellsing" TV Anime Series
- Trivia & Other Information
STATISTICS
Name in Japanese: ウオルター・C（クム）・ドルネーズ (Uoruta C [Kumu] Doruneezu)
Nicknames/Aliases: Angel of Death (Shinigami) [Moniker] Dornez, Ddollneazz [Alternate Spellings]
Age: Approximately 14, (in 1944) 69 (in 1999)
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Black, Graying in 1999
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Nationality: British
Rank: Retainer of the Hellsing Family, Master vampire hunter for Hellsing (Retired)
Religion: Presumed Protestant
Affiliations: Hellsing (Butler, Former Soldier), The British Empire
Weapon of Choice: High-tensile razor wire
Voice (Old): Motomu Kiyokawa (Jpn) // Ralph Lister (Eng)
Voice (Young): Romi Park (Jpn) // N/A (Eng) (Not yet Dubbed)
Voice (Adult): Daisuke Namikawa (Jpn) // N/A (Eng) (Not yet Dubbed)
WALTER'S EARLY LIFE - WARSAW, SEPTEMBER 1944
 Walter in 1944. |
The details of his childhood are largely unknown, but Walter was born to good English parents in Great Britain sometime in 1930. His exact age was unknown, however as a very young boy he was taken in by the Hellsing Organization and began training as a human weapon, explicitly for the purposes of taking down occult threats to Queen and Country. Despite his young age, Walter fast became exceptional at his job, eventually being dubbed Hellsing's "Angel of Death" in light of his efficiency.
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In 1944, at the young age of 14, Walter was given what would become the single most influential assignment he would ever receive. With the world deep in the midst of it's 2nd World War, the Nazis were doing all they could to get the edge on the battlefield. This included Hitler commissioning a group of SS soldiers to breed an army of the Undead for him. Being Hellsing's specialty, they proceeded to dispatch their greatest agents, Walter and Alucard, to neutralize the threat. Upon arrival, Walter was initially offered a position by The Major, however he turned it down flatly, mocking the Nazi gruppe commander. This instigated a severe augment between Walter and the Captain. Despite being abandoned by colleague Alucard, Walter managed to survive and the two went on to seemingly systematically dismantle the entire operation.
[The Dawn was never finished, so the following events are what is known from what Alucard and Walter claimed to have happened]
Walter worked for many years as Hellsing's prime agent and achieved infamy for his fierce efficiency and murderous skill. Eventually, his employer Arthur Hellsing fell ill and passed away whist he was abroad overseas. Upon his return Walter took it upon himself to assist in looking after Arthur's little daughter Integra. She would one day grow into the head of the organization. It has never been specified when it was that Walter decided to retire from field combat, only that he did so and repositioned himself as Hellsing's most trusted servant.
LONDON, 1999 AND ON - MILLENNIUM RETURNS
 "I most highly recommend pissing yourself..." |
As Integra reached maturity, Walter employed himself not only a skilled informant and assistant tactician but likewise a cornerstone for moral support. Walter is also something of an accomplished gunsmith for which his skills were employed by Alucard in the creation of greater weapons such as the Jackal and the Harkkonnen.
In spite of his retirement, the infamous Hellsing butler has come to aid many times in recent history. Walter was present during the devastating attack on Hellsing House perpetuated by the villainous Valentine Brothers of "Millennium". The title, offered by Jan Valentine during his temporary containment was researched fundamentally by Walter in hopes of gathering evidence for the source of the attack. Little was uncovered until Integra herself suggested a possible resurface of a long-forgotten Nazi organization.
 Walter Escorts Integra Through |
Walter is present for various key events in the Hellsing timeline including: The Hellsing soldiers' funeral, post Valentine Brothers attack. The meeting with Enrico Maxwell of Section Thirteen. The conference with Her Majesty, Queen of England. And all subsequent encounters with Millennium staff. Walter frequently liaise with Alucard on combat strategies, such of which included Alucard's successful neutralization of Rip Van Winkle. Walter's assistance was finally recommissioned as a front-line operative when the Great Monster War began in London. A cadre of Nazis were dispatched to take out Integra Hellsing, who were initially slaughtered by Walter. He lead Integra out to a waiting car and drove her through London, racing for Hellsing HQ at breakneck speed. However, upon being faced with a powerful opponent, Walter came to an abrupt stop, leaving Integra to drive herself the rest of the way while he held the Millennium's Captain off. Her final order to him: come back alive, no matter what.
That was the last anyone had seen of Hellsing's heroic butler...
POWERS AND ABILITES
Walter's Wires in Action. |
Walter is a normal human being lacking any special powers. However, he may very well be the purest example of a character trained to the peak of physical human efficiency and ability, as Walter appears to possibly be the only human being in the series capable of combating true vampires and werewolves directly without the aid of external enhancement. Walter was trained at a young age. At 14 he was peerless in combating the werewolf Captain.
Walter's main form of combat is through his high tensile wire. Walter employs a large number of wires coming seemingly out of nowhere and so thin it is sometimes difficult to see them. Walter is so efficient with his wires that he can quickly and easily slice a vampire's head clean off with just the slightest movement of his wrist or fingers. During his battle with Jan Valentine, Walter professed to not being "As spry" as he once was. Whether Walter was stating this honestly or using it as an intimidation tactic is unknown.
WALTER'S NAME
 Walter's Name From the Back of Manga Volume 4 |
As is common in the Japanese language, transliteration of, what are intended to be European names to Japanese and then back again does not always go smoothly. This has caused some discrepencies in the English-language releases as to the correct transliteration of Walter's name. While Walter's given name, "Walter" is extremely straightforward and is presented as the name "Walter" normally should in Japanese, his middle and surnames, as well as his epithet are where the major discrepancies lie.
Firstly, Walter's seldom-heard middle name, Cumm. Walter is usually listed or introduced as "Walter C." without ever explaining what the "C" stands for. However, the last pages of the volume 4 manga novel, it was first revealed to be "Cumm" (Pronounced: "Koom") with later portrayals in the manga lending credence to it, such as when Walter introduced himself in volume 9. This appears to be a reference to the Latin term "Cumm" with usually translates out to "With". This may be a reference to the fact that Walter is always by Integra's side, though this is never stated by Hirano.
 Walter's Entry in the OVA Liner Notes. |
The majority of the confusion however, stems from Walter's family name. In the original Japanese novels it is written as [ドルネーズ] (Doruneezu). Due to common Japanese language conventions, the character for "R" is interchangeable, meaning the proper transliteration of that character is part of the largest crux of the issue. The majority of official sources appear to use a name that transliterates it as "L" with Hirano himself and the TV series spelling it "Ddollneazz" while the original Japanese OVA liner notes booklets and all US editions spell it out as "Dollneaz", preserving Hirano's original name while simply removing what are perceived as "extra" letters. The biggest discrepancy comes from the official Dark Horse translation of the manga which presents his name as "Dornez". The later-released Blu-ray boxed set of Hellsing I-V also modified its spelling of Walter's name to list it as such as well.
And lastly, there is Walter's epithet, which is very straightforward. In the original Japanese, it is [死神] (Shinigami) which would literally translate to "Death God". A "Shinigami" in most Shinto lore is a spirit or a god whose job is to ferry the departed, much akin to the grim reaper. The official translation is "Angel of Death", which fits the translation in-context and works best in a European setting.
WALTER IN THE HELLSING TV SERIES
 Walter in the TV Series. |
As he is a major character, Walter appears in the 2001 Hellsing anime TV series as well. Walter's TV series adaptation is amongst the most accurate to the manga in comparison with the rest of the supporting cast. Walter's adaptation remains faithful even after the original story material presented post episode 7 of the series. The butler is seen not only fulfilling his duties as Hellsing's tactical coordinator, but also going so far as to risk his life in protect of Integra.
Due to the TV series never touching upon Millennium however, Walter's past is never fully specified beyond stating that he was a vampire hunter for Hellsing. It is unknown if his exploits during World War II are part of the canon story of the TV series or not.
TRIVIA & OTHER INFORMATION
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In the manga novels, Walter makes only one appearance in the first volume as an agent to gather information about Alexander Anderson for his master, Integra. He makes his first full appearance later, giving Seras and Alucard their latest weapons in volume 2. Both animated adaptations expand on Walter's screen entrances, adding to his appearances and duties. The TV series saw Walter given additional lines of dialog and expanding on his actions. Such scenes include Alucard consulting with Walter about the creation of the Jackal. The OVA has made every attempt to maintain faithful to the original manga, as such Walter is rarely brought into frame for another other than flanking Integra and tending to her coat and cigar as would be expected of a domestic servant, until the script proper calls for his interaction.
- It is noted in his youth, Walter was something of a tobacco connoisseur whom had a particular aversion to American cigarettes. Walter is never seen smoking during the present story in either the TV series or OVA. It is assumed age and impending infirmary caused him to reconsider this generally filthy habit.