# Van Helsing's Secret (SPOILER) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283 "2004-05-09T12:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/1 "2004-05-09T12:34:12Z")
Who/What do you think Van Helsing will turn out to be? Dracula kept calling him Gabriel and the Left Hand of God and it became clear that he was very old. Do you suppose he is Gabriel the Angel and for some reason has been thrown out of heaven and must work his way back by killing monsters on earth? Or will he be revealed to be Casca Longinus? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/2 "2004-05-09T16:29:46Z")
As I posted in the other thread, I say he’s Longinus. Masada is the clue here: That was a mere (ha!) 300 years after Christ or so, and in the right area. So, I say he’s an immortal soldier of God, paying off the crime of stabbing Christ by killing lots of monster along the way. As we all know, Van Helsing can kil any monster, even a giant monster… moon, flung by… pre-crisis Superman… with Batman on it… while van Helsing is sleeping. So he must have, like, divine aid. Or something. Like a 1920’s style-deathray. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/3 "2004-05-09T17:20:21Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > As I posted in the other thread, I say he’s Longinus. Masada is the clue here: That was a mere (ha!) 300 years after Christ or so, and in the right area. So, I say he’s an immortal soldier of God, paying off the crime of stabbing Christ by killing lots of monster along the way. > > As we all know, Van Helsing can kil any monster, even a giant monster… moon, flung by… pre-crisis Superman… with Batman on it… while van Helsing is sleeping. So he must have, like, divine aid. Or something. Like a 1920’s style-deathray. Is Batman prepared? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/4 "2004-05-09T20:14:28Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > As I posted in the other thread, I say he’s Longinus. Masada is the clue here: That was a mere (ha!) 300 years after Christ or so, and in the right area. So, I say he’s an immortal soldier of God, paying off the crime of stabbing Christ by killing lots of monster along the way. > > As we all know, Van Helsing can kil any monster, even a giant monster… moon, flung by… pre-crisis Superman… with Batman on it… while van Helsing is sleeping. So he must have, like, divine aid. Or something. Like a 1920’s style-deathray. Actually, I heard the thing about Masada and wondered if he wasn’t supposed to be “The Wandering Jew”. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/5 "2004-05-09T20:58:05Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Actually, I heard the thing about Masada and wondered if he wasn’t supposed to be “The Wandering Jew”. A bit of a hijack, I’m sure, but who is the “Wandering Jew”? I’ve heard him referenced before, but I don’t know much about him or his mythology. Why would you assume it was Van Helsing, especially seeing as how Van Helsing is working with the Catholics. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/6 "2004-05-09T22:54:48Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > A bit of a hijack, I’m sure, but who is the “Wandering Jew”? I’ve heard him referenced before, but I don’t know much about him or his mythology. Why would you assume it was Van Helsing, especially seeing as how Van Helsing is working with the Catholics. Moses? Or did you mean a different Jew wandering around the desert? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/7 "2004-05-09T23:11:30Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > A bit of a hijack, I’m sure, but who is the “Wandering Jew”? I’ve heard him referenced before, but I don’t know much about him or his mythology. Why would you assume it was Van Helsing, especially seeing as how Van Helsing is working with the Catholics. [From this site](http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/W/Wanderin.asp) > [@](#): > > in literary and popular legend, a Jew who mocked or mistreated Jesus while he was on his way to the cross and who was condemned therefore to a life of wandering on earth until Judgment Day. There is also a legend of the roman soldier Longinus, who thrust the spear into Jesus’ side and was therefore cursed with imortality. I have heard both legends seperately and occasionally it is said that they are the same person ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/8 "2004-05-10T01:48:58Z")
He’s not really Jewish. He just changed his name to Rosenberg for professional reasons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/9 "2004-05-10T03:52:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Why would you assume it was Van Helsing, especially seeing as how Van Helsing is working with the Catholics. VH lost his memory before showing up on the doorstep of the Catholic Church, so it wouldn’t really matter if he had been Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/10 "2004-05-10T04:41:30Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > As I posted in the other thread, I say he’s Longinus. Masada is the clue here: That was a mere (ha!) 300 years after Christ or so, and in the right area. So, I say he’s an immortal soldier of God, paying off the crime of stabbing Christ by killing lots of monster along the way. Masada happened during the Judean revolt about 70 A.D. That’s about 40 years after Christ, not 300… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/11 "2004-05-10T04:42:40Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Masada happened during the Judean revolt about 70 A.D. That’s about 40 years after Christ, not 300… 'Scuse me, 73 A.D. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/12 "2004-05-10T04:54:34Z")
I thought Van Helsing said he remembered “fighting against the Romans at Masada”. That would make him a Jew, perhaps a Zealot, and certainly not St. Longinus. As far as I know, the business about Longinus being an immortal soldier, rather than becoming an early Christian and dying a martyr (the Church tradition) comes from Barry Sadler, who wrote a series of novels based on that premise. I always assumed Sadler conflated the Church legend of St. Longinus with the legend of the Wandering Jew. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/13 "2004-05-10T12:33:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Masada happened during the Judean revolt about 70 A.D. That’s about 40 years after Christ, not 300… Don’t bother me with the facts. 😉 > [@](#): > > I thought Van Helsing said he remembered “fighting against the Romans at Masada”. That would make him a Jew, perhaps a Zealot, and certainly not St. Longinus. Funny, he doesn’t look Jewish. 😉 But he might have switched sides at some point. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-helsings-secret-spoiler/244283/14 "2004-05-10T14:38:31Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Don’t bother me with the facts. 😉 > > Funny, he doesn’t look Jewish. 😉 > > But he might have switched sides at some point. According to Walker Percy, it wouldn’t have been a switch _G_