Topic: Now, imagine this:

[theplottwist]

First, ask the following: Does "Dracula" as a fictional character exist inside the Castlevania universe? I think I can answer that, and the answer would be "yes".

In Aria of Sorrow, the following exchange happens:

(click to show/hide)

SOMA:    Is it true that this is Dracula's castle?

GRAHAM:  It most certainly is.

SOMA:    But isn't Dracula's castle in Europe somewhere?

GRAHAM:  In theory, yes. But his TRUE castle exists somewhere else.

SOMA:    His true castle?

GRAHAM:  Yes. It's a well known fact in the underworld. Do you believe in vampires?

SOMA:    Well, uh, no. I thought the story of Dracula was made up, actually.

GRAHAM:  NO, it's all true. It was leaked to the outside world. Usually, the church handles these things with utmost secrecy... Over the course of time, Dracula has resurrected many times. When people lost faith and craved chaos and destruction.

So, not only is Dracula mentioned at some point as fiction, but someone wrote about him because Soma clearly knows how the gig goes.

Now, the second question: What if this someone was Bram Stoker? Sure, it could be that Soma knows about the story of Dracula because it leaked to the outside world after 1999, as Graham states right after. But what if it was Bram Stoker? Now we enter the wild hypothesis territory - or maybe "mental exercise" territory.

What if the novel "Dracula", in this universe, is actually a (intentionally or not) distorted account of the real battle that transpired in 1897, written by this universe's version of Bram Stoker after he got caught up in the middle of the battle for some reason? This could explain how Brauner initially got wind of Dracula's story, for instance.

And could "Bram Stoker" be actually a pseudonym for one of the hunters involved?

I'm looking for more evidence about Dracula's existence in this universe as a "fictional character", but meanwhile, discuss this.

[EstebanT]

I thought Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin practically confirmed this...

[Nagumo]

I kind of assumed "the legend of Dracula" is what spread the story and established him as a fictional character in the CV universe.  For example, I believe George from OoE used the story as inspiration while composing one of his music pieces.

[theplottwist]

I thought Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin practically confirmed this...

Well, I don't exactly see how Bloodlines and Portrait confirm this. They validate the Bram Stoker account as real to a certain degree by mentioning Quincy Morris, but they don't imply that there is a written work created by someone recounting these events in a (intentional or not) fictionalizing tone.

I kind of assumed "the legend of Dracula" is what spread the story and established him as a fictional character in the CV universe.  For example, I believe George from OoE used the story as inspiration while composing one of his music pieces.

I thought of this, but it appears that the people before a certain point in the timeline didn't fictionalize Dracula.

In OoE's case, for instance, it appears that most inhabitants of Wygol actually believe that Dracula is a real thing, or possibly a real thing. And then, when we get to Soma, there are enough reasons for him to believe that Dracula is completelly made up.

Something between one and the other happened that the world simply stopped caring about Dracula being real. Or maybe, only Romania cared and the rest of the world never knew any better. As Graham says, the church handles these things with utmost secrecy, but the story of 1999 inevitably leaked to the outside world (which we could factor being the cause for the rising of cults such as Graham's and Celia's).

[Shiroi Koumori]

Take into account that in the original Japanese AoS, Soma is Japanese and not an exchange student. Since Japan is far from Europe, the belief in Dracula as real is not to be expected (except for the Hakuba priest who helped in 1999, I presumed he kept it secret) compared to inhabitants in Europe.

[Nagumo]

Like Shiroi said, you also have to consider time and place. This is true with real legends as well. Therefore, I don't think there necessarily has to be an explicit fictional account of the story for people to believe that it's fake.  This is just my interpretation, but I think people in Wallachia were probably more inclined to believe the story, but as you move away in both time and place, you have some who just write it of as Dracula being a local bogeyman.